Laney Grace...22 months later...

Laney Grace was born on August 10, 2006 at 3:08 pm. She was 5 lbs. 15 oz., 19.5" long, and came into the world with a thick head of beautiful dark hair. She was absolutely perfect, and so was everything about that day. At first sight, we felt deep deep love for this helpless little angel. She still has us wrapped around her finger. Here are a few pictures of her over the last 22 months.

Hadley Claire Alsman

OK, so it's obviously been a very long time (almost 2 years) since our last post. A LOT has happened since then. Joey and I both have new jobs (she is teaching adults returning to school in preparation for their GED exams, I am an analyst in the medical sales division of Mead Johnson). We have a new house on Evansville's east side (pictures to come). The biggest news, however, is our brand new daughter, Hadley Claire Alsman. She was born at 5:17 pm on Tuesday, June 10th. She was born 7 lbs. 2 oz., 19.75" long and with a thick head of dark hair. She looks a lot like Laney (our 22-month-old daughter). Check out all of our pictures of Hadley's Birthday by clicking here. We have been so blessed over the last 2 years. The birth of both of our girls has completely altered out lives, and have given us more joy than we knew was possible. God has really blessed us, and we thank Him for that. In the mean time, more family has moved back to Evansville, making our family's life here even more enjoyable. We never thought our girls would have grandparents from both sides of the family in town, two great grandparents, and two wonderful aunts that are so much fun for Hadley and Laney to play with. God really is great.

New Website

We now have a new website! It will be under construction for a while, but there are some pictures in the gallery and some information about our pregnancy. I will let you all know when Laney is born on that site, so make sure to go visit it and click on the Blake & Joey button at the top. The website is TheAlsmanFamily.com. Thanks!

4th of July Update

Today is Independence Day, 2006! We are now in our 33rd week of this pregnancy!!! I never would have believed this time would come, and would come so fast! It is a great feeling to know that Laney can be delivered at any time now and have excellent chances of being a very healthy baby girl! She has started to gain strength, and sometimes moves just a little more than is comfortable for Joey. In fact, you can actually SEE her moving inside Joey's belly if you look carefully! The heat and muscle cramps have started to make Joey a little miserable at times, but she is still extremely positive and excited about the pregnancy.
I still need to do some touch ups in the nursery, and the nursing chair is not ready yet, but besides that, it is basically finished! I have posted some pictures of the progress below. Other projects for this holiday have included relandscaping the yard (in muggy, 110 deree heat index weather), which I have also posted pictures of below. Take a look around and let us know you were here, we love reading all of your comments that have been left for us. Thanks for all of your continued support and care! ONLY 7+ weeks to go (or less)!!!

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... I thought I would add more pictures here, but I think I am out of space. Come visit our new website to find out more and see some newer pictures. TheAlsmanFamily.com

3rd Anniversary

Well, today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. I figured this was a pretty good time to update you on Laney and her nursery! Joey and Laney are doing fine, and get to start visitin Dr. Walker every 2 weeks now. We just got the stroller today, and will be putting some finally touches on the room. Here are some more pictures of the progress in Laney's nursery in the last week.

3 Big updates!

A lot has happened since the last post. One of the biggest changes is Bitty's name! It took a long time and a lot of funny conversations to find a name that we liked and that everyone else having a baby this year didn't also choose. We have decided on Laney Grace Alsman! Laney has been growing very quickly. Even though she has still been making her mom sick on occasion, she continues to stay right on track with her growth. We are entering the third trimester, so many of our fears are beginning to be put to rest. There is still a lot of growing to do before she is ready to be born though, so please continue to pray for her.

A few other major updates still need to be made! This saturday was the baby shower! There were many people that showed up to support Joey and Laney with their company and some very nice gifts! Also, Joey's dad, Ira, was in town to help me remodel Laney's nursery. We are 99% finished, with only touch-ups and very minor changes yet to be made. Please take a look at the pictures of the shower and the nursery below. We'd love to have your feedback on the new room and the new name! Thanks!

The Shower

The Cake

The Spread

The Gifts

Mommy with the Bouncer

Grandpa Ira, Mommy, & Daddy

Mimi, & Mommy

Grandpa Art & Mommy

Aunt Sydney, Mommy, & Aunt Alicia

Honorary Aunt Trisha, Mommy, & Aunt Brooke

The Nursery

She's got more stuff than I do, and she's not even born yet!

Working hard

Finished!

Letter to our daughter

Dear baby girl,

Our dreams have officially come true. We are unbelievably proud parents of you, our baby girl, our sweet pea. We are so excited to meet you and to get to know you even more. However we will be waiting patiently for the remainder of the 4o weeks. Of course, by waiting patiently, we mean we will be shopping, building, preparing, and talking about your arrival set for August 26th. This has been such an amazing experience, and you have done such an amazing job growing this far. We are just two of many people that pray for you each and every day. There are a lot of people that are almost as thrilled as we are for you to join our family. We love you so much, and can't wait to see you for the first time.

Lots of love, Mommy & Daddy

BITTY IS A GIRL!!!

Today we FINALLY found out that Bitty is a GIRL!!! We couldn't be happier! After her ultrasound, Joey went to the mall with Brooke and me to return a bunch of boy's clothes to Gymboree, and use the GymBucks she had been saving up to start buying pink everything! Here are bitty's new pictures! Isn't she adorable? :)

Unexpected Ultrasound

About 2 weeks ago, we had some concerns after finding out about low hormone levels. Joey had an appointment to look for Bitty's heartbeat today, so we were really nervous. When the doctor started looking, he had a lot of trouble trying to find Bitty's heart beat. Although he said he heard it at one point, he scheduled Joey for an immediate ultrasound to check things out more thoroughly. Thankfully, we saw Bitty right away, and a strong, consistent heartbeat (154 bpm). Apparently Bitty had the hiccups. That movement, along with the placenta interfering with the dopplar machine that listens for the heartbeat were the reasons the doctor had such a hard time finding it. When the ultrasound started, we could see Bitty moving all over the place, spinning, waving, and hiccupping! That was my first time seeing Bitty move! What an awesome thing! You can actually see all the individual bones in Bitty's hands, feet, legs, spine, ribs, etc., and the different chambers of the heart and lobes of the brain! If you look at the profile picture, you can plainly see the eyes, nose, lips, and chin. He played peekaboo for a minute, and then waved goodbye right at the end. My baby is already a genius! Here are the pictures.