Christmas Season

  Merry Christmas from The Woodbury's!

Charlie got me a onsie for Christmas =)

I saw it in a Target awhile ago and i really wanted one!

But it was $25 so i'd never buy it for myself!!!

It's super warm & cozy, so you get to wear it all of 2 days in FL "/

 Charlie got this really cool Gator hat that he enjoys a lot.

It was a ball watching CJ open things.

Most of the time he actually had a smile on,

even though he didn't understand what he was doing! =P

We also got the priviledge of seeing our sister/SIL/Aunt Stephi

for Christmas!!! This was the first time CJ was able to meet

Stephanie. We really enjoyed our time with her. =)

And then CJ got to meet his best friend, Cage Eyerly!

We had a lot of fun with the Eyerly Family.

We went to the mall together to get our boys pictures with Santa. 

Waiting in line for Santa.....2 hours later....

We finally got a photo with him!

We had a great 1st Christmas as a family.

CJ was 3 months, 10 days old.

I can't believe how different Christmas will be next year!

15 months, 10 days old?!?

CRAZY!

The Christmas season is always my favorite.

Everyone just seems to be that much nicer,

friendlier, more compassionate, more giving, more selfless.

I imagine that's similar to how our Heavenly Father and Christ

would like his people to be EVERY season of the year.

God's Gift to Us

CHARLES JOSEPH WOODBURY

Spetember 15, 2010

5:23 a.m.

7 Lbs 11 oz

Charles Joseph Woodbury.

We had decided that we didn't want to continue the Edgar Charles line.

Charlie came up with Charles Joseph =)

Charles, because of charlie, his dad, his dad and so on and

Joesph because of my dad.

And "CJ" to give him his own identity.

We thought it'd be perfect.

 First time for mommy to hold my precious little boy.

I was in complete awe of this little angel.

My heart fell in love all over again.

 FIRST FAMILY PHOTO!!!

Charlie is so excited to be a daddy.

CJ will grow up be a great man one day in his dad's shadow =)

 CJ had to take a short trip to the ICU for about 12 hours

shortly after being born.

He had some fluid in his lungs and they had to take a look at his heart to make sure it wasn't enlarged.

This wasn't a suprise to me since he was premature.

His heart looked fine, and the fluid went away.

He had jaundice and they were monitoring his white blood cell count.

Look at those cheeks!!! He is so adorable.

He seems to be a good mix of the two of us =)

Maternity

(This is the date of the 3rd trimester photo shoot. lol)

1ST TRIMESTER

The first trimester was by far, the hardest to get through for me. As a Juvenile Diabetic, my body had a really hard time adjusting to the new hormone levels associated with pregnancy. I would pass out in my sleep regularly once a week for the entire 1st trimester. And by "passing out", I mean I'd be waking up to my husband squeezing juice down my throat to revive me...At 12 weeks, I took a nap at my mom's house one day and never woke up on my own. Mom tried giving me juice but i was too passed out to drink it so she called the paramedics and they had to revived. That is never a fun experience! My body had started shutting down- I'd peed on myself, I couldn't remember how to talk, and I couldn't even feed myself when i first woke up! All i could remember when i woke up, was wanting to make sure this baby was OK! (He was thankfully, I went to the DR and had an ultrasound) =)

2ND TRIMESTER

The 2nd trimester went by a lot smoother! I felt the baby move @ about 17 wks, and later on we learned that "it" was a BOY!

We were so excited! It felt more "real" after learning the sex of the baby. We already knew what we were going to name a boy- Charles Joesph Woodbury, "CJ". We didn't have any ideas for a girl, so this worked out great! LOL

3RD TRIMESTER

The 3rd trimester was shortened for me! I had a lot of hip problems throughout the pregnancy. While they were taking their time separating, preparing for birth, my right hip kept feeling like it wasn't in socket right or something. But regardless, little CJ decided to come early @ 36 wks, 3 days =D He was a whopping 7lbs 11 oz, 20.5 inches long. He is only 13 days younger than Dana's baby, Cage. It was a lot of fun being pregnant at the same time as my best friend. I still can't believe it happened that way! haha. I really enjoyed being pregnant, struggles and all were SO worth it. =)

Beach Trip

Izzy with Charlie striking a pose! =)

The stick marking Izzy's pile of poo she so kindly left as soon as we got to the beach!

Alyssa-n-Charlie

Izzy showing her true colors ;)

Izzy kept getting up on this hill that was behind where we were sitting at and she was the "watch dog".

Izzy's glorious 2ND pile of poo at the beach...This one turned into a tee-pee =)

Izzy looked like a bunny hopping in the water!

FINALLY OUT OF SCHOOL!!!

With Charlie finally being out EMT school, it was nice to head out to the beach as our little family of 3 (and growing) to RELAX!!! He'll be taking his EMT state test soon and then continue on with firefighting school in January 2011!

Life changed

     Today I had an endocrinology appointment and I knew that they always would ask me whether or not my menstrual cycle was regular or not...Normally i wouldn't worry. However THIS time, i was two days late. Only two, not bad. Could be stress, right? Charlie and i decided, before going to bed, that i should just take a pregnancy test in the morning just to be sure before going to see the doctor so i'd know what to tell him...So naturally, this was the last thing on my mind before falling asleep.

     When i woke up, i sat straight up and said out loud "Seriously? Is that a joke??...". I woke up upset. Upset at Heavenly Father because i had just spent i don't know how long dreaming that i had taken the test and it was positive. Normally that would be a happy dream, right? Well, for Charlie and I, we'd spent nearly a year at this point trying to have a baby. So the constant "taking a test each month and it being negative" was getting WAY old. I reluctantly got out of bed anyways and took the test, to what i thought would certainly further my anger.

Waiting...waiting...waiting...

About 10 minutes came and went and I slipped back into the bathroom to read my result- POSITIVE!

     Wow. I just couldn't believe it. I sat there and stared at the test for a few minutes, letting the news soak in. I quickly got down on my knees and thanked Heavenly Father for this blessing...as well as offering an apology for being upset just moments before.

     This is NOT how Charlie and I had planned discovering we were pregnant for the first time, having had time to discuss how we'd like to have it happen over the past year. At a loss with how to tell Charlie, i HAD to tell someone besides Izzy, our dog. I phoned Dana, my best friend, who had just discovered she too was pregnant about three weeks earlier! I told Dana the news- with a lot of screaming, jumping up and down, and "Oh my gosh's".

     I called Charlie at work and asked him if he'd like to have lunch with me after my doctor's appointment that morning. I quickly took a picture, with my phone, of the pregnancy test. I edited the picture to say "Looks like we're pregnant!" right above the result. =)

     I went to Charlie's work to pick him up after my appointment for lunch. I kept looking for Charlie through the glass window...As soon as i saw him, i texted him the picture of the test! As he walked up to the car, I jumped out because couldn't restrain myself from hugging him. He walked around to the passenger side to get in, and i asked him if he was going to check his phone...He did. He read the message and we hugged in the car yet again. We were so overwhelmed with excitement. =D

                                    

**I'll never forget this day in my life. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be a wife and mother to my family. I am so grateful for the knowledge that families are forever and that i am blessed to have my eternal family.

-Alyssa**