John Samuel Hefferly!

[Sorry this is almost 3 week overdue...] :)
On Sunday, May 16th, Andy and I finally got to meet our son, John Samuel! It's hard to believe he's already 2 1/2 weeks old! There truly are no words to describe how much he amazes us and how much we are head-over-heels over this little guy! :) He is such a blessing and we are so grateful for how well everything went and is going...

I was induced on Sunday the 16th, the day after our due date, and labor only lasted 7 1/2 hours! (I know, I'm very fortunate to say the least!!!) Then at 2:35pm, we got to welcome our son to this world!!! He is absolutely adorable and wonderful in every way. We are so grateful for his health and growth so far! Upon his grand arrival, he weighed in at 7 pounds 2.2 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Here are a few of his first photos and his first visitors... Enjoy!

Upon checking in at 6am the morning of John's Birth Day:
First meeting our precious boy! What a miracle!

7 pounds 2.2 ounces
Holding his daddy's finger:
Proud Dad!
Boy, am I smitten!
Man, we are in awe of this little guy...
Our first family photo! (except for Wayne-Dog... hospital wouldn't allow it, gosh darn it!)
Gramma meeting John for the very first time! (by the way, all credit goes to her for taking the photos of John's grand arrival! Thanks, Gramma!)
Gramps, Pinkie, and Aunt Laura meeting John for the first time:
Gramps says he's a keeper:
Proud grandparents (Abby's parents)
Pa flew in that afternoon to surprise Andy and to meet John on the day of his birth! What a special surprise that was for us!
Aunt Laura/Godmother was there for his birth, too!
Proud grandparents (Andy's parents)
Pinkie and John:
Our brand spankin' new little boy!


This one was taken the morning we left the hospital - but it's the first glimpse of a smile:
On John's second day, he had LOTS of visitors! Looks like the Asmussens are excited to see him (well, Kolbe doesn't seem to overjoyed... he wasn't sure what to think of John) ;)
Uncle Mark/Godfather meeting John for the first time:
The Bergmans also came to visit! Here are Uncle Joe and Shelby with John:
Aunt Mandi:
Jeff Mustin brought us donuts that morning -- so thoughtful! He is one of Andy's Law School classmates, and he and his wife Paula are great friends of ours:
Alley Seifert meeting John. She and I were teammates for Tech Soccer and went to PT school together -- she's such a sweet friend!
Bill and Lisa Myers closed the party down -- they were our last visitors of the night, before we brought John home the next day. Bill and Andy were teammates for Tech Rugby, and we know his sister Lisa very well through church -- they are such wonderful people and great friends!
Thanks to everyone for coming by! Sorry it took me so long to post pictures... I've taken hundreds since we've been home, and I'll be sure to post more soon! Take care and God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John and Wayne-Dog :)

Happy Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms out there! And a special wish for a blessed day to all the moms in our lives - from my mom and Andy's mom, to our Grandmas, to our siblings and in-laws who are moms! You are all such wonderful ladies and we thank you for all you do!

To our moms, thank you for putting up with so much over the years!
From the tears...
...to the fears!
From the tough breaks...
...to learning to bake!
From the messes...
...to, well, more messes!
From the tough guys...
...to the black eyes.
From about to terrorize...
...to moments of big surprise!
From matching duds...
...to the best of buds!
Mom, we love you!

Love,
your kiddos!

P.S. Mom, thank you for teaching me so much about unconditional love! I can't wait to make all these memories with our sweet John, whenever he arrives! Love you!

1 Week To Go!

Wow, it's hard to believe we're already 39 weeks along! Just one more week until our sweet Baby John's due date! We're sure ready to meet him, though we won't induce until the 22nd if he doesn't come on his own... It's funny because we thought we would already have met our little guy - even our doctor thought he'd be here early - but it looks like he's comfy and in no hurry!

We can't complain, though - we've been very blessed to not have any complications thus far! Because John hasn't yet made his grand arrival, Andy has 3 of his 5 final exams done with - praise God! He does have another on May 12th and his last on the 13th, so as much as we look forward to meeting our little bundle of joy, we can't complain if he isn't early! Also, I'm still able to work right now, and my coworkers have been wonderful in trying to help me stay off my feet whenever possible (which is no easy feat in physical therapy!).

Speaking of my awesome coworkers, every time one of us is expecting a baby, everyone chips in to throw the parent-to-be a diaper shower. Well I was absolutely FLOORED when my coworkers surprised us with our nursery bedding set instead of diapers! What's even better is they had no idea that in the meantime, I had been a hormonal and indecisive mess trying to decide on a "plan B" because we were reluctant to spend the money on the nursery set I loved. :) So this was an even better surprise than they will ever know! ;) So here are a few photos of the finished nursery - we love how the bedding set completes it! Now we just need our Baby Boy to arrive and really complete his new room!

Wayne-Dog at his favorite look-out spot in John's room:

The crib with the super cute canvases (that Laura made) hanging above it - they are a perfect match to the nursery set! And the beautiful quilt Mom made is hanging over the crib:
Andy "breaking in" the rocker by rocking the pup to sleep: ;)

A few profile shots...
38 weeks:
and 39 weeks:
"When's my brother going to get here?? I'm ready to play!"
And a cute one of our Wayne-Dog to end:
Speaking of Wayne, we're pretty sure he's aware something BIG is about to happen - just this weekend he started really wanting attention and whining! We can't wait for him to meet Baby John - hope it's instant love and not jealousy! ;) Take care and God bless! Have a wonderful weekend and an early HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms out there!

Love,
Abby, Andy, Baby John, and Wayne-Dog :)

Belly Photos

Beware... belly photos below! (so if belly photos weird you out, you can't say I didn't warn ya! :) And I have to give props to Andy - I know he wasn't super excited to take these, but he did great and was so patient with his 9-month-pregnant-and-picky wife!) ;)

This morning we finally tried to take a few belly photos before Baby John makes his grand arrival! Speaking of his arrival, we've made a little more progress but there's still no telling on when he'll be ready to meet the world -- could be any day now, or could still be another 2 weeks (though we feel like he'll come sooner... we'll see!) We'll keep you updated!











Love,
Abby, Andy, Baby John, and Wayne-Dog :)