Hickstionary

10 Weeks

2012-01-22T21:57:00.001-06:00

Our little guy is 10 weeks old today! He's still growing like crazy! He has been doing really well sleeping through the night. A lot of times he sleeps 8 1/2 hours but he's done 10 hours a few times which was amazing! If only we could learn to go to bed when he does (you know... like right now instead of blogging!), we'd be in great shape! He's becoming so social. He loves being sang to and tries to move his mouth to sing along with you. His favorite songs are 'Jesus Loves Me' and 'Oh My Stars.' He was introduced to some music greats this week (you know... MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice...). He is starting to copy facial expressions which is really cute. He loves being read to. His favorite book is 'Elephant and Mouse.' He loves when the elephant says 'EEEK!' in the story. He will do tummy time for longer periods of time now and seems to actually enjoy it rather than just tolerate it. He is still a snuggle bug and loves being held close, balled up on your chest. He is starting to react more often to more people than just daddy and me- he is giving Kylie the biggest of smiles now too. And of course he is still never far from Sophie. Wow those 10 weeks have gone fast!

Baby Wearing

2012-01-20T22:58:00.001-06:00

Two baby posts in a row? Am I really turning into a mommy blogger?

Since the post sharing a page from B's scrapbook, I've had several people ask me about the wrap picture. Two of whom were shocked to see me baby wearing. I promise I haven't turned into a breast feeding, baby wearing hippie. Even though I'm breast feeding, baby wearing, and wearing hippie looking headbands.

Ahem.

Back to the wraps.

I know it looks like a Moby but given our new financial state you know R isn't letting me buy one of those things (oh but I tried, I really did!).

I did have enough budget money to make a couple wraps though.

Here's what I did- (I promise you can do it too. All you need is fabric and a pair of scissors!)

Purchase 5-6 yards of jersey knit fabric (might be called t-shirt knit, jersey knit, stretchy knit). This stuff goes on sale ALL the time. I got mine for $2.50/yard and purchased 5.5 yards (I'm 5'10" tall).

Next I used sheers to cut the fabric in half length wise.

And that's it! For less than $15 you have two baby wraps!

You don't need to do any sewing but if I had a serger (please, Santa?) I might have serged the edges in a contrasting color.

Who am I kidding? I wouldn't have found time to do that. But you might want to!

Happy baby wearing, hippie friends!

Stocking Up

2012-01-20T09:59:00.001-06:00

I don't think I have any guy readers but just in case- fellas, this post is not for you.

The nesting bug finally hit me (just a little bit late don't ya think?) and I've been cleaning out closets. While doing this I noticed I have an entire closet shelf full of baby shower gift bags. If I were smart I would have wrapped Christmas presents in them this year (they'd forgive me if I pulled the 'just had a baby' card right?). But I'm saving them for another purpose.

Enter: stocking up on BM (no, not that BM, breast milk!).

I've seen lots of ways to store breast milk but in my humble opinion this is the best. I can't take credit for it. I saw it somewhere long before B was born but for the life of me I can't find where.

Anyway, here's the trick:
-Use a bag with a base the same size as your milk bags.
-Cut a rectangle at the bottom of one of the sides on the bag.
-Put your milk in the gift bag.

When you're ready to use it, pull a bag out of the rectangle at the bottom. You'll be using the oldest milk first without having to dig through it checking dates.

Genius, right?

(Bonus tip- lay your fresh milk flat until it freezes before putting it on top of the frozen milk. It stacks up prettier this way and I'm guessing it's better for your milk too. Though I can't prove that last part.)

Happy stocking up!

PS- don't miss my last post. It links up to the Take Heart special!

Recording, Taking Heart, Loving

2012-01-19T22:52:00.000-06:00

I know I just posted that I would be blogging less but little guy has been loving the sleep lately and I've been using my 'me time' to record memories. My goal is to stay current on his scrapbook pages so when he turns a year (yikes) I wont be scrambling to record a years worth of memories. So here's a page of life from right now.

Also, if you could take a minute and check out the {cb}h Valentine special I'd sure appreciate it. Last year my friends and {cb}h clients gave so generously to the Take Heart special. I cant wait to see what you do this year! (And yes, you can definitely give even if you don't want to purchase Valentines!) Thanks in advance for your loving heart!

Ahhh... LOVING. Did you see it there? It keeps following me around like it's my word of the year or something....

"Nothing you do in this world will ever matter unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made." -Francis Chan

Keep spreading the love, y'all!

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-19T11:49:00.001-06:00

I can't help but to feel incredibly blessed whenever I snuggle this little guy. Or whenever I see him or think about him for that matter. Yup. That means I'm feeling incredibly blessed 24/7 these days. Sigh.

Be Here Now

2012-01-18T20:01:00.001-06:00

I'd be blogging more (you know, from the blogger app I finally downloaded) but I have this fear that when B is old enough to draw a picture of his family he'll draw his mommy and daddy with iPhones in their hands. I'd rather he draw a picture of us reading him a book or playing games, tossing a ball or holding hands so I'm putting the phone down and rarely checking it these days.

I'm busy being here right now.

But with a cutie like B to be here with, you cant blame me, right?

Bloglovin

2012-01-16T07:05:00.001-06:00

Since I'm pretty much only at the computer to edit these days, I've been falling behind on all my favorite blogs. I tried to at least keep up with a few of them by my blog list on the right sidebar over there ➡ but for some reason blogger stopped letting me check the dot blogspot version of my blog (has it done that to you too?). So enter bloglovin. I put the app on the iPhone and I have to say... On a Monday morning when all the blogs started updating, it was a beautiful thing. It lets me read a quick overview and head right on over to the blog if I want. Do you use bloglovin? Is your blog on there? If its not you need to add it so I can stay caught up on your blog!
And now that I've re-entered the world of blog reading... What are your favorite blogs??
Happy Monday!

Blogging on the go

2012-01-15T16:24:00.001-06:00

Ok so I'm not really on the go right now but this is my first blogpost from the couch. C/o the blogger iPhone app. Test 1 2......

And an iPhone picture test......

Hopefully this works!

And now I'm off to check out the bloglovin app. Anyone use that one?

Clothes and Such

2012-01-14T17:42:00.002-06:00

Can you tell I've got a growin' boy? He's been sleeping (a lot!) and I've had time to blog a little!

So I thought I should take the opportunity to blog about something really important. Like clothes. :)

Does anyone know of any postpartum style blogs? I'd sure like to see a postpartum, breastfeeding new mom run a nice style blog. Preferably one with my body shape (this new one- the one I don't recognize and don't know how to dress!). I was talking to a stylish mom the other day and we were talking about how hard it is to dress around nursing. Sure, I invested in a few nursing tanks while still pregnant thinking I would be good... but I had no idea how much it would really change the way I dress. I took my Christmas money to hit the clearance racks this week to try to find some things that would work. (I figured everyone was tired of seeing me rotate through the same two tops.) It was so hard! It's much harder to shop for suitable nursing clothes than it was to shop for suitable maternity clothes. What am I missing?!?! How did I not anticipate this?

Here's what I've learned so far.....

1.) The tanks and cardis I thought I would pull off do NOT work. They were cute when that little belly bump was all baby... now that it's just fat the belly clinging tanks aren't so cute. (I learned this the hard way after not one but two nephews asked if I had another baby in my belly!)

2.) Button downs make for easy access and are great.... unless they're silk. (Am I the only one that gets milk on all my clothes?)

3.) If the only two tops you are currently wearing are flowing and nothing else is working in the fitting room... just buy 10 more flowy tops... you're bound to get one that your friends say 'look like you.' (Thanks, girls!) (Oh and I'm not really serious on this one.... I was just desperate at this point!)

4.) A flowy, loose knit sweater (no matter how cute) probably ranks pretty close to the silk in practicality. There's all kind of catchy things for it to snag on now that baby is in tow.

5.) Do not, never ever, no matter what, even if you're excited that your old jeans fit again post a postpartum picture of yourself on facebook. You will get unsolicited messages for wet loss systems and body wraps. What am I doing being facebook friends with these people?! Ha... Just kidding... (sort of).

(The picture that started the unsolicited, might as well be hate mail messages...... )

So I'd like to know.... breastfeeding mamas- how do you do it?! What are your style tips? When will I start loving scarves again??? I need to know!!

A Birth Story | Beckett Dane

2012-01-13T17:22:00.000-06:00

Throughout our pregnancy, we often guessed and wondered when our baby would be born. We talked about what we might be doing when we realized it was 'time.' It was fun to guess what day we might be marking on the calendar for years to come.
Also throughout the pregnancy, our little baby had established a pattern. He was very active late at night, finally falling asleep at midnight. And he was very active early in the morning, waking his mama up at 4:30am. When fall back happened, those times switched to 11pm and 3:30 am respectively. (Keep that in mind for later in the story.)

On Thursday, November 10th, we headed to our routine prenatal appointment. With early signs of preeclampsia, they had been keeping a close eye on my blood pressure and protein levels. At this particular visit I was dilated 1 and 30% effaced with the highest blood pressure I'd had to date. Our OB sent us straight to the hospital. It was looking as though we would be induced but as the maternity ward was filling up fast (due to the full moon or the mom's wanting 11/11/11 babies?) the hospital deemed our case non-emergency and discussed sending us home with our Dr. After a long (LONG) wait that took us late into the evening, we were sent home (no room at the inn!).

I had constant cramping and bleeding from that point on. I was certain I was in pre-labor but I had heard so many times that when the cramping was real contractions "I would just know." Since I had painful contractions in July, I assumed this was not the real deal.
Finally, Saturday night (okay, Sunday morning) at 3:09 am, I called the OB. The constant cramping was enough to keep me awake at night and I needed to know what was up with it! She said I should "probably" go in to the hospital. Since we had been sent in several times and always came home without our baby in our arms, I decided PROBABLY didn't sound real promising so I laid back down. Just 20 minutes before my normal wake up call from baby.

At 3:27 am (right on schedule) I was awakened again by baby H- only this time it was with my water breaking. Laying in bed I felt the 'trickle.' As I got into the bathroom, it was more obvious. I grabbed the amniotest swab and right away it turned green (though I didn't have the results sheet to look at so I wasn't sure what green meant). I called the Dr and she said, "Let's try this again- you NEED to get into the hospital. Go now!"

I woke up R and told him what was going on. "ARE YOU SURE?" he asked. Well, no. I wasn't SURE as my water had never broke but given the situation.... yes, I was pretty sure. ;) We both examined the situation (that's all the details you are getting there.. ha) and decided maybe we should head in. R decided to take a shower first. I finished packing and picked up a little around here. After we made the bed I was getting ready to wash the dishes in the sink when I realized if this baby didn't come out within so often of my water breaking I would need a C-Section. My attitude changed and we HAD to get to the hospital.

We headed in to get checked in. At this point it was nearing 5 am. (Keep in mind we've been checked in to the maternity floor a few times by this point so we were pretty familiar faces around there.) This time they sent us straight to labor and delivery. They quickly gowned me up and deemed us "keepers." It was really about to happen!

Looking at the photo of me arriving in the delivery room, I remember how I felt walking in there. I was a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend. And I was a mom. But not in the sense that I was about to be a mom. It's one thing to be a mom and carrying your sweet baby around in your belly, but standing there in that room at that moment, I could not imagine just how much my life would change that day and just how different the word mom would soon feel to me.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Around 5 am, I was gowned up and hooked up to the machines. My IV was in and all systems were go. I was having enough contractions to be picked up by the monitor (though they still weren't painful) but they weren't moving too fast yet.

In my 'birth plan,' I said I did not want pitocin (I had heard labor hurts more with it), I did not want an epidural too soon (I didn't want it to slow things down) and I did not want an episiotomy (I didn't want the recovery involved).

At 5:45 am, I was started on pitocin. At this point, the alternative discussed was my labor not moving fast enough and ultimately resulting in that C-Section I didn't want so the pitocin didn't sound so evil.

Once I was on it, things started moving pretty quickly. At 7:20 am, we contacted our doula and contractions were picking up. Before too long, I was dilated to 5. R had been doing some great work on my back and I tried sitting on the birth ball. That combined with the pain shots that started at 9:00am and I wasn't struggling too bad.

By 9:30, I was getting pretty uncomfortable. Rusty spent a lot of time holding me close and praying. He was a rockstar! But I went ahead and got a second pain shot. It made me feel well enough to send Rusty off to eat. I even sat up and read my Karen Kingsbury book I had been wanting to finish before baby's arrival. It didn't last long and by 9:45 I needed R back. Now! With some cold compresses and pressure, I was feeling well enough to rest in between contractions and R was reading, "The Power of a Praying Parent" to me. Our Dr arrived at 9:50 and said everything was looking great!

By 10:55 am all of the pain meds were wearing off and I started throwing up. Our doula kept telling us that this was a good sign! I felt well enough to eat after vomiting so I kept sneaking snacks. I remember eating some granola bars and fruit snacks but I was insistent that Rusty eat the red fruit snacks so they wouldn't think there was blood in my vomit. (I don't know if that was silly or not?) Our nurse, Laurel, was the most amazing nurse and was completely cool with me sneaking the snacks. She was great at turning her head and 'not knowing' a thing was going on. :) She did bring me some popsicles which weren't bad and hospital jello which was horrible. Rusty kept working on the back pressure points (he really was a rockstar!).

At 11:00 Laurel (seriously, the best labor and delivery nurse we could have asked for!) asked if I was ready for the epidural. I knew I wanted one but I really felt great in between contractions so I didn't want it yet if it was going to slow things down. She suggested calling it in anyway so it was there when I was ready for it. I'm so glad she did.

I was starting to get pretty uncomfortable. I was hot and the cold compresses were feeling good. The only problem with them was that I kept using them to wipe myself up- I did not like feeling dirty on one of the biggest days of my life so vomit, sweat, and all other bodily fluids were getting wiped up as quickly as I could. I was told later that we ended up going through about 20 washcloths.... oops! They kept having to replace them from the laundry cart. By 11am I was already dilated to 9cm.

When Laurel had said things could start moving quickly.... 'quickly' turned out to be an understatement. By the time my epidural (finally) arrived (at 11:48am) I was dilated to 9 1/2. At this point they said I was close enough to deliver without it. However, also at this point I NEEDED that epidural 10 MINUTES AGO. ;) They went ahead and gave me the epidural. (I've had SEVERAL people tell me they thought you couldn't have an epidural that late. The nurses all told me that was a myth and that you can get an epidural anytime before the baby crowns. I have no education in this area but I do know they gave me an epidural at this point!) We were SO happy to see that epidural tray arrive!

At 11:50 am they did a test run of the epidural and at 11:55 am they did the actual epidural. I am told that R and I were rock steady and we didn't waiver a bit. I have no memory whatsoever of the epidural being painful at all. I remember watching videos of it done and being told that it hurts- honestly I don't even remember it going in. I had my head buried on R's chest and I remember focusing all of my energy into the point where my head met his chest and before I knew it they said they were done. The worst part of the epidural was the chills I started getting afterwards.

By 12:10 I was feeling great again and I remember being so relaxed and happy and excited about what was about to happen. R finally let me start telling what B's name was! It was fun to start saying it out loud to other people. At 12:45 R started calling the people that I wanted to call. Originally we thought it would just be R & I in the labor and delivery room and we wouldn't call anyone until B was 2 hours old. Well when it came down to it I was so excited I wanted my mom and a best friend there. Jen showed up around this time and I was so excited to see her. I felt so loved and honored that she would come spend this amazing day with us. She is an awesome support (and also an awesome photographer. She grabbed my camera and got some amazing shots of the day). She was exactly what I needed!

At 1pm, they had me practice push. I felt so unprepared going into this part but Dr. Kemp-Glock (our favorite OB!) and Laurel (the amazing nurse!) were so awesome. They had me push. And push. And push. In between pushes we joked around and I showed off my 'push present' to myself (my new boots!). :) By 1:55, my mom had shown up. My older sister brought her. We all thought they would wait in the waiting room but to everyone's surprise (I think even they were surprised) they stayed. Mom kept saying she didn't want to but she did anyway. Ha. It was the first birth (other than us 5 kids) that my mom witnessed. B's a pretty special baby to get that stat!
Everyone started telling me they could see B's hair but they all kept telling me different colors... I heard blonde, black, brown, red. I was getting frustrated with this and told them to knock it off until they could tell me for sure! (I figured they were just making it up since they couldn't agree on the color) It's funny because B is currently 2 months old and we STILL don't know what color his hair is. Ha! It definitely looks different colors depending on the light (and how clean or greasy it is...ha).
By 2:53 I was so tired of pushing and ready for the show to get on the road so I had my mom come over to the bedside. She prayed over us. Rusty gave me my beautiful push present (my necklace!). And all of a sudden it was time to deliver!

At 3:10, I had the strangest fluttering, kicking, moving sensation way low. Dr. Kemp-Glock said B was getting in his last kicks and was ready to make his way into the world! I was really, really, really tired of pushing by this point. Everyone kept talking about B's head and the Dr. talked me into reaching down to feel it. I completely did not want to. They had to talk me into it but I finally did. Ohmygoodness it was one of the most amazing things ever to feel my baby on the outside of my body for the first time ever. I remember the love that flooded over me at that moment and I cant imagine I had to be talked into doing it.
At 3:25 pm Dr. Kemp-Glock tells me that I can push for 20 more minutes or she can do a small episiotomy and I can have my baby in my arms after the very next push. I was so conflicted on what to do and asked everyone for the right answer! Finally I said OK let's do it! Literally she snipped a tiny cut and his head slipped right out at 3:26pm! (OH if I'd only known it was 'that easy' I would have had the episiotomy a lot sooner! Ha) They have me stop pushing, they get him ready and with one more easy push, our perfect baby boy entered the world at 3:27pm.

I can't describe with words what happened after that. They laid this perfect little miracle that I had dreamed about for so long on my chest and he was mine. R&I just stared at him. I remember thinking, "OH so that's who you are." And just like that he was our little man and it felt like he had always been here. It's amazing how fast that bond happens, how fast that connection begins. And how fast you forget what being a family of two felt like.

Rusty cut his umbilical cord at 3:29pm. My mom came over to meet her newest grandson. At 3:32 Laurel took Beckett to check his vitals. Rusty followed that baby as close as he could! His vitals were great- an 8.5 Apgar at birth and a 9 soon after. He weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and was 21.5in long!

I have no idea what was going on with myself at this time. I'm told they delivered the placenta and stitched me up but I honestly don't remember it.

At 3:42, Rusty gets to hold Beckett for the first time. This moment was one of my very favorite moments of the day. Seeing his face in this moment was amazing. The only other time I ever remember seeing so much emotion in Rusty's face was when we were married. It was magical to see him transform into a daddy right in front of my eyes. This is when my happy tears started!

At 3:54, I (finally!) got Beckett back into my arms. We got him latched on right away and I was so proud of my little champ! At some point in the day my dad had shown up at the hospital. (It was by chance that he happened to be in Des Moines when all this was going on and by chance that he was able to make it. I'm so glad it worked out this way because otherwise I'm not sure when he would have been able to meet B!). He (not so) patiently waited outside the door and was finally let in at 4:30 when B was finished eating. He was a pretty proud papa. My mom and dad both got to hold the little guy before we got ready to head down to postpartum.

I was on cloud nine and feeling great until they got me out of bed to see if I could use the restroom. My blood pressure dropped, I turned green and just about hit the floor. They got me back into bed and I started getting chills. They covered me with heated blankets and put a catheter in before I could go downstairs. Once my levels were okay, they got me into the wheelchair and we got ready to check out of the delivery room. I am ALWAYS the one to check under the beds and around the bathroom sink (twice) before leaving a hotel room. That thought crossed my mind for half a second as Laurel asked if we got everything but my sweet baby boy was in my arms and that was all I was really concerned about leaving that room with. (I have no idea who packed everything up. And I do mean everything! We had a ton of stuff in there!

As they wheeled us down the hall, through the bright lights and over the bump into the elevator, my sweet little guy started fussing and right away with nothing more than my voice and my hands, I was able to sooth him.

That's when I realized I was a mom. I was his mom.

And it was amazing.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. We went to the nursery (while we were in there Maddox showed up and got to see Beckett through the window) then back to the room where B had a room full of visitors. Once everything calmed down and our visitors were gone, the three of us laid in the hospital bed and 'Safe and Sound' came on the playlist. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. Our little guy was here. He was in our arms. And he was indeed, safe and sound. God is SO good!

(This may be the longest blog post ever and I'm not going to proofread it right now. Sorry! Also, no I didn't remember those times. I had started a timeline on my iPhone but by 4:55 I had given that up. Thankfully, our doula Sara kept a great record of everything and shared it with me later. She (and everyone else that was a part of our amazing day) was awesome!)

Shots and Smiles

2012-01-13T14:32:00.002-06:00

Happy TWO Months to the B-meister!
Can you believe it's been two months already since this sweet little guy was born? We sure cant!

He had his two month well baby check today. He had his immunizations, which he wasn't a fan of (who can blame him!!?), but the rest of it went well and he flashed his little smile a few times for his favorite Dr. (Who told us today she checks out our site. Ha! If you happen to see this post- hi, Hollie!) :)

Any guesses on how much the chunky monkey weighs??

13 lbs 6.5 oz! And he's 25 inches tall! He's in the 99% for height and 87% for weight. (I'm sure you guys all know but I didn't really know before B was born that the weight percentile is based off of their height so compared to most 2 month olds he weighs much more than them but compared to other babies at his height he is in the 87% for weight. If that makes any sense to ya! In other words, on the growth chart his weight is comparable to the 4 month olds, in clothes he is starting to wear 3-6 month old, and for medicine he takes the 4-11 month old dose. Yup. He's a big boy!)

He's smiling and talking all the time! I've been taking little videos of it here and there and R&I lay in bed at night watching them as I tell him about our day (you know when we should be sleeping!).

Speaking of sleeping.... we have some big news. I cant believe I didn't mention it in his last update post but he's been sleeping in his own crib now and it's been going great. In fact, last night he slept all night long. Did you hear that?? HE SLEPT THE ENTIRE NIGHT! Yes, that's definitely a first around here but one we could get used to!

We feel so blessed everyday to have this amazing little (big!) miracle in our lives! We love him to pieces!

An Update and an 8 Week Picture

2012-01-08T21:03:00.002-06:00

There's so much I could say about this post that I wrote last year and was surprised by when it posted last week. I'll just say that we have been blessed beyond measure in the last year and we are so thankful for all of the opportunity that was thrown our way in 2010 and '11.

Speaking of '11, I'd like to do a recap post but it was such an amazing year that I don't know where I would begin! Maybe one day I'll get to one!

And you may have noticed (okay probably only my mom noticed) that we missed a 7 week picture. R had been asking when I was going to stop doing them EVERY week so I guess that was the accidental answer. He's grown so much since his 6 week picture though that we had to take an updated one before too much more time passed... so here is the little (not so little) guy at 8 weeks. His daddy often tells him there's no room left in those cheeks for anymore milk! But we think he makes a pretty cute little chubby baby!

A highlight since his last update is that he's added 3 states to his list of states he's visited. He was a great little traveler as we headed to OK for a family Christmas.
He's smiling more than ever and telling stories like crazy. He is content to entertain himself for longer periods of time because he's finally taking interest in toys. Sophie the giraffe is his favorite though he did spend a good 5 minutes telling stories to his elephant today.
He has outgrown some of his 0-3 and is wearing some 3-6. The outfit in this picture is a 3-6. One piece outfits don't work real well on his long little body but this one from Naartjie is an outfit R & I picked up on our anniversary trip last year and is one of the very few pieces of clothing we have ever bought the little guy.
He's starting to do tummy time for longer periods of time but if he goes a day without doing much of it, he is leery to start at it again.
Evenings have been rough for him lately. It may be awhile before we go to another game as the last one we went to he was wanting mama cuddles the whole time.
He's showing more and more of his little personality everyday. One of my favorite things that he does now is smile real big when seeing me or his daddy after not seeing us for a little bit. Melts my heart every time!!

My Hopes for 2011.

2011-12-31T12:34:00.002-06:00

As I type this, it's still 2010. Christmas is just around the corner and we are getting ready to welcome in 2011. While career and health wise, 2010 (and 09, and....) was a challenging year, the year did bring high hopes for a bright future.

To choose one quote to sum up my feelings on 2010 it would be:

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." -Einstein

Choosing one word for 2010: opportunity.

With multiple challenges at work, God placed an amazing opportunity in my lap (literally- in the form of a new camera near the end of 2009). I started the year with a new hobby and it morphed into a part-time, then full-time (when I could find the the time) job.

I discovered that I loved it. And that, with some adjustments, I could possibly make it a career.

We were (still) struggling with infertility. (As I type this, we still are- please don't correct my tense use English teachers- I have high hopes that God will change this from 'are' to 'were' by the time this posts.

We think about adoption. We talk about adoption. We've hoped to adopt but the doors keep closing.

It is in our hearts and we do hope to adopt someday but at this point I'm longing for a newborn in our arms.

Photographing newborns is such a treasure to me. I meet these tiny, precious, miracles just a few days old and I just fall in love. I'm completely in awe of them. I take the job of capturing their brand newness seriously. I'm truly blessed to get the chance to take on this job. I am humbled and honored that parents would choose me to capture these memories and that God would use me to record this moment in their lives.

I think about adoption and how, in some cases, parents may not get to meet their little one as a newborn (and sometimes not until much later). My heart aches for them but I love that this job helps me to preserve that special newborn time.

I had a dream last night. Rusty and I were cuddling on our very own newborn. We were so happy. I believe God. I believe that He has a big plan for us. I pray, oh I pray, that His plan for us involves blessings in the form of babies. To be honest, I had lost hope that it did until I woke up from my dream last night. It was the happiest I had been in such a long time. Even as I awoke, I wasn't sad that it was only a dream- I was happy that it was God's way of telling me whats yet to come. I trust in Him. I have high hopes for this year.

As I think about opportunity in the middle of difficulty, I have to wonder if His plan for me might involve using my pain from longing for a newborn and applying it to photography. I would love, love, love to start photographing more newborns and maybe He's given me the love I need for them by making it so much more meaningful to me.

I pray that when this posts (long after I've forgotten about it and right when I will be surprised to see it) that I'm on a new career path, that I'm holding a baby in my arms, and that R and I love each other more than ever. I pray that we will be praising God for all the blessings in 2011 and thanking Him for carrying out His will in our lives.

I know I'm thankful for His will in my life in 2010. I don't fully understand it yet, but I feel so blessed.

2011-12-27T22:13:00.000-06:00

'A baby will make love stronger, daysshorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, thepast forgotten and the future worth living for.' - unknown

Beckett on the {cb}h Blog.

2011-12-27T12:47:00.001-06:00

There are finally a few pictures of Beckett up on the {cb}h blog (which translates into 'I'm finally caught up on {cb}h work and had time to save my own little guy's photos!').
You can check him out here: http://www.capturedbyheidiphoto.com/2011/12/beckett-dane-brand-new.html

In related news...
How do you stay caught up and organized with all the pictures of your own kids? I am SO organized with my client shots it's ridiculous. I have them saved and backed up and saved again. They are organized by client and date and I can find them in no time.

You would think it would be easy for me to do the same with B's pictures but it's not! I think part of the reason is that there are pictures of him that I want to edit (while most of them I don't edit) so sorting between the two becomes tricky.
One of the big reasons that I wanted to start photography in the first place was to be able to capture photos of our own babies some day. I have to admit... I have taken less photos of Beckett than I have of many of my clients. Seriously. Isn't that terrible!!?!?

Take his 'newborn' photos for instance. We had literally snapped 3 'newborn' shots of him and two of those were just laying in our bed upstairs. We finally got a few more pictures of him at 5 weeks old. FIVE WEEKS. He was definitely not bendy and posey anymore. :(

Setting the studio up for a session then doing the actual pictures is A LOT of work. The set up, the clean up, the time, the editing, etc... it takes forever. And frankly (I'm really embarrassed to admit this.....) it's hard to do when you aren't getting paid. Okay, yes, my payment would have been the pictures of my sweet baby but when it comes between pictures of him and pictures of someone else's baby that pay the bills, I had to choose the other. How sad is that?
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE taking pictures. I really do love it and I'm really blessed to have a hobby that can help pay the bills but just because I love doing it doesn't mean it's not a lot of work.

I guess I'm just wondering how my photographer friends manage to get it all done. How do you stay caught up on your paid work and find time to document your own life? How do you enjoy the moment but still manage to get photos of the moments? Do you take your camera to family functions or leave it behind so people don't put you to work?

Last year I did the 365 and it was so fun to go back through and put them all together. I didn't do it this year and I have hardly any photos from 2011. (Even since B's birth!) I am contemplating doing it again in 2012 but so afraid of getting caught up in the pictures and missing out on the moments. Any suggestions??

Christmas Morning

2011-12-26T22:09:00.002-06:00

It was the best Christmas morning ever. I'm SO glad we were able to celebrate Christmas at home as a new little family. It was perfect!! Beckett was up and ready to go but daddy wanted to sleep in so we had to wait. (I kind of thought those type of Christmas mornings would come when B was a little older!) ;)

Once we were all up, we drank our hot chocolate in front of the fireplace- one of my favorite things to do!

We opened up our gifts. Santa brought me a bread machine, daddy some new shoes (and a matching pair for B!) and a jumperoo for Beckett. R & I had tasty treats in our stocking and B had a toy (thanks, Kelly!) and an ISU jersey. B also got his stroller from grandma and his tricycle from grandpa on Christmas day. It will be a little while before he gets to use them but he was already loving riding around the house in the stroller. He LOVED looking at everything from his new view.

I'm so thankful that we had this morning to celebrate our Saviour's birth and to celebrate all the many blessings He's given us this year. My sweet little family is the best Christmas present I could ask for! We are so blessed!

Bye, Bye!

2011-12-26T21:49:00.001-06:00

It's been such a big part of our lives it only seems appropriate to document her last day with us.... We made a million memories in the rear wheel drive beast. :) And traveled what feels like a million miles in it.

Black Betty's last day with the H fam......

B's first and last ride in the beast.

And moving on.........

Me with my Christmas present. :)

How appropriate.... ;)

Six Weeks

2011-12-26T21:37:00.003-06:00

SIX weeks. B turned 6 weeks old on Christmas Day. It was our first Christmas morning at home as a family. It was SO great to be able to spend that time together. We drank some hot chocolate (R&me... not B) and opened gifts.. but maybe I'll get around to a post all about Christmas one of these days.

Back to week SIX.

We had a few visitors again this week which was great. The visitors had slowed down for awhile and it was crazy to have to start cooking again! We had been really spoiled!! It was great to have friends over again.

R worked a short week at school so we had Thursday off to run errands and get things done. I (FINALLY) got my hair cut. I lost 5 inches!! It was a bit drastic. However, I quickly noticed that when you have a baby it really doesn't matter what you look like or how much hair you lose. NO one will notice! (Okay.... that's stretching the truth. One of my sisters and my aunt noticed but the other 50 some people we saw did not. Ha.)

While we were in town for haircuts, we took the car in for an oil change. Of course they came out with something else that needed fixed that was a $675 fix. In case you are keeping track, that would make it into the thousands now in recent car repairs for us. Since B and I had recently been on the side of the road on the East side (no offense east siders), it didn't take much discussion for us to get a new car. They had it ready for us Friday so B had his first and last ride in the Mountaineer that day as we took it to the dealership to trade it in. We are loving our new sleigh so far!

B is growing, growing, GROWING and moving, moving, MOVING! He has decided he needs someone to put him down for a nap now and is having hard time falling asleep on his own so he's been a little more fussy than his usual happy self. This week's picture gives you a 'behind the scenes' look how it's becoming more and more difficult for his weekly shots. He is great at sitting up in the corner of the couch but this rounded chair tends to throw him out so he's stuck trying to lay down. I picked a really bad chair for his weekly pictures!! Should've gone with the white couch!

One day I told R that B didn't look like a newborn anymore and within the next three days several people told us the same thing. He's looking 'older' all of a sudden!

At 6 weeks, we FINALLY moved him out of the bassinet part of his sleeper. It was way past time as his little feet hung over the end when he stretched but it's so hard to try something new when it comes to sleeping. Thankfully, he adapted well and actually had a great night's sleep. Hopefully that continues!

We had more Christmas celebrations this week but I hope to get a whole post about Christmas up soon.

Cant believe the little guy is SIX weeks old already and also that Christmas had already happened. Thankfully we leave our tree up until New Years and we still have some Christmas celebrating to do so it's not over yet! :)

Merry Christmas from The H Family!

2011-12-25T11:16:00.000-06:00

We hope your Christmas morning was as beautiful as ours was!

(Updated... I thought I had published this yesterday but I came to post his 6 week picture and noticed it never went up. Kind of like my stack of Christmas cards that still haven't been sent out. Oops!)

B's Favorite Things

2011-12-20T06:22:00.000-06:00

Last year around this time (or actually quite a bit earlier) I posted about my favorite things and gift ideas. It's funny how my favorite things have changed so much in a year and that my favorite things this year are kind of more like B's favorite things. (Or at least I'm sure they would be if he could tell me.)

1.) MamaRoo

'It moves like you do' is their big selling point. It sounds gimmicky but the thing really is awesome. B is pretty content in it and likes the different settings for different things. (Some of them put him to sleep!) B's big cousin, Maddox, liked the iPod dock feature and said, "Your baby is gonna love this." He was so right! Mama loves it too. And about everyone that comes to the house asks about the thing (Ang could vouch for this, haha). We drag this thing all over the house but the two most popular spots are by the computer (while I edit) and next to the upstairs tree (while we're up there). I love when it's by the tree because it almost looks like it's under the tree so I love the reminder of B under the tree and that he's the only gift we need around here this year! (Corny much?) ;)

2.) Aden & Anais Swaddling wraps for 77 Kids

So they don't have to be the 77 Kids brand (which is good because they style B has are all sold out but they did have pretty rockin' choices) but the Aden & Anais wraps are the best. I wasn't sure how much I would use them in the winter (they're light weight so I thought they might be more of a summer staple) but they are just perfect for swaddling and we are pretty sad when all of his end up in the dirty laundry at the same time.

3.) Medela iBreastfeed App on the iPhone

(I should have taken my own screenshot and posted it but my phone is upstairs right now.)

There are a lot of baby trackers out there. I had downloaded several to check out before B was born (and even a paid one that I've still never got to work!! Ugh!). This one is my favorite. I like how it lets me track multiple activities at the same time (through the night, it's common for me to pump while R gives B a bottle). I like the way you can log activities so easily and time activities so easily. My family was making fun of me for tracking B's every move the first couple weeks of his life but it was SO helpful. Seriously- who can remember what time baby ate last when everyone is sleep deprived? When baby is real tiny and you're still figuring out his different cries and hunger signals, the app is helpful in checking to see how long it's been since a certain activity and if that might be what he needs.
At 5 weeks, I no longer track every single activity but I do still use the feeding timer (it's great because now that he is more social he sometimes pulls off to stop and smile at me. I LOVE that he does that but this distraction of his makes it hard to tell if he's done eating or not. Usually the timer is a good indicator for me.) I also time pumping sessions (which is great in the middle of the night when I'm barely awake in a mostly dark room).

And yes... this 'favorite' may be more mine than his but when this screen is up it means eating time for him so I'm sure he loves it too! ;)

So those (along with B's pacifier) are some of our favorite things right now. What's topping your list?

5 Weeks

2011-12-18T23:32:00.000-06:00

5 WEEKS!!!

Highlights of this week:

You are a chunky monkey! We went to our first Mommy n Me class and you weighed in at 10 lbs 3 oz! They said you should have gained 1 to 2 pounds by now and you had gained more than 3. That was on Tuesday and I'm certain you were heavier today than yesterday so I'm sure you are even bigger now. You've been in 0-3 month tops for awhile now but are just now starting to make 0-3 month pants work. For as big as you are, you still have a pretty tiny waist. I really need a 'big and TALL' baby store to find pants that work on your LONG self.

In other news, you are smiling more and more. You have so many more smiles when you are awake now. It makes it really hard to get much else done because it's so easy to sit and stare at you when you're so smiley. You really are a pretty happy baby most of the time. (Gosh, I hope I didn't just jinx us.)

It was a busy week but I cant remember too much of what we did. We made it to a couple more basketball games and had another family Christmas. You got to see C&C again and they were still smitten with you. We did a little Christmas shopping and you got to see grandma and SANTA. You were definitely intrigued while meeting Santa for the first time. You just stared and stared at him. He was so glad to meet you and said that he knew you had been a very good boy this year. All you asked for was some good nights sleep. He said he'd try to bring some to mommy too.

Speaking of which... you have been asleep for two hours now so mommy should get to bed as well!

Happy FIVE weeks! Let's take this coming week a little slower, shall we?

2011-12-13T21:21:00.000-06:00

Dear Beckett,
(Sorry blog world, I promise I'll stop with the letters to Beckett soon and acknowledge you again. Maybe...)
I'm holding you in my arms right now. I just had to run to the computer and write to you before I forgot how this moment made me feel. On your one month birthday (right now!), you and I were snuggling on the couch just looking at each other. We were studying each other's faces very carefully and at the same time we smiled at each other. I know it might have just been gas for you but it really filled my heart anyway. You are the sweetest, most amazing thing. My heart swells with love when I see your face or say your name or just think about you. For the life of me, I cant remember what life was like without you in it. You've always been a part of daddy & me's stories- we just didn't know it. And as much as we tried to imagine, we certainly didn't know what an amazing part of it you would be. Everyday I love you so much more- and I didn't even know that was possible. I cannot believe you've been here an entire month already. And at the same time, I cant believe you've only been here a month. Seeing you smiley and snuggly, ready for bed after a great day is my life's biggest accomplishment. I used to dream about who you might be or what you might be like but now I know that whatever you do in life, I'll love you so much anyway. Thank you for giving me and daddy the most amazing month of our lives little guy. We love you so, so much.
Love, Your Mama

Now we need to go find your month by month photo cards and take your picture. A very special friend gave them to us and I put them away in a very safe spot--- that I cant remember....

Bombers

2011-12-12T20:57:00.001-06:00

B went to his first BHS Bombers game last week. (And it was my first game in the new gym. Pretty exciting!)
Two years ago, the Ballard at Carlisle game was my friend Meredith's little guy's first ball game (her husband is the Carlisle coach) so it was fun to eat dinner her them and have B's first game be the Carlisle at Ballard game. Two years ago, I took their family pictures and Zane's picture with the program from his first game- this time around Mere took our photos and B's photo with the program. So fun!
B slept through the entire game and only woke up when it was time to leave. I'm sure he'll have plenty more games to stay awake for in the future though!

(Oh yeah- Ballard won!)

FOUR Weeks

2011-12-12T14:38:00.001-06:00

You are FOUR weeks old, Beckett! (Again- we took your picture late last night and I'm just now getting around to posting it as you lay curled up on my chest.)
I have no idea how four weeks have already passed. You had another busy week. You went shopping for your first Wishing Tree gift. We got a flat tire on the way there. Daddy got the spare on and got us to the tire shop. Of course they don't have changing tables there so we did your first dirty diaper in the lap change. It's a lot easier changing just wets in the lap. Mama had her first public nursing experience (and then had several more this week). So far, my observations on this is that most people ignore you while you nurse (they just run over to see the baby when you're done) but the older men seem to take notice and uncomfortably say 'hello' or 'how are you?' as they walk by. Interesting.
In other firsts, you had your first paid babysitter (as mama worked) and attended your first Ballard basketball game. 'Aunt' Ang is your sitter and you seemed to do just fine. The Ballard game was against Carlisle so your new friend Zane went with us. I actually did get pictures there so maybe I'll get those posted too.
Lastly, you had your very first Christmas celebration. We went to Aunt Kerry's house and your cousins loved on you. You look right at the boys and smile and coo when they talk to you. One of these days (way too soon) you'll be running around with them too. You just wait.
Happy Four Week Birthday, little guy. We love you so much!

Christmas Craft Day '11

2011-12-05T19:02:00.001-06:00

We had the third edition of Craft Day here at the Hicks' Ranch last weekend.
Of course it was attended by some fabulous women. I'm blessed to have such great gals to craft with in my life! :) We had some breakfast and did some crafting. And lots of catching up. In fact, by the time I realized what time it was, we had missed lunch and it was time for dinner (which we ate breakfast leftovers for!). Good times!

I realized I didn't get a photo of each craft (and I would take a photo of each of mine but I haven't quite finished all of mine yet.... ha). I tried to get a crafting in action photo but almost everyone hid as the camera came out. Please note the paper covered tables though. No super glue casualties this time around!! :)

We had a little guest make his way downstairs. (Somehow on daddy daycare day, daddy ended up leaving to work out. How does that work?! Ha)

And some of the crafty girls. I never think to take a picture until at least one chica is gone (sorry, Lisa!) and we're also missing Jen (who sent her craft up but stayed home so she wouldn't spread her germs. I ended up getting sick anyway. Bummer!).

But I did get a photo of:
(br) Jill, Erin, Ashley, Kari, Anne
(fr) Molly, Me, Kelsey & Jaren

With some of our crafty goodness.

You can check out all of the projects below (and check out the blogs from those lovely ladies- maybe they'll post their finished projects..... hint hint girls!):

-vintage paper ornaments
-braided headbands
-santa belly ornaments
-scrapbook CDs
-ruffle bags
-block letters
-button paperclips
-button bobby pins
-t-shirt necklace

Thanks for another Craftastic Day, girls!! Cant wait to do it again!

(PS- Have you noticed all the blogging going on here today? I still have the 'snotty nose, sore throat, cant cuddle a baby crud' so Mr Beckett is sitting next to me in his MamaRoo while I blog in between naps- and feel too lousy to do anything else around here... you know.. except for stare at the laundry pile I should be folding)

A Birth Story | Beckett Dane (part 1)

2011-12-05T16:47:00.001-06:00

(And..... I just realized this story is going to have to happen in parts because I have a sweet baby to cuddle. Hopefully part 2 will be posted shortly. Don't hold me to that though!)

Three Weeks

2011-12-05T13:19:00.001-06:00

Dear Beckett,
You are THREE WEEKS old today! Well yesterday, but we didn't get a post up fast enough. In fact, we barely got a photo taken. At about 10pm, daddy said we needed to get one in. Mama was feeling awfully sick and hadn't made it too far away from the couch all day. We snapped a quick picture and took the first one we got. I imagine there will be more photos of you not posing perfectly and looking at the camera. I'm okay with that.
I do love this picture though because it shows how big you are. Especially compared to that two week picture. Almost everyday this week we commented on how much bigger and older you looked. I imagine you packed on several ounces this week. ;)
You are smiling and cooing so much more. You have a little chuckle that you let out and it gets us all laughing. They say the first real smile is the one that you use your entire face for. You smile with your whole face every time so we thought it would be hard to tell when your first 'real' smile was. Though this week, you smiled after we were talking and laughing with you and it didn't coincide with shortly after a feeding so we think it may have been the real deal. :)
Though you seem to be getting bigger, you're still a skinny thing. With your length, it's hard to find clothes that fit right now. Newborns are too short and 0-3s are too bulky and we worry about them bunching around your face while you sleep. Currently you're sleeping in a one piece thats definitely high waters on you. Don't worry, we didn't take your photo in them.
Your major highlight this week was spending lots of time with grandma. She came to stay for three days while mama went back to work. It was SO nice to have her here and we were all spoiled. You definitely missed her as soon as she was gone (we all did!).
Happy 3 Weeks, little guy! We love you so much!

B Update

2011-11-29T14:24:00.001-06:00

I know I'm so going to wake a sleeping baby by blogging right now.... but here we go anyway....

Everyone keeps asking how the little guy is doing and my wrote response is 'great!' I've been SO bad at replying to messages and typically when I do, I'm on my phone so it's short and sweet. Several of you have asked about coming to visit and we would LOVE to see you! If I haven't gotten back to you, email me again. (Things were just so crazy busy with visitors in the beginning that I didn't have dates to send out to people. We are a little more free now though so let me know when you can come!)

He really is a good baby but I still haven't gotten much done around here to show for it. Our house is a mess. I'm on an every day and a half shower schedule. I haven't even attempted to try on anything other than maternity clothes. And the laundry piles are huge. But life is so good right now!

B sleeps between 3 and 4 hours at night (until I publish this post then I'm sure he'll be awake all night!). We were struggling with the nursing at night in the beginning. At night, he was too sleepy to nurse and I was too tired to help him. He screamed. I cried. Right away we switched game plans and I started pumping and bottle feeding through the night and nursing through the day. It has worked out so much better for us! I'm a little nervous about starting back to work more often because on the rare occasion that he gets a bottle during the day, he's a lazy nurser and we have to work at it again the next couple feedings. We have been praying since before he was born that he would be a good nurser and we keep saying that same prayer! I wouldn't call nursing easy but he does do a pretty good job!

His official weight yesterday (right after a dirty diaper even) was 7lbs 14.5oz so over 10oz more than where they wanted him! That was great news! Also, he was 22" long at the two week check. He is 25% for weight and 90% for height. Nearly all the Drs comment on how tall and skinny he is! That paired with his big hands and feet get him a lot of comments about what a great basketball player he will be. You know his daddy eats that right up but we always remind him he can choose to play whatever sports and do whatever activities he wants (as long as its not wrestling... ha). His head is right on track with his weight and is at 25%.

He is going to the family dr here in town and I'm already thankful that we ended up making that our final decision. It was so hard to decide what to do but in the end, I think this is what works best for us. It's already proven to be a great choice and the ladies at the office are so great with him. Everyone loves on him and he's pretty much a celebrity already- they get us checked in as soon as they see us pull in the drive. Makes me feel good that he's not just another patient but that they actually know us!

Well I'm probably pressing my luck so I better get off the computer (I actually did get some cbh work done though!). I'll leave you with a B picture from a week ago. He's already changed so much since then!!

Two Weeks

2011-11-27T20:30:00.001-06:00

The last two weeks have FLOWN by. It seems like it's gone so fast but at the same time, an entire lifetime has happened and it feels like B has always been here.
At two weeks old, B holds his head up for short periods of time to check people out. He's super alert when he's awake. He LOVES his cuddle time and is the very best little snuggler. He has met SO many people in the last week. He's had his first Thanksgiving and now his first Christmas stocking is hanging on the mantle. He has a million looks to him. Most of the time he looks like Beckett but we also see his daddy in there. He adores his cousin Morgan and she is so good with him. She reads books to him and cuddles him. He has given her more smiles and coos than anyone else (except his mama and daddy!). He's grown SO much. He started at 7lbs 4oz and at his lowest weight was around 6lbs 13.5oz. At his weight check this week, his unofficial (with a dry diaper and onesie on) weight was a whopping 7lbs 13oz!! We'll get his official weight at his two week check tomorrow. And lastly... I hate to even say it because I know you wont believe me until you see it, but the kid has rolled over... three times now! The first time was in his crib and he ended up with his face against the railing. :( The second time was at the Drs office and the Dr witnessed it (so I wasn't the only one to see it! R and the Dr saw it too though we all couldn't believe it!). And then just last night he did it again on the couch. I tried recording it but he was getting mad doing it and I didn't have the heart to keep recording and listen to him fuss.
It's amazing how much life has happened in the last two weeks. We couldn't be more blessed!
Happy Two Week Birthday, Little Guy!!

10 on.....

2011-11-23T09:02:00.001-06:00

I promise we've been recording a million (almost) things we're thankful for around here. I even thought about posting a 10 on Tuesday yesterday but then I started staring at this sweet little babe and decided I'd rather do that instead. I could blog, reply to the 4 pages of backed up emails (or voicemails, texts, facebook messages, ets) or I could just sit here and snuggle this sweet thang a little longer. I think I'll choose the latter. After all, he's only 10 days old once. And we've got lots of snuggling to do.

You'll forgive me if I show you this... right? :)

Happy Thanksgiving, all! (Cause we all know I wont be blogging tomorrow!)

Beckett's Birth Day

2011-11-21T18:22:00.001-06:00

Just over a week ago, Beckett entered our lives on what was one of the most amazing days ever. His birth day went much better than I ever dreamed and I cant wait to share his birth story soon. In the meantime, here are a few photos recapping the day.
Two of my favorite memories of ~~the day~~ my life:
-seeing the look on R's face and the tears in his eyes the first time he held our son.
-at the end of the amazing day when our last visitors left and it was just the three of us left in our room. We were snuggling in the bed and Matthew West's 'Safe & Sound' started playing on the playlist. It was the most beautiful, amazing thing ever.

We thank God every day for this little miracle. We are so, so blessed.

(I've been told they are a bit graphic so don't watch if that bothers you. Also a huge thank you to my friend Jen and to Sara Abrams of Like a Fox Photography for being there to take photos. I will cherish these forever.)

To view on mobile device: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh1LPTryg_8

One Week

2011-11-20T20:31:00.001-06:00

10 on Tuesday

2011-11-15T21:23:00.001-06:00

10 Fingers.

10 Toes.

And 10 million reasons to be thankful today.

We are so in love.

We Are So Blessed

2011-11-13T22:56:00.000-06:00

No.....

2011-11-11T10:38:00.001-06:00

.... I haven't 'popped' yet. I'm not even sure what that means.

I am trying to remember that people are only asking because they care but I promise when Baby H makes his big debut, we'll let everyone know.

I am appreciating all the notes of encouragement while we wait. You know, the ones that aren't prefaced with, 'have you popped yet?' Ha.

Our bp guard dog was working hard yesterday and by late afternoon almost crazy. Turns out at our regular OB appointment my bp was the highest it's been yet and we had some other preeclampsia signs so the Dr sent us right in to the hospital. We kind of sort of maybe just a little bit had our hopes up that we were getting close to meeting Baby H. After a few hours and lots of labs, they decided it was safe to send me home to rest. And wait.

So that's what we're doing today.

God is definitely teaching me a lesson about planning right now.

I'm a slow learner.

I appreciate the prayers.

(Especially the ones requesting grace. I do feel bad I kind of wanted to slap the adorably cute girl bopping into L&D last night with her basket of ribbon tied favors ready to go. I'd bet money she had the baby's name and birth date already printed on them. Ugh.)

(Oh I'm kidding.)

(Sort of.)

39 Weeks and Counting.....

2011-11-10T15:01:00.000-06:00

As we get closer to bringing Baby H home, it's becoming more real to me that this big belly wont be a part of my life in the near future. Just the other day, R was looking at old photos and said, "I had forgotten what you looked like before! I'm gonna miss this." And as incredibly excited that we are to meet Baby H, I think I'm gonna miss this too.

Some Bump Memories:

Best Day of Pregnancy: The day after we found out we would be welcoming Baby H to the family. We were climbing Dunns River Falls in Ochos Rios, Jamaica. God was speaking loud and clear to us that day as it became real Baby H was a part of us. All of a sudden life just made sense.

Worst Day (weekend?) of Pregnancy: The day of my SIL's college graduation party. We at Mexican for dinner (and I don't think I'll ever be able to eat it again). I had a migraine all evening but we really wanted to stay and spend as much time with her as possible so I stuck it out. On the way home, I threw the car door open at a quick 55+ mph and started vomiting out the side. As R tried to pull over (and I thought we had slowed down enough, I started to step out and my foot and leg dragged through the gravel (ouch!). I proceeded to vomit (with a migraine) the next 12+ hours. I popped several blood vessels in my body (especially in my face and around my eyes). The following day was Mother's Day. We had plans to go to church, R's nephew's bball game then we were going to eat lunch with his family. We got through most of that but by lunch time I was about dead again and we headed home and started the vomiting again. I am so thankful though that it was Mother's Day and that we did go to church that morning because the last few Mothers Days had been hard to get through church services for. As miserable as I was, I was so, so thankful!

Biggest Surprise: The wide assortment of symptoms that people don't talk about. And the just plain weird symptoms. Also, I was hoping for that beautiful pregnancy glow, gorgeous hair symptom. It escaped me. I've been shedding since day 1 and I already have the 'baby bangs' that I thought weren't supposed to be here until baby. I cant imagine what it will be like after delivery!

Biggest Surprise to R: My body temp. Before the bump I was cold all the time. Now it's R who is cold because I am SO HOT all the time. And I sweat now. A lot. All the time.

Weight Gain: 60 lbs (so far.) I never thought I'd be catching up to R in the weight category.

Cravings: Everything! I'm hungry all the time (which explains the weight gain). The weirdest craving though is McDonald's Hamburgers. I honestly do not remember ever having one in my life before! I used to eat McDonald's as a kid but I'm pretty sure I stuck to McNuggets back then. One day I just HAD to have a McDonald's hamburger. It was the most bizarre thing. Since then I've had several! (too many!)

Some of My Favorite Things: The way R interacts with Baby H. It is so sweet. The way my niece and nephew already treat my belly like their little cousin. Mo is always telling me she found something special for him and she cant wait to hold him and help change his diapers. Madd is always putting his ear up to my belly then telling me what Baby H has to say. (He's even mentioned that our baby is hungry for McDonald's so he must actually be able to hear him!) :)

As Far as Dakota is Concerned: He completely knows something is up. I've read that it makes sense because they're baby making animals too. He's also started having some very overprotective days where he wont sleep and wont leave me alone for a second. Mom (I think jokingly) said maybe he's a blood pressure dog but the more we see this happening the more that makes sense! It definitely has been correlating with when my blood pressure is sky high! (Maybe he's just trying to figure out who I am though because he doesn't recognize me from my face being swollen so huge?) He recognizes baby's name and sniffs my belly quite often. When we say, "Go say hi to your brother" he comes and lays his head on my belly. For the record, I NEVER thought I'd be saying these things about a dog. But I also never thought I'd have an inside dog that was a part of the family. :)

I'm Wearing: Just a couple pairs of maternity pants. I bought a pair of jeans and my mom bought me a pair of grey skinnies. I also have a couple pairs of pants that were borrowed from friends. I have barely any maternity shirts and they are actually too short to cover my belly right now! (I have a long torso.) I sleep in R's shorts because even my pajama pants are too tight now.

It's been: 274 days. And counting.....

Baby H, it has been an absolute miracle to be able to carry you and I am SO thankful to have been given the blessing... but... your mama and daddy are ready to meet you now, little mister. Please come see us soon!!

10 on Tues 11/8

2011-11-08T03:04:00.000-06:00

1. I'm thankful that R is always on board with the blessings calendar. It was fun pulling last year's out as we were setting it up for this year. Finding this one of R's about being thankful for me doing the 30 for 30 made me smile (actually a LOT of them made me smile which is why I love doing it).

2. Massages. R is getting really good about just giving unsolicited foot/leg massages. I wonder if the way my feet, legs, hands, face (who am I kidding.... EVERY inch of my swollen body) looks has anything to do with that. You can still see some swollen piggies in this picture but I spared you the color version that showed off my purpleness. Yuck. But what a blessing! :) (R affectionately tells me I look like the Michelin man.)

3. Brown boxes at the front door. Ohmygoodness Thursday started out rough. I had a not great Drs appointment and was whining to R about it. I had decided to sit around and feel sorry for myself for the afternoon. R was home for lunch before conferences started and the UPS man showed up. We opened up the absolute best package for Baby H. It completely made my day!!! I would show you all the fun details that made me smile but they have Baby H's name on them. (I know.... I told you it's slipped out a few times. There are a couple people that know it. R was saying how cool the stuff was then went, "WAIT, how does she know his name?!" haha. Oops....) I will definitely have to show you the fun details on these goodies once R lets us start sharing his name! :)

4. I'm thankful R has a job that he loves. And I love talking to him about his work. PE teachers get a bad rep but he works harder and cares more than any PE teacher I have ever met. (By the way CD people, did you know Zeons and Zoraxes was a made up game? I didn't!)
Last week he had conferences and his principal hosted a Christmas party afterwards. I'm thankful I got to get the Christmas dish out for it as I'm not sure we'll make it to many Christmas gatherings this year. (I'm also thankful for the cheesecake stuffed strawberry recipe found via pinterest. Quick, easy and yum!)

5. Since it was conference week, R had the day off and we got to hang out all day Friday. We've been into 'progressive dinners' lately (anyone want to host part of one at their house? I'm thinking it would be a good time!). We did appetizers at Fongs. We tried to check out Miyabi 9 (have you been? I hear it's good!) but they closed before we got there (they close between lunch and dinner). We ended up doing Waterfront Sushi instead. (I'm slowly converting R. He actually loves it now!) We were thinking cheesecake factory for dessert but even after A LOT of walking around the mall I still wasn't hungry for it so we grabbed lemon meringue pie to go from Perkins and had it later. I'm thankful that R and I got to spend (almost) the entire day hanging out. It was much needed.

6. I'm thankful for the neighbor girls. Or 'almost neighbor girls' as the youngest one says. They stopped by Saturday and entertained me with some great stories and theories about life. :) As we were getting them ready to go out the door they decided they wanted to look at the cookbooks. I told them they could pick out a recipe and I would be sure to have the ingredients for it next time they were over so we could make it. They picked one out that they thought we might just have ingredients for already. Turns out they were right so they ended up calling mom and staying for treats too (right before dinner... that's bad, isn't it?!). They are quite the little chefs!

7. I'm thankful for the great weather we've had. It's November and I worked on craft projects (Christmas ones actually) outside while wearing a t-shirt. It was beautiful out! (Granted, I've had more than the normal body heat lately and even R was wearing a sweatshirt but it was still awesome out!)

8. I'm thankful for 'fall back' this weekend. We had called into the Drs office with some questions and she sent us in to the hospital. (It was definitely not a huge concern, she just wanted them to monitor me and Baby for awhile. Had it not been a weekend, we probably would have just went to the office.) We were there longer than we thought we might be and ended up not getting home until 2:30 am. The 'extra' hour of sleep was nice!
And I'm thankful that R changed all the clocks this time. I didn't even have to think about it!

9. I'm thankful that Baby H is still perfectly happy and healthy and that the nurses at our hospital are so wonderful! Being there again this weekend got me really excited to go back soon!

10. I'm thankful for God's grace. He really does have perfect timing- and is so good at teaching me about patience. We've been church hopping for a few months now. I kept praying we would find something we both liked before Baby H's arrival (something about church hopping with a newborn doesn't sound fun to me). I'd been getting discouraged with it. We went to one of the last couple on our list this weekend and we both really liked it! We'll definitely be going back to it again which is progress.

R's list for the week (his are by days and the ones going in the actual calendar. I'm sticking ones in the calendar too, just putting the long versions of them here and sticking with the 10 on Tues instead of just doing 7 for the week):
1. Great weather
2. Insurance
3. Good job
4. Days off to spend with my wife
5. ISU win (barely)
6. Healthy Baby & healthy H
7. My wife

Last Page

2011-11-05T07:52:00.000-05:00

Eek! I mentioned that I ordered our 'Dear Baby' book with the Paper Coterie deal this week (I didn't want it to expire while I was in the hospital so I wanted to get the order in!). Ordering it meant I had to write a 'last page' for it. I cant imagine what I'll be feeling the moments before he's actually born so I may need to add a hand written page at the end for my official last page.
But here he is at week 38! (Though R swears he's gotten even bigger since then. I'm to the point where I cant really tell unless I compare pictures side by side.)
The planner in me is having a hard time coping with the fact that he could be here any minute or not for a couple more weeks (to be exact- 17 more days is the latest they'll let us go).
Either way, we cant wait to meet him!! (Though I'm still holding out for this coming week's full moon.) ;)

Paper Coterie

2011-11-03T14:44:00.000-05:00

I don't normally blog about products but I wanted to share this one with you quick before this deal expires.
If you follow The Mom Creative, you may have used the Paper Coterie deal last week. I used mine and got a memory keeper box. It came in this week and I LOVE it! It was a nice size, I like the look of it and I love the customized area on the back to add details. I plan to use it to hold mementos from pregnancy (special cards, ultrasounds, etc.).

If you want one, there's a coupon code for $30 off Paper Coterie today (through Nov. 13th)! (That makes the memory box $8 plus shipping or you could use it on another fun product.)

Just wanted to share this with you in case you don't follow Jess' blog.

And to show off our new memory keeper box (with Baby H's name photoshopped out of course!).

OH and it came with this necklace as a welcome gift. An extra little smile in the box.

I just ordered our 'Dear Baby' book for Baby H. Cant wait to get it!

Happy Shopping!

10 on Tuesday (Nov. style)

2011-11-01T10:58:00.002-05:00

Happy November!!! I have a feeling it's going to be a great month!

A couple Novembers ago, we started doing the Blessings Calendar (check out the calendar here). It's been a great way for us to keep track of all we have to be thankful for. (And you may remember me talking about the blessings jar. It's happening!)

So 10 on Tuesday November Style..... 10 things I'm currently thankful for.

1. A husband with a closet full of clothes he never wears that I can dig into..... because even the maternity shirts are too short right now (it's that darn long torso, I swear!).

2. A baby belly too big for maternity shirts. There was a time I thought we'd never see this side of the miracle. And then a time we thought we'd never make it this far. I'm so thankful our little mister is growing so well in his current home!

3. A bed that's made in the above picture. Lately the house work has been less than a priority.

4. My new blanket. LOVE it. I really wanted the Pottery Barn Sherpa blanket but at $100 that was out of the question. When we found this $16 version I almost squealed with excitement. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it... but it came from Menards. : )

5. Time to snuggle up under said blanket. I've just learned that I have to force myself to sit with my feet up or it is not good by the end of the day. I'm thankful I can make the time to do that.

6. Friends. I've been blessed to catch up with some good friends this week. I've also been blessed to receive a surprise package in the mail from a blog friend. R (still) does not understand the whole blog world thing so he's always shocked when someone we've not yet met in real life loves on us and our little guy. We are so blessed! (PS- she's from Texas and thought he could use a little cowboy hat in his life!) :) Oh and YES those are 0-3 month jeans! Woo hoo!! :)

7. Our home. I know we have about a hundred things to do on our house list but I really do love our home and am so thankful everyday for it. Almost daily, I look at something in awe that we did with our own hands and I just smile. So you could look at this picture taken out our front door and see columns that we never finished painting... but I see a front porch perfect for trick-or-treaters. Something we missed out on living in the apartment world.

8. Pinterest. Because of easy recipes like this baked potato soup one.

9. Popcorn balls. And the memories that come with them. (or as pictured, a bowl of popcorn goodness I ate way too much of before forming into balls.

10. NOVEMBER!!! I kept saying I wanted Baby H to wait until November to make his big debut and he has! Way to go, little guy!!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." - 1 Chronicles 16:34

Before There Was You

2011-10-29T06:04:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, mommy and daddy lived across the street from each other at Iowa State. (go cyclones!)

 As close as they were, they hadn't met yet. 
One day God moved them both to Creston where they taught school together. (hey, panthers!)

 Mommy and daddy fell in love. They moved back to Ames and daddy asked mommy to marry him. (she said yes!)

 Mommy and daddy got married. They got a silly puppy (Dakota) and built a new house together. (in H town)

 Mommy and daddy were very blessed but they were missing one thing. (you!)

 Mommy and daddy prayed that God would bless them with a baby. They waited until God knew it was the perfect time then God blessed mommy and God blessed daddy and God brought us YOU.

 We already love you so much!

Pumpkin Cookies

2011-10-27T10:15:00.002-05:00

I am NOT a baker. I attribute it to the fact that I like to change recipes around and that doesn't always work so well in baking. I'm especially bad at baking cookies. I tend to leave them in the oven too long and not get them to the cooling rack fast enough. Not a good combo.
My husband talks about his great grandma and how one of her qualities was being able to make a mean batch of cookies. Armed with parchment paper, I'm determined to get there. I'm still not good at baking but I make a mean batch of frosting. Like this cream cheese frosting that's my absolute fave in the fall. (Throw in the cookies so you don't look like a pig eating it straight from the bowl.)

Pumpkin Cookies

Preheat oven to 350˚f

In bowl one combine and set aside:
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

In bowl two, cream together:
1/2 C softened butter
1 1/2 C white sugar (or 1 C white/ 1/2 C brown sugar)
Add:
1 C canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
beat until creamy.

Mix in dry ingredients.

Drop by tablespoons onto parchment covered cookie sheets. Flatten slightly.
Bake 15-20 minutes at 350˚ then move to cooling rack.
Once cool, add frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
(you could make just a half batch of this for these cookies but why would you want to?)

Beat together until creamed:
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 C softened butter

Gradually beat in:
2 C powdered sugar
Add:
2 tsp vanilla (I use Watkins clear vanilla in my frostings)

Add milk to thin (I typically use a couple tablespoons but you may use up to 1/4 cup if you want a thinner frosting).

Cookie Baking Tips (from an FCS teacher that teaches the rules but doesn't always follow them):
-Make sure if the recipe calls for softened butter that you soften it at room temperature. Don't try to speed the process up.
-Don't mess around with the amounts of the important ingredients. As much as I like to play with existing recipes and come up with my own, the baking powder and baking soda need to be left alone. If you wanted to add chocolate chips to the above recipe, by all means do. If you want to cut the soda and powder, good luck eating them....
-Use parchment paper. Okay this one isn't a necessity but if you are really bad at baking cookies like I am, this one will help you out a lot. Just trust me.
-Make sure your cookie sheet is cool before using. Don't bake a batch of cookies on one then reuse it right away.
-Don't over-bake. They are going to continue baking once you take them out so it's okay if they don't look completely done.
-Use the cooling rack. If you leave them on the cookie sheet they are going to continue baking too much and you'll end up with the H special of hard, crunchy cookies (that were supposed to be soft and chewy).

37 Weeks

2011-10-26T13:09:00.001-05:00

I haven't really blogged many coherent thoughts lately (which is why the 10 on Tues is perfect for me) but that's because I haven't really had any. I write blog posts in my head but I'm sure if I took the time (or had the time) to type them out, they'd be less than easy to follow. (This one is less than coherent but I'm too tired to fix it and really need to get back to work for the day! Read at your own risk)

At 37 weeks, here's what the H family is up to.

R is finishing up his poverty class and starting up basketball. He's been attending some j-high practice and is getting really excited for the season. As excited as he is though, he's starting to think about how little sleep he'll be getting and how much Mt Dew he might be consuming. On his own accord, he plans to be up in the night with our little mister. I don't know how realistic it will be for that to happen but I love the thought that he wants to be a part of things as much as he possibly can.

Dakota has been trying his hardest to be a well behaved puppy. He's started a new thing.. he follows me with a watchful eye everywhere. I used to at least be able to go to the bathroom without him following me but not anymore. He stares at me like he's waiting for something to happen. He has even started doing it in the middle of the night. Last night it wasn't so welcomed when I tried to sneak cookie dough from the freezer at 3 am. He dropped his chin and raised his eyes, giving me 'the look.' He's been super protective lately! At times he has me almost convinced Baby H will be here any second.

Baby H is still as active as ever. He's currently transverse. He cant decide if he prefers transverse or breech and while he'll trick me into thinking he's starting to like head down, he doesn't stay in that position for long. I keep giving him pep talks to wait it out until at least Nov. 10th so I can get as much photo work done as possible. Daddy keeps giving him pep talks to come Nov. 4th so he can get as much daddy time in with him as possible before bball starts. We'll see what the little mister has in mind. I think I've mentioned it on here before but the longest they'll let him stay in his current comfy home before evicting him is Nov. 23rd. So 4 weeks from today I'll have him in my arms (maybe for the first time, maybe not!).

And an update on me at 37 weeks isn't all that exciting. Things I'm loving about this stage: how interactive baby H is when we talk, read, sing or play music for him. I'm loving the bonding time without the dirty diapers and tears. I am simply amazed when I catch a view of the belly in the mirror. It is amazing to me what my body (that I had given up on) can do. Sitting and praying over our little babe by name. I love that he has a name and that can use it. We actually use it so much that Dakota recognizes it. ie: Dakota knows what I'm talking about when I say, "Go to _____'s room." Or, "Come say hi to _____." We actually use his name so much that it tends to slip out when others are around. I'm pretty sure more people than we think know his name but it's still fun to 'think' we have a secret. (And those of you that know me well know how hard it is for me to keep the secret!!! I SO want to tell everyone but since we've made it this far I'm glad R made the decision to keep it quiet.) We have been writing letters to baby since the day we found out he was joining our family. I already love going back and reading them from the beginning and I cant wait to get them into a book for him. And this is weird... but I've noticed I call myself 'we' lately. I'm referring to me and baby so it doesn't seem weird to me now but I'm afraid once he's here and I do it people may think I have multiple personality disorder. ;)

Things that aren't so much loved right now... the extra weight. It takes a major toll on the body packing around so many extra pounds. I'm always reminded of The Biggest Loser and how one time (or maybe more, I don't watch it much) they had to pack all the weight they had previously lost. I have currently gained so much weight that about 1/3 of my current self wasn't here at this time last year. Isn't that crazy to think about?!? It's not the weight gain that bothers me, it's the aches and pains that accompany it. It is exhausting. Speaking of exhaustion... I thought I had been doing really well. I was feeling so blessed to be feeling so well for such a long time (seriously, the majority of 3rd trimester was easier on me than 2nd!) but I think this third trimester has finally caught up to me. I still cannot complain in any way, shape or form. I do not have the serious pain and baby concerns that came with 2nd trimester so I'm feeling very blessed for that but I'm tired. I'm achy. And I feel sick to my stomach pretty much every night. R is also feeling the strain with his fair share of sympathy pains. I swear I thought those were made up but R (who never gets sick, never complains) is telling me otherwise.

We will definitely take it though! We feel SO blessed to be at 37 weeks and to be so close to meeting this little guy. It has not been real easy sharing this body with him but I know that I will miss it once he 'moves out.' I think I'll be okay though because as much as I love him at this stage, I cant imagine how amazing it will be to get to carry him in my arms instead.

10 on Tuesday- 10/25

2011-10-25T00:31:00.000-05:00

It's been another crazy week and another week of how the heck did it go so fast because I'm not sure what we did all week!?!

1. R had his last round of pre-baby shots. This time at his actual Dr's office. It's the same Dr that delivered him as a baby and R claims the same horse photos have been on the wall since he was a kid.

2. While we were in town for his shots, we stopped to see the C boys. You probably cant tell what it's a picture of but C&C were wrestling uncle R. This is about as slow as the action got.

3. Our 36 week appointment went well last week. Numbers looked good. Baby H is is right on track... though not exactly in position and still moving like crazy.

4. We went out for what was likely our last night out with friends in awhile. We ate at the Roadhouse then dessert hopped with Nick & Jaren. We always have such a great time with them! Crazy to think the next time the four of us go out, we'll be needing our own sitter. I didn't take any iPhone pictures but Nick did send this one to us as he was driving past my hometown this weekend.

5. I missed Race for the Cure this year because I knew if I did it combined with our afternoon plans (#6) I would likely collapse by the end of the day (anyone remember H on the curb??!). You should go check out this video from the event though. One of my very best friends is the girl in the clip (with her family) talking about how special it was to be celebrating there WITH their mom. I just love these guys! And Jen has me completely convinced that next year I'll not only be participating, but running without stopping. We'll see. :)

Race for the Cure

6. Our afternoon plans that day included the ISU football game (with Jen & Adam who did run the race and didn't collapse by the end of the day). Can you believe we hadn't been to a single game all year?!? (And we have no plans of making it to another one.) Definitely not the norm for us. So glad we could make it to one (finally) but also so glad that we did not get season tickets this year! (And yes, that's the band and not the football team. Every year at ISU homecoming when the alumni band comes out, R tells the story of the guy sitting in front of him one year that yelled, "Hey that's my dad out there! Play daddy, play!!" It's one of those stories you had to be there for....)

7. We got a little more family of two time in. We ran more errands and picked up some things we were needing (like that package of newborn size dipes!). I got some fun treats- Starbucks pumpkin spice latte & banana walnut bread and a new iPhone case since my poor one before was completely beat up (it seriously looks like I got a new phone). But my favorite treat of the day was when we bought this year's ornaments. I about cried in the store when we got to pick this ornament out to take home with us. I have a feeling this one will be pretty special to me for pretty much ever. (The Hallmark site was down as I typed this but the link takes you to the same ornament from a different site.)

8. Dakota has been a lot better while we've been out lately. If we tell him we'll be right back and to be a good dog while we're gone he actually listens. The one time we forgot to tell him this week was the one time he pulled stuff out again while we were gone. He's also started the new trick of digging through the toys in his toy box before picking out the perfect one to show daddy. He does this when he hears the garage door open as R is getting home from work. (And yes, I've been telling Dakota stories lately because I'm feeling like a guilty dog mom knowing he'll be old news once Baby H is here.)

9. Photo sessions are starting to wind down. I'm officially scheduled to shoot just one day a week (though several of those days I have multiple sessions throughout the day) from now through December.

10. 'The list' is just about completed! Though some things (like ironing nursery curtains) are just getting crossed off without actually being done. We're okay with that.
One thing off 'the list' that I'm so excited to have done: addressing baby announcement/Christmas cards. They are all addressed and stamped (unless I don't have your address so send it to me!) and the cards are designed and waiting for a Baby H photo to put in it to send to print. Now if only I can get Mo & Madd to stuff and seal envelopes for me again.... chances are slim though because last time I recruited those services from them Mo told me it was like she was working in a factory and Madd said it was too hard of work for little kids. Ha. (At least I didn't have them pulling weeds like Uncle R does!)

We had a lot to be thankful for around here this last week. Hope you did as well!

Maddox's 5th Birthday Party at the Fire Station

2011-10-21T02:16:00.000-05:00

Ashley had posted on facebook about maybe doing T's party at the fire station which reminded me I hadn't posted Madd's pictures from his fire station party, which led me to finding these orchard pictures. Thanks, Ashley! :) I think I've finally uploaded all of my pictures to the computer, though no promises they'll make it out of iPhoto.

And no, I didn't get a single picture of a fire truck. :(

Center Grove Orchard 2011

2011-10-20T10:46:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting many posts about stuff we've been doing. I didn't even mention in my 10 on Tuesday this week that R & I went to the orchard just for apple cider donuts this week. And I haven't even been pulling photos off my camera, pretty much at all lately.
So this morning, one of my friends mentioned on facebook about maybe having her little girl's birthday party at the fire station. Which reminded me that Madd's party was at the fire station. And that I took pictures of it. But had no idea where they were.... I found my camera and pulled up the photos. Along with lots and lots of other photos. And you guessed it, a trip from the orchard was on there. How is it possible that I even forget stuff like this?!? It seriously was not that long ago. Why is it so easy for me to document other people's lives and forget about saving photos from our own?

Anyway.... here's some photos from our orchard trip. The kids loved it! If we still live in the area when our children are older, we'll definitely be buying season passes.

Both Mo & Madd said the hayride was one of their favorite parts and I didn't even get pictures of it! There was just so much to do there! We'll definitely have to go again next year.

Preparing

2011-10-19T13:00:00.001-05:00

Hi, I'm H and I like lists.

I make a to do list every single week. When I was working 5 jobs the last few years, I had daily to do lists which were prioritized and had listed by the hour what needed to be done.

I use my lists. I like my lists.

So as we've been prepping for baby, guess what I've been working on....

'The list.'

(Did you say 'the list' in a different tone? R does.)

My list started at about 4 typed pages long. It included house projects, work projects, insurance details to take care of, things to pack for the hospital, dates to take with R, etc, etc, etc.

With some help from R, 'the list' is down to less than half a page.

I know Baby H wont care if the things on the list aren't completed (he'll be just fine without the nursery curtains ironed). But it helps me feel like I'm 'prepared.'

I had a freak out moment not too long ago. I was cuddling a tiny newborn baby and it hit me that they would be sending one home from the hospital with me in the near future. And I definitely don't feel qualified for that job.

So as silly as the list seems, something about it makes me think I'll feel better, more prepared, if I cross off everything on it.

Did you make a pre-baby list? What was on it? What were your biggest (most helpful) things you did to prepare to bring baby home (you know, besides sleep!)?

PS- I had planned to share some of 'the list' highlights. Maybe I'll update with that soon...
but this candid list of things to do before baby is a good starting point. :)

10 on Tuesday (10/18)

2011-10-18T13:51:00.004-05:00

For as little as I thought I had on the calendar for Oct and Nov, it sure seems like we are busy! If it weren't for my iCal and iPhone photo dump, I'm not sure I could think back through the crazy weeks to come up with a 10 on Tuesday. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to.

1. We did a couple quick family pictures with our good friends, the P fam. I thought I'd have a picture to share but that was a week ago and I haven't even uploaded my last three sessions to the computer yet (I'm actually uploading them right now and it's SO slow. Do you find it faster to upload through your card reader or cord? With my little camera, I use the card reader so I thought I'd do that with my large card today and it's not working very fast!). Maybe I'll update with a P fam pic soon.

2. My amazing friend and her special assistant came and worked hard at our house. They are such a blessing to us!!

3. I've been working on a baby to do list. (More on that later?) I have checklists for everything. EVERYTHING. Just ask R.

4. It's been kind of like Christmas around here with all the packages showing up. Sure a lot of them have been for {cb}h clients and most all of the rest of them are for Baby H but I don't care who they are for, it's fun to get them on the doorstep and get to open them! One package this week had a Pottery Barn stocking for Baby H. I'd love to show you a photo but it has his name on it (hopefully we stick with that name!). Thanks so much for that special gift, Tab! We'll definitely be using it a very long time!!

5. Date night consisted of a LONG bike ride and picnic on the trail. It was a little chilly but SO pretty out!

6. This verse has been following me around for a couple of months now... Philippians 4:6-7.

7. And yes, that is a page from the book I finished reading this week. Only took me about a month to get through one book. That's not bad, right? I've been trying to get as much reading and bath time in as I can. The bath is about the only time of day my back (and pretty much everything else) feels good. It's hard carrying around the extra weight. I am so thankful to be able to start my work day at 9 am so I have time to do this!

8. And since I finished the last one (and haven't picked the next in the series up from the library yet), I started reading 'The Power of a Praying Parent.' It's such an easy, quick read but it is so good.

9. I am FINALLY finished with wedding pictures for the year. I do have about 4 paid sessions to edit and lots of orders to get put into the system but then hopefully I'll get a chance to pull up more maternity pictures to edit.

10. Speaking of which... I got a glimpse of the belly in the mirror today and I NEED to remember to get an updated belly shot. As R would say, "Your bell.... baby is getting big!"

What have you been up to this week?

Updated: I told you I couldn't keep track of anything without iCal and the photos on my iPhone. Saturday was our busiest day of the week (but we didn't end up doing anything that was actually on our calendar... which is why I forgot all about it). We did East Village, Valley Junction, the bagel shop for lunch, Target, mall, etc, etc. Yes, I was worn out and put my feet up as soon as we got home. And yes, we saw this sign driving down a busy road and hopped out right quick to snap this shot. With the iPhone. Of course.

2011-10-15T00:22:00.003-05:00

Do you read Ohdeedoh?

Did you see the post where the little girl made her mom an iced latte?

Reminds me of the time Maddox made himself a 'pop tart' while I was sleeping through my first trimester (he ate a frozen toaster strudel) or the time Mo told me about her favorite smoothies she makes and that, 'Oh yeah, I gotta tell mom that the blender is broken.'

At least when I taught our friends' little boy to use the toaster he was supervised. Kind of.

Flashback Friday

2011-10-14T11:29:00.002-05:00

Oh, goodness. You HAVE to go to this flashback post.

How did they get so big? WHEN did they get so big?! Oh how I wish those jammies still fit them.

Love these guys!

'needs'

2011-10-13T04:52:00.004-05:00

We have been blessed beyond measure around here! We have had so many people love on us and Baby H. I started working on a gear post because a few people have asked for updates on what we decided to go with and I was so humbled adding all of our baby gear to the list. Literally almost everything on that list has been gifted to us. I really don't even have words to tell you how blessed we feel. I sit in Baby H's room and look around and I'm surrounded by gifts from people that love us. I sit at my breakfast table and look at my sparkling kitchen, done by a friend that came to deep clean our house for us. I pull out diapers to stock the dresser drawer with, diapers that had been passed on by a friend whose baby had outgrown them. I emailed my cousin to ask her opinion on baby books (because I JUST realized that might be something we want) and she said she already had one for us.

We. are. so. Blessed.

So when people have been asking me lately what we need. I really tell them NOTHING! I really think people have thought of everything that we may need and they've provided it.

But since everyone keeps asking, there are a few little things that I 'need' your help with. Advice welcomed.

1. What nursing clothes did you like? I purchased one tank from Motherhood. I am thinking I may like the clip down version better though? How many nursing tops do I really need? What worked for you?

2. How many newborn clothes does a baby really need? Did you buy a bunch only for your baby to never wear them? Did you not buy enough and was your little one in them longer than you expected? In newborn size, our little guy has 1 outfit, 3 sleepers, 3 onesies and 3 pants (and a coming home outfit). Should we get more or wait to see how big (or little) he is when he arrives?

3. Same question on the newborn diapers... We have one package of newborn diapers (but more in size 1). Should we get more? Should we wait and see? And while we're talking diapers, besides diapers.com, where do you find them to be the cheapest?

4. Did you take you iPod to the hospital? Have any good recommendations for the playlist for me?

5. Where did you find 0-3 pants? I've looked all over for 0-3 jeans (that aren't $20 or more. yikes.) and have purchased just one pair. I thought I could get away with baby legs but those are hard to find in the boy styles too (he has white, green and grey polka dot baby legs but they are all bigger so I'm not sure they'll fit him at 0-3). He got some really cute sweaters as gifts and (his mom thinks) he 'needs' jeans to match. I keep checking our consignment store but am not coming up with anything there. Am I the only one that thinks baby jeans are too expensive?

(I should probably clarify that I'm looking for boy jeans. I can find lots of cute girl jeans out there!) :)

6. Did you sign up for Rewards 'R Us? Did you ever get your rewards? It says we earned some last quarter but we never got them. Do I need to do something to actually get them this time? This is probably the biggest one we'll ever get from them so I hate to miss out on it!

7. Do you think I can get away with a 'reversible' birth announcement/Christmas card? The chances of me getting both out this year are slim so I'm thinking I may just do a Christmas card on one side and a birth announcement on the other. Dumb? Genius? What do you think?

Anyway, all that to say, I don't really know that there's anything left we really 'need.' But maybe you can come do inventory for me and let me know what I'm missing!

Baby Gear

2011-10-12T16:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all of your help (from this post and beyond), we narrowed down our baby gear choices and are pretty excited with what we have. Obviously, we haven't had the opportunity to test it all out yet but I thought I'd share with you what we'll be testing in the near future.

Infant Carrier: Chicco Keyfit 30 in Romantic. Gift from uncle and cousin.
Car seat accessories: PBK stroller blanket- gift from Maddox. SO soft and cuddly. I want the adult size version from the big PB. JJ Cole Bundle Me- gift from my mom's friend.

Monitor: Summer Infant Slim & Secure Handheld Color Video Monitor. Gift from mom. This was maybe a splurge on grandma's part but we LOVE it.

Swing/bouncy seat: Mamaroo Infant Seat/Swing. Gift from my sister. It's a swing. It's a bouncy seat. It's supposedly really, really good.

Pack n Play: Graco Laguna Bay. Gift from my mom. Admittedly we weren't going to get this. We really wanted it but when we reassessed our budget we decided it could go. Grandma stepped up again and added this to Baby H's gear list. We set it up and it's even better than we thought. Thinking it will be a big blessing to have once little guy is here!

Stroller: Snap n Go. Gift from my sister. I love how it isn't as bulky as some of the travel system strollers. It turns and folds up easy and doesn't take up much space.

Pump: We were originally going to borrow one but some things came up and we ended up purchasing one instead. We went with the Medela Pump in Style tote. I admit I didn't research pumps and only got this because it's the same as the one we were going to borrow (so we had some accessories for it already) and because pretty much everyone I know has this same one.

Still on the list: These are things we have on our list for when he's a little bigger. As it gets closer, I'm sure we'll reassess and see what actually fits in the budget.

Convertible Car Seat: Britax Marathon 70. This is our next biggest concern as far as purchases go. We obviously want a safe one but will also need something budget friendly when the time comes. Any reviews out there for us, friends?

Stroller: Uppa Baby Jake G-Luxe Black. Upon typing this post I found that the 2009 version of this stroller has been discontinued and the new version out is $70 more. So we may be looking for other stroller options as well. Recommendations for us? :)

And yes, I know you are thinking Baby H is so completely spoiled by friends and family. You are correct. He most definitely is. We feel so, so blessed to be loved on so much. Almost everyday we look at all he has been given and talk about how we could never have hooked him up with so much great stuff on our own. He is one very blessed little boy.

soon

2011-10-12T00:11:00.000-05:00

Soon we'll have a little guy here to snuggle. We are SO excited.

But (and I may have mentioned this before.... once or twice?) I'm just a little nervous about it being so close to the start of basketball season.

Basketball season is long. You other basketball widows can vouch for this. We don't get to see our husbands much. It's a long standing joke (that's kind of, not really so much a joke) that I don't like to share my basketball coaching husband during the season. His at home time is VERY limited during that long season so the few minutes that he's awake while he's home through the winter, I like to hog him.

I'm going to have to share him this year with our little guy. Obviously. And I want to. I want him to spend every minute that he's home bonding with our little guy (I'll probably even 'let' him get up for 4:30 am diaper changes, ha).

But that still leaves the rest of the day for me and little guy to likely be stuck inside most of the winter.

Which brings me to visitors. I've begged my friends to come see me this winter. (Normally I'm begging them to go to games with me... hopefully I'll have more takers on coming to visit a tiny baby!) :)

Someone sent me this link about how to be a good visitor and told me to post it on my front door. I had already read this post (that was the inspiration behind the previous post) and it stuck with me when I went to visit my friend and her new baby this summer... even though I broke some 'rules.'

My random thoughts on it:

#1. I learned that I've been a TERRIBLE newborn visitor. I've stayed longer than 15 minutes and brought Blizzards. Not exactly the healthy meal they're talking about. But sometimes a girl just needs a Blizzard, right?

#2. I don't agree with all of the 'rules.' Especially the one about not bringing small children.

#3. I do like the 'rule' about staying home if you are sick. I just did newborn photos with a family that said someone brought their sick two year old and she was kissing the new baby allover. I'd be lying if I said that doesn't gross me out. People from both my work and R's work have said I need to bring him in to visit. (Did you know both of those places are schools... and schools have lots of germs in them year round but especially in the winter?) I guess there's something about the cold and flu season that turns me off from that.

#4. I also like the one about not showing up unannounced. I like that one for anytime though. Our bestest of friends even call or text before showing up. It's just the nice thing to do.

#5. Even though I like some of these, I wont be hanging it up on my door. And you don't have to clean my bathrooms if you come visit! :) But seriously, come see me this winter! Please? :)

10 on Tuesday, 10-11

2011-10-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

1. We got to eat dinner with some good friends and their three smiley girls. Love!

2. R got his flu shot. He says his first ever. He's a trooper.

3. Ang took me out for sushi. She's awesome.

4. I got to go to Center Grove Orchard with Madd & Mo. I have pictures on a camera around here somewhere. Maybe I'll get a post up about that soon.

5. Madd's birthday party was Saturday. See #5 about photos from it.

6. I hung out with my mom down home this weekend. It was crazy days downtown so there were some vendors set up. We got a good deal on some pumpkins and I came really close to getting a feather in my hair. Am I too old for that?

7. R spent the weekend hanging out with some of his buddies. They are starting an annual guys outing. Don't you girls think we should start our own??

8. I had the last newborn session before our due date this week. A little bit crazy to think that the very next itty bitty baby I hold will be ours.

9. I'm in the middle of finishing my 'to do' list of things that 'need' to be done before our due date. I'm a little overwhelmed with it (and life in general) right now.

10. And I have hardly any photos uploaded for this poor excuse of an update. I'll add a phone photo dump to my to do list. Maybe.

The Moments

2011-10-07T10:49:00.001-05:00

A week ago, I was sitting in the nursery feeling Baby H kick and really enjoying this stage of life. I was taking it all in and feeling so blessed.

This morning, as I was digging through the closet looking for something, anything, appropriate to wear in this weather, I realized that I can officially say, "I have nothing to wear" and be basically telling the truth.

I was a little bit annoyed, slightly (okay, really) frustrated.

As I was standing there shuffling through the hanging shirts... again, my phone that was sitting on the bathroom counter buzzed with a new email. It was a message from a friend talking to me about how slow these last few weeks can go but a reminder to 'enjoy the moments.'

Right in the middle of my 'poor me, what am I going to wear?' she reminded me to enjoy it.

So today I'm embracing this belly..... and seriously considering putting on a pair of R's gym shorts for the day.

And I'm going to enjoy it! :)

(Can you believe I just posted that? I'm pretty sure R and the Dr are the only ones that have seen this much of the belly! until now!)

Enjoy the moments today! :)

Due......

2011-10-05T16:22:00.001-05:00

Our due date is coming up soon! Our official date is Nov. 17th- 6 weeks away. The Dr's goal date was Oct. 27th (full-term) at which point if my numbers were bad they would induce no question. My goal date is Nov. 10th. R just wants the little guy to be here. Part of me is anxious to think that in just 3 weeks, we could have a perfect baby boy in our arms. Part of me is terrified. But mostly, I'm beyond excited to meet this little guy!
And because I mentioned numbers above.. I'm happy to report that my numbers have been holding steady (which is great!) and surprising. In fact, they are so good, this baby might be staying put until Thanksgiving. (Let's hope he's just a little earlier than that though!)

Updated: We had an appointment tonight. My numbers keep looking good and the Dr informed me that I will NOT still be pregnant at Thanksgiving. Good to know. :)

10 on Tuesday, Oct 4

2011-10-04T09:16:00.001-05:00

1. It's Maddox's birthday today. He's 5! Be sure to check out his birthday post. He's a lover!

2. We've been busy getting things ready for baby H. At this point, I LOVE doing his laundry. Remind me later on that I said, would ya? Especially if he ever starts playing sports!
One of my baby apps says I should have my hospital bag packed now and need to get the car seat in the car. It seems early for that. How many weeks were you when you started making those preps?

2. Thursday I was daydreaming about our forever home with large trees outside to hang pretty lights from for outdoor parties. Not long after, R said we needed to turn all the lights out so the kids wouldn't be peeping in our windows... it was the night before homecoming and we get several 'visitors.' This year they were so lazy that they just drove right up to the house. At one point there were about 50 kids between our house and the coach that lives behind us. Thankfully for us (but not so much for the field), it was a windy night and a lot of their efforts had blown across the road and into the field before morning. I secretly don't mind that they do it (except for the time they got my car... and Jen's.. yuck!) (which means it was a year ago we were painting the basement, Jen. does that even seem possible?!) Anyway... guess it's a good thing we don't have those large pretty trees yet.

3. Friday I got to see a long lost college friend. I hadn't seen her since another friend was married in '08! Sara Jo and I went to DSM to meet Lindsey and it was so fun to catch up with her! Also big news from the day, we went to Trader Joe's. Would you disown me as a friend if I told you it was the first time I had been there? And.... that I wasn't all that impressed. Maybe I need someone to make a Trader Joe's shopping list for me so I can see what all the hype is about. I know you guys love it and I'm begging your forgiveness that I don't. Help me see the light, would ya? ;)

4. The Cyclones played Texas Saturday. We beat them last year and I'm pretty sure Texas had not forgotten! It was ugly. Before the game was even over we went to get desert with Jen & Adam. I posted a photo of this same desert last time we did a dinner hop with these two. That photo was much prettier though. (Note to self: Do the 365 challenge again!)

5. Every day this week I have gotten out of bed at my normal 4:30 am waking time and was actually productive with it. R has even been getting breakfast out of the deal. This morning, after I had already been in the kitchen over two hours by 7 am and all I had to show for it was an oven that had caught on fire and a cake that was in major distress, I was kind of thinking to myself I'm just like Pioneer Woman. Did you see the episode where everyone always steals her toast center from her egg nests? That always happens to me too so that makes me just like her, right? I mean she's surely had a little fire to put out before, right? .......right?

6. Yes, that's a cast iron skillet on a glass top stove. No, I'm not sure if you are supposed to do that. My mom has R convinced cast iron is the way to go. Then her cousin bought him one as a wedding gift and he wont turn back. I cant complain (though I do anyway) if he's willing to do the cooking but he wont even let me make his eggs (or anything else) on anything but 'his' skillet now. He's spoiled.

7. Dakota has been naughty lately. He has gotten too used to me being home more often and he's going through some separation anxiety every time I leave the house. He (knock on wood) hasn't destroyed anything yet but he has a thing for pulling garbage out of the bathroom garbage can. And eating cupcakes. Ahem. He FINALLY had two good days in a row so we are hoping he's getting better. His lifestyle is a lot different with me here now and he's got even more big changes ahead. Any dog whisperers out there that want to come counsel the poor guy?

8. We started the H family cleaning chart this week. Kind of. We printed it off and hung it up. We plan to make changes to it as we work through it and see what works, what doesn't, and what's missing. Yesterday was day one. We didn't make any checks on it. Not off to a great start but maybe we'll get better. Or maybe not. Jaren.... help? ;) PS- What is this nesting I keep hearing of and why has it not visited our house yet?!? ;)

9. I finished my last round of family pictures for the year. I intentionally didn't schedule any past this week as I wasn't sure how well that'd work out. (I do have individual sessions still coming up though and a wedding to edit so I have plenty to do!) Lucky for me I got to end the year of family sessions with one awesome family. They even brought Baby H a present. She had no idea but I had blogged about it a LONG time ago and always knew that when we had kids I would want to do this. I just love it! And need to find a good place to put it so I don't forget about it when Baby H starts talking! :) Thanks, Erin and fam! That was SO thoughtful of you!

10. Kels & Eric drove up here (because I was holding some of her borrowed clothes hostage) and let me pretend to be the Snappy Casual photographer for a day. I'd post one here but you'll just have to wait and see it on her blog.

What have you been up to this last week!?

Happy 5th Birthday, Maddox!

2011-10-04T01:06:00.000-05:00

I have no idea how it happened but somehow five years have gone by and Mr. Maddman is officially a kid. Far from a toddler and barely a preschooler, Maddox is FIVE!
Maddox,
This year has gone by so fast but we've made some fun memories this year. You dressed up as a pirate for Halloween last year and had the best little pirate talk down. At Christmas, you picked out a 'Rock 'em Sock 'em' for Uncle R and let him know he could keep it at your house if he wanted to. You try to do everything that Miss Mo can do. We made 'Stunt Man' shirts that could only be read upside down. Since Morgan could do headstands you were sure you could too. You weren't so happy about falling on your head after that one! We played a lot of super hero this year. You've gone through more than one super hero cape. You had a great time at 'Aunt H's school.' You were confused when the kids would call me Mrs. H and insisted to them that I was Aunt H, not Mrs. It thrilled you when an 8th grader gave you gift certificates for free Happy Meals. You were a celebrity when we went to cash them in. You love spending the night and insist that as long as you have clean clothes you can stay as many days as you want. Lots of clothes equals lots of days as far as you are concerned. You are a great little guy who is almost always well behaved but when you are being ornery, you can be really ornery. One day you said to me, "Remember you said I was being such a good little boy? Well my listening ears, they just exploded like a rocket!" When you found out you were going to have a baby cousin, you thought the ultrasound picture was of a puppy. You finally figured out that there was a baby coming and you were SO excited about it. You are already such a good big cousin, loving on little Baby H. You give him hugs and insist that he wants us to read extra books to him at bedtime and you absolutely insist that he is hungry for Happy Meals all the time! You think a good name for him would be Macaroni and Cheese but we are thinking maybe not. You are big into saying, "That's a good idea" and "That's a BAD idea." Mostly, you tell Aunt H her ideas are good. :) You start dinner with a "Let's pray!" and sometimes when you pray you say the Pledge of Allegiance. Morgan and Dakota are your best friends but you insist you are Dakota's only best friend. You prefer baseball to basketball. You LOVE mac n cheese but you say Panera has the best you've ever had. You 'read' Monster Under the Bed and are quite good at it. You tell silly stories, have a silly giggle and give the best snuggles.
We love you so much, little buddy! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and you give us the biggest smiles and best stories. We hope you have a very, very blessed 5th year! You have a big year in store for you!
Love you bunches, Cheeseburger!
Love- Uncle R, Aunt H, Baby H & (OF COURSE!) Dakota!

Baby Shower

2011-10-01T23:49:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Baby H's aunts (my sister Holly, my basically sister Ang, & R's sister Kerry) hosted a shower brunch for Baby H. It was just perfect!

The planning started with the food. H had the idea to plan it around foods I had been craving (which is a lot... which explains the amount of food that was there). Since it was mostly breakfast foods, she took off with the brunch theme. One of our favorite party blogs had a vintage brunch featured with lots of ideas that she pulled from. Holly & Ang gathered the goodies (and a lot of it was stuff we already had here at the house) and it really was perfect! My favorite detail might have been the 'milk bottles' and paper straws. Holly bought the paper straws online and Ang collected the milk bottles from a Starbucks drinker. They left both the bottles and the leftover straws here and I cant wait to have another party to get to use them again! (Seriously, I'm thinking a 'milk & cookies' Christmas themed party... planned around ~~the milk bottles~~ cookies for Santa of course.... or I may just copy the vintage brunch theme for the next shower I get to host.) :)

I think I mentioned on here before that my least favorite thing from my bridal showers was opening gifts in front of everyone. It is so much easier to do when the gifts aren't for you but for your little babe instead! And it's even easier when you have an animated four year old helping open gifts. Seriously, he was SO excited about gifts for our little guy. One of my good blogging/now in real life friends made Baby H the sweetest blankie. Maddox said, "OH your baby is going to be SO snuggly in that." He was so sincere (and so right!) and it made opening gifts fun. I love the picture of him below with his hand over his mouth because he spotted 'dollars' on a Baby H gift. So fun! And Baby H was definitely spoiled by some very generous (and crafty!) ladies!

My absolute most favorite thing about this shower was the lovely gals that took time out of their weekend to come celebrate Baby H with us. The hostesses (and my mom!) worked their tails off prepping for the shower, Mary drove ALL the way over here and even came the night before so I would actually get to catch up with her, and several other of my favorite ladies joined us as well. (I added photos of some of the girls that blog below!)

And about half of the invites sent out were sent out of state and we had some very generous and thoughtful gals that even though they couldn't join us (and they didn't get to eat Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls with us), they showered Baby H with gifts anyway. I tear up when I sit and think about how blessed we are to have such great people in our lives and how excited I am for Baby H to meet all of these great people. He is so, SO loved by so many people already.

A HUGE THANK YOU to the lovely shower hostesses, everyone that was able to join us and every single person that has showered Baby H with love. We really cant believe how blessed we are.

PS- I know you aren't going to believe me but I had yet another awesome shower and I want to blog it too. Hopefully that post will be coming soon! :)

Updated: Shower Details:

Favors:
-Cupcakes made by Holly in favor boxes from Michaels (decorated with scrapbook paper)

Games:
-Baby Advice 'Madlibs' (remember those?!?). Guests filled in madlibs and the girls read them to us. Some were funny, some were sweet, some were tearjerkers.
-Guess the baby. Guests brought baby photos and we guessed who was who. I don't remember hearing who won?

Decoration:
-Banner picks (on muffins and cupcake boxes). Scrapbook paper glued onto craft picks.
-Window frame with our baby's 'so far story.' (Excerpts taken from our Dear Baby letters)
-Balloons purchased from sweetlulu.com
-Wooden serve-ware from sweetlulu.com
-Grey paper straws
-We had planned to hang up ultrasound pictures but at the time I had no idea where they were. (We did find them later though!) :)

Guestbook:
-Guests added their painted thumbprint to a canvas and signed their name near it. I had originally planned on turning the thumbprints into a bouquet of balloons but kind of liked it as is so I've left it alone so far.

Menu:
Mini-pancakes & Maple syrup
Strawberry Soup
Raspberry Chocolate Torts
Bacon & Egg Muffins
Donut Hole Tree
Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls
Fresh Fruit Bowl
Bacon Skewers
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
Chocolate PB Cupcakes
Hummingbird Cupcakes
Milk/OJ/Coffee

Another New Cover

2011-09-30T08:08:00.000-05:00

I have been blogging WAY too much. And facebooking. And just wasting time in general. I have been less than productive this week. I was up at 4:30 am Thursday and did not finish my work to do list until nearly 8 pm. It should have been about 6 hours of work.
I wish I could say I had a good excuse but I don't. (Well... I kind of do. But in an effort to not sound like a whiner I wont give it. Okay fine. I will. My abdomen is torn in two places so I don't feel like doing anything other than sitting- for limited times, or laying down. Sitting is good for returning emails and placing orders and USUALLY good for editing.... but my blood pressure has also been high again and my eyesight bad. I noticed it was bad when I was editing a photo and trying to edit a speck out of it. The speck was a star I was seeing.)
Ahem.
So I don't really have much left to blog about this week (but I do want shower photos so I can blog about the showers, pretty please) but just wanted to say hi for Mary's sake. ;)
And now I'm off to go change my facebook cover. Again. Even though I'm pretty sure Mary and Jill are the only ones on my friends list that can even see it.
Like I said. Less than productive. :)

Nursery Tour

2011-09-29T14:09:00.000-05:00

Baby H's nursery isn't quite finished but I've had lots of requests for photos so I thought maybe if I posted where it is now it would motivate me to finish the last few things.

Let's hope it works for the motivation factor! :)

We started the nursery with the flooring. We knew we wanted to rip out the carpet and wanted something neutral. We didn't want the floor competing with the walls so we shocked our family and friends that know us well when we chose almost white walls. To break it up, we painted the existing trim a fun aqua. We knew these would be the base colors for the nursery long before we knew Baby H was a boy (though we didn't actually get started on the nursery until much later). From there the plan was to add pinks and mustard for a girl, blues and mustard for a boy. The very day we found out Baby H was a he, we found this dresser in vintage blue and planned the rest of the room around these colors.

Baby H's nursery is filled gifts from people that love him. There is hardly anything in the room that we purchased ourselves. Just sitting in his room and looking at all of the great treasures from so many different people is such a blessing. There are reminders of our very best friends (and of course family!) in every nook of this space. We cannot step foot in here without feeling completely blessed!

Details:

Crib: Pottery Barn Kids. Gift from Grandma Devra.

Mobile above crib: Scrapbook paper circles sewn onto a painted embroidery hoop.

Elephant over looking crib: Pottery Barn Kids. (Paired with Elephant & Mouse book). Gift from Glenda, my cooperating teacher from my student teaching days. When we were first talking nursery, R tossed out the idea of doing an elephant theme. Ultimately we went another route but had been on the lookout for a cute elephant to match his room. The one Glenda picked out matches PERFECTLY!

Monitor: Summer Infant Slim & Secure Handheld Video Monitor. When researching baby gear, I only researched video monitors so that's what we added to our registry. When it came down to buying baby gear, there was no way this was going to fit into our budget but Baby H's generous Grandma Devra got it for him anyway. We got it out to check it out the other day and R said it was by far his favorite thing in the nursery. It is pretty snazzy!

'Book Racks': IKEA Spice Racks (painted). I posted about the book shelf project here.

Storage bench: Made by R! He built it, I helped paint it and he added the wheels. He is becoming quite the carpenter.

Rocker: 'Eames' knock-off found on Amazon.

Dresser: IKEA Hemnes. Like I mentioned above, we bought this RIGHT after we found out Baby H was a boy. We were on a shopping trip and it fit exactly into the budget. The only problem was that the budget was supposed to also be used for food, other baby gear and maternity clothes. So Grandma Devra stepped up to save the day again and very generously gave to the cause. (Are you noticing a trend here? There's some other big baby gear in the house that's also from a certain generous grandma. Baby H is kind of spoiled already.)

Mustard Frame: Lollywood shop. I'm considering this a gift to Baby H from his cousin (even though it was kind of stolen... explanation here.) :)

SOAR pennant banner: Lisa Leonard. A very special gift from Lisa. It matches the verse we chose for Baby H.

White Chunky Ashby Frames: Pottery Barn Kids. Purchased at consignment shop for $10.

Flooring: Quick Step Eligna Grey. Laid by R.

Trim: We painted our existing off-white trim deep aqua. We rubbed it on for more of a vintage, imperfect look.

Crib skirt: Dwell Studio Grey Mini Dots. From Modern Baby.

Other details: Thumbprint canvas was the 'guestbook' for his shower. Monster plush is an Ugly Doll (gift from grandma). Lamp: Target (gift from work gals). iPod dock/clock: Target (gift from Aunt Ang). Coat rack: Lowes, painted. Sweatshirt hanging on it: Baby Gap (gift from Aunt Jen). Teal shelves: Picked from mom's house, painted. First step frame: Gift from Deb. Tin baby cup: Things Remembered. (gift from Aunt Diana). 'Diaper bag:' Kelly Moore Boy Bag in Mustard. Scrabble canvas: DIY. & sign: Junk Bonanza. Maternity Canvas: Free from Canvas People. Egg basket: junked. Curtains: IKEA. Large silver frame: found on curb.

TO DO:
1.) Frame for empty shelf. I'm thinking something silver to match the frame/cup on the other shelf. I want to put a family picture in it.
2.) Print for SOAR frame. I'm envisioning a photo of R holding Baby H (as he grows) above his head with Isaiah 40:31 printed along the bottom of it. In the mean time, maybe a maternity shot with this verse.
3.) First Step Frame photo. Please tell me it wont go so fast before his first step is here! In the meantime, maybe a photo of his baby Jordans.
4.) R is working on a quote project for the empty canvas above the crib.
5.) Bedding: I want to dye a crib sheet grey to match the crib skirt. I also need to get working on his quilt. It is sewn together but I've yet to start the actual quilting. Any takers?
6.) Other random things include finding a night light, running the cords from the dresser onto a power strip, finding window shades that fit (this is a tough one!), adding the other locker storage tub, etc, etc.

Whew. That was a lot. But with as many questions as I've answered about Baby H's room, hopefully it was worth the post. :) As you can tell Grandma Devra (and lots of other people!) have played a huge role in getting ready for Baby H. You could probably also tell that R has touched every single project in this nursery. R had opinions and ideas and worked really hard (while I mostly supervised) to get it ready. I'm oh so impressed with him!
We feel so blessed to have a nursery in this home and to have a sweet baby boy that will be in it very soon!

Pretty Packages

2011-09-29T12:37:00.000-05:00

I have been so blessed at the mailbox this week! Sure pretty much everything in it has been for Baby H but it has sure been making my heart sing. Today at the mail, I was SO excited to see this sweet little package. I wanted to rip it open so bad but I couldn't without taking a picture first, it was just too pretty! Then I read the card and teared up. THEN I finally ripped (daintily, of course) into that pretty package and was so excited to see this from my sweet friend, Lisa. It is absolutely perfect for Baby H's room and the verse we have chosen to hang on his wall. I'm SO excited to get it up and now so very motivated to finish the rest of his room! Thank you so much, Lisa!! We love it!! And you!!!

so thankful

2011-09-29T05:49:00.000-05:00

In case I haven't mentioned how blessed we are lately, we are. We have soooo many people that love on us and Baby H. He is already one blessed little guy. We were given a baby shower by aunts (Holly, Kerry & Ang) and another baby shower from the gals from work (Kari, Lisa, Anne) (yes, even though I'm not there this year- how nice are they?!). Baby H got SO much great stuff and THEN his grandma took us shopping and got him even MORE great stuff. We really wouldn't have been able to get everything on the baby list without everyone.

So with all these blessings pouring in, we needed to get those thank you's going out. I love handwritten thank you's. There is just something special about them. So I sat down one night to start working on them. I did several (but didn't even put a dent in the list) and the next day my hands were so swollen I couldn't bend my fingers. It was time for a new plan so I chose a handwriting font (oh I wish my handwriting was that pretty) and started pecking away at them. In about three nights of work (go easy on me, it takes awhile to come up with heartfelt thank you's), I got the 50+ thank you's ready to go and the following weekend, R addressed all the envelopes for them. He's a good sport. And this is my apology (and reasoning) to you for your non-handwritten (though I hope maybe you thought it was anyway) thank you.

Thanks for loving us anyway.

Seriously,

PS- I should point out that R even wrote out a couple of the thank you's himself. Are you impressed? I was!

One More Picture....

2011-09-28T10:30:00.000-05:00

And here's one more from the day. (Have I broke my own blogging record for most posts in a row yet?)

R has this set as his facebook profile picture and I keep jumping over to facebook to view it (when I should be editing! not working well for my productivity today!) so I decided to post it here too.

I like this one because pregnancy changes a marriage (well it did ours anyway). Heck, change itself can change a marriage and as far as changes go, this is a pretty big one. It has definitely not made marriage easier by any means but it's made marriage better. I like this photo because it is exactly how I feel today. Happy to be wrapped up in his love.

PS- I posted a couple more on the other blog. :)

A Year Ago

2011-09-28T08:33:00.001-05:00

One year ago, I was taking belly photos for a client. Fall had just begun and we had some beautiful round, belly sized pumpkins on the front porch (side-note: I was way more with it in the decorating department last year). We grabbed one of those pumpkins and used it as a photo prop.

For some reason that photo on that day stuck with me. I remember at the time I was longing for my own 'pumpkin shot.' (I think it had something to do with the fact that just a couple months earlier, I had given up my 'basketball shot' photo idea and used it on a client and was longing for that too.)

So many times along our journey, we prayed for a baby. We were thinking adoption but on this particular day last fall I remember asking God, "Could you?"

One year later He did. He gave us that 'pumpkin shot.' And SO much more.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." -Ephesians 3:20

Lollywood Frames

2011-09-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

When I posted this sneak peek of the nursery, I confessed to stealing. I thought it might be good to clear up any confusion about how one goes about stealing a Lollywood frame. Let me explain....

My cousin and her hubby make and sell these awesome frames in The Lollywood Shop. (Yes, the same cousins that did our cabinets everyone asks us about.) There are tons of colors and styles to choose from and you can custom make them to get what you want. I have some samples of them here in the studio and they really snazz the studio up.
When we were hanging stuff on Baby H's walls last weekend, I wanted more of the accent mustard. We were doing the wall project without buying anything (well almost... more on that later) new so we shopped the house. Knowing the studio props were off limits, I tried really hard not to stare as I was on my way into the storage room to 'shop.' But the pull was just too strong, I couldn't resist, and that sweet little mustard frame ended up on the nursery wall. Where {cb}h clients can now see it in action. Or at least that's what I tell myself to help me sleep at night. ;)

10 on Tuesday September 27th

2011-09-27T01:08:00.000-05:00

1. Some lovely gals from work hosted an awesome shower for baby H this week. Some of our favorite gifts are books and of course this group of teachers delivered. Between this shower and our friends one, baby H actually has books that are new (and not from the garage sales). He's one loved little boy!

2. We had some leftovers from the Saturday shower. The lemon cupcakes were some of my favorite leftovers.

3. They were apparently Dakota's favorites too. He pulled 6 of those pretty cupcake boxes off the counter, neatly opened them and ate every last cupcake (and cupcake liner). He is generally a pretty good dog and doesn't get into anything but if good food is left out he just cant resist. (I cant really say I blame him though!) I still wasn't very happy about it... mostly because I was wanting to eat them myself, so when I finally started talking to him again the next night he was all smiles over it.

4. My mom and sister took us baby shopping to get some of the stuff left on our needs list. Since the big shopping day, we've been more excited to work in his nursery.

Baby H's grandma loves him SO much. He got some really great stuff and things that there is no way we would have been able to get without her help. Baby H's family has been more than generous in getting ready for his arrival. He's so blessed!

5. I posted a '32 week' photo that wasn't really at 32 weeks but it works. I had planned to do the chalk bubble each week and this was the first time I actually pulled it out. I've been a little more consistent with the iPhone in the bathroom mirror photos but even those hadn't been taken for awhile!

6. R won some sort of award when he brought me home jeggings last week. I didn't end up wearing them right away but I did end up wearing them and loved them! I especially loved them paired with this tank dress that Ang found at Forever 21. $9.50 people. Talk about a cheap outfit- and it's my current favorite so you'll likely get tired of seeing me in it!

7. Mom's burlap Toms had been getting all the love around here... until I realized it was boot weather and the Uggs still fit. I cant wait to pair them with the jeggings and tank dress! :)

8. And I have a confession.... I stole a Lollywood frame for Baby H's nursery. I just couldn't resist. I LOVE it! And yes, we know those frames are pretty close to the changing pad. Hopefully he's a good little baby during diaper changes.... ha. Anyway, they are low because originally we had bunting near the ceiling but we ditched that idea.
That little gadget on the table... I can't wait to share about it and our other baby gear. And the blacked out canvas on the wall... yep, that would have Baby H's name on it. I'd love to share it, I really would, but R will most definitely not let me. Sorry!

9. We've been working on thank you's this week. R has been a huge help.

10. And do you have the new facebook timeline? I'm going to quietly admit here that I like it (even without a cover yet!). But I'm pretty sure I'll have to stay off of facebook for awhile once it goes live on everyone's profiles (because I'm sure there will be complaining) but facebook has changed SO many times since it came out (remember way back when facebook didn't have photos!?) and 99% of those changes have been for the better (though I'm still bitter they took away the option to view all comments on photos on the same page). Happy Facebookin'!

Nursing Cover

2011-09-26T20:02:00.001-05:00

Every once in awhile I sew something up and deem it blog worthy.

That hasn't happened too much lately.

So here's tonight's under an hour sewing project- a nursing cover.

I really wanted this one by Bebe Au Lait:

But at nearly $50 (yikes!), the price tag was just a LITTLE too high for me.

So... I stalked the local Hancock store until their designer fabric went on sale (it was 54% off tonight!). The sale combined with the 15% off apple discount made this similar fabric less than $5. With it, I was able to make this knock off version of the Bebe Au Lait cover. They did not have any of the white chenille in stock (and I didn't think to look for terry cloth) for the pockets so I added pockets on the inside to both bottom corners with grey felt. Not sure how long those will hold up but I already had it on hand and they look good for now! I also did not add any boning to the neck but with where the neck straps are and the stiffer fabric, it seems to stick out enough on it's own.

Not bad for a savings of $45!

Have you been sewing lately? Are you looking for a project to do? -Because I have a baby quilt that's been taunting me lately and you are welcome to work on it! :)

the bump

2011-09-24T20:50:00.001-05:00

I had good intentions of taking bump photos throughout this pregnancy.

I have failed big time.

So here's the latest photo. Actually taken past 32 weeks but this looked better than '32 1/2 weeks.'

My next goal is to get shower photos blogged. But don't hold me to getting that done anytime soon (or ever?). It was really nice though.

Take my word for it?

Caramel Apples

2011-09-23T14:40:00.000-05:00

It's fall.

And we're eating caramel apples dipped in cinnamon sugar.

Yum.

10 on Tuesday (9.20)

2011-09-20T05:04:00.000-05:00

1. Ran some errands with Kylie and her momma. She is officially 8 months old and I just realized that day that I hadn't ever had my picture taken with her. We fixed that.

2. We've been sticking with the bike riding (it's been easier on me than the walking). Hopefully we'll be able to for awhile still. We also attempted an updated shadow picture... it didn't turn out as great as our last one but we'll keep it. :)

3. I've been thankful for so much lately and been hard on myself for not getting 'thank yous' out fast enough. But I've also been frustrated after doing something for people that dont even give a verbal 'thanks.' As I was considering this and choosing to focus more on improving myself, I got two pieces of mail with a 'thanks' even before being opened. Kind of a happy note. :) (And they both had smiley faces- that didn't hurt.)

4. Kelsey let me borrow some of her snappy ~~casual~~ clothes for the weekend. We had planned on doing maternity pictures in them (ones R would actually be in because my sister was going to do it while she was in town) but got rained out. We have no back up plan for photos so I'm sad about that (but we still cant justify spending the money on maternity photos in this season of life). I am thankful for the couple belly shots R has taken though.

5. Our first prenatal class was scheduled for Thursday. We may or may not have ~~skipped~~ missed it to go ~~to the bar~~ to get dinner for a starving mama to be. High life lounge serves good food though. Especially the bacon covered tater tots. Just sayin'.

6. We had some company stay with us this weekend in preparation of our baby shower. It was so fun to catch up with a great friend (and her boys!). I am lucky to have such great people in my life (just wish some of those people lived closer!!!) (One of her boys is pictured here with Maddman & Dakota. They were way too busy for photo ops!

7. Saturday night was movie night. Thankfully, it ended up warming up for us! We're taking suggestions for the next movie night but we'll wait till spring for that one!

8. Dakota is WORN out after all the weekend activity and guests. His mama is too! He does love the attention from some of his favorite people though!

9. Colson turned four this week! Seems like he was still in his mama's belly at our wedding not that long ago. Happy Birthday, buddy!

10. My hubby is cute. That's all.

10 on Tuesday (life since 9/6)

2011-09-13T06:12:00.000-05:00

1. Last Tuesday was date night. And, coincidentally, $.99 kids meal night at Fazoli's.

2. Wednesday morning I woke up with a wedding ring that no longer fits. Up until this day, I had been able to wear it in the mornings (as long as I took it off by 2 pm I was good). It's officially being put away for awhile. R is not impressed with my 'replacement.' He's worried everyone will think he picked the ugly thing out. :)

3. Thursday we met Mo at a football game. We hadn't seen her in FOREVER and then lately have gotten to see quite a bit of her. She's at such a fun age and says the funniest things. The last time we were with her she was combing R's hair and says, "Uncle R has bangs." To which I said, "I think that's to cover up his bald spots." Mo says, "Well it's not covering up the bald spot on the back of his head!"
Everyone but R thought it was funny. ;)

4. R posed for a picture with me (that would be Mo's finger in the frame). This is one of about 2 we have of the ~~two~~ three of us together. We need to get better about that. I don't want Baby H thinking his daddy was never around (I mean it's not even basketball season!).

5. Friday we met up with some work people. Since we were in the 'big city,' we ran by Hy-Vee to grab some Mint Oreo Fudge Cremes only to find this. Sadness.

6. I went to the chiropractor last week. Have you ever been? I went for the first time in my life last winter. Denise is amazing and I highly recommend her! (Her husband actually went to school with R and they are two of the nicest people!)

7. Saturday was THE big game day. My sweet hubby not only skipped the game but also took me to the downtown farmers market to track down my breakfast. I was thinking with it being Iowa's Christmas that it wouldn't be so busy. I was wrong. But man was that smoothie (and breakfast burrito... and dutch letter..) worth it.

8. Have I mentioned ISU won Saturday!?!? It was a great weekend to be a Cyclone. (But as one friend pointed out- an even better weekend to be an American.)

9. We are still church hopping. We tried (another) new one Sunday. There were a lot of 'glory, Glory, GLORY!!!'s R is about ready to go back to where we started but we still have a few left on the list.

10. Monday night date night this week. We had counseling/picnic night. And some great talk time. Then we went to Wal-Mart and got me an $8 wedding set. R joked he was going to get down on one knee in front of Wal-Mart to give it to me but just stuck it on my finger instead. Do you remember when you first got engaged and looked at your ring all. the. time? I've been doing that but the thing isn't even cute. I'll be anxious to get my real one back. (And maybe I'll get it cleaned/dipped in the meantime so it'll be even better when it fits again!)

What have you been up to lately?

Do You Remember When.....

2011-09-12T05:13:00.000-05:00

...navy was an Iowa State color?

I hope so because that's what I was going for on Saturday. :)

I know it doesn't look like much of a State outfit, but if you look real close you can see my vintage CY pin. And yes, those are Toms with a dress. They are the only shoes that fit (besides flip flops) and even these Toms are too small for me by the end of most days. Good thing mom sent me home with her burlap Toms last week (unless Holly is reading this, then I'm just kidding about the burlaps).

Anyway.... the point of this post was just to say, "Wooo Hooooooooo!" ISU beat Iowa 44-41 in triple overtime on Saturday!!! (Again, I realize if you are not from Iowa- this is not a big deal to you. But trust me, it's just like Christmas!)

Everyone I've talked to has said it was thee best college football atmosphere ever. And we missed it.

It was my fault. R had planned to go but there was something about the crowd and bleachers that didn't sound fun to me so I didn't want to. The sweet guy opted to watch it on tv with his buddies with me instead (and I planted myself on their couch with my feet up all afternoon) and we missed it. But it was still a great win even just seeing it on tv!!!

Go Cyclones!!

10 Years

2011-09-11T06:41:00.000-05:00

This week, I was taking pictures at Carver Hall on ISU campus. It's a beautiful old building with great stairs out front. (And the engaged couple I was photographing looked awesome in their red/gold up there.)

Right away, I remembered climbing up those stairs 10 years ago. I was on my way into Sociology 134 (I think that was the number?) with Sara Jo by my side. We were wondering what in the world was going on. We had just seen the news. We were kind of in shock. And judging by the eerie quietness on campus, everyone else was in shock as well. We went to our early morning class but as the day unfolded, many professors were canceling classes. We went back to the rooms and gathered around small tvs to try to make sense of what was going on. Today, we still cant make sense of it. It's a day that we'll always remember. A day that has forever changed us.

I wasn't planning on writing a post about 9/11 but climbing up those stairs so close to the anniversary brought me right back to that day. Are you remembering today?

I Was Just Thinking...

2011-09-10T05:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Game Day! If you aren't from around here, it may not be a big deal to you.... but Iowa State takes on the Hawks today. It's kind of a big deal. I'm contemplating staying home for the day. Is that bad?

It's also 9-10-11 today. I like fun numbered dates like that. R is convinced we are having an October baby. We'll be 'full-term' (or is it near-term now?) on October 27th but I still want a November baby. The main reason? (Not the MAIN reason- little guy's health is obviously the main reason) I want a fun numbered birthday. His birthday would be 11-__-11. Our anniversary is 7-21-7. That's kind of fun. Right? 11-1-11. 11-11-11. 11-7-11. 11-21-11. All fun birth dates, right? :) There's a full moon on the 10th so maybe we'll end up around there somewhere.

Have you ever tried to photograph a full moon? It's a lot harder than it looks.

Pretty much every picture posted on my blog lately has been taken with the iPhone. I'm just too lazy to carry around a camera for this season. I do have plans to put my purse camera (which has actually been an 'in storage' camera lately) into the diaper bag though.

My diaper bag isn't really a diaper bag. It's the Kelly Moore boy bag. I bought it way back when for a photography bag (it's one of those 'needs' I convinced R of and it was paid with cbh money). My purse is the Kelly Moore hobo bag (another 'need' he feels like he got duped on). I've heard lots of people say they use the Kelly Moor hobo for a purse/diaper bag and with my current 2 empty slots, I think I can make that happen. The boy bag will likely be one I keep in the car because you know I can't leave home without everything I think I just might need.

I would be really good at that purse game they play on 'Let's Make a Deal.' (You do remember that show, right?)

Are you excited for the new seasons of tv shows to come back on? This is the first year in my life I've looked forward to it. The more couch sitting I do, the better watching tv sounds to me.

I haven't actually been very good at couch sitting. I wake up still swollen some mornings because I worked too hard the day before. R makes himself self-proclaimed boss of cbh on those days and forces me to take the day off. He's kind of a pushover as far as bosses go though. ;)

He's been pretty patient though. Everyone (well not everyone...) talks about how hard it is to be pregnant but people don't mention much about how hard it is to be married to a pregnant woman. I mean there are times I just start crying. I have no idea why so how should he? (Oh but in that moment of irrationality, I expect him to know why, darnit!) He puts up with the tears and the absent mindedness and the randomness well (enough).

Yes, definitely the randomness.

September Showers

2011-09-09T06:07:00.000-05:00

I'm going to come right out and say it.

I hate showers.

I know that makes me sound like a terrible person. But it's kind of true. You would think someone like me would love sitting at the center of attention for something like that but I just don't. I felt so awkward opening gifts at my bridal showers. I don't know what it is about them and I may be the only person in the world that feels this way but I just don't like showers.

That being said,

I am SO excited about our upcoming baby shower!

I know. I don't understand the switcheroo in attitude about them either, but I'm really excited about it.

It could have something to do with the fact that I wont be opening gifts for myself (seriously, at our wedding showers, I kept making comments about how much R would love the gifts. I guess I felt like if I were opening them all for him it made me look better.).

It could also have to do with the fact a friend that I love dearly is driving all the way here to see me and even coming early so I can actually get to spend time with her!

Or that another best friend is even contemplating driving all the way here with her three little kiddos (oh, I already told her she's crazy, don't worry).

OR maybe it's the menu the girls have ready to go. Um. YUM.

Whatever the reason, I'm excited about it.

Except for one little thing... the invites. I always struggle with who to invite. I have this weird complex that if you invite a lot of people, they'll think you just want gifts (SO not true) but after our wedding showers, I found out if you don't invite enough people, those people get their feelings hurt. I posted something about this on facebook and got some great advice and decided to invite everyone I was even considering inviting. But... you know I chickened out. I have over 15 pretty invites sitting here that never got sent out. So please, PLEASE, know that if you want to come, I'd love to see you! (And your invite is sitting on my desk!) You are so welcome to come eat breakfast with us (and you seriously don't need to do the gift thing) and have a good time. Let me know and I'll get an invite to you asap so you can rsvp. We'd love to have you!

And in a related happy shower note... I never posted these pictures from my very first baby showers (clear back in May). (And I guess I'm not even posting the full picture now but I thought it best to crop the students out.)
At the end of the school year I had two different groups of students host showers for me and Baby H got two different showers out of the deal. It was about the sweetest thing ever. I got the absolute best, heartfelt cards from them and I still cry when I read them. (And do you see the cookie cake? YUM. And the duck themed shower? They put a lot of planning into these! Too fun!) Several of the girls from these groups have emailed wanting updates on baby. It just makes my day when someone asks how he is doing and to think that these young girls would think to ask just makes my heart smile.
Baby H is definitely loved by lots of people already!

How To: Be a Cheapskate

2011-09-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

So the other night, R&I were working on (yet another) project in the garage.

It was date night actually. His turn to plan. He wanted to work on projects together so he treated me to $.99 kids meal night at Fazoli's and we came back to work on projects. That's not the point of this post but I thought you should know he's a cheapskate too. And that he's sneaky. That was his way of getting out of projects on Saturday- the day his beloved Cyclones take on the Hawks. Anyway....

So we are working on a project and as he's spray painting he looks at me and says I should host my own tv show about how to do things cheap. Some might be offended by that comment but those of you that have been to our home, know this is a compliment to me. Most of our furniture/decor were hand me downs, picked from someone's junk piles, or found on the curb. The few nice, new things we do have were gifts. (Or purchased with tax refund money- isn't that our citizenly duty to go spend that??) :)

We both know he's joking about the tv show idea but we start kicking around episode ideas.

Here's the storyline of episode number one: Husbands, if you want your wife to be frugal, don't call her treasures that she brings home trash. I realize there are only two men that read my blog (I know- the number jumped up from just R. I found out this weekend one of our guy friends reads it too.) but I still think this is a key component to share.
It can take some trial and error to be thrifty. Sometimes I have an awesome idea that just doesn't pan out like I had planned. Sometimes I think I've really found a gem in the ditch, only to be setting it out on my own curb the next trash pick up day. It's not easy being ~~gangster~~ thrifty. But when your wife is working on a project that she's just sure is going to turn out really awesome, for pete's sake, don't tell her it's trash! (Especially if she's 7 months pregnant. She'll cry. And then she'll shoot your budget down the drain and go buy something new to replace your so called 'trash.' Or at least she'll think about it really hard.)

That episode brings me to the next one: Be Patient.
It might take time to get the look you're going for. Our entire home is one giant work in progress. One of R's buddies (a GUY) said I really needed to do something in our basement family room. (I wish I were joking.) But it's true. We do. And we will. Eventually.
To be thrifty, you have to be patient. You may have an idea in mind but it may take awhile to come across what you need to execute the plan.
Example 1: Our upstairs living room. It's one big pile of blah right now. With one giant wall that needs something. We're being patient with it.
Example 2: Our little guy's children's book collection. We have a nice little library for him (with lots more books not even pictured here). With the exception of the 3 books we've purchased new, our entire library cost less than $20. Garage sales are an awesome place to find gently used books and if you're picky, you can get books that look new (with no scribbles or rips) for $.50 or less. I always check out the children's books at garage sales. And I have little P trained to check them out for me as well. :) But it takes time. My first garage sale book buy was in 2002. A $.25 practically new copy of Dr. Suess' 'My Many Colored Days.' That was over 9 years ago, folks.

So be patient. You really can do things on the cheap if you are willing to live in the middle of projects for.... well.. pretty much ever. (And if you're willing to have 75% of your child's books to have an inscription to someone else on the inside of the front cover.)

(Some of little guy's books pictured above. You've probably seen the IKEA spice racks idea on pinterest. That's what those are, just painted. Another 'how to be a cheapskate' idea but I cant take credit for that one.)

Let's Talk About Budgets

2011-09-07T06:47:00.000-05:00

Updated: You really need to read the comments below. And for those of you that had emailed me replies but I didn't save the email to post here, please leave those comments below too! (You can do it anonymously if you want.) There is some GREAT info in there for you. :)

_________________________________________________________________________________

So, as we expected, R&I have had to change our spending habits this year with me on a leave of absence from work. We knew our budget would change but we've always had a 'budget' so I wasn't worried about it one bit.

But.

You see, our old idea of a budget was to say how much we were going to spend on certain things a month.... but.... if there was something I 'needed' (or could convince R that I needed), we would transfer money from savings to checking and we'd get it. This didn't happen a lot. But it did happen.
Most of the time we would do really (okay, relatively) well on not spending money. We don't buy expensive things. We don't buy too many wants. We aren't name brand snobs. We hardly ever (I mean, really) shop. And R is in charge of the groceries so we spend a lot less there than we used to.

So. When this year came around and we were going to get serious about the budget, I knew I could do it.

Until I needed something but really couldn't afford it this time. It was kind of a shock to me that we actually couldn't afford for me to get it. And that's when I realized this budget really is a budget. And I pulled an R and got just a little bit nervous about the money situation.

Okay.... This is where you come in. I need your help!

How much did your budget change after baby?

What do you think a reasonable baby budget is for a month?

What did the baby budget money go towards? (How much for diapers, etc. We hope we wont be buying formula, but just in case- give me those numbers too!)

What are some costs that you did not anticipate that ended up being added to the budget?

And because this is the biggest thing looming over us right now..... how much did you spend before baby even arrived? We just realized with 10 weeks (we hope!) to go that we may need to start getting serious about buying some things. Yikes!

Thanks, friends!

10 on Tuesday (8.31-9.6)

2011-09-06T06:37:00.000-05:00

1. I went out to lunch with a friend from work (she retired last year). It was so fun to catch up with her! I snapped this photo before leaving because it was the best hair day I have had in a month. R had been telling me the last week I looked bigger (he quickly changes it to 'baby looks bigger') but I didn't realize it until seeing this photo. Baby H does look bigger! (I know it's a repeat. Sorry.)

2. (One day last week... I cant remember when) I clipped some boxtops before running out the door to meet this guy for a quick lunch. We have big plans of doing lunch once a week but so far it's only worked for both of us once.

3. The links post had me going back to read about R&I's Creston days together and had me craving Cactus Bread. Guess who went and got me some?! :) YUM.

4. I had a few Southern Iowa shoots this weekend so we headed south for a couple days. Miss Mo was around to hang out in between sessions and we had a good time. We finished off the last box of Girl Scout cookies that was in the freezer then went for a 'treasure hunt.' She found a snake she wanted to take back but settled for just the picture. Thank goodness. Yuck. (And yes, I'm aware we're about to bring a little boy into this world. But that doesn't mean I have to like snakes.)

5. She thought it would be a good idea to see how many different things she could make out of sprinkles. She was proud of inventing shaving cream sprinkles until she realized the green dye was not coming off. She wanted to know why no one told her sprinkles would dye your skin if you put them on your face. "Someone should have told me that."

6. R bought some internet thing (real technical, I know) so he could watch the ISU game. He was pretty bummed I had photos and we couldn't go to the game but he was a good sport about watching it this way instead. Mo also got in on it. :)

7. When we got back, R started working on some nursery projects. Only a few tears were involved. ;)

8. We ate our Labor Day lunch with the P fam. Grandma P always makes the best veggie pizza. I LOVE it!

9. I took a quick siesta under a flagpole. It was beautiful weather!!

10. And for those of you that have been asking....... a nursery photo update. Impressive, huh? ;) Our goal is to get all of the power tools out of there in the near future. We're on the ball like that.

Baby H Update

2011-09-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

I'm swamped in emails and several of them have been asking about how we're doing so I thought I'd post an update here....

We are doing great!

My labs did come back preeclamptic with proteinuria and creeping blood pressure and they are keeping an eye on my liver and kidney functions (they told me why and what those numbers were but honestly it doesn't mean a whole lot to me). I'll likely be taking the 24 hour test quite often for them to monitor it. I feel like I don't know a whole lot about it but I refuse to ask Dr. Google on this one. I do know it can be very dangerous. I figure between knowing that and what my Dr tells me, that's all I really need to know. I asked R to look into it because I knew what I would read on the website they gave me would be bad- he reported that what he read online was not good and that he wasn't going to be looking into it either. Ha. I guess it will be better for both our our blood pressure this way. ;) (And I have a little sister that nags me about my symptoms so I don't think we'll miss much by living blissfully ignorant on this one.)

It does give me a great excuse to rest. And rest. And rest. I'm just now getting back into the tired stage so taking advantage of some rest time has been great.

I'm also thankful to have some awesome clients! I had a full day of special sessions scheduled in September but knew that would be difficult to make happen once my Dr told me I couldn't do the same activity for more than 45 minutes at a time. Thankfully, all of the clients scheduled for that day were more than understanding and we got some things rescheduled.

Other than the lab issues, I've actually been feeling the best I've felt throughout this pregnancy. Second trimester was better than first trimester but Little Guy was in such a position that I was always in pain. I cringed when people told me to just wait because it was only going to get worse, but thankfully they were wrong! (By the way, stop telling me that! ha) He has switched positions and I've actually been feeling a lot better because of it.

Once in a great while, R will catch me off guard with a, "WHOA, you've gotten... I mean Baby has gotten bigger." This week was one of those times. The other day he kept commenting on how much bigger I looked. I didn't believe him until I snapped this photo. He may be right. (And no, we haven't been taking belly shots. The last photo with my belly in it was in July. Terrible of us I know.)

Thanks for the prayers. Just knowing people are praying for us has been great for my blood pressure. :)

10 on Tuesday (end of August!)

2011-08-30T19:41:00.000-05:00

Can you believe August is coming to an end? Where did summer go?!?! Here are 10 11 random things from our last few days. I realized I haven't been taking ANY photos lately when I had to steal one from R's phone (#7). I'm going to start working on that. (And maybe even have some non iPhone photos soon. Maybe.

1. Friday night lights are back. My high school friend, Sarah, came down for the Bomber football game Friday night. She's a nomad currently residing in Minneapolis. It'd been way too long since I had seen her! I'm pretty sure we talked the entire 5 hours we were together and watched a total of 30 seconds of football. Gotta love the Friday night lights atmosphere though, right? :) (We did pay attention during the fly over. Those are always fun!)

2. Saturday was our town's festival. As much as I have craved pancakes the last few months, they didn't even sound good enough to drag me out of bed for the pancake feed that morning. We skipped that but did make it downtown for our other meals (and snacks) of the day. It felt like we spent more time running into people and talking to them than we did seeing all the stuff up there. But I got a little tan while we were at it.

3. While we were eating one of those snacks (a shaved ice in the coolness provided by the fire station), I got a text from my sister who had decided to come up. They checked out the festival then we all went up to the new high school for a tour. I know R is sooooo excited for basketball season in the new gym!

4. We all came back to the house to rest for awhile before heading back up. Holly worked on some baby shower stuff for a little bit. She's going to be making some good food for it, I cant wait!!!

5. The P fams came over and we went back downtown for the hog roast. We had quite the audience as we walked down the street. :) Between the singing/dancing kids, babies, and bellies we apparently put on quite the show for onlookers.

6. Saturday night we had s'mores (I'm feeling like all of these updates are about food!) at the fire pit. R loves sitting by a good fire. (And I do too!)

7. My SIL was in town for a wedding this weekend so Sunday morning we got together with R's family. It was so good to see his little sis. We so wish she lived closer but we'll settle for 'having' to go visit her (in sunny AZ). :) The boys went through lots of quarters in the machines and Coop scored this blinging gold chain.

8. I finally started on little guy's quilt last week. Slowly, I may have some of his nursery done before he arrives.....

9. Finally quilting meant getting a few notions. The lady on the quilting needles is from my hometown!! How exciting. ;)

10. My friend talked me into calling the Dr about an inconvenient symptom. I learned I'll be spending more quality time with this..... ugh. Great news is it's a perfect excuse to not make any plans and just stay home one day a week!

11. (consider it a bonus) We started a new little project. We've been keeping a close eye on curbs... Hopefully we can find what we're looking for on someone's curb in the near future so I'll have an update to this photo:

Seven Links Challenge

2011-08-26T23:29:00.001-05:00

Mary challenged me to go digging up past posts..... here's my attempt!

The Rules:

The blogger who is nominated (me, in this case) must publish 7 links from his/her own blog; one for each of the categories below.
The blogger then nominates 5-7 more bloggers to take part, and the beat goes on...

Most Beautiful Post

I just pulled the first one that came to mind with a smile on my face. This post about R&I's first day together just makes me happy.

Most Popular Post

My most viewed post is 'Mom's Strawberry Pretzel Salad.' (There have been thousands of hits to it from google image searches.) The post that I remember getting the most (POSITIVE) attention (emails with questions and compliments from complete strangers) was the tour of our kitchen.

Most Controversial Post

The one when I let people in on a little bit of our infertility story. We got a HUGE amount of support from people I didn't even know read our blog! And.... we got a lot of backlash from people I didn't even know read our blog. People were offended that I would say what to say or not to say. And, ironically enough, were telling me what I shouldn't be saying. ;)

Most Helpful Post

I wish I could say it was one about faith and was helpful to y'all but I'm going to look at this from the other side and say that the most helpful post to me was this one about baby gear. (So selfish of me.) But thanks! :)

Most Surprisingly Successful Post

I'm not sure what qualifies a post as 'successful,' but this post about making metal stamped necklaces has the most visitors that return to it multiple times. (So maybe it's the most helpful one but since it's random google searchers I'm not counting it.)

Post That Didn't Get the Attention it Deserved
The one where we announced to the blog world we were expecting. Maybe it wasn't informative enough. I did have a couple people tell me they were offended I didn't announce sooner because they had been praying for us. I feel bad about that but in our defense, I was sick and TIRED and we had been told it would be very difficult for me to stay pregnant. As blessed as we were feeling, we were still scared. I took a pretty big step back from blogging at that time. Partially because I didn't know how to transition into being a 'mommy blogger' without being offensive, partially because I didn't know how I would blog if something terrible had happened that would need explaining- but mostly because I was just plain sick and tired. It wasn't personal- I promise!

Post That I am Most Proud of
This mini cardboard testimony series. It's hard to be real about the ugly past. Funny that something I was so ashamed of can be my post I'm most proud of.

And now it's your turn!

1. JILL

2. Tab

3. Laura

4. Kari

5. Lisa

6. BP

7. Molly

Or anyone that wants to play along!

Today It Clicked

2011-08-26T11:40:00.005-05:00

Today it clicked for me. That bigger picture that I'm always thinking about got a few more pieces of the puzzle put in and it. just. clicked. I know I'm not going to do God's story justice here but here's a quick review....

LOTS of things had been happening where I worked that made me feel like I was not where I was supposed to be. Some doors in my life were closing and others were opening and they all pointed to me changing my life direction for a time. I said no. And no. And no again. I kept telling God 'no' because I had ALWAYS wanted to be a teacher and I had the perfect teaching set up. I loved my curriculum, my classroom and my kids. It was the only thing in my life I ever felt like I was really good at- I would have been so stupid to walk away from it. As much as I told God 'no,' He patiently kept telling me 'yes.' In February, I compromised and requested a leave of absence for the following school year. It was granted.

Meanwhile, R&I had been wanting babies. Lots of them but we decided we would be happy with just a few if that was God's plan for us. Previous medical history did not bode well with this plan but we were both wanting to adopt anyway so we were okay with that. We sought adoption but the doors kept closing. Upon R's request, I reluctantly went to the Dr. But I told him 'no' as well. 'No, I wasn't going to have fertility treatment.' 'No, I don't want your medicine or procedures.' I just wanted to know what was physically (not reproductively speaking- I had just been feeling 'off' for 10 years) wrong with me. He diagnosed me with hypothyroidism and put me on a pill that cost $1.20 a month. I saw a chiropractor for the first time in my life and she informed me that I was (literally) out of line (everywhere). After years of wanting to be parents, we were pregnant within a matter of weeks.

In fact, remember that leave at work I had requested? I only requested it because God stopped allowing me to say no. We were pregnant at the time but didn't know it. (Oh but God did.) In fact, I probably wouldn't have taken it had we known we were pregnant because, as I'm sure you know, babies are expensive and then they grow up to be expensive kids. 'We wouldn't be able to afford to have a baby on R's income alone.' Surely God knew that.

Over the summer, Baby H kept growing and I kept working. We had a scare in early July. I remember being admitted into the birthing unit and asking God 'Why are we here? What is the purpose of this happening right now?' I. just. didn't. get. it.

School started. It was tough. Really tough. I had anticipated being sad and missing the kids (that laugh at all my jokes and make me feel so needed). I did not anticipate feeling so down on myself. I felt like I was not contributing anything to society by cleaning my kitchen and editing people's pictures. I didn't feel like I was making a difference and immediately decided there was no way I could stay home. I questioned God's will even though we had prayed about this scenario for years.

In just a few short days, God was out to ~~hit me over the head again~~ show me that I could do it. First, He sent me a series of emails using some amazing clients (new friends, really) of mine to tell me what a blessing I was to them. Who knew that was even possible in a 45 minute photo session?

Then, as we were sitting at a routine prenatal appointment, our Dr's generally cheerful demeanor changed. She got real serious and started talking to us about preeclampsia. She told us the complications of it, especially with onset before 32 weeks. Several hours of testing and another Mercy admit wrist band to add to my collection later, and what she suspected was confirmed.

As I talked to the Dr this morning, I wasn't sad or scared about the outlook one bit. Instead, I had an 'a ha' moment. And God was smiling down on me saying, 'See child, I told you so.'

'I told you you wouldn't go to work this year. I told you your job was at home for this season. I told you this summer to slow down. I told you My timing is perfect.'

'My timing is perfect.'

And this slow learner is seeing a little bit more of that big picture today and feeling so blessed.

So blessed indeed.

google images

10 on... Thursday?

2011-08-25T11:26:00.005-05:00

I keep thinking I'll do a '10 on Tuesday' post but it seems like every Tuesday lately I've been swamped. I'm on a much needed lunch break from work and decided to distract myself with a 10 on... Thursday instead.

1. R is back at school. It's been quite the transition for us with me staying home but we may actually be settling into our new normal. Our new normal includes a clean kitchen so we're mostly liking it so far.

2. We went to the Straw Poll in Ames. My brother had free tickets so he 'took us out for lunch' for my birthday. Generous of him, huh? :) (In case you didn't know- there's tons of free food/goodies at the straw poll.) We had LOTS of great food, filled a few goodie bags with freebies, and learned more about some of the candidates. I don't consider myself Republican but I did enjoy the event. (Oh please don't misread that and think I'm Democrat. I'm most definitely not. I tend to lean towards being conservative and Biblically correct which is quite often not politically correct. But that's a whole other post that will probably not make it's way to this little blog.) It was a great day but I ended the long day laying under a tree waiting on R to trek to the car and bring it back to get me. I'm sure I looked 'neat' there.

3. I lied. I didn't end the day under that tree. Once we got home and re-energized, we went out to eat with some good friends. They let me choose desert and even sat by the duck pond with me while we ate. How ~~corny~~ fun is that?

4. I've been craving pancakes for the last several months. Cant get enough of them. R is trying really hard to perfect his pancake recipe. We've had several lessons at the H house. On my actual birthday, he brought me pancakes ~~in bed~~ at my desk (because I was already up and working that day) with a candle. He's a keeper.

5. We've been rearranging, repurposing, and really cleaning things out around here. I figure if I'm going to be spending so much time here, I need to start liking the way it looks again. R has been a big help in this by bringing me home flowers from the grocery store. The newest ones are my favorite but I'm too lazy to get a picture so this will have to do. Told you he's a keeper.

6. I found this 90 second cake recipe on Pinterest and tried it out. At 11:30 pm. Not as good as the yogurt version but not too bad.

7. Because of things like 90 second cake close to midnight, I was super worried about 'the orange drink' test. But great news- I passed!! The nurse was SO excited for me. :) However, soon after the Dr came in with more lab results that no one was excited about and I've been doing more testing this week. I finish up with them tonight and will get labs at the end. Hopefully we'll get good news and wont need anymore done until our next regular appointment (in a couple weeks). I'm feeling pretty good about it thanks to my prayer warriors. They are good to me.

8. I got a package in the mail from my mom yesterday. She had taken Mo back to school shopping to pick out some clothes. Mo wasn't interested in getting things for herself- she wanted to pick out things for her new baby cousin instead. Doesn't that just make you're heart happy? It did mine.

9. The upstairs tv is one of the things we've cleaned out! It's been with us since Creston and the story goes that it's how I won R's heart forever (well one version of the story....). We had always planned on putting it in our basement here and it never made it's way down there. (R weaseled his way into a new one for downstairs.) We had some friends over the other night. R mentioned selling it and all of a sudden we found ourselves on the good end of a bidding war. He couldn't justify keeping it then so we said our goodbyes. (And then went to watch her in our friends' basement that night. Ha.)

10. Baby H is growing right along. He's an active little guy, moving often and reaching his '10 kick count' in a matter of just a few minutes. He totally loves attention from his daddy and snacks. Lots of snacks. We are obviously excited to meet him, but we do hope it's not for a little while longer. Keep growing, little guy!! (updated: I just put this screenshot for visual interest and because I like the visual of weeks. I don't have varicose veins. Thankfully.)

What have you been up to lately?

What to Wear?

2011-08-23T10:15:00.009-05:00

Warning: This post is about baby bumps. If you just peed on your 1,000th stick this month and you hate people talking about baby bumps, turn away now- trust me, I get it. And know that I still love ya!

Sooooo this week I've had 3 different people ask me about maternity clothes. Which I laugh at because I (okay my mom) bought a total of about 4 pieces of actual 'maternity' clothes and found other stuff that would work or borrowed from friends. But I do think it's worth talking about because as much as R&I wanted babies, I still meltdown when I have somewhere to go that actually requires dressing in something better than R's oversized tees and shorts.

Just yesterday, I was talking to my awesome friend about the reality of me not going to work while all my teacher friends are back at it (yup, it's surprisingly hard). She told me to get my butt up and showered and dressed and get going in the morning (in a much nicer way). My excuse for not putting on 'real' clothes each morning was that when you only have so many pairs of pants that fit, you hate to waste the perfectly good pair just for editing at the computer.

And so ends my excuses. By 10 am today (baby steps), I was showered, dressed and had eaten breakfast (twice actually). And by dressed I don't mean work out shorts. (Do you hear the angels singing?)

As I pulled out a pair of maternity capris I already regret buying. I thought it was worth mentioning some things about what to wear (or what not, actually).

First, go shopping before you need to. NOT to buy a maternity wardrobe. You have no idea how big that baby bump is going to get. But you can buy some roomier clothes that will be good pieces after baby's arrival. I suggest taking a friend that's been there, has a similar build to you, and is supportive. (Actually, just take Jaren. Even if you don't know her, just take her. Trust me.) My first trip (EARLY on, before most people knew we were expecting) was to Target (with Jaren) and I had a $50 budget. I picked out a few summer dresses (not maternity) in a size larger than normal. They fit great then and they fit great now. A lot of the styles right now have lots of room in the belly so they're the perfect substitute. Plus you can pair them with leggings and cardigans to get you through more than one season.

At this trip, Jaren also talked me into the belly band (or rather the knock off version of it that Target sells). I was totally against it. It looked uncomfortable and ugly. She told me to trust her so I did. I'm so glad I did. Not long after that trip, I couldn't fit into my favorite BR skinnies. Cue the belly band. (Amen.)

Adding these few pieces (along with leggings already in my closet), I got through the first 4 months no problem. At the end of May, I was still surviving with these things but we had a MN shopping trip planned. Forever 21 and H&M at MOA both have a (small) maternity section.

I found some grey skinny jeans, comfy pants (that I'll totally wear well past maternity season), and a tank and tee. I also got some jeans at Motherhood Maternity and some capris at Target. In a later trip (just to Jordan Creek), I got some Gap shorts. These are the only maternity pieces I own and each pair of pants is totally different. Let's compare.

First up: Forever 21 Grey 'Skinny' Jeans.

The good: They're cute if you work them right (see below). And they don't make me feel like I'm wearing maternity pants. The band is low but stretchy enough that it actually feels good.

The bad: I always feel like I should wear bigger or flowy tops or tunics with skinny jeans to balance things out. Bigger/flowy+baby belly=tent. Not attractive. Remedy: pairing them with tanks and 'flowy' cardigans.

The ugly: 'Skinny-maternity' anything might be an oxymoron. I'm going to sound like a nimwit here, but I was surprised by how big my legs got (and are getting). These puppies leave marks down the sides of my legs where the seams are. I haven't worn them for an entire day at a time since June. Evenings out are about the limit.

Overall: Love em. And totally recommend them.

The Target Capris:

The Good: Cute factor with the rolled cuffs/boyfriend jean look. And the 'real' button look (more on that in a bit).

The Bad: TIGHT in the waist.

The Ugly: I thought I could pull off the maternity pants with the stretchy sides/back and keep the button up look going. I was wrong. I CAN button them. And they fit when I do. But I cant sit down (or breathe for that matter) without it hurting. Hard metal pushing against the outside of your belly + little baby pushing against the inside of your belly is not a good combo.

Overall: I may have bought them too early but they are the same size as my other pants that still fit so I'm not sure even a larger size would have worked. I still wear them using the rubber-band trick so I've gotten my monies worth but I would not recommend this style.

The Motherhood Maternity Jeans:

The Good: They fit perfect and are definitely 'transition' jeans from early to later. They still fit great and even though I put them through the dryer, I think they should fit for quite awhile longer (hopefully the rest of the pregnancy). From the waist down, they are cute. And they are versatile as jeans or rolled up capris (at least in my mirror they are- I hope that translates to real life).

The Bad: I was opposed to the belly cover of these based solely on looks.

The Ugly: It's fun to wear them as capris on a hot day... but beware- this band (and the belly band) are HOT (and not in a good way). My belly sweats (yup, seriously) when I wear these in the summer.

Overall: Love 'em. Definitely recommend 'em. Other than the sweat factor, they are super comfy and cute. Even though I was opposed to the look of the belly cover, they are the most practical and comfortable of the lot.

The Mauve Gap Shorts:

I wasn't sure if the picture of these I found online (gap.com) were the right ones but I checked and they are. Mine were MUCH cheaper in the store than these are and apparently I bought mine big because they are not that small looking (and longer- though I don't roll mine up like that).

The Good: Cute and comfy. Even with the lower waist band, they are comfy (though I wear them under the belly- not sure if that's the intended style or not).

The Bad: Though the color is fun, when you're only investing in one pair of maternity shorts, it might be a good idea to invest in something a little more practical.

The Ugly: The length. Though they fit quite a bit longer than the ones pictured, I'm more of a bermuda shorts girl and wont wear anything shorter when I know I'll be sitting in public places. (Weird, I know.)

Overall: I like them so much, I'm sure my friends are sick of seeing them. Comfy, cute and clearance are three of my favorite words when shopping and these fit the bill.

Overall, the only ones of the lot I wouldn't recommend are the 'real front button' look. I found them to be really uncomfortable (if you had a different experience with them, let me know!).

I know this doesn't look like many bottoms (trust me, I thought of that when I was moving my 36 pairs of jeans to the spare closet), but these, paired with skirts, dresses, and leggings have really gotten me by okay.

Also, the borrowed pieces from friends have been a huge blessing. R caught me trying on a pair of jean shorts a friend sent my way and he said, "You do not do a happy dance in the mirror for jorts." He's obviously never had to dress a baby bump.

For the sake of not making this post any longer than it already is, I could do a separate post on maternity tops but the truth is, I only have two words for you: TARGET TANKS. (It will be a sad day if these stop covering my belly.)

Happy dressing!

From The Desk Of

2011-08-22T14:07:00.006-05:00

It's a desk day today. The newborn I was supposed to be shooting this morning is sick so we had to reschedule. No morning session means lots of work from the desk. After uploading a ton of pictures from this weekend's wedding, my computer started running slow(er than I'm used to). I already spend enough time in photoshop as it is so I really need it to work super fast for me. Thus, the process of clearing this puppy off started.

I currently have a hard drive hooked up that is clearing of tens of thousands of photos and I've started the process of deleting about as many. Thats a big process!

While I'm working on it... I'm finding some oldies but goodies and some that I set aside for the blog that never made it.

This folder, "from the desk of," is one of those folders I had long since forgotten about.

These are pictures that I took from my desk somewhere around the end of the school year. I rotate through quotes/scriptures but some of these made the cut and stayed a really long time. Some I prayed, and prayed, and prayed again over. And some helped me through some not so easy days. It was a little tough to tear the tape off of them and take them down.

I never got around to the week of blog posts I had planned to talk about some of them so I'm just going to post them all here for my own sake of remembering.

A Little Explanation

2011-08-19T19:21:00.000-05:00

Earlier today I posted some little lovelies from photo booth. Some felt those needed an explanation. (You're right, there are some scary ones in there!)

From top to bottom:

1. Me today. Straight from bed with only the eye goobers wiped away. Good thing you can't smell my breath.

2. Me apparently trying to show off a freshly cleaned house with only a laptop and remote on the couch. (Notice the much more interesting background from when this baby was upstairs.)

3. New hair cut. (I think it was during March Madness because R's buddy is on the couch and I wasn't hanging out with his wifey so she must not have been here.)

4. A 'beauty' treatment. ;)

5. This was the contraption I set up to hold ice bags over my face (so I could still work) after my wisdom teeth came out. Ouch.

6. Apparently I was doing a self X-ray before the wisdom teeth came out?

7. A view from a different angle. When we first got the Mac, I thought the kitchen bar was a good place for her. I was wrong and apparently not happy about it by the looks of this picture. :)

These pictures are almost making me want to decorate in the basement now so my self-portrait sessions aren't so boring for y'all. :)

Living Better: Sleep

2011-08-19T09:54:00.003-05:00

Ahhhhhhh. Sleep. Me & Sleep have this love/hate relationship. Love it when I get enough. Hate it when I can't. And it's been more of the latter lately. We're pretty sure this is God's way of calming my biggest fear about becoming a mom. (Is it bad that my biggest fear is not getting enough sleep?!) As if He is getting me used to this lack of sleep routine in preparation. But I'm really fighting it. I'm working really hard to get at least (okay, about) 7(ish) hours of sleep a night. Though if 5 1/2 of those hours are consecutive, I'll take that too.

This means that if R&I go to bed late and I get up early with him in the morning, I usually take an early morning nap and end up getting up around 9 (except for the two days/week I have 9 am sessions). I'm totally okay with this sleep pattern for now and am noticing that I do feel better with the extra sleep.

However. The problem is that by 9 am, I feel like I need to eat and start working right away so I don't fall behind for the day. Which leads me to my next living better goal: showering.

I posted this on facebook the other day:

I mean, I did get a phone call from R about 45 seconds before they came over to let me know he wasn't coming home alone but what can one really do in 45 seconds besides throw on that lacking undergarment? (Side note: this is why even our best friends whom are over here all the time call or text before just 'stopping by.' ha)

So I posted that and realized that I really need to shower earlier in the day. And currently, here I sit past 10 am, still not showered for the day. Is it bad that I need a shower by goal added to my living better list? (You don't have to answer that for me. Yikes.)

Is it worse that I took a photo booth photo of myself to talk myself into thinking just brushing my teeth would be okay instead? (Double yikes.)

While I'm off to shower, you can enjoy these little lovelies I found while snapping the photo booth pic. Sadly, the sans shower look is trending in them..... Happy Friday!!

A Craftastic Summer Evening

2011-08-18T16:03:00.001-05:00

Updated: I have been asked for this post by a few people and I thought I had posted it. I typed it a long time ago and just never got around to publishing. Sorry!!

I have to admit, I really dropped the ball on craft night. We originally talked about doing a spring one, then an early summer one, then finally it turned into lets just get one in before school starts again. -We're much more realistic now and already planning the next one for another Christmas one! I'm also being a little more realistic about what I'll be able to contribute and have already asked the foodie to be the menu planner. ;)

My high school friend, Jill (a foodie) brought the BEST cheesecake stuffed strawberries and the cutest mustache mug craft. (Seriously, I could go for a ton more of those strawberries right now. You know how everyone is polite and leaves the last one? I was totally 'that girl' that ate the last strawberry tonight. SOOOO good!)

Molly brought this fun canvas project. (Are you noticing the Pinterest trend yet? We thought the next craft date should maybe be changed to Pinterest date instead....) Jen made the vinyl letters for mine with her fancy schmancy cricut. Have you seen those things at work? So geeky but soooo awesome!

Kari brought the sand vases. I think you were supposed to cover the entire thing but I opted for a sand stripe instead. (I like to live on the edge).

I did the Scrabble 'frames' with the clothes pin. Jen reminded me yesterday that I hadn't actually seen it or tested it to see how it would work (and that not everything I envision works out). I should have stuck with a Pinterest craft. My original plan was to do the bigger Scrabble canvas as my craft but it's pretty hard to come by that many letters for everyone! (But you can keep collecting those old Scrabble letters for me please and thank you!)

Here's a sample of what we made. Jill has better pictures on her blog so go check those out. My mustache mug had already found a home in my new niche before I took this picture so you may have spied it on my desk picture. (and yes, our little guy's name is blacked out on purpose. R wont let me tell anyone!!! sorry!)

As always, some of the craftasticly awesome women I know:

Back to School

2011-08-18T05:02:00.003-05:00

Today is the first day of school for a lot of my favorite teachers. And my first year of not back to school in a quarter century. I'm not sure I could ever get my feelings about that into a post so don't worry, that's not what this one is about.

In fact, when I woke up at 4:30 am not able to sleep, it wasn't that I was thinking about. I was thinking about R and his first day back with new kids today. It will be a different year for him. With the new building and grade shifting, he has two groups of new kids this year instead of his typical one new group. The new group is a third grade group. (Have you hung out with a third grader lately? Those guys are little!)

It will be a different year for him but I know it will be a great year for him. He is the best teacher I know- which is saying a lot because I know a ton of really great teachers and, well, he's a PE teacher. (Oh come on, I know you were thinking it too. We all know how everyone feels about PE teachers.)

He really is good though. He cares about his students but he's their teacher first, not their friend. He has high expectations of them, and they rise to the occasion. He teaches them to live healthy lives. He works to help them grow into better people, not just better 'athletes.' He (and his wife) pray for his kids.

To be real honest, PE was not my strong suite growing up. And PE (and a lot of the PE teachers) never had a good rep with me. (My own PE teacher didn't make me participate, he had me grade papers for his other classes. Classmates in college going for PE begged me to do their homework.) However, R has really changed my mind about PE teachers and the class. He works hard at what he does and really does care. He really is the best teacher I know.

I pray that R (and all the other teachers!) have an awesome year back this year. I pray that they have good rosters, productive professional development and administrators making wise decisions for their students. I pray that they spend this year connecting with their students and helping them to grow into better people. I pray that it's an awesome year for all of them!- I know it will be for R! (How can it not be? He's already had home cooked meals from the PW cookbook this school year- that would not have happened in previous first weeks back. And he gets an extra week vacation to hang out with me and the little guy.)

Happy School Year!

Hang it Up

2011-08-17T14:43:00.004-05:00

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought the 'Crying is for babies' was cute. It's not actually a poster. I typed it up in photoshop and printed it on 8x10 card stock to fit a frame. I made a few different ones so the frames wouldn't hang empty on the wall. I envision those frames being filled with Baby H pictures soon after his arrival but you know what they say about the carpenter's house... And for those of you that didn't think it was funny, relax, I'm hanging this one up too (as soon as I can decide what colors to print it in):

Cry it Out

2011-08-15T21:23:00.004-05:00

I didn't cry once today. Are you impressed? Seriously though, it was the first day back for my fellow teacher friends and I was really thinking it would be a tough day. It wasn't that bad at all. In fact, as I was making my 9am smoothie, I was so thankful to be at home doing that at 9am rather than 6am. (Never-mind the fact that R and the fellow neighbor teachers in this district were still out and about today making it still feel like summer... maybe tomorrow will be a different story.. but I still made it through the day not a bit sad!)

I haven't exactly been tear free lately though. Not about school stuff. Just about whatever seems overwhelming (which can be a lot when you're sharing your body with someone else). Sometimes R just lets me cry it out. Smart boy. :)

We always joke that this little guy is going to be a crier. Pretty much every other baby we know right now is a great, quiet, easy going, laid back baby. Which means someone in our group of friends is due for a crier. So you know that means it will be us. ;)

In fact, I hung this up in his room today.

Oh come on. It's funny. (Seriously, don't send me hate mail.) And yes, I'm fully aware that this cements our chances of having a crier. Remind me when I'm up in the middle of the night that I'm totally okay with that. ;)

Hope you're having a tear free day! Especially all of you teachers getting ready for school to start! I'm definitely thinking about you this week!