A Day in the Life

Such a good big sister!

2012-02-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

We practiced before Henry was here...

Now she has it perfected..

So silly!

2012-02-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

I love this kid! This is her new way of saying that something is silly. She has this silly voice and then follows it with a fake laugh - hilarious!

New games

2012-02-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

One of Ada's favorite new games..

Playing Horsey with her baby doll - this is her and Sam's new game they play together - except he is the horsey :)

Such a lady

2012-02-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

I am raising such a lady!! Ada has learned how to fart...

This one is kinda long. But in the beginning you can hear her singing people she knows.. Mason, Courtney, Nora, Uncle Mikhail..all at home! It is her favorite song to sing. Then you can hear farting and stopping to say that she is tooting. Lovely :)

Mommy daughter dates

2012-02-13T09:17:00.000-05:00

I have had the opportunity to take Ada out with just the two of us a couple of times. The first time we went to the movies to see Happy Feet 2. We had such a good time! We got a big popcorn to share and she sat in my lap commentated the entire time as to what was happening in the movie. Whenever we are leaving, she says, "Mommy, Ada bye bye - see penguins? Eat popcones?" I have to sadly tell her no, we are just going to run an errand - but it is nice to know that she had a good time too! The other time was when I took her to Jump Zone. We have some groupons to there that expire at the end of February so I have been trying to find time to go with her. She had fun, but did not want to jump. She just wanted to play in baby area..oh well, at least she had a good time!!

Playing

Love this kiddo!

Seriously so cute! Wish it wasn't so blurry :(

Week of pictures

2012-02-10T09:17:00.001-05:00

Before we get to the pictures...Henry had his 2 week appointment last week and he is perfect (of course). I was surprised to see that he was 8 pounds 15 ounces (55%) and 22 1/4 inches (93%). When we went in on the Friday after he was born, he was 7 pounds 10 ounces. So in 10 days, he gained 1 pound 5 ounces. That seems like a lot! He is a serious eater. He is on a 3 hour schedule to the minute basically. It is crazy! Nursing is going really well. I think we are over the hump. I am so grateful that it was much faster than last time! Anyways..

Are you ready for the cuteness???

So in love with this kid!

Why hello there!!

Cuddle times with Dad - this is what our evenings look like. From 5-10 he only wants to sleep in our arms

Uhmm..Are you going to eat me?

So snuggly!

Such a cutie pie

Hello momma

I am just too cute to look at you

So sweet

This is the 4th child to wear this outfit!

Sleeping tight!

This was after a morning of a bath, lotion massage, new clothes, and a good belly button cleaning - he was not happy with me

Ada looking at pictures - her favorite thing to do in the entire world

He got tired of waiting for me one morning to feed him

Hello there!

Smiles!

Doesn't he look so cozy?!?

Ada and Daddy playing before bed time

Love this

Trying to get Ada to smile..

Henry "nursing" one morning

I think he likes his bunny

Me and my boy

Ada being silly - she has really developed a sense of humor in the past few months. Such a fun kid!

First haircut

2012-02-09T09:11:00.001-05:00

Last week I decided that it was time to get Ada's haircut. We really didn't get much cut off - just a few inches here and there to even out her hair. I did not mess with the bangs. I learned my lesson last time. I like them how they are and am a little gun shy. We went to JJkids up in North Raleigh and they did a great job! She was quick and effeicient, my kind of gal for a kid that is afraid of strangers.

Ada picked out the airplane seat and Toy Story to watch on the TV. She was fine until she realized the lady was going to cut her hair. Lots of tears - but it wasn't constant - it was off and on. Really she would forget and get engrossed in the movie and then when she realized what was happening, she would cry. When we got down, she was fine and as we were walking out Ada kept saying, "Ada sad!" "Ada better now." All day if you asked her about her haircut she would say, "Ada sit in airplane! Ada sad, Ada crying." Now when you ask her what she says the same thing - it must of made quite the impression. Here is some pictures..

Tolerating this nonsense

We tried fruit snacks to cheer us up - it worked for a hot second

All done!

Much happier at home. She is so into necklaces and jewelry these days - she insists on wearing her necklace every day. So cute!!

Nikki's shower

2012-02-08T10:20:00.000-05:00

It is about time I blog about Nikki's shower! I had such a good time planning this! You know how I love to throw a party! I enlisted the help of Amber and Lindsey to actually pull it off and they were more than helpful. I do get a kick out of watching them - but I couldn't of done it with out them! We all had a really good time and I think Nikki and Ryan were more than happy about the evening! Enjoy the pictures..

Favors - Lindsey really stressed about these - from trying to find lemon drops to tying on the ribbon - she had reached her limit!

Our menu was her cravings! Those vases actually held fruit skewers - not lemons :)

Yummy drinks!

Delicious cupcakes from gigi's!! There were a good amount leftover..Darn!

One of the birds I made

Garland - also handmade by yours truly

Topiary decor

Another bird I made ( I had a lot of time on bed rest!)

Pretty mantle

Coffee table decor

Cupcakes again

Cute chalkboards

Artsy pic from Mr. Sam

All lit up

BFF's

Courtney and Daniel

Beth and Bart

Hanging out on the couch

Last preggers picture

How much do you know?!?

Ryan is so proud of himself!

Time to taste baby food!

I think she likes it!

I was the official feeder

Diaper changing kit

We had the guests guess whether it was a boy or girl and then they wrote a piece of advice on a chalkboard and we took their pictures. I am in the process of getting a shutterfly book together for them!

The excited couple!

I was so glad that Mr. Henry did not come before then and I was able to attend the shower! It was a lot of fun and I was very excited to be celebrating Nikki and Ryan. I can't wait for their munchkin to make their appearance!!

I am a terrible blogger at the moment..

2012-02-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

So, I know that I have been lacking in my posts here lately. Yes, I did just have a baby, but even before the baby I seemed to of lost some steam in the blogging department. I am not all too sure why other than I have been uninspired, and really just tired (hey that rhymes)! But I am going to try and be better because I know my life is sooo interesting to all of you!

That being said- check out me and Courtney's new blog..

www.businessblueprintsbrides.com

This is really Courtney's baby and she does the majority of the posts - but it really keeps you up to date on C and D's crazy life and our upcoming ridiculous year. So check it out, leave a comment, and follow us :)

What I wish people tell you..

2012-02-01T12:13:00.000-05:00

When I had Ada I was overwhelmed with the idea of being a mom and having to care for this little person. I felt like every day I was stumbling in the dark trying to find me way. It was exhausting, emotional, and it literally drained me for months. Things got better, time went on, and I felt confident in my new role and all those insecurities started fade away just in time for new ones to pop up with each new stage in her life. But overall, you forget. You forget the weeks leading up to the birth, the time in the hospital, and the weeks following. I feel like I owe it to all the preggo people out there to tell you what I wish I knew going into my first time as a mother and even with my second.

1. The crash - there is a certain level of euphoria that comes with birthing a child. After you have slightly recovered, you are in the bed at the hospital, all the guests have left and it is just the three of you, you realize that holy crap - I just had a baby. You are empowered, amazed, and even slightly shocked that this baby was literally living inside of you less than 2 hours ago. It is an amazing feeling and one that can not be replicated. Well we all know that pregnant women have a certain level of pregnancy hormones that make them..uhmm..how should I put this..less than sane at times. That is nothing! Nothing compared to the level of hormones you have after you have this baby. This is what I like to refer to as the crash. With Ada it was day 10, with Henry it was day 9. Everything is great. You are tired, trying to recover, but you are so very happy that you finally have your little bundle home. Then something triggers an emotional reaction. For me, with Ada, it was breastfeeding. It was so hard and I felt like a failure. I spent an entire day crying my eyes out. Literally, all day. With Henry, it started the night before when I could not find Sam a suitable shirt for our family picture the next day. He did not have the right shade of grey! It was going to ruin the picture people! That night I got about 3 hours of sleep and just could not handle it. I sat and rocked my sweet boy all the while crying out of exhaustion. Then I took an hour long shower, sat down and let the hot water run out while I cried some more. Going through it the second time, I knew what it was. It was the surge of hormones trying to balance back out again. So, I tried not to put too much stock in how I was feeling and tried to move past it and keep on trucking. When I went through it with Ada I mentioned this to Courtney and she said - "oh yeah, I had one of those days after Mason." What?! Other people go through this? They should warn you, your spouse, and anyone else that may cross paths with you.

2. You just had a baby! People seem to forget. They forget that even though it has been a week - you still just had a baby! You just pushed an 8 pound watermelon through your vagina people! That is going to take some serious recovery. Yes, small trips our of the house are nice. Maybe a trip to Target, or to a restaurant, mostly anywhere where you can sit the majority of the time or just relax is fine - but there is nothing in you that wants to clean, vacuum, or even go on a small walk around the neighborhood. What you need is a week of sleeping as much as you possibly can. It is a lot to recover from. Even in the hospital, I was on such an adrenaline high that it was really hard to sleep and all I wanted to do was hold my baby. I was afraid to ask for help with Ada. I felt guilty for being home and when Sam got home the house was disaster central and I had no idea what we were eating for dinner. It's ok. It's okay to not have dinner ready, or to not have the house cleaned. You kept yourself and your child alive and I think that is a pretty darn successful day. I wish someone told me to take it easy and just let it go, let it be. I wish that I had turned to my husband who was doing everything he thought he could do and be more clear with what I need. I.E. - I NEED you to take out the trash in the bathroom - I know that it seems like common sense when the trash is literally overflowing onto the floor, but for guys, its not. This time around, I spoke up and the great thing was that when I asked him to do one thing, he went ahead and did a bunch of other stuff as well, without asking.

3. Nursing is hard. Yes, the first time was more difficult, but even now, it is hard. I don't have the equipment or the children that allow for smooth nursing. That is okay - but it is hard! It hurts in the beginning and it makes you literally cringe when your husband brings that hungry child to you. It is like you need a bar to bite for the first 30 seconds. It is exhausting. It literally drains you. Everything you eat has to be considered - will this give him gas? You have to constantly re-hydrate and eat to sustain the milk production needed to feed your child. Your boobs become so large and full that sleeping is uncomfortable. You are grateful for the 4 hour stretch but OH MY GOD GIVE ME THAT CHILD TO FEED! You are never really comfortable for the first few months and your sheets become something that you change often. You are looking at the clock (or your handy dandy iphone app) to see when he last ate, when he needs to eat again, how long did he nurse, what side am I suppose to be feeding from now? There is no help in the middle of the night. It is you and your kiddo trying to figure it out. You eventually get a rhythm, but that takes time. I was trying to be nice and let the hubs sleep, so the first few nights I nursed in the dark ( I had a small nite lite, but for the most part, it was dark) - bad idea! I couldn't see what he was really doing and I figured I was just sore like you normally are for the firsts few weeks, but morning came and I was in some serious pain - we had to take a break and pump and use a shield for a few days - it was that bad. Is it worth it? Yes. But no one tells you how hard it can be, that you want to quit from time to time, and that you can feel so inadequate because it isn't easy. Well - I am here to tell you that it is hard, you might want to quit, and you may feel inadequate, but that is all normal and no reason to throw in the towel.

4. It is even harder with a toddler. Yes - I knew it was going to be difficult, splitting my attention, trying to get Ada to adapt, and then for us as parents of two, to figure it all out. The hard part is not the logistics of the day. It can be trying, and even confusing, but eventually I know we will find a rhythm to our day and Ada will learn how to whisper..eventually. No, the hard part is the mommy guilt. I didn't expect to be so guilty all the time. Am I spending enough time with Ada? Is Henry bonding with the family? Am I spending too much time with the baby? I feel bad when I just want Sam to take Ada to bed instead of the both of us doing the bed time routine. I am tired, slightly on edge, and trying to bounce this kid to sleep. I feel guilty that Sam's 2 weeks home has mostly been Ada entertainment and he has not had a ton of Henry time. I feel guilty that I am not splitting my time well or even at all. I was not ready for that part of being a mother of two. I literally feel like a zombie. The other day I couldn't even think of the title "Wizard of Oz." I kept asking Sam, "that movie, with the witch and dorothy.." I literally feel in a fog a lot of days. I know that Ada knows I love her and Henry the same, well maybe she thinks I love her more, but I know that she is craving my attention. I know that I have to be more intentional with me time with her and showing her the attention and love she needs when I can.

I do love our new family. I love how balanced it feels and how right it feels. I am so looking forward to these two kids growing up together and seeing their love for each other. I am also very excited about this upcoming year as we are still fortunate enough for me to stay home and be with my kids. It will be hard, challenging, and probably exhausting, but I am so looking forward to it :)

Mr. Henry

2012-01-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

Mr. Henry - what a joy this baby is! I am so in love with him :) Sam probably thinks I am obsessed - and I may be. But, I just can't seem to get enough of this kiddo! I don't even dread middle of the night feedings (ask me in another week- that may change). He is just so sweet and cuddly and I love to snuggle him. It is hard to put him down in the middle of the night - I just want him to sleep in the crook of my arm and snuggle all night. I am not an advocate for co-sleeping (although it works for some people) - it is just something Sam I decided pre-Ada days that our bed was our bed and our haven. So the kiddos only sleep with us when we just couldn't get them settled or they were really sick - it is a system that works for us. Anyways - I have to resist the urge to have my cuddle buddy next to me all night.

It has been nice having Sam home and all of us getting time to bond as a family. When I found out I was having a boy - I was excited, but really nervous. I know nothing about boys! I was so familiar with girl world, that the idea of a boy was kinda scary. I amaze myself sometimes in thinking that I know what is best for me. I thought that a girl would be easier, and better for Ada. I look at this little guy and I know that God gave us exactly who we were meant to have. He is the piece that completes our family and nothing could fit more perfectly.

Here are some pictures. We have pictures everywhere - our phones, Courtney's phone, his parents' camera, my parents' camera - so this is what I have right now. Hopefully I will get the rest soon. I also have quite a few updates outside of the baby world and I am going to try to get those up as well :)

8 lbs 7 oz - a big fella!

Not excited about his transition into the world

Finally Nonnie got to hold him!

Grammy got a turn

Grampy was more than excited

Finally Aunt Courtney got a turn! She had been waiting so long for this guy!!

He already loves her

Mad at the diaper change

Ada was so proud of her "Big Sister" sticker!

"Baby Brother"

She is not too sure who this is - she still thought baby brother was in my belly

Dad got a chance to hold the little man

So alert! He has been so alert from the day he was born - nothing like his sister who slept for 2 weeks

Smiles!

Ada - "Hi, name Gigi."

Kisses

Kisses all around

She promptly said "Ada's gigi!"

He does NOT like to get his socks taken off

Getting ready to go home

Holding on for moral support

Pants are on

Time for the jacket

All done

Paci can make anything better

First Family photo

Ada is realizing that this baby is coming home!

Awake time with momma

About to get his first not real bath

He has no idea!

Ada is getting ready to help - Henry is starting to get suspicious

Getting undressed

Ada likes to help clean his belly button

Almost done big guy!

Big sister being helpful

Henry John's Birth Story

2012-01-21T08:19:00.000-05:00

I know that after my last post, we were all waiting to hear some good news. Well, any news really. But mostly, news that it was time to have that baby!! Here is Mr. Henry's Birth story...

As we all know I had been experiencing regular contractions since Saturday January 7th. They would get close together for a small period of time and then go back to 15-20 minutes a part. For more details see my last post. At any rate, I was gun shy. I told Sam that I was not going to even think about going to the hospital until contractions are under 5 for over 2 hours. I was not going to be doing the walk of shame..again!

Monday I had a regular appointment to check on my progress and the baby. My blood pressure was still elevated, nothing too terrible, but high enough for them to decide that if this baby was not born soon, they were going to induce. In fact, they had scheduled an induction for Tuesday the 24th. I saw Alvarez (who was my main doctor with Ada's labor - If you remember, I basically went through the entire practice with Ada's labor - it was that long). Anyways, I like him a lot, he is very comforting and I was glad that he was the one I saw on Monday. He suggested that he strip my membranes to maybe spur the contractions on to getting more regular. I said sure, why not? He made no promises. After that, I was effaced and 3.5 cm. So, a good place to start going into labor if that was going to be the case.

Court was actually with me for the appointment and we went shopping for a few and headed home. I was having regular contractions that were between 5-6 minutes a part for about an hour and a half. They were uncomfortable, but not painful. We had dinner and they slowed down to about 10 minutes a part. Courtney was just jumping at the bit hoping I was in real labor. I knew that this was not it, so I sent her home. That night, I was still having contractions and they were all in my back - not a good sign! So I made Sam run me a hot bath and I hopped in trying to get my body to relax enough to sleep. It seemed to work because I got a good night's sleep from about 11-5am. I woke up at 5 am to contractions coming 3-5 minutes a part. I was still not convinced. I had been experiencing these morning contractions for a week now, so I was not really sure that this was worth calling in about. An hour into them, I changed my tune a little. They were making me really uncomfortable and had pain associated with them, so I was starting to think that this could be it. We decided to wait until 7:30 to call. I was still feeling the majority of the contractions in my back and the best relief was leaning over the counter - I spent a lot of the morning that way.

We called the doctor at 7:30 and he told me to head to the office and they would squeeze me in for a labor check. I was 90% sure they would admit me, but I still had my doubts. We got there and by then the contractions were full on and when I would walk or stand, they were closer to 2 minutes a part. I saw the doctor and he checked me, I was at 4cm and obviously in labor. He was very cavalier about it all and told me I could go on in, I could stay and walk around, really whatever I wanted to do. I opted to go in just because I knew that I could get the contractions closer together with some activity. He left to call the hospital to tell them I was on my way and then came back in. He told me that it was a good idea because I needed 4 hours of Penicillin for the strep B and it was my second, so going in would not be a bad idea.

We drive over to the hospital and get checked in. Courtney was already there- she was more excited than I was I think. They get me started on the Penicillin and told me that I had to stay laying for 2 hours, and then we could get up and get moving. They didn't want me to move too fast. I was okay with it and not as optimistic as they seemed to be.I was sure I would have a long labor. I mean, that is all I knew and based on the week I had, I was convinced. My nurse was so great! She was also my middle of the night nurse with Ada - which was neat. She had worked in lots of birthing centers, so she was super excited to get me out of the bed and help me get the labor out of my back. After 2 hours, we got up and walked around. Court took the first shift with me. The contractions were coming close together, and they hurt, but I was feeling it almost completely in my back. So we go back in to the room (monitor for a few minutes) and the nurse suggested leaning on the ball on the bed. It did the trick and is seriously the BEST labor position ever. It takes all the weight from your belly off your back, it made little man flip so that I was not feeling back labor so much and it actually relaxed me. I decided to rest and rehydrate for a little bit. I asked what a good position to lay would be to move the little guy down and she suggested on my left. Boy was she right. This is when they really started to hurt. I could only lay like that for 20 minutes or so. It was intense! I got up and walked with Mom after that and they were coming quickly and much more painful. We walked until I had to go back for monitoring and then her and Court went to get some lunch. After my 15 minutes of monitoring I sat on the ball while leaning on the bed and that my friends is where I was seriously thinking of some pain meds. Sam suggested we get up and walk. We did 2 loops and I had to stop and grab the rail on the wall for each contraction. They were coming quickly. The last one on our walk brought tears to my eyes and I knew that we were close. At this point it was about 1:45. The goal was to get to 2:00. At 2, I had the antibiotic for four hours. We made it, which I was grateful for. I knew it was important for little man.

We go back into the room and I was in too much pain to think about doing anything but laying on the bed. This is where it gets really fuzzy for me. I just remember the contractions getting harder and harder and longer to get through. At one point I had a 6 minute long contraction that would not let up. I was starting to lose focus and I just remember everyone telling me to breathe. It was literally making me teary eyed and I was starting to feel like it was too much. I could hear mom and courtney talking about how these were pushing contractions. They thought I was in transition labor. The doctor came in at 2:35 checked me and broke my water. Not a lot of fluid came out mostly because I think it had broken earlier, but it was a slow leak, not a gush. I had felt it about 30 minutes before. He said I was at 6 1/2 and even up to 7 when a contraction came. To me, I was disheartened, I was thinking that I was ready to be almost at 10. I was also dreading this moment. When your water breaks, it is a whole new level of pain. The contractions get going and after 1 or 2 I had the feeling like I needed to push. The nurse checked me and I was at 9 cm and told me to lay on my side. I turned over, 1 contraction came and I had the intense urge to push. I think I told them that this baby was coming!! The nurse paged the doctor (mind you he told us that it would probably be another hour or so..) it had been less than 10 minutes since he was in. He comes in, and I can do nothing but push. The nurse is so calm telling me to follow my body and Dr. Alvarez was frantically putting on his gear. There were nurses in there trying to get everything ready, fixing the bed, helping the doctor. And all I can remember is him saying, "Wait, Wait, I need to get my gloves on!" My response was, "I can't!" He is fumbling with his gloves and seemed to be struggling to get them on. I think I caught him by surprise! We are ready and I think 3-4 pushes little man was here! I was amazed at myself that I could do it with no drugs or epidural. But, I had no idea going into it how painful it was going to be. It is the most intense pain - but the positive side of it was that pushing was so much easier. I could feel my contractions and work with my body at the peak of each one and I had no stitches or anything - it all went perfectly.

He came out a flailing! The doctor is trying to suction his nose and mouth and he is just flailing his arms and legs and screaming and the doctor keeps saying "hold on! hold on!" I was just in awe. You immediately could see his huge hands and feet! We were all surprised at how big he seemed, we were expecting a mid 7 ranged baby. He put him on my chest and I get a few moments with him and Sam before they take him to weigh him. At this point my body just births the placenta without me even doing anything. Alvarez was taken aback again and told me "I guess everything is going to go fast with this delivery".

They weigh him (8lbs 7 oz 22in) and wipe him down some and bring him back to me. I really wanted to nurse right away. I didn't get to with Ada and I really missed that instantaneous bonding. He was too busy crying to have anything to do with eating. He was actually struggling to clear his lungs so they wanted me just to have skin to skin contact with him and see if he could regulate his breathing. After about 10 minutes they had to take him. He was working too hard and they wanted to make sure he was alright. Sam went with him up to the special care nursery while I got my torturous uterus massages and get ready to be transferred. I felt okay. I was tired, but on this huge adrenaline rush. I really just wanted to hold my baby and snuggle him. I didn't let myself get worried. I focused on getting myself together and I knew that Sam was with him and it made me feel better knowing Henry had his dad right there.

They take us up to the special care nursery and we get to see him for a few minutes. He had made it through the breathing spells and was all pink and squirmy. He still had to get his bath and what not before we could get him. He was born at 2:50, and I don't think we got him in our room until after 5. It was excruciating! I just wanted to hold my baby!! But he came and latched on right away. He is seriously the sweetest little baby. He is cuddly and loves to just snuggle right up to you. I could hold this kid all day!

The first night he did great, he was a little spit uppy, mostly due to the fact that he had swallowed amniotic fluid and his lungs were not completely cleared out (their trip down the birth canal helps clear out their lungs and his was so quick that he had some residual fluids he was trying to get rid of). It was a little unnerving, I couldn't go to sleep and just wanted to put him in bed with me and cuddle all night. But I sent him away knowing that I would get better rest if he wasn't there.

I surprised myself at how attached I got to him so quickly. With Ada, I loved her immediately, I worried and fretted, but I was not attached to her right away. It wasn't until we got home and got settled that I really bonded with her. With him, it was immediate. I am just so smitten with him and would seriously spend all day holding and cuddling him. He is already a momma's boy!

Ada is doing great with him. She is gentle and curious. We brought her to the hospital that day and introduced her. She didn't get it. She thought that there was still baby brother in my belly and just saw this baby as any other baby. My parents took her home that night and she came back the next day and hung out a little bit. She kept calling the baby Ada. We show her her baby pictures and I think she thought he was her. Obviously she didn't get it. Sam took her that day and spent the day and night with her and Court stayed with me in the hospital. Sam and Ada picked us up the next day and I could tell that she was starting to put things together. She was curious of the car seat in the car and kept saying "baby brother home?" "Ada home too!" We got home and she just did her thing - she seemed rather unaffected by it all. We are trying to include her in helping and having her interact some with him and she goes along with it most of the time. Whenever he cries she says "Sorry baby! Sorry!" I am sure it is because that is what I say to him. It is super cute. Sam has 2 weeks off so she is still getting lots of attention and I think that she is adjusting really well to life with a brother.

All in all, even though it was a tough week before, it was obviously what my body needed to get this little boy here. We are so blessed and feel so complete with our new addition. We truly could not ask for 2 better kiddos!

Patience

2012-01-14T11:16:00.000-05:00

Patience really should be my mantra for this past week. I was so worried about this little guy coming early. Everything runs through your mind. We were excited, ready, yet nervous. I really wanted to be there for my best friend and be at her shower that I spent so much time and energy planning. But, I resolved myself on Friday night that it just might not happen, and that is okay. I let go. I can't control when this kiddo is coming, I knew that if he decided to come Friday night, that was fine and actually perfect because that is when God had intended him to come.

So, I spent all day on the couch Saturday, I let Linds and Amber get the rest of the stuff for the shower (we set up Friday night) and just took it easy. I was having few contractions, but they were hours between. I was experiencing some pain and there seemed to be a lot going on down in the nether region, but nothing new from the few days before. 3:00 rolled around and I knew I would make it to the shower. I relaxed a little, let myself take a nice long time getting ready, picked out the cutest outfit I could find that did not make me look like a house, and was really looking forward to our night out. My parents came into town that morning thinking the baby was on his way in the next few days so they came over to watch munchkin for us.

The shower was great - a whole new post on that soon - I promise! Everything went really well, and every one seemed to have a great time. Nikki and Ryan really enjoyed their first shower I know they were super grateful for it all. I had a great time catching up with friends and getting a chance to see everyone. That night I was not convinced that I was having a baby, but I knew it was possible, so in the back of my mind I told myself that it could happen! The doctor really had me thinking that it was going to happen. He told me that most women at this point don't last much longer than a few days. Okay, great! I made it past the 7th, I am ready. Game on baby boy.

Saturday came and went, Sunday came and went with similar feelings - contractions, not regular, but present. We walked and walked and walked. We tried to get things moving as best as we could. Mom and I went shopping, I was on my feet all day hoping that gravity would do its magic. Sunday night came and at 4am Monday morning I was having regular contractions. They were 8 mins a part and going strong. We stayed in bed for about an hour and decided to get up and walk to see if we could get them closer together. If you remember Monday, it was rainy and dreary. But, we went out anyways and walked around the neighborhood in our pj's. We get back, I had a few contractions, then they start coming every 20-30 minutes. Not the outcome I was hoping for. So Sam went into work on standby expecting a call. My parents hung around hoping that he would be here soon. We took many walks and tried everything to get things moving. Monday I still had contractions, but they were infrequent followed by an hour of them every 7-10 min. Nothing that made me think much other than I figured he was coming soon.

Tuesday I woke up and felt completely different. The same thing as Monday, irregular contractions, but it was like my body literally stopped trying to have a baby. All labor signs disappeared (except the contractions) and I felt good. I wasn't in much pain (the last 2 weeks were really tough). So I spent the day with my parents and Ada and just relaxed knowing that we were more than likely not having a baby that day.

Wednesday morning came around and same thing - contractions, but not regular and I decided that today was the perfect day to clean the house. So I scrubbed and scrubbed and vacuumed and dusted and picked up and did laundry. I was a busy bee that morning and felt accomplished. Soon after, the contractions came. We took Ada to the park and I was feeling my morning of cleaning. My back was on fire. It was like someone was kicking me in the kidneys and I felt like I had period cramps. Lovely. But, exciting, new pain! Which means, maybe something is going on. That afternoon, the contractions started at 4:30 at about every 7 minutes. They lingered around at this pace for about an hour and a half. After that, they went back to every 20 minutes. I wasn't too discouraged, I just figured they would rev back up that night. And they did. From about 9-11 they were coming from every 8 minutes, to every 5, and some were even 2-3 minutes a part. Sam suggested we get up and walk to see if they stick around. I was up for it, but the contractions were starting to hurt, not bad pain, but they were not painless and starting to make me uncomfortable. We get up and walk circles around the house because it was raining outside. I had a few more contractions, then they stopped. We decided that it was not time for the doctor and tried to get some sleep. I woke up at 5 with contractions again, same thing, every 5 minutes. They lasted about an hour and a half and then went back to every 20 minutes. The difference is that I could feel them. They were killing my lower back and they felt like period cramps on steroids.

I felt confused. One - my strep B test came back positive, so the doctor was very adamant in telling me that "any signs of labor" to come in right away. They wanted the full 4 hours of antibiotics before he was born. They are assuming that I will have a quick labor since I have progressed so far already and this was baby number two. Alright - so is this signs of labor? Is this worth going in for? Two - Courtney never really had regular contractions with Nora, and once we were at the hospital she was there within a few hours. It was stressing me out. I was worried that I was ignoring the signs and this baby would be born in the car on the way. Three - I never went into labor with Ada. So for all of you rolling your eyes at me telling me "this is your second!" It is actually my first natural labor. I was induced with Ada at literally 10% effacement and no dilation. I had done nothing, felt nothing, experienced nothing. So when I got induced it was full on labor immediately and I had no pre-labor experience or even knowing when to go in.

To put my mind at ease, I called the doctor. They said come on in to the office and they will do a labor check. Okay. So we get everything in the car thinking that if they say yes, you are in labor we will have everything for the hospital. We get there, they check me and find me at the same status as I was on Friday. Now - I do have to say that I saw the NP and I like her, but I lost a lot of confidence in her when she told me that I was 1cm and 75%. A few days later when I saw another doctor she told me I was 50% and 1, 1.5, almost 2. Okay. I don't think you can go backwards. And I really trust the doctor that I saw, so I just assumed that the NP is not as experienced and left it at that. I saw another doctor a few days later ( i had to go every 3 days) and he was the one that told me I was 100% and 2 and that this baby was coming soon. The frustrating thing about a practice is that you never see the same person 2 times in a row - you bounce around and something like being checked is so subjective that it is hard to really decipher where you really are at. So anyways, I had no faith in the NP and really thinking back, I should have just not gone - but oh well. She checked me and told me I was only 1cm, still 100%, but only 1, what? How is that possible?? Please explain this to me. How could I go from 2 doctors telling me that I was over 1 to one telling me I was barely 1? I do not believe that you can go backwards..just a thought. But anyways, they hook me up the monitors, baby is great, I had a few contractions, but only 15 min. a part.

So..they sent me home saying that I am experiencing prodromal labor. Something very common with 2nd pregnancies. The only major difference is that most women are dilated, but not 100% effaced. Reading about it, it is rare to be that effaced and having this "pre-labor" for so long. I wasn't really upset. I was slightly disappointed, but really, I was okay. I felt bad that my parents were here, waiting and waiting and that after being here for a week, they still might miss the birth. I felt okay though. Slightly silly that I was so stressed the weekend before and that everyone is waiting on pins and needles for this kiddo. But, okay. Sam and I decided we needed a night out. So my parents watched kiddo and we went out to dinner and frozen yogurt. It was really nice and much needed. I felt relaxed and just really enjoyed spending time with Sam. Total side note - although baby boy is not here, my parents have really had a great time with Ada. She is infatuated with her Pop Pop and my dad is totally in love with her. I am so grateful that have had so much time with her.

So, that is where I am at. I felt okay with the world Thursday night knowing that he has to come sometime. I mean we are the end people! Thursday night, all day Friday, same thing would happen, an hour of regular contractions and then irregular. I have surprisingly learned to ignore them most of the time. They are noticeable, they make me stop talking, I get hot, and I have to take a minute to take a breath through it, but then I just pick up right where i left off - doing the dishes, folding clothes, playing dollhouse, eating lunch, whatever. It seems to just be a part of my life at the moment. I am okay with it. I am just tired. I obviously don't sleep well, I am uncomfortable most of the time and I feel so exhausted. I can't seem to eat enough and I know my body is getting ready for the real thing, but it is just frustrating at times. When I let myself go there - to the point of why me? Why can't I have a normal uterus, a normal labor? Why does it have to be that I am the exception? It is hard to recover from. I felt like I was in a funk yesterday. I had an emotional day yesterday and seem to still be fighting it somewhat today. I just cried with mom yesterday, not about this, but I saw someone had lost their baby at 7 months, and a friend of mine was about to give birth (the one that lost her husband a few months ago). I was so happy for her to experience and meet her son, but my heart also broke for her knowing how hard it was going to be to go through it. I told my mom it has to be the happiest/hardest day and I just really wanted to give her a hug - instead I just cried. And really anything can make me cry at the moment. I think I am that tired.

This morning I woke up to some serious feeling contractions. Rolling out of bed I knew they more than likely would not stick around, but still I started recognizing the same pattern of every 8 minutes. Stopping for an hour, coming back, etc. I don't have any thoughts as to when he will grace us with his presence, but I do know that it will be right. It is God's timing, not mine, not the doctor's. For now, I just need patience. Patience in myself, my family who is just as anxious as I am, and patience in my son who is just much too happy in his warm home to come out and meet his family. I am hopeful that we do not have much longer with this - most women experience prodromal labor from a few days to a few weeks, but the average is about a week. Hopefully that is the case with me :) Until then, I will paint, color, play dollhouse, animals, and enjoy my time with my daughter and try to stay positive that her brother will be here before we know it.

Almost there!

2012-01-07T05:09:00.002-05:00

Baby boy is truly almost here. I went to the doctor yesterday and I am 100% effaced and 2 cm. ahh!!! This kiddo is coming! Nikki's shower is tonight and I am really hoping that he can hold on for like 15 hours so I can attend the shower that I have planned. I really did not think that he would come this soon when we picked the date. But if he does decide to come in the next few hours we will be more than excited to meet our baby boy!

Until then...here is a picture of my two favorite people making "mad" faces at each other

Christmas Day!

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Apparently Sam and I are still 8 years old and get so excited about the fact that Santa has visited that we can't WAIT to get up in the morning. We were both wide awake and not able to sleep at 5:15 am. We tried to go back to sleep, but it was useless. So we headed down stairs, made breakfast and waited for munchkin to get up. When we finally heard her usual happy squeal, We got her up and opened up some presents!

Sitting with Daddy

Telling the dog "no, no, no!"

Good Morning!

Oh no!

Watching kiddo open her stocking

What is that?

Look at all those goldfish!

Sam's stocking

Chocolate covered almonds - oh the joys of chocolate to a preggo woman

Opening ornaments from Nina

She loves a snowman!

Pots and pans for the kitchen! Or..goldfish holders, whatever works!

Ohhh...a sweater! Ada seems excited

A little big..

What is that?

New glasses!! She is impressed

Cool dude!

The glasses were wrapped in this hat and she thought it was a present...really it was her winter hat from last year.

Maracas!

Letters!! My kid is such a nerd.

Seriously excited.

Momma's present..a whole wine rack of wine - with the promise to always have it full. It is going to be a fun year folks!

School bus!!

Daddy showing her how to make appropriate school bus sounds

Afterwards we headed over to the Kadwell's and were there until late at night. It was a really great day! We had a wonderful time with family and Santa was good to us both :)

Family pic

I think this is the same picture of John every year. A camera around his neck with his red apron on, ready to cook dome yummy breakfast!

Opening Grammy's gift

She is the center of attention - as always!

Helping Daniel and Kristen open their present

Opening up her gift

She got a "back pack pack!" She LOVES this thing!!

Telling the dog "No" as normal

He is so cute

Family picture

I love this kiddo!

The girls!

The Hopper Clan

The favorite grandchild

We really enjoyed Christmas with kiddo this year and loved watching her "oh wow!" at every present. It was really the perfect holiday!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T22:44:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve we went to Courtney and Mikhail's for dinner and some good 'ol family time. As a kid I loved Christmas Eve. Probably even more than Christmas morning. It was always so much fun spending time with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. It was a tradition that was hard to let go of when we moved. Now that Court and I have our own families, the Christmas Eve tradition has come back and I am so glad that our kiddo are going to get the chance to love the tradition as much as I did. Here are some pictures and videos from the evening :)

Getting ready to make snowmen

Working hard

She is proud of her snowman

Mason was more into decorating his face

Court

She is getting so big!

Seriously - the best family photo we could get

I think he is a little excited

Ada's turn

Nora is very suspicious of Uncle Sam's camera

Nora Reagan

Obviously something is way cooler than his tractor

I love this kiddo

Nora is into eating the paper

She is walking! Can't believe it.

Mikhail trying to get the piano open

She is sneaking in some stroller time

It's the "Beans Game!" She doesn't get the concept, but loves the game

Waiting for someone to help her open it

Nora sneaking in her sippy cup

We got Court and Mikhail a photo album - with pictures!

Figuring out the piano

And this is what it is used for

She is such a monkey!

I love these kiddos :)

Baby Boy needs to hold his horses!

2011-12-22T15:41:00.002-05:00

So..I am slightly, kind of, really majorly freaking out. I went to the Doc on Tuesday and I had to get the strep test done and my doctor said, "While I am down here, we might as well check and see if anything is going on."

Okay, sure, why not? I mean at this point with Ada my body was not anywhere near preparing itself for birth and Ada was happy as a clam in her warm home and was not intending to come out anytime soon. I expected the same thing. Nope. Apparently I am 1cm dilated and 75% effaced. I just stared at her. The dilating, not a big deal - preggo ladies walk around dilated ALL the time. It is the effacement that is getting me. I mean 75% seems like a lot, when you get close to 100, your body starts telling you it is time to have this baby. Court lasted only a few days with similar news. I asked if he would come before the first of the year, and she said she didn't "think" so, but they had nothing to go on since I was induced last time. Wonderful.

I keep thinking that I am going to wake up in the middle of night in labor or be at Wal-Mart and my water break. I keep thinking of all these crazy scenarios, which none will probably come true, and seriously feel helpless - like I am a ticking time bomb. I am in a quandary, part of me wants him to just come on. The other part, the practical part, wants him to wait until the 1st (we have an insurance change that would be much more beneficial to us after the 1st).

I got home and freaked out. I believe there was tears over not having enough time with Ada. Tears over all the stuff that "needed" to be done, and tears over the overwhelming sense that THERE IS A BABY COMING!! Why did no one tell me that pregnancy ended in a helpless, albeit adorable, infant? I mean, you would think I learned from the first time, nope. So yes, baby boy- hold your horses please. Your mom is just not ready.

On a very excited side note: 1. Ada pooped in the potty last week - how exciting is that? I think they real question is how exciting is my life that I am blogging about poop - pretty darn exciting if you as me. and 2. I am 95% sure we have a name. What is it? Oh we aren't going to tell..it is a surprise :)

1 Christmas down!

2011-12-19T14:52:00.002-05:00

Whew! 1st round of "Christmas" is over. My parents just left this morning. They got in on Friday to celebrate Christmas early with us. They aren't able to come on Christmas so we decided to celebrate early. All day Friday we told Ada that Nonnie and Pop Pop were coming and she seemed genuinely excited. Well the minute they came in our little shy turtle retreated back into her shell for about 45 minutes then she was her normal live wire self. She definitely remembered them from Thanksgiving and was more than thrilled to have 2 new playmates. She calls mom "EENA." My grandparents are Nina and Papa and my parents go by Nonnie and Pop Pop - it blew her mind with all these people sounding the same so she made up her own name for mom. I don't think that she minds :)

Court, Mikhail, and the kiddos came over Saturday for a ham dinner and we opened presents from my parents. The kids had a blast! Mason got a bike and various other toys. Nora got a new baby doll, a light up bear, and some pj's. Ada got a little nursery set for her baby, a stroller, and other random toy items. She LOVED the stroller. Mom thought it would be a good idea when we take baby brother on a walk, she can push her baby too. Genius. She loves it! She walks that baby all the time, feeds her, puts her in her crib, and even fills up her "juice cup." She is going to be such a great big sister. What I am the most excited about is that they got me some new riding boots! I have been wanting a pair for years now, but never found the right style, size, and price. I love them. They are sooo comfy and super cute! Sam made out pretty well too with a new electric tea kettle and Co2 reg. for his keg. He was super excited :)

Sunday, Dad took me and Court out shopping for momma. It is a tradition we started when we moved to NC. We go out, help dad pick out presents for mom and then we go to lunch and wrap all the presents when we get back. It was a lot of fun! I was really glad that we were able to do it. Last year they drove through the night and got her Christmas Eve morning and we still went out with Dad. He was pretty tired, and slightly zombified, but it was fun to keep the tradition alive. There has only been a few years we missed it and it really is one of my favorite traditions.

I have really enjoyed my time with parents here lately. I have always enjoyed them - but it is so much more fun now that I have a kid. I love watching them together and I love that Ada loves them so much - it warms my heart.

I am so looking forward to Christmas morning with our little family. It is the last one as the 3 of us. I really want to just hold onto these memories and have time stand still for just a little bit. Could you work on that for me? Thanks - I appreciate it :) I have lots of pictures and videos to post - stay tuned!

Am I nesting?

2011-12-13T08:46:00.000-05:00

The answer would be yes, yes I am. Okay, so I know that I am not due for about 5 more weeks. BUT, Ada was born at 38 weeks, albeit she was induced and not ready to come out, but still. That is 3 weeks from now. 3 weeks people! One, I need him to stay in until January 8th so that I can throw Nikki a kick ass baby shower on the 7th. After that, he may come whenever he likes. Two, I am not ready! I feel like there is so much to do...Would like to see the running list in my head?

1. PICK OUT A NAME for goodness sake. Seriously.
2. Finish the nursery: a. the closet, b. the knobs
3. Wash clothes and organize, reorganize, and probably reorganize again.
4. Finish purchasing all necessary baby items we need and return those we don't need
5. Re-arrange and scrub the kitchen. I am not sure why, but everyday there is a specific cabinet that just disgusts me and I must stop, and clean it. Don't even get me started on the pantry or the fridge..
6. R-arrange furniture so we have seating in the loft. Any ideas? I've got none
7. Clean the baseboards. I mean, like get on your hands and knees and scrub those suckers - they are bound to need it.
8. Make some freezer meals
9. Have a personal day where I can get myself all caught up on things like getting my eyebrows under control - just so 2 months from now when I have time again, I won't be looking like Bert from Sesame Street
10. Get all necessary items from my sister that she borrowed/used with Nora
11. Organize the rest of the house so that it is ready for baby

Really - not much, right? All these things, not necessary, I know. BUT I have such a string urge to complete every single task and I want it done right now please. The problem..I can't seem to have the energy nor the ability to do it all. I can't even describe to you the pain associated with this child. He is going to come out as a karate star because he has one mean kick/hand chop that is not nice to my bladder, back, or belly. I am pretty much unable to bend down without getting jabbed by an elbow or a knee. I just don't remember feeling this helpless with Ada. I distinctly remember hand washing all the floors in the house (yes all 2000 square feet of hardwoods) when I was 37 weeks preggo. I just had to do it. It was more than I could take at that specific moment. Now, I don't even think I could get down to wash the floors, much less the base boards. It sounds so silly, so unnecessary, but anyone who has been/is preggo totally understands. But it is also this weird feeling that I just want to do it. I know my sister will come over and scrub my house for me if I ask her. She would do it in a heartbeat, and it will more than likely come down to that, but there is this need to do it yourself. It is almost, in a way, preparing you for the baby. Silly? Yes. But that is preggo hormones for you.

Long story short - I am freaking out that this kid is almost here, there is so much to do and with Christmas right around the corner, there feels like no time to get it all done. However, I can't be more excited to see his little face, kiss his little nose, and hold my sweet little baby boy.

Baby Shower and such

2011-12-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

Last weekend..well, 2 weekends ago, Nikki and Courtney threw me a baby shower for little man on the way. It was low key, relaxing, and lots of fun catching up with some old friends. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves! There was good food, drinks, and a onesie decorating station where everyone made little guy a onesie. It was a hit!

A shower for a second baby is so different than one for your first. The first baby everyone thinks practical - you have nothing - you NEED this bottle, or this teething ring. With a second baby, it is all about the clothes and small essentials (Desitin, wipes, etc.). He has seriously got the cutest wardrobe now! I felt very lucky to all of my close friends there :) Here are some pictures, compliments of Ms. Amber

Seriously..such a cute idea!!

Opening gifts

New clothes for kiddo!

Me and Court

So excited for her!! Our kids will be best friends whether they like it or not

This picture makes me want to go to the gym...seriously..so motivated after this child to get back to my old self!

Nikki and her momma

Oh the side hand pose...

Me and Amber

Sunday, Lindsey came up and we exchanged gifts between the 4 of us. About 2 years ago we decided to just do ornaments. I always think of good things for the girls, but ornaments are so easy! I really wanted to give them something that was meaningful - something that I could express my gratitude for their friendship these past years. I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I made them. And yes, I forgot to take a picture. I was really happy with how they turned out! I hand stitched a quote on each. The themes were Love, Joy, and Peace. Amber was Peace, Lindsey was Joy, and Nikki was Love. I think they liked them :) We went out to brunch at Briggs which was super yummy and caught up on each other's lives. I feel like we could seriously hang out for days and still not run out of things to talk about. It was really nice to see them all! We will be reunited for Nikki's shower in about a month and I can't wait! Here are some pictures from the visit..

Nikki missed the scarf memo..

We were in the weekly picture!!

Really ladies? So typical..

Play time with Daddy!

2011-12-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

Sam has been busting his butt out in the yard since last spring. He has a vision for the backyard and front yard..get rid of as much grass as possible. This means more flowers beds, trees, and mulch. He loves to employ the help of Munchkin who is more than happy to spend all day outside. These two are two peas in a pod!

Dancing with her ball. This is Sam's favorite outfit- I see her in this more than anything else she owns

New path to the garden

She found some squash!

Throwing the ball again

That lip...

Happy because she has a stick

Mad at something..probably the tree that got in her way

Lots of Pictures!

2011-12-08T21:08:00.000-05:00

I know..I know..2 weeks..

But! We had a great time in Florida. Ada did great on the plane and was a trooper the entire trip. She took a nap probably half the time and still did fantastic. She had a great time bonding with her Nonnie, Pop pop, Nina, and Papa. She was also really great on Thanksgiving with 27 extended relatives..seriously..it was a packed house! But she warmed up to everyone and had a great time. We actually did not take a lot of pictures - just a few random ones..I know we are terrible, but we were enjoying our time too much to stop and pose for some pictures.

Showing Nina how smart she is

She loves this book..If you give a mouse a cookie!

The Bear Snores on

Collecting Sea Shells

We found some!

Love this picture!

Momma Look!

She found some

Showing Daddy her shells

She was sad after the water got her feet wet

They are just too cute

Playing in the sand

She was having a good time

Look at this!

How did she get so old?!?

Hanging out waiting to go on the playground

We took a ton on Saturday when we went to the Animal Kingdom. We ended up staying in Orlando overnight and going to see Noel and Jon and the kids Sunday morning. She made a fantastic brunch and we had such a great time catching up and meeting little Lyric. Ada got along with the girls and really connected with Ms. Isla. I so wish they lived closer! I miss them so very much..but I will take a great visit a few times a year. Enjoy the pictures from the park!

The dino ride..Ada was not such a fan

She tolerated it

Posing with Daddy

A hippo! Seriously freak me out..

Crocodiles..or are they Alligators??

Giraffe

More Giraffes

Ada enjoyed the safari..all those animals!

Elephant

Ostrich

Rhinos!

Look Dadda Look!

I like it how we have the same face..

Climbing to get on the train

The petting zoo that Ada did not want to pet anything at

Llama

Donkey

She liked to look at the little piggies

Goats!

Not interested in petting the goat, just looking at the pigs

Fishies

Look at the fishies Momma!

Hippo - it came right up to the glass - seriously the coolest thing. Ada thought it was a fish

Not understanding that is not a "big fish!"

Antelope? I can't remember..

Looking at the monkeys

Gorilla

Gorilla climbing a tree. He was trying to get a leafy branch..

Gorilla number 2 is hanging out under the tree

Gorilla in the tree dropped his leafy branch, and Gorilla number 2 grabbed it and ran off

Gorilla in the tree pouted under the tree

Ada loved the gorilla

Checking out the gorilla

Waiting for the parade..that she was terrified of

A bug's life

Walking up the sign said - "may be scary for young kids" We shrugged and figured she would be fine...not the case...she was terrified.. Parents of the year right here!

Tree of Life

Ada not happy about having to take a picture

Family picture

Picture with Pop Pop

On our way out..we stopped and said bye to Pop Pop..

We had a great visit and we were sad to leave, but happy to get home :)

Are you ready..

2011-11-18T13:49:00.004-05:00

For a real update? I know I have been posting video after video, but is really all I have had time/energy for. What is going on in the Kadwell house?

Well - we are preparing for this little thing called our son. Who is STILL yet to be named. Yes - he is still baby boy Kadwell as of right now and no we are not keeping his name a secret. We genuinely CAN NOT think of a name that we both agree on. Nothing sounds right nor does it sound like our son. With Ada it was immediate, we knew once Sam said Ada Jane that it was her name, our daughter's name. We are waiting for that same feeling..maybe it is just wishful thinking. I think we will name him until they make us on the SS document in the hospital. Even then I am not sure we will be ready. I like a good number of names. Sam likes maybe 2 and neither 2 do I like. It makes for some great conversations between us - really more like eye rolling and asking how he or I could seriously think about naming our child that. The search continues..

I have updated the nursery - no pics yet..but I have covered the pink leaves with blue, green, and orange. I made an owl, a turtle, and a caterpillar for the walls and stuck them on. We need to repaint the closet, fix the shelf, hang blue knobs where there were pink ones, and get new bedding. Which Court said she wanted to make like she did for Ada. Ada still loves her quilt and sleeps with it every night. We take it if we are ever going anywhere. It is the perfect size for traveling.

I am 31 weeks..we are down to the single digits in terms of weeks. Crazy. I went to the doctor Wednesday and I still have only gained 20 pounds (yay!!) and he is head down and doing great. He is still super active and I am still not sleeping, but it is what it is and I know that we are on the home stretch. It is hard to do every day things like put on socks or pick something up. Even sitting is uncomfortable most of the time. So I just try to stay on my side as much as I can. But who am I kidding I have an almost 2 year old..laying on the couch is only available with Sesame Street on the TV - luckily it comes on twice a day :)

Ada is still doing great with sleeping in her big girl bed. She loves to cuddle in with Dad or Mom for story time and has still not tried to get out of the bed on her own. She wakes up happy and ready to go every morning. I think she is getting much more restful sleep than in her crib. She still loves her room and would play in it all day if I let her. Which I do with her sometimes. She is much more demanding for my attention here lately. I am not sure if she is sensing that something is going on, but she is much more needy than normal. We are working on her interrupting me and Sam or when I am on the phone. Once she realizes you are not paying attention she says, "Momma, momma, momma,..." until you answer. She wants me to play with her all the time, or read to her, or just snuggle while watching Sesame Street. I can not complain about my new time with her. It is so fun to see her learn, try new things, and get excited about what we are doing. She is at the stage where she gets so excited she can't talk fast enough, it is seriously too cute.

We go through waves with defiance. This week - perfect angel, seriously not a single time out. She has listened, not been her normal whiny self, and very enjoyable. Last week..it made me re-think my ability as a mother. Seriously - one night with Sam I just let it all out and felt like I was doing a terrible job and that he would be such a better stay at home person and I just genuinely felt like a failure as a mom. Funny how kids can do that to you - make you doubt every single thing you do. It is not just the defiance and not listening that we are seeing, but it is so stressful that she is so shy. You wouldn't think so, but really, it is. It is hard to go on play dates, to the store, or anywhere in public. She would rather be home and is so happy at home. She is pretty good out in public, but if a stranger (and non-stranger too..she does this to Beth) talks to her, she freaks out. She usually starts crying or gives them the death stare. I quickly respond that she is really shy and most people get it. But some just keep talking to her which puts her in a tailspin that is hard to get over. This week she said hi to 3 people in the store, on her own! She immediately regretted it (she looked away and grabbed me for dear life) but she initiated it. Last week it just seemed all too hard. You start to wonder if you are doing the right thing. I am of the attitude that I am going to put her into as many new situations as possible so that she can learn that I am not going to abandon her, nor will I let anything happen to her, but she can still interact with people (safely). That week I met a mom out for coffee and it was such a relief. I was having a bad day, a bad week really, and I was seriously dreading the fact that I would have 2 kids screaming at me and feeling like I was not capable of doing it. We met and talked for about 2 hours. I felt so much better - she has 3 boys and her own struggles, but she was so encouraging and realistic and validated everything I was feeling. Sometimes I think MOPS (she is a MOPS mom) is what saves me from losing my mind most days. Then on Friday we had a play date with my table and it was so great! Ada was her normal - take an hour to warm up - but I love the moms at my table. I really do. They are so low key, down to earth, and just so encouraging. I felt like I could tackle this week with a new found energy. No one understands a mom better than another mom. Even Dads get lucky in the fact that they don't feel nearly as much worry, guilt, and fear that a mom does. It is just so heavy on your shoulders day in and day out. Working moms too..they have a whole new set of battles that I only experienced for 3 months. Needless to say, it has been a roller coaster of a few weeks with kiddo.

We are officially done with weddings for 2011! Wahoo! We have ended on such a great string of weddings and are getting ready for engagement season and booking new clients. We have a few new consults in the next few weeks. We have about 12 weddings for next year already and our June is almost completely booked! We also have our first planning meeting Monday..yikes! I am super nervous about this!! This will really give us a good gauge of how the rest of the meetings will go and if we will get approved for our re-zoning/conditional use permit. This is our last "legal" hurdle we have to go through and it will last until February. I don't think I can handle the suspense!! We have figured out financing which really had us stressed for the past few weeks, but we found a great lender who is FANTASTIC! They are so great to work with, stable, and we were really impressed with how much they wanted to help us out. Really - I can't believe it. Nothing in my life has ever gone this smoothly - so let's keep praying that this next step follows suit. We have some more exciting news that I can't quite reveal just yet- but it is a great opportunity for C and D and for our family.

That is it really - just trucking along over here. We are spending the weekend with Sam's parents and Merilee who is visiting (yay!) so excited to see her!! And then we are leaving for Florida Tuesday and staying for almost a week. We are taking kiddo to Animal Kingdom while we are there! I am so excited!! I will try to post as much as I can while we are there. Hope you all have a great Holiday :)

Camping

2011-11-17T14:28:00.000-05:00

A little video I found before we went camping..

Rock climbing!

2011-11-15T09:26:00.000-05:00

My little girl climbing a rock! I love the scream at the top..such a pro!

She was tired later and played night night..

Kitty cat!!

2011-11-14T13:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some videos from Tennessee. She was fascinated by Hindi - Daniel's cat. She kept asking where the "kitty cat" was. This was her quest to find the cat one afternoon..

Is he under the couch??

Maybe he is outside

There he is!!

My turn Dad!

Mason Turns 3!

2011-11-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago we celebrated Mason's birthday. It was a Car's themed birthday party and he loved it! He was definitely on a sugar high at the end of it, but all kids had a good time. Mom and Dad came for the festivities and Ada enjoyed spending time with her Nonnie and Pop Pop. Here are some pictures :)

Cupcakes

a few of the presents

Look at that chunker! Nora..not Courtney

Mr. Potato Head

Nora is really a goat in a baby's body. She likes all things paper

Going to town

More presents

It's a scooter!!

Laughing at the kiddos - This is Ada's new favorite stance

Being shy

cupcake time

deciding which one he wants

he is so excited!

Happy Birthday! We were hiding out in the kitchen...Ada does not like the birthday song still!

Playing

Being a big girl

Love that face!

What a nice day

Ada so wants to be a big kid!

Looking out the window

sitting with pop pop

play-doh time!

Sharing

All in all it was a good day and Mason had a great party. He said, "he loved his party!"

Moo Baa La La La

2011-11-07T18:51:00.000-05:00

She can recite this book on command and always has the biggest smile on her face. Now (after the video was shot) she can say the page: "no, no, that's not right, pigs say oink oink all day and night." You will hear her in another room or in the car say: "No No White, Oink oink Day and Night" And then she will say various sounds from the book. She tells it to her Gigi and any one that will listen. At the end we say "it's all quiet now, what does Ada say?" and she says" Hug and kiss!!" Too cute! I love it!

Check it out..

Halloween!

2011-11-03T15:53:00.000-04:00

Ada had her first official Halloween Monday. Last year she was sick so we didn't even get to dress up! But this year, we were able to go out and go trick or treating at a few houses. Ada was not the happiest getting her costume on, but she was happy once we told her she was going outside. She also got some new shoes that were making her mad, but she quickly got over it once we opened the door.

She was fascinated by all the kids going up and down the street and all the pumpkins. She really just wanted to pick up all the pumpkins. It was a little drizzly, but she did not mind and refused to wear her hood. She was unfazed by the cold, wet weather and would have gone house to house all night if I let her. She was not really understanding that people were handing out candy until we went back home and were on the porch (waiting for trick or treaters) and we gave her a piece. Her eyes got big and she stretched out her hand and said "PEEEAAASSS!" (please). She wanted more and then she took candy from our bowl and put it in her bag. She was claiming it as her own. It was too cute! She was a trooper and I can't wait until next year when she gets to help pick out her costume :)

Random pic from the car- this is what she does, reads quietly in her seat.

Pumpkins at Grammy's!

She is just way too cute!

Getting dressed

Not liking the shoes

Up she goes

Dragging me out the door

She is so ready

Trick or treat!!

It was hard to get a picture of the kiddo - but it is documented well enough :) I love this little bumble bee!

Ada's new room!

2011-11-02T15:30:00.000-04:00

Finally..the pictures you all have been waiting for..Drumroll please..It's Ada's new room! She LOVES it! We started calling it her room about a month before we actually had her sleep in there and now she knows that this is her room - she doesn't even head to the nursery at all anymore. She has been sleeping like a champ in her new bed. She did give us some looks like we were crazy the first few days we would put her down, but she always went to sleep and slept long and hard. We couldn't be happier! I had slight anxiety about this transition, but it has turned out to be such an easy one so far. Without further ado..here are some pictures of her adorable new room..

I made the bed skirt and mosquito net and painted all the decals

Zeeebraaaa!

Little kitchen, reading corner, and art table

Giraffe! We haven't gotten pictures yet - which why there is pink paper on the picture holder..

Vanity and closet. I made the chair cover - which made me swear..a lot..

Another bed photo

Reading Corner..she loves this! It is her favorite spot.

I made all the throw pillows.

Monkey!

I made the green shams and Ada pillow case

I got to use the pink curtains! I made little tabbies to hold the curtain open in the daytime.

We did end up using a different (less expensive) duvet which brought the pink into the room. I really love the room - it is so fun and perfect for her!

Last Day in Tennessee

2011-11-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from our last day in Tennessee

Getting Uncle Daniel to read her one more book

He does such a good job!

Checking out that kitty cat!

Do you see it?

Oh- there it is

outside

You can tell they are related

With Kristen

I've seen that face before..

Swinging

Cute

checking out the neighbor's dog

not too excited about this

Brothers

Really Daniel..

Fighting

Friends again

She got Kristen to come over

She doe NOT want to say cheese

There we go..all 3 have the exact same smile

The trip back was long, but good! It was nice to see all the scenery in the daytime. We got home around 7ish and we were ready for another vacation :) I have lots more to post on..Videos, Halloween, Mason's B-day, and random exciting news..I know that you are so excited!

Tennessee Day 3

2011-10-30T21:34:00.000-04:00

Sunday was our last full day in Tennessee and Daniel and Kristen really wanted to take us to a place in Georgia that they enjoy going to for some good 'ol rock climbing. It wasn't a super long drive - about an hour - but when we got there it was closed..so we headed back home. It was a pretty drive, but Sam and I both were getting a little car sick, so we were happy to get out of the car when we stopped to go over the Pedestrian bridge in Chatanooga. Ada had a great time looking at the water, boats, and running up and down the bridge. We went back home and took a nap. She ended up sleeping for a really long time. Daniel really wanted to take us rock climbing, so we woke munchkin up and headed to a more local place.

Good gracious this kiddo had such a great time! She loves the outdoors and loved the idea of climbing on rocks even more. On the way, she wanted Gigi to be wrapped in a blanket, so we wrapped her in Ada's little coat like a baby and Ada knew exactly how to hold that Gigi and was so sweet and delicate with it. It was so sweet! She has really started talking to Gigi, cuddling her, and even sharing with her. I really think she is Ada's best friend.

Here are some pictures of our adventure..

Holding the bundled Gigi

Climbing a rock

Ada climbing a rock - she would make lots of noises as she went up

Almost there..

Uncle Daniel could not have been more happy that his niece likes climbing rocks

Smile!

Gigi has to climb it too

Showing her the right technique

Concentrating

Watching in amazement

Climbing

She is going for it again

She wanted to climb the "big rock"

Daddy had to help

Daddy showing her how to celebrate wants you make it to the top

Taking a break

Love these two!

Back at it

Why hello there

She is so happy

Almost there

She made it!

Daniel climbing

Hanging out with mom

Smiling

She just wanted to pose

Still posing

She even said cheese and crossed her hands

Looks awkward

Climbing a new rock

Daniel was thirsty..

Ada likes to say "oh no" while grabbing your face

It really is a fun game

And there is a baby kicking

Daniel and Kristen

Hold a baby..

Or not..

Daniel hot bossed in story time that night

There is no joking about book time

She let him know how it was suppose to go

They seem to enjoy themselves

That was our last night in Tennessee...stay tuned for more pics before we left!

Tennessee Day 2

2011-10-29T22:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday we woke up to a happy baby who was ready to play! We got some breakfast at a family owned diner and headed up the mountain to a lookout point. Daniel wanted to show us a view of Chattanooga and scare me half to death in the process. I am a nervous passenger going up or down a mountain and really am not a fan of heights. All I could think about was me or my child plummeting down the mountain. Ada wasn't overly ecstatic either about being close to the edge, but she was happy to be climbing up and down and being outside.

We headed home for nap time and I got to take a long nap :) I hadn't had a 3 hour nap in a long time..it was nice and much needed for my tired preggo body. After nap time we to Riverwalk and played. Ada of course had a blast - this kid lives to be outside. Here are some pictures from our day!

Daniel found a new friend

He loves this dog

Walking down to the lookout spot

She was oh so happy to see all the rocks

With Daddy

Brave people

Pretty view

And I am freaking out

It was a little chilly

We were cuddled for warmth. I showed her the pockets in her jacket..she was very excited about them

Another pretty view

Concerned

This is how we woke up from naps..not happy

Playing at the park

Belly shot

She enjoyed putting her head through the rail. I could only think about the Full House episode where DJ babysat and the kid got his head stuck in the stairs

Running

Such an artsy shot

Going down the slide

oh how she loves a slide

Uncle Daniel is joining in

Weeeeee

And they are off

She found a stick

Uncle Daniel is showing her lots of cool things

What is this Uncle Daniel?

Can I eat this?

Why yes - you can

Mmmm..

After the park we ate at Lupis and had some great pizza and headed home. The three of them went out for drinks after munchkin went to sleep and I hung out at the house and watched Parenthood. It was such a nice day and we were looking forward to Sunday where we were going to go Rock climbing. Stay tuned for Day 3 :)

Tennessee Day 1

2011-10-27T07:30:00.000-04:00

We left for Tennessee at around 1 on Thursday. We figured it would take us 7ish hours to get to Chattanooga. It really took us like 8.5h. It was a long, but pretty trip. Ada did really well. We finally got her to take a nap at 3 and she slept for about an hour and a half which is not bad for being in the car. When she woke up she was ready to be out of the car! So we stopped for dinner shortly after and ate at the slowest Wendy's known to man. Seriously, it took forever to order some food.

We rolled in around 9:30 with a tired baby and an even more tired Dana and Sam. We said hello, chatted for a few and then headed to bed. Friday morning Kristin and Daniel both had to work so we had a family day. We went to downtown, ate some lunch and took Munchkin to the kid's museum. She had a blast! Here are a million pictures to document the day..

Getting ready to go. Baby is now a staple in her arms

Walking to the museum. Yes it looks like a black eye- but it is actually a mosquito bite that caused the bruising

The museum!

This kid loves a mirror

Walking up with Daddy

Wrong way Ada!

X's and O's - this required a stop to marvel at all of them

Down we go

Exploring

Love this picture!

She is so excited that she is telling her Dad about it

Getting a life jacket on

Getting a water smock on

Posing

A little better

Family picture..Ada did not like that a stranger was taking our picture

Getting ready to slide

Get that kid off my slide! So much drama!

And down she goes

She went down again and again

one more time Mom

Cool car!

One of her favorite rooms

She loved the harp!

Not too sure what this is

Mom- do you hear that?

She really wanted to play the piano

Maybe she will be a percussionist

She enjoyed this just as much as the harps

Tambourines!

Now she is trying out being a sound/light person

All those buttons!

And switches!

She was enjoying herself

Look at this!

I just think this is funny..

She is not too sure what is going on

Checking out the bugs

A tarantula!

Look at the snake

A frog!!

Hello (Daddy looks a little creepy there..)

Crawling

Trying to put a dinosaur together

She was annoyed that she couldn't get them off

Almost..

Excavating

She could uncover the bones

Then want to pick them up..sorry baby they have to stay!

Putting together a puzzle

Concentrating

Both are concentrating

Sitting with Momma

having fun on the rocks

ooohhh...ahhhh

She was fascinated

Blowing bubbles

Trying to get the ball out

Going up, up, up

Take a look at that big girl!

Hula hooping - she saw a girl hula hooping and was amazed. She kept putting the hula hoop over her head hoping that it would just start going around her belly. She was very confused as to why hers didn't wok - we tried them all.

And again

Drawing

Pretty pictures!

She had a great time and we stretched her nap until almost 3, and she did great. She is at the age where she is not married to a nap time and it is so nice to be able to have more flexibility with her.

We headed home and hung out with Daniel and Kristen who had gotten home and just stayed around the house. We grilled out that night and kept it pretty low key. Stay tuned for Day 2...

Can't stop the cuteness

2011-10-26T13:48:00.000-04:00

Seriously..this kid is just too cute for her own good! Here are some random pics from the last few weeks.

Getting ready for MOPS - she wanted to wear her rain boots. Appropriate since it was raining that day :)

I tried to get a cousin picture..my daughter obviously did not want to oblige

A little better..

Mason and Nora are looking more and more alike these days

A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E

A day with Daddy

Her favorite outside toy

Eating a snack

"No, No, No Sadie!"

Probably got told to be nice to the dog

She loves her baby doll at Grammy and Grampy's

Night night in the grass

She thought better of it

Playing with Shells

She is soooo cool!

Love that smile!

A camping we will go..

2011-10-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago we went camping with our community group from church. It was only one night and we went to the Eno River out in Durham. It was the perfect site for families and pregnant lady :) I was really nervous/hesitant to go since the idea of sleeping on the ground was less than appealing and having to lug all our crap to a site was even less appealing, but I knew that Sam would LOVE it and so would Ada. I obliged and am so glad that I did! I had a really great time and I am even thinking that we should make this a bi-annual trip. It was not stressful and it was so much fun watching Ada enjoy the outdoors. Sam gave me the best sleeping pad but I ended up curled up right next to him with Ada on the other side. We had a three person tent, but by the end of the night we could have fit into a 1 person tent since we all migrated to Sam's sleeping pad. I am sure that he did not mind!

I took it easy most of the time and only went on one of the hikes. It was a pretty easy hike except for 1 part that was a pretty big incline and it was tough getting up it. I am so ridiculously out of shape. I am really looking forward to hitting the gym in March and getting back to a place where I am not wheezing all the time. Here are some pictures from the trip! (I stole some from Facebook)

Sarah, Ashley, and Dan

Family Picture on the hike

Liza and Cody

Love this picture! They seriously are identical.

Ada has a new friend..Lydia :)

This picture makes me laugh EVERY time! Lydia and her Daddy, Brad

Cooking Breakfast

Semi-group pic

Caed!

Sam putting up the tent

Glad he was there..

Ada wanted to help

She is giving him orders

Still being the boss

Nap time!

And she is awake..a 1.5h nap outside isn't too bad..

Time for the hair to go up

She is asking Dad to help her

Lydia

Her makeshift playpen

Smiley girl!

Cooking Dinner

Exploring with Daddy

What is that?

Roasting her 1st Marshmallow

Checking out the oreos

Not too sure..

Yep- that is yummy

Squatting

So not cooperative

Courtney and Lydia

The river

Hitching a ride

She likes to play with his hair

Sam said she started getting really heavy..she was falling asleep!

Mmm..Bananas! I know you love the outfit :)

All packed and ready to go home! Thanks to these guys who made multiple trips to the cars!

Our pack..a little full :)

The Men

We got home and unpacked, Ada had to catch up with her friend on the phone

She paces just like her momma while talking on the phone. Wonder where she saw that?

A fun trip overall. We were a tired bunch when we got back, but had a great time with friends and as a family! I am looking forward to when we go back as a family of four :)

So Slack!

2011-10-19T19:13:00.002-04:00

I know that I have been severely slacking in the blog updates. I can't say anything other than it is has been incredibly busy over here. Between weddings, applying for permits/zoning, and getting ready for baby, my day is spent before it has even started. Here is a little bit of what we have been up to..

Ada - love this kid! She is at such a fun age right now! Although she is really starting to test boundaries, she is still loads of fun. She actually requires much more of my attention and we play together now. She says, "Momma Sit. Play" or "Momma Book." She is starting to put lots of words together and form sentences which is really neat and kind of strange to hear. She has her own sense of humor and loves to laugh. She has been a little bit more on the fussy side if she doesn't get what she wants, so we have instituted the "sit down until you calm down." She goes and sits in her timeout spot and cries, screams, whatever she wants until she is done. She says "done" then we have a conversation on why we can not get everything we want. Lovely really. But at least she listens when I tell her to go sit down. She loves to sing and is starting to do much more pretend play. Overall - a really great age! Oh- and our stranger danger is improving!! Praise the Lord for that. She is doing much better in the nursery at church and at MOPS and seems to adjust rather quickly after I leave. So grateful..no words can express how relieving it is to not leave a screaming kid.

Sam - Oh he has been great as normal. Accommodating to my crazy schedule and trying to squeeze in as much family time as possible. We have nights were we talk for hours just catch up and nights where we literally fall into bed with hardly a "hey- how was your day."

Weddings - Taking over my life. It all really started the first week in September, we had one on the 3rd, the 10th, then Charleston on the 24th, then one on the 30th, and 2 on the 1st (that makes 3 in one weekend). One of the weddings on the 1st was a really big wedding I have been planning for awhile. It was so much work and so unbelievably stressful - but it all came together. I really should share my wedding stories from this season..they are ridiculous! Anyways..We had 1 week off, then 1 on the 15th, and one on the 16th. Nikki and I did the wedding on the 15th at the outer banks and then drove back early Sunday morning with just enough time for me to go home, shower, and leave again for the next one. I was home for about 45 minutes - I am one tired pregnant lady. Our next big weekend is the 5th and 6th where we have 2 on Saturday and one on Sunday. Then we have a break until January 28th! Yay! I guess it is a break seeing how I will be birthing a child..Already we have 9 weddings for next year. We have never been this well off at this point in the year before. I can only imagine what next year will bring!

Land - we got approval from the Appearance Commission with a few adjustments we have to make. But overall, a really great meeting and we got some great responses from our idea. We have to turn in our application tomorrow. Court and I were up until midnight last night putting these packets together. They need 15 copies of these packets that are probably 25-30 pages each. The copies were almost $100! (Lots of color maps). We go for our first planning meeting on November 21st.

Pregnancy - If movement in utero is any indication of their energy level outside of the womb than Lord help me. He NEVER stops moving. The only time he is still is when I am working a wedding and I am just not sure if I am too distracted to notice or if he is really actually still. At night it is like he is throwing a block party in there. His moves are so big that it literally makes me jump and wake up out of a dead sleep. I look terrible. I seriously have been sleeping so terribly lately. Maybe 3 nights a week do I get a good night's sleep. But other than that and the ever growing belly - things are going well. I got really freaked out last week thinking that I could have a baby in 11 weeks (if he is 2 weeks early like Ada) and that is not quite 3 months and I am just not ready! I just finished Ada's room (all the sewing) yesterday and now we just have to hang some items and her room will be all done. I have moved all her stuff into it and we do bedtime routine in there and then go to her old room to sleep. We are going to transition her Monday. I am not sure if I am ready...but it is time to do it. Now it is on to baby boy's room. Yes- he is still baby boy. We can not decide on a name. Nothing sounds right. So we are more than likely going to have a nameless child until he is born and we see what he looks like..maybe..I am not sure I can wait that long.

That is life over here. Busy, hectic, and slightly chaotic. I have never been so ready for the Holidays :)

A new Adventure for C and D

2011-10-06T16:57:00.000-04:00

Some of you may remember this Post from FOREVER ago and then this one shortly after..

About 2 and half years ago Court and I fell in love with some land. We have this dream of opening our own wedding venue since about the time I got married. We would sit at a Starbucks or at lunch and sketch out our plans on a napkin. In my mind it would happen...one day..but really, I always thought it would just be a dream. I mean, it takes money to make money and neither of us have the ability to throw down a few 100k and get it going. So, 2.5 years ago, we had a plan. It was a grand one, a fast one, and obviously not the right one. It was a blessing in disguise. It made us sell our house in Knightdale that is now worth about 30K less than what we sold it for. It made us move to Apex, which we LOVE, and it made us rethink our grand plan into something more tangible. I was skeptical. Would this ever work? I was anxious and ready, and almost too eager to the point where I was sure that nothing would ever come of our plans.

About 7 months ago, Court and I broached the subject again. We found a plan we loved - it is like someone was in our heads and made this plan for us. It is perfect. We looked at our year and saw the finances that C and D was producing. One day we were talking and Courtney was rushing telling me all the money we will have at the end of the year and ends it with - we can buy land. We can put a down payment on a piece of land. Huh..

So we started looking. We got a great Realtor familiar with Chatham County, land, septics, permitting, etc. and started looking. We had a couple of hopefuls that would not work and then we found one. This one is a great price, a great location, and has surrounding land we could potentially buy. We were tentatively moving forward. We didn't want to get out hopes up to have them just come crumbling down.

We moved forward. We got a meeting with Chatham County (which we thought was with one person, but we walked into a room of 10 people!). We told them about our plan - they gave us their concerns, the procedures we have to follow, the rules, and the regulations that are required for this venture. Courtney walked out stressed, I walked out thinking that we can do this- it will be a lot of work- but we can do it.

A month passes by - we digest all this info, and we make an offer. The seller accepts with a long due diligence! We have until the end of February to get all the zoning and permitting approved. This is where the stress starts..We have been filling out an application that is seriously 15 pages long, have a series of meetings and hearings to go through. I learned how to make a site plan and put together a project proposal for the Appearance Commission. We have been working like crazy to meet our deadline next week on top of having multiple weddings (3 last weekend!). We just heard back today that the land is pretty perk able and we were approved for a 7 bedroom septic. This was the biggest unknown and VERY exciting news. I can not tell you how much a relief it is to hear that!

So, for now, we are dotting all our i's and crossing all our t's in the hopes that (if we stick to our timeline), we will be hosting our first wedding in the fall of 2013. Can we just think about that? Less than 2 years away Courtney and I will be achieving what we thought was a pipe dream and unobtainable. But no, here we are, on the verge of something great, something exciting, and something I can not wait for!

Healthy Eating

2011-10-04T14:36:00.001-04:00

I have been meaning to post about this for some time now. In fact, the majority of the draft has been sitting here for about a month now. I figured it is time to let the world in on my new lifestyle change. So we all know about the nice lecture I got from my doctor about gaining too much weight. Yes, I gained about half a person with Ada, and yes, the lecture was warranted, but still, not a fun thing to hear. Anyways, I was on a mission to start eating better. For me, it would be a good time to start establishing good habits. For my unborn child - maybe he won't like Cheetos as much as my daughter does. I was driving home that day frustrated at the lack of ability I felt about eating healthy. I knew nothing about what is good for you, or not good for you. To me, a home cooked meal with a meat, a starch, and a veggie is good for you. Obviously not the case. And to eat healthy, you have to do some serious budgeting. It is not cheap to get fresh produce every single week. Already we were barely hitting our minuscule grocery budget (and yes I coupon), so the idea of having to spend an extra $20 a week for healthy food was..frustrating.

Sam and I pow wowed and decided that yes, it may not be "in the budget," but it is a perfectly good reason to save a little less. We are talking about our health and well being - well worth the extra dollars. As a stay at home mom - you can't help but feel guilty about stuff like that. I am not financially contributing to the family, so I hate having to be the reason for causing us to spend more money. Sam just looked at me like I was crazy - and asked why I was even concerned about it. Oh the guilt a mom feels..anyways, I got to work on making a plan. Here is what I generally try to follow every day:

7:30 am - Breakfast: Cereal or Oatmeal
9:30 am -Snack: Fruit
11:30 am - Lunch: Sandwich (light mayo, in the summer I used basil pesto instead of mayo and mustard..soooo yummy!!), handful of low fat chips, a yogurt, and a fruit
3:00 pm - Snack: Salad (chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots), or hummus with carrots, or a yogurt and granola
5:30 - Dinner: Low fat meal - more below
8:00- Snack: 1/2 cup of 1/2 the fat ice-cream with a little chocolate syrup and cut up banana. Or a granola bar

It seems to be working well. I have almost cut out peanut butter completely- every now and again I will eat some with a banana, but it is nothing like before. I went through 3 big jars in about 3 months - ridiculous!

Here are some really yummy dinners we have tried. I have learned that plain greek yogurt is as yummy and really great substitute for sour cream - I am hooked!

Recipe

This was actually really good. I was nervous, the cauliflower had me shaking my head. But it was so good! It had this really fresh taste to it. Now - it can not compare to the 1/2 stick of butter and 1 cup of heavy cream that is usually Alfredo sauce, but for literally 1/10 of the calories and fat - it was a yummy substitute

Recipe

This was soooo easy and super good! I really just used what I had on hand. I used a mixture of fresh and frozen veggies. If you want to make it vegetarian, just add veggie stock instead. We ate this with the fettuccine and I actually used the leftovers as my afternoon snack. Definitely one we will repeat and even freeze!

Recipe

I loved this! Sam loved this, Ada even loved this. First off - read the suggestions - they are super helpful. I added some red and orange peppers (we had some leftover from the night before), kalmatta olives (this really made a difference), and onion. I did not add the pancetta strictly from a budget standpoint. I also made my own pizza dough with my cuisinart - which is super easy, but any roll out kind will work and the Teeter has dough for under $2. I also did not put them in individual ramekins, I put it all in 1 9x9 pan and put dough on the bottom - we are a bread family :) But it was really good!! I could see making this into individual turnovers and freezing them.

Recipe

So in love with this!! I wanted to eat this all for myself. It is ingenious really. Instead of adding heavy cream the base of the soup is pureed rice. I also made my own Madras curry powder because we had all the ingredients. The chicken I used was from a day when I bought 20 pounds of chicken leg quarters, cooked, and picked. I divided it all into 2 cup bags, and this took only 1 bag of chicken. Seriously, so yummy!! I am going to be making a huge pot for the freezer.

Recipe

Sam really loved this. I have a love hate relationship with chicken, and this was one dish I actually liked the chicken. The marinade is so yummy, the sauce is really good (I made the mistake of not using a ripe avocado) and the yogurt adds just the right amount of flavor. We ate it with chile cheese rice and that too was a big hit!

Recipe

Mmm..chicken nuggets! I love chicken nuggets and Sam loves them too. I make some mean chicken nuggets, but they are cooked in large amounts of oil and probably not the best for you. I found this recipe, and it was pretty good. It had a sweet taste to it, but I liked it. Sam liked it, but was not in love with it. He did however love..

Recipe

This is what we made along side the nuggets, and it was super easy and super yummy. I highly recommend this dish! It had just the right amount of flavor and consistency.

Those are some of our faves. We did have a few misses, but overall I have really enjoyed our new healthy eating path. It has been fun and educational. I also feel like I can deviate from a recipe and make substitutions that work for our family. I hope to discover lots more recipes in the future!

I am alive

2011-10-03T20:31:00.003-04:00

I am alive..just really, really, REALLY busy!! I knew this day was coming and my blog is suffering!! I vow and promise to update this week - I have soooo many things to update it is ridiculous! Stay tuned :)

This is how we use the potty

2011-09-21T10:06:00.000-04:00

We have introduced the potty..but we are not quite there yet - it is more of a toy :)

Sam's B-day

2011-09-18T20:22:00.000-04:00

I am SOOOO behind! I have had the craziest week and have not had the time to sit down and blog about all the exciting things that are happening. Courtney and I are up against a deadline on something so very exciting that I can not wait to share about! Let's just say that it is something big and life changing!

I did miss one very important blog day and that was Sam's birthday. While the rest of the world was watching TV and listening to the heartbreaking stories of the 10 yr. anniversary of 9/11 - we were celebrating my wonderful husband's 28th birthday. 28..that means I will be 28 in 9 months..eek!

Anyways the day started off great with an Ada card specially made for her Daddy. It had hand prints and glitter and paint and he loved it. Well..she did too and wanted to take it back. He got a card from me and the promise of a future present he had to pick out. He lost his wedding ring a few months ago camping, so I thought it was high time he had one on his finger! I think he was excited about it. We got up and ate pancakes for breakfast (where Ada gorged herself) and got all ready to go to Umstead for a nice hike. We went there last year and Sam wants it to be a tradition - so Ada and I happily obliged. As experienced parents we did not bring a diaper bag. Not a big deal 90% of the time these days. Well...we were about halfway there and I hear a burp then swallow. I knew it was coming. Yep - vom everywhere. Ada had thrown up all her pancakes. She kept saying uh-oh and crying - it was so pathetic. So, no diaper bag, no change of clothes, no wipes, just throw up. I did have blanket which we got as much as we could up, stripped her down to her diaper and headed back home. Not the morning I was thinking of. We think she had just eaten too much and got car sick. We get home, strip the car seat and decide to go to the park down the road. We figured we would stay away from the car and walk there with her wagon. It was a nice walk - hot - but nice. It was about 2 miles, so Sam got a good long walk in on his birthday which is his wish every day of his life - to take a nice long walk. Me- I could care less about a walk. We get to the park, I rest and they play, and then we eat a picnic lunch and head back.

Right before our walk - I love these two!

Ada had a good time and we were all pooped by the time we got back. I took a nice nap - the first in a LONG time. Around 4 the masses came - Mikhail, Court, my cousin who was visiting, the kiddos, and his parents. We grilled out hamburgers with fries and baked beans. I made pound cake from scratch and we had strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was yummy!

It was a really fun, relaxing day. It is always so weird to me that Sam's birthday is a day that so many people mourn. Where the 60's generation's question was "where were you when Kennedy was shot?" Our generation 's is "Where were you when 9/11 happened?" Well - I was in high school - my senior year. I was in Latin II and the principal came on saying that a plane crashed into the world trade center. But he said it so calmly, and added that they did not know if it was accident or not. Nothing else was mentioned. My biggest concern of the day was getting to lunch to call Sam. Back in the day I had cell phone in my car for emergencies - it had 80 minutes on it. So I had to go to the gas station to use the pay phone. I call Sam and wish him a "happy 18th birthday!!" Silence. "Dana, do you know what is happening?" Me - No. Sam - go back to school and go to your lunch bible study and watch the TV. Me - okay.. well I hope you have a really great day, I love you! Sam - some day this is..

I go to lunch and there it is on the TV - the worst image I think I could have ever imagined. I was dumbstruck yet still thinking about Sam and his birthday. Every year I think about that conversation and how sad he was. It breaks my heart that so many people's tragedy is a day he just wants to celebrate. So I have made it my mission to make his birthday happy, fun, and a celebration. So far, 10 years in, we still know how to celebrate a man who deserves all the happiness, joy, and blessings life has to offer.

Books in Review

2011-09-13T15:21:00.000-04:00

I just went through a book reading bender about a month ago and was mostly pleased with the books I read. I have not had the time nor the energy to stay awake to read much of the new book I have started: The Mermaid Chair and I am longing for some downtime to really dig into it. We were suppose to go to the beach this weekend as we all know..but Irene did a little too much damage to our hotel and our reservation got cancelled. Actually, the hotel is closed until January! We only stay at Sheraton's so that we can use our starpoints and stay for free..so it is not in the budget to go to another hotel. Such a bummer..it is looking like another weekend of projects and C and D work. Anyways..so books I have read recently. Let's start with the good...

We all know of my love for historical fiction and Phillipa Gregory. I had taken a break from her - as it is quite taxing to read them back to back. This book jumps right in where The Holy Fool drops off. I really liked it and it made me get the Elizabeth movies on my Netflix que to rewatch and compare to the book. I was really intrigued by the mystery of Amy Dudley's death - was it assassin or an accident? I googled the question and got tons of conflicting answers from conflicting sources.

I also read

I really liked this one. It was so fascinating to me. It was about Henry's 4th and 5th wife, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. I was mostly fascinated by how everyone feared this "great" king. He is known in history for being one of the best leaders of that time, yet, he is the cause for so many deaths, rebellions, and cruelty. It really was fascinating to me. I liked the way she wrote the book - from three women's standpoint. I found it very easy to read, understand, and intriguing. This is a good follow up to The Other Boleyn Girl.

I took a break from Ms. Gregory and tried a recommendation from my sister...

I was torn with this one in the beginning. Mostly because I was reading it when I was too tired and had a hard time following along. But, after the first chapter, I really got into it. It was such a fascinating story of an immigrant Indian couple and their lives in America. They officially named their son a "pet name" because the grandma's letter that had his official name in it did not arrive in time for them to leave the hospital. The letter never came, so he grew up with an odd name that to him, held no meaning. It is about his struggle with his namesake, what it means to be Bengali and American, and the power a name can have on a person and the decisions they make. The character development was so powerful. It is a different read - one that is not light hearted, but it also isn't very heavy either. I enjoyed it. It was not one that I had to finish, I could leisurely pick it up and down, but a good story non the less.

I read The Help midway between The Namesake - and that is actually a post for another day. To sum it up..it was good..but I didn't get all the hype that came with it. Stay Tuned for more :)

Then I finally finished the third book of the Phillip Pullman Series - The Golden Compass. The third book

was such a dissapointment. I was mad. Really. I threw the book on the ground. I read the other two books, The Golden Compass, and the Subtle Knife probably about 3 years ago. I've had the third one, but just didn't feel like reading it. I read the other ones so quickly, that I think I got burnt out on it. Let me begin with the fact that I really liked the first two books. I was not sure of what all the hoopla was about it being about the antichrist and just read them for what they were..fiction books. Nothing grates me more than some crazy nut case freaking out about a fiction book and saying that the whole world is going to hell..seriously..take a chill pill. Remember: it's a book, with fake characters and fake worlds. Anyways..they were good, intriguing, kept you guessing and wondering how in the world this was going to end. I liked the characters. It was a little confusing with all the different worlds and the concepts they were getting at were hard to imagine, it was very abstract, but overall, still a good read. Enter book 3. He should have stopped. It was so anticlimactic. Anytime a major scene happened, or someone was about to get attacked, it would resolve itself and end up all nice and neat with no one harmed. Then the kicker, when the book made it onto the floor to be kicked under the bed was the end of the book. Throughout all 3 books there is this thing called Dust. No one really knows what it is. You find out that it is essential to life. It is what makes people think and have free will. It is a sign of enlightenment really. The problem is that Dust is leaving and no one knows why. All we know is that the main character at some point is going to make a decision and save Dust. The Magisterium (the church) wants to kill her - they like Dust leaving - no Dust means no free will and people will have to follow the Magisterium. Okay. So..I am totally going to ruin the ending..so stop reading if you want to read the ridiculousness of this book. The whole world is saved by...her kissing a boy. Really. Truly. And the author made suggestions that they had sex, but he didn't really come out and say it. One - she is suppose to be 12. Twelve people! And she is proclaiming her ever dyeing love and having sex. Two- She doesn't know that this is what will save the world, but it does. How in the world does this save the world? Please, explain..because I don't get it. Then it ends with them having to go their separate ways and all this sappy crying nonsense. She is 12! Who published this book? Who said - wow, this is a great ending to such a great trilogy. It made me mad that I ever decided to waste my time and care what happens.

So that is it..My books in review. A few good ones - so check them out!

I know my..

2011-09-08T09:18:00.000-04:00

Eyes, Ears, Nose, Head, Belly, Knees, and Elbows. Love this kiddo! Enjoy the video :)

18 months!

2011-09-07T16:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I took Ada to the doctor for her 18 month check up. She has been doing really well with strangers here lately. She still has her moments - like on Friday when Beth and Lucy came over - she had a royal melt down. I mean snotty nosed sobs. It took her about 30 minutes to get down and play. After that she was fine. Her a Lu shrieked and played and Ada was actually sad when she left. Anyways - I was hopefully. I should not have been. I tried to get her to stand on the scale and she just screamed, arched her back, wouldn't let go and refused. So we had to use the baby scale, which required her to sit - once again - screaming and a general refusal to let go of me. I just had to sit her down and firmly hold her away. They then had to measure her height and head - you would have thought someone was killing her. I was glad when the nurse left. The doctor came in and she did better - he sat with us for a little bit and chatted about her developmentally and physically. She was much more apt to have him check out her eyes and ears and what not. I asked about her "anxiety" and he said that it was completely normal. This was the age when they start to realize that they have a bubble and it is not okay for people to get near it. He said to give it 6 months to a year and to keep doing what we are doing - exposing her to new people and places and showing her safe ways to say hello are okay. Fun. I hope she does get a little more social - she is so much fun when she is comfortable.

What are her stats? Well she is right on target for motor and language skills. She is 27 pounds and 3 oz (82%), 33 3/4 inches tall (94%) and her head is still at 98% (19.5 inches). He was very happy with her growth rate and the diet we have for her. He did say that this is when she will start to eat less since her growth rate will slow down considerably - so for us not to be alarmed and to not fix her anything different than what we eat. I assured him I was no short order cook :)

What is our munchkin up to?

She LOVES her momma and Dadda. She just gasps and gets sooo excited when Dad comes home. They are buddies and play non stop until bed time. He is definitely the fun one. She is getting less clingy with me when Sam is around and does not really prefer one over the other. Although she does like to "Tell" on Daddy if he tells her no. It is comical - but does her no good.
She talks and talks. This girl is always talking! About 75% of it I can understand - the other sounds like Chinese.
She loves the outside and would stay out there all day if I let her. She likes plants and trees and anything really with nature. She loves to eat basil right off the plant and grabs a tomato if she can find one.
She is still taking a 2-3 hour nap a day and sleeps from 7-7, sometimes until 7:30/8ish. She loves her night night. She is starting to not want to stop playing, but if you mention Gigi - she is is sold on bedtime.
She loves her Gigi and it has become a necessity to sleep. She keeps her in her crib, and only if we are going to be out most of the day does Gigi get to come along. She instantly smiles and shrieks when she sees her. I really think if she had to choose between her mom, dad, or gigi - it would be Gigi.
She LOVES her cousins Nora and Mason and will go to Courtney easily without hesitation. Nora is by far her favorite and I already know they are going to be best friends.
She is starting to like arts and crafts a little more. She gets bored with coloring after 15 min. but loves her new chalkboard wall. She also really likes finger painting.
She is learning so much every day. She knows the letters: O, X, N, T, P, S, and sometimes C. Strange combo - I know.
She thinks everyone has a baby in their belly - don't be offended if she asks about it.
She also knows a good amount of her body parts (video will be posted soon!)
She still loves to read and has started reading to herself. It is funny to hear her voice inflections and what her interpretation of the story is.
Overall she is a happy, healthy, girl. I love this age and I love that she is so sweet! She listens so well and she is such a joy to be around (most of the time). I can't wait for her to be a big sister! I know that she will be a great one.

Here are some videos of her lately..

This one is where she is reading to herself..it gets good about a minute and half in

This is a video of her new shoes from Grammy! They are big girl shoes..a 6.5W - our girl has big feet, bless her heart!

Weekend in Review

2011-09-06T13:20:00.002-04:00

I feel like I need a nap from my weekend - even though for the most part it was relaxing. Friday night Court and I had a rehearsal that took up most of the evening. Catholic ceremonies are no joke people. We got home around 9:00 and were pooped. We had to be up, ready to go, and in the car by 8:15 Saturday morning. Not normally a big deal, but it seemed nothing was going as planned. I keep forgetting to pick up more hairspray when I am out and did not have a drop to use. Not normally a big deal, but on wedding day - I need to not be messing with my hair. I was annoyed at that. Then I couldn't find my hairclip and then just pretty much grumbled my way through the rest of the morning.

We were surprisingly on time with literally every aspect of the wedding that morning. I had a little stressful start at the beginning with rentals, but eventually it all worked out and everything was ready to go. I honestly was not looking forward to this wedding. The bride was always very business and it seemed like it would be a kind of ho-hum day. Boy were we wrong! She was the life of the party. She salsa danced with her dad, and did a choreographed number with her bridal party to get people on the floor. We had to move tables to fit all the guests on the floor. It was lots of fun! The guests were having a great time, the food was yummy, and everything went off perfectly. It also ended at 4- another plus!

Sam's parents had Ada this weekend, so we had a leisurely night in with take out Indian (yummy!) and a movie. Sunday we got up and went to Ikea a day early. Our plans shifted some with Sam's parents watching Ada, so we took advantage of the Sunday trip. It was a good trip. We pretty much stuck to our list with a few extra things here and there. We really stayed on budget which was the best part. I also ran into Kelley (from Kelleytime) while I was there! It was so random because there were like a million people there. It was nice to catch up for a few minutes and get to say hey in person and not over a blog!

We got back home around 5 - we spent over 3 hours in Ikea - we were Ikea'd out. We unloaded the car and got to work on some projects that are best done sans baby. Sam had a few things to hang in the storage space off of Ada's room and I got all my dresses and other random garments from Ada's new closet, covered them in garment bags (thanks Ikea!) and hung them on the new shelf Sam put up in the storage unit. We also painted the half wall in the loft with chalkboard paint, hung a bar and cups that go on the wall to hold the chalk, and put together a few boxes for the office/guest room. We didn't put any of Ada's stuff together since we still have to paint in there and what not.

Monday morning we woke up and Sam surprised me with the idea of going to get a new dishwasher. There were some good sales going on and we both loathe our dishwasher. mostly because it is the loudest washer ever and it doesn't wash about half the dishes you put in there. It is incredibly frustrating and annoying. But I have not mentioned a new one, knowing that is not on the list of things we NEED - just on the list we want. I was more than surprised when he suggested it and decided that I should jump on this opportunity asap. We went to Home Depot and picked out a really nice one for a really great price!

After that we headed over to his parent's house to get Ada and spend the afternoon with them for Sue's birthday. We were both so excited to pick munchkin' up! We knew she was having a blast with her grandparents, but we missed her! It was really nice to be kid free for 2 days, but it seems unnatural. It is no longer normal and it feels like a part of you and a part of your family is missing. Needless to say, we were excited to see our baby girl! And she was excited to see us too. We had a great afternoon and headed home just in time for bath and bed. We showed Ada the chalkboard wall and it was an instant hit. I know we are going to be spending a lot of time drawing in the near future.

For now - it is back to reality. Meetings, meetings, and some more meetings accompanied by weddings and brides and rentals and linens are pretty much life from now until November 7th. Yay for the fall wedding season!

I am so excited I could pee my pants.

2011-09-02T08:34:00.004-04:00

There are times that my job as a wedding planner really pays off in my personal life. Minus the fact that it gives me a fulfilled feeling, and I love the fact that it feeds my creative juices , it also allows for really great trips. We are planning a big wedding for the 1st of October. The bride lives out of town so we are responsible for getting all the little things they need. We are making a custom escort card display that we have fretted over and have finally decided on a design (yay!). The "downside" is that we need to use a lot of picture frames and they can't be heavy. So my mind immediately thought of..IKEA! We bought these frames:

last time we went and they are perfect. They are plastic and cardboard but still look really nice. They also weigh nothing so they are perfect. I had decided this was what we needed. You can't order them online and I was looking at our calendar and the ONLY weekend we have to make the trip is this weekend. And really - the only day is Monday. Now - we wanted to go to Ikea to get stuff for Ada's room but we really weren't planning on going until October/November. I call Sam and explain my "dilemma" and he HAD to oblige. So....we are going to Ikea Monday! I am so beyond excited that I can barely contain myself. This is what is on our shopping list thus far..

We are getting 2 of these for munchkin's room to flank the sides of her bed.

Then we are putting these above it to hold her books and stuffed animals

This for various toys and what not

She is going to LOVE this table! She loves to sit on chairs and especially loves to sit at a table.

A rug for her room

A canopy for her bed

And a place for family pictures and art work.

We are also getting not so fun stuff like boxes, curtain rods, and possibly some curtains. What about those pink curtains?? They are going in the guest room - pink is just not anywhere in Ada's room so the guest room which is tan and green is getting them...we will see how it looks!

Baby boy's room is getting transformed. If we all remember Ada's nursery..

It is a little girly..but I think I have figured out how to make it a little more..boyish. We will keep the walls painted the same. I am going to use fabric paint to paint the leaves that are pink. I am thinking about using an orange and blue paint. I am going to change the dots in the closet to orange and blue and then replace the knobs with blue knobs. These are the accents I am going to add..(from Target)

How cute is that? I think it will go perfect with the tree. I am also going to re-create the caterpillar on the wall somewhere. Court is going to make him a quilt and he will obviously get new bedding.

I am a little sad though. I love that nursery and I love that it was Ada's. I really wanted to keep her in it and make a whole new nursery for baby boy - but that room is so small and Ada needs more space and it is just so close to us. We share a wall with the nursery and it is nice being able to hear everything going on. So - we have decided to move Ada. I am excited about her room - I think it will be super cute and fun for her. I promise to post pics as soon as the projects are done!

Can't wait for Monday..

More on our baby boy

2011-09-01T10:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was such a good day. I am always so very anxious for the 20 week ultrasound. It makes me really nervous the week leading up to it and I feel like a huge weight lifted off when it is over. I was thinking yesterday morning as to why I felt this way. I mean, if they told us something was wrong - what would we do? Nothing. We would pray. We would make plans to help this child succeed in the world. We would love him anyways. It would not change how we felt, or how how much we love this little boy growing in my belly. I felt very humbled at this thought and walked into the appointment knowing that our kiddo was going to be perfect regardless.

And he was. Perfect. He was not very cooperative to let us know that he was a "he." But he did give us some great views of his heart, brain, and all other vital organs. When she pulled up the 4D images, I thought to myself that his face looked like a boy. I also had a pretty big hunch going into the appointment that this little kiddo was a boy. But anyways - I can already tell that he has his Daddy's lips - which means he will be a heart breaker. I think I fell in love with Sam's smile almost immediately. He was measuring about a week ahead, which is better than his sister. She was always 2-3 weeks bigger than her due date. So maybe her won't be as big? I can tell you that he already has a big head. Lovely. The tech was nice and said that she would expect nothing less from two tall parents. But really - could I just be given one small headed child? The answer is no - they are destined to be super smart with big brains.

After the appointment we took Ada to the park and then met his parents for lunch to share the good news. Sam really wanted to keep our appointment to just the 3 of us, so we decided lunch was the next best thing to keep them included. We had a great morning as a family and I was struck with how different it will be as a family of four, and not three. Not that it will be bad, or hard, but just different. I know that you can love 2 kids equally - but your mind can't imagine it. How can you love something as much? I am ready and looking forward to experiencing it. A son always loves his momma. A daughter always loves her daddy. How lucky are we?

Here are some park pictures..

Her favorite game

Walking

Momma had to help first

Wheee

Now she is a big girl

She can do it all by herself

Going for it again

What happened to my baby?

She has learned to say "cheese" for the camera

Dancing with Daddy

Upside down throwing

Back down the slide

He is going to get you..

Spinning

A little dizzy

She needs some help walking

More throwing

Upside down again!

I love watching these two. It is like this non-stop from the moment Sam gets home until bed time. He wears her out for sure! You can see why she gets so excited when he comes home!

PS - I did lose half a pound since last month! Now - I know I should be going up in weight, but I think I am back on track for what I should have gained so far. I guess healthy eating does make a difference..who knew?

We're having a...

2011-08-31T12:52:00.000-04:00

Healthy baby! I know the suspense is killing you, but we are having a healthy baby with organs all in the right places and developing perfectly. I can not complain one iota because our baby is perfect. See for yourself..

Baby face and belly

Feet!

Eyes and nose

Full on face

Hiding

All curled up

There you are

Now what you have been waiting for..

He finally showed us the goods and confirmed that we are having a boy! We are very excited - Sam most of all I think - and happy that we have a healthy baby boy that we get to snuggle and cuddle in 20 weeks!

Busy Bees

2011-08-30T13:33:00.000-04:00

Before I begin talking about the back breaking work we did this weekend, I do need to update on our kid in utero.

Tomorrow we find out if it is a boy or a girl and I can hardly stand it. Mostly because I am impatient and I NEED to know RIGHT now if I can keep the nursery the same or if I need to make it more boyish. This means bye bye pink curtains and they will be used in Ada's new room. Not a big deal..except her room is going to be yellow and green..there is no pink! I have based her whole scheme on this duvet:

As you can see there is no pink. I could just not use these curtains, but they are from Pottery barn and are black out curtains and just too expensive to store away some where. Also, besides the new Ada room dilemma, I want to name this child! Sam and I agree to wait until we know the sex before we really start throwing out names. Mostly because it stresses me out. Why argue over a girl name when it turns out to be a boy and vice versa. But I am DIEING to know what to call this child so I can stop saying "it" and "kid that is sucking the life out of me." Which is a whole 'nother point. I am so tired. I mean to my bones tired. It is so taxing to do anything. I am not that big and I am not sleepy tired, just EXHAUSTED. Yes, all caps, that is how I feel. I don't sleep well and I can't nap. Yesterday I put Ada down and went straight to my room to try an snooze. An hour and a half later, I am still awake and not sleeping. So I gave up. It is the oddest thing. Last night Sam and I both had insomnia. I woke up by myself at 2 am and wondered downstairs to find him on the couch watching tv. He couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep - we hung out until 4 and then went back to bed. Ridiculous I tell you. The other bit of exciting news is that I have a kick boxer for a child. Seriously. About 2 weeks ago, I could feel it starting to kick, I was mildly convinced that it was gas and not an actual kick. With Ada I was around 23 weeks before I could feel her, so I had my suspicion of being able to feel it at 18 weeks. But it was a regular, steady kick. I made Sam come over and he could feel it too! It seems that this munchkin is hanging out kinda low and it is a lot easier to feel it kicking than if it was a little higher. But now, it kicks ALL the time. It is a nice reassuring feeling and makes me smile to feel its little tiny feet kicking. I can not wait until tomorrow to see the little munchkin!!

Last weekend we had originally planned to go to the beach for a family trip. Well, thanks to Irene, that got rescheduled. Sam called on Tuesday and told me to take a look at the forecast. Not good people. So we moved our reservation to the ONLY free weekend from now until November 11th - really truly - I am that busy with weddings. We have it rescheduled for the weekend of Sept. 16th and it better be beautiful darn it. I was really bummed. I was looking forward to the break and rest - but I am glad we didn't go - it would not have been good.

I asked Sam what he wanted to do instead and I was thinking of a leisurely weekend - not too much going on and his response was - "Something productive." By productive do you mean, sit on your butt and watch tv - because I am game for that. Nope - Sam does not do "lounging." He gets antsy and really just stresses me out and make me get annoyed at him. So I suggested, Hey - we can paint the office and clean the carpets upstairs. The minute I suggested it, he regretted saying anything. Now - I was obsessed. I wanted - no, I NEEDED to get this done. Are we on a deadline, well not really - but I felt like this would be a huge weight off of my shoulders.

I wish I had a before picture. I really don't think I have ever taken a picture in the office. Why? It was hideous. It used to be a kids' room from the previous owners. It was bright blue on top and bright blue and light blue striped on the bottom and finished off with...wait for it.. sponge painted roman shades. It was stressful to walk into. It was what we all call the blue room. We had decided long ago that the room just was not going to be tackled. It will forever be the blue room until we can take it no longer. Well with Ada moving, the guest room and office had to be combined. Originally the thought of painting was not something I found necessary. But the more I sat, and did not sleep, the more it bothered me. I was going to have guests stay in a room that looks like a carnival. No - it had to be painted. When I suggested this, Sam just shrugged his shoulders. He probably thought he was getting out easy seeing how the last time I was pregnant I made him paint the entire downstairs. We dread painting in this house. the previous owners were the WORST painters in the world. They had these nice straight clean blue lines, but were too lazy to avoid the trim, outlets, and even the ceiling. The whole house looked like a 5 year painted the walls. Sam got to work and finished it Friday night.

The previous owners had a dog that liked to use the potty in both the blue room and the guest room, which then subsequently our dog thought that this was the thing to do. It led to her life being threatened by being thrown out the window or just being locked up all night in a kennel. I would love to tell you that this was a new occurrence in this new house. But no, this dog has always seemed to have trouble not peeing in closets in the middle of the night. It is weird because it is the smallest amount of pee - not like she really needs to go, she is just marking her spot or just doing it out of spite - I have no idea. So for awhile she was kept in our bathroom in the random alcove with a baby gate and her dog bed, then she started peeing on that - which is odd for a dog - so I started feeling guilty. Maybe there is something really wrong with her. I googled it and decided that she had diabetes. This explains it all. I convince Sam to let me take the dog to the vet because I was CERTAIN that there was something medically wrong with her. We go through all the testing and the vet tells me it is incontinence. I just look at him like he is crazy. This dog is NOT incontinent. She is just vindictive and stubborn. Whatever. We try the medicine - it makes no difference. So now, she is not allowed upstairs by herself and has to be kenneled when we leave the house. We get a long much better now.

That was a long side note to say that we had to clean the carpets. They needed it. So we rented a rug doctor in the middle of the hurricane and got to work. I was the carpet cleaner and was seriously revolted by the black water that came out of the machine. I am so glad we cleaned those carpets - I can only imagine what was in them. We got this special Urine Eliminator from them and it has worked wonders. You spray, take a wet towel and place it over the spot and leave it overnight. (I do want to do one more treatment and I think it will completely get rid of the spots.) The rooms smell fresh and clean. I like to just sit and marvel at how clean they are. Weird, I know, but those two rooms were the cause of lots of hands being thrown in the air as to what in the hell to do with them.

We moved all the furniture into the guest room/office and put it back together. It looks really nice and not too crowded. We have space for all our hobbies and still have a nice place for guests to stay. Here are some pictures of our hard work..

I know this is blurry.. I realized it after I was downstairs and was too lazy to go back..

We still need curtains, and to hang a few things, but overall, I am really happy with how it all turned out. I have a whole bookshelf of C and D stuff, a sewing and craft bookshelf and Sam has his own camera bookshelf. Oh - and he stills inhabits the entire closet with beer brewing equipment and bottled beer. The next project is Ada's room...

Fun day!

2011-08-25T09:35:00.000-04:00

I am still tired from yesterday!! Ada and I had such a great day yesterday. As a general "rule" for me and Ada, I try to schedule everything before or after her nap and have declined lots of times when it happens to fall on her nap. Lately, she has been much more go with the flow and so when my old SHS friends asked us out to lunch smack in the middle of her nap, I decided to give it a try.

That morning we met Dee (a friend from college) and her munchkin' Braxton at Marbles. We chatted very briefly at our reunion and discovered our kids were close in age and that we should get them together. I'll be honest, I was nervous. Ever since this Spring, Ada has had some severe stranger danger. It was/is really concerning me. She does not like new places, new faces, and she really hates it when someone she does not know tries to talk to her. She just freaks out and cries. The park is not that much fin anymore and play dates are somewhat stressful to me. So, I was nervous. But I knew Dee would understand if my kid had a meltdown and I am determined to thrust her into new situations as often as I can. When we got there, she did her usual cling to me like her life is about to end. But as she relaxed, I let her go and she started to tentatively wander off to check out the slide or the fish. Next thing I know she is all over the kids place, playing, climbing, and giggling. She did get really scared if she noticed that she could not see me and an adult started to talk to her, but once we made eye contact, she calmed down. She tolerated the other kids there - meaning she didn't tell them "no" or even get upset when she had to share. Her and Braxton are not at the age where they "play" together - but they seem to have similar dispositions (calm, loves books, entertain themselves), so I think they are a great "play" pairing. We stayed for about 2 hours and the kiddos were pooped. we only made it through the first floor! I grabbed some membership info on the way out, I really think we may join since she loved it so much. I also really enjoyed catching up and chatting with Dee - we are definitely looking forward to our next play date!

After Marbles, we drove to SHS to hang out before lunch. Ada was so tired she fell asleep in the car and it was only 11am! We got to Sanderson and got to see a few old friends before lunch. Ada had a good time running up and down the halls and playing with the lockers. We finally got to lunch around 12:30 - we did have a mild melt down in the car, but all was well if I held her hand. She did great through lunch and once we got in the car she was passed out! We had to stop by Court's to drop off a baby gift for a shower and Ada was more than happy to oblige. She went straight to Court and let her hold her.We finally got home around 3. I think this is the latest we have ever stayed out. Needless to say, she was a tired girl last night!

I didn't snap any photos yesterday..terrible, I know. But here are a few that her dad took sometime last week..

She still looks like a baby here..sad..

Sam is so artsy!

Hey Mama!

the fork has become more of a toy these days..

It still amazes me how much she looks like her dad!