6 Years!

Today marks six years since I said "I do" and married my best friend. We have come so far and I love him more today than I ever thought possible! Happy Anniversary babe!

Baby Gear, Part I

Baby Gear

A few months ago (okay about 9, now?!) one of my super close friends was getting ready to have her baby and she emailed me to ask if I would put together a list of my favorite baby things.  Those things that I couldn't live without, those baby things that made my life easier and I would whole heartedly recommend to everyone.  Of course I said I'd love to and was really excited to get started.  As I got started I quickly realized that there were a lot of items that I really loved.  I figured, since I'm getting closer to having our little peanut, and I have a lot of friends that are currently expecting, or hope to be soon, I'd make this into a series of blog posts, just to make the flow better, and to make it not so overwhelming.

Here's the first part of the list... the tiny baby stuff...

*Chicco travel system ~ We went into the baby store and were planning to get a Graco, however the sales people there did a wonderful job selling us on the Chicco.  It is crashed tested to a higher speed (plus) but the main selling point was the ease at which you can get he babe in and out.  If you plan to get a big, heavy duty stroller, than the travel system is the best deal, price wise.  The stroller is big, and takes up quite a bit of space in the car, but it drives well and seems super comfy for the kiddos as they grow.  I really like that the infant carrier just snaps on the stroller and cannot be easily tipped.  We bought an extra base for our second car and were good-to-go.

*Gowns ~ When I first received these for a baby gift, I thought they were silly, but I ended up loving them.  I'm pretty sure Abigail lived in them for the first few weeks of her life.  Most of them are long sleeved and have the pocket/mitten things so the tiny peanuts can’t scratch themselves.  The big plus (for me) was that they cover the baby's entire body but have elastic at the bottom to easily change diapers ~ no snaps to undo!

*Boppy ~ I absolutely adored my boppy.  We used it for so many things… It really helped with breastfeeding (so you'll probably see it again during that post), but we also used it to prop Abigail up when she was on her tummy, to help her sit up, and (my favorite) I would put it under the mattress of her crib when she was stuffy.  And, there are lots of fun covers out there, so you can make it very personalized! :)

*Diapers ~ I LOVE Pampers Swaddlers and Cruisers.  Yes, they're expensive, but if you watch ads and sales (and clip coupons!) you can get them for a decent price.  After Abby got a bit older we would use Luvs during the day and Pampers at night, because the Luvs are so much cheaper.  We had too many blowouts with Huggies, so I never bought them (we got some as a shower gift).  I tried the target brand a couple times and they’re okay, too, just stiffer and not as soft.  They weren’t that much cheaper than Luvs, so I went with Luvs.

 

*BundleMe ~ If your baby is going to be in his infant carrier through the winter,  you HAVE to have a JJCole BundleMe.  It's an amazing invention!  You put it in the carseat and then it zips up and your little bundle stays all comfy and warm inside.  We never had to buy Abby a winter coat because we had that thing.  It’s all snuggly and furry inside and you can unzip it once you’re in the car, so your sweet baby doesn't suffocate when you turn the heat on.  AND, since you’re not supposed to have coats on inside the carseats anyway, it’s really nice.

*Onesies ~ I have no huge opinion about onesies, but these are my observations: Gerber run small, like 3 months smaller when washed.  It is fairly obvious when they are washed and dried.  The Carter's brand are super soft, and seem to run true-to-size.  Unless small babies tend to run in the family (both mom and dad's family!) I wouldn’t recommend buying too many newborn things, maybe one pack of onesies and the "bringing baby home" outfit.  We had one newborn outfit, and it fit Abigail for only about a week (she was born just under 8 pounds) so I'm really glad we did not buy a lot of newborn sized clothing.

Okay, that's it for tonight!  What were the "tiny baby" things that YOU couldn't live without?

Beautiful day!

This week the weather has been gorgeous and we have been enjoying it as much as possible.

Yesterday started with me walking into Abigail's room and finding this:

She put her babies to sleep on her tiny pillow next to her in bed!

I took off work a little early and we were able to enjoy the beautiful afternoon. We decided to try out a fun project I found on Pinterest... Snake Bubbles!

Fun snake bubbles!

They were so easy to do and we had a great time playing in/with them. Abigail had a bit of a difficult time blowing them, but she really enjoyed playing with them!

Abigail liked to play in them

Baby Update 2

Today I am 24 weeks and 4 days, and wow, is time flying by!

I was asked to share some bump pictures, but to be honest, I don't really have a recent one... here is a picture from 16 weeks (I was 16weeks exactly).

I know it's kind of hard to see the bump, due to lighting, but I promise, it's there!

This picture is from the weekend my parents were here and we went to dinner for there anniversary. I was at 21 weeks and 1 day then.

Sadly, all of these photographs have been taken on my iPhone in our home that has really bad lighting. I intend to work on that for the rest of the pregnancy.

Two weeks ago I had my last doctor's appointment, I was 22 weeks and a couple days ~ I was measuring right on and everything was looking good! My next appointment isn't for three weeks due to the lab's move to it's new (and amazing) building. I'll talk more about that in another post, I promise!

I'm stealing this next part from my friend Desiree... I think it's a great way to keep track of things for future reference.

How far along? 24 weeks, 4 days
Maternity clothes? I wear scrubs on a daily basis. BUT, on the weekends I'm normally in comfy clothes, unless we are going somewhere. Then, it's into my favorite maternity jeans, or my pre-pregnancy jeans (yes, I can still fit into them, if I do the ponytail trick to the button).

Stretch marks? Nope, although I know with Abigail they didn't show up until about a week AFTER she was born.

Sleep? Well... I am sleeping, some nights better than others. I've had a lot of heart burn, but I normally take TUMS before bed and I'm good to go with that. I've been waking a few times a night to pee and re-adjust to get comfortable. I saw my chiropractor last week and slept amazingly well for a few nights after that.

Best moments this week: Little Mr's acrobatics at night!

Miss anything? Mainly just sushi right now... the weather has been beautiful these last couple nights, and I have wanted a glass of wine while we've grilled out, though.

Movement: Yes, he is all over the place in the evening hours, or after I have a sip of Pepsi :)

Food cravings: Mainly just Lucky Charms 

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not right now

Symptoms: I'm hot a lot and have been having the round ligament pains, but nothing too bad yet.

Belly button in or out? In, though at times it is kind of flush with my stomach.

Linea nigra? Not yet, which seems weird. I feel like it had started to show up by now when I was pregnant with Abby.

Wedding ring on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time? Well... I'm not necessarily "moody", but I definitely don't sugar coat things. Jordan says with Abigail I would cry, but this time I'm "mean".

Looking forward to:  Relaxing a little this weekend... I hope! The boys will be working on the basement (post to come on that, too), so I hope Abigail and I can relax between all of the hammering!

Life...

Most of this post is not written by me, but by a wonderful man in my church, Jon.  He sends out daily devotionals to anyone who wants to subscribe and the devotional yesterday really touched me.  A lot of the devotionals that Jon sends seem to be exactly what I need to hear at the moment I'm reading them...

The last couple weeks God has really shown me how little control we have over our lives and how short life really is.  A friend from high school (we shot trap together) lost her brother this week in a farming accident.  It was truly a tragedy... he has two beautiful little girls who are now going to be without a father.  A really close friend of my family was also recently diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.  He is a wonderful father (of four girls) and great man.  The first three years of my life were spent in his home, and though he is a few years older than me, he and his brothers (all four of them) are like my brothers.  He is fighting and we are all very hopeful, but again, I don't understand why these things have happened, but I know that God has a plan and our lives are in His hands.  That is what gets me through the tough days.

Without further delay, here is the devotional that Jon sent yesterday...

“A good (MAN/WOMAN) leaves an inheritance”   Proverbs 13:22

Each life touches other lives in seen and unseen ways.  You don’t necessarily have to know somebody in order to experience the blessings of their legacy.  Like a simple opening of the door for someone, your influence can continue long after you’re gone.  Usually, we don’t like to think about this, because:

     (1) We associate legacies with dying, and we don’t particularly enjoy thinking about that topic
     (2) We assume that since our legacy won’t be revealed for years, we don’t need to start investing now
     (3) We feel as if we’ve little or no control over what we leave behind anyhow.

     The Bible says, A good man leaves an inheritance.  So what will yours be?  More important what’s it going to cost?  If you just want to leave material things, that’s easy.  Work hard, invest wisely and build your net worth.  But since the best gifts aren’t always handed down in your will, why not leave something more meaningful, something that points to who you were?  It’s one thing to measure your success by the money in your bank account, the size of your estate holdings, or the value of your stock portfolio.  It’s entirely another to measure it by intangibles like being a faithful, loving spouse, raising godly children, being a spiritual leader of your family, mentor or leader of your organization, and leaving the lights on when you go!  All great legacies come with a price tag. 

To move beyond mediocrity, you must invest every day in the invisible accounts of those who follow you!!  Beyond money, or the power of it, how can you use “IT” and “YOUR GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU” to impact the world around you?”

Ashley from LilBlueBoo

So many of you have heard me talk about, or have seen my blog posts about, Ashley and Lil Blue Boo. She is an amazing and creative mother, sister, wife and daughter. She is the "author" of nearly every clothing pattern I have used and has designed a lot of Abigail's wardrobe.

And, she is currently battling cancer. A very rare form of cancer, and hers just happens to be resistant to the chemo that her doctors have been using to treat her. Through it all she has maintained the most amazing positive attitude of anyone that I have ever encountered. CHOOSE JOY is her motto and she truly lives it. Her upbeat attitude constantly amazes me and her Rite Of Passage video brought me to tears (Jordan may have gotten a little misty eyed, too). 

Does Ashley actually know me? Have I ever met her? No. But, I (like so many others) have been inspired by her, and I want to do something to help. A group of incredible ladies have formed Team Ashley and they are putting together an auction to benefit her. As you can imagine her medical bills are piling up, and though she would never talk about it, that has to be something that makes life stressful.

Team Ashley, a group of Ashley's friends (many of whom have amazing businesses of their own!), have decided to help Ashley with her medical bills. They are putting together a silent auction to benefit her and all of the proceeds are going to her, every last dime! More information on the silent auction can be found here: at Evy's Tree. There is another post on her site that kind of explains, in a nut shell, about Ashley and her situation.

So, if you can, please include Ashley, and her family, in your prayers. Her sweet daughter, Boo, has been her main concern through all of this and, as a mom, it breaks my heart to think of going through something like this...

Half way there!

I'm sitting in the car, blogging on my phone (isn't technology amazing?!), at Whiteman AFB, reflecting back on the last 20 weeks of this pregnancy and wondering where the time has gone.

This pregnancy has been very different than my pregnancy with Abigail. When I was pregnant with her I was the annoying pregnant chick saying, "I love being pregnant!" and not understanding why some women wanted to kill me for it :) This time, I get it. I still don't mind being pregnant, and I treasure this little man growing inside my ever-growing belly, but it hasn't been all roses and ponies this time (that's an expression, right?).

I plan to get out our external hard drive when I get home to compare photos of "20-week pregnant me". I'm still wearing, AND buttoning my pre-pregnancy jeans this time around. Somehow I doubt I could say that last time. So, I might be smaller, thus far, this time around, but I'm definitely feeling this pregnancy more.

Let me explain (hopefully this doesn't sound like complaining or whining!!)... The first trimester I had morning sickness. And, though it was bad at moments I know some women have it a lot worse and I lived through. Right now, if I eat too much (which equates to a pre-pregnancy "normal" portion for me) at night, I end up sick... Heart burn, indigestion, and just feeling icky.

The worst thing, though has been not picking up and carrying Abigail. No, she doesn't need carried, she is 3 years old. But, I love carrying her in the rain (and it's pouring here right now!). She'll snuggle her hood-covered head into my neck and she wraps her little arms tightly around my neck and I'm in heaven! Sometimes I pick her up without thinking about it and Jordan gives me a hard time. I know I probably shouldn't. My back doesn't feel the greatest and toting around a 35+ pound toddler doesn't help that, but I'm having a hard time giving it up!

Ok, enough complaining! I'm truly blessed and so thankful for Abigail, Jordan and this pregnancy. Hopefully tonight, or this weekend I'll post a couple belly pictures, and pictures from our last ultrasound. Till then, here is one from New Years Eve... 15 weeks!