love from texas

who's who

2010-09-07T12:33:00.000-05:00

With all the family coming in and out of town these past few weeks, of course all the talk has been about just who Hadley looks like.

The general concensus is that she reminds everyone a lot of Knox as a newborn. And not even that they look alike, just more like they have that same "look"... The round little heads and circle-y features. The nose and lips...

Luckily I took a gazillion pictures when Knox was a newborn too, so I thought it'd be fun to kind of "match" up pictures of the two for comparison...

Both just hours old with their swollen little chipmunk faces...

KNOX

HADLEY

Snuggled up and sleeping, just a day or two old...

KNOX

HADLEY

Four days old, with the family favorite brown blankie...

KNOX

HADLEY

Sleeping...

KNOX at 4 weeks.

HADLEY at 2 weeks.

KNOX at 5 weeks.

HADLEY at 2 weeks.

And now - Who does she take after... Mommy? Or Daddy?

Well I came across our old baby pictures a few days ago, so see if you can figure it out...

The verdict...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Well the first picture is James and the last one is me.

When I found mine and showed it to everyone they all thought it was Hadley! (I tried to include the most accurate head shot of her as I could here.) I think James and I agree too. She has all the same facial features and hairline. Just more hair, and MUCH cuter ;) And you'd never know it for that harsh flash in my hospital picture, but Hadley and I also shared/share the same warmer complexion.

But even at that, I can also see a resemblance in both she and Knox's sleeping pictures when I compare them to James'.

What do you think???

bringing in fall

2010-09-06T13:04:00.001-05:00

Coming to you from the tail-end of a fabulous holiday weekend!

James' parents left Thursday morning, but not before we took Hadley "out to eat" for the first time at the Spaghetti Warehouse. (Yes, Memphians, we have one here. Same concept but not sure if it's the same owners???) It was yum. Knox threw up all over the table. That's beginning to become a signature move for him...

Thursday I hung low with the babes while James was at work, and Friday was Hadley's TWO WEEK birthday...

[Oh I love that face!!!]

I can't believe it's already been that long, and at the same time it's seems like a lifetime ago when we were just a family of 3. She's still a sweetie pie - eats and sleeps, and occasionally she'll give us a smile. (Although I know it's not a "social" smile, I'm still obsessed with it!) However I've found I'm having to be much stricter on my diet than I was with Knox... There were a few nights last week were she was up for 3-4 hours just screaming in pain. And although it's frustrating when you're tired and just want sleep, it mostly just broke my heart because I knew she was truly hurting and only time could fix it :(

[I swear - she already looks so much different/older!]

So anyway - not even the least bit of spice for me and, besides an occassional morning cup of coffee, no caffeine. Thankfully she was MUCH better last night. We go back to the doctor for our 2 week Well Baby Wednesday so it will be interesting to see how how big she is now. (And just for my own memory because I've yet to order her baby book - her umbilical stump fell off last Wednesday; so she was 11 days old... She's now bikini ready! ;)

I mentioned previously that, like her brother, she she was born with fabulous head control and strength. (I think I may test her out in the Bumbo soon. With some extra support, of course.) So she's been enjoying about an hour of tummy time a day in her play gym. However, we're having to do it during Knox's nap time, because as you can see above, I think he's enjoying it MORE!

Court let out early for the holiday weekend on Friday, so James got home that afternoon and got to spend some time with us for the first time in a while. He also got the chance to cut our grass. Good thing we've had a dry spell otherwise it would have been 8 inches long by then!

We did have a little rain last week though, which brought a MUCH waited for gust of fall weather. Our days have been mid-70s to mid-90s ever since! We took advantage Friday night and got the babes out for a walk after dinner. (While we listened to the sound of the local high school game. The ginormous stadium is loacted just a mile a way. I LOVE FALL!) Knox just didn't understand why his Sissy couldn't ride in the wagon with him...

[And just because I was recently going through some of Knox's baby pictures...

...Some things never change! ;) ]

He still just LOVES his Hadley. Sometimes a little *too* much... I've had to closely monitor hugs because he'll squeeze the stew out of her, saying "Awwww... She's cute!" And in one day last week, he was "rocking" her cradle, got a little too enthusiastic and rocked it right on it's side! Thankfully she was double swaddled and landed in between the bumper and mattress. Of course this was the same day I walked in to the room and found him leaning on the seat of her portable swing, just enough to change the incline to the "upright" positions. I hollared "KNOX!" to which he replied "Shhhhh Momma, Hadley's sleeping..." Looks like we'll be using the safety straps from now on because she was doubled-over forward, and I'm still not sure how she didn't fall out! Oh me... Baby Girl's gonna be a tough little one whether she likes it or not!

[I caught a smile! And she's finally starting to fit in to a few of her 0-3 month things. Fun!]

My Dad and his 'crew' (my sister, step mother, and step brothers) drove in LATE Friday night to visit for the weekend. I'm SO glad they made it too! Saturday we all drove down to the new science/history museum which also happens to have a state-of-the-art childrens exhibit...

[Poppy and Knox. He's actually loving dinosaurs these days.]

Worked out well, because for the price of all 8 of us we were able to just get a membership for our family instead and have the rest as our guests! We will for sure be back soon because we were there for 2 hours and didn't even skim the surface on the exhibits...

[Knox and my sister.]

We caught the planetarium show and I actually think that was Knox's favorite. We had quite the time keeping him quiet though! I think he was throwing the poor girl narrating off her groove. He'd repeat the last word of everything she said and then follow it with Whoooaaaa, Cooool!!! Haha! Although I felt bad because I'm sure it was irritating to a lot of people, most people just thought it was hilarious and I couldn't help myself from laughing too. It just sounded so funny coming from that little 2-year-old voice :)

[Digging for bones.]

Afterwards we headed to our favorite hole-in-the-wall fajita and margarita place and then home to watch some college FOOTBALL! ...Gah what a day full of blow-outs though. Our "Texas team" - the Longhorns - stomped Rice, and then both James' and my alma mater - The University of Memphis - suffered a brutal loss to Mississippi State. (Which isn't suprising... Basketball is more our sport!) Even the SEC games... Blow-outs! But whatever - it's college football time and that's all that matters! We all watched Eclipse that night. LOVED it. (Yes, we have a copy. No it's no illegal...)

Sunday we had another fun day as we tackled the Aquarium. I'd never been and it was actually fantastic! Which, at $20 a head, it should be, right??? Knox got a huge kick out of seeing all the animals and FISHIES!

[Somebody is going to MISS his Poppy!]

We also toured downtown a little and then headed home to grill out burgers and play outside. Again - LOVING the weather!!!

They all left this morning, bringing an end to our nearly 3 week stretch of visitors. James and I joke that it's time to start back at the top of the list... Call up my Mom and be like Ok, your turn! When can we expect you??? Ha! No but really, it's probably a good thing that we're getting back to old (but also NEW) schedule. Before Knox gets TOO spoiled and I totally forget how to cook ;)

So it's just me and the babes today. James went downtown to work (yes, on Labor Day). He's got some prep work to finish up for his current case. Meanwhile I'll be spending the day getting us all ready for the first week of our "Fall Schedule" :) Cleaning, laundry, sewing, etc. I may even attempt a Target run with the two after nap time. We'll see how crazy I get ;)

[Oh get used to it, Miss Hadley. Your Mommy is GLUED to her camera!]

Tomorrow is Knox's first day of MDO (yes there will be PICTURES) and I'm looking forward to getting out and running errands with Hadley and having some time to finish up a few little projects that have been put on the back-burner. I'm sure I'll update again soon! Especially since our newborn portraits should be ready this week. Fingers crossed for some precious shots!!!

top 2 tuesday : fall...

2010-09-06T09:05:00.006-05:00

I love this topic! I love fall :)

{1} College Football!!!

It's a culture in the South. I love the whole atmosphere. The weather, the tailgating, the sound of an announcer from the press box. The rivalries... My teams???

My heart lies in the SEC and is loyal to the Volunteers! Yes, I am from Tennessee but no, I did not attend UTKnox. Although if I hadn't made the knee-jerk decision to graduate a year early and then fall in to a spot on the cheerleading squad and 2 full scholarships at the University of Memphis I'm sure I probably would have. (God apparently wanted me to be a Tiger!)

And our "adopted" team now that we live in Texas...

The "other" UT - the Texas Longhorns. There's not a whole lot of SEC love/coverage here in Texas, so when I moved here I started watching the Longhorns alongside James, and soon found myself rooting for them. (Plus I just so happen to love the color burnt orange.) I fell in love with Colt McCoy and have so much respect for his values and priorities. I had so much fun watching the championship last year, and am anxious to see how our new QB fairs this season. HOOK 'EM HORNS! I REALLY miss being right in the middle of the whole fall football scene through cheerleading. I'm clinging to the possibility that maybe one day I'll be able to experience it all again with Knox and Hadley. Although I vow never to be the pushy "stage-mom" parent - I'm already researching pee-wee football teams and local gyms that host toddler tumbling classes. Nothing wrong with a little 'early exposure' ;)

{2} Fall Scents...

I have to agree with Taylor on the pumpkin bread. Here's my go-to recipe...

{Printable Version}

I find myself baking it as soon as the weather cools just to get the house smelling like fall. Not to mention it's just DELICIOUS. Starbucks sees me A LOT this time of year... One tall non-fat hot chocolate and a slice of pumpkin bread, please! Although Knox just so happens to love it too and usually ends up getting the majority of my slice :-/

And I'll take it a step further and say I love ALL fall scents. I've been known to spend 15 minutes in Target or where ever just trying to pick out my jar candles and potpourri for the fall. Another favorite besides anything pumpkin... Apple Crisp!

just an update

2010-09-01T10:19:00.008-05:00

So Monday I took Hadley in for an unexpected, kinda last minute, doctor's appointment. Ever since she was born her right eye has been kinda swollen and irritated, and I'd began seeing a fair amount of clear, teary discharge from it, along with some 'goo'... My thoughts - a clogged tear duct that was beginning to get infected.

[She got a sticker for being SUCH a good girl. Can you believe those little pouty lips?!? Watch out Daddy/pocketbook ;)]

I felt so bad for her because half the time she didn't even bother opening that eye because it was so swollen. So anyway, we saw the PNP, she agreed with my 'Nurse Mommy' diagnosis and sent us off with a script for some ointment.

You know it's bad when the pharmacy tech rings you up and says "Ewww wow. Do you have insurance?" Why yes I do but she's a newborn so her paperwork hasn't gone through yet... I took that picture of the 1.5" tube and sent it to James saying "Our latest $90 purchase..." Haha! He really appreciated that ;) There's something to be said for it though, because after just one dose her eye is looking tons better.

I also had the PNP cauterize her umbilical site since it was oozing a little too much for my liking. Looks like it won't be hanging around for long anyway though... And as for Hadley's weight - a whopping 7lb 13.5oz! So in a week she went gone up 9oz from her hospital discharge weight, and surpassed her birth weight!

But what can I say, she's a MILK JUNKIE. I've actually been having to cut her off after 15 to 20 minutes because she'll keep going until she makes herself sick. (After which, she's hungry again!) And as for me - well just call me the Milk Maid...

[No this is not a plug for Jimmy Dean. Although I do love those sandwiches.]

I've been pumping in between every feed ever since my milk came in and in one week I've been able to store over 150 oz! James has dubbed me Michelle Duggar... (So I've forgotten - is breastmilk socially gross to discuss?? Being a NICU nurse, it's all table talk to me!) But the perks are twofold : We get a nice little reserve of milk, and I'm officially just 6lbs shy of my prepregnancy weight! (Thank you, Hadley.) Oh bring on fall, my Sevens are calling my name...

In the meantime I've also started my post pregnancy ab exercises. Looking forward to jumping in to some Zumba or Cardio Dance in a week or so when I have the official "clear" to do high impact activity. I truly LOVE being pregnant, but it's also so rewarding to get back in to normal activities/clothes afterwards...

[Knox introducing Hadley to the wonders of the Backyardigans. He loves her so very much! He calls her his 'friend'...]

Poor James has been pulling 16 hour days downtown ever since last week. He is so exhausted! Monday night he didn't get home until 2am :( But he did manage to sneak out at 5 yesterday, and meet us here just in time to take Knox to his Meet the Teachers night at school. I totally packed my camera and didn't get one picture :( We were only there for about 30 minutes though.

We are so happy that Knox has his same two teachers from last year. They are such sweet hearts and LOVE Knox. In fact, they are just 2 of the many teachers up there that adore him. All we heard all night was how missed he was, how much he'd grown, etc. The head administrator, Ms. Marla, made a huge fuss over him and went on and on about how she still had his little Valentine to her hanging in her office, and how she's been looking at it all summer, just missing him.

Needless to say, Mr. Popularity was handing out hugs and kisses at every corner... I feel so blessed to have him in a program where I know his caretakers are not only responsible and attentive, but genuinely LOVE him.

They all got a kick out of meeting Miss Hadley too. I'd been taking Knox up there for Music in Motion all summer (kind of like a Gymboree or KinderMusic program) so they've been watching the belly grow and been kept up to date on the whole pregnancy. In fact, the last week we were up there the Curriculum Coordinator told me that I better have her before the 1st so she could start MDO next year... My thoughts exactly! :)

[Sleeping Beauty slept SEVEN hours the other night. And that's with me having to WAKE her up to feed.]

In fact - Knox and Hadley may end up being just a year apart in school. Knox has a late May birthday so I'm sure we'll start him a year later, as they recommend for boys. Mainly for maturity reasons, but Daddy has ulterior motives... A one up in high school sports. (Rolling my eyes...) And then if I feel Hadley is ready, I'm sure I'll go ahead and start her the following year. Even though she'll have a VERY late birthday I think it'd be torture to be the oldest girl in a class full of immature kids. So I guess we'll just wait and see what she's ready for, but I kind of like the idea of them being so close and having the same group of friends. They can keep an eye on each other for me ;)

So anyway - James parents are still in town. They have Knox at the Zoo today. I think Hadley and I may get out soon and do a little (dare-I-say) BOW shopping. Along with groceries, but that's not as fun...

Still looking forward to my Dad's weekend visit, and then starting back our little Fall schedule next week. Knox has his first day of MDO Tuesday and I have a MOPS Steering Committee meeting that night, with our kick-off being the following Monday. (YEAH!) I'm also starting a new women's bible study this fall through Bible Study Fellowship, Intl. We'll be studying Isaiah on Wednesday mornings. (I need a little Jesus in my mid-week.) It's free and childcare is provided. Count me in!

Haha - I jump on any weekday activity that's in the first half of the day. Not only do I just enjoy getting out, but Knox loves any kind of social group and he ALWAYS takes a great nap afterwards. So between MOPS, MDO, and BSF... We hope to stay busy this fall!

hadley meets target

2010-08-30T11:05:00.001-05:00

So yesterday James' parents took Knox out to run some errands and left Hadley and I at home to "rest"... Well it didn't take long for the quiet to get to me and go stir crazy, so I decided it was time for Hadley's first real outing... A mommy-daughter shopping trip! (The first of MANY...)

So we got pretty - or at least she did...

...And we headed out to Target. It's the closest thing to us and since it was Sunday, none of the other stores would be opening until noon.

First of all - I forgot how nerve wracking it is driving with a newborn! I think I went 5 under the whole way.

Ok, so the hat's a little big, but I couldn't resist! She's such a little trooper ;)

Our little shopping trip was a great success! (Translation : She slept the entire time.) We mosied around for about an hour and a half, not really in the market for anything. Just enjoying being OUT!

And since it WAS our first shopping trip, I just had to treat her to some fun things...

Dress and sweater for the fall (Look closely, I wish the sweater came in my size!), onsies, a skirt, leggins, a tutu swim suit and white cover-up for next year (Clearance!), bows, and a new play gym. She is such a STRONG one, so I think she'll be able to get some good use out it now. The other day at her newborn pics we placed her on her belly and I swear she about pushed up and crawled across the floor! We were all like HOLD STILL, you're suppossed to be a newborn for crying out loud... So anyway, when I saw Fisher Price's new Luv U Zoo gym, I was so sold. It's SO cute!

I also found some play clothes and PJs for Knox and a few nursing-friendly shirts and cardigans for myself.

These are some shots I got afterwards...

SO pretty!

And this makes me laugh. Does she look like she's had enough of the hat, or what?!?

I haven't been able to get many pictures of Knox these past few days because his MiMi and PawPaw have been keeping him busy busy! He's too cool for Mommy... ;) In fact, they took him out again for errands today. Seems like it'd be a good break for me, but I actually kind of miss the little toot. I'm not used to all this quiet!

But my goal for today : Master the Moby!

I ordered the Moby wrap and I'm beginning to think they should send a little Moby instructor along with it. Although I really appreciate the fact that in the step-by-step picture tutorial, everyone is smiling and just making it look sooo simple. Ugh! I've made 2 or 3 attempts with it with no success. James and my Mom got a good laugh out of it though. But seriously, I have a month to perfect it because I'm counting on it being my saving grace when I fly to Memphis with the two (ALONE) in about a month. Not to mention I think it'd be great for when I have them both at the grocery store or where ever...

I think I may be tieing it too tight??? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

happy birthday, hadley! (cont.)

2010-08-29T13:55:00.001-05:00

Wow - has it really been a week since we brought Hadley home?! Seems like it has flown by, but at the same time it seems like SO much has happened since. Miss Hadley Carter has truly become a part of our family that I now can't imagine living without. I thank God that He knew just who to send us to complete our little family of four. She fits right in!

[Tried to capture a few "home-made" newborn shots the other day. Once I get to editing them I think I'll have a few frame-worthy ones.]

And despite all of my worries and concerns - Knox has done GREAT with this new transition!

[Welcoming her home last Sunday. He LOVES holding her!]

He loves 'his Hahd-leee'. He loves helping me take care of her, and when she's crying he says "Shhh, Hahd-leee, it's Ok." It is truly the sweetest thing as a mother to witness... My babies love each other!

And yes, I do believe Hadley loves him back. I swear she recognizes Knox's voice from when she was cooking inside, and she just listens to him so intently. And what's more - his rowdiness and NOISE have no effect on her whatsoever. She's already tough enough to handle him!

I caught him doing the cutest thing with her the other night... My brother has always played the 'playful punching' game with him ever since he was tiny. You know - Nick would grab his arm and have him "punch" him in the nose, and then put on a big show about how bad it hurt, etc... Well - Knox started this with Hadley! He grabs her arm and 'punches' himself, and then it's 'Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie! Owwww... Nose HURT, Hadley!' Followed by hysterical laughter. I couldn't believe he actually remembered this and was sweet enough to think it'd be entertaining for her too, but now it's his favorite game to play with her! Ohh he has such a sweet heart!!! This is one of those things I NEED to catch on video...

[Why is it that he seems to be loving HER toys (Ok - they're his old ones) better than the hundreds of dollars worth of things in his playroom??? Heck I should have never even bothered putting them in storage...]

So like I said - so far there has been NO negative reaction by Knox towards Hadley. If anything I'm just picking up on a little more attention-craving from him, which breaks my heart :( A few fits (ironically, LESS than normal), but mainly it's a whole lot of Carry-me's, throwing things down on purpose just to say I'm sorry, Mommy, and spontaneous hugs and I-love-you's. (Typically he is SUCH the one to play hard to get while I beg for a kiss!)

[Is it just me, or is she not just PERFECT?!?]

It's been fun to watch James make this 'transition' too because he's never been around baby girls. He was the youngest of 2, has 3 nephews, and then of course Knox. All through my pregnancy he'd roll his eyes everytime I'd obsess over a bow, dress, doll, etc. I'd tell him Just wait, you'll understand... I was right ;) He now thinks it's all just as cute as I do, and I think Hadley has already got him budgeting for her pony. (Excuse me - she actually prefers a horse...) And she can't even talk yet! Scary...

As I mentioned previously - my Mom came in town from Tennessee the night before I was induced. And WOW - that was such a blessing! First of all - if there's anytime a girl needs her mom, it's childbirth. Second-of-all, I have NO idea what we would have done with Knox if she hadn't made it. She completely took over his care while she was here (which he LOVED), and it was nice to not have to worry about him. She was also just a huge help to have around... She cleaned and cooked up a storm - dinner every night plus a stocked freezer! We'll be eating good for a while... She also brought the quilt she made to match Hadley's bedding. It looks AWESOME!

Her birthday was the 25th, so we celebrated the night before with dinner. Which, OK, SHE made, but I did manage to put together the sides, a cake, and run out with James to pick her up a fancy panini grill. Which - by the way - was my first time to leave Hadley. I had a minor panic attack, thinking 'Oh my gosh, we've never been this far apart...' but we both survived ;)

['Washing the hospital off' our first night home.]

[After-bath cuteness.]

Mom left the next morning and we both cried. I wish she could have stayed longer. When I had Knox, he and I were still living in Tennesse, 5 minutes away from my parents, so he was surrounded by family ALL the time. They were such a huge part of his first 9 months. I'm gonna miss that for Hadley :(

Hadley's first trip out was to the doctor's on Tuesday. She got perfect report all around. Bilirubin levels were insignificant and her weight was 7lbs 8oz. She was 7lbs 11oz at birth and 7lbs 4oz when we were discharged home, so I'm sure (if we haven't already) we will have met and passed birthwight by her 2 week appointment.

[I can't figure out if she's gonna be a pacie baby or not. Sometimes she'll go to town on it, but if she's the least bit hungry it only makes her mad. That, and I have TONS of cute girlie pacies, but this stinkin green one from the hospital is the only one she'll take. She doesn't even like the pink Soothies I have. So we'll see. Knox took his for about a month and then was over it. I'm thinking she may be the same way.]

Her quick 'weight-recovery' doesn't suprise me though because if one thing is sure, baby girl doesn't miss a meal! She's nursed like a champ from the very beginning, and I love nursing her in return. Such a special mommy-baby time! And gosh, let's just say we have NO problems in the production area here. On top of her feedings, I'm also storing 15-18oz per day. We've got quite the little milk bank going on in the freezer, and the way things are going, we may be needing a deep freeze very soon. Ha!

[This sweater blanket has been around the block. I picked it up for Knox when he was born and it quickly became a favorite. It's lighter, but still weighted enough to be cozy. Perfect for summer babies... I pulled it out for Hadley, and once again - a favorite! It even made an appearance in our newborn pics, just as it did with Knox. Lord help us if anything happens to that blankie... We have another one in green, but it's just not the same ;)]

She is also a VERY good sleeper! She's been going 5 (and now sometimes even 6!) hour stretches at night ever since we brought her home. (Mommy REALLY appreciates this, Hadley!) There have been a few nights she's woken up and fed after her first 5hr stretch, and then wanted to stay up and party for an hour. But I really can't complain because once I get her back down she's good for another long stretch. I just need to start trying to keep her up a little bit before that bedtime feeding.

[She got "the stretch" honest from her brother. She even reminds me a whole lot of him in this picture!]

As of now, her little schedule is feed around 10 or 11pm (and of course she's sleeping before then too), sleep til 4 or 5am, and then she's out again until 9 or 10! Love this girl :)

[Stretching again!]

Since my mom left and James had to head downtown for work, Thursday was my first day at home alone with both babies. It went off without a hitch! They were both so good. (Again, I'm blown away by the fact that Knox's behavior/schedule seems to be better NOW than it was a month ago.) I guess my next step will be venturing out with both of them. I'll probably wait another week on that though since technically I'm still not suppossed to do any heavy lifting (ahem - Knox).

Friday I had two of my MOPS girlfriends over for a playdate. They both have 2 year old boys, one has a baby girl 2 weeks ahead of Hadley, and the other is pregnant with her second. Makes for a great playdate! Plus it's just nice to have a little 'gossip' time during the day ;) And of course, the boys always play hard so Knox napped like a dream.

[Friday, on her 1 week birthday.]

James' parents drove in from Tennessee on Friday afternoon. They now have 5 grandchildren and Hadley is the first girl out of all of them, so they are eating up all the pink, frilly goodness. And Knox is just in grandparent HEAVEN! He's been having a ball with them. (Can we say, SPOILED???) And they took James to Sam's and completely stocked our pantry, fridge, and freezer. I swear I don't know what I'm gonna do when I actually have to start planning/coordinating meals again...

[Why is it that the smallest 'blank' bloomers you can buy (0-6mo) are still HUGE on newborns??? I'm loving her monogram though.]

James starts a trial this upcoming week, so he's been doing LOTS of prep for that, and will be busy-busy all the way through Friday. Knox has his "Meet the Teachers" night at MDO on Tuesday - which he's getting his same teachers from last year, so there won't be a whole lot of 'meeting' to it. But we are BOTH oh so ready for school to start back up. He loves his little social time :)

[Mom, I'm sooo OVER IT!]

And then next weekend my Dad, stepmom, sister, and step-brothers are all coming in for a long-weekend stay. We're looking forward to their visit and I'm so thankful most of our family will have been able to meet Hadley within her first two weeks! James had to head downtown again today for last-minute trial prep, so we're missing church today. But his parents took Knox out for some errands, so I decided to get Hadley OUT out for the first time. We had our first mommy-daughter shopping trip and it was a great success. I know Knox is THRILLED I have a new shopping buddy! I'll do a little post on it later :)

photo op fail

2010-08-28T21:03:00.000-05:00

So I DO plan on updating on how our first week home with Hadley has been, but in the meantime I thought I'd just share a few pics. If you'd even call them that...

See - today we had our newborn pictures taken and I told James that since we'd all be dressed up that I'd like to get some pictures with my babies beforehand. The only pictures I have with Hadley are a few right after birth, and I can't remember the last one I had with Knox. I'm always the one with the camera. It takes me actually asking James to take a picture for him to do it. He had the nerve to try to argue this with me - that HE has less pictures... RIIIIIGGGGHHHHTT!

So anyway, I thought you'd get a good laugh at what we ended up with...

[Seriously???]

Ha! Honestly - that's the best we got... I figured if I posted them anyway at least my children would have some sort of proof that I did in fact exist when they were little.

Crossing my fingers our photographer had better luck. Originally we weren't planning on doing newborn pics, but I broke down when Hadley was 5 days old at the thought of her already being a week old :( She's already 'growing up' too fast for my liking and I'm clinging like crazy to this whole 'newborn phase'... So I hit up a few photographers and found one that would work for us on such a short notice and not charge us an arm and a leg.

I really liked her, and although the babes were in rare form, she promises she was able to get some precious shots. I'm interested to see because Knox decided to have a two year old moment, and Hadley acted as if I hadn't JUST fed her 30 minutes before. I swear she's probably rooting in half her pictures... Ha! Oh well, if I end up with only a handful of good ones it will still be worth it to me. I've never for one second regretted having Knox's done. Those first couple of weeks are so precious and short-lived. I still obsess over them!

Anyway - like I said, our first week with the little missy has gone quite smoothly and I'll elaborate more on it soon. Of course we have TONS more pictures! (Of which, I'm sure none of them I will make an apperance in. Ha!)

happy birthday, hadley!

2010-08-25T12:19:00.002-05:00

I'll do my best to tell Hadley's birthday story with pictures as much as I can. Because that's all anyone really cares about anyway ;)

I went to my 'almost-39-week' appointment last Wednesday and upon informing Dr. D that I was "tired, swollen, sore, and ready to have a baby" - he said "Well how bout Friday???"

Ummmm... YES! Haha.

From there on there was A LOT of hyper-drive nesting going on... Making phone calls, setting up sitters, scrubbing, post-it notes and To-Do lists, and - yes - SEWING.

I finished Hadley's crib bumpers at MIDNIGHT before my induction. (After which I made a run to Kroger. Crazy...) I never in a million years thought I'd actually have these done in time, but I got my butt in gear and they're just perfect! Getting those on and cleaning her room good - it feels like she has a 'real nursery' now, even if there is a lot left to do. We also set aside some special Knox-time Wednesday and Thursday. We did a lot of one-on-one playing and took him out for a Big Brother dinner at Johnny Carino's where he got his favorite - PIZZA! We typically never do desserts but we let him pick one that night and he chose the Italian Chocolate Indulgence Cake and ice cream. It was HUGE! I think James and I probably had a quarter of it each, while Knox cleared off half on his own. He'd take a bite with his spoon and then see mine and open his mouth like a little birdie saying I'm waiting... Hilarious! James got some cute pictures on his phone, so I may try to add those later...
Got up early Friday morning, showered and got pretty (I delivered among MANY co-workers. It was the least I could do.) and arrived at the hospital at 6am to get the party started.

[39 weeks - Before we left for the hospital. Can we say BACK PAIN?!]

Not gonna lie - my first 3 hours there were pretty rough. I was INCREDIBLY anxious. (a) Because I was starving. NPO since midnight, and this is the girl whose blood sugar bottoms out if I don't eat every 3 hours. And (b) I'm a nurse. I'm incapable of being a patient.

I spent the entire time obsessing over the monitors and rearranging them on my belly. Needless to say - it didn't take long for the L&D girls to hide the monitor and get a hold of the anesthesiologist to get my epidural in just so they could keep me STILL! Bless them, but they were such good sports. We're all the same when it comes to having to be on THAT side of the bed...

[About 8 hours in to labor. This is my I'm tired, swollen (probably on my third bag of fluids here), and HUNGRY look. I think that was rainbow pop number 4. I told Dr. D we needed to get things rolling because I was NOT gonna be a happy girl if I missed my dinner tray. Ha!]

Along with the 85 other cords, tubes, etc. being attached to me - the epidural was definiteley the most nerve wracking experience out of the entire day. It was when I had Knox too. Not a fan of needles. Especially ones after my spine! BUT... After getting all of that taken care of and a few silent 'CALM ME' moments with God - I felt much more relaxed.

[Knox came to visit while we waited...]

A relatively non-complicated labor, other the fact that for the first 5-6 hours I was just hanging out at 4cm without progress. Basically the monitor was saying my contractions were out the roof, so they weren't upping my pitocin, but when they placed an internal monitor for a more accurate reading, they saw that they were actually just baby contractions so I wasn't progressing. (This same thing happened with Knox's induction.) So UP went the pitocin!!! And then there was about 2 hours that my epidural wasn't really working, but luckily it was taken care of in the knick of time.

Miss Hadley entered the world at 5:49pm on Friday August 20th. It took a grand THREE pushes, all within the same contraction, beating my 8 minute pushing record with Knox by nearly 5 minutes. (How the heck will I beat that the next go round???) So yeah, she was LOW and READY! I actually had a laughing attack in between pushes. Not sure why. Hormones??? I just remember being ridiculously happy to find out she had hair. And thinking I can't believe I'm having a baby right now and I don't feel a thing. To each his own, but those au naturale Birth Plan women are CRAZY... Yeah, seriously, that's what I was thinking and it was hilarious to me at the time! And on that same (but different) note - when Dr. D had asked me Wednesday if I had a 'Birthing Plan' I told him "Yeah, the plan is I get my pitocin and epidural and you do whatever it takes to get my baby out safely." He said "Ahhh a Cadillac Birth. I like it ;)"

Anyway - She came out crying and pink and my first thought when they placed her on my belly was This child is GORGEOUS! But is she mine?? Haha! I couldn't pick out anyone of our features in her, she had hair, and she was HEAVY.

7lbs 11oz and 19.5 inches. A far cry from the 6lb baby we were all expecting! I thought for sure since my belly felt smaller this time around she'd weigh less than Knox (7lb 6oz). And Dr. D had estimated 6.5lb and I think he was a little disappointed; he said - 'Well where was SHE hiding???

My "Labor Team" - Mom and James, my fabulous nurse, Monica (I'd actually never met her at work before, but we ended up spending half the time gossiping and such. She was awesome!), and of course Dr. D...

He's SUCH a goofball, but I wouldn't trust anyone else to bring my baby in to the world! I told him when I come back for my check-up this pic better be front and center on his board ;)

Right after her bath. We wasted NO time getting a bow on that girl. (Of course - me being the the thermoregulation-conscious NICU nurse - I stiched a ribbon loop on this hat instead of a bow band.) I have to laugh at how CHUNKY she looks here! But she was hanging out so low for so long I knew most of it was probably swelling, and sure enough within the 48 hours she looked completely different. (Except she still has cheeks to DIE FOR!) When we went home, her weight had dropped to 7lb 4 oz and I'm willing to bet 80% of that was just extra fluid she had lost.

[Our first mommy-daughter picture. I look rough. She's gorgeous ;) I'm sure that will be the story of my life from here on out!]

[Daddy and Hadley's first picture. He's so proud, and she's already got him WRAPPED!]

So what exactly does Miss Hadley look like? Because pictures just don't do it justice... Now that her swelling has gone down (I'll post more recent pictures in Part II) I can see a little more of a resemblence between her and Knox as newborns. Both had/have perfectly shaped round little heads and chubby cheeks. They have the same button nose and beautiful pouty lips as well. (SO kissable!) The eyes I think are where they differ. Her's are also big, but somehow just look different in shape...

[Her first outfit. It even looks way cuter than I thought it would!]

She's got THE most adorable little dimple in her left cheek. None of the rest of us have one, and we're all obsessed with trying to make her smile just so we can see it :) ...Obviously, she has HAIR! (Knox was BALD as can be his first 15 months.) And although it looks dark at first sight, with the way the light hits it at times, I think we may see it lighten up in the months to come. Her eyes - well, right now they are the standard dark blue/grey newborn color. Daddy has brown eyes, mine are blue/green, and Knox's are crystal blue, so I guess we'll see what they decide to do in time :)

I just know she's gorgeous... Call me a biased mommy, but I'm 2 for 2!

Although she weighed more than Knox at birth, and WAY more than what I was expecting - she is still a little more petite than he was. She's about and inch shorter and her head is smaller than his was. Not smaller in a bad way, she's perfectly proprtional, she just carries her brains in a more girlie package than her brother ;)

[Don't y'all just know I'm loving playing dress-up with my new babydoll?!?]

I think she may end up with my 'Indian-blood' complexion. She's literally had little-to-no jaundice and she's still holding a darker tone. The general concensus among my co-workers was that she looks like me, and I think our families are as flabbergasted as I am as to just who she takes after. I need to try to dig up mine and James' newborn pictures to figure it out...

My mom brought Knox up to visit a few hours after she was born and he was SOOOO cute and inquisitive! I was actually suprised at how much he actually understood. When we introduced Hadley, he was just like Oh yeah - Hadley. So she's here now! I wish we'd been able to get our "first family photo" in the hospital but Knox really only had 2 brief visits before we were sent home.

Anyway - neither of us got much sleep our first night. I had my post-delivery adrenaline rush, so I was pretty much wired all night. And Hadley - well she came out nursing like a champ. Problem was - she was nursing too well and was not to happy about having to wait for my milk to come in. She just couldn't get satisfied :(

She was little Miss Popular though among the nurses. (Are you suprised? She's ADORABLE!) When it came time for me to send her out and take advantage of some sleep time, there was nearly a knock-down-drag-out over where she would go - the nursery or the NICU to be 'babysat' by my co-workers. In the end she went to the NICU and from what I hear she was held and loved on the entire time.

[Hearing screen.]

Actually - we both got the Princess Treatment throughout our entire stay. I was kind of iffy about the idea of delivering ON the unit I worked on, but it ended up being a huge PLUS. We got the best nurses (although ALL the ones on our Women's Services are pretty awesome) and I think they were all happy to be assigned to us because they knew I knew the routine and was pretty low-maintenance. It made for LOTS of visitors throughout the night and day though!

[Snoozing with Daddy.]

Our second night was a MUCH more restful one. We all conked out after watching a little pre-season football (COME ON, FALL!), and at one point throughout the night it took my nurse 5 minutes to wake me up for vitals. I woke with my bed straight up, the lights on, and she and James mildly freaking out. Ha! Hadley slept like a log too. I found that she got my love for snoozing to Jeremy Camp so I let my JC Playlist run throughout the entire night. Worked like a charm and still is! I'm now in the market for an iHome for our bedroom :)

[Ready to ROLL!]

Our pediatrician and on-call OB cleared us for discharge Sunday morning and we headed home to join Knox and NaNa. Mom had a big lasagna lunch prepared and I soon found out she had been cooking up a storm. She made double batches of everything and then some. James thought he'd died and gone to heaven with the way we've been eating this past week. YUMM! Between her cooking and my overproduction of milk, I think we'll be hitting up Sears Outlet for a deep freeze very soon.

My recovery has been awesome this time around. Actually - I didn't think I had it bad with Knox. I just had a little more (ahem) "trauma" with his delivery so that complicated things a bit. But by the time we were discharged I swear things were almost back to 'normal' again, besides being a little bit sore and some cramping with nursing. Just the normal postpartum process has been SO much quicker this time around. My nurses were suprised when palpating my fundus (sorry, I don't know the non-nursing word for it) at how tight and low it already was. Again I heard - I can't believe there was just and 7lb 11oz baby in there! This was a VERY welcome suprise for me because I'd been fully prepared (although dreading) the whole after birth 'stuff'...

[LOVING his Red that sissy gave him.]

I haven't had to take any pain medication since the hospital and even my belly has gona WAY done since delivery. I still have a little pooch, but my skin has tightened up again, and until I'm cleared to do my exercises I'm thrilled with that! It always amazes that things could ever go back to normal after 9 months of pregnancy. I always think - Yeah there's no turning back from this, but the human body never ceases to amaze me!

[Counting her toes...]

So Hadley's birth = 100% POSITIVE experience. Surpasses anything I could have hoped for. She is as healthy as can be and like I said - I'm feeling GREAT!

So I think this is enough for one post. I'll put a Part II together on what we've been doing since we got home. Yes - with LOTS more pictures, and hopefully I'll be able to hook up the Flip soon because we've gotten a lot of great video since she arrived. A little bit of everything :)

As for today - my mom left this morning (we both cried) and James is going to be downtown for work all day so it's officially my first day home alone with both babes. Not really nervous. It just gets difficult at times because Knox doesn't understand why I can't lift him. Or why he can't sit on my lap while I'm nursing Hadley... Wish me luck!

slowly but surely...

2010-08-24T18:56:00.001-05:00

... [in between feedings, diapers, pumping, play time with Knox, catching up with friends and family...] am I working on Hadley's birthday post!

But in the meantime...

I couldn't resist!!!

Yes I've noticed a few more 'I-need-attention' fits here and there from Knox - (Easily fixed with some Mommy-love.) - but he has been SO sweet and loving to his baby sister! Melts my heart :) Plus side - he's been MUCH more lovey towards Mommy and Daddt lately. Kisses and I-luh-ooo's all the time! Whereas typically he plays hard-to-get.

He loves giving her head kisses and holding her. In fact whenever he sees me with her he holds out his arms and says 'Ok, MY TURN!'
And he loves taking care of her. I caught him trying to give her a cupcake the other day, and today I found about 15 toys in her crib... WHILE she was in there. Apparently he thought she wanted to play!

So yeah, we're keeping an extra close eye on him these days to make sure he doesn't love Hadley a little too much, but ohhh he's my sweet boy :)

hadley's here!

2010-08-21T21:38:00.001-05:00

...Fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

To put a long story short - I was induced yesterday, and Miss Hadley is here, healthy, and wrapping lots of big people around her tiny little fingers :) I am totally in love with her. More perfect than I could have ever hoped for. God is so (or TOO) good to me!

Hadley Carter
August 20, 2010 at 5:49pm
7lbs 11oz and 19.5in

We're set to go home in the morning so I hope to get the 'rest of the story' posted soon. Yes - along with more PICTURES!!!

still pregnant!

2010-08-15T01:43:00.001-05:00

Ha! I figured it's been a good while since I last updated, some of y'all might be beginning to think I'd delivered or something was wrong. Nope. Just averaging a week+ for blog posts these days... [Once the little lady finally decides to come out I'll share on Twitter!]

I'm still VERY much pregnant, but I've got a lot to catch up on all around so I'll save all "baby" updates for last. In the mean time, the rest of this is gonna be a bit random (and kinda loooong) but I want to start off with a good "Knox Update" since he's such a funny little thing right now...

See what I mean? I went upstairs to check on him in the playroom a few weeks ago and upon peering over the banister I called his name and when he turned around he had on Mr. Potato Head's classes and one of Hadley's pacies he had somehow gotten a hold and just looked at me like this was the most normal thing and he'd been sporting them for hours. Of course, we had a little talk about how Pacies are for babies and we're never suppossed to put Sissy's pacies in our mouth... Right after I had a good laugh and marched him downstairs for a picture, that is!

Some of his favorite sayings lately...
- Okaaaaaay!
- Your welcome. (Even after he says Please!)
- Oh - sorry! He says this mainly after he trips or bumps in to something. He needs to stop before he goes to school and they think we punish him every time he falls!
- Sssshhhh! Mommy's seepin... He gets on to Daddy for being too loud when I'm trying to nap for work. As he's poking me in the face repeatedly.
- I got you!!! or I see you!!!
- Es boken. (It's broken.) To which 99% of the time I answer with, No baby, it's not broken. And then he looks back at me in sheer disappointment. Seriously???- I did it! With his arms thrown in the air!
And he's figured that if he pushes hard enough on the baby gate installed outside his bedroom door it will pop right open. We found this out a few nights ago when he freaked us both out at 3am by busting into our room announcing he was hungry and wanted to Eat! Kid did not even make a sound over the monitor so there's no telling how long he'd been up or what type of mischief he'd gotten in to on the way downstairs from his room to ours.

He's been doing that alot lately though. Waking up in the middle of the night or nap time, playing quietly and going right back down. Or playing before he goes to sleep. Heck I have no problem with it as long as he's quiet. It just usually makes for some good laughs when he gets up or when we go check on him...

This is how I found him during nap time the other day. That HUGE dog has sat in the corner of his room ever since before he was born and he's never given it much attention until now. He loves dragging it in to bed with him and I swear I wish I had a video monitor set up just so I could see him trying to lug a stuffed animal 4 times the size of him! Ha! He's so ridiculous...

Apparently he fell asleep in the middle of a conversation with Woody. Narcolepsy, anyone???

I've also found toys neatly lined up on his nightstand/armoire, his lamp on, his closet "reorganized", and him asleep in his bed in the middle of every stuffed animal he owns... Funny, crazy little boy. I love him :)

We also recently switched him to soy milk. For a while at least. About 2 months ago he started waking up 2-3 times a night with inconsoleable stomach pains. It was wearing us all out, so I decided to cut his daily 24oz of 2% milk down to 18oz. Well he started eating a whole lot better, but was still waking up hurting 1-2 times a night. And all the lack of sleep was throwing off his daytime naps and making him downright cranky. So I decided to try him out on soy, and 2 weeks later he's sleeping MUCH better, and almost back to his normal napping schedule. PRAISE THE LORD!

Eventually I will try to wean him back on to cow's milk but I feel for right now his little tummy just needs the break. Especially with all the transition that will be going on in our house over the next month or so. No rush!

Speaking of - I've been trying my best to soak up every last second of Knox being my only baby. As much as I love and am anxious/beyond ready to meet Hadley, it's also bittersweet that this little 'chapter' of our family of three is coming to an end. We've been doing lots of special playtime, everytime we're at the grocery store he cons me in to Cakes! and Cookies!, and over the summer we've been spending the Tuesdays that I don't work up at First Baptist for their little Music in Motion program. Basically just an hour long Mommy-&-Me time full of singing and dancing to silly songs. Knox LOVES it, especially since many of our friends are usually there as well. I love watching him and it's a sure fire way to gurantee a good nap. We both win :)

However I think we are both SOOO ready for MDO to start back again. (September 7th!) He misses the social interaction and I miss - yes the Mommy time - but mainly the SCHEDULE! He's still only going to go 2 days a week, but it's amazing the structure those 10 hours provide us. Not to mention it will be perfect timing for Hadley being so new.

I've been SOOO very behind on getting him ready though. I had to throw his old nap mat away after last year because it had seen better days, so I knew I'd be needing to make him a new one but I've been putting it off all summer with all the baby and "other" projects that have been on my plate (more on that later)... I had no idea what I wanted to do for it this year, so I spent the other day at Joanne's just strolling around until inspiration came to me...

Gator fleece it is! And I had some cute navy and white polka cotton on hand to accent it...

I knew this was one of those HAS TO BE DONE projects so I buckled down and got it all put together yesterday. My design is a little different from last year's though - due to the fact I now know more of what I want and this was NOT my first ever sewing project (at least in years) so the quality is much better than the first.

It's still removeble and I still use the KinderMat as an insert, but this one rolls instead of folds. The teachers seem to be very partial to that, considering Knox's came home every day rolled and since the strap wasn't made to velcro that way it always ended up just getting tied. So intead of fighting it anymore, I'm just rolling with it... (SORRY! I couldn't resist ;) I also made the velcro tabs fasten straight to the mat (no 2ft long straps) and added a shoulder strap for carrying.

Forewent the attached blanket this time because it made the "folding up" process a little more complicated. Ok - really it's not that hard to figure out but it always came home just kind of bunched in there and I can't blame the teachers for not wanting to deal with it. I mean that's probably the last thing they're worried about when they're trying to juggle rolling 12 mats while keeping an eye on 12 two year olds! (Bless them.) Knox isn't a huge 'blankie' kid anyway, so if anything I may just throw a lightweight one in to his backpack, or make one out of the extra fleece.

I ordered him a "big boy" backpack and lunchbox from L.L. Bean (meaning the Jr. size, of course) in light blue, so once that gets here he will be set! Besides the fact that I still need to embroider his name on the napmat. Details, details... ;)

Have I mentioned our 2 year old has quite the little green thumb???

He brought home those flowers from VBS one day when they were just a little sprout in a solo cup. I stuck them in one of these window boxes on our counter without giving it a second thought and they just exploded! I quickly had to transfer them to a pot, and we have new blooms popping up everyday. Knox is so proud. (Even though truthfully it's Daddy and I doing the grunt work!) And then in Lowe's last week he picked up a packet of seeds for Giant Pumpkins. He was enthralled with the 800lb pumpkin in the picture, so how could I resist? Again, we planted 3 seeds in solo cups and were suprised to find one sprouting 2 days later. And at not even a week later I've had to transfer it to a bigger pot as well (the one on the left). The other 2 are about to sprout any day now... No clue on how to raise pumpkins or how far we'll get with them, but it will be fun to watch anyway.
Other little projects I've managed to knock off the never-ending list...

Made a minky sheet for the pack-n-play. I like to keep it set up in the living room. In fact, it stayed out with Knox until he was over 18 months old just because it was a good place for me to put him to play when I needed to get something done or shower. (That was pre-playroom days!) After spending 2.5 hours cleaning and scrubbing the thing to look brand new again, I wanted to make SURE to have a sheet for it this time around!

I also FINALLY finshed the cradle bedding. (I've posted pics before.) It's been SO very close to being complete for a while now. Just a combination of Joann's getting in the last 1/2 yard of ball fringe I needed and me actually sitting down to finish it out.

On the nursery... Still trucking along. Last week I went to Home Goods (LOVE) because I knew they had a piggy bank I was wanting for Hadley. And what do you know...

I came out with something to set it on! Haha - that place will be the death of me ;) The piece was actually originally black, but I fell in love with the girlie scrolls so I scooped it up for a deal and had James spray it to match her furniture. It's just PERFECT for this spot in her room and I can't wait to get more put together in there so I can start "placing" pretties on it :)

Now for the baby business...

I had my 37+ week appointment last Monday, at which I was dilated to a 3 (up from 2.5 at 36 weeks) and 50% effaced. However my doc sent me off saying I'd probably still be pregnant in a week and it looks like he's right. (Dangit!) I have my 38+ week check-up tomorrow and fingers-crossed that we'll have a little more progress. My guess is I'll probably end up scheduling an induction for closer to my due date, but still hope for her to come a little earlier. After all, Dr. D has also stated that he didn't think I'd be pregnant on my due date, so maybe he's on to something???

But until the big day gets here, I'll continue to try to tie up all the loose ends. I swear it seems as if I've been going 90-to-nothing these past nine months! In fact I wrote an entire post - mainly just for personal venting - about how exhausted and anxious I've been lately, but I'll spare y'all. In a nutshell... I'm worn out with feeling obligated to make everyone else's agenda my top priority while sacrificing mine/my family's agenda. And I know it's all totally my fault. I just can't say NO. I think I can do it all and please everyone, and normally I love to and I bust my butt and can get it done, but these past few months have just been crazy. Traveling, work, parties, projects, work... It never stops! And I've just gotten to the point where I resent all the time I've obigated myself to spend on all these 'extras' when there's still so much needing to be done for my own family.

So anyways - I've had to 'step-back' from a lot of commitments lately and that has made me feel like such a self-centered, selfish person. I hate it. But when I really think about it, is it so wrong to want to put your family first? Or to just not want any more stress to add to that of being 9 months pregnant??? I know I will continue to stress and beat myself up over Hadley's unfinished nursery until the day she gets here and that's why a huge part of me just wishes she'd come tomorrow and all of those details would be irrelevant.

Bottom line - I'm ready for my baby to be here. I'm ready for 10 beautiful weeks of not having to spend 3 days of catching up on sleep just to recover from one night shift. And I have GOT to learn how to tactfully say NO. Queen of biting-off-more-than-I-can-chew, right here.

So for the two of you who actually made it this far in to this never-ending post - Sorry to sound so negative. I'm just too tired and TOO pregnant! On the bright side - it feels good to be caught up in the blogging world and to have all of Knox's latest little happenings documented for my Mommy purposes. Good night :)

closer than we thought???

2010-08-03T16:45:00.009-05:00

So sorry to be such a blog slacker (seems to be a re-occurring theme lately) but I really haven't had much down time since we got back from our Tennessee trip. Got home last Monday, I worked Tuesday and Wednesday nights (2 absolutely AWFUL shifts), and I didn't really even get to caught back up on sleep until Saturday. Just in time for me to work last night. Ha! But I did have my 36 week appointment last Friday and in spite of the insomnia, back pain, and swelling - things are looking promising :)

[A favorite shot from our maternity shoot with Cassie. Was 35+ weeks here.]

The first thing I said when Dr. D walked in and asked how I was feeling was that I was certain she had dropped very LOW over the past week. (Hence the every 30 minute bathroom trips and the "screwdriver" sensation of her head turning and pushing down...) He didn't intend to do an internal - just to palpate to make sure her head was down. But when he couldn't even feel her head he thought twice. Either (a) she was breech, or (b) she really was just THAT low. Well - I was right! Her head was totally engaged and at 36 weeks I was already dilated to a 2.5!

VERY exciting news for me since I did ZERO dilating with Knox and was induced at 40 weeks from a 0. (Not fun.) So yeah - even if I don't go in to labor within the next 2 weeks or so, I'll atleast have a good start! Although I'm really hoping I can do it on my own. Just for the experience :)

So that news put me in to nesting hyper-drive and all my time not sleeping has been spent getting things done...

- Swings, carseats, etc. are washed/sanitized and installed. And my car has been detailed. (Huge accomplishment for me.)

- Bottles, pacies, and pump supplies have been run through the sterilizer and organized in to a "Hadley" shelf. Originally, both of these were "Knox" shelves, so I had to sort through and store the majority of his 63 sippy cups. Shhhh - don't tell him ;)

- Sorted through Knox's old clothes and toys and pulled out the generic things we could use. All have been washed and organized.

- Got our bags from TN unpacked and packed up our hospital ones. They're [for the most part] ready to go. The way I see it, as long as we have the important things - the cord blood kit, the camera, and BOWS - we'd be OK if I went in to labor tonight. After all, we live all of 4 minutes away... I also made sure to include my cutest PJs. Because I WILL be delivering among co-workers! *The present is for Knox. "From" Hadley... My attempt to get these 2 started out on good terms. I want nothing more than for my babes to be best friends... For Knox to be the protective big brother... For Hadley to just idolize him... For them to know and crave a relationship with Jesus Christ... And to both feel equally loved and spoiled by their parents... Ok yeah - I think that's it ;) Now is that too much to ask???

- Last night at work I got a head start on my Thank You notes. Our friends and family have already been SO generous, if I don't start now I'll never catch up! Luckily I actually enjoy doing this. There's nothing like a sweet hand-written note on cute stationary ;)

- And while taking inventory of what we have/need - I relized we were completely lacking in one area... BURP CLOTHES. We had 2. Well, I took care of that little problem...

I dug out some of my favorite fabric scraps and pieced them on to chenille (which I'm up to my ears in ever since I bought some for a project, thought I'd lost it, and bought more), and a few clothe diapers I'd used with Knox that still looked descent. The result - 9 (and counting) adorable personalized burp clothes at no cost :) I'm kind of partial to the tri-fold chenille ones though because they are floppier and skinnier. Perfect 'diaper bag size'.

- I am O-B-S-S-E-S-S-E-D with storage baskets for organization. They're all over my house. Thanks to Michael's and Home Good's - my 2 go-to stores for cheap baskets - I was able to pick up several for the nursery (toys, shoes, bows, blankets, hats, etc.) and this large flatter one...

...To serve as my little "Burps & Booty" station bedside our bed. So between this and the cradle, I'll have everything I need within an arm's reach. I even picked up a little mini-lamp at Kirkland's so I won't completely blind James. Unless he's in the dog house, of course. Then I'll use the big lamp and insist on him waking up to burp ;)

I've got one more smaller sewing project to tackle and then I'll go back to work on the bedding. I've come to grips with the fact that the room is not going to be ready by the time we bring Hadley home, and I'm suprisingly OK with that. I just have big plans on finishing it while she hangs out in the porta-swing with me in the craft room ;) Although I do feel a little bit guilty when I log on to Facebook and see that all of my friends who are half as pregnant as I am already have finished nurseries and the whole nine yards. Then I remember... We just moved. And I HAVE A 2 YEAR OLD! Yeah - it's definitely a different story the second time around. Knox may have had brand new equipment and a finished nursery, but I didn't have the time or means to do nearly as much handmade/personalized things as I have with Hadley...

Anyway - other than all that, Knox had his first dentist appointment this morning (he was very TWO), I have a sinus infection, I work again Thursday night, and have my 37 week appointment on Friday, for which I'm sure I'll have another update :)

quick recap

2010-07-26T20:21:00.002-05:00

Ok - I'm posting now because I don't know when I will be able to again! We got home from Tennessee today around 1:30. Pretty sure that's record time for us. I think Daddy was anxious to get back within a "safe" distance from our birthing hospital ;) And wouldn't you know a big ole Braxton Hicks woke me from my nap as we were pulling on to our street!

But all-in-all - we had a busy but fun trip back to Tennessee. Got in Wednesday and spent the next few days preparing for James and Kristine's couples shower. Saturday was BUSY. We headed up to a local park to meet my 'second-cousin-in-law-by-marriage' (or something like that...) Cassie. She's a budding - and very talented, might I add - photographer and had agreed to get a few maternity shots for us. SO glad we made time for that because they turned out so well! Even considering the fact that I was HOT, swollen, and tired (ZERO sleep the night before). But I'll have to do a whole other post on them when I get a chance to get them on my computer :)

And the shower was later that evening. It turned out just perfectly! I co-hosted with my friend Natalie so we were able to have it at her parents' house, and between the 2 of us and some help from our moms/sisters we were able to cover all the bases pretty easily...

BIG thanks to Natalie S. for the cute banner to match the invites! She never disappoints :)

The Spread. Chicken salad on croissants, teriyaki chicken-on-a-stick (a favorite with the boys), pasta salad, hot onion dip, a cheese ball, pub mix, fruit salad, mini quiche, sandwhich pinwheels, spinach-stuffed pastry puffs, carrot cake... Just to name a few! Don't you love shower food???

From what I've heard, Muddy's cupcakes are all the rage in Memphis right now. Now I know why! ;)

Rummaged through some of our wedding and house decorations to come up with a centerpiece.

I wish I would have gotten a better pic of this arrangement. I've never done one before but this one turned out pretty darn cute! (Especially for $8 roses from Kroger.)

The beverage table.

And the Coleman's-to-be! So excited to celebrate their big day in October. They are our best "couples" friends ;) [I'd like to add that with everything going on, Knox chose Saturday morning to get a hold of my phone and somehow delete ALL of my contacts from my phone. Including my SIM card. At a loss for how he did it, but it left me playing the guessing game all weekend over who was calling/texting. And forget about making any calls myself... Hoping James can use his computer forensics skills to recover them. (He's pulled through once before when I accidently cleared my camera card.)]

We also got some good time in with all of our families - James', my mom's side, and my dad's. We're always worn out by the time we "make the rounds" but we wouldn't have it any other way ;) Pregnancy-wise - I've officially hit my breaking point. I love being pregnant. But only for 8 months. Miss Hadley had a major growth spurt as we were driving Wednesday and now I'm at the point where I just want her out! Mainly - of course - because I'm beyond ready to meet her and love on her, but also because SHE'S TAKING OVER MY BODY! Haha! My whole body is swollen and aches constantly. Do I really have 4 more weeks left in me??? I'll go back to the doctor Friday and we'll see if I've progressed at all. I did NOTHING with Knox and was induced at 40 weeks from a zero. Praying I can do a little on my own this time around... Now I'm in for a busy rest of the week. I really need to tackle all of our unpacking but am just SO not in the mood. Then I'm suppossed to work tomorrow and Wednesday nights. (Two in a row. Yuck.) I probably won't recover from that until this weekend, and I've still got a mile long list of To-Do's before it's baby time. Poor Hadley probably won't have a finished room to come home to, but I'll try my best! ***And speaking of baby time - Does anyone have any suggestions on a good infant carrier??? I have a Bjorn, and I HATED the sling one I used for a half a second with Knox, so I'd really like to find a good wrap carrier...***

Oh yeah - I knocked off, not one, but TWO of my 101 this weekend... #19 and #67 =)

exhaustion

2010-07-22T00:39:00.000-05:00

So I know I need to give a better up-date, but we drove in to Tennessee today and we're all just kind of worn out. Have been for a while now. In fact - I totally 'called-in' to work last night just because I was physically and mentally exhausted. I was in NO shape to be responsible for sick babes.

However - tired as I was, I still could't sleep. Thanks to my random pregnancy symptoms - RLS and itchy palms and feet. So I took advantage of my insomnia and got some last minute "nesting" done before we headed out of town for 5 days...

Newborn-sized onsies for the hospital bag! Because - yes - my babies are absolutely too good for those stinkin' t-shirts ;)

...And a "fancier" set of monogrammed bloomers for her nicer dresses.

Other things taken care of this past week...

Hadley's furniture came in! (Yes, I am ordering a new changing pad cover.) It's the dresser, night stand, and glider, and they all just go perfectly with the crib. And yep - my sassy new diaper bag made it in too. I'm obsessed.

And MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT : I got all her clothes washed, organized, and put away. (In lined drawers, no doubt.) Here's all her sweet jammies... And these are only Newborn-3 months size!

NO - The crib bedding is not finished but here's a rough peek of what it's gonna look like. One of these days... But seriously, once we get back home I'm hitting it hard and heavy to get them done. (I'm 35 weeks!!!) I've just been so busy planning this couple's shower for our friends here in TN that I haven't been able to get as far as I'd like on it. (Although I have made significant progress...)

And on the shower... I'm so excited! All the details are falling together nicely. I'm making a Sam's and Kroger run tomorrow to pick up a few neccessities and I hope to get the majority of everything put together today (Thursday) and Friday. Mainly because we're having maternity pics taken Saturday morning! Excited - and I'm sure I'll have more to post on that, but in the meantime I need to figure out what everyone is wearing...

34 weeks!

2010-07-15T11:28:00.001-05:00

{Took this the other day before work.}

Miss Hadley and I had our 34 week check-up this morning and we're still doing fabulously. My next visit is in 2 weeks, and then I'll start my weekly check-ups! Can NOT believe it...

I had them do a sonogram on me today since we'll be heading back to Memphis for 5 or 6 days next week. I wanted to make sure she wasn't about to fall out of me! Looks like she's staying put for a little while at least so we're good to go :) I did loose a little weight though, so they went ahead and checked her size too...

Well looks like Miss Hadley's hogging ALL the calories because she's actually measuring a week ahead, estimated at 5lbs 6oz! My fluid levels and her BPP were good too - excellent movement! (Of course I could've told you that.) I'd share a sono pic, but she's so squished in there now we weren't really able to get a great one. We do know that she's head down, face up, and got her momma's pouting lip! (Get ready for that one, Daddy...)

Symptom-wise : My heartburn/reflux has eased up a bit these last few weeks. And the Restless Leg Syndrome has kicked in. Am I the only one that gets this during pregnancy??? So wierd and SOO annoying. I can't sleep because my legs feel like I need to stretch them and I'm not able to "stretch them enough"... (That's the only way I can explain it.) No cramps or sciatic nerve pain. Just that stinkin RLS.

Are we ready??? Well as much as I'd love to go in to labor naturally and a little early... I'm hoping she'll give me at least 3 more weeks. We're going to be out of town next week and I need at least that much time to finish getting her room ready and the baby equipment cleaned and organized! Some of the girls from church were sweet enough to throw me a shower on Monday (SO thankful for them! They make living away from family a little easier...) and we got stocked up on all the cute girlie stuff. Now I'm just waiting on Penny's to call and tell me her dresser and nightstand are ready for pick-up so we can put her clothes away. And James' parents ordered us the glider for her room, so we're anxious to get that up there too.

I also started my latest project last night... Crib bedding!

So I totally was NOT planning on, wanting to, or had the confidence to take on something like this, but I kind of just "fell" in to it. The style I've had my heart set on is from a custom boutique and was gonna be $$$$$. And not only that - I just never could settle on any of the fabric choices they offered... Then I ran in to this fabric and it was EXACTLY what I was wanting for that chocolate brown nursery, so now here I am... In WAY over my head. Ha! I'm hoping between my mom, Google, and the sweet [ever-so-patient] fabric ladies at Joann's I can some how produce something that doesn't look too homemade, and maybe even a set I can be proud of. I'm giving myself 3 weeks and I officially started last night. I'll keep y'all up-to-date on my progress!

Other baby things knocked off our "List"...

I found the monitor I registered for - the Graco Digital iMonitor - on clearance the other day ($33 off) at Target so I went ahead and scooped it up. I had to test it out when I got home just because I didn't know any better and had gone with a cheap-o Fisher Price for Knox and that thing has been a thorn in my side ever since. (The static... Picking up stranger's babies and phone conversations... Going crazy if it senses anything electronic within 5 feet. It's awful!) Well the Graco is a dream in comparison, and has a rechargeable battery and a second handheld. Two very important aspects in my book...

Target also had the Graco white noise maker on clearance for $20 off. Well I CANNOT sleep without white noise (2 fans) and have passed along this handicap to both James and Knox, so I'm sure Hadley will pick up on it as well. This particular machine is nice though because it will run off an outlet or batteries, will play an mp3 player/iPod, has an optional timer, and has like 15 built-in sounds ranging from whales, womb sounds, rainforest, ocean, classical music, and just plain white noise. (Would it be ridiculous to get one for myself???)

And the last major item taken care of...

My diaper bag!!! (By OiOi and Amazon.com promises it's on its way.) How cute is that giraffe print??? For Hadley and Mommy! Diaper bags are one thing I do NOT skimp on. Mainly because they tend to double as my purse and end up toting around all 3 (now 4) of our lives. I love the ones that don't totally scream BABY ON BOARD yet are still big enough for all the neccessities and then some... Now I'm just hoping I'll have the will power to go ahead and pack this for the hospital and NOT to start using it now ;) Today we're heading to the outlet mall and out to eat at our favorite fajita place since James' sister and brother-in-law are in town. (I love company! A great excuse to shop and eat.) And we've got a few things planned for tomorrow as well. I probably try to do a good general update tomorrow :)

cradle bedding

2010-07-12T13:13:00.000-05:00

It's done!

Well - almost...

I still have one last leg of it that needs ball fringe. It seems like everytime I go to get some, Joann's only has half a yard. Ugh. Don't they know people like me are obsessed with it?!? Not only that - but Knox has run off and done something with my last 2 ties for the end. There's no telling...

But I went ahead and put a zipper in it too, so it's washable :)

While I was at it - I also monogrammed a sweet pair of bloomers...

Bloomers and bows... God knew I needed a girl ;)

what day is it again???

2010-07-10T22:43:00.006-05:00

This is what goes on when Mommy has worked THREE nights in less than one week...

Daddy lets Knox play in sand... In the rain... In the same PJ shirt he has been wearing for 48 hours! ...No pants.

I cave in and let him have "cakes" for dinner....

He's been obsessed ever since his birthday and wakes up asking for it. Special thanks to Kroger for selling single cupcakes for 69 cents. I even sang "Happy-Non-Birthday-to-you..." to him. (Sleep deprived, much???)

And Knox plays a little TOO hard. (The playroom is proof to that. Yikes!)

But seriously - three nights from Friday to Thursday. I'm suprised I survived. Now when's payday again??? ;)

And on a totally non-related topic - because as 'challenging' as this 2-year-old stage is, it's also a hoot - here are some of my favorite Knox-isms these days...

- Yook! (Look!) It's a _________! (As in - Yook! Issa Mommy! - when I get home from errands.)

- Shoes ON! (He's obsessed with his boat shoes and is ADAMENT on sleeping in them.)

- He's so polite. The Backyardigans are his faves and when ever they come on he says HI! to each one (HI Pabos! HI Aussen! HI Uneeka! ...) and then BYE! See ya later! to each when it ends.

- HUH?!? ...Our playroom is open at the top of our stairs and a lot of times I'll call up there to check on him and it ends up sounding like this : Knox?... HUH?!? ... [Mommy stiffles laughter.] ... Watcha doin? ... Mumble-mumble-mumble PABOS! (Or Cars, choo-choos, etc.)

- Dinney, dinney! Somehow 'dinner' turned in to 'dinney'...

- TOP IT! (Stop it!)

- Wake up, Mommy!- He loves to help me around the house and looks for any chance to sing the "Clean Up" song. Except his version of "cleaning up" entails taking EVERYTHING in the play room and putting it in to ONE of his storage bins. (Yes - including the things that are already neatly organized in other bins.) And when he's finished - he pulls me by the hand to show me and proudly exclaims ALL KEEEEN!
- Oh nooooooo! Buggie!!! ...As he shows me the latest creepy crawler he's found and squished from playing with it just a *little* too hard. Ugh! We were also able to get a few things accomplished this past week... - We made major headway on finishing out the nursery...

The rest of Hadley's furniture is ordered and ON IT'S WAY!!! The majority of her cradle bedding is put together. Just waiting for Joanne's to get some more pom-pom fringe in so I can finish it out. And the crib bedding has been "taken-care-of"... More on that to come. - James hung light fixtures in the nursery and Jack-n-Jill bath. - We picked up a few wicker rockers and cushions for our balcony at Garden Ridge. Looking forward to spending morning quiet time and lazy evenings out there! - I was able to get invites put together and send out for a shower we're throwing for some dear friends. Along with a few details taken care of. - I found a living room set that I think will be just perfect! Ha - picking it out is always the easy part, right? ;) - I also made it to my bi-yearly dentist appointment. Granted - a little late due to the insurance switch - but still in the no-cavities club :) And this week - I'm looking forward to a baby shower given by my sweet church friends. Work Tuesday night. Get a glimpse at Miss Hadley on Thursday at my 34wk check-up. (Wasn't I JUST at the doctor?!?) And we'll get to visit/shop/eat with James' sister and brother-in-law who will be in town.

show us your life : bible verses

2010-07-09T01:52:00.000-05:00

I'm recycling this post from an older one...

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
This one is pretty self-explanatory, and has been a favorite of mine ever since I can remember. I used to write it on the inside band of my Soffe shorts before cheer tryouts and it became kind of a mantra for me before big tests in nursing school. It's just a great little reminder, that through Him and in His name, I can move mountains :)

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
This is my "it can't get any worse than this" verse. When I think I'm just absolutely maxed out and can't handle anymore - and I've been there far too many times for my liking - these words remind me who I can turn to for strength and renewal.

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him.
1 Samuel 1:27 (KJV)
I adopted this verse as a mother. The words come from Hannah when she's dedicating her long-awaited child. She goes on to say 'So now I give him to Lord...'

And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this.
Esther 4:14 (NIV)
I didn't 'get' this verse until I started Beth Moore's Esther study... This is what Mordecai tells Queen Esther (both Jews) when she hesitating about confronting King Xerxes about his plan to slaughter the Jews. It basically means that 'God has blessed you with this position of power for a reason, and maybe this is it...'

'For I know the plans I have for you' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Again, this one is pretty obvious, but we talked about it in church last Sunday, so it's fresh in my mind... It's just conveys such a message of hope. Especially when I think I'm in control (Ha!) and things don't turn out quite according to my plans... I know the plans I have for you, He says.

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
This one reminds me that I am a daughter of God. And just like I want to be 'gracious' (spoil) Knox, as his mother I know what's best for him, and sometimes that is to wait on that special something. God wants us to be happy and painfree, but He's our father and His timing is always perfect. So sometimes we must wait..

Raise them up in the ways of the Lord and when they are old they will not depart.Proverbs 22:6
Another good "Mommy" verse! I'm actually having my sister make this in to a canvas to hang on the wall in between my two babies' rooms :)

I could honestly just go on and on, but I won't... I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with!

the 4th

2010-07-06T10:02:00.002-05:00

Sooo - since my last post...

Well I think I mentioned I was suppossed to work Thur, Fri, and Sun nights this past weekend, right? Well the magic low-census fairy (in our little unit "low" means NO babies!) came down and sprinkled her cancellation dust on me Thursday so I got the night off! Too bad I'd napped all day though, because I was up for the better part of the night. Ugh!

Although I did use the time to tackle some little projects I'd been wanting to get done. First - cradle bedding.

I had a lady off eBay make this for me when I was pregnant with Knox, and although it's awfully cute, I'd been contemplating something a little more foofy for this time around. Well - the deal was sealed when I ran in to the PERFECT fabric last week. The new sheet is made and I've been fiddling with recovering the bumpers off and on. Hopefully I'll have a finished project to share in a few days...

[I had to throw this one in there because isn't he just the cutest?! And only a NICU nurse could appreciate my swaddling job ;)]

I've also been searching high and low for months for a very basic A-line dress pattern for 0-12 months. No frills. Just clean lines and double buttons at the shoulders. Have you ever looked? They are NO WHERE to be found for infants. So in all my time awake Thursday night, I dug through some of Miss Hadley's things and found a little 3-6 month Gymboree dress that had the shape I was wanting and traced and tweeked until I came up with a pattern from it. And since I had to use whatever fabric I had on hand - I dug out these red dots and made her a little dress for Christmas...

(And a matching bow no doubt!) I really like how it turned out and my next goal is to size it up and down a few times so I'll have a pattern for that whole first year. These are just too easy and cute!

Thursday morning I had a doctor's appointment and all is well and boring still :) I'll go back in 2 weeks and will get a sono to share. (Yeah!) Oh and we also DID go ahead and register with CBR, and just to pass the word along - nurses get a discount! A really good one at that. Like $750 off. And then we go an extra $400-something for completing a tutorial and creating a gift registry which ended up decreasing our total costs by like %60. At that price we went ahead and did the cord blood and tissue banking.

Since our unit was still empty when I checked on Friday at noon I decided the chances of me working were pretty slim and forewent my nap. Well that was stupid because OF COURSE right after I checked they got an unforseen patient and yep - I had to go in to work! (Cancelled when I sleep, called in when I don't. Isn't that always how it works?!?) Well, needless to say it was a loooong night and I think once I got home I slept til about 2pm.

Plans were to catch a fireworks show Saturday night since I'd be working the 4th, but seeing as how it was off-and-on showers all day we decided to stay in just grill out some steaks instead. Sunday we had the privilage of a attending an awe-inspiring 4th of July service with a wonderful message about how America was founded on God-given freedom and somehow we've taken and twisted that to mean "freedoms of the flesh." Aka : If it feels good or it's the choice you feel like making, then by all means - go right ahead! It made too much sense and was accompanied by a touching little slide show of infamous quotes, clips, and images. And yes - it nearly brought me to tears. I feel SO blessed to have been born here and for the opportunity to raise my children here. I pray that my kids and grandkids get to inherit a nation as strong and wonderful as I did. And with all the economical, environmental, and political mess going on these days, I'm praying a little harder... Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you - Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
But anyway I definitely got my nap in Sunday and headed in to work again that night. I felt bad that we were going to miss the fireworks this year, but as it turns out I had a great view of our local show from our unit window and James said he and Knox were able to watch them from our playroom window upstairs. Knox apparently insists on calling them "fireflies" so ever since he's been telling me all about the "fireflies" and how they go "BOOM!" He's too funny these days with all his new words. I love getting a little glimpse in to his head as he uses his little vocabulary to form his thoughts in to sentances. He cracks me up :) Oh and I took advantage of the 4th of July sales Sunday night and ordered me some maternity things. (30% off and free shipping. THANK YOU Gap!)

I can still wear a few pairs of my pants and shorts so I mainly just needed a few shirts and dresses to get me throguh these next few weeks. Can't wait for them to get here so I can start wearing normal people (cute) clothes again without having to tug at my shirts every five seconds.

Yesterday was a day of rest :) And today we're heading up back up to 'school' for our Tuesday Music in Motion program. I'm banking on it wearing Knox out again and him taking a good nap. I'm a full weekend plus behind on cleaning/laundry/etc.

Oh yeah - and I was reminded yesterday it was exactly a year ago that Knox learned to walk. On July 4th! Made me go back a relive this video I posted. SO cute! Where has my little chunky baby gone?!? I need to pull some recent videos from my Flip on to here...

show us your life : crafts

2010-07-01T22:35:00.001-05:00

Ok so if you're looking for somewhere to buy cute things - wrong page! Haha. But I do absolutely love making things. I think I like the teaching-myself part more than anything. We are so lucky these days with the internet (Google!) you can find a tutorial for just about anything online. So fun!

Here are some of my favorite things to craft...

{1} PHOTOGRAPHY and PHOTOSHOP

I don't know if photography is exactly a craft, but it does intrigue me. I have a fairly descent camera. Aka: If I work hard enough with the perfect lighting/subjects I can sometimes get a good quality shot. Ha!

[One of those rare SOOC shots of my 2 year old that actually turns out good!]

But really - some day I'd like to learn more about it. Not so much for business purposes, just for fun. And maybe even get an upgraded camera too.

And Photoshop. James put Adobe CS4 on my computer about two years ago (He has a corporate license for it. Convenient.) and although it took me a while to figure it out, I love playing around in it now. Not just photography either - I create my blog layouts and all of our invites, announcements, etc. on there. And I've barely skimmed the surface of PS capabilites. The possiblities are endless. Love it!

{2} SEWING and EMBROIDERY
My mom taught me how to sew when I was younger, and when she asked me if I wanted a sewing machine for my graduation present I'm pretty sure I laughed at her. I thought it'd become a dying art. Until - that is - I had a baby and a house a realized how expensive all that cute boutique stuff and window treatments are!!! So - Thanks Mom :)

But anyway - I really got back in to it last year and even got a sewing/embroidery machine and that has been fun!

And now that I have a little girl on the way - I've also taken up an interest in smocking. My mom even sent me back home with her Pullen pleater after our last trip to Tennessee and I've been working on a little "Coming Home" bishop for our Hadley since then. REALLY greatful to her for that one. Have you priced smocked children's clothing lately? Yikes.

{3} HOME PROJECTS

Whether it be painting a room, refinishing a piece of furniture, or learning a new Do-It-Yourself type project with my husband, I love anything crafty-decorish. And with a new house - I have my hands full! My mile long list of things I'm wanting to tackle includes everything from built-in cabinetry, to crown moulding, to refinishing kitchen cabinets. These are more "family" projects though since they require the use of power tools, and well... I recently tried to install a bathroom TP holder and somehow ended up drilling a hole the size of a quarter for a screw. I don't do power tools :)

{4} BOWS

My most recent obsession! Again - why pay for something ($8-$12 a pop) when you can do it yourself, right? Or atleast make a good faith effort... But really - I have a thing for cutesy ribbon so this hobby is right up my ally. I just have a little more practice to get where I want with it. Here are my most recent efforts that under a less-critical eye didn't turn out too bad...

(The first one is to match the reversible Longhorn/Halloween dress, of course!)

I've been wanting to take the Bow Making class at Joann's but when I went to register for it last week and saw a board of examples they teach you, I decided it was kind of a joke/racket. The "bows" consisted of a loop of ribbon, folded and glued, and the $28 price did NOT include supplies.

Sooo... I opted out and once again turned to the internet. I found a very-homemade yet VERY helpful PDF "book" by a lady who owns a boutique bow shop for just $10 and it's been well worth it. She is so detailed in her explanations and provides pictures for every step... I've learned there's definitely a technique to it though, so I'm gonna keep up the practice.

.......................

So that's my "crafty side" in a nutshell. I somethimes get asked if I'd ever sell my stuff (mainly blog layouts and embroidery) and my answer is always Maybe someday... I'm a perfectionist and somewhat ADD. A very BAD combination because it takes me forever to finish a project! Haha... So I keep myself busy enough just with things for my family and friends. I can't ever imagine adding to that. Plus I think having to work under a dead line would take away a little of the fun for me.

But who knows. Maybe one of these days when I'm not having to chase a toddler, set up a new house, or prepare for a new baby I may look in to crafting for profit. Although I doubt it will be anytime soon when I'm not doing at least one of those things!

Oh, and my last crafting secret...

{5} ETSY!

L-o-v-e it. Perfect solution for those projects I don't have the time/talent for ;)

And then there's the blog-network too, of course. In fact I'm looking forward to surfing through all the other posts to find some good boutique online/Etsy shops!

what's in a name, etc.

2010-06-30T20:01:00.002-05:00

So to elaborate on the name issue - I guess the obvious question is how/why we came up with Hadley Carter...

32 weeks! (Forgive my no make-up/painting clothes look. I'm rocking it a lot these days.)

I guess my biggest priority was not only to find something I liked and felt that would embody our new little one, but also something that "went" with Knox, while shying away from all K or N names to starting any kind of Duggarish theme. (Although, Lord knows I love that show... Guilty pleasure!)

At first it was between Hadley Claire and Reese Caroline. I love both names, but for the past few months I've just felt more "led" towards Hadley. Especially since both Knox and Hadley are Old English sur names, I think it makes for a classic yet unique little tradition for our kids. James agrees...

I was trying to be cute and sat this on his desk months ago ;)

So it was Hadley Claire, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to give her atleast one name with a little meaning. That's where Carter came in. I love the tradition of mothers passing their maiden names to daughters, and I thought mine just weant perfectly with Hadley. The switch worked out well too because in an effort to "try it out" I'd already monogrammed a few little things using the HCD!

[Fun Fact : Ernest Hemmingway's wife was named Hadley.]

And now that the name is out - I guess I can share a few of the things I've been working on for her...

I love pillowcase dresses! Special thanks to my friend Leslie for helping me out on the measurements for these. She has two girls - a toddler and an infant - so I trusted her judgement! The first is a copy-cat of one I saw online, and the second - just plain eyelet because every little girl needs one! I left plenty of hem room in each (the white still needs to be hemmed, in fact) so hopefully we'll get a good year's wear out of these. Because of the gathered design, the neckline/armholes can be let out indefinitely.

Now what else have we been up to... (Bear with me because this post is gonna include lots and lots of phone pics. I've been a bad bad camera-picture-taker lately!)

Asleep in his "box." (Aka: The drawer to his activity table.) It's his favorite these days and he loves to load it up with blankets, pillows, cars, tools, you name it!

Well if you remember correctly James and I were toying around with the idea of a date night last week. Well - it actually happened! And it was a really good one at that. James is in the 847 Club at The Palm and got a gift certificate for a free lobster for his birthday. Well it was AMAZING, and when I casually mentioned his birthday to our waiter he comped us with a free dessert as well. (Aka: a $15 piece of carrot cake that was sent straight from heaven!) So yes - we had a perfectly perfect FANCY date (#92) filled with a leisurely meal and adult conversation. We've come to a mutual agreement that we'd much rather treat ourselves to a nice place like that 3 or 4 times a year than do the run-of-the-mill Chili's/mexican every other week.

A bow that came with one of Hadley's new outfits. (I've really gotta stop this!)
Saturday morning I went to a baby shower for a friend. Ironically enough, she has a two year old boy and is also pregnant with her second - a girl. And we're just two weeks apart! Now tell me that's not the makings of a perfect playdate???

Sunday we definitely slept in until 9:45 and totally missed church! Awful, seeing as how I was responsible for posting a "Meals" sign-up-sheet for a family who just had a baby, and we'd committed to hosting a 'Share & Care' get together at our house that night. Needless to say, I had to throw on jeans and a t-shirt and drive up there [shower-less] to drop off the sign-up sheet and spread the word that we were still on for S&C. And luckily it was a lighter crowd that night since we're kinda limited on living/dining furniture right now. But a fun group none-the-less!

He got a hold of his INFANT life jacket one day last week and wore it all day, begging for 'Poppy' (my dad) and the 'boat'. Somebody LOVES the lake!

Monday - house projects. Tuesday - I took Knox up to his school (or as I call it - our "second church") because they started their Music in Motion program for toddlers this week. Basically just a fun hour full of silly songs and games. You should have seen his face light up when I told him we were going to school. He was like "Social interaction?!?! Yes, please!!!" Ha. He's definitely missing it. He spent the first 20 minutes just running around crazy with excitement. And then totally crashed about 15 minutes later. He was up veeerrry late the night before, so we had to head out early for a nap.

Last night we got out looking around for a deal on wicker furniture for our balcony and patio. No such luck. Mainly because I refuse to pay full price for anything. I guess we'll just be keeping our eyes peeled for those end-of-the-season patio sales... But, since we ended up out by our local Little Gym we decided to stop by for some info and it just so happened they were having a 2 year old class so Knox got to try it out first hand. He LOVED it. I'm sure I was a sight - 8 months pregnant waddling behind him trying to keep up. Ha! But when the sweet instructor told me it was "about $20 a class" my jaw dropped. I couldn't help but think about how my advanced gymnastics classes were $20 apeice. And they were one-on-one coaching and it didn't include 15 minutes of bubble blowing and song time! So anyway, now I'm on a mission to find a more reasonably priced toddler class for him at one of our local cheer/tumbling gyms because the kid really did LOVE it and I truly believe that kind of activity benefits strength and coordination for all athletics in the future...

Today we've just been lounging around the house with the exception of a much needed grocery run. Oh and we got to see our friends' new baby girls when we delivered them dinner. SO precious. It's hard to believe their girls are just 6 weeks ahead of my Hadley and they're already over a week old! Gosh if that doesn't hit home... And Knox - well he acted interesting. He's all about babies until it comes to Mommy holding one. So he refused to even acknowlege them and even went as far as to curl up in James' arms and let us know that HE was the baby! Oh, we're gonna have a rough couple of weeks ahead of us I think...

But anyway - I was the last to sign up to bring them something, so I really wanted to bring them something besides the typical casserole/lasagna/etc. (Although I don't think they would have minded!) So I settled on my Beef Tips and Rice.

2lbs beef sirloin tips, cut in to 1" pieces (or lean stew meat)
8oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced (the regular kind work just as well too)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup mix
1/2 cup red wine
1/8 tsp pepper

Spray down a crock pot with Pam and throw all the ingredients in. Technically you're suppossed to cook this on High for 4 hours, stirring frequently, but I usually crank it down to Low after the first hour or two to avoid nuking it to death. And, well - that's it. Just sit bake and enjoy the smell of it simmering! Serve over buttered brown rice, and if you're smart - with a salad and Sister Schubert's rolls :)

Now for tomorrow - Knox and I may try to make the morning play date up at "school". They open up the indoor playscape from 10-12. And James has a morning tee time. But other than that - no plans. Just napping! I'm scheduled to work Thur, Fri, and Sunday and I'm kind of scared. Haven't worked 3 of 4 days in a looooong time, but that's how my schedule fell this time a round, so wish me luck! I'll enjoy the paycheck none-the-less ;)

let the monogramming begin...

2010-06-29T15:53:00.001-05:00

Our sweet girl has a name!

Hadley Carter

...to be exact :)

i hate viruses

2010-06-24T13:35:00.000-05:00

Oh I promise I'm not turning in to a once-a-week blogger. Actually, this latest dry spell isn't even my fault. (Well, mainly not.) My computer has some virus on it that - get THIS - attacks my antivirus software, and then proceeds to make my computer think and act like I'm out of memory no matter how much space I clear up. I mean really - who comes up with these things? They need to GET A LIFE! Ugh. But I've got the hubby working on it now and hopefully it will be up and running again soon. Until then - I've hijacked his computer for a while ;)

But anyway - we've had another fairly productive week at our house. James cleared out all the remaining boxes in the garage. Meaning, PRAISE JESUS, I can finally park in there now! (Means a lot now that our days are reaching 103...) I got the Jack-and-Jill bathroom painted. It's been under construction ever since we moved in, Kilz-ed it and ripped out all the fixtures. Sneak peek...

I love the way the light mossy green is turning out in between Knox's blue stripes and baby girl's brown and pink. We still have to hang some fixtures, paint the trim, and put up a new vanity light, but it is SO very close! And already a far cry from the royal blue MESS it was...

Good call on James' part for replacing the big commercial mirror with 2 smaller polished edge ones above each sink. Opens up that room and makes it look much more homey :) Maybe by this time next week Knox's 597 bath toys will be gracing his OWN tub...

We also got the nursery painted and the crib put together this past week...

Love, love, LOVING the chocolate brown with the antique white! So clean...

(James obviously still needs to edge out the ceiling.) But how sweet is that plaque over her balcony? It was one of the first things I picked up when I found she was a girl :) And although I adore those double french doors... They are screaming for window treatments! You'd think you were witnessing the glorious reappearing if you ever stepped foot in there in the morning and caught that sun.

I found the cutest little custom boutique shop for her bedding and I'm ordering swatches TODAY so we can get the ball rolling on that. We're still looking for the remaining pieces to her furniture set and I may decide to do some kind of fun accent wall behind her bed once I pick her fabrics.

Yep, we've done a lot to this house in that past 2 months we've been here, but it seems like there still SO much to be done. I finally sat down the other day and typed up a 'Master List' of honey-do's and hung it up on the inside of our cabinet...

See what I mean - A LOT! I tried to arrange them in to what needs to be done first, and anything that's going to require a purchase - big or small - is highlighted in green to help us better prioritize. I like to call these "family projects" but truth be told, this is everything I can't do on my own so it ends up being more of a James list, although I try to help as much as possible. But don't worry, I'm not slacking...

I made out my own 'Just Jess' list! As you can tell we're concentrating on finishing up the upstairs first (the J&J bath, nursery, etc.), then the yard, and hopefully one of these days the downstairs will get a little attention ;)

Of course we also celebrated Father's Day Sunday and... James' THIRTIETH birthday Monday. At 7 years his minor - I'm having too much fun with the 30 jabs! Since I can't really buy him anything without him being like 'What the heck did you spend $$$ on?!' I usually always try to cook him something special. This year he picked Pecan Encrusted Chicken*. Good choice! And then he got cards from both his babes and a new Willow Tree figurine to add to our collection...

I got him a different 'Daddy and Baby' one when Knox was born, so although it's called New Dad, this will always be baby girl. (James suggested me some how making a tiny bow for her head!) And for his birthday, he went to Lowe's and picked out a new something-or-another for his tool collection.

Oh and fun fact : Some of our church friends had their twin baby girls via surrogacy on James' birthday! In all my mother-baby nursing career, I've never come across a surrogacy situation, so it has been such a blessing to watch them walk through this whole process. And the thought of them being able to finally bring their babies home yesterday about made me cry! I signed up to bring them dinner Wednesday, and although I'm pleased to help out the new mommy and daddy, it's really all just a ploy to get my hands on those sweet things ;) (I swear, you'd think with working with newborns I'd get my fill!) I foresee many foofy, frilly playdates with the A girls in our near future...

Tonight James and I are thinking of treating ourselves to a night out. He's got a gift certificate to a FANCY restaraunt down town. One of those ones he's always taking his clients to, and never his wife! Definitely nicer than any place I've ever been, so I guess if our sitter is still up for it I need to dig through my closet and find something that (a) fits, and (b) doesn't have paint all over it!

*Since James is still on his diet (over 12lbs in 2 weeks, it must work!) I changed up my recipe a bit this time by leaving the butter out of the liquid batter, so it was just egg and honey. It tasted just as good! Just a little less, well... Buttery ;) And I think I've improved on this recipe a bit by using chicken tenderloins, Panko breadcrumbs, and running my pecans through the food processor to grind them in to a finer consistency. All seem to make for a crisper finished product. Oh, and I usually add honey dijon mustard to my liquid batter but we were out so I just sprinkled some dry mustard in with my breading along with dry parsley flakes, salt, and pepper. I baked the tenderloins on 350 for 25 minutes and they were perfect. Family fave :)

in the thirties

2010-06-16T23:49:00.003-05:00

Can I just start off by saying - I'M 30 WEEKS, woo hoo!

Something about being "in the thirties" just sounds so much safer, right? I'm still chugging along - everything normal as can be. I'm estimating baby to be around 16-17 inches and 3lbs-ish. Total mommy weight-gain - 13 lbs. Having to wear the Bella Band with a few of my pants that don't cut low enough for the bump. However my saggier AE 'boyfriend' jeans (see above pic) have been working out quite well since they naturally button below the bump. But as far as shirts go - I've officially graduated to maternity wear... Still a little heartburn/reflux every now and then, but that's about it. Oh and the TEARS. I swear I find myself crying over everything from TV commercials to just laughing too hard. In fact - I've been having these "fits" in which I'm not even sure if I'm laughing or crying! James thinks I'm a hot mess :)

Pregnancy-related happenings... We got the new crib in!

James still has to put it together, but just the vision of it sitting up there in her room is making me want to get some paint on those walls ASAP. Speaking of - leave it to me to do this: I'm contemplating changing the entire room theme I've been planning ever since before I was even pregnant. Ha! I guess the fact that I haven't ordered bedding yet is a good thing ;) I've also been piecing together some more pretty little things for her closet. Not gonna lie - I'm just loving all of this girlie stuff floating around the house! :)

Business Talk...

We're currently trying to make a decision about cord blood banking. Well - actually our decision is already made. I mean how could you NOT do it, right? I just am floored about how the price has doubled since we had Knox :( I know, chances are we'll probably never use it. But bottom line - I'd hate to find myself in a situation where it would be beneficial and NOT have it because we'd chosen to pinch pennies... Oh well - I guess CBR knows you can't put a price tag on that kind of insurance.

Other decisions - We chose NOT to do the 4D sonogram this time around. It's actually not that expensive anymore, but I just figure there's no diagnostic purpose for it and we'll see what she looks like soon enough :) I DO still want maternity pics though. I may have my talented cousin-in-law do them when we head back to Memphis in July. (Yes, Cassie I saw your comment! I'll get with you about it soon.) Just depends though, because I'll be 35 weeks (not suppossed to travel, I know) and I may be looking much more like a whale than a cute preggo by then. We'll see!

I'm also at that point in my pregnancy where I'm getting showered with extra attention everywhere I go. (No complaints here!) In fact - we stopped at a service station on the way to the lake, and I ran in to pick up a few things along with two bags of ice for the cooler. When the boy checking me out offered to [leave his register and] carry my things to the truck for me - I didn't hesitate to accept! Haha. James just rolled his eyes at the sight of me prancing back to the truck with that sweet cashier trailing behind me :)

And with all the extra attention comes all the QUESTIONS...

I remember coming across this little cartoon when I was pregnant with Knox, and isn't that just the truth?! Don't get me wrong - I don't mind at all, but some days I do feel like I should just go ahead and make out a shirt like this ;) It usually starts off with When are you due? First? Boy or girl? ...and then ends with some stranger telling me about their birth experiences. Oh you just gotta laugh :) If anything it's nice to see that people love seeing a baby bump!

Other stuff - James is hitting the office hard these days working on a new trial. I spent the better part of yesterday organizing my embroidery files on my computer. Some of my craftiest friends have shared their thousands of files with me, and between the original stock I recieved on a USB and the 80+ e-mails of new things they've sent since then - I had stuff everywhere and just hadn't taken the time to organize them in the right folders and all. So much better, and now my poor computer doesn't freeze up whenever I open up my PES program. Plus!

Oh and we now have a POOL! Ok - not as in we have one in our backyard, just one to go to. While we were unpacking some things James conveniently found the key to the community pool in his old neighborhood. Which is 4 miles away! No one will notice if we "borrow" it a few times over the summer, right??? I just want somewhere I can take Knox to get him some basic swim skills down. We actually headed out there last night after dinner and had a blast. Best part - they have a seperate 1.5ft kiddie pool that's covered by a shade awning. So while mommy and daddy dried off, Knox had a field day splashing around in that :) Exciting news of the week - I've officially re-initiated my application process for graduate school at the UofTX. I was accepted as a transfer student from the UofMemphis over a year and half ago, but ended up deciding that the timing was wrong and held off on entering the program. But now I'm so ready to be back in school. To be working towards something. Hoping to have all of my credits from Memphis transferred and cleared to start back in January. I will be changing my degree from Family Nurse Practitioner to Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (it's a good thing!) so I'm sure I'll have to end up retaking a few classes, but it'll be worth it...

Lastly, we had some friends over for dinner tonight and it was so nice to catch up. Between moving and various travels, it seems like we've been sooo out of our little social loop for the past 2 months now. Looking forward to having a month at home just to kind of get up-to-speed with everyone! And that goes for getting caught up in the blog world as well :)

show us your life : china pattern

2010-06-11T00:13:00.000-05:00

Props to Kelly for a fun, easy topic this week. Especially since I've got a million and one things to do before we head off to the LAKE for 3 days. (YEAH!)

But anyway - china patterns. I think it's so sad to see brides these days shying away from this tradition. I mean, really - if my mom, grandmothers, aunts, etc. have kept and still use ONE thing they got as a wedding gift it's their china. Plus what a great heirloom to pass along...

For my pattern - as much as I love "fun and colorful" - I wanted something very classic and versatile. So I went with Lenox's Opal Innocense...

Obviously it's white, but I fell in love with the little detailing around the band. It's a small damask print embellished with little white 'pearls'.

Perfectly timeless, yet still has just enough flair to add a little "me" to my table :) And for my crystal stemware - the Debut collection by Lenox...

I'm a sucker for this classic "Waterford" look, and ended up liking this set better than any of the actual Waterfords. Thanks in large part to my mother-in-law I have a full 12 place setting of china, serving ware, and crystal. Now I just need a china cabinet so I can get them out of the box and put them to use! I have a few nice sets of flatware, but haven't actually started on my silverware settings yet, which - again - are Opal Innocence by Lenox...

Someday when I have nothing better to spend money on I'd like to get a second set of more casual/fun china. I'm thinking some sort of colorful floral or paisley around the band. Lucky for our bank account I haven't run across anything other pattern that moves me, so I guess I can wait ;)