3.28.2014

All About Spring

Spring is one of my absolute favorite seasons! There is so much life! Everything is turning so colorful: grass is becoming green again, flowers making their way up through soil and blooming, the weather is beginning warmer and overall the world is just a happy, more cheerful place.
 
So I've compiled a list of a few of my favorite (and least favorite) things about warmer weather!
 
My 10 Favorites:
1. Flowers (trees, bushes) blooming.
2. Birds singing and chirping.
3. Picnics.
4. Long walks.
5. Fresh produce (and hopefully getting to have a few vegetable plants this year).
6. Open windows and fresh air. So wonderful after a house is closed up all winter long!
7. Lots of sunshine.
8. Wearing pastel and bright colors and transitioning from winter to spring apparel; it feels so nice being able to step outside in a short sleeve shirt rather than have to constantly be bundled up in a long sleeves with a sweater and scarf and coat all on top of that.
9. Rain. I love the sound of rain on our window, I sleep so good those mornings, the bad side effect is that I usually don't want to get out of bed because there's no sunshine. Lol.
10. All the wonderful smells! There's almost nothing better than the aroma of dirt after it rains, or freshly bloomed hyacinth!
 
My 5 dislikes:
1. Lawn mowers (soon as warmer weather hits there is never a time when you can't hear one running).
2. Dismal rainy days (no sunshine).
3. Bugs, bugs, bugs.
4. Snakes.
5. Thunderstorms and tornado warnings. (3 words... I hate thunder. And lightning too for that matter. Oh yeah, and funnel clouds).
 
I'm so excited about this spring mainly because it's going to be the best spring I've every experienced. Why you ask? Because our daughter was just born a few months ago and she will be experiencing EVERYTHING for the very first time! We will see the world through the eyes of a child in wonderment of God's creation. It will be amazing!

So here's to hoping the weather will warm up for good soon and actually "be spring" now that spring is supposedly "officially here" a week or so ago now. Hope everyone is having an amazing day! Happy Spring!





All pictures taken at Missouri Botanical Gardens. Spring 2011.


3.27.2014

3.26.2014

Bella's Birth Story - Part 2

My contractions came closer together and were more intense this time and I was also getting nauseated! We sat through contractions for awhile while Frank counted and timed, and a little before midnight I asked him to call my doctor. After reaching her answering service they said it would probably be around 10-20 minutes before the doc called us back. But a minute had barely passed before his phone was ringing and my doctor was returning our call, he told her the timing of my contractions and how long I had been in labor and she said that we would go ahead and come in to the hospital if we wanted. After hanging up we hurried around and carried everything to the car and headed to the hospital, arriving only a few short minutes later because we live so close. As we carried everything into the facility my teeth were chattering and I was shivering from the cold night air and from excitement and nervousness. We ended up having to sit in the waiting room for about 20 minutes waiting for a nurse to come with a wheelchair to take us up to the maternity ward. As we sat there, my contractions slowed down again and I started to get worried that it had all just been a false alarm and that we really weren't going to get to meet our little princess that night! But after a nurse finally showed up with the wheelchair and we got in the elevator contractions began to come more frequently again. Yay again! (Lol). It wasn't till we got in the delivery room and I'd changed into my hospital gown and gotten into (that terribly uncomfortable and hard as a rock) bed that it started to really hit me for the first time... This was happening! We were going to meet her! ... and then I started to get scared... what if she didn't like me? I was going to be a mom! What if I wasn't a good mom? I was going to have to push a (tiny) person out of my lady parts! (Lol). What if I ended up having to have a C-section or having to get cut or what if I ripped really bad? What if they had to use forceps to get her out? What if the doctor didn't make it in time and the nurses had to deliver our baby? Or (blushing) what if I pooed? (Laughing) lol. But thankfully I had my wonderful husband by my side holding my hand and calming my fears and telling me everything I needed to hear. Telling me not to be scared and that I was brave and that I was going to be alright. One of the nurses came in and checked my dilation and I was only about 2 and a half centimeters at the time, so it was decided to go ahead and get the iv to start the pitocin and get the labor going stronger; the ordeal of putting the iv in was no fun, i have tiny veins to begin with and on top of that I was freezing cold so there was even less blood in my hands so the nurse brought in a couple blankets from the warmer, and let me tell you, they felt amazing! Lol I had a bed sheet, the two heated blankets, and my own pink quilt (I'm kind of like Linus from Peanuts when it comes to that quilt lol I simply cannot sleep without it haha) that I was covered up with, and I was still cold(!), but thankfully not quite as cold as before. After about 30 mins she came back in to try and insert my iv again and thankfully she was able to find my veins this time; iv in, Pitocin started, she had me start filling out the registration paperwork for the hospital (which honestly they should let you pre-register), after about 10 mins my doc came to break my water and let me tell you, it was one of the most crazy experiences ever, it just felt so weird (but kinda neat at the same time), she said she was going to break my water and suddenly I heard a "POP" and felt a whoosh of warm liquid pour all over the towels, I was all like "???" and when she told me not to raise my back up I misunderstood and done just that haha but thankfully my amniotic fluid didn't run all up back haha. And seriously it was pretty much instant, as soon as she broke my water my contractions got insane, I didn't know what had hit me! It felt like period cramps except like a hundred times more painful. I had already previously decided to go ahead and get the epidural but I had to wait because they had called the phlebotomy department 3 times before someone showed up to take my blood, then afterwards I had to wait around for the anesthesiologist to show up all the while I'm going through extremely painful contractions and they're still making me sign papers, but finally everyone showed up and performed their given tasks and after receiving the epidural I was much more relaxed, I could breathe normally again and wasn't hyperventilating anymore like I had been before, I felt warm for the first time since arriving at the hospital and I was able to relax somewhat even though I could still feel the contractions and actually kind of doze off for a few hours which I was extremely thankful for. I could still feel my lower body after the epidural and only felt a small amount of tingling, but it worked just good enough to knock the edge off of the worse contractions for a few hours.

.....To be Continued.....
 
When we got in our delivery room at the hospital directly before I changed into my hospital gown.

Freshly changed into my hospital gown, trying to warm up so they could put my iv in.
 
 

3.19.2014

Bella's Birth Story - Part 1

Something just felt a little different that day when I woke up. I slept in a little and awakened to wonderful smells making their way upstairs into our bedroom, emanating from the kitchen downstairs; finally getting out of our warm snuggly bed the room seemed so cold but as I made my way down the stairs holding tight to the railing so as not to fall (being my center of gravity was off due to my huge baby belly protruding in front of me) the aroma became more intense and more delicious! My husband was making homemade Italian wedding soup! Yum! One of my favorite soups! After saying and kissing my hubby good morning and watching him work on the soup and chatting with him for a bit I went about the rest of my day: taking my shower, getting dressed back into warm comfy clothes, obsessing over the nursery trying to make everything "just right" and setting up the video baby monitor on the shelf next to the crib to see into it at just the perfect angle, folding and hanging up the rest of her tiny little clothes... As the day wore on I started getting more and more anxious and wanting to meet the sweet little life growing inside of me, so by the time we sat down to eat around 1pm I was starting to get pretty upset because I hadn't had ANY contractions, not even any of the usual braxton hicks contractions... and I just wanted to meet her! My sweet hubby had just dished out our bowls of soup and sat down so we could pray before we ate. I started crying my eyes out (can we say big time pregnancy hormones here lol) and telling him how ready to meet her I was! Being the wonderful husband that he is, he told me that it was all going to be alright and that we would meet her soon (if not over the weekend then on the coming Tuesday since I was scheduled for an induction due to the fact that my doctor had to go out of town for a week starting that Wednesday and I didn't feel comfortable having anyone but her deliver my baby). I was able to calm down some after that and we prayed and then ate, it was delicious, but I didn't even eat a full bowl, I should've known something was up then because I had been eating everything in sight and I just didn't feel like eating hardly at all that day. Then for pretty much the rest of the day we just relaxed, hubby was more relaxed that me lol he took a nap but I was to uncomfortable and anxious lol. Around 6pm it was dinnertime, hubby fed the dogs and he had more soup for dinner, but yet again I should have realized how close we were to it being 3 of us rather than just us 2 because I wasn't really hungry again: all I wanted was a little bit of chocolate ice cream. Snuggled together on the loveseat flipping channels and enjoying each others companionship and our beautiful Christmas decor we stayed that way till about 9:30, then I started getting tiny little contractions here and there. Around 10pm I started getting contractions quite regularly and after a bit of having them hubby and I ran around like crazy getting everything together (I still had 90% of my hospital bag to pack lol), packing, showering, I even blow dried and curled my hair lol, then I put my comfy clothes back on (no not the same ones haha) and decided to put on the shirt my mom and little sisters had bought for me that read "Gonna Pop" lol, by that time my contractions had slowed down and almost completely stopped (I think it was the warm shower water because it relaxed me so much) and of course I was disappointed because I wanted to meet her so badly. *Cue hormonal pregnant woman crying again (lol)* It just wasn't right, here we'd gotten all excited (and nervous) and then my labor just STOPS? I'd carried this amazing little life inside me for 9 whole months, 3/4 of a whole year, and I wanted to meet her! I wanted to meet her tonight! I wanted to hold and kiss her tonight! And I wanted to tell her just how much I loved her, and I wanted to do it, yep you guessed it... Tonight! (Lol) So after about 15 mins of telling her just how much we wanted to meet and hold her and how much we loved her and asking, begging, pleading her to come soon, contractions started again! Yay!

..... To be Continued.....

Hubby's amazing wedding soup!
 
The "Bella Bump" right before we left for the hospital.
 
 


 

3.16.2014

Mommy and Me photo of Bella and I

 
I am so in love with every single thing about this photograph.
So thankful to my wonderful husband for capturing this shot of Bella and I this Friday just past.
Hope everyone is having a spectacular weekend!
 
 
 

3.11.2014

First Outdoor Excursion

Earlier today little Miss Bella had her first real outdoor excursion! It was so exciting! I mean yeah, she's been "outside", carried in her car seat from the house to the car, but its been so frigid and snow has pretty much covered the ground since she was born that we hadn't been able to have a real outdoor experience. Its so nice to finally be seeing weather in the 50's and its actually 62 today! Bella and I explored the back, front and side yards, but the backyard was most interesting, we felt the textures of leaves and trees and looked at the grass and sky and bushes and trees, it was all so interesting! Then we sat on the front porch for a bit before heading back inside to nurse and afterwards she took a 5 min cat nap. :) So exciting to be finally seeing signs of spring and I absolutely cannot wait till it warms up enough to go outside and play with her on a regular daily basis, and to take her for walks and to the park, especially without having to get bundled up.

 

 
Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!
 

3.10.2014

Liebster Award Nomination Post

Wow! I am completely honored and excited! I was recently nominated for the Liebster Award!
First I would like to thank sweet Gisella from the blog www.serendipitydelight.com for my nomination! I love your blog and getting to know you more from your instagram, and also your DIY renovations are amazing! :)
 
So lets get this party (post, rather. lol) started… :)
Here are the rules for the Liebster Award:
1. List 11 random facts about yourself
2. Answer 11 questions that the blogger who nominated you has asked
3. Nominate 11 other bloggers with less that 200 followers (I have no idea how, if there is even a way, to tell how many followers a blog has though, so I am just nominating some of my favorite blogs which most of I think are newer:)
4. Let those bloggers know you nominated them
5. No Tag Backs
 
11 Random Facts about Moi!
1. I talk in my sleep... I’ve been known to randomly shake my husband awake during the night and say completely off the wall things like "Hey, I’m sorry about the time I told you I was standing there" and "They’re here… They’re here to vacuum out the car" and then not remember it the next day and he’s all like "???". Haha. And yeah I still have no idea what that first one means lol.
2. I have a quirky sense of humor… and I make up and tell the cheesiest jokes. In my opinion though, cheesy jokes are the best. Lol. I'm also a complete smart-alec and have a (usually funny) comeback for pretty much everything lol. I honestly just love making people laugh. :)
3. I love Christmas. I would probably move to Who-ville if I could. I listen to Christmas music all throughout the year. The Carpenters Christmas album is the BEST!
4. I grew up in a very musical family. I sing and can play the drums. My Dad and brother play pretty much everything and my mom plays the piano. My Dad owned a professional recording studio when I was growing up and recorded musicians from all over the world. Also I used to be the worship leader at my church in Missouri before I moved.
5. I love pasta so much that for years my family has called me "The Pasta Queen"!
6. I’m a big sports fan. I love ice hockey, and from about age 11 to about age 16 my dream was to become the first woman to play in the NHL, even though I’ve never actually played hockey in my life besides just street hockey with my siblings (lol). I like baseball and I completely do not understand football at all, but I like eating ice cream while watching football with my hubby (haha).
7. I love leftovers. I'll eat on them for the longest time... my hubby on the other hand hates leftovers. lol.
8. I have a chicken (that for the time being still lives with my family on their farm) named "Turkey". Why "Turkey" you might ask? Because when she was little (and even some now) the coloring of her feathers looked like a turkeys feathers. :)
9. I think big cities are most beautiful at night. Though I think St. Louis is beautiful any time of day.
10. I hate telling people my fears. It kinda makes me paranoid. Lol.
11. I am kind of like seriously addicted to ranch dressing, and I'm okay with that. I'm a ranch connoisseur. Lol. I put it on just about everything. And I am in constant search of "the perfect ranch". ;D
 
Gisella’s Questions to me:
1. Do you have a hidden talent? If so, what is it??? I make really good animal sounds, lol... chickens, squirrels, sheep, owls... needless to say, the list goes on... lol.
2. What’s your fashion style?? I kind of base my clothes on what mood I’m in every day haha, but lately since having a baby and also because I’m breastfeeding I look for comfort and functionality. Overall though I would have to say my style is very girly, classy, comfortable... I don't know that I really have one particular style. I think variety is good.
3. If I said I would buy you an airline ticket, where would you go??? LOL… Paris. ♡
4. Who’s your favorite musician? Owl City. But I have always been extremely musically diverse and enjoy pretty much all kinds of music. :)
5. Where are you from? I grew up in rural southeast Missouri.
6. I know we all have dreams, so what’s yours?? I would love to attend a culinary school and open a restaurant with my husband.
7. Are you a Craftaholic like me?? If so what do you enjoy the most??? I love pretty much anything that calls for a glue gun or glitter (or both) haha. I also really love painting.
8. What made you open a blog? I can't really pin-point exactly one thing honestly, a combination of a lot of things I suppose. I've always enjoyed writing, its almost like a journal in a way and will be fun to look back on in the future,.
9. I am addicted to collecting quotes (I have a book filled with them) so what’s your favorite quote??? "She took a deep breath and let it go". I sometimes worry about things in my life that don't need worried about or that nothing can be done about and I found this quote recently and its helped me just relax a little bit more so that when things get crazy I just take a deep breath and realize that most the time when I have a bad day that its usually not going to matter a year from now or even next week from now, and if it does then it just does, because then its usually something that nothing can be done about at the moment, if ever.
10. If you had to describe your life in one word what would it be?? Uuuuuummmm... lol that's not the word I would pick but honestly that's an extremely deep question, I really don't think I could narrow my entire life down to just one word. Lol.
11. Red wine or white?? LOL… Neither. Lol. :)

Here are the blogs that I am excited to be nominating for the Liebster Award:

 
www.meredithandstephen.blogspot.com
 
My questions to you (my nominees):
1. If you knew you were going to be suddenly stranded on a desert island, and were only allowed to bring one item, what would it be?
2. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3.Chocolate, vanilla or strawberry?
4. Are you an outdoor or indoor person?
5. What made you want to start writing a blog?
6. If for one day, you could have unlimited access to the closet of your style icon (real or fictional), who would it be?
7. Do you think the early bird gets the worm? Or are you a night owl?
8. Where is your favorite vacation spot or place you would most like to vacation?
9. Favorite food to make? And favorite food to eat?
10. Favorite book? Or movie?
11. What is your all time favorite craft that you have made during your lifetime?
 
I am so excited and can't wait to read each and every one of your nomination posts! Happy blogging! :)