picture trial

so, I'm still trying to figure this out and it seems anytime I try to post a picture it never goes where I want it to. So, today is my trial!

meet Jude and his buddy Asher......

I have a feeling that one day soon these two are going to be getting into a LOT of trouble together, but they sure are cute!

Mommy and the Dude.......oh the amazing amount of love one can feel for such a tiny little guy (who's not so tiny, nor has he ever been....more on that with the birth story)

Okay, well now that I'm familiar with adding pics, I hope to be able to upload lots to my new Mac and then share them with you! Enjoy your day with family, friends, or whatever it is you're doing today. As for me and Jude, he will be taking frequent naps and I will be indulging in some homework while daddy is working.  

I'm back!

Okay, so a LOT has happened since my last blog! And when I say a lot, I mean....well, I had a baby, enjoyed summer, went on vacation, finished maternity leave, went back to work, and now I'm back to school. Whew...just typing that out wears me out!  I have this "burning" desire to become a regular blogger, and I truly want to work it into my routine, but please be patient with me.  Not only am I trying to figure out the routine of my 3 month old, I'm trying to tackle being a full-time working momma, and now a part-time Grad student.  Once I figure all that out, then I will be blogging on a regular basis....so I guess I'll see you in a couple years. LOL! Okay, not really (but probably).  Hah, I'm crazy I know.  Back to the routine thing: if I find a good routine that allows for me to have a couple minutes each night before I collapse into my bed, then I can hopefully keep y'all up to date.  Basically, it's going to be a blog about Jude since he's the most interesting part of my life, and he's a pretty cute part if I may add :-) I just love that dude!  At some point I would like to blog about his arrival and the 3 weeks following while he was in the NICU, but I have a feeling that's going to take me a couple hours at least to formulate my thoughts, words, etc.  But it is in the making, so keep watch if you're interested in reading it.

So, just a little recap on what's going on in my life right now.  I am back to work full-time, which is Monday thru Friday 8:30-5.  I am VERY blessed to have my mom who takes care of Jude for me while I'm at work.  I definitely do NOT take that huge blessing for granted!! I also just started back to school on Monday, and it's already proving to be challenging. Not that I thought Grad school would be a breeze, but I guess I just didn't really know what to expect.  For those wonder, I am going to Maryville University working towards my Master's Degree in Nursing.  This particular program will take me a little less than 3 years to complete, but when I am finished I will be a Family Nurse Practitioner. YAY!!! On the days where I feel very overwhelmed, I just try to remember the end result and know that it will be worth it soon enough.  My plan once I finish school is to hopefully be able to work part-time as a NP so that I can play 'Mom' part time.  But I'm keeping an open mind because I know that a lot can change between now and then.

I failed to mention that I am typing this from my new Mac, and I'm loving the way the keyboard types....hah silly I know! However, since it is new I have yet to upload any pictures onto it, but once I do I promise to post some on here routinely.  Because, let's be honest, that's what people like are the pictures (at least I do).  There's something so fun...and possibly creeperish.....about looking at fun pictures of people you don't even know.  Maybe I can work on that tomorrow since I don't have to work.  After a couple hours of homework of course.

I hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day!

All things baby

Well, I had another visit to the Dr's today for another ultrasound to check fluid and baby. My fluid level was 8.3 which isn't great, but much better than last Thursday's results (5.1)! I did have a few other changes today as well to warrant continuing to keep a close eye on me. So, I go back Sunday morning for another ultrasound. Basically my dr gets the feeling I could go into labor at any time, but if I haven't delivered by 37 weeks (Wednesday, May 30th), then she is going to induce me. This kiddo is measuring on the bigger side (which I know ultrasounds at this stage can be off), but with all the problems I've had we don't want to risk anything, and I am totally okay with that! Obviously I would love to make it to 37 weeks, but I do feel more of a peace now that I've had my steroids AND baby seems to be on the bigger side. I rest assured in the fact that God has it all under control and He hols both mommy and Youngin' in the palm of His hands:). The nursery is really coming together!!! Chris sanded, primed and painted an old desk that we will use as the changing table and we got new hardware for it to add a little POC (aka pop of color). I will post pics as soon as its completed. The next project is to find specific spots for everything. Of course we got a call on Tuesday morning that someone wanted to come that morning to view our house and our baby shower gifts were scattered between the living room and the nursery with no specific homes. So, we, well my mom and Chris, quickly found temporary hidden spaces for the item so the house could look good for the showing. I'm hoping to be able to sit tomorrow and figure out living spaces for all of these new items. My OCD is kicking into high gear :). Bedrest is not an accomodator of OCDers!! I really feel very disconnected from the outside world due to bedrest. It's sad that I get excited about going to the dr just so I can get outside! I am definitely thankful for technology, social networks, and blogging. Oh and of course my iPad that helps me have quick access to all of those! I welcome visitors, but I warn you that I may talk your ear off due to my loneliness! I have found that I talk to myself now....even more, which is kinda scary, and poor Zoe is probably ready for a break from me too! I plan on wearing baby out with frequent trips out (once I feel up to it) after all this bedrest :). I can't wait to meet my lil munchkin!! I'm still not quite sure it's even hit me yet that baby will be here in 2 weeks (at most). I am sure you never really feel prepared, but it just still doesn't even feel real.....I sure hope this is normal! Let me just add this....I've been keeping up with American Idol this year and Phillip Phillips does NOT deserve to be in the!!! Don't get me wrong, he sings good, but he doesn't have the talent that Josh and Jessica do. It's all because a bunch of 13 year old girls think he's hot. Okay, I feel better! Whew glad I got that off my chest! LOL Well, I should probably wrap this up and get to bed since tomorrow I have to.....lay on the couch all day :)I will continue to update everyone on our status, and I may even throw in another blog just because. I hope everyone enjoys their Friday!!

Couch crafting

Since my time on the couch has been an all-day occurrence, I decided last week to have Chris get my sewing machine out that I hadn't used for, oh let's say, about 7 months. Oopps! But I figured what better time to relearn my machine, and work on baby projects. It's been quite fun I'm not gonna lie. I had to find something productive to do. One can only lay and watch movies for so long before you start going crazy! Well, ok truth is I'm probably still going crazy being stuck inside, but it must be done. At least the weather has been amazing so we can have the windows open, so I still feel like I'm getting fresh air. I've become quite familiar with pinterest and tutorials as a result of bedrest. So my first few projects were burp cloths. And then I made a small minky blanket. Next up were pacifier clips. And the final project was a newborn outfit for a girl at the hospital. I already found and bought the cute lil onesie and hat for a boy, so I decided to make one for a girl. I think it turned out pretty cute if i do say so myself. Oh, and I just had to make a matching headband too!!!

So, in the midst of trying to get our house ready for Youngin, I've had to go through my closet and get rid or clothes. But some of the stuff was too easy to keep for craft ideas, so I kept a pile aside just for that. So, last night after making some things for baby, I decided to make a couple things for mommy :-). Definitely not the greatest, but I'm still learning how! Here's a T-shirt I up-cycled by adding ruffles out of an old t-shirt, and then used some fabric that I had to make a matching headband. Again, I definitely don't claim to be a sewing expert, but it's kept me busy and kept my mind off of things.

Okay, so just a little update in case anyone missed out. I went back for an ultrasound on Saturday morning, and my fluid level was up to 7.7!!! I was SO relieved. I thought I had come to peace with the fact that we may have been making a trip back to the hospital after my baby shower for induction if my fluid level had been any lower than 5, but once Saturday morning rolled around, I realized I wasn't ready at all. And not so much "house ready", but mainly mentally and emotionally!! But God worked it all out! So, now I'm just waiting to hear back from the office as to when my appointment for this week will be. I'm trying my very best to keep everyone updated, so I'll do my best.

As for my baby shower, wow am I a blessed girl!! I got so much great stuff!! I can't even begin to thank everyone enough for coming, and my family and friends that help put throw the shower! I loved the decor, and just.....everything!!! I had so much fun sitting on my couch going back through everything Saturday night! Chris did just as I predicted and walked in, stopped dead in his tracks and said "where in the world are we gonna put all this?!" LOL! He's managed to find places for most things already. He Laundered all the clothes, blankets, towels, rags, and burp cloths and I sat and folded it all last night. I wish it was as fun to fold our clothes as it was the baby's!! Instead of buying a crib and changing table set, we decided to have a modge podge variety of furniture. So we are taking my old desk and Chris is refinishing and painting it antique style and we are going to use that as the changing table. Saves us money, and gives the nursery a unique look at the same time :-). He will be painting it this evening and then I can post pictures as soon as its finished. I forgot to take before pics....ooops! That's where the imagination will have to step in! Things are coming together and baby will be here before we know it. Well, it's time for my medicine and then I'm back to more crafting. Happy Monday everyone!

Bedrest Blogging

Okay okay I know it's been forever, but time just kind of got away from me each evening. But rest assured, now that I'm on bed rest I have some time. I'm trying my best to keep myself busy to help the days go by fast, so I figured it was time to get back into my blog. So, a LOT has happened since I last blogged in February....A LOT!!!! So I will try my best to hit it all. My pregnancy was going fantastic, I felt great, and time was just zooming right along. I remember feeling my first few contractions at 23 weeks, but nothing regular or worrisome, just some tightening. But all my drs visits went well, and all of my unofficial ultrasounds in th office I work in looked great! And then Thursday, April 26th came and everything just kinda went south from there. I had some pretty consistent contractions starting that evening, so being the good nurse that I am, I didn't bother my dr and put myself to bed with a big jug of water. I woke up feeling okay the next morning (Friday 4/27), but still feeling some contractions, so after some convincing, putting myself on the monitor at work, and not feeling the greatest I called my OB. She started me on some medicine and said "check in with me Monday to let me know how the weekend went". She even gave me the okay to go to the Cardinals game with friends that Friday night, and I did so good. Even though they scored 13 runs, I cheered from the sitting position. Saturday rolled around and I spent all day cleaning our house and getting it ready for our open house the following day. And when I say all day, that's only because I had to stop and take so many breaks. I think I'd clean for about 10 minutes and then rest about 20. It was quite the experience!! So that evening we packed up and headed to my parents house to spend the night where I lounged the entire evening. And I honestly felt great, just tired. I woke up Sunday morning feeling good and I even took my medicine a little later so that it would be in effect while I was at church. Everything was hunky dory, and then all the sudden I was sitting in Sunday school class and felt a contraction (approx 10:45), and then another. So at 10:56 I decided that I better start recording them for the day since I knew I'd be checking in with the dr on Monday. I went into morning worship in the sanctuary and sat down and they just kept coming. Within about 20 minutes I had 6 contractions. So, I told Chris I was going to go lay down in my dad's office, drink some water, but to keep his phone handy in case we had to leave. So I went and got a bottled water, laid down, and they still kept coming. In about a 45 minute time span I had > 10 contractions, so I thought I better call the exchange to see what I should do. So, I did just that and after saying " yes, I did that" and " yah, tried that too" the on call dr felt it was best for me to go to the hospital to and I quote "get some Terb and get these stopped". So off to the hospital we went. Due to a really LONG story, and an emotional journey that I'm not quite ready to address quite yet, I will try to just hit the highlights of the week. So, after attempting medications by mouth, a shot, and a fluid bolus to try to get the contractions to stop, they just kept coming. So the decision was made to admit me, give me steroids to help the baby's lungs, and IV magnesium to try to stop this preterm labor. I ended up being on Magnesium until Friday, and then getting to go home on bed rest on Saturday. To say the least it was quite an emotional week for me!! But through it all baby looked great on the monitor, so that was very reassuring!!! So, backing up a little bit, I had an ultrasound on Friday after they stopped the magnesium and disconnected me from my IV. Baby looked great, but that is when we discovered another issue...my fluid level was low, 7.7 to be exact. So Dr.Ladd decided that she wanted another ultrasound done Saturday morning before I left to go home to measure the fluid again. So Saturday's level ended up being 8.9, still on the low side but better than Fridays so I was hopeful. I was out the door about 10ish....hallelujah!!!! We had to go to my papas house bc we had 2 scheduled viewings on our house that day, of course. But I honestly didn't care where I was going, I was getting out of the hospital!! So I rested there and then mom and papa cooked me a home-cooked meal after a week of hospital food and eating out, and it was delicious!!!! So we finally made it home late Saturday evening, which made it a full week since I had been home. Sunday came and we got another phone call that afternoon that someone else wanted to come see our house, so we scurried around to look appropriate and charades out the door with Zoe. All this week has been pretty uneventful going between the couch and the bed. Thankfully I've had some visitors to help keep me sane, and mom has been here with me everyday. She really is the bet!! Which brings me to today. I get a wake up call from an agent telling me that someone wanted to view our house at 12:45. So I quickly called mom to tell her I needed her sooner rather than later since chris was at work and there was some picking up/ cleaning up that needed to be done. I hate not being able to do anything!!! And poor Angela who thought she was just coming to visit me got conned into washing dishes and help put some stuff away while I entertained Ava on the couch. Thankfully, we had already planned to be out of the house during that time frame bc I had an ultrasound scheduled at 12:45 and then an appt with Dr. Ladd, and Zoe had a groomers appt, so that all worked out great!! So, now about the appt. ultrasound came first and I got to have that done in the OB office I work in, so it was great seeing all my coworkers, AND they got me flowers for nurses week. So sweet!!!! Ok, anyways so my fluid level measured at a measly 5.1 today, but baby looked great and we got a couple pics. So off to my OB I went feeling very nervous and scared not knowing what she was going to say and more importantly what she was going to do. I "prepared" myself for getting admitted to the hospital again, if not for induction at least to get IV fluids to try to get my levels higher. All along praying that the right decision be made!! After some talking and doing her normal routine, she wanted me to go home but come back Saturday to have my fluid checked again. I was so relieved! I sjust wasn't so sure I could emotionally handle another week of sitting in the hospital not knowing the outcome. But I can honestly say that if she said that was the best plan and best for 'Youngin, I would have done it in a heartbeat regardless of what I wanted. So, the plan as of now is that I will go back on Saturday morning at 9am to have another ultrasound, and if it's any number above 5 then I'm good until Thursday when it will get checked again. BUT if it's lower than 5, she said I could leave and would be able to go to my shower, but then to come back to the hospital to most likely have a baby. So, needless to say, I'm nervous,scared, excited, unsure, etc.....kind of crazy how many emotions one can feel all at once. I just keep telling myself that God has everything under control and He has a perfect plan. This is obviously not at all how I planned or thought my pregnancy would go, especially after such a great first 2 trimesters. So, bags are packed, baby clothes are washed, crib is up, and that's really about it. I'm somewhat "prepared" if it's this Saturday or 3 Saturdays from now. Prayers are of course appreciated for the right thing to happen and Gods peace through it all. Sorry this was a rather lengthy post, but I guess that's what happens when one doesn't blog for a couple months and has a crazy last week to catch everyone up on. Oh, and did I mention that having our house up for sale has proven to be quite interesting while on bedrest :-). I have spent a lot of time learning how to use my sewing maching and craft the last couple of days so I'm hoping to blog about that tomorrow and post some pics of my crafts. Hope this wasn't too boring for y'all!! Hope everyone enjoys their Friday tomorrow!!

Where has the time gone?

Okay, so it's been quite a while! I'm still trying to figure out a "blogging routine" so that I can try to keep up. It's harder than it seems to try to fit blogging into my evenings. These last couple of weeks have been so busy and have flown by! I can't believe we are in the last week of February. Before I know it, June will be here and that's not okay bc we have SO much to do before the baby gets here! Anyways, back to routine! I mentioned on back that I was following the cleaning routine from cleanmama blog and that's working pretty good. I haven't stuck to it religiously, but enough to keep up and not have to spend a whole Saturday cleaning. In trying to become more organized and have more of a nightly routine, I have also decided to make a weekly menu and grocery list on Fridays or Saturdays that way we aren't scrounging around for dinner each night. I did this for this week so we shall see how it goes:-) I'm hoping it works well so that I can keep up with my blog too. Oh, and I also decided to do 1 load of laundry each evening which includes washing, drying, folding and putting it away. I'm gonna give this a try so that I don't have 20 loads all in one night and then baskets full
Of clothes that need folded all in one night. It's a trial by error kind of thing :-). This is all in an effort to have some sort of evening routine down by the time baby arrives. And I figured I would start trying different things now (a few months ahead of time) that way I can see what works best/ easiest. I'm all about organization!! And so in the midst of all this "trial by error" phase, we are putting our house back on the market next week. And then the craziness begins where we have to make sure our house is spotless everytime we leave the house in case visitors want to stop by. I'm excited and nervous all at once! I just keep telling myself that right thing will happen, and God knows what is best. Why stress about something that is completely out of my control? Yah, that's the question I keep in the back of my mind to attempt to keep myself "stress free".

As far as the pregnancy goes, I am doing well and so is baby! Growing and kicking each day. I never thought I would just lay in bed and watch my belly, but it's so much fun watching and feeling every little and big kick! Sometimes I wonder what kind of dance moves baby is doing....it's been such a fun & exciting experience. I'm still not quite sure it's hit me yet. Which maybe it doesn't until your holding your baby. I dunno, what do you already mommas think? We still have yet to do our baby registry. There's SO much stuff that's needed I don't even know where to start! Our plan is to take a day or evening and just go exploring at Babies R Us just to kind of get an idea before actually going to register.

Ok, so in an attempt to be better and more consistent with this whole blogging idea, I downloaded the blogger app so I can update my blog from the convenience of my iPhone :-) I'm giving it a try right now! So, hopefully the next time I'm updating won't be 4 weeks from now :-). Happy Monday and Happy Leap Year week!

Finally, the weekend!

I hope everyone had a great week of work, whatever that may entail for you! This week went by fairly quickly for me, thankfully. I will always welcome those kinds of work weeks.  I found myself feeling a lot less energized this week, thus the reason no post for a while.  My sleep at night has been nothing to brag about for sure.  For some reason, the restlessness has already settled in.....isn't it a little early for that? Especially since I don't have a big belly to be contending with?! I guess this is just the beginning, right?  And not to mention the frequent trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Oh well, it's all worth it!  Anywho.....I've had many of you ask how the new job is going so I'm going to talk a little bit about that.  I LOVE it! It's a completely different pace from bedside/floor nursing, especially when you're talking about L&D at MoBap.  Ever since I worked in a Dr's office my Sr year of high school, I have eventually wanted my career to land me in an office, and here I am! I enjoy the "office" part of being a nurse, whether it be filing paperwork, calling patient's with their lab results, answering patient questions (some very legit and some quite hilarious), etc.  These are all things I have been placed in charge of thus far at my new job, and I am enjoying it! I am still working PRN at the hospital, bc there's that part of me that LOVES being apart of the delivery and taking care of mom/baby.  It's hard to let go of something that you've done for 5 years, especially when you enjoy it.  However, working 6 days a week some weeks is quite exhausting.  Espeically knowing that the 6th day is a 12 hour shift.  I experienced this last week, which could be why my energy level was at a ZERO all week! My bank account loves it, but my body sure doesn't :-) Another perk about working both places is that I will hopefully be able to take care of one of our office patients when it's time for her delivery.  I love that "follow through" and seeing someone from the beginning to the end! But that probably means nothing to any of you, so I'll stop now :-)

As far as this weeks adventures, I spent a lot of time doing some searching for fabric for the nursery. www.fabric.com I have conned my mom into making the crib bedding, so Ive been trying to figure out colors, patterns, etc.  Not knowing the gender makes it a little more, okay.... alot more difficult to pick out colors. What I think is neutral and what Chris thinks is neutral are slightly different.  And I'm a visual person, so I have to see something in person in order to see it in my head...does that make sense? Unfortunately, I can't just thinking something up in my head and then produce it.  Basically, I'm a huge copy-cat, but that's just how I've always been.  Thankfully, Pinterest was invented and has been my lifesaver when it comes to getting ideas, etc.  I'd love to meet the person that founded Pinterest!!! My hero for sure :-)  Back to the copy-cat thing, I'm hoping that I can find a couple things that I like and put my own twist on it.  And luckily my mom is quite creative as well!  Her poor little hands are gonna be tired by the end of all this, but she said she's ready so we shall see.  I'm not sure she even knows what she's getting herself into!  I suppose grandparents will do just about anything for the grandkids though, especially when it's the 1st one.  I am definitely blessed to have such a talented mom.  Anytime I come across something that I like, I either take a picture of it or save it into a file on my computer, bc why spend a lot of money buying something that I know my mom can make for me.  She's been taking plenty of pictures herself as well!  So, eventually over the next couple of months we will decide on colors/patterns and have all of that squared away.  It seems quite overwhelming, so I'm trying to tackle one thing at a time.  Maybe I should make a list.....hmm I LOVE lists and checking things off.  Being OCD comes in handy most of the time!

On a different note, this year I decided that along with reading my Bible I would read a daily devotional as well.  I use the YouVersion app on my phone for my Bible reading program and the devotional program.  I chose Rick Warren for my daily devotional and I have been so encouraged!  His daily readings are very challenging and applicable and he also accompanies each reading with at least 1 scripture to go along with it.  It's been great for me!  I challenge you that if you don't already have one that you read on a daily basis to find one.  I also have one of Joyce Meyers devotional books, "Battlefield of the Mind" and I like that one too.  There's plenty of them out there! 

I can't believe I've made it this far without mentioning how much I enjoy a relaxing Saturday!!! I got to sleep in til 8:30 today, got up and had some breakfast, relaxed for a few minutes and then started on a few things around the house.  Washed some dishes, made the bed, put some laundry away and started another load, and then I started on my Taco Soup for this afternoon.  Today we are having a fish fry at my parents house......and I don't do the seafood thing, so I am making soup :-) It's smelling delicious by the way! Oh, and I got to cook it in my new dutch oven!! So while that was simmering I decided to grab my cup of coffee and sit on the couch and blog to catch yall up :-) Quite relaxing!  This is my kind of Saturday!  I had all intentions of getting out this morning to go shopping for some maternity clothes, but it's just so cold out there and way too comfy in my house.  So, I'm thinking after the festivities at my parents house I may try to hit up a few stores.  I'll try to take some pictures today and maybe post them later....I'm still trying to get used to this whole "blogging thing" and get into the swing of things.  I know for me I always enjoy looking at pics on the blogs that I follow, so I'll try to do the same!

p.s. I am SO ready to go back to the beach and to be that tan again :-) Just a few more months!!