We're Home // Summertime

Well hello dusty ol’ thing; I’ve come to catch up over a cup of coffee and the most fantastic afternoon light beaming in over my shoulder. It’s my favorite place to sit in our new home; with my back to the bay window and all the light peaking through the backyard trees into the dining room. When we started looking for a house I had no idea it was going to be so emotional or take so long; in March after 8 months and 3 contracts that fell through (thankfully) we ended up here. A 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with nice long back deck and a great outdoor space for the kids in a wonderful family friendly neighborhood just 2 miles from Target. We just kept saying over and over again it’s perfect for us; it meets all of out needs and some of our wants; it’s ours! Thankfully the previous owner kept everything in excellent condition so there is only minor updating needed but nothing immediate (I mean technically yes you can live with a duck themed ceiling fan in one of the bedrooms). Prior to moving in we painted the kitchen and dining Colorado Gray and the living room and entry way Moonshine, both by Benjamin Moore. I had great visions of painting most of the house and getting it all cozy with personal touches this summer by life had other ideas and by life I mean two rambunctious boys! Looking back I’m thankful I’ve had a few extra months to really hone in on what I want in this space and what will best fit our daily living.

This summer was wonderful and being four days into the new school year has only confirmed how glorious summer really is. We had standing play dates with our bible study group weekly but besides that we just beat to our own drum. The gym, the splash pad, the lake, Grammys, the library; we got into a little routine of after breakfast getting out of the house until lunch time then coming home to eat, take naps, and relax until Dad got home.

Speaking of Dad, in June he was ordained as a Calvary Chapel Pastor! As in yes, I’m a pastor’s wife. I know, right? How did God miss that critical error? I guess if anyone doubts that God doesn’t call the qualified but qualifies the called then they can just look at us and see wow, God really does change lives! There is nothing good in me except Jesus. It’s been so exciting to watch Davy obey God’s calling and to get a peek into what that entails. He still works four days a week at his 9-5er but spends one day a week at the church.

Towards the end of the summer I tried to bottle up as many lazy days as possible by enforcing we don’t get out of our jammies all day or we just take it really easy. This summer I have learned to love being home; love spending time playing in the boy’s rooms or cuddling watching a movie or taking a family walk out to check the mail or just walking around saying yes, this is home. And now here we are at the start of the school year and I have a kindergartener. Let that soak in. But more on that another day.

Happy Birthday Emery

Our sweet Emery; you’ve fit right in since day one. Your calm happy demeanor, your independent playing, your infectious smile. You bring us all so much joy and confirmed jumping all the way into their parenting gig (as if one kid didn’t already do that) was the best decision we’ve ever made.

Saying this for the 76 time but this year has flown by; I mean really, so much so we themed his birthday party Time Flies. Because it really does. Like wow. You’re one years old. With Moses it was more a celebratory YAY we’ve survived the first year but this time it was more YAY we’ve loved having you a part of this past year.

In no particular order here is a snapshot into Emery’s world. He loves to eat; I know last time I was battling the mom guilt over organic pouches but those days are long behind us now that he eats table food at every meal. Waffles with applesauce, sweet potatoes, strawberries, watermelon, steak, corn, black beans, you name it, he eats it. He still wakes up once a night! Honestly I’m used to it but man after 12 months I’d love to lay my head on my pillow and not open my eyes until the sun comes up; maybe one day I’ll stop making excuses and work on that whole sleeping through the night thing. He loves playing in Moses room; they wonder down the hall (oh hey by the way WE BOUGH A HOUSE) and get lost in cars and balls and climbing all over the bed.

In the few weeks leading up to his first birthday he got his first tooth and started walking! He’s been walking for less than a month but boy does he get around; runs up and down the halls and darts for any open doors. Just writing this I’m filling with such joy talking about him…he really does make our life so much brighter!

My first born taught me how to be a mother; to give up a large portion of my selfish ways and multitask both mentally and physically. We scanned the baby books looking for answers why our baby was up crying so much at night and used gas drops (HAHA). When our second came around it was old hat, second nature; no mommy meltdowns in the middle of the night or googling every new thing he did. It’s confirmed just how much I love being a mother and I wish everyone could have their second child first!

A few pictures of his party and a sneak peak at the house!

 

 

Emery, the eater.

I was under the assumption that with your second kid you would first laugh about all the paranoid things you did with your first born like clean the fallen pacifier and never let them get dirty; you’d continue to do all the “good stuff” you did for you first and then just do better for the things you knew you kind of sucked at round one. So for me it was a no brainer…of course I would make all Emery’s baby food. But this time I’d kick it up a notch and add spices and blend more together and have a five star restaurant in the form of frozen pureed baby food lining my freezer. Well, then life happened, and that was so completely not the case. I has reading up on Baby Led Weaning and thought that was a pretty good idea (when explaining to my mother she simply said “like we all used to do when you were little”….well yes mom, except not the part about us gumming on McDonalds hamburgers at 6 months old in the backseat) so entering his sixth month I picked up a banana and avocado. We diced up the avocado and set it on the tray; he slid them around in his mouth then out they went. Maybe he swallowed a few, maybe. We tried that a couple nights and then the banana which yielded similar results. Well dang, that was the plan.

Strolling Target one day I decided to pick up a few of those organic pouches they offer for babies 4 months through toddler years to see if maybe he’d enjoy some good ol’ mush before finger foods. You know, I’d let him sample the options before making big batches. The pouches went over much better and before I knew it I was loading them in my cart every trip because he wasn’t finished sampling every fruit or veggie under the sun and OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO MUCH EASIER. The time I bought the organic produce myself, diced it up, cooked it, pureed it, froze it, yadda yadda yadda it was not worth my time. And by the way making baby food is so stinking easy and accessible and rewarding yet here I was telling myself I’d start next week. Well weeks piled into more weeks and by this time we gone back to more finger foods (turns out four months later he still doesn’t like banana and avocado) and then the whole thing just turned silly. Caroline; why are you making yourself feel like a failure when you’re feeding your child organic produce and nursing like a champ? When he’s thriving and growing and happy and life is all good? Have I defined the definition of Mom guilt yet?

So here we are in our tenth month and Emery pretty much eats a small amount of whatever we eat. Although I have noticed we eat a lot of raw vegetables or Brussels sprout which are too hard for him but I try to give him softer veggies at different times of the day. He loves meats and rice and gluten free waffles or sprouted toast with puree spread on top. He still nurses all day and all night (No! Sleeping through the night! Ever!) but I’m totally okay with that because these are the good ol’ crazy baby days.

Parenting is one big foot in your mouth, am I right?

 

 

 

 

 

Blink, we're here.

It was a silent wave that crushed me when I pulled up the archives. There he was; those big blue eyes and blond hair staring back at me. The mindless words I typed over four years ago are now treasured memories and I'm high fiving myself for hitting publish. So now my poor second child has iPhone Notes app to thank for the very small blips of information I thought to write down while nursing. I won't regret a moment because life has been pretty incredible blogging or not however I won't second guess myself next time I want to pause and publish.

September 14th: Emery was away from me for 5 hours and did great while we enjoyed a football game with dear friends who came into town.

September he started enjoying his exercauser and loves finding his toy hanging on his play mat then bite on them. Extreme drooler just like his brother!

End of December we decided enough was enough and it was time to sleep train! Yeah yeah yeah we let our kid cry it out in return for some much needed structure and SANITY within our house. It's been over a month and there are still nights we are working on it but for the most parts after a week he had got into a rhythm. Hoping to write more on this later!

Mid January started to crawl, intense burst of separation anxiety, eating baby food of all variety but no chunks yet. Sleep training success has been rough after a small sick bout but we are slowing getting our structure back. Always gives Davy a big smile then sticks his tongue out at him; it's their thing. Chews on everything like he teething but still no teeth! Nursing like a champ and mom is still his number one :)

And there you have; the smallest snapshot of Emery's life so far.

Half a year deep.

Life has formed into this predictable scattered beautiful mess. There are so many times I’m laying in bed playing out blog posts in my head and begging myself to carve out time to write and then I wake up and the thoughts have vanished. A benefit of working full time is that I used to have so much time to think; think in the quite of my office then quickly open up a document and write. And now? The most screen time I see is through my iPhone!

I used to think I’d have so much time to conquer ALL THE THINGS but some days when Davy asks me what we did I have to admit not much of anything. Not much of anything always includes throwing everyone together for preschool drop off, running errands, picking Moses up from preschool, making his lunch, making my lunch, eventually eating my lunch, rest time, nap time, cleaning the house, play time, cooking dinner, and then a dozen feedings and diaper changes in between. The day I just described I love but someday I get down on myself for not fitting in five more things on my to do list. I’m learning how to not regret living my life and sometimes that includes talking to my mom on her couch for two hours or strolling through Target.  I’m also learning what my priorities are for each season in my life. And also am I at my goal weight? No. Do my kids know I love them? You bet! Balance; so much strange balance.

Emery turned six months old on the 14^th and I really just hated it. With your first child it’s all about the milestones and the excitement their growth and development brings. With your second you’re literally begging for time to slow down and you know they will never ever be little again. He sits like a pro, would rather have a non toy over bright chew-friendly toy any day, and loves his Mamma. Oh boy does he love me; and I say this half heart happy and half oh my gosh I’ve created a monster! Seeing as we spend almost every waking hour together we’ve formed a rather tight bond and well lets just say if an hour goes by and I’m not back he’s not very happy about it! Thankfully Davy comes in close second and they do great together so I can slip away when needed. Another thing about milestones and second kids; you don’t really care! I’ve yet to look in a baby book and make sure he was hitting his marks yet at his 6 months appointment he was right on track. It took him a long time to roll over compared to Moses (Mo was a stomach sleeper and Em was a swaddled back sleeper) but there was not one part of me that thought what if he’s two and still can’t roll over!

He’s generally a very pleasant baby; he’ll sit and play for a while then fall over and play on his stomach then do the 360 turning scoot and play with whatever else he can find then maybe whine for me to come move him. The only small (okay huge) downside is his sleep or should I say lack of sleep. He was sleeping six hour stretches then they went to four to three and not it seems like we are up several times a night. I’ve started to dread bedtime and every few days I think I may loose it over the lack of sleep but then he wakes up with a big smile and all is well again. I know what we should be doing but yadda yadda excuses excuses neither of us sleep much (side note as I’m writing this he is laying on the floor talking up a storm of babble and smiling at me as if he knows I’m talking about him).

As you can see from the pictures he’s got a noggin fit for a toddler and eyes to match; oh those big brown eyes! 9 out of 10 times stranger mention how big and beautiful his eyes are and I happily agree. Funny how I used to wonder what he would look like and now I get to stare at him all day! My newest curiosities are what will he look like as a toddler, what will his personality be like, and can I handle it if I’ve got another goof troop on my hands.

And since we are talking about growth and development I’ll throw in an update on Big Brother Moses. The questions? They’ve never stopped and my guess is they won’t until he thinks he knows more than us (so what is that…9 more years?)! He loves school and learning but right now everything is a race to the finish. He’s hitting all his school milestones and his memory is still incredible; he can quickly spout off 1-100, months of the year, countdowns, school songs, and recall a moment we shared two years ago! Aside from milestones he is still such a social butterfly! I’ve talked about it on Instragram but he has a steady girlfriend at school and when I asked why she was a girlfriend and not just a friend girl he told me because he just loves her so much. He’s also into playing tag and wrestling dad and being a typical (almost) five year old.

I’ve have so much more I want to share, mostly about the last few months, but my slice of silence is over and I’ve got big brown eyes that won’t stop staring at me!

On living life.

Been a while, wouldn't you say? To put it in a very small nutshell; I've been living my life and avoiding this blog because it feels like a big black hole. After seeing a fellow blogger's life being stolen from her by finding out someone was stealing all her photos and essentially pretending to be her really made me pause before spilling every last detail on the internet.

Then I read this:

My Girl Thursday was such a huge part of my life for years. I spent every single spare moment on it. Unfortunately I stole a lot of other moments away from other parts of my life. Time and energy that would have been better invested elsewhere. I found myself feeling tired, grouchy (because I was tired), overextended, out of touch and always (always) lacking. And for what? Seriously, what was all of that effort for? Free shoes. A few bucks. Ego stroking. Or to put it less pessimistically - as sense of belonging, acceptance and even popularity. Those were not feelings I have come by very often in my life and I have to admit that I was addicted. Plus, the only trade off was that I had to forfeit almost all of my quality time with my family (or make a bloggable moment out of any of those aforementioned moments).

 

Reading this was confirmation to myself that it was okay if the blog was put on the back burner because I know I am still living life and it's okay if the rest of the internet didn't hear about it. I hadn't got to this point she was at but if spending time on the blog took away from any part of my life then it wasn't worth it.

So here I am; it's taken months to find the right moment to get back in the water and I'm doing it one toe at a time. So if you don't hear from me for weeks, it's because I'm smiling back at the squishy baby in front of me. Or making two dozen eggs for farm day at Preschool. Or laying on the couch savoring 30 minutes to myself when quite time is happening around here.

See you soon? Or maybe in 5 weeks? 

The first installment {#52weeksofEmery}

It's hard to believe 8 weeks ago we were snuggled in our hospital bed wondering what life would be like with him...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#52weeksofEmery from my Instagram

Here we are.

This day has been four and a half years in the making; it's consisted of many tears, pumping sessions, guilt, organization, frustration, and joy. When Moses was born there was no discussion because the possibility of making it work was zilch so six weeks post partum I was kissing him goodbye. We'd wake up early and get home late; I learned the art of cramming every errand into a lunch hour and meal planning with my crock pot became a necessity. When talks came of adding another child to our bunch I was adamant there was no way I could leave my baby again not to mention practically working just to pay the daycare fees (hello mortgage payment!). But months turned into years and the situation didn't look like it was ever going to change so we trusted the Lord knew better than us and we became pregnant. As you may recall this past year Davy also started The Worst Job Ever and there were many frustrating conversations along with the making of many spreadsheets and saying things like well we'll just never eat out again only to come to the conclusion this budget probably won't work. But then God made the impossible possible and provided a new incredible job for Davy and for the first time ever there was a glimmer of hope that we could make this work. This great job opportunity only got better and better and better so much so we would giggle and think how is this even possible... we are so blessed. As you may recall from the photo I posted on Instagram weeks ago saying I want to remember this moment forever and that's because it was my first day as a stay at home mom.

　
Even writing this weeks later it still brings bubbling tears because I'm so incredibly grateful.... I am a stay at home mom.

　
So that's life as of lately! People told me things like you're going to go stir crazy or it's so frustrating but honestly I'm still riding on cloud nine loving my new job. I'm finding it humorously strange to have all day to do house chores whereas I used to fit everything into two hours at night. On that same note sometimes with two kids it takes all day just to do a couple loads of laundry!

No real routine has been established yet and I am perfectly okay with that because we are just enjoying the summer: I still catch myself riding down the road on a Tuesday afternoon and thinking WOW normally I would be working but I'm not and won't be...this isn't maternity leave...this is life! As Emery has gotten older it has been easier to do a few play dates with friends and I can't wait to do more!

  
 

Emery's Birth Story

Something about going into our 41 week appointment Monday May 13th and hearing I was still 3 cm and nothing had changed made me relax. I wasn't happy to agree to an induction Friday and I wasn't too excited about spending another week twiddling my thumbs but somehow in our minds it calmed things. Monday night came around and I went to bed per usual only to be woken around 2:30am with a contraction. I'd been feeling contractions for weeks but I knew immediately this lower ab cramp like contraction was labor. I waited and sure enough another then another came. I shut my eyes and tried desperately to get rest because if this was going to be anything like Moses' birth I needed rest. Every 7 min I was back to concentrated breathing and then the bathroom trips started. Contractions bounced from 5 to 3 min apart for most of the morning. Around 5am I was on all fours in the bed trying a new position to work through a contraction when Davy rolls over and noticed; very excitedly he asked "are you in labor?!" and I couldn't lie "yes, but go back to sleep and relax"....yeah right. I could see his mind wheeling and we hugged and giggled and tried to chill out. My goal was for Moses to wake up naturally for school, get him out the door, and then head to the hospital.

Things started to pick up and by the time Moses woke I was hiding during contractions so he wasn't alarmed. By 7:15am I was asking Davy how much longer before they got out of the house aka how much longer before we can go to the hospital. Before Moses left we got to sit him down and share with him today was the day Baby Brother was coming; to say he was excited was an understatement. To be able to understand that when he got picked up from school he would get to meet him was so much fun for him to think about and made our hearts swell. 

At 8am we were checking into triage and by 8:30am I was hearing the nurse's surprising voice as she couldn't believe I was already 6cm and extremely favorable. At that time she asked about pain management and after a slight waiver of pure fear of the unknown I told her I wanted nothing. She left and I cried; cried because 1. this just got real 2. I was actually attempting unmedicated birth 3. finally.

Once we got settled into our room our nurse Joanna walked us through some checks that needed to be done and once we shared I wanted to go unmedicated she turned on her crunchy side and was 100% supportive the entire time. For the next two hours I labored in the shower, walked around, and sat on the birth ball.

 

I was surprised to find that during contractions I didn't want anyone to speak a word and the only comfort I needed was Davy's hand to squeeze. Between contractions I came back to earth fully aware and able to hold conversations, laugh, and feel normal; such a difference between last time when I felt so much was out of my control. I even fell asleep on the birth ball leaning onto the bed at 8cm during a set of contractions which I didn't even know was possible.

Around 11:30am Jane, my midwife, checked to find I was 8cm with a very bulging bag; we decided we could wait until it broke naturally or she could break it and most likely I could start pushing so I went for the 2nd option because at this point a few more intense contractions were worth the few minuets her breaking it would shave off. Once waters were broken she said I was welcome to start pushing on the next contraction. Wait a minuet, is this a joke? I was so surprised that we were here; we were to the pushing stage and I'd come this far is such a short time and more importantly I wasn't freaking out! Jane sat on the side of the bed with Davy to my left and the nurse on my right and I started pushing.

The ring of fire is exactly how it sounds and ouch, it burned! Two contractions in they made it sound like he was practically out and I was able to feel the top of his head. Between the excitement, the adrenalin, and the burning I was able to push him out two contractions later.

At 11:52am our Emery Shepherd was here!
9 pounds 13 ounces 21 inches long!

 

It was surreal; he was here, perfectly healthy, sitting on my chest...all before lunchtime.

After we got settled into our room our first visitor was Big Brother Moses which is exactly how I wanted it. He came into the room and almost immediately wanted to know where the surprise was that Emery had mentioned in the letter "he wrote" to him that day. After opening his Big Brother present he started to become more interested and the rest is history. The touching, the kissing, the more kissing, the holding, the loving.

 

As first time parents there were lots of tears; fear of the unknown, fear he would die in his sleep, fear we weren't doing things right. This time around we were ol' pros and even found ourselves twiddling our thumbs Wednesday ready to go home. Here are a few more pictures of our hospital stay and our very chunky (who doesn't even look chunky today!) boy in his going home outfit.

 

God is so good and we are so blessed. To be given Moses to raise and love was enough to last a lifetime so to have Emery is like icing on the cake; our wonderful family of four.

At 2 weeks {a week late}

The birth story is written just waiting on some first pictures taken at the hospital to post everything at once. Until then I wanted to get share some things going on in the past two weeks. For the unforeseen future most things will be written in blip format because that's how my brain is functioning lately :)

He was down to 9lbs the night before leaving the hospital, 9.3lbs at his 3 day doctors apt and then at 10 days old back up to 9.11lbs. So it's safe to say he's probably 10 lbs today but surprisingly he doesn't seem big at all. He appears long and lean and I'm having a hard time dressing him in anything but newborn size clothes right now.

At exactly two weeks his umbilical cord fell off and he got his first bath. Much to our surprise he loved the water and didn't mind all of our hands in his tub. His skin has still been incredibly dry so we figured once he got a good scrub it would slightly exfoliate and pull of all the dead skin but nope, still flaky as ever!

He WAS staying pretty consistent with his nightly sleeping going from 2-6am then 6:30 until 8ish but as soon as we thought we had this covered he had other plans and has changed things up on us. Thankfully the only thing I have to do everyday is snuggle and love on this little guy so I'm not too worried about trying to figure out a schedule at this point.

At one week old I got a call from Davy that ended up landing him in the ER with a cracked rib. He dropped the weight bar on his chest during a workout (yes, he had a spot) and was breathless and in extreme pain. Living literally two blocks from the hospital it killed me that I couldn't be with him but the ER is no place for a newborn. Thankfully it was only a crack and he is doing better everyday but unfortunately it put him out of work and unable to pick up much of anything for days. Oy!

As parents of newborns, especially boys, it's no surprise to hear we've been peed on before however it was a bit of a shock when I got pooped on. And when I say pooped on I mean sprayed like a skunk with newborn poo! I was changing him on the ottoman when I lifted his legs and the next thing I know my legs, dress, couch, and anything else in sight was covered with yellow mustard muck. I took a picture because I didn't think Davy would believe me however they will never end up online. How's that for birth control?

And don't think we've forgot about Moses! He finished up baseball season and is loving life as a big brother! SUCH A GREAT BIG HELPER!

 

 

*He'll be 3 weeks old tomorrow and I'm a week late posting this....story of my life!

** These posts are mostly for my memory sake; some of the information most could care less about but since I use this blog as a life journal I wanted to write about them. I promise not every post will be a baby update :)

 

He's here! {ESW}

And just like that, in His most perfect timing, he's here!

  

Emery Shepherd Waldman

Born at 11:52am Tuesday May 15th

9 lbs 13 oz 21 inches long

 

A birth story is to come but I wanted to get out a few things about the last 5 days before they start running together.

Overall it's been an incredible experience; after a picture perfect birth we had excellent care throughout our stay at the hospital and the adjustment at home has been kind to me.

Emery surprised us all with his dark hair and complexion! We still can't get over his long fingers and mirror image feet of his Daddy's. His nose is just like Moses' which is just like mine but his head shape and chin are all his own. He had lots of built up mucus the days following birth so there was lots of burping, choking, and congestion but on day 5 we are down to just a little snoring and heavy breathing. On thing to note about his complexion is the almost non existent jaundice this boy has; not 1 but 3 nurses and our pediatrician told us they've never seen someone with such low bilirubin levels!

Moses is handling things really well. We knew taking him to school Tuesday that he would have a baby brother by nightfall and we're able to share that with him before he left which made him very excited. I had a note written from Emery to Moses telling him how excited he was to meet him and that he had a surprise waiting when he got to the hospital so needless to stay after a brief hello to Emery he was looking for the special surprise! After that he warmed up to him, help him, and has given about 85 kisses since then.

I just heard poop from the swing so that's all for now!

PS. We are so head over heels crazy in love.

Playlist {April}

The evolution of a playlist: I listen to music 6 out of the 8 hours a day while I work and I’m constantly looking for new stuff. I love the apps Spotify offers for up and coming music as well as being able to lurk my friends to see what they’re listening to ( my girl Roshelle has incredible taste in music so she is my number one source) and then I just start listening. A song catches my ear and I slide it over into a playlist. Sometimes it stays, sometimes it goes. The monthly playlist is the result of all the songs I’ve really liked and listening to way too many time. I’m posting late in the month (really really late) and actually growing old of some of the songs I picked out 4 weeks ago but they could be new to some of you so enjoy!

Heart it Races by Architecutre in Helsinki

Goodbye, Goodnight by Mae

Go Home by Lucius (my most favorite this month)

Mirrors by Justin Timberlake (was my favorite from the CD before it go overplayed, quick)

Always Spring by I’m From Bacelona

White Sky by Vampire Weekend

Colder Weather (Live) by Zac Brown Band

New Summer by Young Galaxy

Fever Dream by Young Summer

Feels like We Only Go Backwards by Tame Impala

Humming Bird by Alex Clare

{bump} this.

Update written on April 15th. The last two pictures were taken after this update but you get the idea; I'm ready, oh so ready!

 

Has it really been a month since I posted an update? I try not to talk too much about the bump but gosh it feels like so much has changed since then. And to think I thought that felt like the final stretch at 33 weeks? Ha! With 2 weeks until my due date its crunch time! I swear that’s all the midwife needs to say is 2^nd babies come sooner than your first and you’ve got me thinking I’m having a baby tomorrow. According to my last two checkups my body doesn’t seem anywhere near ready for labor but as my Mom kindly reminds me she was checked with zero progression the day she has my sister so… God’s timing is perfect, right?

35 weeks

 

Physically: I’m tired. 9pm feels like 10pm and the simple task like straightening up the house is daunting because bending down to pick up 15 small objects creates heartburn for hours! I haven’t been to the gym in a week and I don’t see myself bumping around on the elliptical much more; possibly a few times in the lap pool but yall, I’m tired! Just this past week I started to have terrible carpel tunnel in both my hands specifically my fingers which makes me feel very old but also very useless. I also just got a linear line in the lightest brown tint which I was not expecting because I didn’t have it last time. It’s so crazy how our bodies change over these 40 weeks and then can actually somewhat go back to normal; God’s creations can blow your mind!

Remember how I talked about living in dresses? I wasn’t kidding. I bounce between 3 or 4 and wear them every chance I get even if the stripes make my belly look like a dining room table for 10.

37 weeks

My emotions in a nutshell: Ahhh yay whoaaaa weee ahhh yay. Mixed, so mixed. Am I ready to go into labor tomorrow? Not really. Am I ready to meet this little guy and feel reach for the starts over the fence world series kind of love? YES! Mostly I’m not ready because I’m feeling anxious about labor and what time or day it will be and where Moses will be and all those details you can’t control that I want to control.

Retrospect: I’m so very thankful how easy this pregnancy has been. I know so many people that struggle just to get pregnant then struggle with severe versions of the things I’ve slightly encountered then have complications and yeah…I’m blessed. So very blessed. 

39 weeks and Funny story about this picture: it's horrible. I had bedhead and felt nasty but wanted to document in case it was my last belly shot, ya know? As my loving Husband said "you know how some women get really fat noses when they're pregnant? You don't have one at all but this picture makes it look like you do"...THANKS HUNNY!

 

{hermit}

In hiding is what I’d like to call it. I have about 5 posts floating around (some even written out) but I can’t bring myself to publish. I’m officially sick of being around strangers because if my belly comes up one more time I may throat punch someone. I get it; it’s a way for people to connect, they are being friendly, they are making small talk, they want to talk about this experience, yadda yadda who cares I’m over it! I’d be happy as a clam if he came tonight or in 2 weeks but it’s being seeing by the public that’s killing me. I’ve completely hermit crabbed out and that includes leaving Aprils playlist, belly updates, or whatever else I wanted to talk about buried away.

Easter {Wordless Wednesday}

 

Vintage Noles Tee. Florida Boy flip flops. New Lego watch. Egg hunt success smile.

 

 

He can swing himself as high as the sun.

DIY Face Wipes

Well slap my knee and call me crunchy because well this is…crunchy! I’m all for saving money (turn OFF the lights when leaving the room) especially if it means the end result will be more natural or environmentally friendly (hello cloth diapers) so I was a bit surprised it took me this long to make my own face wipes.

 

I checked out a few internet recipes but found they weren’t working and here’s why. Yes it’s great to make 200 wipes at one time but I’m only one person and after about 30 days I noticed they carried an odor I did not want on my face. So I adapted and perfected the cheap, easy, crunchy face wipe! And yes all you skeptics, I’ve been playing around with these for months now so they've been tested and tested again and look my face is still wonderfully fresh!

Here’s the breakdown of what you’ll need:

• Water
• Coconut oil (please tell me this is already in your pantry because it’s the crunchy girls version of Greeks and their Windex)
• Gentle liquid body/face soap; I used baby shampoo but I’m sure any toddler or gentle brand wash would work great.
• A good roll of paper towels; don’t skimp! I went all high roller and got the $2 roll of Viva at Target because you need sturdy for this project.
• Small container with a lid.

Instructions:
Melt 1 tsp coconut oil.
Add ½ tsp of soap and 3/4 cp water to the oil mixture and set aside.
Cut paper towel roll in half…yes as in get out a knife and slice right down the middle. Put one half in storage for 6 months down the road when you’ll need to make more.
Pull off 30 sheets of paper towels and fold into squares (half then half again) and stack in your container. Its okay if they practically don’t fit because they still shrink down when wet.
Pour liquid mixture over paper towels, close lid, and flip around until it’s soaked through.

Price comparison

Store Brand:
I used to buy Target’s Up & Up brand which came in a pack of 30 for lets say $3 (I’m being super generous).
$3 x 12 months = $36/ year to wipe makeup off my face every night

My DIY version:
I had everything except the paper towels which costs $2 at Target.
1 roll of paper towels = 400 wipes (200 per roll and we cut the roll in half)
400 wipes lasts 13 months
$2 divided by 13 months = 16 CENTS a month

So $3 a month or 16 cents a month?

Not to mention you know exactly what’s going into your face wipes and your face still feels great! I take off mascara as well as wipe all over my face each night for an overall crunchy clean!

Pineapple Casserole {recipe}

As Easter weekend approaches I know most of us enjoy a traditional ham lunch of some sort on Sunday and with that comes one of my favorite “holiday recipes”. It’s super easy and actually pretty southern (read: not health) which if you know me know I’m not at all the “southern type”. Anyways if you’re not from the south or never had the pleasure of enjoying this goodness spread over your ham then I suggest whipping it up.

Pineapple Casserole

20 oz canned pineapple chunks

½ cup sugar

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 TBS flour

½ stick salted butter, melted

½ cup Ritz crackers, broken

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Reserve 3 TBS of pineapple liquid

3. Mix undrained pineapple chunks, sugar, cheese, and flour in a bowl; pour into greased 9x9 casserole dish

4. Mix melted butter, reserved pineapple liquid, and crackers in a small bowl and sprinkle on top of mixture

5. Bake 20-30 minutes and enjoy!

Like I mentioned this is a small side dish for the ham so either serve next to it or on top! Sweet, buttery, crispy goodness!

{His} time.

Alot has been going on lately that I haven’t shared because it wasn’t time. Now it’s time. The thing is we’ve been praying and trusting and praying and wearily trusting and praying some more on what God’s plan and direction would be in our lives. For a several months Davy has not been in a good job situation and it was not only taking him away from the family having to work 10 hour days and most Saturdays but it was also eating away at his easy going fun loving personality. It became a daily struggle to overcome the unethical immoral situations that were arising and it felt like weekly we were being tested with another issue. He had been applying for jobs, going to interviews, and even got an offer but every single thing fell through. We trusted that the Lord had a plan for us even if it meant staying put at this job which was a very hard thing to understand. To be honest I didn’t understand; why would we be stuck here? Why wasn’t anything working out? We were committed to Him yet here we stood month after month in the same spot. We were anxiously waiting what His plan for our live would be this coming year with the baby and if or when the job would ever change.

And then it happened. And in His most perfect timing it came by way of something completely out of the blue and 100% not our doing. See what He did there….made sure we knew He and only He was in control (oh so totally God!). A few phone calls and a meeting later Davy is now in a new job. A wonderful job. Eight weeks before my due date I’m on the phone with insurance companies swapping everything around and smiling knowing His timing really was perfect because the cherry on top is we will no longer be paying an arm & leg (and possibly the other arm) to have this baby. The timing is so perfect and we had absolutely no idea it was until it happened. We feel so blessed for His deliverance, so soaked in His love and protection, and overwhelmingly excited about this year.

Davy’s only just begun and I’m already excited about the new things we’re experiencing. We all wake up within the same hour now and get to see each other before work! We pulled out of the coffee maker last night and I dreamed of being that couple who enjoys a cup of coffee before work together (or at least wakes up to the smell of coffee in the house). And the very best part is his cheerfulness; it’s contagious!