8 years done already?

It looks like my new role as stay at home mom is happening a little earlier than expected. After meeting with my doctor today, it was decided that I would be staying at home until our little lady arrives. This takes me out of school for the rest of the year. While I knew this would be my final year teaching (for awhile at least) it feels so weird to know that tomorrow is my LAST day. When we lost Parker, going back to work was the hardest thing I had done. My goal was spring break. I made it, but just barely. Everything in me wanted to give up; to stay home and call it quits. Then my goal was to get through April. I made my goal - but it feels weird to not finish out the next 3 weeks.

In a nut shell, baby is growing, mama is not. I am 34 almost 35 weeks. Baby is measuring 10 days behind and is small even for that. My tummy is measuring almost a month behind. So the doctor is calling for a decrease in activity and an increase in rest, cheeseburgers & milkshakes. This is not bed rest, but just overall more time for rest (and any teacher out there knows the end of school is anything but restful!) The GOOD news is that she is showing the correct rate of growth between visits. There was a concern at last Thursday's appointment so I had a growth scan done at my bio on Monday and she is now 3 lb 11 oz. Not bad, but baby girl needs some more fat on those little bones. Looks like my nightly dish of blue bell ice cream isn't quite enough?  Maybe some hershey's syrup with nuts on top are in order? Or some of my friend Jami's ridiculously good "breakfast" cookies (I have plenty of time to make them now - all I need is the recipe - hint hint) I thought I had already accomplished operation get fatty... but it looks like I get to keep eating. No problem there=)

SO KC friends - if you are hungry in the next 6 weeks or want to hang out with me and watch me stuff my face - you know how to get ahold of me!

Anyways - I am sure I will have more feelings (& emotions) about all of this come next week when my friends & kiddos are at school and I am at home. For now, I am thankful for such an amazing team of doctors who are committed to making sure baby Hope arrives healthy & safely!

Mission (finally) accomplished

at long, long last, we have finished the nursery. according to my husband it's the fanciest room in the house. nothing but the best baby, nothing but the best.  the whole nursery has been waiting on this one little, "easy - cheesy", diy final touch. (More on that later.)


I am absolutely obsessed with this room. The walls are a robin's egg blue and there is lots & lots of light. The furniture was given to us by dear friends and I found the rest of the stuff at the Hidden Treasure shop (as I like to now call it).


Her little clothes, bows, shoes, books, blankets, burp rags, etc have all been washed and put away.  I know there are a few more trips to Babies R Us in the near future for odds & ends...but for the mean time, we are ready for this little lady to make her debut.




So.... drum roll please..... here it is in it's finished, final, product!

glider cushions: covered by jan

curtains: made by jan

bumper: made by bethany & jan

quilt, mobile, artwork: yours truly

for some reason, i had this crazy itch to make a mobile for the nursery. so i found a "simple, easy-afternoon, DIY craft" project on a website. ha. the website claimed you could make them for friends or baby showers or presents. well sorry friends, this will be the one & only. In fact, i'm not so sure that any future good children will be getting a home-made mobile. (we'll be hitting up fisher price for those.) there was nothing easy or simple about this silly mobile. I actually had to consult an engineer about how to get it to hang (somewhat) balanced. no joke.  i've re-made this silly thing several times, and probably sprouted a few gray hairs. finally today i finished it all up. my sweet husband said it looks like it's from pb. i don't think he was wearing his glasses, but i'll take the compliment. it's still not hung at the right height - but it's done nevertheless i like it. and if you feel differently please don't share your thoughts with me. it's more than i can take right now. (and campbell - you better like it)


ps: advice please - should I hang the mobile directly over the crib? I have this fear of it falling on her... it is home made after all. couldn't she still enjoy looking at it just at the end of the crib?

4 years... REALLY?!

So I'm up way too early this morning. Call it pregnancy, or allergies, or a stressful week at work that I just can't shake. Whatever it is, I am up, enjoying my only cup of coffee for the day and reminiscing.

4 years ago today I married my very best friend. Not to sound like a hallmark card, but I can't believe it's been 4 years. In so many ways it feels like just yesterday. In so many other ways, I feel like I have been with Mat my entire life. This morning I can't stop thinking about this day 4 years ago. Every moment of it. I know an anniversary is about celebrating a marriage, not a wedding, but I had so many wonderful little moments on our wedding day.  That's where my mind is today. One of my best friends claims to have a "bobby fisher memory".  I have to agree that my memory is bobby fisher-esqu (just not quite on your level Sarah). I can remember random little things that happened at specific times of the day several years later. I know I'm weird like that.

 For a little background knowledge you probably need to know that we had an amazing destination wedding in Mazatlan. We celebrated with 40 of our friends and family in an amazing beach front ceremony.

Here are some of the things that I remember most about that day:

~waking up at 5 am and enjoying a cup of coffee on my balcony overlooking the ocean

~breakfast with my bridesmaids - again overlooking the ocean

~running into our dads enjoying breakfast together

~the best massage I have ever gotten

~the most relaxed I have been in my entire life - I had to remind myself I was getting married later that day

~the stylist messing up Carissa's hair. there was a language barrier. it was hilarious. (her hair turned out beautiful by the way.)

~watching the workers set up chairs for the ceremony

~getting dressed with my beautiful bridesmaids Carissa, Andrea & Angie. Carissa calling because room service was late with our apps & adult beverages. again - a language barrier - hilarious.

~talking to mat on the phone. finding out my brother had decided to eat Mat's guac and chips while he was in the shower and spilled it all over his linen shirt. nice one marshall.

~the photographer being 1 hr late for pics. wait - it was mexican time. guess he was on time.

~seeing mat for the first time. we both cried.

~the wedding pictures with Martin. "Marteen" you've got to say it right to get the full experience.

~Enjoying a corona with my soon to be hubby before the ceremony.

~the moment before I walked down the aisle - my dad turned to me and told me I could still back out. then we both started crying. I had been calm as a cucumber all day until that very moment. 

~seeing mat at the end of the aisle.

~watching both of our dad's & Mat's grandpa perform the ceremony together.

~hearing my dad actually preach the sermon part of our ceremony. it was beautiful.

~trying to kiss mat during the sand ceremony only to get DENIED in front of all of our guests. I didn't know that wasn't allowed until AFTER we were declared man & wife?!

~seeing all the uninvited random guests who decided to join us by watching on their balconies & beach towels

~sweating like crazy in the hot mexican sun

~speaking of sweat - my cousin Angie apparently passed out and I never knew until the very end when I saw her sitting in the audience as we walked up the aisle. Good thing there were 3 internal medicine docs, 1 OB, 1 pulmonologist, 1 cardiologist, 1 pediatrician, 1 pathologist & 1 med student future surgeon in our crew. She was well taken care of=)

~Hearing U2's Beautiful Day as we walked up the aisle.

~dancing barefoot with all of our friends and family at the rooftop dinner/reception to some cheesy Mexican DJ. I had way to much fun. chicken dance and all.

(sorry dad - I couldn't resist this chicken dance picture...)

~not getting to eat any of the tres leches - our wedding cake because Marteen needed us to go splash in the ocean for more photo opps. they turned out cute. it was worth it.

~dancing with my dad to somewhere over the rainbow (the meet joe black version) I still cry when I hear it

~dancing with mat to etta james at last

~the toasts. they were all wonderful. my favorite was from Mat's precious grandmother. 

Okay - seriously I could keep going. I'm sure there are 1000 things I missed and I'm sure this isn't interesting to anyone except me as I relive all of those moments today. Thank you for letting me indulge myself. Tonight instead of going out to a big fancy meal or going on a trip we are ordering Minsky's, watching a movie and I'm sure I'll annoy Mat with several other "bobby fisher" moments from our wedding day. This sounds absolutely perfect to me. Let's face it, when you are 8 1/2 months pregnant, dressing up just isn't fun. Eating fancy meals in which you can only enjoy 3 bites isn't fun. Really doing anything but lying on my couch at the end of the day isn't fun. So Minksy's & a movie - that's how the Goods roll these days.

Happy Anniversary baby!

Happy Hour: Two for One

Lots going on. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Nursery decorating. Engagement picture taking.  Instead of my blog becoming too ADD, I wrote two entries. There will be more this week as it is a crazy-busy time of year for us.

happy reading=)

Speaking of birthdays...

So while I was busy turning 30 this weekend, Campbell was busy turning 33 weeks. She was incredibly active on my actual birthday which was by far the best birthday present. I had another bio-physical today and she scored a perfect 8 / 8. The silly tech got me all nervous because she wanted the doctor to come in and check something out with the amniotic fluid. (there really should be an ultrasound tech etiquette class. By this point, I am pretty sure I could teach it...) Everything ended up being just fine, but it had me worried for the longest 5 minutes ever that it took the doctor to come in and look at things.

She's breach ... again... This week it's a different kind of breach. Oh yes - there are several types of breach's and she has been in all of them. She just wasn't quite ready to stay head down so she's been doing all kinds of flips & turns. Looks like I need to break out the headstands again.  I think she might be trying to fulfill her mama's dream of being Mary Lou Retton. All we need from her right now is a forward roll. You can do it Baby Hope!

Other than that - 3rd trimester is in full swing. Feeling pretty good, just tired. Holy Cow tired. And hungry. Starving really (but you wouldn't know it by looking at me). I will feel crazy hungry and then eat a few bites and be incredibly stuffed. I even managed to make a $13 salad at the Hen House salad bar today. I ate $3 worth.  

My goal is to have the nursery all gussied up by the weekend, so stay tuned for pictures!

The BIG 3-0...

This weekend I celebrated my 30th birthday. We had a low-key, yet fantastic weekend that included

apps at one eighty

a concert at the Uptown

a trip to the River Market

McGonigles steaks

Pedicures with my mom

home made birthday cake

the fire pit on our deck

church with my family

some wonderful naps

brunch at the Classic Cup

snapping pictures at Loose Park

a lazy Sunday afternoon

dinner out with friends

It was easy, relaxed & perfect. Everything I wanted for the Big 3-0. My sweet parents made the trip up to see us and we enjoyed just hanging out with them. This has definitely been one of my favorite birthdays. Here are a few pics of our wonderful weekend.

Brunch on the plaza

How cute are my parents? I made them pose so I could get some practice...

 

these two are my favorite...
 

 

Open your eyes dear...

This morning before work, I took a moment and read this blog. Kristin Armstrong is one of my favorite bloggers. No I don't ACTUALLY know her. But I do stalk follow her blog consistently. I am pretty sure we would be friends if we lived in the same place.

If you don't know her, you should. She is Lance's ex (don't get me started on this... I can't stand L - she is WAY too good for him). She is a woman, a mom, a Christian, a runner, a girl's girl & a writer. She writes for runners' world but also has some great books out there too if you are interested. Short little devotional guides to give you a fresh look at the day. (She also just published a new one for moms) She is real. She'll talk about her love for God while enjoying a good glass of wine - my type of lady=)

ANYWAYS - her blog really spoke to me this morning. Take a few moments and read it. It will bless your day.