The most important post I've ever written

I am extremely humbled today.  Today our church’s MOPS group met.  They had a speaker talk on how our families can keep Christ at the center of Christmas.  Then they gave everyone a little book about the birth of our Savior wrapped in wrapping paper.  I had my son on my lap and didn’t even think twice about letting him tear into it right away.  I am so blessed to be able to have his presents already wrapped under the tree.  However, there was one mom who didn’t open her’s up.  She explained to my mom that she had just lost her job because she has no car and takes the bus and was late twice.  She didn’t open it because she wanted her daughter to have something to open.  I’ve been crying all day about it.  Please try and find some way to help someone out this year! Things are so hard for so many people.  This is what matters, I’ll never forget it. 

Casey at 6 Months

Casey, you are a half a year old!! It's gone by so fast!


Stats:
Weight: 20 lbs. 3 oz.
Height: 27 inches
Tooth Count: 2
Eating: Apples, pears, bananas, zucchini, avocado, peas, and carrots.  You tolerate oatmeal but hate rice cereal.
Sleeping: You go to bed at 7pm and only wake up at 4am or 5am if you're hungry, then go back to sleep till 6:30 or so.  Plus you take an afternoon nap for a while. Thank you baby for sleeping so good!!!
Misc:  You sit up all by yourself and you're trying really hard to crawl.  You love to walk in your walking toy and wrestle with your daddy.  You have super fast hands and grab anything and everything that comes into your reach.  Also you look exactly like your mom except that cute dimple in your chin that every one loves!
You're the sweetest most easy going little boy and we are crazy about you!! I thank the Lord for you all the time, I'm so grateful to be your mama! Happy half-birthday son!!     

The year of Cotton

Two years ago today my husband and I were married. We've had a great couple of years filled with a lot of joy...lots of worries...but lots of love and laughter!  The traditional anniversary gift for the 2nd year is cotton...why oh why do you have to wait 30 years for pearls and 60 years for diamonds?! Just kidding cotton suits me fine, it's fluffy and soft just like my post-baby body ;)  I love you lovie!

Nature Walk

My husband and I and Casey went for a nature walk on Monday.  We went to the Kaweah Oaks Preserve.  It's a special place for me and my husband.  We had our second date there, and he proposed to me there as well!  It was good to be back with the "Fruit" of our relationship!  Enjoy some pictures!!

Experiencing a Disconnect

 look who we found in the wilderness?!

I love being a stay at home mom.  It's hard for me to be away from Casey for very long.  Even some long naps are hard.  (As you can tell obviously I've had more time to blog because Casey is finally napping)  There's a draw back to taking care of an infant all day...and that's feeling disconnected from the world.

Don't get me wrong, I've never ever been a social butterfly.  I enjoy spending a lot of time at home, and have always enjoyed alone time.  But sometimes I miss things about being out in the world. Having a job is not fun but talking to the same people on a daily basis is nice.  I go to our local MOPS things at our church however, I find that every one is in my boat...they don't have a lot of time and we only see each other for a couple hours every other week.  This does not relationships make, at least not for an introvert like me.

Beyond that I've also been experiencing a disconnect in my relationship with Jesus.  So many times in the last 6 months I've thought "I wonder if the Lord cares if most of my prayers now-a-days are "Please God let him sleep tonight!" I don't know...but I've been thinking about seasons.  You know like seasons in your life, and I figure this is a good season to work on getting my relationship with Jesus back to a good place.

My little boy will be six months old tomorrow...I can't believe how fast it's gone by.  But I'm thankful now for some more regular sleeping patterns and yes, thankful for long naps too.

Casey's First Halloween

Boo!

Mama's Boy

Did I tell you I just love love being this boy's Mama?!  I do!  I love singing "The Wheels on the Bus" to you because you instantly stop fussing and plant a smile on your little face.  You look so much like me but you adore adore your daddy!  You love to be wrestled and love it when someone sneeks up on you.  What a thrill!  I can tell the you're going to be a ruff and tumble kind of boy...you're already trying to destroy nice books and grab anything and everything you can get your hands on...But still you're my boy.  And nobody can put you to sleep like I can and calm you down like I can.  I love you little boy!

Casey at the Pumpkin Patch

Happy Baby huh? Honestly he was not very interested in the pumpkins...that's ok! He'd just woken up from a nap and was hungry.  Maybe we'll get some better smiles next year.

New Jersey

Well I took my first trip to New Jersey last month.  My husband and I went to honor his Great Aunt Emmy's life.  I only got to see her a few times but I am so glad that I met her!  She was really sweet to me and wonderfully supportive of Chris and I.  We got to celebrate her last birthday with her in September and I'll never forget how she placed everyone around the table and I received an honored position because I had her great-great nephew!  The funeral was lovely, very lady-like and classy just like her!  I'm so glad she's home with Jesus now!

I really enjoyed getting a taste of the East Coast!  It was beautiful and everything is old and cute!  The best part was that it snowed!!  I love snow (probably because I've never lived in it)...I know it was a terrible nuisance to the people who got hit by the early snow storm but for me, it was heavenly!  I'll be very glad to go and discover New England again sometime! 

Casey Month 5

I'm a little late with this one, because you're almost 6 months.  Sorry Casey! We love you so much! You've done so many new things this month...rolling all over the place, getting teeth, and walking in your walker all over the house!  You're sweet and cute as a bug and I couldn't ask for a better baby!  I love you sweet little Mister!

Casey, Month 4

Happy 4 months Casey boy!  This was an exciting months for us because although you've stopped sleeping good you've started doing all sorts of new things! 

Quick highlights: You're still as sweet as can be, greeting everyone with a smile.  You blow raspberries all the time to try and speak.  You're a quick learner.  You giggle and scream to show you're happy,  and of course you still cry when you're not.  You love watching Elmo, and hate your car seat.  You just took your first bites of food yesterday and you already wanted to feed yourself, making several attempts to grab the spoon from me.  We love you so much little buggy!

Casey Month 3

Casey is now a little over 3 months old now.  He's getting more lively by the day but is still his sweet mellow self!

A few things are different this month...Just when I think I've got a routine down things change!  He's still eating pretty much every 2 hours.  He either wakes up one time at night or not at all (or 5 am, which I consider sleeping through the night)  He mostly takes baby naps during the day, and has begun to cut a little fang tooth on the bottom gum.  He only really cries when he's super tired...but still spits up all day long.  Casey has the uncanny ability to spit up down my top and not on the burp blanket (blanket not rag!) I put there...silly boy!

I'm still bottle feeding and pumping...though I swear all quit pumping soon just about everyday!  But otherwise things are going great for me.  I love watching his little personality come out.  So far he seems to be like me.  He love to watch people, as do I.  He's sensitive, I was crying the other day and when he saw my face he started crying too.  And he's just mellow and quiet.

My hubby was gone on a business trip and I didn't here him giggle all week until he came home.  It was a sweet moment!  I love watching them together!  Happy 3 months little boy!   

Casey Month 2

Ok so I finally am getting a chance to post this, Casey is in the swing, so hopefully he'll give me 20 minuets to post an update on him!

 Casey has inherited his mother's worried face...all his pictures he looks concerned

Weight: 12 lbs. 9oz. (he was 7 lbs. 15oz. at birth)

Length: 23 inches

Eating: 4 oz. Mostly every 2 hours (unfortunately, he's a spitter-upper so he might be eating so often for comfort reasons, so we're in the progress with the doctor of figuring that out) Casey is bottle fed because of latching issues (bummer because I so wanted to breast feed, hopefully next baby!)  So I pump and because my supply is not super great I also formula feed. 

Sleeping Location: Casey will pretty much sleep anywhere which is nice...I try and have him sleep somewhere different through out the day so when he sleeps through the night he'll be ok with sleeping in the crib.  We've never had him sleep in our bed but we're always near.

Sleeping time:  He sleeps probably 20-30 minuet naps throughout the day, with maybe one or two longer naps in there.  He sleeps from 7pm or 8pm through to around 3 or 4 am and eats and then wakes up again around 5 or 6 am to begin his day again.

 still concerned

Mama sleep time: I sleep pretty good I go to bed around 8 and my husband takes the shift of putting Casey to sleep which can be a chore some/most night because although he's happy though the day he gets fussy around 6 pm.  I wake up around 12 am to take my shift with him but I just sleep when he sleeps.  All in all I sleep pretty good.

Mama Crazyness:  I'm doing pretty good, there was a while there where I was a hormonal mess.  I've already had my period...twice...Boo!  My body clock is super super regular, also not breast feeding helped with that little beauty.  So yeah Sunday I was in a puddle of tears all day long, pumping was really getting to me and my baby was awake all day...phew...my husband had to try and make sense out of my emotional rants...period came on Monday morning.

Miscellaneous: Casey is now playing, he's loving his floor mobile his Grandma Mary Jane bought him.  He also love his little bird mobile in his crib.  He's starting to like his swing too...thank the Lord I can put him down and put some make-up on once or twice a week!  High five!  He's also smiling at everyone and is so desperately trying to giggle.  It's so cute!

Rating: On a scale of one to ten how much to I love being a mama?  1 billion!  I love it so very much! I got to go he woke up hungry!

 this is how the photo-shoot ended, trust me my baby photos look the same

My Favorite Towel

 

This hippo towel was one of the first things we bought for Casey.  Casey is almost 2 months old so stay tuned this week for an update!

Happy Fourth!

Happy Independence Day! 

Series: Lessons from my Father

⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, ¹⁰ your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  

Matthew 6:8-10 (NIV)

I have always always struggled with the question of "What does God think about me?"  I can mentally comprehend gift of grace and forgiveness, but even still it's hard for me, especially when going through any time that is challenging, to think that God likes me at all.  I always think that God really doesn't like me at all. 

The Bible refers to God the Father so so much, you cannot deny that God designed us to be His children.  When ever I hear a sermon or anything reiterating that God is our Father I think about my own father.  I am incredibly blessed to have a wonderful Dad.  And I know that so many people struggle with the idea of "God the Father" because they didn't have a good Dad.  I then feel ashamed that I struggle with the idea that God likes me based on the fact that I know how much my own father loves me, and I know that God loves me even more than that!  And still I struggle. So as I was pregnant the idea came into my head that becoming a parent would be a great way to see how God really does love me.

So I'd like to share with you some things that God is showing me through becoming a parent.  

We (my husband and I) were lying on our bellies in our bed with our heads at the foot of the bed starring.  We were starring at this new sleeping baby, a precious little boy that God as blessed us with.  He was napping in his crib, which up until now he was primarily sleeping in a little bassinet.  It was so exciting for us, that we just watched and whispered to each other. Then he started to awake.  He was on his belly and he was lifting his head and fussing a little bit.  There my husband and I lied, the bed was divided into team pink and team blue.  I was ready to jump up and hold my little boy and console him.  My husband stopped me and told me to wait as he quietly cheered his little man for having such a strong neck, telling me "he's getting stronger!"  Casey didn't really stop fussing so shortly after we picked him up held him and fed him.  But now because I don't pick him up right away he can go back to sleep after a little fussing by himself.

This reminded me of how God has those masculine and feminine sides to him as well.  How when we are struggling down here God must be looking down on us one part cheering one part nurturing.  The great thing about God is that he knows exactly when we need both.  He let's us go though hard times to strengthen our faith but He will never give us more than we can handle.  What a wonderful Father we have!  

This is just one of the things I have learned for far, I will be sharing more soon!     

 

Casey at one month

little smile

In an effort to make this a place where family and friends can see how little Casey is growing I'm going to do my best to post pictures of my little guy more frequently....As a new mom it's been hard to focus on the picture-taking because, well it's hard taking care of a newborn!!

 Casey with Ellie and Grandma and Grandpa

So highlights from month one.  The first week of Casey I was still recovering from a "hick-up" in my birthing experience...involving not being able to go "number one" because my bladder was traumatized. So that wasn't fun, also the hormones were not fun either.  But Casey was a little bundle of joy!  He came out very mellow...and is still living up to that for now.  He getting to like baths more he smiles at least once a day at each person.  He loves to watch people especially his cousin, Jaxon, who is one year older than him!  I can see that Jaxon can't wait to play with Casey but for now brings him blankets when he cries...it's adorable.  Casey's other cousin Ellie can't wait to play with him either! She loves babies and I know she's already a natural mother!  Casey is not much into toys yet, every time we present him with one he would rather look at the person who brought the toy than the toy itself.

 Casey with Grandma

Casey has proven to be a trooper traveler as we have visited my husband family and friends this month.  He really likes the car as long as it's moving.  It reminds me of his first car ride home when we drove 5 miles an hour and whispered to each other comments about how good he was being and to be careful about the bumps in the road....we pretty much held our breath the whole time!

 Casey's first month picture

Casey is a good eater, gaining lots of weight!  He spits up a lot and I know that it bothers him sometimes so that breaks my heart!  He's not too fussy, on a rare occasion he takes a while to be consoled but it's mostly when his routine is off or if he's had a bad spit up day.

 Casey with Daddy

We love him very much and it's been a joy and a blessing to watch my husband become a father!  As for now we are working on getting him to sleep in his crib and enjoying his smiles, and cries, fusses, wiggles, everything!  You are our precious gift Casey!    
 

My love bug

Here he is.  The most precious gift God ever gave me, among my many many blessings.  Casey.  A sweet little name for a sweet little boy. 

Casey was born on May 9th at 6:39pm.  He weighed 7 lbs and 15 oz.  I woke up around 2:30 am and started to labor...phew it was painful! I had back labor because he was posterior.  We waited at home until around 7:30 am and I said "let's go I don't care if they send me home I want drugs as soon as possible!"  When I arrived at the hospital I was 6 cm dilated and I was so happy!  I labored for a couple more hours naturally and then around 10 am got an epidural and life became oh so good!  I had an extremely pleasant afternoon just waiting to fully dilate. 

I was fully dilated at around 3:30pm but he was still posterior so the nurses and my mom and husband did all kinds of things to get him to flip...which he did.  Then it was time to push and the nurse said a first time mom with an epidural will usually have to push for 3 hours.  I said "not me."  I am super determined when I want to be...some would say stubborn I say determined!  Well I cut that time in half...with every ones help!  Honestly even though at times I thought while I was pushing that I would never do this again...it was the most beautiful moment of my life.  The pushing ends...babies come out...that's the good part! 

At one point my mom was counting me through my contraction/pushing and then my husband tried to count but he was too nice and I needed firmness.  So they started to count at the same time and then nobody counted and in the middle of my pushing I yelled "NOBODIES COUNTING!"  And everyone laughed even me, well I laughed in my head because I was busy.  There was a high school student who volunteers at the hospital because she wants to be a nurse and I was happy that she got to witness the joy of helping someone through labor.  Nurses are so awesome and their job is so under-appreciated. There were so many amazing things to remember from that day!

Now It's been two and a half weeks with our precious baby.  He's cute, sweet, he smells good, he loves the car and being in a moby.  I love him so much and I just pray that God gives us the wisdom as parents to raise him well.  Casey, your name means brave...and we pray that you are brave in honoring God in all that you do, welcome little one! 
 

Things to do while you wait

 source photo

Here are some things you can do while you wait for you're baby to appear on the scene...

1. Eat tums.  Yes in the last month of pregnancy your esophagus shrinks to roughly 2 inches long.* So you will need to eat the tums all day long.

2. While you're eating the tums...try and find reoccurring patterns in the flavors. For example...Shake the tums into your hand "Oh I got 2 green an orange and a yellow" See how that works?  It's a fun little game.**

3. Take super long walk near a dog park and see how many dogs let you pet them.  Yesterday 2 dogs let me pet them.  (I really want a dog now to cuddle in the morning with, wish you could rent a dog to cuddle sometimes)

4. Watch Glee.  I know, I was pretty anti-Glee.  But the first season came on Netflix so I started watching it, and hooked like a fish.***

5. Fold and re-fold little onesies. And admire baby socks...and wonder why anyone would want to cover baby feet up.

6. Clean....?  Maybe you could do this.  Personally my sink is full of dishes.  However I did do some much needed dusting yesterday and my bathroom is clean.

7. Count your stretch-marks.  HA HA don't do this! It's depressing.  I do not have the type of skin that likes to stretch...I learned this at puberty, I feel that it is for this reason that I am the shortest one in my family...because my skin refused to stretch any further than it needed to.

8. Go into public and answer questions.  Don't worry this will come naturally.  The people want to know why your belly is so big.  They might even tell you that you make them nervous.  They will say things like "you must be due any day now!" And they won't maintain eye contact because they peer in wonder at your belly.

9. Buy some ice cream.  Look around at the women in the isle and chuckle evil-ly because you know they wish they could buy a jumbo pack of Drumsticks without feeling guilty.****

10. Do your hair and make-up just in case today is the day.  Alright I still don't do this everyday...every other day I think is acceptable, because drying your hair is a pain the the booty...which is already in pain because the baby's head in on a nerve.

*Pretty sure I have no idea what I'm talking about here...but I feel like my food doesn't go very far down.
**This is misleading.  It is not a fun game.
***Please don't call me a "Gleek" I do not accept that, I reject it.
****For the record I don't feel any guilt what-so-ever!

P.S. This is all meant in fun.  I have enjoyed being pregnant very much.  There does come a point where you're so uncomfortable that gotta keep your mind off of all the waiting!




 

Belly Awaiting a Zip Code

It's getting to the point where I feel as big as a house.  Most things that I wear accentuate my growing belly.  I'm still working as much as I can, which is about half as much as I was working a few months ago.  I like to work because I like my job and during the day I feel pretty good.  Usually working with customers is run of the mill, today though was a different story...

I had customers all morning say things like "you must be due soon!" Or "Are you sure you should be doing that?"  I even helped an older man who said "You make me nervous, shouldn't you be lying down at home?"  And he kept commenting on how much ground I must cover in one day.  I really really dislike any attention from people, so having a belly that demands attention (I guess) is hard for me.  My co-worker thinks my belly needs it's own zip code.  I'm ready for this part to be over but I still have 6 weeks left...and 4 weeks of work left, if he comes on time.  Until then I guess I'll just have to deal with the comments and questions.   

In Honor of Ms. Taylor

I don't know if any of you heard but Elizabeth Taylor died today.  Because I have a great love for classic movies I wanted to do a post on my favorite Elizabeth Taylor movies.  The best part about Elizabeth Taylor is that, yes, she was incredibly beautiful, but she could act!  She really could...which is why I think she was chosen for so many great roles! So here we go...

1) Elizabeth was the original bride in Father of the Bride.  So that's my number one pick.  Make sure you also see the sequel Father's Little Dividend, where Elizabeth as Kay has a baby. (This is one of my most favorite movies!)

2. The next one is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  This is a play written by Tennessee Williams about a troubled family in the south.  Elizabeth stars opposite Paul Newman.  This is a great movie with tons of layers, great acting!

3.  The last one I'll talk about is called A Place in the Sun.  Elizabeth is a young girl who falls in love with a man with one big secret.  Drama, of course, ensues.

These are just some of her movies that I have enjoyed but there are so much more!  Enjoy! 

Pancakes, Labor, and Tummies

 source photo

Today is National Pancake Day?! I love pancakes, or before I was pregnant I liked them every once in a while...now that I am pregnant they are a weekly staple.  I wasn't planning on having pancakes tonight but I just might have too now :) Delish...also for some strange reason I crave Cherry 7up. 

What else?  On Wednesday I will be 30 weeks pregnant.  This past Saturday my hubs and I went to a birth class.  I feel so much more prepared and more confident in the process...the process of having a baby I guess.  I really liked that the instructor was super positive and reassured us that I was made for this!  Because P.S. have you guys been watching the new show on Lifetime called "One Born Every Minuet?" I have...I can't help myself...um it's totally terrifying though. I just have to tell myself that they have to put the dramatic ones on otherwise nobody would watch. (because I'm not going to stop watching)

In my third trimester I have noticed that sleeping has become uncomfortable for me.   For a couple nights I have slept on the couch with the middle back cushion removed so I can put my belly in the space.  It's so nice! My sweet husband slept on the floor beside me.  Last night we slept in our bed, not comfortable.  I don't know what to do.  Boo for that.  That's pretty much it, except for the fact that I feel giant now.  I don't know how more baby is going to fit in this belly!  10 weeks to go!!  



   

27 is almost 30 which is almost 40

27 weeks pregnant.  Hold the phone this is going by really fast now!  I went to the doctor on Monday and I had a good check up.  Baby Casey is active, currently he loves to kick my bladder, which is super fun.  (But I'd much rather him kick than not kick)  But I found out that I am labeled in my records as a "Nervous sort of person." I am thus labeled because they call my name at the doctors and immediately I have to sit down and they take my blood pressure.  And it's high, because the nurse is not very friendly and makes me nervous, and going to the doctor makes me nervous, and people calling my name makes me nervous, and having to go by myself makes me nervous...and yes I suppose I am rightfully labeled a "Nervous Sort of Person" but I didn't want them to know that!  Whatever, I can still eat sugar so that's a good thing, I had a piece of cheese cake last night.  However now I have to find myself a blood pressure thing so I can do it myself at home so they will know that I'm not always a "nervous sort of person." 

Almost but not Quite

Hello there! We've been enjoying beautiful spring-like weather recently so Chris and I have been trying to get out a little bit.  Last Friday we took a drive due west to see the ocean.  We went to Point Reyes because there is a old light house there and also the possibility of spotting a whale or two.

First I have to prepare myself for the trip...which altogether took a little less than 2 hours.  I am prone to car sickness, I had it bad when I was little and being pregnant it's horrible.  So we first ate lunch to fill my belly and then I had packed a lunch bag full of crackers, sour candy, and a fizzy drink. During the windy drive I was getting sick and I was already full and my husband was saying "keep eating" and we were laughing because I looked pathetic trying to eat from my little pack around my neck.  Anyways we got there.

 When we got there I realized that we had to walk a half a mile to get to the lighthouse....up hill.  Super lame! So we or I waddled on at a snails pace and my husband kindly walked with me and stopped with me when I needed it.  And I didn't complain...just kidding I complained the whole time.  Then we finally got to the light house information center...and I saw people passing me gasping for breath and saying "water!"  I looked down the path and saw the light house with about a billion stairs in between.  I looked at my husband and said "nope, not doing it!" 

The walk was enough for me.  Then we read the warning sign and it said that the decent and assent of the stairs like walking up and down a 30 story building.  That was it.  So we look for whales instead.  There were none.  But oddly enough the coast line is full of dairies so we saw a bunch of Happy California Cows.

 

Twenty-five!

 (not a huge fan of taking pictures)

Ahh! Twenty-five weeks pregnant! Hooray!  I'm getting more and more excited to have a little boy.  Suddenly books about dinosaurs look awesome and baby blue everything catches my eye.  We started collecting baby blue Hippo things for him.  So far I have a stuffed animal, a lovie, and a hooded bath towel with a hippo face on the hood.

It was strange to register for things the other day.  My Sisters gave me a list of things that I would need that I wasn't being given already.  So we went to Target with the list.  My husband kept asking me questions I had no idea the answers to...like what's the difference between this and this or what is this and why do we need it?  I don't know, these girls have babies and they said to get it so we are!  It made me feel a little nervous.

I don't really know how much weight I've gained.  I don't care as long as my doctor isn't scolding me about it, and they aren't.  I like to eat everything.  I don't really have strange cravings like I did early on. I like to eat everything especially Wheat Thins but I always like those Ooo and Golden Grahams!  Yum!  My heart-burn is finally under control.  Thank you mom for sending me Prilosec!

The best thing right now is the fact that he can hear us.  I make my husband speak to my belly every night and Casey kicks and kicks.  It's so cute!  Casey is now the size of an eggplant and his main job is to gain weight.  I am happy to help him in this process.  That's all I know so far.  

Sunshine!!

 source photo

So we've been living just north of San Francisco for 6 or 7 months, while my hubs continues Grad School.  The Bay holds little favor with me because I'd just rather live nearer to family.  I don't like going to the city because it's hilly and it makes me car sick to drive in it.  My apologies to the CVS parking lot that got an unpleasant visit from me earlier this month.

On another note (but one I need to say or this post won't make sense) this January though March season is my least favorite time of year.  I don't like cold weather one bit.  Because I am a Californian my body is used to a great amount of vitamin D from the sunlight.  During these months my body craves the sunshine.  I can tell it affects my mood.

BUT for a least a week now I have been enjoying the most beautiful weather!   Who knew that the Bay had more to offer me than the San Francisco Giants?!  Not me.  While the rest of America is experiencing snowfall, I am experiencing 70 degrees and sunshine.  I'm not trying to brag, but it's January and you have no idea how happy this weather makes me! SF, you just scored some points with me.