26 weeks, unglued, and misc pics

This week has been a full one on all accounts! Fall is here and I'm enojying every minute of it. It's my favorite season and I love the crisp air, changing of the leaves, everything pumpkin, and wearing hooded sweatshirts. I love it! Last Sunday we took the boys to our favorite apple orchard and had a wonderful afternoon...they have a fantastic play area for the kids outside and an amazing store full of all types of canned goods, dip mixes, crafts, apple cider donuts, fudge....and much more. They also have a little resteraunt downstairs that serves warm apple cider donuts, applie pie, apple wedges and more. Yum x's ten.

Chillin on the tractor

Mr. Turkey

This is how I feel at 6.5 months pregnant :)

This is what happens when the boys hijack my camera

Apple cider goodness!

Love this boy!

As the week progressed I started to feel off..i don't even know how to describe it other than just not feeeling like my normal self..and then on Thursday I started having contractions. First they were in my back and then moved to my front. Now that being said I've had braxton hicks before, but these weren't them...and they were five minutes apart. Ugh. Chad was in Chicago and after 30 minutes of them continuing I called him and asked if he could head home. I really dislike asking him to leave work and make the two hour drive but I also get nervous that if something happens I would like him to be here. I called my dr right away and of course she was out that afternoon. The nurse told me to lay down and start counting them and come in if they continued throughout the hour. Well call it stubborn or prideful but I didn't go to L&D. The contractions continued for five hours but as the time progressed they got further and further apart. By 9:00 pm they stopped but I was exhausted. I called my dr the next morning and went in to be checked. Thankfully I haven't dialated and my FNN test came back negative another praise! I did test positive for a bacteria infection which explains why i was feeling off and will treat that with an antibiotic for the next week. So needless to say I was wiped on Friday and thankful to be at home resting. I was a little disappointed because I had planned to go to Chicago on Saturday to work on my Christmas shopping but decided it would be better if I stayed close to home. So I called my girlfriend D who lives in Madison and decided to head up to see her on Saturday and have my cloth diaper consult with her:) and then do some shopping up there. And it was a fantastic impromtu day out with her. I got to her place at 8:30 and she showed me her set up again, this time with me taking notes and then we headed to one of our favorite coffee shops, followed by the cloth diaper store for more consulting :), then the mall and barnes and nobles. The awesome thing was I was able to get the baskets for Harper's closet, do some Christmas shopping, get my cloth diaper consult down three weeks in advance, and was home by 2:00. It was a great end to a long week! I forgot to mention that I also stopped by my favorite Christian bookstore and picked up a couple of books and Christmas items and two books that have been on my wish list for some time. I read about Lysa Terkeurst's book Unglued a while back but haven't had the opportunity to pick it up and made sure to do so yesterday. I started reading it this morning and haven't been able to put it down. Wow talk about meeting me right where I am at this season in my life. I think I've highlighted a handful of sentences on almost every page and am in awe at all that God is speaking to me about through her via these pages. So much to take in but so excited to be molded and stretched.  And before the new week starts i'll leave you with a few more pics from the last week.

And before the new week starts i'll leave you with a few more pics from the last week.



At church after an amazing service!





I found these shoes this weekend and found the perfect dress in Harper's closet to match!





Harper's closet is 90% complete! I found these baskets at Pottery Barn and just have to determine the organization structure below her second row of clothes.



Enjoying this Season!

This week has been amazing...truly amazing and peace filled! On Monday I met with my OB and had my first amazing appt! I say my first because my others have been filled with so many unknowns, tests, sickness, uncertainty that this one was nothing short of "normal" and wonderful. She even laughed that were able to talk about "normal" stuff and it was great. I was excited to find out that I've only gained nine pounds during this pregnancy. That being said my disclaimer has been that I had a lot of extra cushion to start with. :) Having been laid up for nine weeks after breaking my foot and then stuck again when I tore my meniscus the weight I had lost slowly creeped back, but all of that being said I am thankful for the menu planning and ability to keep my weight where I want it to be this pregnancy. I've been debating whether or not to share our daughter's name on our blog but finally decided too only because I love calling her by name and feel like it already fits her personality so well. Chad and I decided to name her Harper Elizabeth Grace and we are thrilled! I am in continuous awe at all that God has blessed our family with and knowing that this precious baby inside of me continues to grow and is healthy is a blessing that words often can't describe. I find myself wiping tears of joy away on a weekly basis and enjoy our night time ritual of me laying down for bed and her moving around like a little gymnast..I enjoy every moment and fight falling asleep just so I can cherish each moment.  Another favorite time of the week is at church...I'm not kidding every time our woship band starts playing and we worship she starts moving all over the place. I can't help but place my hand on my stomach and pray over my beloved daughter.

In other baby news her closet is almost complete. Chad did a wonderful job of buiding it and I think I found the perfect baskets at Pottery Barn last night but am going to wait until I visit Crate and Barrel next weekend to be sure. I find myself in her room a couple of times a week picking up pieces of her clothes, shoes, and hats and just praying for the days and months to come. I can't wait to hold her in my arms and am pretty sure it's going to take some convincing for me to give her up to visitors.

With all of the changes over the last couple of months; my Chicago office was moved up north, Chad's only traveling to Chicago once a week, and my relationships with many girlfriends have blossomed again it's just been a wonderful season in our lives.  I feel like life has slowed down a bit and more present in my day.  I'm enjoying making meals almost evening night after work and breathing in everything about fall.  Just yesterday I went with a girlfriend to a Thai resteraunt that I've been wanting to try forever and LOVED it! We then made a stop at a neat shop called SERV that has items made by woman from third world countries and officially started my Christmas shopping. My goal is to be done by the end of October and I'm determined to finish by then and not a day later! We then stopped by the mall and I fell in love with Williams & Sonoma's Pumpkin Spiced Latte syrup and had to get a bottle...this morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee with a teaspoon of it and think I will have to pick up a couple more bottles for safe keeping and stocking stuffers. We also stopped by Teavana which is one of my favorite stores! I always feel like a kid in a candy shop and this time was no different. Knowing that I still have a pleathra of tea in my tea basket I was determind to only purchase one new flavor....and I settled on Carmel Almond Amaretti...I haven't tried it yet but just smelling it made me fall in love with it and I have high hopes! My girlfriend bought a carmel salt flavor that we are told blends well with mine so we are going to be sure to try it out at the office next week! And tomorrow we are taking the boys to one of my favorite apple orchards! It's been a tradition for years and i'm so looking forward to making new memories this year!  Wishing everyone a joy filled Saturday and will be sure to post new pics tomorrow!!

22 weeks, a birthday, and ebay :)

These past few weeks have been busy! We spent a couple of weeks trying to get the boys' school supplies for school and getting their room clean and things organized before their school schedule resumed.  I can't believe they are in first and second grade this year!!! I'm very excited for both of them this year as their teachers seem fantastic and they each have a few friends in their class from last year which is great. They've transitioned beautifully from a fun filled summer to a schedule that includes school, homework (already :)..), playing, devotion time, and an episode of cup cake wars or chopped with mom before bed.  I'm excited to see how they grow this year.

Saturday Noah turned 8.  It's amazing to me just how fast the years have flown by. I will be the first to tell you that I used to roll my eyes at people when they told me how fast the time goes by...and now 8 years later I am in awe of just how fast the years are going.  I'm so thankful for Noah and the little "man" that he is.  His laughter is contagious and his heart for others is something that i'm so proud of.  I am humbled that God choose Chad and I to be his parents and hope that as he continues to grow that we will set an example for him that God will be proud of. We took him to one of his favorite resteraunts (and ours) for some cheese curds and amazing pizza on Friday. Yesterday we headed over to my sisters for a family birthday party which was a lot of fun. Afterwards the boys played out in the yard with the hockey sticks and puck Noah received and I chatted with Ash after taking a quick nap.. :) Then we headed to church for an awesome sermon from our pastor David. He has been on sebatical the last month and while we have enjoyed the guest speakers, i've missed his sermons. We ended the night with concrete mixers, but i was dissapointed because I was hoping Culvers would have their pumpkin cheesecake out but they aren't serving that flavor until tomorrow. Guess where i'm stopping after work tomorrow? :)  Today we went over to Chad's parents for cake and ice cream with his grandparents and the boys. Noah was excited to see all of them and enjoyed the super mario cake his aunt made for him. After many laughs we headed over to Target and am now home getting ready to try a new recipe for dinner.

One of the other highlights from our weekend was Chad introducing me to ebay. Now, i've known all about ebay for years, but i've never shopped on it or even looked at it to be honest. I know people who do but I guess just haven't thought about it...until now. :) Chad showed me some baby girl lots of clothes yesterday morning and I was hooked. During our car rides all over i've been watching lots and bidding on quite a few. I can't believe how many clothes i've purchased for baby H in the past 24 hours and the amount of money we've saved.  I have one more lot that i'm watching for 0-3 month clothes and then I think we should be good to go for that size.  I have a girlfriend who has a 1.5 year old and she has offered to let us borrow her daughters clothes, which I am so excited about! So between ebay, my girlfriend, and things our friends and family will be getting H I'm pretty sure she will be in good shape once she gets here.

I've had so much fun with ebay that I decided to go through my boys tubs and attempt to sell a couple of lots of clothes myself. We'll see how it goes. I told Chad if I don't sell them on ebay I'll try Craig's list and then take them to Goodwill. Either way I'm cleaning through things and enjoying ever minute of it. And if I can make a small profit to support my ebay adventures it's even better. :)

They were not happy with me wanting to take their picture!

They were so excited to get to school that here they are telling me to hurry!

If only Noah's eyes were open!

I've been wanting to post these pics all week and even had one of myself with the boys but it keeps pasting side ways...oh well!

Perfect Peace

Our appt yesterday was amazing, full of encouraging news, and next steps defined.  In short the baby is doing well and has not been negatively impacted by my infection.  My white blood cell count is back to normal and my fever has stayed down. My OB requested that I stay local and don't travel to the city for work indefinately which is fine by me. And to my complete surprise we found out that we are having a baby girl!!!! Going in to the ultrasound the tech asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby to which I replied, "yes, but I assume it's a boy"..to which she replied " Well I don't assume anything and will only tell you if I know for sure"...as the appt progressed she made small talk with Chad and I asking about the boys we had at home, their names, age, etc...and then says "Well they are going to make great big brothers to their little sister"..to which I wanted to reply Shutup, but responded with "You've got to be kidding me!!!" And the tears flowed and Chad jumps up arms in the air and says "Yes, we can be done if we want too.." and then " I need to start saving for her wedding, prom, and purchase a shot gun"... It was a precious/surreal moment. The rest of the afternoon flew by and we continued to look at each other and repeat "Can you believe it's a girl"... I've been calling her, him, he, Brody for the last few months and was just so excited to find out we are being blessed with a daughter. And after work I made my first stop to buy a couple of girl outfits and had a blast.  So much so that when I woke up at 2am I spent an hour and a half looking at etsy and putting many hairbows in my shopping cart along with some other fun things. 

On Friday we are going to go register at Babys R' US and Chad will start painting the nursery on Saturday. I think i sent multiple texts to our friends and family all day yesterday and are thrilled that four months from now we will be our daughter. Now we are just wondering who she will look like and what color hair/eyes she will have. So incredibly thankful that she is healthy.

20 weeks, quiet time, and a big day

I'm excited to enter my 20th week and know that I'm half way through my pregnancy. Unfortunately with everything that has transpired over the last week and a half I've had a hard time being excited about a whole lot due to nerves and the waiting. And while I've been home on bed rest over the last week I have to admit that I wasn't doing a good job of enjoying quiet time with God. Yes I was laying in bed watching four season of How I Met Your Mother and a plethora of other shows that were DVRd, but I wasn't opening the word and seeking His words until Friday evening. God really convicted me that I needed to get back into scripture on a daily basis and spend some quiet time with him.  And so I grabbed my prayer journal and my Bible and have relished in my quiet time with Him the last few days. The scripture that my fingers touched poured out into my heart and I felt my built up walls (from the last couple of weeks) crumple and His peace cover my heart. It's what I've needed and I'm so thankful that I was obedient and didn't tune his beckoning out. I thought I would share a few of the verses that I have continued to read over and over the last few days:

• Psalm 42:5 Why are you downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me. Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior, and my God
• Psalm 62:5 Find rest, o my soul, in God alone my hope comes from Him.
• Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and my song: He has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise Him. My father's God and I will exalt Him.
• Exodus 15:13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

Even now as I sit and read over them I'm so thankful that I can rely on God's strength and not my own.  I think I often try so hard to rely on my own "strength" when really God is just patiently waiting for me to rely on His.  And so as my Monday begins with Him I am trying to be quiet this morning and as I get ready to head to the hospital for more appointments and another ultrasound. 

The good news we received on Thursday was that my blood cultures and titers came back negative. There were two titers that were still in a preliminary status on Thursday so we should get those results today. This mornings appt we will discuss next steps with my OB.  I was getting excited because as of Thursday my pain in my uterus was at a 3/4 and I thought it was going away. However after moving around Friday-Sunday the pain has intensified and I don't know why. I'm hopeful that we will get more answers this morning and direction on what needs to happen next. Following my appt we will head to radiology for an ultrasound where they will do the 20 week ultrasound and look at the organs and other things. One of the things the doctor shared with us is if the infection I have is an external uterine infection that it will have already crossed the placenta and there can be a negative impact to the baby. I'm not sure when/how they can determine if the baby has been affected...it's one of my many questions for my OB this am. 

Aside from all of the above we had a really nice weekend as a family. The boys are getting ready to head back to school and decided to tackle their supply list this weekend in hopes of avoiding the crowds and picked through supplies. Our plan worked and the boys have everything they need minus red pencils. I think my favorite part of that experience was Ky holding my hand across the parking lot twice. He is such a daddy's boy and always wants to walk with Chad and for some reason he got out of the car and grabbed my hand right away during our shopping trip and it just melted my heart. Something so small but means so much. I also picked out matching onesies and shirts for the boys...it's a really cute motorcylce shirt that will look adorable on all three. And as I shared with chance that if I'm wrong and I'm carrying a girl we can always accessorize with a cute black hair bow. That being said I'm positive I'm carrying another boy. :) Hopefully we will receive confirmation today. Well I should get going and get organized before we leave in a bit.

19 weeks, a hospital stay, and waiting

This week has been a rough one. A week ago Thursday I started to experience pressure in my uterus and wasn't too concerned until Sunday evening when my head wasn't feeling all to great and checked my temp and it was at 101. I called my OB who happened to be on call and figured out what to do in the event something happened before my appt with her the next morning.  After a couple of labs and an ultrasound she sent me home with some antibiotics. Over the next three da ys I went back to the hospital each day for labs and a second appt. Thursday morning my low grade temp hadn't broken and the pain hadn't gotten worse or better.  My OB made the decision to admit me, give me an iv, check heart tones every 6 hours, do four blood cultures, and take 40ML of blood in the afternoon after I had 10ML drawn that morning.  Our game plan, get my fever down for 24 hours, monitor the baby, wait for the tests to come back, reach out to a high risk OB clinic north of us, and wait until this Tuesday for all the results to come in.  By Thursday evening I was weak from all of the blood they had drawn and all that had been thrown at us to review and pray over. Thursday evening the nurse came in to check the baby's heartbeat and after ten minutes was unable to find it. She called the lead nurse in and after ten minutes they called my OB to come in and ordered an ultra sound. As the second nurse was attempting to find the heartbeat and couldn't I lost it...and when they left to call my OB I sobbed. I'm so thankful Chad was still there with me, as originally he was going to pick up the boys and take them home after I took my 6:00 shot. The five minutes it took my OB to come seemed like an eternity but once they put the Doppler on my stomach baby bean showed up and they found the heartbeat quickly. And I continued to cry with now joy filled tears. All I could think about when they couldn't find the baby's heartbeat was that I was going to have to deliver before the baby would make it and the rush of memories from losing Mason came rushing back. So after additional conversations with my OB, she left for the evening, and Chad and I spent a few minutes talking about the next few days and he left to get the boys. 

And now I jump ahead to today. I was released to come home Friday afternoon since my fever broke and there isn't anything else they can do to treat me until they know what type of uterine infection I have. The results should be back from CA Tuesday am and the high risk OB unit is on call and ready for me to be transferred there pending how things come back. While my OB, Chad, and I have talked about the numerous decisions that may come up in the next few days I am desperately trying to keep my mind busy....which is really hard to do when you are spending most of your time in bed. That being said Chad has been so patient and spent time then he would probably care to watching every episode of Say Yes to the Dress on DVR. And on the flip side the boys have all joined us in our room to watch ever episode of Shipping Wars, Storage Wars, Cajun Police, Duck Dynasty, and a handful of other shows that on any other given day I would pass up. But they have been a welcome diversion. And so now I continue to wait and unfortunately the uterine pain hasn't changed...better or worse. My fever spiked again Friday evening and hasn't gone back down yet. Ugh.

As of right now the baby looks healthy but the doctors are concerned that depending on what type of infection I have that the baby will/has been affected and there are risks associated with that. So while I am trying to be optimistic I'm struggling at the moment with all of the information that I have been reading and going over the last few days. I think what is frustrating the most is that we don't have the answers we need to move forward with plan B, C, or other. But I know while we don't have the answers HE does and HE is present in all that is going on right now. I wish I could say I felt His peace right now but I'm not, and continue to pray that HE will calm my heart, nerves, and that I will rest in His arms.  My head knows that is what I need to do, but my heart is struggling at the moment. I feel my walls shooting up, pulling back from my friends, and not wanting them to see me vulnerable. Them and my family minus Chad. It's just something that I'm not comfortable with. And right now I feel like I can't stop the tears throughout the day....I just pray Tuesday will come here quickly and that the infection will heal and that the baby will be ok.

Thankful that I can come here and ramble all of my thoughts. It helps...

18 weeks and many thoughts..

I don't even know where to begin. The last 2.5 weeks have been amazing! I logged off of work on the 25th of July and haven't checked email since. It's been two years since I've had a vacation where I haven't worked for some part of the vacay. I now have an assistant who has been a huge blessing to me at work. It was so nice to know that someone was there covering for me while I was gone. It took me a matter of hours to completely disengage and I loved just being with my family and not feeling the need to check my email.

The boys and I left and headed to Georgia to see my best friend, Carm. We have been best friends since I was 15 and it has been so amazing to experience life together.  Our children are close in age and we continue to make some amazing memories whenever we get together. I love it because we can just enjoy hanging out in yoga pants chatting at the table or couch for hours.  We did a lot of fun activities with the kids and discovered a plance called Menchies that we all fell in love with! I have a lot of people that I would consider good friends where I live now and i'm so thankful for each of them, but I've always called Carm my person. She has been there for me through so many things in my life and with her I don't have to explain anything because she was there.... I feel like i'm at home when i'm with her and love that her and her husband love our children as Chad and I love theirs. It's just such a blessing. I was so excited to ask her and her husband to be our baby's godparents. They said yes and are so excited!

After staying with Carm for a week the boys and I headed to Atlanta to pick up Chad who flew in to meet us. We spent three days in the ATL exploring the aquarium, museums, and lego land.  Not to mention some really good resteraunts. I think one of my favorite memories was after our long days we would get cleaned up and lay in our hotel beds and stay up late watching the olympics with the kids. I loved watching them with the covers pulled up and their little eyes peeking out taking it all in. We had many laughs and great conversations over the Olympics.

After Atlanta we headed up to South Carolina for a week. We spent a few days at my cousin's home. She and her husband have three kids and their oldest son is 10.  The boys haven't stopped talking about him since we were in SC last year and couldn't wait to throw the football with him again. We were also able to see my aunt and uncle and Grams.  My aunt had us all over one night for an amazing meal. She made calzones that had spinach, shredded chicken, and cheeses inside, a taco lasgnana, two different bruchettas, potatoes with bacon and cheeses, a summer salsa that had corn, cucumber, tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, and a few more ingreadients I can't remember. Chad and I wore floored by the spread and to top it off Grams made an amazing peach and pecan cake. I'll be honest in that Chad nor I normally like either but the cake melted in my mouth! That night Chad and I laid in bed and I asked him what his favorite dish was to which he replied "all of it"..

We left my cousin's and headed to Charleston and Isle of Palms..two of our favorite places in SC.  There we spent time on the ocean, walking the market, enjoyed gelato, and was able to have dinner with my other cousin who lives there and is expecting her first in November. We made sure to stop at the Savannah Candy Company which is the boys favorite candy shop and Chad and I enjoy their truffles as well. :)  The two weeks flew and before I knew it we were heading back home. We got home Wednesday evening and have enjoyed the last four days at home. I have to say that I'm having a hard time today knowing that I return to work tomorrow. I think letting myself fulling disengage from work allowed me to let go of work and all the craziness and just relish in soaking up every moment fully. I haven't slept as good as I did while I was gone in forever and can't say that i'm excited to open my email tomorrow to what I estimate to be anywhere from 800-1000 emails. And I wish I was joking about the number of emails but i'm not. I've been praying all day that God would calm my nerves and give me peace as I return tomorrow and help me not to feel overwhelmed.  The exciting thing is that the next time I take a vacation it will be maternity leave.

Tomorrow is my next doctor appt and i'm excited to see how the baby is doing. We should find out in the next couple of weeks what we are having. I am sure that it's a boy but Chad thinks it's a girl. Either way I pray for a healthy baby. I took many pictures while we were gone and will be sure to post them soon. Blessings!