Master Holly

Since I'm dedicating blogs; today's goes to my great sister Holly. She received her MA today! This is an amazing accomplishment concidering all of the other things she did while completing it. I wish I could be there to give her a big hug when she walks off that stage. I can't wait to congratulate her in person! So here's to you Holly; I am so proud of you sister! Your amazing determination to go for your goal and work till you get it done is something I greatly admire about you. I can't wait to see what you do next!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

December 14th my Mom & Dad got married. They have been together for 32 years. So to congratulate them on their commitment to each other I want to dedicate today's blog to them. I want to thank you both for being excellent examples of how to make a marriage work. Thank you for showing us how to work through difficult situations and how to enjoy the good times. Thank you for commiting to raising us kids together and giving us a stable home to grow up in. I know this took lots of sacrifices. Thank you for showing me how to be a good person and stand up for my faith. Thank you for supporting me and always encouraging me to be the best person I can be. You are an awesome couple and I love you both!

Well, people it's time for another entry. I always feel like I should only write when I have something extremely important to say. But if I only went by that rule I would never write. I guess I'll talk about this weekend. Mom & Dad came up and babysat while brad and I went to a Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds concert. Very good! I always have a ton of fun when we go see Dave. Mom and Dad stayed for the weekend. We had fun hanging out, eating, and just enjoying each others company. All this fun has made me even more excited for our Christmas celebrations!

Christmas tree

I wish I could post a picture of our Christmas tree this year because it is very pretty. Decorating the tree has always been fun for me. I always love to get out the ornaments and remember past Christmases. Brad got a new ornament every year from his Maw Maw so every time we put them on the tree I feel like I get to know brad a little better. His Maw Maw tried to buy ornaments that showed what he liked at the time. I think that is a great tradition. Bethany's MiMi gave her an ornament this year. I hope this tradition continues so that when she is all grown up she will have many memories of all her Christmases.

It's Thanksgiving!

It has been a while since I posted. I always like to put pictures in but don't have any this time. This week had been full of anticipation and planning. We are going to Texas to celebrate with the Hall family. We are very excited to see everyone and introduce Bethany to her aunt, uncles, & cousin. Which makes me think about how thankful I am to have such a wonderful family. I am extremely blessed to have a strong, supportive husband, a precious daughter, a stupid but lovable dog, & a very cuddly cat. Brad and I often talk about how thankful we are that we have such great families on both sides. Not many people can enjoy their inlaws or immediate families like we do. The holidays are so fun because of this. So bring on the turkey and mistletoe! The holidays are here and I am loving it!

Pictures!!!

It has been a while since I put pictures on my blog due to the fact that I cannot figure out how to upload them on my phone. If anyone reading this knows how to upload images to a blog from an iphone please let me know!
So here are a few pics; all of Bethany haha! I guess you can tell what my life revolves around now that I have a kid!
This one is Bethany doing tummy time. She actually likes it for a few minutes. Then she gets bored.
Here is her and Brad hanging out. You can tell they love spending time with each other!

I didn't post anything about Holly and Maddy coming up for a visit but they did and we had a great time! It was so fun to see Maddy and Bethany together! This is a picture of Maddy with a dollar and Butterfinger that Brad gave her. She loved both of them. I think Brad has turned into the Uncle who passes out dollars!

This picture was taken several weeks ago but I thought it was funny how Bethany and the cat where almost the same size. Noodles doesn't usually get to lay so close but I made an exception this time.

These are the most recent pictures. Mimi and Pappy gave Bethany a cute Halloween costume so she wore it on Sunday. I think she was a very cute witch for her first Halloween! this is her kitty cat pants. I think this picture is so funny cause it makes her butt look huge! Or maybe it's the cloth diapers.

I love this picture! You can all melt over her smile. I did.

Freezing Herbs

My most recent undertaking has been freezing herbs. Brad read somewhere that you can freeze fresh herbs in water or butter and use them later so i picked what herbs we had left from our garden before we had a freeze and diced them all up, put them in an ice cube tray, and froze them in water. It's nice to have fresh herbs for soup and stuff when it gets colder!

Waffles at The Dog Park

I took our 75lb. Weimaraner to a fenced in dog park. He hasn't had tons of exposure to other dogs so I thought it was about time we found him some buddies to play with. Well, I found out that our dog is a big baby. I realize that it was a new environment so he was not sure of himself but he was scared to death of all the other dogs. Imagine my huge dog tucking tail and running from teacup sized rat dogs. Poor thing. We ended up in the small dog part where there were only a couple of other nice dogs. By the end he was starting to be interested in the big dogs on the other side. Maybe next time we go he will do better.

Laundry Problems

Our washer is leaking. :( this has been a pain in the neck because brad has a limited amount of work clothes and Bethany's cloth diapers only last about 3 days. When the repair guy came last Wednesday he said he had to order the part so the washer wouldn't be fixed till the next Wednesday. Bummer. So I have been stretching clothes & towels. Regaurdless. We have had to use our leaky washer. Today was the day I was supposed to get my washer back but the part never came. I made a call that lasted half an hour just to find out that the part was never shipped & they had rescheduled my fix to Saturday! When was I going to be informed? The question now is do we have enough underwear to last that long?

Wearing Baby

It's been 3 weeks now since Bethany was born and things are different but I feel like we are getting used to the new schedule. The hardest thing that I've had to figure out is how to get things done around the house. It seems like by the time I get Bethany fed, changed, and content to sleep or lay in her bed; I don't have much time to do anything before the whole process starts all over again. We were given a neat gift called the Moby Wrap. It is a huge piece of material that you wrap around yourself and the baby and just walk around with them. They are close to you and you have both hands free to do things(like make myself dinner!). I tried it when she was first born but was so nervous about suffocating her that I didn't do it very long. I guess the new has worn off a bit so I am making another attempt today. It has worked out well so far. I am wearing her as I type this. she seems to like being all bundled up and is sleeping soundly. I think this is something that I can get used to and maybe I can also get a few more things done(like send out all your thank you notes!) Here's a pic of how it looks.

Bethany's Birth

Bethany will be exactly 1 week old at 10:30pm tonight. I thought I'd share her birth story with you since it was at this very moment last week that I was in labor with her.

It was about 7:30pm. I was sitting on the couch watching the rockies when I started to feel kind of crampy. I had felt this before when they had checked how far I was dialated so didn't think much of it. About 10 minutes later the same feeling came over me again except this time it was stronger and longer. That's when it hit me that "these might be contractions!" I quickly gave Brad a text to let him know I thought I felt a contraction. He was at work and wouldn't get off till 11pm. The contractions kept getting stronger and longer as the hour progressed. I knew that this was the real thing now so I called Brad and told him he needed to come home. I had this feeling that we were going to have a baby before midnight.

By the time Brad got home I was pacing in circles and trying my best to keep it together. He called the midwife to inform her about how far I was along. When he got off the phone he said the midwife told me to take a bath. I looked at Brad like he was crazy and said, " I 'm not taking a bath! Take me to the midwifery place!" So we waited another 30 minutes which to me seemed like forever. The contractions were to0 strong to pace and I knew Bethany was almost here.

Brad packed up the car and called the midwife to let her know we were coming. That was a very painful car ride. Sitting is not a good position to be in when you are in the process of birthing a child.

We arrived at the midwifery center. I somehow got myself in the tub and about an hour later we were holding our precious baby girl! After about three hours of labor, Bethany was born at 10:30pm on September 10th, 2010. She weighed 8pounds, 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. We are both so happy to have our baby girl!

September 7th; Biophysical Profile

Yes, they made me go get one because I was 3 days past my due date. This procedure helps to ensure that Bethany was still alive(I knew that), responsive(I knew that too), and in a good environment. If they had detected any problems then they would have made us go to the hospital and induce. So, I spent an hour and a half having Bethany monitored. The ultrasound showed a very healthy baby surrounded by lots of amniotic fluid and a healthy placenta. They couldn't get a shot of her head because she is so low. They also confirmed that she is still a girl!

The next picture is the fetal heart monitor. She did just fine on this too. The reason why I'm showing you this is because I had 2 good contractions but never knew it! I wouldn't be surprised if I've been having contractions like this for the last week. I guess that's what happens when you don't know what to expect. The top line is Bethany's heart. It averaged about 140 beats per minute. The second line records contractions. As you can see I had a good one that lasted about 2 minutes. I guess that means she is ready to meet the family. It may just take another day or two. I have an appointment on Thursday so we'll see what they tell us.

Where Are You Baby?!

Today is supposed to Bethany's birthday! To all of you who guessed early; sorry, you lose! I went in for a checkup on Thursday and the Midwife said everything looked like a go (2-3 cm dilated) and she would not be surprised if I was back within 48hours. Well 48 hours has passed and I feel about the same as I did before I went in. Thanks lady. Way to get my hopes up! I haven't even started having contractions; or if I have they haven't been strong enough for me to notice. So, now we are just waiting around for something to happen. I have been trying to do what I normally do and Brad has been going to work as usual. We've got the entire family on alert and there has even been a rumor floating around at Whole Foods(Brad's work) that I have already had her! HA! So to all of you have put your lives on hold until Bethany arrives, I suggest you get back to living! I will not be convinced that she is coming until I'm on the way to the midwifery place. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of Bethany on her due date. She is still happily tucked away in my belly and doesn't seem to excited to be anywhere else. Happy Due Date Bethany!

The Last Days of Childless Bliss

I know my title sounds like I'm am dreading the birth of our girl but I'm not! The last few days I've been thinking about how it won't be just me and Brad anymore. I know I'm trading up for something far better but I have loved the time that Brad and I have had together as just us. I don't think we would be able to have the kind of family we want if we hadn't spent time enjoying each other and learning how to be a married couple. Now we can start another part of our lives together with a strong relationship. We are both so excited to meet our baby and I think one of the reasons is that it will be another great memory to share and adventure to experience together. So let the childless days come to an end and bring on The Days of Child Filled Bliss!

Just some pics to keep it fun: Brad took me to Krispy Kream for fresh donuts! They were just what a pregnant couple needed! Yummy!

Those of you who have been pregnant understand how the last few weeks are. I have felt very large and slow. It seems that getting off the couch or out of bed has become a work out. This watermelon sized belly is really starting to cramp my style, yes I mean that literally. I have about 3 outfits that I can go out in public in that still fit, my legs are covered in stubble because I can't reach them and my toe nails have been sorely neglected because the thought of even trying to reach that far is painful!

Thus, I've been thinking about all of the things I can't wait to be able to do again after Bethany is born. I realize that some of these won't happen right away but I can still dream about them! Here are just a few:

Wearing jeans without elastic!
Drinking a nice glass of wine!
Walking up a flight of stairs without breaking a sweat.
Eating sushi!
Being able to stay in one position comfortably for more than 15 minutes.
Having a smaller waist size than my husband!

What Happened This Last Week

Here are the latest events of the week:
Saturday I took a quick trip to Colorado Springs to Say HI to all the Pikes Peak runners. They did great! Dad and I got to hang out with Maddy. You can see in this picture that Dad and Maddy had lots of fun together. Dad was laying down to take a quick nap but Maddy wanted to play!

Here are the first tomatoes from our garden! I can't wait to try them! We have a ton of green ones so maybe we'll get enough to make some salsa or pasta sauce!

This is me at 38 weeks. The Midwife at my last appointment said to expect to be pregnant till the middle of September. I already feel like popping so it's hard for me to imagine being pregnant for 3 more weeks. I think I've felt a few practice contractions(Braxton Hicks) the last two weeks so that is a little encouraging. To make this more fun I thought that all of you who wanted to could make your prediction on what date Bethany will arrive. Just post your prediction as a comment. Maybe one of you will be right and get all the bragging rights! My official prediction is Sept 7th!

Family Reunion and More

Here are a few things that happened at the family Reunion this year:

One of the great things about family is that they are so generous! Thank you to all who put together the baby shower and loaded Bethany up! This was just one of the many activities we all enjoyed at the reunion.
I think my favorite thing to do is to sit on the porch and talk. Here are the Skidmore girls and Chrissy chatting it up!

Dad and Uncle Paul seem to have a lot to say as well. ;)

David and Maddy getting to know each other.

Jennifer, Jan , and, Janet in the kitchen.

Grandma and her famous enchiladas!

Today Dexter Fowler (outfielder for the Rockies) came to the Sports Authority by our house so I went over and got a baseball signed! While I was in line a took this picture. He was very nice and seemed to be pretty normal. I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe more of a rock star attitude.... It was fun to get to meet a Rockies in person!

Here is the last bit of news. I'm starting week number 37 for this pregnancy. Wow! It's amazing how fast this whole thing has gone by. I'm so thankful that it has been an easy time. Brad and I are nesting like crazy right now. I feel like I still have a hundred things to do before Bethany arrives! Today is make dinners and freeze them day! Brad has cleaned and rearranged the house. Pets and furniture have been moved. I could give birth any day now but I have a feeling it won't be for another 2 or 3 weeks. Let's see if this first time Mom really knows anything about her body! HA!

Baby Shower and Home Improvement Project

This is our latest home improvement project! The siding on the sun room was not painted and so looked pretty ghetto. We decided to spruce it up a bit with some paint! Not bad huh? I tried to find a "before" photo but was unsuccessful. Those of you who know what it looked like before will get the WOW effect! Sorry to the rest of you. Trust me, it looks 100% better!

The other big event this week was the baby shower that my old coworkers gave me! Here is the cake. It was a really yummy carrot cake.

And these are some of the really nice ladies that I worked with at CLA. The blond on the far right(Donna Davis) was the one who hosted. They gave us lots of great stuff for Bethany. Thank you girls! You are the best!

The last big event for the week is that Tammy is moving in today! Brad and I are both excited to have her here and help her out any way we can!

Garden

Brad and I decided to try growing a garden this year. You saw the pictures of the fence Dad and Mom helped us put up. Now its time so check out what's growing! This is our squash. It is doing the best at this point. There are 3 plants so it looks really big. We should be getting some soon because there are lots of blooms!

This is the beans and peas. Some of them got eaten by ants. Hopefully they can make enough for us to enjoy.

Our tomatoes are doing pretty good. This one has a few tiny green tomatoes on it!

Finally the lettuce. It is still very small so it may be too hot for us to get anything. We shall see.
And that is our garden! We also have grapes, peppers and flowers but I'm waiting till they get bigger to show you them. It has been so fun to have enough room to try this out. I loved getting stuff out of our garden growing up and can't wait to enjoy what we get now!

More Baby Stuff

Well, We made it through our first childbirth class. The lady who ran it seemed pretty down to earth. If you remember our last experience with the Nutrition class the teacher was all hippie and very much against anything not organic. I think this will be much more beneficial, especially since we are new to having kids. They had a lot of practical advise and we even got homework. We are supposed to try and figure out what position Bethany is in and mark it down. They want her to be head down in the next couple of weeks. I think she already is so no worries there. We also got these questions to answer about what we expect childbirth to be like. We are supposed to answer them separately and then talk about the different ideas we might have. We will have three more classes this month and 2 more different ones before the first of Sept. I have a feeling I might start to feel like I live at the birthing center.

I remember when Holly was pregnant and how she talked about her belly bumping into things and getting in the way. I think I can now understand what she was talking about. Tying my shoes is starting to get a little tricky. Also, I have noticed that the shirts I wear have more stains by the belly region than normal. I have already teased Brad about how I'm going to make him shave my legs pretty soon!

Here's the latest picture of me. From what they tell me I should be gaining a pound a week so by the next time I post I might be way bigger! It's grow time!

Fast Forward!

A lot has happened this week! We spent a couple of days trying to get caught up from vacation. Mainly laundry and yard work. Then I had a baby appointment. They decided to move our due date up to the 4th of Sept! It was originally set for Sept 22nd but they said because the ultrasound showed her to be so big they didn't want to risk me going to far over my original due date. This way if I am late they won't be as worried. So, I guess now we can expect Bethany to possibly come 2 and a half weeks earlier! I was a little freaked when they first told me this because in my mind I instantly lost a month to get ready! Now I had to fast forward everything and plus we barely will get through all of our child birth/prep classes. I guess it will all be very fresh in our minds. Ha! SO... here is the latest picture of my growing belly. Do I look 31 weeks along? Remember, that means I only have 9 weeks left!

Trip To Texas

We had a great trip to Texas last week! The first part of our vacation was spent in Brenham at the Hall farm. We were so surprised to see how Waffles(left) and his Mom Maggie(right) were almost the same size. They had a so much fun together!



Brad, Doug, and I went fishing one morning. We caught lots of fish and ate them for supper that night. Super yummy!

This is our super cute nephew, Aiden. When we saw him last he was barely walking. Now he runs everywhere! We had so much fun playing with him!
Another thing that happened on our trip was a trade. We traded up! Doug wanted our truck for farm work and we need a bigger vehicle for Baby Bethany. I think we got the better deal.

Good bye truck!

Hello Saturn!
We also went to Abilene TX to Ethan and Jenna's wedding! While there the guys played golf and the rest of us went swimming. I don't know which one was more tired after the morning events,

Papa Aaron....

or daughter Maddy!

I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted of the wedding but here are a couple of the pre-wedding.

This is Jenna and her Mom. You can see the bridesmaids in the mirror.

This is me. I was so scared my dress wouldn't fit after a week of super good food. I barely squeezed in!

And that is our trip in picture form! We has so much fun and really enjoyed seeing family. Looking forward to the next Brad/Cindy Hall family vacation!

Just Stuff

So, here is this weeks news.

I am helping out with the VBS our church is putting on. They picked a rain forest theme. The decorations look amazing! Here's a picture of what the auditorium looks like. They went all out.

I am helping out with the craft part. The interesting thing about this VBS is that it is for the entire family. Everyone gathers in the auditorium and sings a couple of songs and watches a skit. Then the families go do 3 different activities together. After that, they divide them up and the kids and parents go to different classes. The crafts part has been fun. They have made tic-tac-toe boards, chia pets, and picture frames so far. It has been nice to meet people and play with the kids. Everyone is very nice.

There is a rose bush that was already here when we moved in. I'm actually surprised that it is still alive. The blooms are very pretty and smell great! I trimmed all the dead branches out today so it looks much better.

Now for the pregnant picture. I just reached 26 weeks today. Hopefully by now no one can mistake my round middle for belly fat anymore. Bethany is a mover! She always goes a little nuts after I eat. I think she is going to love food as much as her parents do!

The video is of waffles. He LOVES to play catch. I've been working on training him to sit, and stay. He's gotten pretty good at catching the frisbee in the air. I've thought about doing agility training with him because I think he would love it and it would get rid of some of his unending energy supply.