7 Quick Takes Friday

1) Want to hear a funny story??  My week started off with a bang.  On Monday morning I drove out of my way to go to the drive through Starbucks.  There was a long line and I was chatting it up with my sister while I waited.  And guess what I did??  I drove right on past the place you order.  Yup...talk about embarrassing.  I should probably just blame my sister for this one, right?  She is too distracting :)  Anyway, turns out they let me order at the window and then had me pull out of the way and someone ran it out to me when my drink was ready.  The bummer of the story is that because I was so flustered I forgot to ask for whip cream.  Now that is a true crisis in my book!  Hope you all had a good laugh.  Serious mom brain issues over here!!!

A few days later I went back and this time I got extra whip cream :)

2)  Guess who slept through the night on Sunday?  My sweet little Beckett!  From 8pm-630am we didn't hear a peep...he is such a good baby!  And this is the happiness he shared with me the following day!  Sleep does a baby good!!! :)  And these smiles do wonders for my heart!!

3) I love nail polish.  I went to Salon Centric (I can shop there and get great deals since I am licensed in massage) and bought some shampoo and 4 things of nail polish.  They are all pretty similar in color because Felicity was my "helper" and just kept throwing more in the cart.  The kids started to lose it so I checked out as quickly as I could...similar nail colors and all!

I am so ready for warm weather.  Can you tell?  These colors scream summer!!!

4) Felicity says such funny stuff. I asked her yesterday if she was my "twinkle toes pretty girl."  (My grandparents always called me twinkle toes) She said, "No, I'm not twinkle toes.  I'm just pretty girl."

She makes a good point...she really is a pretty girl! (and a wonderful big sister!)

5)  My friend Elissa bought me some Big Train chai mix from Mugs and today I made a delicious blended chai.  It tastes exactly like I got it at Mugs or Trumans...but was way more convenient and less expensive.  Blended chais with whip cream make me happy!

6)  I finally realized that in order to be successful as a stay at home mom, there has to be days that we stay at home!  I actually really enjoy the days we don't have any plans.  No where to be, nothing to do.  It is freeing!  Today we made cloud dough and it was a big hit.  It was a super easy activity and it kept the kids occupied so I could get some chores done.  A win/win for everyone!

7)  Praise God it is Friday.  I am so looking forward to spending time with Cole this weekend.  Plus tomorrow is Beckett's Baptism.  Wahoo!

Check out other Quick Takes here

What I Wore Sunday

*So this was actually two weeks ago...but I took the picture so I might as well post it!  One of these days I'll get it done in time!*

I actually got dressed today and even got out of the house! After just having my gallbladder out I consider this a big accomplishment!
 

Happy Sunday :)
 

 

Cardigan: Old Navy

Black Skinny Jeans:  Ross

Flats: NY and Company

Necklace: Charming Charlies 

What I Wore Sunday

 

 

What I Wore Sunday

 

I was sooo very tired this morning.  After Beckett nursed for the second time last night it took me forever to fall back to sleep.  I would like to wear dresses to church since it is getting a little warmer, but I don't really have any that will work while nursing.  Nursing kind of throws a wrench in the mix in general since I find it hard to wear a lot of the different tops I own.  Nursing is not easy for me so I'm not what you would call discreet.  Beckett needs full access...if you know what I'm saying :)  Hopefully as we continue to get better it will open up some more clothing options!

 

 

 

Sweater:  Old Navy

Jeans: Clothing swap item

Shoes: Clothing swap item

 

Did I mention I love clothing swaps??!? 

 

p.s. it is too late for me to link up, but I'm posting anyway cause that's how I roll!

Baby Moon

*finally getting this blog post published*

Cole and I are so lucky and in November we got to go on a a little Babymoon to Denver.  I found a groupon deal for a one night stay at the Inverness which included breakfast the next morning.  We would have liked to stay two nights but I just felt like it would be easier for the kids if we were only gone one.

In order to still make the most out of our time we decided to drop the kids off with my sister Andrea (so thankful her and Luke were able to watch them for us) on Friday morning at like 8 so that Cole and I could still have two full days together!  It worked our perfectly!  We started the morning with a starbucks for the drive (yum!) and some great music for the drive.  Cole was a super sweetheart and make a mix cd of some of my favorite songs.  It made for a great drive to Denver.

Our first stop was Snooze for breakfast in Denver.  It was on the way to our hotel and neither of us had ever been there before. Cole got an omelet, I got the breakfast tacos, and then we split a pancake plate.  The blueberry pancakes and the french toast were my favorite!  I'm so glad we finally got to try it out!

Next we checked into our hotel and then headed for Ikea.  The location of our hotel was right in the middle of tons of fun stuff, and who doesn't want to take a walk through Ikea when its across the street??  Luckily they had wheelchairs that we could check out because there is no way I could have walked it.  We took our time and Cole pushed me the whole way :)  We bought a super cute rug for Rocca's nursery and then just some random Christmas gifts.

After Ikea we went to the mall nearby so that I could get a haircut.  This has been something that I have wanted/needed for forever, but just never find the time for.  It was great to be a little pampered.  I didn't do anything drastic...just a simple trim, but it felt great afterwards!

We debated going back to our hotel for dinner because it has a few restaurants, but instead we decided to go to our FAVORITE restaurant that was pretty close by.  Bonefish :)  If you haven't eaten there before, you need to.  The steak is so yummy.  The bread and salad and sides are great.  And, of course, the best part is their Bang Bang Shrimp!  We ate til we wanted to burst :)

Then we headed back to the hotel to just relax, watch movies, and enjoy or time together.  It is amazing how much we were able to do in the one day without the kiddos.  Lol.  The next morning we got up and headed to the yummy breakfast buffet.  It was so stinkin good.  Can you tell food was a major part of the success of our trip??  Haha, the joys of a pregnant lady!

We ran to a few nearby stores after breakfast to get most of our Christmas shopping done.  I can't tell you how quickly we were able to go and how much we were able to get done with it just being us.  I felt so relieved to have accomplished so much of our Christmas shopping!

We decided to head to the movies next.  We drove towards home so we wouldn't have as far of a drive once the movie was over.  We stopped in Thornton and saw Captain Phillips.  We actually really liked the movie.  It doesn't hurt that I love Tom Hanks.  I guess there is a lot of controversy in regards to the validity of the events in the movie, but in terms of entertainment we really enjoyed it.  I also splurged on a huge slurpee and popcorn :)

After the movie we drove home and picked up the kids from Andrea's around 5.  This trip opened Cole and my eyes that we could do this a lot more often.  One night away from the kids isn't bad at all, and when you leave early in the morning you still get two full days.  We are definitely going to do it again...just maybe not for awhile since we are about to have another baby.  Lol.  But I recommend it to everyone that can!

Sadly...I didn't take any pictures.  Boo...I guess we were just too busy having fun! :)

Beckett's Birth Story: Part 1

I was pretty anxious about the delivery because of the Pubic Symphsis Dysfunction.  I really didn't know how that would end up affecting things.  My chiropractor had told me she thought it would be too painful to deliver laying down.  That brought about more uncertainties because if I couldn't lay down, would I be able to get an epidural?  I had an epidural with my last two, but I was open to the possibility of delivering naturally.  Some information I read said to not have an epidural when dealing with PSD because since you can't feel anything, you may be pushing your body and moving your legs way past their pain threshold and therefore causing more harm.  Others said to definitely get the epidural because it is much more painful to deliver with PSD.  Basically there were a lot of questions and Cole and I were also dealing with the possibility of being induced.  Understand that under normal conditions I would have no interest in an induction.  I want my babies to stay in as long as possible and don't want to rush the process...but these were difficult circumstances and not being able to walk or move was really taking its toll. I was struggling emotionally with feeling pathetic and like a burden, and Cole was struggling at work because he was needing to take time off and work from home as much as possible.  Basically, we needed the baby out!!!

Because things were going to be a bit different this time around, we decided to look for a Doula to be present with us during delivery.  We were so blessed to find Martha Fitts!  It was definitely destined by God.  Not only is she Catholic, but she has had two natural childbirths, had suffered from PSD in her last pregnancy, and because she was still working on her certification she was very affordable for us!  Ironically, she also uses the same Dr. as we do so everyone knew each other already! 

Another difference this time around was that I decided to have a professional photographer in the delivery room.  I had been looking around on craigslist and randomly saw a post from a lady that lives in Loveland that is starting a photography business and was looking for people to allow her to take their labor and delivery photos for free.  Um, sounds amazing, right?  In my other deliveries it has always just been me and Cole, but I was open to having more people this time because I really wanted Cole to be able to focus completely on me instead of feeling pulled in 100 different directions. 

Having these other people there ended up being an amazing decision!

Things started in regards to Becketts birth the week before he came.  I remember it was a Sunday night (Dec. 22nd) and Cole and I sat down to watch Blackfish after the kids went to bed.  As we watched I started having some contractions (not painful though) so I quietly started timing them on my phone.  I eventually told Cole that I was having them every 6 to ten minutes.  This went on for the majority of the night and I remember we got the entire house spick and span, got everything ready for the kids, called my dad just to give a heads up that we may need him to come over in the middle of the night...and even though I continued contracting regularly, they never became painful and they finally dissipated in the morning.

This pregnancy I was wise enough to not stay up timing contractions all night and losing sleep (like I did with Felicity...so not a smart idea!) but unfortunatley I still didn't get any sleep.  My mind was racing and I was too anxious and it is also pretty difficult to sleep when having contractions at those intervals.  I was tired the next day, but not necessarily convinced it was labor because the contractions were strong, but not painful.  Cole wasn't convinced it was nothing and after we talked to the oncall Dr. that morning, we decided we would go in just to be sure everything was going ok.  Unfortunately my Dr. was out of town that week, and because the on call Dr. was at the hospital, they made us go there to be checked instead of just the Doctors office.  It honestly was a huge hassle and looking back I would have preferred to just stay at home.  Everything takes longer at a hospital and we were there probably 4 hours and learned that I was 4cm dilated but that I wasn't in active labor. 

We went home a little disappointed, but also trying to trust in God's plan.  I also preferred to not be in the hospital over Christmas so I either wanted the baby out right then, or I was ok with waiting a few days.  Lol! :)  That night we had another false alarm.  I started having really bad back pain.  I was contracting still but the pain wasn't necessarily associated with the contractions.  I told Cole that I didn't really think it was labor, but I was in too much pain to just stay home.  Another trip to the hospital that night and we found I was having really bad back labor pain.  The only relief I had was when they ran me a very hot bath.  As in the hottest water my body has ever been in.  But it brought relief from the pain and I was so very grateful.  Because I still wasn't' in active labor they decided to give me a shot of morphine and send me home to rest.  It ended up being really helpful.  I was able to sleep pain free and get rested up after not sleeping at all the night before.  The back labor went away and thankfully never came back!

Onto Part 2...

The Pregnancy

So turns out I didn't blog throughout almost my entire pregnancy.  And of those blogs very few were probably related to my pregnancy at all.  You know that saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all..."  Yeah, that may have applied here!

I am partly kidding, but this was the most difficult pregnancy I have had.  And that is saying a lot because I wouldn't have considered my other pregnancies necessarily easy.  Please, before I do a quick summary of the experience, know that I am not out to complain.  I know above all that I am blessed beyond messure, but I want to give an accurant account of what happened, even if only for my own future reference.

I remember in the beginning of my pregnancy, especially through my first trimester, that I was dealing with really horrific headaches.  I am not a big headache person so it was really new to me, and pretty darn awful!  I saw an accupuncturist multiple times and after a few visits seemed to finally get the headaches under control.  My doctor contributed them to the many hormonal changes that happen within the first tri-mester, but I remember feeling frustrated because they lasted well into my second trimester.  Along with the headaches I also had times of real fatigue and weakness.  I specifically remembering being at Panera one morning with the kids and having to pack up our food and get to the car as soon as possible because I was so worried I was going to pass out in public and I was very worried about the kids.  I called Cole from the car and got a handle on everything before making my way home.  I even had the Dr. test my blood because I remember just not feeling quite right.  Everything with the blood work came back normal, which was good, but I never did have an explanation for why I wasn't feeling right.

At 20 weeks I went to the Dr. because I had started experiencing pain with the movement of my legs.  The first symptoms I remember having were difficulty kicking off my shoes and rolling over in bed.  There was just a lot of pain in my groin area with these movements.  My Dr. originally told me it was just normal pains associated with having my third baby.  I knew there was nothing normal about it and through my own research was able to see pretty quickly that I had something called Pubis Symphisis Dysfunction.  Sounds fun, right??  No, not at all, actually.  I immediately started seeing an amazing chiropractor who explained to me that the ligament that holds the pubic bone together was basically like a rubberband that no longer held its elasticity.  This was a result of an overproduction of the hormone relaxin, and something that I had no control of.  Because of this, my pubic bone was constantly  pivoting and grinding on itself and on my nerves, eventually causing pain with any movements of my legs.  This was so difficult to manage, especially while trying to take care of the other kiddos.  The chiropractor was my only hope for pain management, and although I know it helped me from getting worse, she openly told me there was nothing I could do to fix it while still pregnant.  I wore a pelvic brace to help give support, although truthfully I didn't find it very helpful.  And, sadly, towards the end of the pregnancy Cole was wheelcharing me around if we were needing to walk long distances.

This was a very vulnerable and difficult time for me and the entire family.  I felt like a spectator to my life becuase I was able to participate in very little.  The kids and I stayed in the house the majority of the time because I couldnt' handle much else.  Cole was such a big help, as was all of my family and friends, and I am also so proud of how well the kids managed this time.  Tavian and Felicity both had an understanding of the pain that I was in and of my limitations, and were also so willing to accept the sacrifice for the new baby.  This isn't to say it was easy on them, but they really stepped up to the plate and both were able to grow a lot and I think in many ways were much more prepared and ready for the addition of a new sibling!

Ok, I think that is the condenced jist of the situation throughout the pregnancy and leading up to Baby Beckett's arrival.

Cole and the kids playing around in the wheel chair

Hanging out with my sister and ready to POP!

Sad that it came to needing a handicap sticker for my car...(although it really was a life saver!)

 

 Now on to The Birth..

Our Mini Vacation

Over Labor Day weekend Cole and I planned to take the kids to Canyon City and meet up with my Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jim for the weekend.  We haven't been able to see them near as often lately, and we all thought it would be nice to have some time together.  We decided on Canyon City because it was a doable distance for both of us (they live in New Mexico), and my Uncle Jim loves to fly fish and it is known for being a good area for that.

 

We ended up finding an amazing cabin to rent off of VRBO.  It was seriously so beautiful.  The only hiccup is that it was an hour from the actual town so once we were there, we were there!!  One of the days it was pretty rain so it got a little harder to find things for the kids to do since they weren't able to be outside.  Overall though, it was a great time.  The views were some of the prettiest I have ever seen and it was one of those trips that makes you think, "we should do this every year!"

 

I loved the quality time that we got with my Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jim.  The kids soaked up every minute of the love and attention and Tavian still talks about it!

 

 

They did so amazing on the long drive up.  It ended up being
really long because of traffic!

Somebody thought it would be fun to draw with blue
dry erase marker all over their face!



Getting special reading time with Aunt Sarah

 One of my favorite parts about this trip was getting to be outside in the cooler weather.  The heat was so difficult for me this pregnancy, so it was wonderful being in the mountains and getting to be outside without being so hot!  Such a wonderful change of pace :)

 

Getting quality play time together without any distractions!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend!  Tavian and Aunt Sarah had many adventures hiking around the hosue!

So beautiful, right?



The house had a perfect little table that Felicity and Tavian could eat at together!

Tavian and Aunt Sarah made yummy brownies together

we made a little water container for them so they had something fun to play with

So blessed to have her as my Aunt and as such a big part of my life :)

I love this man

Relaxing and watching some football together

 

 

Blessed!

 

More play time

 

I put this picture in just because it captured her little attitude...can you even believe that face??

She needed some Momma Loves

I love this picture of my boys

Last little hike before heading home

Uncle Jim and Cole before saying goodbye

One last hug!

 

 I know there were a lot of pictures, but I am so happy that I have them to look back on the trip.  It was truly a wonderful time and I hope we can do something like it again in the coming year!