Before There Was You

Once upon a time, mommy and daddy lived across the street from each other at Iowa State. (go cyclones!) 

 As close as they were, they hadn't met yet. 
One day God moved them both to Creston where they taught school together. (hey, panthers!) 

 Mommy and daddy fell in love. They moved back to Ames and daddy asked mommy to marry him. (she said yes!) 

 Mommy and daddy got married. They got a silly puppy (Dakota) and built a new house together. (in H town)  

 Mommy and daddy were very blessed but they were missing one thing. (you!)  

 Mommy and daddy prayed that God would bless them with a baby. They waited until God knew it was the perfect time then God blessed mommy and God blessed daddy and God brought us YOU.  

 We already love you so much! 

Pumpkin Cookies

I am NOT a baker. I attribute it to the fact that I like to change recipes around and that doesn't always work so well in baking. I'm especially bad at baking cookies. I tend to leave them in the oven too long and not get them to the cooling rack fast enough. Not a good combo.
My husband talks about his great grandma and how one of her qualities was being able to make a mean batch of cookies. Armed with parchment paper, I'm determined to get there. I'm still not good at baking but I make a mean batch of frosting. Like this cream cheese frosting that's my absolute fave in the fall. (Throw in the cookies so you don't look like a pig eating it straight from the bowl.)


Pumpkin Cookies


Preheat oven to 350˚f


In bowl one combine and set aside:
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

In bowl two, cream together:
1/2 C softened butter
1 1/2 C white sugar (or 1 C white/ 1/2 C brown sugar)
Add: 
1 C canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
beat until creamy.


Mix in dry ingredients.


Drop by tablespoons onto parchment covered cookie sheets. Flatten slightly.
Bake 15-20 minutes at 350˚ then move to cooling rack.
Once cool, add frosting.



Cream Cheese Frosting 
(you could make just a half batch of this for these cookies but why would you want to?)


Beat together until creamed:
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 C softened butter


Gradually beat in:
2 C powdered sugar
Add: 
2 tsp vanilla (I use Watkins clear vanilla in my frostings)

Add milk to thin (I typically use a couple tablespoons but you may use up to 1/4 cup if you want a thinner frosting).

Cookie Baking Tips (from an FCS teacher that teaches the rules but doesn't always follow them):
-Make sure if the recipe calls for softened butter that you soften it at room temperature. Don't try to speed the process up.
-Don't mess around with the amounts of the important ingredients. As much as I like to play with existing recipes and come up with my own, the baking powder and baking soda need to be left alone. If you wanted to add chocolate chips to the above recipe, by all means do. If you want to cut the soda and powder, good luck eating them....
-Use parchment paper. Okay this one isn't a necessity but if you are really bad at baking cookies like I am, this one will help you out a lot. Just trust me.
-Make sure your cookie sheet is cool before using. Don't bake a batch of cookies on one then reuse it right away.
-Don't over-bake. They are going to continue baking once you take them out so it's okay if they don't look completely done.
-Use the cooling rack. If you leave them on the cookie sheet they are going to continue baking too much and you'll end up with the H special of hard, crunchy cookies (that were supposed to be soft and chewy).

37 Weeks

I haven't really blogged many coherent thoughts lately (which is why the 10 on Tues is perfect for me) but that's because I haven't really had any. I write blog posts in my head but I'm sure if I took the time (or had the time) to type them out, they'd be less than easy to follow. (This one is less than coherent but I'm too tired to fix it and really need to get back to work for the day! Read at your own risk)



At 37 weeks, here's what the H family is up to.

R is finishing up his poverty class and starting up basketball. He's been attending some j-high practice and is getting really excited for the season. As excited as he is though, he's starting to think about how little sleep he'll be getting and how much Mt Dew he might be consuming. On his own accord, he plans to be up in the night with our little mister. I don't know how realistic it will be for that to happen but I love the thought that he wants to be a part of things as much as he possibly can.

Dakota has been trying his hardest to be a well behaved puppy. He's started a new thing.. he follows me with a watchful eye everywhere. I used to at least be able to go to the bathroom without him following me but not anymore. He stares at me like he's waiting for something to happen. He has even started doing it in the middle of the night. Last night it wasn't so welcomed when I tried to sneak cookie dough from the freezer at 3 am. He dropped his chin and raised his eyes, giving me 'the look.' He's been super protective lately! At times he has me almost convinced Baby H will be here any second.

Baby H is still as active as ever. He's currently transverse. He cant decide if he prefers transverse or breech and while he'll trick me into thinking he's starting to like head down, he doesn't stay in that position for long. I keep giving him pep talks to wait it out until at least Nov. 10th so I can get as much photo work done as possible. Daddy keeps giving him pep talks to come Nov. 4th so he can get as much daddy time in with him as possible before bball starts. We'll see what the little mister has in mind. I think I've mentioned it on here before but the longest they'll let him stay in his current comfy home before evicting him is Nov. 23rd. So 4 weeks from today I'll have him in my arms (maybe for the first time, maybe not!).

And an update on me at 37 weeks isn't all that exciting.  Things I'm loving about this stage: how interactive baby H is when we talk, read, sing or play music for him. I'm loving the bonding time without the dirty diapers and tears. I am simply amazed when I catch a view of the belly in the mirror. It is amazing to me what my body (that I had given up on) can do. Sitting and praying over our little babe by name. I love that he has a name and that can use it. We actually use it so much that Dakota recognizes it. ie: Dakota knows what I'm talking about when I say, "Go to _____'s room." Or, "Come say hi to _____." We actually use his name so much that it tends to slip out when others are around. I'm pretty sure more people than we think know his name but it's still fun to 'think' we have a secret. (And those of you that know me well know how hard it is for me to keep the secret!!! I SO want to tell everyone but since we've made it this far I'm glad R made the decision to keep it quiet.) We have been writing letters to baby since the day we found out he was joining our family. I already love going back and reading them from the beginning and I cant wait to get them into a book for him. And this is weird... but I've noticed I call myself 'we' lately. I'm referring to me and baby so it doesn't seem weird to me now but I'm afraid once he's here and I do it people may think I have multiple personality disorder. ;)

Things that aren't so much loved right now... the extra weight. It takes a major toll on the body packing around so many extra pounds. I'm always reminded of The Biggest Loser and how one time (or maybe more, I don't watch it much) they had to pack all the weight they had previously lost. I have currently gained so much weight that about 1/3 of my current self wasn't here at this time last year. Isn't that crazy to think about?!? It's not the weight gain that bothers me, it's the aches and pains that accompany it. It is exhausting. Speaking of exhaustion... I thought I had been doing really well. I was feeling so blessed to be feeling so well for such a long time (seriously, the majority of 3rd trimester was easier on me than 2nd!) but I think this third trimester has finally caught up to me. I still cannot complain in any way, shape or form. I do not have the serious pain and baby concerns that came with 2nd trimester so I'm feeling very blessed for that but I'm tired. I'm achy. And I feel sick to my stomach pretty much every night. R is also feeling the strain with his fair share of sympathy pains. I swear I thought those were made up but R (who never gets sick, never complains) is telling me otherwise.

We will definitely take it though! We feel SO blessed to be at 37 weeks and to be so close to meeting this little guy. It has not been real easy sharing this body with him but I know that I will miss it once he 'moves out.' I think I'll be okay though because as much as I love him at this stage, I cant imagine how amazing it will be to get to carry him in my arms instead.

10 on Tuesday- 10/25

It's been another crazy week and another week of how the heck did it go so fast because I'm not sure what we did all week!?!

1. R had his last round of pre-baby shots. This time at his actual Dr's office. It's the same Dr that delivered him as a baby and R claims the same horse photos have been on the wall since he was a kid.

2. While we were in town for his shots, we stopped to see the C boys. You probably cant tell what it's a picture of but C&C were wrestling uncle R. This is about as slow as the action got.

3. Our 36 week appointment went well last week. Numbers looked good. Baby H is is right on track... though not exactly in position and still moving like crazy.

4. We went out for what was likely our last night out with friends in awhile. We ate at the Roadhouse then dessert hopped with Nick & Jaren. We always have such a great time with them! Crazy to think the next time the four of us go out, we'll be needing our own sitter. I didn't take any iPhone pictures but Nick did send this one to us as he was driving past my hometown this weekend.

5. I missed Race for the Cure this year because I knew if I did it combined with our afternoon plans (#6) I would likely collapse by the end of the day (anyone remember H on the curb??!). You should go check out this video from the event though. One of my very best friends is the girl in the clip (with her family) talking about how special it was to be celebrating there WITH their mom. I just love these guys! And Jen has me completely convinced that next year I'll not only be participating, but running without stopping. We'll see. :)

Race for the Cure

6. Our afternoon plans that day included the ISU football game (with Jen & Adam who did run the race and didn't collapse by the end of the day). Can you believe we hadn't been to a single game all year?!? (And we have no plans of making it to another one.) Definitely not the norm for us. So glad we could make it to one (finally) but also so glad that we did not get season tickets this year! (And yes, that's the band and not the football team. Every year at ISU homecoming when the alumni band comes out, R tells the story of the guy sitting in front of him one year that yelled, "Hey that's my dad out there! Play daddy, play!!" It's one of those stories you had to be there for....)

7. We got a little more family of two time in. We ran more errands and picked up some things we were needing (like that package of newborn size dipes!). I got some fun treats- Starbucks pumpkin spice latte & banana walnut bread and a new iPhone case since my poor one before was completely beat up (it seriously looks like I got a new phone). But my favorite treat of the day was when we bought this year's ornaments. I about cried in the store when we got to pick this ornament out to take home with us. I have a feeling this one will be pretty special to me for pretty much ever. (The Hallmark site was down as I typed this but the link takes you to the same ornament from a different site.)

8. Dakota has been a lot better while we've been out lately. If we tell him we'll be right back and to be a good dog while we're gone he actually listens. The one time we forgot to tell him this week was the one time he pulled stuff out again while we were gone. He's also started the new trick of digging through the toys in his toy box before picking out the perfect one to show daddy. He does this when he hears the garage door open as R is getting home from work. (And yes, I've been telling Dakota stories lately because I'm feeling like a guilty dog mom knowing he'll be old news once Baby H is here.)

9. Photo sessions are starting to wind down. I'm officially scheduled to shoot just one day a week (though several of those days I have multiple sessions throughout the day) from now through December.

10. 'The list' is just about completed! Though some things (like ironing nursery curtains) are just getting crossed off without actually being done. We're okay with that.
One thing off 'the list' that I'm so excited to have done: addressing baby announcement/Christmas cards. They are all addressed and stamped (unless I don't have your address so send it to me!) and the cards are designed and waiting for a Baby H photo to put in it to send to print. Now if only I can get Mo & Madd to stuff and seal envelopes for me again.... chances are slim though because last time I recruited those services from them Mo told me it was like she was working in a factory and Madd said it was too hard of work for little kids. Ha. (At least I didn't have them pulling weeds like Uncle R does!)

We had a lot to be thankful for around here this last week. Hope you did as well!

Maddox's 5th Birthday Party at the Fire Station

Ashley had posted on facebook about maybe doing T's party at the fire station which reminded me I hadn't posted Madd's pictures from his fire station party, which led me to finding these orchard pictures. Thanks, Ashley! :)  I think I've finally uploaded all of my pictures to the computer, though no promises they'll make it out of iPhoto.

And no, I didn't get a single picture of a fire truck. :(

Center Grove Orchard 2011

I haven't been posting many posts about stuff we've been doing. I didn't even mention in my 10 on Tuesday this week that R & I went to the orchard just for apple cider donuts this week. And I haven't even been pulling photos off my camera, pretty much at all lately.
So this morning, one of my friends mentioned on facebook about maybe having her little girl's birthday party at the fire station. Which reminded me that Madd's party was at the fire station. And that I took pictures of it. But had no idea where they were....  I found my camera and pulled up the photos. Along with lots and lots of other photos. And you guessed it, a trip from the orchard was on there. How is it possible that I even forget stuff like this?!? It seriously was not that long ago. Why is it so easy for me to document other people's lives and forget about saving photos from our own?

Anyway.... here's some photos from our orchard trip. The kids loved it! If we still live in the area when our children are older, we'll definitely be buying season passes.

Both Mo & Madd said the hayride was one of their favorite parts and I didn't even get pictures of it! There was just so much to do there! We'll definitely have to go again next year.

Preparing

Hi, I'm H and I like lists.

I make a to do list every single week. When I was working 5 jobs the last few years, I had daily to do lists which were prioritized and had listed by the hour what needed to be done.

I use my lists. I like my lists.

So as we've been prepping for baby, guess what I've been working on....

'The list.'

(Did you say 'the list' in a different tone? R does.)

My list started at about 4 typed pages long. It included house projects, work projects, insurance details to take care of, things to pack for the hospital, dates to take with R, etc, etc, etc.

With some help from R, 'the list' is down to less than half a page.

I know Baby H wont care if the things on the list aren't completed (he'll be just fine without the nursery curtains ironed). But it helps me feel like I'm 'prepared.'

I had a freak out moment not too long ago. I was cuddling a tiny newborn baby and it hit me that they would be sending one home from the hospital with me in the near future. And I definitely don't feel qualified for that job.

So as silly as the list seems, something about it makes me think I'll feel better, more prepared, if I cross off everything on it. 

Did you make a pre-baby list? What was on it? What were your biggest (most helpful) things you did to prepare to bring baby home (you know, besides sleep!)?

PS- I had planned to share some of 'the list' highlights. Maybe I'll update with that soon...
but this candid list of things to do before baby is a good starting point. :)

10 on Tuesday (10/18)

For as little as I thought I had on the calendar for Oct and Nov, it sure seems like we are busy! If it weren't for my iCal and iPhone photo dump, I'm not sure I could think back through the crazy weeks to come up with a 10 on Tuesday. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to.

1. We did a couple quick family pictures with our good friends, the P fam. I thought I'd have a picture to share but that was a week ago and I haven't even uploaded my last three sessions to the computer yet (I'm actually uploading them right now and it's SO slow. Do you find it faster to upload through your card reader or cord? With my little camera, I use the card reader so I thought I'd do that with my large card today and it's not working very fast!). Maybe I'll update with a P fam pic soon.

2. My amazing friend and her special assistant came and worked hard at our house. They are such a blessing to us!! 

3. I've been working on a baby to do list. (More on that later?) I have checklists for everything. EVERYTHING. Just ask R. 

4. It's been kind of like Christmas around here with all the packages showing up. Sure a lot of them have been for {cb}h clients and most all of the rest of them are for Baby H but I don't care who they are for, it's fun to get them on the doorstep and get to open them! One package this week had a Pottery Barn stocking for Baby H. I'd love to show you a photo but it has his name on it (hopefully we stick with that name!). Thanks so much for that special gift, Tab! We'll definitely be using it a very long time!!

5. Date night consisted of a LONG bike ride and picnic on the trail. It was a little chilly but SO pretty out!

6. This verse has been following me around for a couple of months now... Philippians 4:6-7.

7. And yes, that is a page from the book I finished reading this week. Only took me about a month to get through one book. That's not bad, right? I've been trying to get as much reading and bath time in as I can. The bath is about the only time of day my back (and pretty much everything else) feels good. It's hard carrying around the extra weight. I am so thankful to be able to start my work day at 9 am so I have time to do this!

8. And since I finished the last one (and haven't picked the next in the series up from the library yet), I started reading 'The Power of a Praying Parent.' It's such an easy, quick read but it is so good.

9. I am FINALLY finished with wedding pictures for the year. I do have about 4 paid sessions to edit and lots of orders to get put into the system but then hopefully I'll get a chance to pull up more maternity pictures to edit.

10. Speaking of which... I got a glimpse of the belly in the mirror today and I NEED to remember to get an updated belly shot. As R would say, "Your bell.... baby is getting big!"

What have you been up to this week?



Updated: I told you I couldn't keep track of anything without iCal and the photos on my iPhone. Saturday was our busiest day of the week (but we didn't end up doing anything that was actually on our calendar... which is why I forgot all about it). We did East Village, Valley Junction, the bagel shop for lunch, Target, mall, etc, etc. Yes, I was worn out and put my feet up as soon as we got home. And yes, we saw this sign driving down a busy road and hopped out right quick to snap this shot. With the iPhone. Of course.

Do you read Ohdeedoh?

Did you see the post where the little girl made her mom an iced latte?

Reminds me of the time Maddox made himself a 'pop tart' while I was sleeping through my first trimester (he ate a frozen toaster strudel) or the time Mo told me about her favorite smoothies she makes and that, 'Oh yeah, I gotta tell mom that the blender is broken.'

At least when I taught our friends' little boy to use the toaster he was supervised. Kind of.

:)

Flashback Friday

Oh, goodness. You HAVE to go to this flashback post.

How did they get so big? WHEN did they get so big?! Oh how I wish those jammies still fit them.

Love these guys!

'needs'

We have been blessed beyond measure around here! We have had so many people love on us and Baby H. I started working on a gear post because a few people have asked for updates on what we decided to go with and I was so humbled adding all of our baby gear to the list. Literally almost everything on that list has been gifted to us. I really don't even have words to tell you how blessed we feel. I sit in Baby H's room and look around and I'm surrounded by gifts from people that love us. I sit at my breakfast table and look at my sparkling kitchen, done by a friend that came to deep clean our house for us. I pull out diapers to stock the dresser drawer with, diapers that had been passed on by a friend whose baby had outgrown them. I emailed my cousin to ask her opinion on baby books (because I JUST realized that might be something we want) and she said she already had one for us.

We. are. so. Blessed.

So when people have been asking me lately what we need. I really tell them NOTHING! I really think people have thought of everything that we may need and they've provided it.

But since everyone keeps asking, there are a few little things that I 'need' your help with. Advice welcomed.

1. What nursing clothes did you like? I purchased one tank from Motherhood. I am thinking I may like the clip down version better though? How many nursing tops do I really need? What worked for you?

2. How many newborn clothes does a baby really need? Did you buy a bunch only for your baby to never wear them? Did you not buy enough and was your little one in them longer than you expected? In newborn size, our little guy has 1 outfit, 3 sleepers, 3 onesies and 3 pants (and a coming home outfit). Should we get more or wait to see how big (or little) he is when he arrives?

3. Same question on the newborn diapers... We have one package of newborn diapers (but more in size 1). Should we get more? Should we wait and see? And while we're talking diapers, besides diapers.com, where do you find them to be the cheapest?

4. Did you take you iPod to the hospital? Have any good recommendations for the playlist for me?

5. Where did you find 0-3 pants? I've looked all over for 0-3 jeans (that aren't $20 or more. yikes.) and have purchased just one pair. I thought I could get away with baby legs but those are hard to find in the boy styles too (he has white, green and grey polka dot baby legs but they are all bigger so I'm not sure they'll fit him at 0-3). He got some really cute sweaters as gifts and (his mom thinks) he 'needs' jeans to match. I keep checking our consignment store but am not coming up with anything there. Am I the only one that thinks baby jeans are too expensive?

(I should probably clarify that I'm looking for boy jeans. I can find lots of cute girl jeans out there!) :)

6. Did you sign up for Rewards 'R Us? Did you ever get your rewards? It says we earned some last quarter but we never got them. Do I need to do something to actually get them this time? This is probably the biggest one we'll ever get from them so I hate to miss out on it!

7. Do you think I can get away with a 'reversible' birth announcement/Christmas card? The chances of me getting both out this year are slim so I'm thinking I may just do a Christmas card on one side and a birth announcement on the other. Dumb? Genius? What do you think?

Anyway, all that to say, I don't really know that there's anything left we really 'need.' But maybe you can come do inventory for me and let me know what I'm missing!

Baby Gear

Thanks to all of your help (from this post and beyond), we narrowed down our baby gear choices and are pretty excited with what we have. Obviously, we haven't had the opportunity to test it all out yet but I thought I'd share with you what we'll be testing in the near future.

Infant Carrier: Chicco Keyfit 30 in Romantic. Gift from uncle and cousin.
Car seat accessories: PBK stroller blanket- gift from Maddox. SO soft and cuddly. I want the adult size version from the big PB. JJ Cole Bundle Me- gift from my mom's friend.

Monitor: Summer Infant Slim & Secure Handheld Color Video Monitor. Gift from mom. This was maybe a splurge on grandma's part but we LOVE it.

Swing/bouncy seat: Mamaroo Infant Seat/Swing. Gift from my sister. It's a swing. It's a bouncy seat. It's supposedly really, really good.

Pack n Play: Graco Laguna Bay. Gift from my mom. Admittedly we weren't going to get this. We really wanted it but when we reassessed our budget we decided it could go. Grandma stepped up again and added this to Baby H's gear list. We set it up and it's even better than we thought. Thinking it will be a big blessing to have once little guy is here!

Stroller: Snap n Go. Gift from my sister. I love how it isn't as bulky as some of the travel system strollers. It turns and folds up easy and doesn't take up much space.

Pump: We were originally going to borrow one but some things came up and we ended up purchasing one instead. We went with the Medela Pump in Style tote. I admit I didn't research pumps and only got this because it's the same as the one we were going to borrow (so we had some accessories for it already) and because pretty much everyone I know has this same one.


Still on the list: These are things we have on our list for when he's a little bigger. As it gets closer, I'm sure we'll reassess and see what actually fits in the budget.

Convertible Car Seat: Britax Marathon 70. This is our next biggest concern as far as purchases go. We obviously want a safe one but will also need something budget friendly when the time comes. Any reviews out there for us, friends?

Stroller: Uppa Baby Jake G-Luxe Black. Upon typing this post I found that the 2009 version of this stroller has been discontinued and the new version out is $70 more. So we may be looking for other stroller options as well. Recommendations for us? :)


And yes, I know you are thinking Baby H is so completely spoiled by friends and family. You are correct. He most definitely is. We feel so, so blessed to be loved on so much. Almost everyday we look at all he has been given and talk about how we could never have hooked him up with so much great stuff on our own. He is one very blessed little boy.

soon

Soon we'll have a little guy here to snuggle. We are SO excited.

But (and I may have mentioned this before.... once or twice?) I'm just a little nervous about it being so close to the start of basketball season.

Basketball season is long. You other basketball widows can vouch for this. We don't get to see our husbands much. It's a long standing joke (that's kind of, not really so much a joke) that I don't like to share my basketball coaching husband during the season. His at home time is VERY limited during that long season so the few minutes that he's awake while he's home through the winter, I like to hog him.

I'm going to have to share him this year with our little guy. Obviously. And I want to. I want him to spend every minute that he's home bonding with our little guy (I'll probably even 'let' him get up for 4:30 am diaper changes, ha).

But that still leaves the rest of the day for me and little guy to likely be stuck inside most of the winter.

Which brings me to visitors. I've begged my friends to come see me this winter. (Normally I'm begging them to go to games with me... hopefully I'll have more takers on coming to visit a tiny baby!) :)

Someone sent me this link about how to be a good visitor and told me to post it on my front door. I had already read this post (that was the inspiration behind the previous post) and it stuck with me when I went to visit my friend and her new baby this summer... even though I broke some 'rules.'

My random thoughts on it:

#1. I learned that I've been a TERRIBLE newborn visitor. I've stayed longer than 15 minutes and brought Blizzards. Not exactly the healthy meal they're talking about. But sometimes a girl just needs a Blizzard, right?

#2. I don't agree with all of the 'rules.' Especially the one about not bringing small children.

#3. I do like the 'rule' about staying home if you are sick. I just did newborn photos with a family that said someone brought their sick two year old and she was kissing the new baby allover. I'd be lying if I said that doesn't gross me out. People from both my work and R's work have said I need to bring him in to visit. (Did you know both of those places are schools... and schools have lots of germs in them year round but especially in the winter?) I guess there's something about the cold and flu season that turns me off from that.

#4. I also like the one about not showing up unannounced. I like that one for anytime though. Our bestest of friends even call or text before showing up. It's just the nice thing to do.

#5. Even though I like some of these, I wont be hanging it up on my door. And you don't have to clean my bathrooms if you come visit! :) But seriously, come see me this winter! Please? :)

10 on Tuesday, 10-11

1. We got to eat dinner with some good friends and their three smiley girls. Love!

2. R got his flu shot. He says his first ever. He's a trooper.

3. Ang took me out for sushi. She's awesome.

4. I got to go to Center Grove Orchard with Madd & Mo. I have pictures on a camera around here somewhere. Maybe I'll get a post up about that soon.

5. Madd's birthday party was Saturday. See #5 about photos from it.

6. I hung out with my mom down home this weekend. It was crazy days downtown so there were some vendors set up. We got a good deal on some pumpkins and I came really close to getting a feather in my hair. Am I too old for that?

7. R spent the weekend hanging out with some of his buddies. They are starting an annual guys outing. Don't you girls think we should start our own??

8. I had the last newborn session before our due date this week. A little bit crazy to think that the very next itty bitty baby I hold will be ours.

9. I'm in the middle of finishing my 'to do' list of things that 'need' to be done before our due date. I'm a little overwhelmed with it (and life in general) right now.

10. And I have hardly any photos uploaded for this poor excuse of an update. I'll add a phone photo dump to my to do list. Maybe.

The Moments

A week ago, I was sitting in the nursery feeling Baby H kick and really enjoying this stage of life. I was taking it all in and feeling so blessed.

This morning, as I was digging through the closet looking for something, anything, appropriate to wear in this weather, I realized that I can officially say, "I have nothing to wear" and be basically telling the truth.

I was a little bit annoyed, slightly (okay, really) frustrated.

As I was standing there shuffling through the hanging shirts... again, my phone that was sitting on the bathroom counter buzzed with a new email. It was a message from a friend talking to me about how slow these last few weeks can go but a reminder to 'enjoy the moments.'

Right in the middle of my 'poor me, what am I going to wear?' she reminded me to enjoy it.

So today I'm embracing this belly..... and seriously considering putting on a pair of R's gym shorts for the day.

And I'm going to enjoy it! :)

(Can you believe I just posted that? I'm pretty sure R and the Dr are the only ones that have seen this much of the belly! until now!) 

Enjoy the moments today! :)

Due......

Our due date is coming up soon! Our official date is Nov. 17th- 6 weeks away. The Dr's goal date was Oct. 27th (full-term) at which point if my numbers were bad they would induce no question. My goal date is Nov. 10th. R just wants the little guy to be here. Part of me is anxious to think that in just 3 weeks, we could have a perfect baby boy in our arms. Part of me is terrified. But mostly, I'm beyond excited to meet this little guy!
And because I mentioned numbers above.. I'm happy to report that my numbers have been holding steady (which is great!) and surprising. In fact, they are so good, this baby might be staying put until Thanksgiving. (Let's hope he's just a little earlier than that though!)


Updated: We had an appointment tonight. My numbers keep looking good and the Dr informed me that I will NOT still be pregnant at Thanksgiving. Good to know. :)

10 on Tuesday, Oct 4

1. It's Maddox's birthday today. He's 5! Be sure to check out his birthday post. He's a lover!

2. We've been busy getting things ready for baby H. At this point, I LOVE doing his laundry. Remind me later on that I said, would ya? Especially if he ever starts playing sports!
One of my baby apps says I should have my hospital bag packed now and need to get the car seat in the car. It seems early for that. How many weeks were you when you started making those preps?

2. Thursday I was daydreaming about our forever home with large trees outside to hang pretty lights from for outdoor parties. Not long after, R said we needed to turn all the lights out so the kids wouldn't be peeping in our windows... it was the night before homecoming and we get several 'visitors.' This year they were so lazy that they just drove right up to the house. At one point there were about 50 kids between our house and the coach that lives behind us. Thankfully for us (but not so much for the field), it was a windy night and a lot of their efforts had blown across the road and into the field before morning. I secretly don't mind that they do it (except for the time they got my car... and Jen's.. yuck!) (which means it was a year ago we were painting the basement, Jen. does that even seem possible?!) Anyway... guess it's a good thing we don't have those large pretty trees yet.

3. Friday I got to see a long lost college friend. I hadn't seen her since another friend was married in '08! Sara Jo and I went to DSM to meet Lindsey and it was so fun to catch up with her! Also big news from the day, we went to Trader Joe's. Would you disown me as a friend if I told you it was the first time I had been there? And.... that I wasn't all that impressed. Maybe I need someone to make a Trader Joe's shopping list for me so I can see what all the hype is about. I know you guys love it and I'm begging your forgiveness that I don't. Help me see the light, would ya? ;)

4. The Cyclones played Texas Saturday. We beat them last year and I'm pretty sure Texas had not forgotten! It was ugly. Before the game was even over we went to get desert with Jen & Adam. I posted a photo of this same desert last time we did a dinner hop with these two. That photo was much prettier though. (Note to self: Do the 365 challenge again!)

5. Every day this week I have gotten out of bed at my normal 4:30 am waking time and was actually productive with it. R has even been getting breakfast out of the deal. This morning, after I had already been in the kitchen over two hours by 7 am and all I had to show for it was an oven that had caught on fire and a cake that was in major distress, I was kind of thinking to myself I'm just like Pioneer Woman. Did you see the episode where everyone always steals her toast center from her egg nests? That always happens to me too so that makes me just like her, right? I mean she's surely had a little fire to put out before, right? .......right?

6. Yes, that's a cast iron skillet on a glass top stove. No, I'm not sure if you are supposed to do that. My mom has R convinced cast iron is the way to go. Then her cousin bought him one as a wedding gift and he wont turn back. I cant complain (though I do anyway) if he's willing to do the cooking but he wont even let me make his eggs (or anything else) on anything but 'his' skillet now. He's spoiled.

7. Dakota has been naughty lately. He has gotten too used to me being home more often and he's going through some separation anxiety every time I leave the house. He (knock on wood) hasn't destroyed anything yet but he has a thing for pulling garbage out of the bathroom garbage can. And eating cupcakes. Ahem. He FINALLY had two good days in a row so we are hoping he's getting better. His lifestyle is a lot different with me here now and he's got even more big changes ahead. Any dog whisperers out there that want to come counsel the poor guy?

8. We started the H family cleaning chart this week. Kind of. We printed it off and hung it up. We plan to make changes to it as we work through it and see what works, what doesn't, and what's missing. Yesterday was day one. We didn't make any checks on it. Not off to a great start but maybe we'll get better. Or maybe not. Jaren.... help? ;)  PS- What is this nesting I keep hearing of and why has it not visited our house yet?!? ;)

9. I finished my last round of family pictures for the year. I intentionally didn't schedule any past this week as I wasn't sure how well that'd work out. (I do have individual sessions still coming up though and a wedding to edit so I have plenty to do!) Lucky for me I got to end the year of family sessions with one awesome family. They even brought Baby H a present. She had no idea but I had blogged about it a LONG time ago and always knew that when we had kids I would want to do this. I just love it! And need to find a good place to put it so I don't forget about it when Baby H starts talking! :) Thanks, Erin and fam! That was SO thoughtful of you!

10. Kels & Eric drove up here (because I was holding some of her borrowed clothes hostage) and let me pretend to be the Snappy Casual photographer for a day. I'd post one here but you'll just have to wait and see it on her blog.


What have you been up to this last week!?

Happy 5th Birthday, Maddox!

I have no idea how it happened but somehow five years have gone by and Mr. Maddman is officially a kid. Far from a toddler and barely a preschooler, Maddox is FIVE!
Maddox,
This year has gone by so fast but we've made some fun memories this year. You dressed up as a pirate for Halloween last year and had the best little pirate talk down. At Christmas, you picked out a 'Rock 'em Sock 'em' for Uncle R and let him know he could keep it at your house if he wanted to. You try to do everything that Miss Mo can do. We made 'Stunt Man' shirts that could only be read upside down. Since Morgan could do headstands you were sure you could too. You weren't so happy about falling on your head after that one! We played a lot of super hero this year. You've gone through more than one super hero cape. You had a great time at 'Aunt H's school.' You were confused when the kids would call me Mrs. H and insisted to them that I was Aunt H, not Mrs. It thrilled you when an 8th grader gave you gift certificates for free Happy Meals. You were a celebrity when we went to cash them in. You love spending the night and insist that as long as you have clean clothes you can stay as many days as you want. Lots of clothes equals lots of days as far as you are concerned. You are a great little guy who is almost always well behaved but when you are being ornery, you can be really ornery. One day you said to me, "Remember you said I was being such a good little boy? Well my listening ears, they just exploded like a rocket!" When you found out you were going to have a baby cousin, you thought the ultrasound picture was of a puppy. You finally figured out that there was a baby coming and you were SO excited about it. You are already such a good big cousin, loving on little Baby H. You give him hugs and insist that he wants us to read extra books to him at bedtime and you absolutely insist that he is hungry for Happy Meals all the time! You think a good name for him would be Macaroni and Cheese but we are thinking maybe not. You are big into saying, "That's a good idea" and "That's a BAD idea." Mostly, you tell Aunt H her ideas are good. :) You start dinner with a "Let's pray!" and sometimes when you pray you say the Pledge of Allegiance. Morgan and Dakota are your best friends but you insist you are Dakota's only best friend. You prefer baseball to basketball. You LOVE mac n cheese but you say Panera has the best you've ever had. You 'read' Monster Under the Bed and are quite good at it. You tell silly stories, have a silly giggle and give the best snuggles.
We love you so much, little buddy! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and you give us the biggest smiles and best stories. We hope you have a very, very blessed 5th year! You have a big year in store for you!
Love you bunches, Cheeseburger!
Love- Uncle R, Aunt H, Baby H & (OF COURSE!) Dakota!

Baby Shower

A couple weeks ago, Baby H's aunts (my sister Holly, my basically sister Ang, & R's sister Kerry) hosted a shower brunch for Baby H. It was just perfect! 

The planning started with the food. H had the idea to plan it around foods I had been craving (which is a lot... which explains the amount of food that was there). Since it was mostly breakfast foods, she took off with the brunch theme. One of our favorite party blogs had a vintage brunch featured with lots of ideas that she pulled from. Holly & Ang gathered the goodies (and a lot of it was stuff we already had here at the house) and it really was perfect! My favorite detail might have been the 'milk bottles' and paper straws. Holly bought the paper straws online and Ang collected the milk bottles from a Starbucks drinker. They left both the bottles and the leftover straws here and I cant wait to have another party to get to use them again! (Seriously, I'm thinking a 'milk & cookies' Christmas themed party... planned around the milk bottles cookies for Santa of course.... or I may just copy the vintage brunch theme for the next shower I get to host.)  :)

I think I mentioned on here before that my least favorite thing from my bridal showers was opening gifts in front of everyone. It is so much easier to do when the gifts aren't for you but for your little babe instead! And it's even easier when you have an animated four year old helping open gifts. Seriously, he was SO excited about gifts for our little guy. One of my good blogging/now in real life friends made Baby H the sweetest blankie. Maddox said, "OH your baby is going to be SO snuggly in that." He was so sincere (and so right!) and it made opening gifts fun. I love the picture of him below with his hand over his mouth because he spotted 'dollars' on a Baby H gift. So fun! And Baby H was definitely spoiled by some very generous (and crafty!) ladies!

My absolute most favorite thing about this shower was the lovely gals that took time out of their weekend to come celebrate Baby H with us. The hostesses (and my mom!) worked their tails off prepping for the shower, Mary drove ALL the way over here and even came the night before so I would actually get to catch up with her, and several other of my favorite ladies joined us as well. (I added photos of some of the girls that blog below!)

And about half of the invites sent out were sent out of state and we had some very generous and thoughtful gals that even though they couldn't join us (and they didn't get to eat Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls with us), they showered Baby H with gifts anyway. I tear up when I sit and think about how blessed we are to have such great people in our lives and how excited I am for Baby H to meet all of these great people. He is so, SO loved by so many people already. 

A HUGE THANK YOU to the lovely shower hostesses, everyone that was able to join us and every single person that has showered Baby H with love. We really cant believe how blessed we are. 

PS- I know you aren't going to believe me but I had yet another awesome shower and I want to blog it too. Hopefully that post will be coming soon! :)




Updated: Shower Details: 

Favors:
-Cupcakes made by Holly in favor boxes from Michaels (decorated with scrapbook paper)

Games: 
-Baby Advice 'Madlibs' (remember those?!?). Guests filled in madlibs and the girls read them to us. Some were funny, some were sweet, some were tearjerkers.
-Guess the baby. Guests brought baby photos and we guessed who was who. I don't remember hearing who won?

Decoration:
-Banner picks (on muffins and cupcake boxes). Scrapbook paper glued onto craft picks.
-Window frame with our baby's 'so far story.'  (Excerpts taken from our Dear Baby letters)
-Balloons purchased from sweetlulu.com
-Wooden serve-ware from sweetlulu.com
-Grey paper straws
-We had planned to hang up ultrasound pictures but at the time I had no idea where they were. (We did find them later though!) :)

Guestbook:
-Guests added their painted thumbprint to a canvas and signed their name near it. I had originally planned on turning the thumbprints into a bouquet of balloons but kind of liked it as is so I've left it alone so far.

Menu:
Mini-pancakes & Maple syrup
Strawberry Soup
Raspberry Chocolate Torts
Bacon & Egg Muffins
Donut Hole Tree
Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls
Fresh Fruit Bowl
Bacon Skewers
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
Chocolate PB Cupcakes
Hummingbird Cupcakes
Milk/OJ/Coffee