Charley JoAn

Our little miracle is here! She was born on April 6th at 12:11 am. She is absolutely beautiful and healthy and strong. She weighed 7lbs 3 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Before we left for the hospital

She decided to come a little earlier than planned, which is just her style... It is crazy to think back on how everything happened. The day was so normal and I had so much planned for that evening. My water broke around 7 on Tuesday night and since I was having a C-section, that meant no waiting around for labor, I was having that baby. I didn't want to believe it and struggled with the idea that I could be having her that night. Greg was at work and I refused to call him. Instead I went around the house doing all kinds of chores; laundry, vacuuming, dishes, etc. I waited until he called me on his break before I told him, and even then I almost didn't. He was excited and rushed home early from work to take me to the hospital, but not before I repacked my hospital bag, finished the laundry and tested out the car seat one last time. When we did finally get to the triage the nurse was pretty positive that my water did break but we had to wait for the results of the test. We asked the nurse while we were waiting if they got a lot of women in there with false alarms. She told us all the time and that most likely the girl next to us was one of them. I was so jealous of that girl, and prayed that I would have the same result. It sounds so silly now, but I did NOT want to have my baby that night. I was scheduled for the 14th and that was when I wanted to have her, not the 5th, nor the 6th. But I of course, do not get to choose how these things work out. After the tests were confirmed, the doctor came in and double checked that baby was breech and in less than 15 minutes I was in the O.R. I had decided not to tell any of our family that we were going to the hospital until I heard them say for sure I was having that baby, because, remember, I was praying I wasn't. Everything happened so fast once we found out, that all I was able to get out between the preparation was a text message to my sister before they wheeled me away. We thought we would have plenty of time to let everyone know what was going on once we found out because hospitals always seem to be so slow. Not the case. Greg walked out for a quick phone call and they almost wheeled me away without him. Everything happened so fast, and I was is such a daze that nothing felt real to me, but the second I heard my baby cry everything became real. You always hear people talk about how they feel when they see their baby for the first time, but it is even better than what they say. It was such an incredible experience and the feeling of love was overwhelming. Before my baby girl came I would have mini anxiety attacks, "I can't be a mom, I don't even like kids!" is something I would frequently tell Greg. That night I didn't want to go to the hospital because I didn't want her to be here, I couldn't possibly imagine taking care of another being. But here I am doing it and the hell I imagined it would be like while pregnant and before I even got pregnant is not hell, not even a little bit. It is pure joy. I always think how amazing it is that I can love this little one so much! I've only known her for a few weeks. I now have mini anxiety attacks when I am away from her, all I can think about is her. My husband and my baby are my world.

Here are some of Charley's first moments..

Her debut

Our first family picture
My favorite facial expression.

**I wrote this so long ago, it took me a while to finish it. .. . more exciting pictures and posts to come!!!**

Baby's due date is sneaking up on us! We had another weekly appointment today, this one I had been looking forward to for a while now, because we finally got to have another ultrasound! Unfortunately, our child is a stubborn one and was facing down and breech and we could not get a very good view of her. All we could really see was the back of her head and her spine. I didn't even get to bring home a little picture. It was actually really disappointing. My doctor wanted to check her and make sure she was growing well, since all the complications before usually cause babies to not grow like they should. But, once again, she shocked us all when we saw that she already weighs more than 6 1/2 pounds, has a head the size of a full term kiddo, and of course, was Frank Breech. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised, she has been full of surprises since day one. My doctor is guessing that she will be at least 9 lbs come d-day and the size of her noggin may trigger the need for a c-section, which I will most likely have anyway because she is heads up. There is still about a 5% chance that she will turn before she is due, but I will be scheduling my c-section at my appointment next week. I am a little bummed, I wanted to try to have her naturally. I wanted the freedom of moving around, dislike the idea of the use of Pitocin and I wanted the experience of delivering. But, I guess one plus will be that we will know when she is coming and be able to plan around Greg's test schedule at school! Next week we should know what day this little one is coming! I cannot wait!
I also cannot get over how big she is!! I don't know where this child came from. I weighed about as much as she does now and I was way past my due date. Greg was a little bit bigger, but dang! 9 pounds! I was hoping for a tiny baby. :) I guess I shouldn't be complaining, I don't have to push that out.

Everything else has been coming along nicely. We have everything we need for baby, and the nursery is almost completed, I just need to get the decorations on the wall and finish the rug for her floor. School is going pretty good for both of us too. I am trying to get as much done before she comes. I just am so easily distracted by things I could be doing around the house and getting ready for Charley, that I am not as far ahead as I would like to be. Having a baby is just too much fun! :) Once her room is done I will post pictures, because it's adorable! :)

There's a Baby in there?!

It is really starting to hit me that we are having a baby! I am getting so excited (and a little bit nervous) I know it will be one heck of an adventure and I look forward doing it with my sweet, adorable husband.

Over the last 8 months, I have done a crumby job taking progression pics. I really wanted to do them frequently, but failed. I do, however, have a few. So here is what I have looked like during various times of my pregnancy:

My first belly shot at 20 weeks. I didn't really show, I just looked pudgy.

26 weeks. Still not showing too much.

30 weeks. Yea! I finally had a baby pooch!

34 weeks.

I have been quite lucky so far in my pregnancy, I feel great and I love being pregnant! It is an incredible experience feeling a little one inside you. I am going to miss it, but I am sooo excited to meet this little one!

I also had my shower. Thanks to my mom and sister, it turned out great! I was even surprised by my good friend Jenny, from Utah! I couldn't believe all the fantastic things I received. I am now pretty much all set for this baby to come!

Project Complete.

I have finally finished Baby Charley's room! (and a few other things) And I must say it looks fantastic! It feels so good to have it done and to check something off my long 'to do list.' I am hoping that this good feeling of accomplishment will help motivate me to continue to work on the rest of my projects around the house, but at 8 months prego, it just doesn't really sound that fun. . .

My first home improvement project was the hallway. I still need to paint the trim, but I think it looks good so far.

Before:

After:

(please excuse the dresser. I am going to be refinishing it and it just happened to be here when I took this picture)

Now onto Baby's room. I am very proud of this room! I am so pleased with the way that it turned out. At first, this room was an ugly shade of nasty with cheesy butterfly and dragonfly cut out stickers. I started by removing those lovely stickers and puttied the wall. I have never seen so many holes in my life! I felt like I refinished the wall with putty. .

(the wall color here looks white, but it was not! It was more like a yellow/brown/gray mixture, trust me, it was hideous.)

I then painted the walls an adorable pink. The white in this picture is more joint compound. I used it to hide lines left from previous wall paper and old baseboards.

I love bead board! I think it is so pretty! I wanted to do it for baby's room but I figured it would be too hard considering our walls are not perfectly straight and I am not that patient. Instead I found this wallpaper (seriously, wallpaper! I'm not usually a fan, but this stuff is great!) It looks just like bead board, although you can't really tell from this picture.

For a finishing touch I put up a chair rail to separate the bead board from the pink.

I love the way this room has turned out! I cannot wait to get all the furniture and wall decor up! I especially can't wait for Baby Charley to get here and use her new room!

As you can probably tell from the pictures above, our house has been decorated with all kinds of tools and equipment. We are slowly making our way around the house and finishing little things here and there. We are currently working on the basement. We are getting so excited for it to be finished. I have been painting all the walls and this week we will be getting new carpet! So stayed tuned for our next home improvement adventure update!

Labor and Delivery..

Time is going by so fast and Baby is quickly on her way! We are getting so excited for our little one to come and have been diligently preparing for her arrival. Currently I am working on her room. I am so excited for it to be finished! Since moving into our house, everything has needed to be painted and I have slowly been working on the different sections, but by the time I got to baby's room it took everything in me to do it. I officially hate painting! But it needs to be done and it is looking fab! I will post pictures once it is completed. I have also been doing my research on different things like cribs and car seats. We recently took a newborn care class, which was somewhat helpful, and on Saturday Greg and I took a tour of the hospital that we will be delivering at. I know that I am just barely in my third trimester (almost 29 weeks) but I felt we should just in case our little one decides to come early. It turns out it was the perfect day to take that tour.

Yesterday I got to experience the Labor and Delivery Triage at St. Lukes. I am happy to report that I chose the right hospital to deliver our baby girl. The staff there is amazing and so helpful and the place makes you feel so comfortable. :) But why was I in Labor and Delivery? Baby Charley felt she was ready to meet us!! :)

About 3 am yesterday morning I started having horrible cramps which made me so sick! I just figured I had a stomach bug or something and went back to bed to try to sleep. Of course I couldn't and the rest of the morning was spent trying to find some way to relieve the cramping. After much convincing from my husband, I called the doctor. (I think doctors are amazing, but I don't think that people need to go see them for everything.) Turns out it was a good thing I did. The cramps I was feeling were contractions. (I had no idea, I've never done this before.) They were coming quite frequently, and of course it was just too early to be having any real contractions. So after seeing my amazing doctor, I was sent over to Labor and Delivery to be monitored for most of the day and was given shots to stop the contractions. It worked and last night they sent me home, but not before saying my two least favorite words: bed rest. Luckily (and hopefully) it will only be for a few days. If they don't start up again in the next day or two I can slowly start adding in activities. I am excited to meet our little one, but I can wait until she is done and ready, and hopefully I will have to. :) Having the hemorrhaging before puts her at high risk of coming early, but I have a feeling she will make it to at least the end of March. (my fingers are crossed)
Other than that, things are going quite well. Greg has been super busy with school and work. The poor guys is gone practically all day, which I hate because my most favorite thing in the world is to be with him.. I am also going to school, well sort of, I am just taking 2 online classes because baby is due mid semester and although you might think I am super woman, I'm not sure I could do a full load on campus with a newborn. It is unfortunate, because with the combination of dropping my classes last semester because of bed rest and only taking 2 this semester, it puts me back almost a year. I REALLY just want to be done and move on already! ugh.. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is worth bringing a child into the world.. right? :)

A year in pictures.. and a few words.

Happy 2011! I know I am a little late, but hey, at least I'm trying. 2010 was an awesome year. Greg and I had many fun adventures together. I found some pictures and thought I could sum up with these pictures and a few words. :)

I turned 23, which was a very hard age for me. I'm over it, but now I'm struggling with 24.
My sweet husband got me this beautiful entertainment center and this adorable cat. We even share the same birthday.

Greg and I camped out in our living room.

We enjoyed St. Patty's with a green meal.

Greg and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary at the Mona Lisa.

Myles returned from his mission in Australia.

We spent a week in California,

and at the beach.

We found out we were pregnant with our little girl.

We started another semester at Boise State.

We visited our nations capital with family and friends.

Watched Boise State football games.

I went to Mall of America with my sister and dad.

Greg and I purchased our first house!

(Which is an investment, there is some work to be done here.)

(The living room)

Greg celebrated his 24th birthday.

We enjoyed the splendors of fall.

Enjoyed a spooky dinner for Halloween.

My gangster hubby..

We celebrated baby's 20th week, get it? Half baked... haha. :)

We went to the winter gardens.

And finally, we celebrated our 3rd Christmas together.

We hope everyone had a wonderful year and that this one will bring much happiness!