Learning to Live in Pure Joy!

So, our precious bundle arrived two months ago on August 5th.  I have yet to blog since he arrived.  To say everything started off perfectly would not be accurate.  I had to have a c-section due to the position of his head after a couple of hours of pushing.  The silver lining is that he was perfectly healthy.  We had an amazing doctor and labor and delivery nurse.  We could not have done it without them.  The picture below is with our labor and delivery nurse - Marie.  Her husband works with me at Calhoun. She was awesome!

Charlie and I were so elated during the first couple of weeks, but we were also going through a huge change.  Breast feeding is hard work y'all! No one told me this beforehand.  For some reason, I just always assumed I would breast feed, but I never thought through what it would be like.  Luckily, Tays latched on easily and after a couple of weeks, it became increasingly more natural.  I feel thankful I have been able to do it and have the experience.  I just remember having a moment at 3:00 a.m. the first night we were home where I thought, "My life will never be the same."  I will never be able to do anything again.  I will always be sleep deprived.  I'll never make it when my mom leaves, etc.  By the way, I had a serious crying session when my mom left.  I have since learned from several of my friends that this is very normal! I cannot tell you how many people told me they cried when their mom left too (that includes my sister who had a baby last week).  Sleep deprivation and hormones off the chart are not a good look on me.

Once again, luckily, life has really returned to normal.  Tays sleeps well for his age (pretty much sleeping through the night already).  Thanks to pumping and getting him in a routine, we take him everywhere.  He has already made a trip to Montgomery, a couple of trips to Florence and a couple of trips to Nashville.  We are taking him to the beach later this week.  Charlie and I like to be on the go and like being social.  So far, he has adjusted well to our lifestyle and we are adjusting to taking a baby places.  I know as he gets older and sleeps less he might not travel as well, so we are getting it in while we can.

Ok, so on to the pure joy part...I love this baby!  He has changed my life for the better!  I never understood why they would ask celebrities who just had a baby how being a mom has changed them.  I always thought I would be the same person plus a child.  I know this sounds weird, but I guess it is something you can't understand until you are there.  I have never been happier in my life.  I love waking up and seeing that precious baby every morning (even if it is 4:00 am).  I could also get annoyed with those people who post a million pictures of their kids all the time.  Guess what? I've joined the club.  Sorry for those I am friends with on facebook and follow me on twitter.  We think everything he does is amazing and precious.  I told Charlie I could just look at his pictures for hours without getting tired of it.  I feel like I appreciate life more.  I am living more in the moment.

I had a thought while we were in Nashville the weekend of my 28th birthday a few weeks ago.  Life is so fleeting.  I look back at every stage and think, "Why didn't I enjoy that more?  Those were the best days."  I told Charlie that it hit me that weekend that this really is the best time of our lives - this stage with young children.  We will never get this time back that we have while Tays is a baby, and I really don't want to take it for granted.  And for the first time in my life,  I feel like I am consciously enjoying the moment.  I wish I could describe the joy this baby gives me, but it is indescribable.

With that joy for me comes anxiety.  I've never had so much to loose.  I keep thinking, "Life is too perfect right now."   My boss showed us a TED talk at a professional development day a few months back.  Dr. Brene Brown was talking about her book "Daring Greatly".  I loved the video and I have since heard several people talk about reading her book.  Then, yesterday she was talking on the OWN channel.  What she said really hit home.  Her book is all about vulnerability and how that is the connection to courage and human relationships.  We all put up armor to keep ourselves from being vulnerable.  Sometimes we even put up armor to keep ourselves from feeling one of the greatest vulnerable emotions - joy.  We start thinking about what bad thing is coming if we are this joyful.  This is something I have always struggled with.  I am a critical thinker, so naturally I sometimes find myself looking for the bad.  This is strange considering I am, for the most part, an optimist.  Living in the moment is something I've always struggled with.  I didn't realize until recently that I can even struggle with admitting when things are good.  She said that we have to learn to live in gratitude in our moments of joy.  We can't worry about the future.  We can only be grateful for that moment we are given.  I share this because I am first of all being vulnerable by saying this, and secondly,  I am trying to live in gratitude with a full heart and thank God for the gift of this wonderful baby.

By the way, I am starting her book this week. I'll let you know how it goes.  This is a long post, but it is therapeutic for me to share my thoughts and feelings during this blessed time!

Nursery and Pregnancy Update

This coming Tuesday will be one week away from baby Tays' due date!  We are at that point where we are so ready/scared at the same time.  Do we have the car seat in right?  If I go into labor, is my bag sufficiently packed?  And, oh yeah, what do you exactly do with a baby when it gets here?  Those are the questions running through our minds.  On the other hand, we could not be more excited!  We are so ready to meet this little person who has been in my belly for the last nine months.  We have been extremely blessed over the last couple of months with showers and gifts (I posted pictures from all of our showers in a new album on facebook).  It has been so busy, and I know it is not about to slow down!

As cheesy as this sounds (and those who know me well will get this), the royal baby's arrival this last week has my mind even more on baby.  I love that Kate Middleton and I are having babies around the same time.  It came out in the news that she was pregnant the day after I found out I was pregnant.  Providence? I think yes! Also providence that we have a swaddling blanket we are taking to the hospital that looks a lot like Prince George's swaddling blanket? Of course!  Ok, I'm a royal family stalker...

Finally, I have been meaning to post pictures of our nursery because so many people have asked me about it.  I am just now posting because we just recently much finished.  We decided to go with gray, yellow and white to keep the nursery gender neutral.  I found baby bedding from Carousel Designs that I fell in love with.  Unfortunately, it was way out of our budget.  I sent a picture of it to my grandmother who loves to sew and asked her if she thought she could make something similar if I found similar fabric.  She actually found the exact same fabric on the website (extremely reasonable for fabric) and ordered it.  She made the bed skirt, bumper pads and curtains.  She did such a great job! Others contributed to the nursery as well.  My parents bought the crib and Charlie's parents bought our glider.  

We got the dresser/changing table from Ikea.  It was the best for the price and the roomiest.  My sister and her husband made an Ikea run in Atlanta for their new place and picked it up for us.  It's always nice to have family stopping by Ikea when you need a new dresser.

This picture is a little dark, but it was the only way to take the picture without the glare.  Our friend

Cheree, who is a graphic designer, made this picture for our nursery in our colors as a gift.  It was such a thoughtful idea.  She is so talented and we are extremely sad that her family is moving from Huntsville in the near future!

Another dark picture.  You can see these pictures hanging above the bed in the picture above.  I found these prints on pinterest and ordered them from etsy.  I absolutely love them and they also go along with our colors.

I love that (thanks to many friends), Tays already has his own library going.

Below is the glider my in-laws gave us and the curtains Nana made.  The glider is one of my favorite things.  Nana had enough Chevron material left over from the bumper to make matching curtains.

I also found this pillow case on esty.  I thought it would look great with our colors, but I also love the elephants since, you know, we like a team in our state that Tays has no choice but to root for one day.  So, it's a win - win situation with the pillow.

Better picture of the bedding.

One of my other favorite things is this pillow that Kim Nall (a family friend in Montgomery) made for us.  She also made burp cloths for Tays.  Once again, another talented friend blessed us.

Overall, it's a light and airy nursery.  Nothing really flashy, but something we can use with our next child (boy or girl).  I wish I would have taken before and after pictures.  Before we painted this room it was a tan color and our office/junk room.  It is so crazy to walk in there and see a totally new room for someone we haven't even met yet.  Hopefully, my next blog update will include a picture of him!

Is There An Alien In My Belly?

Ok, so I started a blog about four years ago, but never actually blogged.  However, I have felt the need to start blogging to share some more details about what is going on in our lives (mine and Charlie's) right now.  Forgive me, this may not turn out well since this is my first attempt. 

In the picture above, I am about 31 weeks pregnant.  I am now inching up on 33 weeks tomorrow.  As I write, I have a little boy kicking inside of me like a soccer player.  A lot of friends have told me that your baby's movements will start to feel bigger and more dramatic the further you move into your third trimester.  This has definitely been true for me.  Charlie tried to video tape my stomach the other night (yes, he did) because he couldn't get over the fact that you could literally see the left side of my stomach moving up and down.   I also swore that I felt a foot press up against my belly yesterday.  Crazy!  I now understand what people mean when they say it feels like there is an alien in your belly. Althought it can feel a little weird and totally catch you off guard, it is such a cool reminder of the miracle going on inside of you.  It is easy to take this feeling for granted when you feel it everyday.  Sometimes I have to stop myself and remind myself how rare and amazing this is!

We got our glider for the nursery in this weekend!  We have this beautiful glider thanks to my in-laws and we have a crib coming in this week thanks to my parents.  We are doing the nursery in gray, yellow and white.  We were a little nervous when we ordered the glider at "All About Baby" and the lady told us they had never had anyone order it in lemon before.  Fortunately, it turned out great!  We still have so much to do! I will post more pics as the nursery comes together.  We hope to paint and set up the crib this week.

I have been reading several pregnancy books since finding out we were expectings.  I have had some wonderful friends from church share some of their books with me too.  However, my favorite book so far is Baby Wise.  Charlie actually bought this at a book sale at his work.  He probably didn't know that he would soon regret buying this book for me.  He doesn't appreciate the fact that I like to read all the highlights and chapters out loud just to make sure he will be as great of a parent as I am going to be (lol).  I told my friend Lisa (who is expecting a boy too in October) about this book.  I just needed someone to share it with and discuss it with.  She said that her husband is just as equally annoyed since she started reading the book!  Now, if we could just get our husbands to read it too.  I know it is somewhat controversial, but I find all of the tips to be great practical advice.  I would recommend it to anyone expecting who is nervous about what to do when the baby actually gets here.  I do realize that I will probably forget most of the book by the time the baby comes, but as of right now, my intentions are really good!

Lastly, in the midst of all the baby craziness, I just started the Nehemiah study by Kelly Minter.  I have been in a Bible study on Monday nights for the past couple of years with an amazing group of friends.  Last summer we did the Ruth study by Kelly Minter.  To my knowledge, Kelly is an up and coming Bible study writer who lives in Nashville.  I love how her studies are so simple yet convicting.  I have only done the first week of Nehemiah, but I am already so excited about it.  I almost backed out of doing a study this summer with all the other things I have going on, but I am so glad I decided to go ahead  and do it.  God knows I desperatly need things like this to keep my mind in the right place.  It is totally worth whatever extra time it takes out of my week! The first week talks about having a heart of compassion like Nehemiah, and asks what we are doing to actually get out of our comfort zone.  If you are looking for a good study to do this summer, I would highly recommend it!

Lots of randomniss, but this is just a way to keep family and friends updated.  Have a great week!

~ Laura