Thoughts of 2014

It's the first day of the new year, and I'm actually sitting down updating my blog. I really hope to update more, as I want to remember the day to day life with my little Henry. I can't believe he is 3 months old next week.

I am slowly going to play catch up month by month, but for now I am going to reflect on the past year.

Daniel and I were talking about 2014 last night and discussing the hardest and the best of times.
The best for both of us was the obvious: becoming parents and watching our little miracle grow and develop. Henry truly makes our day every day. He is such a smiley boy- when he's being held that is. He loves to be held and have attention every moment that he's awake. He just makes us laugh because he never. stops. moving. If he's laying in bed and going to sleep, he's still moving something, whether it's his leg, foot or arms. He gets it honestly... from his dad and Grandma Leman.

Daniel's hardest for the year was being in school, working, and adjusting to a new baby. That was a tough month(or two). He wasn't getting much sleep and was extremely run down so he kept getting sick over and over again.Thankfully we are done with that, because he graduated!

My hardest? Daniel thought I'd say child birth. :) Nope...being sick almost my whole pregnancy was way worse and honestly the first month or two of Henry's life was rough. Breastfeeding was very rough for the first couple of months. I think we went to the doctor every week for awhile there. I'm so thankful things are going better, Praise God! The only thing is Henry's not gaining tons of weight... he was just 10.2 pounds last week at almost 3 months. But we love our little peanut...It's kind of fun he's stayed little for longer. :)

We're both looking forward to another year of being parents and watching our little bundle of joy grow up. I don't want him to grow up, but at the same time I know every stage is so fun as they interact more and more with you.

We are thankful and blessed!!

Henry Daniel

Introducing Henry Daniel.. born on October 6, 2014 at 4:47pm. He weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long. Labor and delivery went extremely well- we are so so thankful! 

Proud Dad

So relieved to be done!

I am truly blessed by my little family!

If you want to know the whole labor story.. I will eventually post it, and I'm sorry if it's TMI for some of you! :) But for right now, I'm just trying to adjust to this lack of sleep and feeding a baby every couple of hours. :) It's gone very well actually, and we are thankful he is a pretty good baby! We are completely in love with him!

Baby Showers

I have been extremely blessed with baby showers. I was worried I wouldn't have any, and then people offered left and right to do one for me! We are so blessed by the family and friends that we have! 

The Hostesses

I had a Leman/Knapp/Roanoke Church shower hosted by my sister-in-laws. It was an evening shower and they had a delicious taco bar with cute little trifles.

The Hostesses

Next was a Pfaffmann family shower at Aunt Sandy's, hosted by several of my cousins. It was a delicious brunch, and they even made delicious gluten free items I could have.

Sarah made me an adorable diaper cake!

Then I had a Schick family shower at Aunt Dawn's. What an adorable table. It was a group gift shower which was wonderful... I got some of my bigger items like my video baby monitor, swing/bouncy seat, and my rock and play.

Hostesses

I was also blessed by my wonderful co-workers who hosted a baby shower for me at work. They did it late afternoon, so everyone got to quit work early and attend the shower in the conference room. :) Even the guys came! A coworker made this adorable elephant diaper cake riding a tricycle. Sadly, I did not take any other pictures.

And lastly, Heidi and Kendra hosted a shower for me at Heidi's house with a group of good friends. It's the only shower I didn't take any pictures at,,,It doesn't mean I didn't appreciate it, girls! Thank you so much for all your work!

It's amazing how much "stuff" they say you need for a baby. And how expensive it is for the first one! I'm not sure what we would've done without the generosity of others! Good thing we can reuse all the furniture and equipment for our second! :) 

Baby Update

Well, I'm still here. My due date isn't for another 2 days... but I thought I would go early. Or my doctor did(and everyone else, too). Over two weeks ago I had already progressed a lot, and she told me if she had to put money down, I would have this baby at 39 weeks or no later than 40. I guess she could still be right, but I only have a couple more days left to be considered early!

However, I am thankful that I didn't have him at 39 weeks. Last week I was terribly sick with a virus. It was all stomach/bowel stuff (sorry if any of this is TMI). I had it for days and days, but it only continued to get worse, not better.

 Finally last Tuesday night I was in such horrible pain (goodness, I might as well have been in labor), we went to the hospital. That amount of pain and blood will scare anyone when they're pregnant.... or even not pregnant. They sent me right up to the labor and delivery floor, but they didn't really know what to do with me. They told me it was a virus, gave me some medication for nausea, and fluids because I was so dehydrated. Since it's always hard to know what you can and can't take when you're pregnant, it was good to have the Dr and midwife tell me what I could take to try and calm it down. We went into the hospital at about 9:30PM, and left at about 3:30AM. I was already feeling better by the time we got home. Daniel was such a trooper.... we were at the hospital until 3:30AM and he was back at a different hospital for clinical by 6:30AM. He is so supportive and does anything for me! We were just thankful they didn't actually admit me and make me stay overnight. I was feeling soo much better by Wednesday  morning, the fluids themselves made such a difference. Wednesday was a much better day... by evening I actually sat upright for over an hour, and that was much improvement. 

Thursday I had to go back to the doctor, and while I felt a lot better, I was sooo worn out I felt like I got hit by a truck.  The midwife was glad to see I was doing a lot better, but they had to put me on an antibiotic for an infection which could potentially upset my stomach. Grand. 

Are you bored of my story yet? If not... Wednesday was supposed to be my last day of work. Well, I wasn't there on Tuesday or Wednesday because I was so sick. I had been there Monday even though I wasn't feeling very well. So after my doctor's appointment on Thursday, I went back into work to say goodbye and collect my things. I apologized for it kind of being a bad ending, but it really wasn't worth me coming back at all. I didn't have to say official goodbye's or anything, because I have strict orders to come back so they can see the baby. :) 

I continued to gain energy back last weekend, but still wasn't quite myself. A lot of people told me I didn't look so great. Haha.. thanks. I wasn't feeling so great either, so I guess that explains it! Monday of this week I really felt the best I had in a couple weeks. So now that I'm done with work, it has been nice to rest and relax a bit and just recuperate. I am so thankful I am feeling so much better. I can't imagine going through labor feeling as exhausted and wiped out as I was already feeling.

So I have been home all week... I've had some time to just keep the house clean, cook meals, organize last minute things, play the piano, and go on lots of walks. This is the first time in a long time that I've had this much time on my hands. While I'm SO anxious to meet our little boy and get out of the 9 month pregnancy stage, I am enjoying my time at home and my time with Daniel. He took vacation time this week and next, so he's been home a lot in the evenings. It's been wonderful.

I can do all the exercises/walks I want... but only God knows what day our little blessing will arrive! I will keep you posted when he makes his appearance! :) 

...and if you made it through this whole post, you are a dedicated reader. :)

How could I forget?

How could I forget to mention in my "last" post before he's born...

This little guy has been breech my entire pregnancy. At my 32 week appointment he was still breech, making this momma a little worried. As I talked with people, most told me their's flipped by 32 weeks, but some told me there's flipped in the last month or even in the delivery room. I tried not to let myself freak out about it... but it added a lot of stress, wanting to have that baby flipped SOON. I did exercises/positions a lot on vacation. I had a doctor appointment right when we came back, and he was still breech. So I tried new positions, and also peppermint oil on my stomach that my sister in law gave me. Daniel's family went to the dunes in Michigan, and I was sure that crawling up those dunes would make him flip. I had that "theory" because that's how my mother-in-law got one of her babies to flip years ago. I was convinced it would work for me too. :) I managed only to make it up and down a huge dune just once.
4 days later I had another doctor appointment, at 34 weeks, and Praise the Lord... he had flipped! I don't know what it was that made him flip...maybe nothing I did mattered except the prayers, but I was so thankful! One day before my birthday I found that out... it was the best birthday present! It was amazing how much stress I was relieved of. It lowered my risk of C-Section... which that word "Section" just terrifies me, especially for my first. So I'm thankful that he's in the right place now... behaving for me. :) Now he's face up and just needs to turn. They told me it would sure relieve my back pain if he turned... so now that's the next step. :)
But I'm counting my blessings, and trying to remember that God is in control of the entire situation and birth. Because as you can imagine, it's my first... I have a little bit of anxiousness/nervousness going on.

One Month Left!

Can you believe it? Only one more month until this little one is expected to make his appearance! Oh wow how I am SO ready. I've really enjoyed pregnancy even with not always feeling well....but I think I could skip this last month. :) The nauseousness has returned, and it's been difficult getting around and doing tasks that used to be so small... like cleaning up my house, or getting out of bed. I'm just tired of carrying all this extra weight around all the time. They told me at the doctor that I'm measuring small. Ha...yeah right! I don't feel small at all, but I'm hoping that means my baby won't be huge?! We will see I guess. I'm so ready to be back to a "normal" size (although who knows that may take months..or years). I love feeling him kick...24/7. He never stops and often keeps me awake at night or wakes me up by pounding on my ribs. I love feeling my little boy move all the time, but I am ready to actually see and watch him move instead. :) 

I still have SO much to do before he arrives. The nursery is pretty well finished for now... I'm sure I'll add more things later. His coming home outfit is washed and put in the diaper bag, along with some fresh new blankets and pacifiers. It makes me so anxious. Seeing his little "take home" outfit, I can't imagine it fitting him... it looks like it's for a doll. But I guess they start tiny, and for that I can't wait for. I have always been known as the "baby hog" at church or family things... and now I get to have my very own. :)

There's a lot to get accomplished as far as work before he comes. I need to wrap things up at Gorenz, I just had my last Thirty-One party on Tuesday until January, and now I have a bookkeeping client I am doing from home which is brand new. It's added a lot of extra work and time as I'm just now starting and trying to get used to it. I don't have time for it right now, and it's been a little stressful, but in a few months I think I'll be glad I have my own bookkeeping stuff at home. 

Other than that, I've just been trying to not over-commit myself... because that's what I tend to do. A lot. But in the next month, I'm not really committing to anything, because who knows how I'll be feeling. I told Daniel each day I think it's the worse I've ever felt while pregnant, but then the next day comes, only to be worse. :) But I am enjoying these last few weeks with just me & Daniel. I'm kind of selfish when it comes to our time together(because it doesn't seem like much), so that will be an adjustment with our baby boy. At least I will be home all the time, and not have to rush off to work. For that I'm thankful! 

I'm not promising another post before our little man is born... unless I'm overdue...then I'm sure you'll see me on here because I'll need something to keep me occupied. :) I have a lot of catching up to do, but just a few pictures from the summer:

Enjoying Vacation

My Birthday Celebration

Me & Kendra... having baby boys just 6 weeks apart!

I'm hoping I'll be more regular on the blog once we have a little one... there will be more to post about, right? :) 

Weekend in St. Louis

Time to play catch up!

 For a little getaway we went to Saint Louis for a night in July. You know, our last trip with just the two of us before the baby comes. I wanted to go before I felt miserable again. I felt great most of my 2nd trimester so I wanted to be sure and do it when I could enjoy it! I took off work at noon so we could get there in good time on Friday. 

Out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory that was close to our hotel. We were able to just walk there!

We stayed at a Drury Inn...I don't know if any of you have stayed there before, but we LOVED it. Huge breakfast and also basically dinner at 4:30. They call it appetizers but it's a lot more than that! A friend suggested it to me and I'm so glad she did...we will be back!

Saturday morning we went to the zoo. We debated what we should do for the day and I'm not sure how we decided on the zoo. :) It was a little hot, but overall just a nice day.

My tour guide for the day!

I made him pose in front of the elephants. I absolutely love elephants for some odd reason....can you guess what my baby room will have a lot of? :)
To end the day, we went to one of the seal shows. I must say it was pretty good, and Daniel was really fascinated by it. It made me regret that we didn't go to Sea World when were in Florida in December. It would've been perfect... no little kids to haul around, and I never realized how much my husband liked animals/animal shows. :)

Us & baby at 29 weeks

We headed home right after the zoo at around 3:00. It was definitely harder work walking around all day being pregnant that it would have been any other time! 

Brad & Jenna 6.27.14

 This past weekend I was honored to be a part of Brad & Jenna's wedding day. It was a Friday evening wedding and was absolutely gorgeous. 

Thursday evening we had the rehearsal dinner at Basta's. 

The darling couple

Me and Jenna

The bridesmaids

The cousins group that always hung out (and still does)

Adam was an usher in the wedding, so it was fun that we were both at all the happenings.
Friday I had the day off work. All the bridesmaids met at Studio 117 to get our hair done. I'll just kind of let the pictures speak for themselves. :)

Bridesmaids

Jenna looking all spiffy

The Schick girls

 Around noon we headed back to the church for lunch and to get dressed.

Then it was time to head for pictures at Glen Oak. It was kind of a hot day, but I've had way worse weather for pictures, honestly! Plus the photographers were so incredibly fast, I barely had time to sweat.

Jenna looked so pretty

The groomsmen had awesome socks they were quite proud of!

Bridesmaids ready to go!

 We had a lot of extra time between pictures and the wedding service. The whole bridal party was packed in a van for pictures, so we stopped at Wal-Mart(so we could decorate the car at the reception), and DQ. I'm sure we looked a tad overdressed at both places!
This was the 7th wedding I've been in, but it didn't matter. I still got a little nervous/anxious before walking in. The baby was kicking like crazy too... he could tell I was a bit anxious. :)

Leaving the wedding in a GT something? :)

 The reception was at the Gateway Building. It was soo gorgeous. We took a few bridal party pictures by the riverfront before it started.

Photo by Kristen Rokey Photography

The food was delicious, the decorations were gorgeous, and it was a beautiful evening outside as well.

Girl Cousins- all born within 10 months of each other

Father-Daughter Dance

Married Couples!

Me, my wonderful husband, and baby- 6 months along! 

First Dance

Cake cutting

Jamie Lynn- the MOH

It was a wonderful day. I survived looking big and pregnant in my dress. However, I was quite exhausted at the end of the day. I was ready for a bed when we got home at midnight! After all, I had to haul 2 of us around all day every where we went! :) Thank goodness our shoes were just sandals! I don't think I could've done heels.

Congrats Brad & Jenna! I'll miss seeing you around miss Jenna. Please don't forget to tell me when you're back in town- I'll host a cousins night. :) Love you both!