Breakfast with the Bradleys

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

It's that magical day of love again. The day that brings chocolate and romance. Or friendship and hugs. Either way, I hope that you are feeling loved today! (PS. The picture above is so much cuter if you click on it to make it bigger.)

We celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday since Ryan was off work. Since we celebrated Thanksgiving on a Friday and Christmas 2 days early, we figured that it didn't matter too much. We had a nice quiet lunch at Macaroni Grill in Grapevine. Eva was with us but slept in her carrier most of the time. There were only a few other people in the restaurant. We hadn't been to Macaroni Grill in years but had a left over gift card from Christmas (one of those great ones that can be used at multiple places). I like the bread and olive oil to dip in that they serve there. I also love drawing on the table!

After lunch we went to Main Event. Did you know they currently have unlimited $5 bowling Sunday - Thursday? What a deal. We bowled 4 games - the most I've ever bowled at once! Plus they had fun 1990's music videos playing and we were the only people bowling for most of the time.

Strike! This was probably my only strike all day, and we caught it on camera! It might have been a spare, but I can't remember so we'll just say it was a strike.

Eva tried to bowl but she was too little. Ryan rolled the ball for her and we let her watch it roll down slowly and knock over some pins.

The bowling expert. How is Ryan so good at bowling? Isn't that a nerdy thing to be good at? Maybe I'm just jealous. He can bowl better with his eyes shut than I can concentrating. Some people have all the talent.

Eva was the best baby! She sat in her stroller or was passed back and forth. She smiled and laughed. She eventually took another nap in her stroller. We are lucky parents.

Did you notice my new hair cut? I chopped off 10 inches last Thursday to donate to Locks of Love. Ryan always likes it when I cut my hair short so I thought it would be a good change for a while. I will grow it back out when Eva is passed the pulling on hair phase.

The final score from game one. After this we bowled many variations. Granny bowling. Spin bowling. Backwards bowling. Eyes closed bowling. Under one leg bowling. You know what I found out? It does not matter how I bowl, I will average 6 pins. I can do my best and get 6 pins or I can be goofy and get 6 pins.

My valentine for my sweetheart. We didn't have much to spend on Valentine's so we decided to skip gifts and use our $$ to for the bowling instead. I made this giant card for him. It's a little cheesy but I think he liked it. Next to the Reese's it says, "You have stolen our {hearts}" and next to the Subway card it says, "Eva and I want to give you a great big hug and make a big love {sandwich}." I tried to be creative so that Ryan would still feel appreciated. For my Valentine, Ryan wrote Eva a letter for her scrapbook telling her how much he loves her mother. It was thoughtful and will last a long time :)

We got Eva the book Love You Forever as her Valentine's gift. It's a sweet story about a mother who will always love her son even as he grows up. We laughed about the semi-creepy part where the mother sneaks into the house of the grown man at night to rock him as he sleeps. Eva, we'll try to let you grow up and not be stalker parents, but we do really love you so much! Eva mostly wanted to eat it but we've enjoyed reading it twice already. Happy Valentine's Day from our family to you!

Baby's First Snow

2012-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

It's...snowing! Tonight Ryan, Eva & I were headed home from youth. We dropped one of our students off who was having a gathering at his house tonight. Ryan and I wanted to attend the gathering to hear more about a recent mission trip to Romania that some church members went on. We wanted to eat some dinner before we went though so that we wouldn't be the starving people that are eating all of the "snacks" while everyone else is visiting. We decided to visit the new Taco Casa in our area. Ryan was sitting in the front seat eating and I was nursing Eva in the back when it started to snow! Ryan goes, "Oh, wow, it's snowing!" My response..."Bundle up and let's take a picture!" I was so happy that Eva got to see snow this winter. The above photo was taken outside of the home we went back to after dinner. The one below is from Eva's very first snow moment.
We took it in front of the Taco Casa sign so that when she's older we can laugh with her about how excited her young parents were for her first snow. And now, since it's 9pm, we have left the party and are snuggled up at home in our pajamas. Good night, stay warm :)

In Memory of Col. Homer Schmidt

2012-02-10T09:55:00.001-08:00

Today we will be having the memorial service for my Papa. As I think back about his life and my time with him these are a few of my favorite memories:
* My parents and I living with him and my grandmother for the first 5 years of my life. Good thing they had a big house!
* Listening to him sing in the church choir.
* Watching him cooking in the kitchen with my mom on holidays. He liked to add lots of cheese and jalapenos to everything.
* Driving in the Cadillac with him as he listened to classical music on the radio.
* Taking family vacations to Kansas City, San Antonio, Estes Park, and Williamsburg, Virginia.
* Seeing him sitting at the head of their dinning room table reading his newspaper when I would stop by to visit (the same table that we now use in our apartment).
* Having breakfast with him at his house when I would come home from college. He would always tell me how proud he was.
* Watching the video of him walk my grandmother down the aisle at my wedding. He wore his military suit and looked so esteemed.
* Letting him hold Eva the day after she was born. A proud great-grandfather.

These are just a few of the good times that I am thankful to have had with him. Although I am sad and will miss his presence in our family, I also feel like his life had such completion. He got to see my mom graduate from college, our whole extended family was in town to celebrate his 81st birthday in January, and spent his 57th anniversary with my grandmother in the hospital the day before he passed.

He had a heart attack 3 days before he passed and I am so thankful that I went to visit him in the hospital. We knew he was aging but not that his time was ending. I had gone just to cheer him up, not necessarily to say goodbye. I am thankful that I got to joke with him in the hospital and see his smile at the end. I am SO THANKFUL that I told him that I loved him before I left that day.

As we celebrate his life this weekend I want to rejoice in the fact that he is now spending eternity with our Lord Jesus. Papa loved the Lord and is now fully healed. In the story of Jesus' Crucifixion, Jesus speaks with to a man who is on the cross next to him. The man puts his faith in Jesus and Jesus tells him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." I believe Papa is in Heaven using his beautiful, deep singing voice to praise God. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for my family. We appreciate being so loved.

5 Months Old

2012-02-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Eva Kate,

You are 5 months old today! How does every month fly by more quickly than the last? You are such a fun little baby and I love taking care of you every day. Earlier in the week Daddy and I took you out to Southlake Town Square for some fun family time and a mini photo session.

What are you up to at 5 months?
* Rolling over from your tummy to your back. Now that you know how to do this tummy time is quite limited but I just keep rolling you back over.
* Standing up. You much prefer to stand on my lap than to sit especially when you are enjoying play time.
* Reaching out for everything. Hair, rattles, cups, noses. If you notice it, you want to reach it. And then....
* Putting everything in your mouth. We always joke with you that you eat all of your "friends" (your stuffed animals). Once something is in your hand the next step is into your mouth.
* Laughing. You love for me to say the same thing over and over again in different voices or speeds.
* Growing some hair. It's light colored like mine was as a baby, but it is definitely growing longer and filling in. Except for your one random bald spot.

What does your day include right now?
* You sleep for 10-11 hours each night. We're trying to get you to go to sleep earlier but you've decided to just take longer eating at bedtime.
* You sometimes take 2 long naps and 1-2 short naps. We're working on conquering the 45 minute nap beast. Some days are good. Some are not. Today is one of the good days!
* You nurse 5 times a day, occasionally 6 if I feed you in the middle of the night.
* Are you sleeping through the night? It's hard to say. Since you were sick for a big chunk of the month we were up taking care of you more. Now that you're well, you usually wake up 1 or 2 times but you mostly just want your binky. It wakes me up but you fall right back asleep. So to sum it up I'd say that YOU are sleeping through the night, but I am NOT.

How big are you?
* Bigger than the tiny newborn I brought home! I'm not actually sure of your measurements since we don't have a well check visit this month, but I don't think you weigh more than 15 pounds.
* You still fit perfectly into all of your 3 month clothes. You also wear some 6 month clothes because they are your winter clothes. And then there are the newborn dresses that I still put you in and just layer with tights or leggings. I wouldn't say you are a huge baby.

What is my favorite thing to do?
*Give you kisses! I love to kiss your cheeks, your head, and your round tummy. I probably give you a thousand kisses a day.

You bring so much joy into our lives! We love you cuddle-bug!

love, Mama

Our Weekend 2.4.12

2012-02-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

Lots of people that I know do weekly postings called Our Weekend in iPhone Pics. They have a collage of cute photos capturing their whole weekend. I would do that, except that I don't have an iPhone. I have a regular old phone that sends texts and calls people. It takes pictures but not good ones. I'm sure that if I had an iPhone I'd love it, but since I never have, I don't know what I'm missing out on and and I'm okay with that. So here is Our weekend in Non-iPhone Pics. Starting with Saturday night where we were invited to.... 2 parties! That's right, the Bradley family is pretty popular :)

My best friend Erica, along me, Ryan, Eva, and many other good friends, attended the Valentines open house at our friend Marianne's house. Umm, who knew that Marianne was so amazingly popular? (Even more so than our Bradley family). I asked one girl how she knew Marianne and she played high school volleyball with her. Of course, Marianne is one of the sweetest people I know, so it makes perfect since that everyone she had ever met would want to hang out at her party. We had a great time and Marianne, I hope you enjoyed the friendship Valentine I left next to your pillow. Cute idea for the card making station!

Then we were on to party number two - a 50th birthday celebration for our friend Rob from church. His wife surprised him with a 9 member mariachi band! His wife and kids also serenaded him with a traditional Hispanic birthday song while the band played. It was incredible. We had so much fun hearing the band and eating amazing food.

And this was Eva's face while the band played. Not quite sure what to think about it all. Alas, the clock finally struck 9:30 PM and we headed home to put our baby to bed. Yep, 9:30PM and the Bradleys had already conquered 2 parties. What can I say, we're party animals.

And finally, a note about Sunday. Right after church on Sunday I found out that my grandfather had passed away. I am going to do a posting in memory of him, but I am waiting for my mom to send me a favorite picture of me with him. I am also wanting to give myself a few more days to reflect on all my wonderful memories of him before I write about it. Yesterday Ryan asked me when I was going to blog about our fun Saturday and I shared with him that my initial reaction was to feel guilty writing about a good day when I had just lost someone that I love. But as I thought about it more I decided that it was okay for me to enjoy writing about Saturday. Writing about fun things doesn't mean that I care any less for my grandfather. I feel like it's okay to balance joy with sadness. So that is what I chose to do.

Can I get a little help peas?

2012-01-31T12:51:00.001-08:00

We're all sick. All 3 of us. We've become a pitiful a-choo-ing, kleenex using, medicine taking, sleep loving, pajama bumming family. You know when you were a kid and you got sick and all you wanted was for your mom to take care of you? Well, I guess that now I'm the mom. As hard as it can be to wake up in the middle of the night to take care of a sick baby when I feel bad too, it is honestly wonderful to be broken of selfishness and be filled with abundant love for your child. Yes, I wish we could all sleep all night long, but if I have to get up out of my bed, at least it is to rock and care for a beautiful baby who looks to me to take care of her.

Of course, there are moments when I'm exhausted. Like around 10 pm last night. I just wanted to get a quick snack and go to bed. I reached into the freezer for a treat, but unexpectedly knocked over a bag of not-so-well sealed frozen peas.....

Ugh. This picture doesn't do the huge mess justice. It was one of those moments where you can choose to cry because you are sick and tired and hungry and just want to go to bed. Or you can laugh about the fact that there are 500 frozen peas rolling around your kitchen floor. I decided to laugh and grab the broom. And the camera. I figure there are much worse messes you could end up cleaning up when your family is sick. A few hundred peas don't seem so bad when you put it into perspective.

We have had lots of friends offer to help if we needed anything. We appreciate your offers so much! Thank you sooooo much to everyone who has prayed for Eva and our family. And thanks to my mom who still loves me so much that she came out and helped out on Saturday. I guess she loves me as much as I love Eva. And I've already made a Walmart trip so we have plenty of food and kleenex and medicine so we're good for a few days. Plus I have a helpful husband who has done his fair share of baby cuddling. What else has our family been doing while we're all home sick?

Giving our baby a beard of bubbles. Every night we're steaming up the bathroom and giving her an bubble bath with special soap that helps with congestion. This is the highlight of Eva's day. She loves the steamy bathroom because it helps her to breathe and she loves the bubbles. The other night she was playing in the bubbles and rubbed some on her face so Ryan helped her to make a complete beard.

Look at Eva holding her own bottle! When she's coughing a lot and can't breathe it's much easier for her to take a bottle than to nurse and last night she held it all by herself! Proud mama.

I know this seems like a lot of pictures for a whole week of nothing, but I wanted to capture the sweet moments, like her watching me make oatmeal this morning, so that when I look back at the first time she was sick I can remember what made my heart smile. And now, I'm ready for all of us to be healthy :)

Sick Baby

2012-01-26T15:00:00.001-08:00

You can't tell by looking at this picture, but our little girl is sick. I got lucky and caught the one smile I've seen today on camera with the help of her daddy - they say laughter is the best medicine. She started coughing late yesterday afternoon but we figured it was just the weather. It was much worse when she woke up this morning. Worse as in our sweet baby sounded like she had the smoker's cough of an 80 year old woman. She didn't want to play, she just wanted to be held. She also had the saddest continual cry. It made me think about how I feel when I'm sick in bed with the flu. I called the pediatrician who said to bring her on in. Eva tested positive for RSV.

I know that all kids get sick but it's so sad when it's your baby and it's the first time. I know she will get better. I guess all I can do is make her comfortable and give her a big dose of love. So for the next couple of days we are staying home so that we don't infect other babies since RSV is super contagious.

On a side note, Eva is 20 weeks old today! 20 weeks ago I was in labor.... 20 weeks before that was the exact day we found out she was a girl... 20 weeks before that was the first day of my pregnancy.

Date Night? Yes, please.

2012-01-25T12:17:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I got a chance to go out on the town with my handsome hunk. Before going out I had to find something to wear. You know, an outfit that wouldn't make me look like an ex-2nd grade teacher or pastor's wife or stay at home mom. Not an easy task. I didn't want to wear anything inappropriate, just a fun going out ensemble. I managed to put together something that would make me look almost as good as Ryan.

We were super appreciative of Ryan's parents who came out to babysit Eva. Since I'm with her all day, every day I get mixed emotions about leaving her. On the one hand I'm ready for a grown up break, on the other hand it breaks my heart to leave her. I know she will be happy and well taken care of but it's still hard. One thing that made it easier is that she is finally taking a bottle again after a 2 month bottle strike. We figured out that she wants it to be very warm or it's not happening.

Back to the night out... Marianne is famous for picking new interesting places to go eat on her birthday. I'm sure one day we'll all fly to Italy to celebrate it! (Just give us a few years to save up, Mares) We went to this Italian Market/Deli/Restaurant in Flower Mound. They sell fresh meat, cheese and vegetables there so we hoped the food would be good. It was. I got pizza made with delicious fresh mozzarella. Out waiter was a real Italian chef who enjoyed socializing with us. If I had to leave my baby, I'm glad it was for such a fun night. Happy Birthday, Marianne!

11 Randoms

2012-01-24T17:35:00.000-08:00

I was tagged in this post from Kati, and I finally have a few moments to sit and write a little bit about myself. From the picture above, you now know one fun thing about me.... I've been snorkeling! I sometimes get mixed up and say I've been scuba diving, so if you ever hear me say that, feel free to correct me. On to the questions....

1. What is your favorite thing to search for on Pinterest?
Apparently Pinterest is quite popular. So popular that I have been placed on the waiting list to get an account. Either that or they don't think I'm cool enough. I hope to use it to look up recipes, home decor, craft and baby ideas. IF I get off the list :)
2. Have you ever been outside the country you currently live in? Where?
I've been to Canada twice - once to Toronto for my Uncle's wedding when I was 10 years old and then once to Vancouver for vacation 2 summers ago. I spent a day in London on my way to a one month mission trip in Kenya.
3. If you could speak a second language fluently, what would it be?
Spanish. When I was teaching I definitely could have used that skill.
4. Are you a cat person or a dog person?
DOG! I love my Boston Terrier, Cosby. If we had a house I'd consider getting another dog to be his friend. I am highly allergic to cats. If I had a cat I'd probably die.
5. What type of house is your favorite? (Colonial, Ranch, Tudor, etc.)
Haha, this question made me think of picking a house card in the game of Life. But I'd have to say my favorite house would be the one my grandparents used to live in. I would want a house with lots of open space so that I could host family gatherings and other parties.
6. What is your dream car?
One that doesn't have a cracked bumper??? I really don't care much about cars. I guess I'd like to have a black Honda CRV, or something similar, so that we could fit all of our stuff inside when we visit family. What can I say, I dream big.
7. If you were vacationing 10 hours away would you drive or fly? (and not because of money)
Fly. I love jet setting.
8. Would you relive high school if you could? What would you do differently?
Nope. I had tons of fun in high school but I love my life now so much more. If I had to go back I would be nicer to people and not just hang out with people that were like me.
9. If your significant other had an accent, what would it be?
Country. Oh wait, he already has a country accent. I hope Eva talks like Ryan :)
10. Would you rather not shower for a week or not brush your teeth for a week? (EWW!)
I would want to shower. I hate the feeling of not showering. I didn't get a shower the day I went into labor so by 8:00 AM the next morning I was bugging the nurse to let me get up and shower.
11. Would you rather have all girls or all boys?
All girls - since I already have a girl I could reuse clothes and other baby gear. Plus I honestly LOVE the idea of a house full of girls. I've told Ryan though that if one day we have a boy I will definitely still love him.

And now, 11 random things about me:
1. I dated my husband because he is so funny. I married him because of his character and his good looks didn't hurt... but if he wasn't funny I wouldn't have even considered him. Laughter is the way to my heart.
2. Without Jesus I would have a bad temper and be extremely bossy. It's amazing how the Holy Spirit can change you.
3. I wish I could be on Dancing with the Stars. If I ever got an opportunity to do it I would. Maybe they'll make a stay at home moms edition.
4. I frequently brush my teeth and my hair in the middle of the night after I've taken care of Eva. Something about being up and awake for more than 10 minutes makes me want to be fresh even when I'm exhausted.
5. I really want to be a better photographer. I own a good camera. I just don't want to read the instruction manual to figure out how to use it better. I'm not sure why.
6. I love watching the same movies over and over again. Knowing what will happen and why things happen eliminates the need for me to ask Ryan 50 questions when the movie is over. Plus I already know if I'm going to like it.
7. I LOVE yellow sticky notes. I have no strong emotion towards other colored sticky notes.
8. I've always wanted to go to a murder mystery dinner or weekend getaway. I actually know of one that is happening soon, but we can't afford it. Maybe next time.
9. I hate to sweat. It smells, its sticky, and then you have to use time to shower and freshen up again. I wish sweat could be eliminated from exercise.
10. I want to write a children's book series one day. Being a teacher helped me discover my love of writing.
11. My goals in life are to be a contagious Christian, an encouraging wife, and a loving mom (in that order). These are my most wonderful priorities and where I find purpose. If I do those 3 things well, I'll be completely content at the end of my life.

Roll on over, roll on over BABY!

2012-01-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

Eva, loving this warm January weather!

My heart is beaming with pride. After hundreds of minutes of unhappy tummy time over the past 4 months, Eva just rolled over from her tummy to her back! When we are doing tummy time sometimes I try to distract her by showing her how to roll back and forth - this time she did it all on her own! We were honestly so surprised that we were just sitting there going, "Is she actually going to do this?" the first time it happened. I know this may seem like a small thing, but for new parents it's a big accomplishment. I am posting a short video clip for her grandparents to see. Good job, Eva!!!!

Secret Agent Mom

2012-01-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

We've been working really hard to get Eva to sleep better. I know I've written about sleep more than a few times, but when you have a baby sleep is a big deal. She is getting better at sleeping through the night and her naps are way better than they used to. Our biggest issue right now is that she will sometimes wake up at the 45 minute mark where babies switch sleep cycles. Adults go through this too, but we just snuggle up with our pillow or turn over and fall back asleep. Babies don't know how to do this, so we must teach them.

We've tried going in and comforting her right away. That wakes her up too much and doesn't work. We've tried letting her fuss for a bit. That leads to big tears and doesn't work. We've tried letting her wake up. That leads to an irritable baby who doesn't want to play, eat, or cuddle because she still exhausted - doesn't work. All of this experimentation led me to my secret agent status this morning.

She went down for a nap at 9:30 AM. Exactly 45 minutes later I hear her making noise. I end up opening her bedroom door and although she is awake and crying, her eyes are shut so she doesn't see me. I dash to the other side of the crib. I am a sneaky mama as I carefully put her pacifier back into her mouth. She starts to turn towards me so I quickly crouch over the day bed in her room, all while staying in the most awkward don't move an inch or she might see me position. She doesn't see me. When she moves a little bit in the opposite direction I slope down to the floor. I can see her through her mesh crib bumper but I'm pretty sure she doesn't realize I'm there. She begins to drift off to sleep (I can tell by her body language). I sit there for a few minutes like a spy that could be caught at any minute. I start to crawl out of the room just as Cosby enters. Talking at an almost inaudible level I tell Cosby to get out of the room as I crawl behind him. Yes. This is honestly what I resorted to. I felt crazy, but it worked and she is now sleeping well. I consider that Secret Agent Mom success.

Her Dad is Cooler than Your Dad

2012-01-19T15:20:00.001-08:00

Eva's favorite time of the day is definitely when her daddy is home and ready to play. I guess she gets bored with me all day long because when she sees him her face lights up!

She smiles at him and talks so much! I can just picture her little 5 year old voice one day saying, " And then DAD...you know what DAD?... Umm, DAD???" asking him a million questions and telling him about everything. I'm thankful that Ryan is a wonderful father and has a good bond with Eva.

Clearly a daddy's girl :)

Confessions of a New Mama

2012-01-17T12:42:00.001-08:00

If you promise not to tell anyone, I will make a confession. I am not a perfect mom. There are days when I have no idea what I 'm doing. Getting her to take a bottle. Pacifiers. Nap time. Tummy time. Bed time. These are some of the areas in which I am definitely not an expert. I am, however, a well read non-expert. When I have a question about something I will read lots of information about it. And what have I discovered? That there is A LOT of conflicting advice out there. Let your baby cry. Don't let your baby cry. Feed them solids at 4 months. Feed them solids at 7 months. Pacifiers are good. Pacifiers are evil. Rock them. Don't rock them. It is enough to make a new mama crazy! Lucky for me, instead of going crazy, I share all of the information with Ryan and then ask him, "So what should we do?" Turns out, he doesn't know either. Bummer.

At one doctor's appointment I asked our pediatrician his advice about something. As I was ending my question I commented, "I know it's not a big deal. She'll probably be fine either way." He replied with a smile, "Oh no. She'll probably be ruined for life either way. " :) Some days I call my mom and ask her for advice. She usually tells me that either she can't remember what she did or that she did it wrong but that I ended up just fine. She's right - I know how to take a nap, go to sleep at night, eat food, and walk. She must have known something.

People always joke that babies don't come with instruction manuals. It's true. Instead of an instruction manual I am forced to rely on intuition, a mother's love, and lots of prayer. I pray each day that the Lord would help me to make the right choices for Eva. The Bible has much to say about a parent's role in training their child. It also teaches us about the faithful and forever love of God. I am thankful for God's great love for me and thankful that He loves my little girl even more than I do. I trust that He will lead my heart and my mind when I seek His wisdom. If I didn't believe that I'd probably cry more and laugh less. Praise God for His daily guidance! ..... And thanks for keeping my confession just between us.

The Wonder Bug

2012-01-10T12:04:00.001-08:00

I broke my own rule. The rule that I set back before I became a parent. The rule I encouraged the grandparents to follow (and they did). Not only did I break my own rule yesterday, I confess that I've broken it a few times. The rule: Do not buy your baby a toy bigger than a shoebox. It sounds like a silly rule, but when you live in a small apartment, it is very necessary. I've always known how fun it is for parents and grandparents to buy an abundance of bigger and better toys and am trying so hard to simplify for Eva's sake, as well as our own. I desire for our home to be a place that makes our child and others feel welcome without overwhelming them with baby things.

The only baby items I wanted to break this rule with were the swing and highchair. Those were the "big items" I registered for. Since then we have acquired a floor gym, a Bumbo, and now... the Wonder Bug exersaucer. These are all great inventions for babies but they take up so.much.space.

We decided last night to get Eva an exersaucer after much discussion and following her 4 month check up appointment. Her head is somewhat flat in the back and angles up front to back. This is a common result of the new initiative to have babies sleep on their backs. I think a little misshapen head is worth it if it at all prevents SIDS but it comes with its own consequences. More and more babies are having to wear helmets to reshape their heads and correct flatness. We're really hoping that Eva does not need this expensive accessory. Right now her doctor was not too concerned and just said that the more time she can spend off her back the better. So we decided to increase tummy time and use an exersaucer for some of the time instead of her swing or floor gym.

Ironically, when I picked out the swing on our registry I looked for something in an understated design that wouldn't scream BABY when you looked at it. I know that makes me boring, I don't care. The exersaucer, with its bright colors and big googly buy eyes is the exact opposite. BABY BABY BABY!!!! But she likes the toys and colors and we got it at Once Upon a Child (a children's resale shop) for about 75% off the retail price. A baby changes everything - what are you gonna do???

She has played in it for about 20 minutes today and enjoys it. I've been showing her what the toys can do. Interestingly, she tends to use her left hand on all of the toys. She has good neck/head strength and can hold herself upright, but... her little legs don't reach the bottom. I was hoping that she could push up and put weight on her legs like she does on my lap. I guess she'll have to grow into it a bit.

Signed,
A. Rulebreaker

4 Months Old

2012-01-09T13:25:00.001-08:00

Dear Eva Kate,

You are 4 months old! This past month has been full of smiles and laughter. I keep telling you not to grow up so fast, but I guess there is no stopping you. One amazing thing that I've noticed about you this month is that when we say your name you turn and look at us! Yeah! (Except for when I'm trying to take pictures). Also when we say, "Where is Mama? Where is Daddy?" you will look around for us and smile when you see us.

During playtime you have learned a fun trick. Here you are in your Bumbo with some soft blocks on the tray in front of you.....

And you knocked them all off! Daddy taught you to do this trick and you will do it over and over again, as long as we keep putting the blocks up on the tray. You've also learned to play Peek-A-Boo with me and you always smile when you see me peek out from behind my hands.

Today we took you to the doctor for your 4 month check up. You weighed 13 pounds, 3 ounces and are 23 3/4" long. That puts you around the 35 percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. More proof that you are always growing :)

You like to stand and put weight on your feet now. Sometimes when you are sitting in my lap you push up and sit down over and over again. You are so strong!

Your most favorite toy right now is your dog, Lola the Jittery Poodle. She has a rattle inside and you like to shake her and eat her feet when you are playing on your mat.

Other fun facts about you at 4 months:
* You get a bath every other night and like to splash in the tub.
* You still cry so much when we do tummy time :( But you really need to practice now to build strength and get ready for crawling.
* At night you usually sleep from 10:30 PM - 8:00 AM. Most mornings you cry a little around 6:00 AM but go right back to sleep when I give you your pacifier.
* You take a good morning and early afternoon nap and then usually doze off once or twice in the late afternoon/ early evening time.
* Your 3 month clothes fit just right. You can still wear some 0 - 3 month outfits and almost fit a few 3 -6 month outfits.
* You nurse 5 to 6 times a day now. We decided to wait a while before starting you on solid foods because you just don't seem that hungry yet. I think you'll let us know when you're ready.
* You talk sooooo much but don't have any real words to say yet.
* Your hair is growing. One day we can put in some little hair clips.

You are my favorite baby. Daddy and I love you to the moon and back!

love, Mama

P.S. It was exactly one year ago today that we found out that I was pregnant! This past year has been so full of joy for us! I love you even more now than I did that first morning when I found out you were on the way.

Bright, bright, bright SUNSHINEY day!

2012-01-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful day! But before I go on about that, let me give you a little back story.... Eva is usually a pretty good napper. Even during the Christmas back and forth hustle she stayed somewhat consistent with her naps. However, she occasionally slips into a pattern where she refuses to sleep. Yesterday was that kind of a day. When I could finally get her down for a nap it would last a whole 25 minutes. Yep, all day long that was as long as she was going to sleep at once. I think she's hit that stage where she is so interested in her surroundings that a nap just doesn't sound as much fun. Her mama strongly disagrees. Naps are wonderful! They let her get healthy rest, she is less fussy, I can shower and get things taken care of around the house, the list of positive reasons for a nap could go on and on. Plus when she doesn't nap well during the day, she absolutely doesn't give us any kind of a break in the evening. She becomes a very sad baby and nothing makes her happy. If only I could convince her. Maybe I'm being selfish but it's also for her own good.

Thankfully she was back to her happy, restful self today. I usually try to get her to sleep for at least an hour in the morning and she slept for two full hours! Bonus points for Eva. Plus she looks so super cute when she sleeps. (You know your baby has napped for a long time when you're willing to sneak in to take a picture because you are okay if she wakes up from the camera click).

After a great nap and lunch time, we decided to spend some Mama/Eva time outside enjoying the delightful 70 degree weather. That is why we live in Texas, Eva. So that we can play outside in short sleeves in January. We dragged a blanket, the Bumbo, some books and of course the camera outside to enjoy the sunshine.

She was very alert and interested in being outside. We talked about leaves and grass and how the sun makes our skin feel warm. We dreamed about going to the pool in May. We listened to the birds and read a book about animal sounds. It was one of those moments that makes me LOVE being a stay at home mom.

Cosby joined our play time, too! I'm pretty sure that he was giving Eva advice on how to be an excellent sleeper, or at least I hope so :)

New Year, Old Friends

2012-01-02T10:48:00.001-08:00

I love seeing old friends over the holidays. A few days ago I got to meet up with my best friend Erica and our other good friend Sarah. We were all in a bible study together several years ago. Sarah moved to Miami with her husband about a year ago so it was so good to see her and baby, Adaya. Adaya is 13 months and has grown up so much since I saw her at my baby shower back in June. She is a precious girl and kept pointing at Eva and saying, "Baby!" I loved hearing her talk.

Eva mostly wanted to stand up on my lap while we talked over coffee. My little girl is getting so strong!

Silly Adaya! She sure loves her mama and wanted to play, too!

Erica was actually the one snapping these great pics. Eva must really love Miss Erica to give her such cute smile.

Time to go home... hope to see Sarah and Adaya again sometime this year! Erica, we will definitely see you :)

Yesterday we saw more friends. We went to Denton to visit my friend Katie Lyche who was in town from New York City. Katie and I were in the hospitality ministry together at Denton Bible Church back in college. She recently graduated from culinary school and wants to pursue being a chef in NYC. We met up at our friend Rebecca's house and chatted for over an hour. I didn't want to leave...I love seeing Katie when she visits over the holidays. Eva looks so serious in this picture, but she loved Katie, too!

And we ended our visits by watching the Cowboys' game at Marianne and Regan's house. Marianne's whole family was there and got to hold Eva. I also got to visit with Marianne's sister and sister in-law. Love that whole Fida family! 2012 is off to a fun start for us!

Rockin' New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T16:37:00.001-08:00

New Year's Eve...friends.food.fireworks.games.Dick Clark. NYC. or maybe Big D. resolutions.midnight kisses. 10,9,8,7,....whatever your plans are for tonight, I hope you have a fabulous night celebrating! Eva is very excited to celebrate her first New Year's Eve! She better be asleep at midnight :)

Christmas 2011: Part 2

2011-12-28T11:55:00.001-08:00

Our Christmas celebrating continued on Christmas Eve (for Part 1, click here). Ryan spent much of the day at church getting things ready while I stayed home and cooked. Cooking takes sooooo much longer when I am also entertaining Eva. We joined Ryan at church in the evening for the service.

Over 100 people attended Redeemer's Christmas service. Praise God! Our Pastor Scott preached a sermon that was full of the gospel message and I hope that hearts were changed and encouraged. After the service we started a new Christmas Eve tradition - going out to eat! Since we will likely attend service away from our family for the next 50 years, we decided that we need a fun tradition of our own. I plan on cooking for Christmas Day for years to come, and after a full day preparing for that meal, I didn't want to cook more for Christmas Eve. We decided to use a Cheesecake Factory gift card that we had received. I got a vegetarian hamburger and it was delicious. I am not a vegetarian but I like these so much more than a regular hamburger. We'd had so many sweets lately that we actually skipped the cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory...maybe next time :)

We didn't need to set an alarm clock on Christmas morning since we had this bundle of joy to wake us up! She didn't wake up for the presents - she woke up for food! After she was full we opened our family presents.
I want so much for Eva to appreciate the gifts we are able to give her and to enjoy spending time with family. I know that it is normal for kids to want tons and tons of presents but I hope I can teach her not to be greedy and to be content. I don't expect this to be easy, but that's part of being a parent, right?

Don't worry though, Santa did come to visit Eva! She got a fun stuffed puppy that sings and talks. She loves to look at it make noise and light up. My favorite part of this toy is when it is left on and randomly says, "HUG ME!" Hmm, seems a bit demanding....

After opening presents we got ready for our guests to arrive. I think I made enough chicken spaghetti for a small army! Seriously, it was so much chicken spaghetti. I planned for 8 not considering that one of those was a baby and three were grandparents (or rather, great-grandparents) that don't eat very much. We've been eating this for days now even after sharing a hearty portion with some church friends.

With Mama and Daddy, who wished for a Christmas nap, but got a house full of love instead.

I love my new toys!

Four generations together for Christmas, what a blessing!

With Great Grandpa Hank. Sadly, Eva did not want to be passed around too much. After days of celebrating I think she was worn out and just wanted to snuggle with Mama. I promise that she does smile and hope that one day she won't cry when passed around.

With Grandpa, doing her stretches.

With Papa Homer and Dede. I hope everyone enjoyed Eva's first Christmas!

Christmas 2011: Part 1

2011-12-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late posting these awesome Christmas photos, but I've been having too much fun with family to sit down and blog much. On the Thursday before Christmas we went to Royse City to spend the night with Ryan's parents (also known as Nana and Papa). We got there in the afternoon and spent lots of time eating and playing games. Eva is borrowing her cousin's Bumbo for a few months and she loves to sit up in it!

Thursday night was the first time that all four little cousins were together. How cute is that? I love that they are all girls and can hopefully grow up having lots of fun together.

Christmas morning we woke up early to open presents. Nana & Papa's tree had plenty of gifts to open!
Eva got lots of toys and clothes. Even though she isn't quite sure what to do with them yet, it's fun for me to play with them and teach her.

Little cousins sitting around the Christmas tree - oh wait, where is Eva??????

She fell asleep. After 45 minutes of opening presents, she was out. She just slept right on the couch while the rest of us enjoyed the morning. What a tired elf.

Of course we had the famous race to find the pickle! I tried hard, but Ryan was the winner this year.

These were the collage pictures that my sister in-law Amanda put together for Nana and Papa. She did a great job putting them together and I love the cute expressions from all of the granddaughters.

After a good breakfast and lots of family time, we got dressed up in our fancy Christmas clothes to go over to Ryan's aunts house for some more celebrating. I was busy keeping Eva calm and didn't get many pictures there, but we did enjoy our time with the family.

Aunt Melody, Uncle Greg and Cousins Kayden and Kiersi

Aunt Amanda, Uncle Brian, and Cousin Mallory

And the Christmas fun continues.....Read Part 2.

Merry Christmas, Eva!

2011-12-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Eva Kate,

Merry Christmas! Today we celebrated your first Christmas. I remember last Christmas telling Daddy how much I was hoping for a baby and now here you are! It is so fun to celebrate with you - even if you did cry for a lot of the day - I think you were a little over stimulated from all the fun we've had the past few days. It's been so neat to see you suddenly take interest in "playing" with toys. I realized this Christmas that some baby toys are just as much fun for Mama as they are for you.

As I look towards your future, I can't always promise that you'll get everything you wish for on Christmas. Some years we may have much, other years we may celebrate with less. But I can promise you that we'll always have a house full of love. Love for our family, love for you, love for Jesus, and most importantly love FROM Jesus. And that's what Christmas is really all about. It is fun to open presents but the greatest gift is that we can know a Savior who is our hope and our hero. I hope that we can encourage you all of your like to have a joyful heart that comes from knowing God.

love, Mama

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling...

2011-12-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

In case you read my last post about our failed Christmas party, I wanted to share with you some of the wonderfully joyful things that we've gotten to do this Christmas season with our church family. First on my list is our matching Christmas turtlenecks. Cool? No. Festive? Yes! These awesome outfits will now become a permanent fixture in our holiday collection. And Eva made a cute elf!

I love this picture of some of our beautiful youth girls! A few weeks ago our church had a women's Christmas party. We did lots of games, ate way too much food, and did an ornament exchange! Nothing says love like stealing your favorite ornament from a friend. This year my mom got to come to the party also. She is super competitive at party games - now I know why I'm so into bridal/baby shower games!

Last week a group from the church went Christmas caroling at a local nursing home. I was heading up the event and had planned everything out with the event planner at the home -the event planner who didn't mention that she left at 6pm every day. We got there at 7pm and there wasn't anybody in the dinning room where we were supposed to perform! Making a quick decision we decided to make our caroling mobile and sing in each corridor of the nursing home.

I hope we were a blessing to the people we sang to. Our group was quite a step down from a professional choir - earplugs anyone? But what we may have lacked in tune I believe we made up for in joy, laughter, and love. I kept thinking that if I was in a nursing home, I would just want someone to see me and remember that I mattered. I hope we made the residents feel like they still matter. They were so kind to us and never cringed when our group missed a high note. Ryan and I had a blast singing with our friends!

And finally, the reason for the turtlenecks... we had a Redeemer Student Ministries "Crazy Christmas Sweater" party! We'd say tacky, but some of these sweaters were so decked out they were almost cool. Can we all agree to make this silly trend fashionable? Ryan began the night with a devotional about choosing to share Christ this season and then we followed up with a night of fun games and dozens of Christmas cookies. It's been a wonderful Christmas season!

Merry Christmas to All...And to all a goodnight?

2011-12-21T08:15:00.001-08:00

Last night we were ready for the party of the year. The stockings were hung on the bar top with care, in hopes that jolly neighbors soon would be there.

Presents were stashed 'round the Christmas tree, we were excited and waiting for our neighbors with glee!
The cocoa was ready and we began to wait.... could it be that our guests were running late?

We had cookies and popcorn and treats galore. Alas nobody came -
we'll host parties no more :(

So last night we attempted to host a party for all of our neighbors in our building. We thought that the holidays would be a great reason to reach out and be intentional in getting to know the people around us. We printed out cute invitations. We cleaned the house. We prepared the food. We turned on rocking Christmas tunes. And then we waited. You know that moment when you're ready for a party and its about to start so you don't want to start doing anything else? That was us at 6:30 PM last night. Ryan, Eva, & I sat on the couch and waited. Of course we didn't expect any knocks on the door right that minute. At 6:45 PM we thought maybe people were wanting to be fashionably late. By 7:30 PM we had to face the fact that our meet and greet was a bust. Womp womp. I know people are busy during the holidays, but are they really too busy to drop by for a few minutes? (We stated on the invites that it was a come and go so nobody felt awkwardly obligated to stay the whole time) We could even hear the people above us in their apartment - I so wanted to go knock on there door with a plate full of cookies! I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed as I put away all of the food and beverages and stored my cute Christmas plates and mugs back in the cabinets. At least I get to host Christmas Day at our home - my family better not ditch us too :)

Was it something I said?

Graduation Day

2011-12-16T15:32:00.000-08:00

Today my mom graduated from Texas Women's University! This degree has been a loooonnngggg time in the making. She started college when she was younger, took a significant break, and then started taking a couple classes at a time when I was in junior high. I am so proud of her for continuing to work hard to earn her diploma. I remember once that my Grammy (my dad's mom) said that she thought it was so incredible that women can earn degrees and wished that she could have gone to college. Grammy would be so excited for my mom today!

My mom is a wonderful example of working hard for what you want to achieve. She didn't just show up from class, she excelled. Sometimes we make fun of her for being such a "nerd," but we love her and know that she always does her best. My mom loves to learn. Her favorite professor even told her she's welcome to come back and sit in on his class anytime. She probably will :)

If you look at the program, her name is 5th name in the 3rd column. Amy Elizabeth Schmidt Merbler. Cum Laude. That's right! She graduated with honors! Way to go mom!

They pronounced her name correctly when she walked across the stage. It's hard when your last name is Merbler. Trust me, I was there once.

Eva will be proud of her Mamy one day when we can tell her how she worked so hard to finish school. Thanks for setting a great example for our baby! (When everybody clapped during the ceremony we told Eva they were clapping for her since she was such a good baby during the whole thing.)

Proud parents! I'm so glad they got to see her graduate.

Mygrandma and her sister. How cute are they? My mom's cousin Laurie was there too but I didn't get to take a picture of her. Laurie and my Great Aunt JoAnne drove all the way from Tennessee to see my mom walk across the stage.

My mom's best friend Leslie. Even though she is 53 I'm glad that her best friend could be there just like my best friends were there for my graduation.

Happy Graduation, Mom! We love you!

Let's Give Them Something to Talk About

2011-12-15T08:34:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning before Eva did. I thought I would quietly peak into her room and check on her. When I did I found her laying in her crib just quietly "talking" to herself. By talking I mean little baby coos and chuckles. She makes lots of little sounds but nothing that resembles human language yet. So there she was just talking away when I peaked over the crib to tell her good morning. It is so cute to see her in the morning because she always gives me a suspicious look for about 10 seconds before breaking out into a huge smile when she realizes " Oh, yeah, that's my mama!"

I got her up and fed her. She talked all while she was nursing - not an easy task to do! Then she talked the whole time that she played on her blanket with toys while I sat next to her and had breakfast. It's so funny because sometimes I can hold and get her to have a conversation with me. She coos, I answer in real words. Repeat 20 times. It's amazing. Of course, only one of us makes sense, but that's okay. Next she talked and talked and talked while we practiced tummy time. Usually she gets fussy but today she seemed pretty happy.

At 9:30 AM I rocked her and put her down for her nap. Within a minute of putting her down I could hear her chatting away over the baby monitor. Usually she either falls right asleep or cries because she pacifier falls out. Since I could tell that she was happy I just listened to her talk to herself for about ten minutes. And then silence. I guess she finally ran out of things to say :)

If the jeans fit....

2011-12-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

I decided this week that I needed new jeans. Not wanted - needed. As in my other pants would.not.work. I have been living in the post baby era where maternity jeans are way too big but my old jeans do not fit either. This is a place no woman wants to be. I try not to be overly into my looks. I would like to come across put together and classy without spending an obsessive amount of time or money (I don't have much to spare of either). The other night my mom came over and held Eva while I mercilessly went through my closet. I probably made a donation pile of about 1/3 of my closet. I figure that other people can make better use of my clothes that no longer fit. Here's the ironic part about losing baby weight: you can loose ALL of the weight - actually more - but everything on your body is redistributed. And not swimsuit body redistributed. All of this to say, that I was feeling pretty desperate when I decided to go to the mall and conquer the task of shopping for jeans.

Bless my wonderful husband for going shopping with me last night. I walked into a store that I haven't shopped in often but thought would sell age and body appropriate fashions for a hip 28 year old mom. Their jeans were all on sale for 40-50% off! Yes! I was already on roll. I casually browsed the store and took a few pairs of pants back to the dressing room. I tried on the first pair. Too tight. I tried on the second pair. Too loose. Third pair - too short. Forth pair - too long. I was starting to feel like the Goldilocks of the fashion world and then the sales lady knocked on my door and asked, "Is everything fitting alright?" I opened the door with a helpless look and said, "No. Nothing fits. At all." And then I went on to explain my post baby relationship with pants. I was lucky to find the worlds most understanding and encouraging sales lady (she wasn't even working for commission). I told her that I'm not trying to look like a ultra-skinny 16 year old girl but that I don't want to fall into the dreaded "mom jeans" look either. She listened and looked at how everything fit me that I had tried on. She was a mom herself and could relate.

With her assistance, I probably tried on 30 pairs of pants. I'm sure she wished she had never knocked on my door, but she was so kind. I finally found 2 pairs that worked well. I figured since I was tackling this task I might as well pick out a dressy and a casual pair. The ironic/interesting/horrifying part is that the size of my new pants is so different from the old size of my pants. I know that size is just a number. I know that all stores size differently. I know that my baby just turned 3 months old and that it takes time to tone up after a c-section. Be honest though, do these facts make any difference when you are the one shopping for jeans? I didn't think so. BUT I did really like how I looked and felt in the jeans and they were very affordable. I decided to overcome the vanity of hating the size and get pants that look great on the body that I have right now.

3 Months Old

2011-12-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Eva Kate,

Today you are 3 months old! Oh, what a mess of joy you have been today. This morning you ate and spit up all over me. And then you laughed. You looked at your toes during most of our photo time until I put you on your changing table. And then you laughed. You cried when I tried to fix breakfast while you played with your floor gym until I picked you up. And then you laughed. What can I say? At least every day with you is filled with smiles and laughter!

It is so awesome to see your personality developing and to see how you are becoming more aware of the world around you. Often during the day you will "talk" back and forth with me. You love to be held and rocked. Sometimes I think about setting you down more, but I know a day will come when you don't need to be held so much, so I think about that and decide to hold you just a little bit longer.

Your biggest accomplishment has been.... sleeping through the night!!!! Since the night after you turned 2 months old you have been sleeping through the night. Well, you have at least mostly been sleeping through the night. There have been a few hiccups but overall you are doing great. I can take no credit for this though because it wasn't anything I did. It just happened. You just slept all night one time and I guess you decided that you like it. And I do too :) We still swaddle you to sleep though we have just started to swaddle you with your arms out in the past few days. You like this just as much and it lets you chew on your fingers.

Outfit change!

Here is a typical day for you at 3 months:
8:00 AM Good Morning! You are awake and ready to eat. You are still nursing and feed for about 25 minutes. We play while I eat breakfast and do tummy time.
9:30 AM Morning Nap
10:15 AM More play time...sometimes we go for a walk during this time
11:00 AM Time to eat again
12:30 PM NAP
2:00 PM Awake and hungry! Eat again.
3:30 PM Shorter nap...just a little bit of beauty sleep
4:00 PM Play, play, play. I try to get you to do tummy time but you don't want to. We read. We talk about your toys. Exciting, wonderful baby things.
5:00 PM More food. Eat. Eat. Eat
5:30 PM Play with DADDY!!!!! Then hang out and do whatever plans we have for that night. We are usually on the go during this time.
8:00 PM Eat some more. Daddy usually gets to give you a bottle at this time.
8:30 PM Bath time. You love the tub.
9:00 PM Into your jammies and time to sleep
10:00 PM Late night snack - gotta eat one more time before bed
10:30 PM Goodnight.

Add it 10 - 15 diaper changes and a million kisses and that is a typical day for you, Eva.

Giggles!

Here is what else you've been up to:
* You like to hold onto our hands and stand up. You are awesome at putting weight down on your feet. You are also very good at holding your head and neck up when you do this.
*You LOVE to smile at Daddy. He must be the funny one.
* You like to look at the lights on the Christmas tree and are interested in the "snow" inside my gingerbread house snow globe.
* You occasionally grab a toy on your floor gym. Yesterday I saw you grab one and then put both hands on it. Woah. (Probably by chance)
* You do not like to be in the car. Your carrier is okay if you are in the stroller, but you don't want to be left alone in the backseat. This has made for some very loud car rides.
* No more newborn clothes. You fit just right into 0-3 months and some 3 month clothes.
* How much do you weigh? I'm not sure because we don't get a check up this month, but I'd guess around 12 pounds. I'm sure you've grown some in the past month but it doesn't seem like tons. Your mind is doing all the growing this month :)
* You will need to attend Pacifiers Anonymous one day. You are already so addicted to your "binky."

Mama, I'm done taking pictures now. Seriously.

My heart is so full of happiness every time I see you. It is the most amazing blessing to spend each and every day with you, little girl.

love, Mama

Eva's Dedication

2011-12-04T19:35:00.001-08:00

This morning at church we had Eva Kate dedicated. In a baby dedication the parents present the baby before the church and promise to model Christ's love to her, pray for her, and to teach her about the Bible and Jesus. It is different than baptism in that we believe that Eva will hopefully one day place her faith in Jesus and that the decision to be a believer in Christ is one that she must make on her own. Above all else for our little girl, I'm praying that one day we will be celebrating with her when she decides to get baptized.

After we dedicated her our family and our Pastor Scott prayed for Eva Kate and for us. I love our church and that we have a family of believers.

Proud parents! I adore our baby so much and enjoyed presenting her before the church. The gown she wore was sewn by my mom 27 years ago. My sister and I both wore it and have our names embroidered in it - and now we can add Eva's name as well :)

Ryan's side of the family

We had so many family members there to enjoy this special day. After church we all went out to Mi Cocina's to stay warm with some Mexican food.

My side of the family

We really appreciate everybody that joined us on the cold, rainy day. We love you all so much!

Wassail Fest 2011

2011-12-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to Denton for the annual Wassail Fest. We were also celebrating my best friend Ashley's 26th birthday! I love this yearly tradition. It is fun to drink hot cider, see the lights, and laugh with friends. The weather was perfect - cold enough to feel wintry but not too windy or frigid. Sadly, this was the first year that Brave Combo, a polka band, has not been the main entertainment. I did miss dancing around and doing the polka version of The Chicken Dance.

After wassailing for a while we walked down to Fuzzy's for some good tacos and cupcakes. Happy Birthday, Ashley!

The birthday girl and her boyfriend Jason

Best Friend Marianne and her husband Regan

Sometimes a girl has to go a'wassailing!

My baby was safely bundled under many layers. We had every intention of carrying her in our Moby until we got out of the car and realized that neither of us had packed it. Oops. So instead we had to be "stroller people." You know, the ones that walk to slow and are always in the way? Yes, that was us. But Eva did great. She was very content to stare at the lights and be adored all night long. Side note - did you know that restaurants are not required to have a baby changing station in the restroom? It's something I never paid attention to until I had a baby that needed her diaper changed right then. There are not many sanitary / practical alternatives. Luckily Marianne was able to help me out a bit and we got Eva taken care of.

Dear Fuzzy's in Denton,
Please add a changing station. Thanks.
From a food loving patron

A Visit to Santa

2011-12-02T11:01:00.001-08:00

Last night Eva got to see Santa for the first time! She told him that she's been a very good girl (eats and sleeps like a champ!) and that she would like a huge package of Pampers for Christmas (let's be practical, Santa!). Just kidding... but it was fun to get a picture of her with Santa. We went to the Westlake Community Christmas and had fun walking around, visiting friends, and seeing the Big Guy. I'm sure I mentioned this last year, but I LOVE community holiday events. LOVE them. Everybody is so happy and there is music and laughter. Tonight we're making the trek to Denton for Eva to go to her first Wassail fest. Hope to see many Denton friends there!

P.S. Check out the onesie on Eva. I made it by tracing her hands for the antlers and her foot for the reindeer head. Super easy and way cheap, plus it makes a fun keepsake!

Christmas Time is Here

2011-12-01T11:19:00.003-08:00

For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11

I am so joyful to begin this Christmas season. Maybe a little too joyful... yesterday morning I excitedly asked Ryan if he wanted to begin our advent calendar together. He smiled and replied, "Sure... tomorrow..." I was so joyful that I thought yesterday was December 1st! Needless to say, we did our advent calendar first thing THIS morning as we began our December.

I am looking forward to doing many Christmas things as a family with Eva, even though she will be too little to understand or remember - but that's what pictures are for! This is also our first year to send out a Bradley family Christmas card. We agreed when we got married that we wanted to wait until we had a baby. I love how our card turned out! I wish I could have sent one to everyone I know, but we were limited, so at least I can share it with everybody on my blog!

Merry Christmas from our snuggle bear and her joyful parents.

Thanksgiving Photo Shoot

2011-11-27T13:13:00.000-08:00

Our parents and grandparents got me a new camera for my birthday! Well technically, they gave me some $$ for a new camera and I went out at 12am Friday morning to race for it during Walmart's Black Friday madness. Either way, it was my one big gift from everyone and I really appreciate it. My old camera is good for quick shots but I wanted something a little bit better to take photos of Eva. After our feast on Friday we stepped outside for a little Bradley family photo shoot. The weather and lighting were perfect and my new camera captured some fun moments. If only Eva had looked at the camera more. Silly baby....

To hear about our family's Thanksgiving, read Thankful for... Thanksgiving.

Thankful for... Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

It's still November and I am still celebrating being thankful. We had a wonderful 2 days of Thanksgiving with each of our families. We started our Thursday with a trip to Nana and Papa's.

I used my mama skills to figure out a way to feed Eva, get myself ready, load up the husband, dog, and luggage, drive 1 1/2 hours, and still have time to bake my potatoes for Thanksgiving in just the right amount of time. If you think this sounds hard, it was. Thankfully, we timed things perfectly and squeezed everything in. Also my mother in-law let me cook in her over which made things so much easier. Thanks, Cindy!!!

When the baby was fed (again!), the potatoes were hot, and the the turkey was dressed (our sweet little turkey that is), we drove over to Ryan's aunts home for the big feast. Eva got to meet her great grandmother Mamaw for the first time. Mamaw now has 11 great grandchildren. Wow!

We enjoyed good food - including the best turkey I've ever tasted - and then spent time with family. Look at Eva and Cousin Mallory both growing up! Mallory is 6 months old now and soooo cute.

Sometimes when you play with your cousin, you both have to check out each other's socks, right? Half the pictures we took were of them looking at their socks. Future fashion divas? I think so.

Thursday night we stayed with Ryan's parents and it was Eva's first time to sleep at Nana's house. Nana has a crib there for all of the grandchildren so it worked out well. The sleeping part...not so well. For the first time in 3 weeks she was up at 4 am. I love Eva so much though that I didn't mind :)

On Friday we headed over to my aunt's house. Check out those love birds above. My Dede and Papa are so cute together.

The feast! I made those good looking potatoes on the back row. Thank you Holly Rodeman for the recipe!

My mom the chef. Also the world's best pumpkin pie maker. Her pie was so good that I ate some for breakfast this morning. It's good to be a grown up :)

I hope everyone enjoyed their family as much as I enjoyed mine. To see more fun pictures of our Bradley family, read our Thanksgiving Photo Shoot post.

Goodbye Duckie Pajamas, Hello Gorgeous!

2011-11-23T09:28:00.001-08:00

Look at those tiny pajamas! These were the pjs we bought last January as soon as we found out that I was having a baby. Of course, we didn't know if Eva was a girl or a boy so they had to be gender neutral. We were so excited to have our parents open a gift bag with them inside so that we could share our happy news with them. After that they hung over my vanity in our bedroom as a cute reminder of what was to come.

4 days old

These pajamas are too big. This is her second night at home (aka the hardest night we've ever had with her!)... her little legs were so tiny that she would wiggle and put both legs and feet in the same side. As tiny as the pajamas were, she was tinier.

7 weeks old

These pajamas fit just right! Our growing girl fit into her pjs well and was able to sit up against the pillows a little bit better. I love her facial expression.

Almost 11 weeks (tomorrow)

These pajamas are too small. Oh, Duckie Pajamas, you have kept Eva warm on many nights and lasted through hundreds of diaper changes, snuggles, and rock-a-byes. Now you get the honor of joining the other newborn clothes in our keepsake box.

Thankfully we have another special outfit to put her in. This is the onesie I bought the day I found out that Eva was a girl! I picked it out just for her. At the time I was convinced that she wouldn't be able to wear the newborn size very long so I ended up getting a 3 month size. It has hung up as a decoration in the nursery. Until today that is...........

So gorgeous! It's still a little big but she can wear it and show off her girly side. She wasn't so into showing off her smiley side this morning but I was so happy for her to wear her special outfit!

The Big 2-8

2011-11-20T12:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is true. Yesterday I turned 28. Thank you to everyone to wished me a "Happy Birthday." It was a good day.... I started my day out by putting on my birthday crown and opening my gift from Ryan. He got me a fun umbrella that I really wanted to match my diaper bag and a book about a girl that became a missionary in Uganda. Good job, husband! I was very pleased with my gifts :)

After opening gifts I spent the morning with Ryan and Eva. We picked up Fuzzy's breakfast tacos on our way to the mall. I had a gift card to Express that I had saved from last Christmas. Since I spent most of the past year pregnant I had decided to wait to use it until my birthday this year. I also had 2 really great coupons, plus they were doing a buy one get one 50% off sale, so I was able to make my Christmas gift stretch very far. I love a good deal. With the exception of a few maternity shirts and pants I really haven't shopped for a whole year so it was a fun treat.

Ryan had to work for a while in the afternoon so while he was gone I put the finishing touches on Eva's Thanksgiving outfit. I love the opportunity to get a little crafty. It brings out the elementary school teacher in me. And I made this whole outfit, with the bow for under $3.50. I already had the ribbon, a plain hair clip, the headband and googley eyes. I bought a white onesie and an 1/8 yard of brown corduroy for the turkey's body. I am proud of how it turned out!

My parents drove out to take us to Kobeya for dinner. Kobeya is a fun hibachi grill in Southlake. It was fun to hang out with my parents and afterwards they stuck around to babysit. Thanks, Mamy and Grandpa!

My best friend Marianne hosted a small birthday celebration at her house. She even had my favorite dessert, Edward's Hershey Sundae Pie.

After dessert we played a game called Partini. Look at the intensity of these men trying to bounce a small ball in a cup. I'm afraid that Team Bradley did not fare well at this event but it was still fun.
We also played Scategories! Ryan LOVES this game and always wants to play it. Our youth group students can testify to how competitive he is when he plays Scategories. And if you look closely you will see our final scores... Kate -27, Ryan - 19. I won!!!!!

Spending time with my best friends was the perfect close to my birthday. I love ya'll so much! Thanks for a fun night!

Snuggle Bear

2011-11-18T11:59:00.001-08:00

Good Morning, Eva! Pre-bundled up in her D'Eva ensemble for the day.

Do you ever wake up and decide that today will be a healthy day? I did. I started my day with a hearty bowl of oatmeal that included some delicious walnuts and dried cranberries. I was still hungry, so I followed my bowl of oatmeal with a wonderful oatmeal cookie. Oops! My body will probably think it was all the same healthy meal, right? After eating my cookie I felt convicted and knew that I should probably go on a walk today. I generally enjoy going on walks except that I hate being cold and I hate sweating. When the temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees with partial cloud coverage and a slight breeze I am content. Below 60 - freezing. Above 70 - sweating. However, I have managed to loose all of my baby weight with only walking, drinking lots of water, and occasionally doing pilates so I have to be strong and go on walks even when the temperature is less than favorable.

Cute little snuggle bear!

I initially thought that the 50 degree weather was way too cold to take Eva out in, but then I remembered that most of the country has many 50 degree days and babies there still go outside. So I bundled up my little bundle of joy. I put her in an extra pair of pants, mittens, and a cute hoodie with bear ears on it. (By the way, I am constantly thinking about whether Eva is too hot or too cold. I ask Ryan's opinion all the time. Should we add a blanket? Is she too hot? Her feet feel cold. I probably drive him crazy).

What will we see today???

For the first time I decided that she could ride in the regular part of her stroller instead of the infant carrier. She is so alert and interested in her surroundings now. All during the walk I would peak over and she would have big eyes as she looked at everything and made happy baby sounds. We had a fun outing. I'm sure I burned off all the calories from that oatmeal cookie :)

Thankful for....Generations coming together.

2011-11-16T13:23:00.001-08:00

Eva and I got a special treat today - we got to go visit Grandpa Hank. This is my Grandpa on my Dad's side. He hadn't seen Eva (or me, his favorite granddaughter!) since the hospital so we went out to have lunch with him, my mom, and one of his friends. We stopped and got Subway on the way and enjoyed sandwiches and family time. If you want to feel popular, take a baby to a senior living home. Eva got lots of compliments! It was also the first time for me to see where my Grandpa lives since moving out of the home he lived in with my Grammy during all my childhood. It was a very nice apartment that he has decorated with lots of pictures of our family.

Eva loved spending time with Grandpa Hank. She was very alert and talkative while we had lunch. I was thankful for the special time together with my baby and my Grandpa at the same time.

We'll see you at Christmas, Grandpa! Thanks for a fun afternoon.

Mama called the Doctor, and the Doctor said...

2011-11-14T13:00:00.000-08:00

Today we took Eva to her pediatrician for her 2 month check up. Good news - we still have a healthy, happy baby! I'm always thankful to hear that. She now weighs 10 lbs 12 oz (she's gained just over 4 lbs since birth) and measures 22 1/4 inches (she has grown 2 1/2 inches). So I guess all those people who tell me that she's gotten bigger are right, but at least she's still pretty little :) She is right at the 50th percentile for both height and weight. I'm happy that she is growing, I just miss having her be so tiny and new. This morning we had to change her out of one of her newborn onesies because it seemed too snug. I'm not ready to pack away the newborn clothes yet....

She also got 2 big shots today. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about vaccines, especially at 2 months, but I read some information and did some research. I finally came to the conclusion that the benefits outweighed the risks. It's hard to make big decisions for your child. I have to remind myself to pray about, make an educated choice, and then be at peace with it.

Our brave girl with princess band aids - one on each leg!

After eating and a good nap she was ready to play. I had her on her floor gym while I ate some lunch. For the first time ever she grabbed for one of her toys!!!! What a smart girl. A lot of times I put a toy in her hand and show her how to shake it, but she has never reached for one and held onto on her own for so long. She kept it in her hand and made it jingle for several minutes! If you look carefully at the picture she is holding the string part of the small pink bird in her right hand.

Why do babies have to grow up so fast? I don't know...but I'm sure proud and I love her so much!!!

Sweet Dreams

2011-11-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Last night Eva slept through the night!!! Unless you have had a baby and can relate to getting up in the middle of the night to take care of them every night for 2 months straight, you have no idea how happy this made me. We put her down around 11 PM and she slept until just after 7 AM! That is a whole 8 hours! Of course I still woke up a few times out of habit but I was mostly able to roll over and keep sleeping. There were a few, "Is she still alive????" moments, but I decided to trust that she was rather than disturb her wonderful slumber. I don't expect it to happen again tonight, but at least it shows me that one day it will probably happen again. I was so happy to see her this morning that I gave her a million hug and kisses and told her what a wonderful baby she is (okay, I do this every morning, but I was really, really happy). Sweet dreams.

2 Months Old

2011-11-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Eva Kate,

You are 2 months old today! I'm pretty sure that you grew over night in your crib when we weren't looking. Each day with you is SO.MUCH.FUN. Here are some of the fun things you've done this past month:

* You smile!!! I love your cute baby smile. You definitely recognize Daddy and me. You always smile the most in the morning after you eat. You are also starting to make some baby giggles too. Today I was playing with you and I made a joke about something ridiculous and you laughed. I know it wasn't in response to my joke but it was so funny.
* You kick your feet to make splashes in the bathtub. It makes tub time more messy but more fun!
* You can roll from your back to your side, usually your left side. We are going to have to be careful where we put you now.
* You are learning to push your head up more during tummy time. You still don't like being on your tummy very much unless you are laying on us.
* You sleep in your crib most of the time. Ever since we started putting you there after your 1 month check up it seems to be the place you sleep the longest. I miss having you in our bedroom at night but everybody sleeps better this way and thankfully your room isn't far from ours.
* You usually only wake up one time during the night to eat. I will enjoy sleeping through the night one day but I don't mind spending time with you at 4am. Or 2am. Or 5:30am. Whenever.
* When we put you in your swing you either fall asleep or laugh. We're not sure what you're laughing at. There is a little green and white stuffed bug that hangs from your swing. We call him Mr. Wiggle Worm...maybe he makes you smile.
* You eat every 3 hours during the day - still nursing :)
* You recently found your ear and hold onto it often. At first I thought you might have an ear infection but you don't cry or seem to be bothered by it. I think you just like having something to hold on to.

We don't know your height and weight yet, but we will be going to the doctor next Monday for your check up and to find out how you've grown. We love you, sweet baby!

love, Mama

Family Day: Picnic

2011-11-07T12:41:00.001-08:00

Today for our family day we decided to take Eva on a picnic to the park by our house. I love our family days and it is important for us to find an inexpensive way to get out of the house together. Since I stay home with her and Ryan does about 50% of his job from home (planning, studying, administrative tasks, etc.) we like to find something out and about to do even if its just walking around somewhere. Isn't it interesting the difference between spending time around someone and spending time with someone? Even though we are all together often it is different to be doing something together. We made a Walmart run before hand to pick up a few picnic essentials (sandwich for Ryan, salad for me) and right as we were walking back to our car it began to rain. Thankfully it was just a few sprinkles and we were able to sit under the covered area and enjoy our lunch together. I love my family!

Eva and her bear this morning. I love her smile!

Saturday Morning Flashback: Getting bundled up to walk over to Chick-fil-a breakfast at our apartment clubhouse. Her sweatshirt was still pretty huge but super cute.

Thankful for... November!!!

2011-11-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

November. It is a fabulous month that bridges the gap between the newness of fall and the merriment of the Christmas season. Here is my list of things I am looking forward to the month.

1. Eva Kate will be two months old on Tuesday! She gets more fun every day and is full of smiles and almost giggles right now. I want her to stay little but I am thankful that we've had a healthy baby for almost two whole months!

2. Only two weeks until my November 19th - my 28th birthday! Time to get my dancing shoes on and get ready to celebrate.

3. The Elf watching season officially kicked off on November 1st. Eva and I watched it for the first time of the season yesterday morning when I woke up and saw that it was 35 degrees outside. Elf is one of the few movies that I can quote and when I watch it I just smile the whole time. "I love smiling. Smiling is my favorite." - Elf

4. The Christmas tree goes up. Our wonderful huge tree will be staying in storage at my mom's house again this year, but our smaller tree is a perfect fit for our apartment. I have already put up the small tree with lights because I enjoy the warm glow of the lights on cold evenings. We officially decorate it for Christmas the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

5. Christmas music. You have to ease into this one. If you start off listening to it all day, every day, you will be exhausted by Christmas. However, there is no reason to withhold on listening to these joyful melodies. It gets me in the holiday mood, and Thanksgiving is a holiday.

6. Thanksgiving. I love being thankful. I love being with family. I love hand turkeys. It's such a good holiday that we actually celebrate twice.

7. Pumpkin pie. My mom makes the best pumpkin pie in the whole entire world. Really. You should come to our Thanksgiving to experience it.

8. Zucchini. Or rather, zucchini squares, which are sort of like zucchini bread but better. I use my grandmother's recipe and serving them to family reminds me of her. I still love and miss my Grammy and I'm thankful to continue this tradition from her kitchen.

9. Black Friday. I have actually done the whole 3 am craziness once before. I'm not sure if I'll be up for it this year although if I'm up feeding Eva I may just embrace it and lace up my shoes to stand in line. Or I might just take advantage of the early Black Friday deals for my shopping needs. I also enjoy reading the Black Friday ads and seeing all of the great deals even if its for things that I know that I will never buy.

10. Happy Anniversary, Cosby! November 27th will mark 6 years together since that rainy night he was rescued for the rough streets of Denton. I still love my puppy.

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! We had a fun family night with our little zebra. Of course she didn't start out as a zebra. I honestly hadn't planned on dressing her up at all. I don't know why, but I just hadn't thought much about it. I figured she was too little to care. I haven't dressed up in many years. Plus I am way too practical and didn't want to buy a costume for her to wear just around the apartment since our complex doesn't even have Trick or Treaters. This all changed around 5pm tonight. I saw a couple of other costumes that friends had put their babies in and all of the sudden I felt convicted. This was her first holiday. How could I not embrace it and dress her up in some silly costume? I asked Ryan why we hadn't gotten her a cute costume like all of the other "cool parents" and he reiterated that I am very, very practical. He also agreed that we should dress her up so that we had a cute photo for her baby book.

So at 5:30pm on Halloween we were cruising down the aisle at Walmart looking for a tiny costume. The leftover picks were strange and huge so I convinced him to make another stop at Babies R Us. We lucked out and they had one zebra costume left in size 0-3 months....for 75% off!!! It pays to be a last minute Halloween shopper. I also like that the costume is basically just a cozy, striped sleeper that she can wear again on cool fall days and not just tonight (oops...there is that practical side of me). We changed her in the store and headed to dinner.

We went to eat at Benihana's so we could use the awesome birthday coupon they sent Ryan before it expired. Did you know they have a birthday club you can join and get a free meal the month of your birthday? At another table there was a cute baby girl that was only 5 weeks old and dressed like a candy corn. Glad we dressed up our baby and didn't look like lame-o parents in public :) Also we would like to apologize to the other restaurant patrons that had to listen to our hungry baby cry while we tried to heat up a bottle in a cup of hot water. I'm sure that wasn't the kind of scary they were looking for tonight.

Time for this sleepy zebra to go to bed. Hope everyone enjoys some candy tonight!

Awkward Encounters

2011-10-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

Don't you love running into people that you know out in public? I do.... Last night Ryan and I were at the Barnes and Noble in Southlake. We were casually browsing around when I saw Dr. Kindrick, my doctor that delivered Eva. There she was. Just out in public. Not wearing her scrubs. And on an escalator! I realized that she was quickly rising above us and luckily caught her eye just in time. I shouted out, "Dr. Kindrick!!! Hi!!!" She appears to recognize me. Then I added this clever line, "We have our baby with us!" In our stroller, covered in blankets. Smooth. She is friendly and responds, "It looks like you are all doing well," before disappearing into the oblivion of the 2nd floor. We have our baby with us. Why did I say that????? We were standing over the stroller - of course we had our baby with us. And it wasn't like she could see her and tell us how cute she was. I was just so excited to see this wonderful woman who helped me and brought my child into the world that I completely forgot to not be awkward. Ryan laughed at me and said that a better line would have been, "We don't know where out baby is!!!" just to see what her response would have been. So if you ever see me out in public and I make an awkward comment to say hello, please just smile back and know that I was overly excited to see you. Thanks.

Eva bundled up in her sweater to stay warm yesterday. I think she kind of looks like an old man sleeping in this position with her little sweater on.

Oh, precious baby. I hope I don't embarrass you too much as you get older :)

Mr. & Mrs. Bradley Go to the Dentist

2011-10-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

I do not like going to the dentist. Yet to the dentist I went. My appointment was today and Ryan went yesterday. I had to get a filling redone from when I was much younger. I've actually had this same filling redone before. If I could go back and tell the 10 year old me to eat less candy to avoid going through this discomfort 3 times and spending my grown up money on it I would. I hate the awkwardness of the dentist. The scraping of your teeth. The smell of whatever it is dentists use. The way they inevitably ask you questions like, "So what is your life story?" while they are working in your mouth and couldn't possibly answer them. One day when Eva has to go to the dentist I don't know how I'll be able to make up a story that it is fun. Maybe I'll just promise her a reward if she agrees to be brave and not bite the dentist. After experiencing both, I can honestly say that I would rather go through childbirth again than get another filling. At least with childbirth you get a cute little baby. All the dentists gives is a free toothbrush.

Dislikes aside, I will say that our new dentist office is really great. That sounds ironic... I guess it's that I hate the procedure but the staff is awesome. When I went in today they were so friendly and talked to me all about my husband. Apparently he was quite the hit yesterday. They told me how funny he was (I know - that's why I married him). They told me the story of how we met on a mission trip and how much he liked me (yes, I was there and I remember it). They told me how happy he is to be a father and how he was looking forward to his daddy-daughter time with Eva while I had my appointment today. I'm not sure how Ryan had so much time to tell the dentist his life story, but I'm proud that he made such an impression. I'm proud that out of all their clients yesterday they knew and remembered so much about my family (they asked, "How is baby Eva today?") all because of Ryan's fun personality. Hearing about how great he was made me relax a little bit and it made my heart so happy. I'll probably even go back in 6 months for my next check-up.

Getting to Know You

2011-10-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Wow. Today church was awesome. Do you know why it was awesome? Because there were so many people there that I didn't know! Now I realize that for most people that might be intimidating and not welcoming but let me give you a little back story. We go to a small church in Westlake. My husband is the Director for Student Ministries. For the past year and a half I've been a greeter, which means that I usually meet all of the new people as soon as I spot them walking up. There have been Sundays in the past that the only people in attendance were people that were directly involved in the service (pastor, sound guy, set up crew, etc.) Flash forward to now.

It is awesome that there were so many people that I didn't know because that is what we've been praying for. For our church to grow! Not just to have a certain number of people in the seats but to have a greater opportunity to share with more and more people the truth about Jesus. To teach people who haven't heard the whole story of our Lord and to encourage and teach those who have! Our church has been doing tons of outreach to let more people know about Redeemer Church. I missed a month of Sundays right after they "relaunched" the church since I had Eva. Also the first Sunday I was back I did youth and last Sunday my parents were there. All of this added up to me looking around this morning and realizing that there were a lot of new faces. I love new faces! Since I had a baby in tow (translation: my crying baby had to literally be worn on my body in a sling and soothed) I didn't get to meet every new person but I did talk to a few families. It was also amazing to look around and see that almost every chair was full this Sunday. Oh, except for the 5 chairs next to me. Don't you love to be the one person sitting by yourself in a room full of people? I wasn't offended though since I sat in a back corner so that I could easily escape when Eva started to scream - which she did. So, wow. Today was truly a picture of how our prayers are being answered. I continually pray that each week there would be at least one new person that Redeemer can reach out to and today my prayers were answered in abundance. I believe that it wasn't our efforts alone that brought people to Redeemer this morning, it was the work of our faithful Lord. Praise God!

Surviving the first 6 weeks

2011-10-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Before I begin I have to point out the cute Juicy Couture outfit that Eva is wearing today. It was a gift from a friend and I hope Eva enjoys wearing it because it will likely be her only designer outfit for the next 18 years. If Mama has to buy her sweatpants at Target, so do you.

Today we've officially hit the 6 week mark. I think this is an important step because it symbolizes moving past the "Oh my gosh. They gave me a baby that I have to take care of. I will never sleep again." phase. I remember being in the hospital after my c-section and being pretty sure that I would never recover from the surgery. I asked my mom how I would recover and take care of a baby and move on to normal life. She assured me that each day would get a little bit easier and I would get stronger. Everyone who talked to me about this said, "Give it 6 weeks." At the time 6 weeks seemed like both an eternity and way too short of a time to recover.

But it happened. As the days passed I was able to get out of bed or up off the couch without an assisting hand. I was able to stop taking pain meds and feel like an almost normal person. One day I decided that I could transition into regular clothing instead of being limited to pajamas. I napped less and moved around more. I've even reached the point of cooking my own food again and eating off of real plates instead of disposable (although if you offer to bring us food, I will never turn you down....).

During the first 6 weeks I also fell so in love with our little girl. I love holding her and playing with her every day. I've changed a million diapers and spent hundreds of hours nursing her. I've learned to tell what her cries mean. We've gotten into a routine. She keeps on growing - which I'm pretty sure that I told her not to do - and getting more fun as she interacts with us each day. I'm so incredibly thankful that I get to stay at home with her because I can't imagine leaving her to go back to work at this point.

I've also experienced motherhood amnesia. Not the kind where you are forgetful of everyday things. More like the kind where any hard memories have been completely erased. When we were at Northpark earlier in the week I saw so many pregnant women and kept thinking about how much I loved being pregnant. I have this vague memory that it was hard but when I look back all I remember is how amazing it was and how sweet it was to feel Eva moving around inside me. The same thing happens when I think back about being in labor. I can remember so many of the details of that day, but somehow the pain seems so much less that what it actually was. In the first few weeks when every task seemed hard I couldn't imagine having more than one child. Now I get excited about having more kids one day (in a few years, not too soon).

Our life will never be the same as it was before we had her. Sometimes I still look at Ryan and say, "Can you believe that we really have a baby????" I feel a little bit sad to transition away from the time of having a brand new baby but I know that each month with her will be full of joy and new memories. I feel so proud for surviving the first, hardest part of having a newborn.

I'm even ready to start working out for real. I bundled up this precious girl to go for a long power walk this morning :)

Looks Like Somebody's Got a Case of the Mondays

2011-10-17T16:42:00.002-07:00

Ryan and I actually love Mondays. Since Saturday and Sunday are busy working days for him, Mondays are our family day. But before I get to Monday, I wanted to flash back to Sunday. Ryan preached at church yesterday and it was Eva's first time to sit in during "big church." I took her last week but we were out of the service teaching the 5th/6th grade youth Sunday School. She did such as great job during the service. She was happy while we were singing and then slept through the sermon.... I'm sure that her falling asleep had nothing to do with her daddy's preaching :) It's okay to sleep through church when you're only 5 weeks old.

For our family time today we took her on her first trip to Northpark Mall in Dallas. This was a big deal because Northpark was the first mall that I ever went too! I grew up less than 10 minutes from there and I'm pretty sure that Northpark was one of my first words when I learned to talk. Or maybe shopping. Ryan wanted to use his birthday $$$ to get some new shoes and it was a great day to shop. Lots of moms with strollers, but since I was also a mom with a stroller I didn't mind. Eva wasn't so content in her stroller after a while, so we ended up having to take turns carrying her. Not a good time to forget my Moby baby carrying wrap! Good thing she isn't a giant baby yet.

This last picture is just for fun. I love the blue feather bow. What a little d'Eva!

Don't Believe What They Tell You

2011-10-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

I am the type of person that likes to keep my house clean. Not just picked up. Dust-vacuum-mop-sanitize clean. I don't judge you if you are not this exact type of person like me, it's just how I like my house to be. Obsessive Cleaning Moment Confession: In the weeks before I had Eva I realized that after I had her it might be a while before I could get back into a weekly cleaning routine. So in the last few weeks of being greatly pregnant I made a habit of doing one big cleaning task each day (dust, vacuum, etc.). With this pattern my whole apartment would be thoroughly cleaned approx. every 4 days, meaning that it never actually got dirty and that whenever I went into labor I could rest assured that we wouldn't be coming home to a dirty house. Yes. I care that much. (Remember I said that I wasn't judging you, so you better not be judging me right now.)

I have followed the orders of others and let go of my home a bit since coming home from the hospital. I truly believe that resting and spending time with my little girl is way more important than having a perfectly clean carpet. A few weeks ago my awesome mom even came up and cleaned for me so I wouldn't get cleaning crazy before I was really up for it. Notice though I said a few weeks ago... today the house was ready to be cleaned again. Since Ryan was gone working on church stuff I decided to tackle the cleaning while Eva was napping.

Have you ever heard the old advice, "Make lots of noise when the baby is sleeping. Vacuum while she sleeps so that she gets used to loud noise. Even vacuum under her crib." Don't believe what they tell you. It is great in theory, especially because we do need Eva to be able to sleep with noise so that we can take her to youth events and let her sleep there. My experience, however, makes me wonder....

As I was cleaning I was thinking about the vacuum quote. I thought, "Hmm, I do need to vacuum. But I DON'T want her to wake up yet. What should I do?" I decided to clean other things until I committed one way or another. I dusted the living room. I walked in our bedroom where she was napping in the pack and play. I peered lovingly at my peacefully sleeping daughter. I sprayed one pump of dusting spray on my nightstand. And then "WAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" The loudest baby cry. Over one tiny spray. Are you kidding me? She was fully awake. I rocked her back to sleep. I figured that it was better to quietly clean the toilets far away from her and save the vacuuming for a time when she is awake and Ryan can play with her.

On a completely unrelated topic, check out the baby jeans I got for her at Target this week! They are really cute with a little ruffle at the bottom. They are newborn size but are still huge on her! We call them her gangster pants.

By the way, my tiny baby isn't so tiny anymore. At her one month checkup she weighed 8 lbs, 12 oz. This is a normal weight for a baby to be born at, but it shocked me because she gained over 2 lbs since her 2 week checkup. I guess she isn't starving. I will leave you with a cute family pre-bedtime self portrait. Cosby was on the couch with us and if you look at the bottom right hand corner you can see white from his head. That was as good as we could get. Happy Saturday!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

2011-10-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan turned 25 years old today!!! As someone who has been 25 for almost 3 years, I was excited for him to finally join me at this quarter of a century turning point. We started our celebration on Saturday with a family birthday party for Ryan and his brother Greg who just turn 33. There was lots of cake and lots of silliness from our nieces!

Keirsi and Kayden made Ryan a poster for his birthday instead of a card. It was really cute how they cut out letters (kind of like a ransom note!) and they wrote his name on it several times. I love that they are learning letters and how to write. They are such smart girls!

More cousin love! Guess who happened to be asleep again? I think Eva looks like a baby doll in this picture. We missed cousin Mallory being with us and look forward to taking a picture of all 4 cousins someday soon.

Family photo: Daddy (almost 25), Eva (exactly 1 month), and Mama (ageless beauty)

This morning my mom came up and stayed with Eva while we went to see a movie. Our first time to leave Eva with a babysitter. I figured my mom probably knows something about taking care of babies since she raised me and has been a nanny for almost 12 years. Of course, that didn't stop me from telling her exactly how to take care of my baby. There are a lot of weirdos out there and you want your babysitter to do things the right way. Don't worry, Mamy, you did a great job! And I only cried for about 30 seconds when I had to say goodbye and leave Eva.

We went and saw The Ides of March. The movie was good, but my favorite part of the day date was when Ryan and I took turns practicing walking up and down the long movie theatre entrance way doing our "I'm a serious politician/assassin/mafia member and I'm thinking something suspicious" walk. And then we noticed that the movie theater lady was standing there waiting to clean the theater. Oops.

For our evening date, Ryan's parents came up to babysit so we could have a romantic dinner. That's right. I left my baby twice in one day. I deserve a gold star for not being a clingy mama. It was hard but good to have time with the birthday boy just one on one. We had a good dinner at Carraba's. Mmmm, bread, calamari, lobster ravioli...so tasty! I also want to mention that I have had my "little black dress" above since I was 18! I realized that today when I was trying to decide what to wear. I hope it is still in style. Probably not...

At the end of our fun day it was sweet to come home to my favorite little cuddle bug.

Morning Wake Up Call

2011-10-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Each day my morning starts when I wake up to feed Eva. This usually happens sometime between 6:30 - 7:30 am. This morning she surprised me by sleeping in until 8:00 am! I actually woke her up because I realized that we need to have time for me to feed her and get ready to leave on time for our first Sunday back at church. Usually when we have somewhere to be it is either later in the day or I have Ryan's help getting ready. Since he has to be at church way earlier than I do, today I was stuck in a bit of a bind. I decided that since it was my first Sunday at church in a month, a shower would be an appropriate way to bless others. I also needed to eat. And do my hair and make up....hmm. How do I get all of this done in under 2 hours with a baby?!?!?! And a dog.

After feeding her (which takes about 30 - 45 minutes) I put her on her boppy pillow and ate my breakfast on the couch while talking and making silly faces at her. Since our daily pattern goes eat/play/sleep I knew I couldn't just put her back to sleep for a while. I decided that the best way for me to get the shower in was to set up her swing in our room facing into the bathroom so that I could continue to make silly faces and talk to her while I got ready. She did good while I showered thanks to the oh so charming musical tunes that her swing plays. I got my make up on without any glitches. And then of course when I'm blow drying my hair she falls asleep. This would have been fine except that by that point I knew I'd have to take her out of her swing and put her in the car seat within 10 minutes.

Finally we were both ready to go. I open the door and start to walk down stairs to the parking lot, suddenly realizing that it's raining. Pouring. I almost called it quits to have a movie and pjs day instead, but who wants to waste a good shower? So I draped a blanket over her and made a mad (but safe) dash to the car. We made it on time to church. Even early, which is impressive because I'm rarely early anywhere. But it was a challenge. I can't imagine being a single mom and doing that every morning to get kids to school and me to work. If you are a single mom, I congratulate you on getting things done!

1 Month Old

2011-10-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

Taken from Letters to Eva (our book to our little girl)

Dear Eva Kate,
Today you are 1 month old. The days pass by too quickly. Our first month together has been so sweet. I love being your mama so much and truly thank God for every day. You have blessed my life and added love and laughter to our family.

Your days right now are spent mostly eating and sleeping. Nursing you takes a lot of time and work, but I actually love it more than I thought I would. I enjoy our quiet moments together and seeing how exited you get when you know you are about to eat. When I put a bib on you, you get a really cute look on your face that tells me you know what is about to happen next. This week we started giving you a bottle once a day.

Daddy and I love you so much. We like it when you sleep well but sometimes we joke around with each other about who gets to wake you up because we both miss you while you are asleep. Right now you sleep in your pack and play in our room at night and take naps in your crib or swing during the day.

You love to be swaddled and rocked to sleep. Sometimes when we want to play with you, you get too sleepy and crash right where you are.

And then there are other times when I know you are tired and I rock you for a long time only to look down and see your bright, wide awake eyes looking right back at me. When you are more awake and alert you like to read books with me and spend time sitting around in your boppy cushion.

We've also started giving you tummy time each day. You don't love it but you enjoy it more when we make it a family affair.

Even Cosby helps! I should have probably started this earlier, but honestly, I forgot until this week. I'm learning to be a mommy just like you are learning to be a baby.

You are the best, most fun gift I've ever received. Right now you are asleep and it makes my heart smile just to think about getting to see your little face when you wake up!

I have a few more things to get done..... so keep sleeping, baby :)
love,
Mama

Newborn Photographs

2011-10-06T15:14:00.001-07:00

My baby is 4 weeks old today! I can't believe how fast the time goes. The nights may be long (or short depending on how you view sleeplessness...), but the weeks fly by. I feel like she gets a little bit bigger every day even though I tell her not to. I just want to cherish every moment of her being a tiny infant. These are a few more of the pictures taken by my sister in-law Amanda when Eva was 2 weeks old. We had so much fun playing dress up with Eva. I love how these turned out and plan to hang some up around our home. I may be biased but I think I have the most beautiful baby ever :)

And lastly a sneak peak of the photo we plan to use for our family Christmas card.....

Speed Racer

2011-10-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

The day I turned 16 my parents let me get my driver's license. It was awesome. I even got to get out of school to go to the DPS so that I could use it that night, which happened to be a Friday. Looking back, I may have been a less than stellar driver. I got my license on a Friday, on Saturday I backed up into a car (and didn't tell my parents until Sunday evening because I wanted to be able to drive all weekend). Then there was that time 2 kids on a bicycle ran into me. Make sure that you read that correctly - THEY hit ME and it was declared their fault for driving recklessly on their bike but still not a great experience (the kids were a little banged up but fine). Once when I was driving on the Dallas Tollway I threw my quarters out the window and missed. And then spent the next 5 minutes digging through my purse and an overnight bag for more change while cars honked madly at me (from then on I was hooked on maintaining a Toll Tag). Thankfully I was never in a serious wreck and in my defense never got a speeding ticket.

Now that I'm a mama, I have become the most careful driver in the world. Speeding? No thanks, I'll drive cautiously. Wild stops? My babies little head will fling about! Texting while driving? Are you CRAZY?!?! Having precious cargo in the backseat has made me rethink how I drive. I may get places a bit slower but it's worth it to make sure she's safe. At stop signs or before turning I look both ways 10 times to make sure that no other cars are coming. That's the real threat - other drivers. People who don't have babies in the backseat. So the next time you are driving down the road and you see that car with 2 side window shades and a little car seat poking up over the center, don't honk or make fun of her for being careful. Smile and pray for her sweet child :)

Redeeming the Time

2011-10-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

Me (age 12) with my sister Sara Rose Elizabeth

When I was almost 12 years old my parents had a second child. I was so excited to finally have a sibling! A sweet baby girl named Sara Rose, or "Rosie." She was born with Down Syndrome and a hole in her heart. She was able to be part of our family for about a year before she passed away from complications resulting from open heart surgery. Her life and death had a tremendous impact on our family. It was my first real experience with the death of someone I loved and it was heartbreaking.

Sara Rose died on September 11, 1996. For many years after that September was marked by sadness for our family as we remember the anniversary of her death. Ironically, it was 5 years later on September 11, 2001 that the World experienced a different 9/11. That was actually the first time I had gone to school on the anniversary of her death. I remember it as a sad, shocking day.

When I found out that my due date for Eva was originally September 10th, I began to realize the possibility of having her on the 11th. I thought about it and realized that if that happened, it would be special but at the same time I was okay if it didn't happen. More importantly, I recognized how awesome it was for it to be in God's plan for my baby to be born anytime in September.

My baby will never replace my sister, but I feel like God has been purposeful in redeeming the time for my family. My sister will always be remembered, but now September is a month full of joy and excitement. Each year September will be celebrated as Eva continues to grow older. I love that the Lord could foresee this in His wisdom. For many years I don't think my family could ever imagine celebrating at the beginning of September, but for me at least, God has turned sadness into rejoicing and praise. I wanted to write about all of this to remind myself to trust God more in all circumstances. We don't always understand why things happen and the pain of this life is real. But God is good and His love for us is greater and deeper than we can imagine.

My mom, grandma Dede, Eva, and Me - Celebrating Eva's Birth!

You have turned my mourning into dancing.
You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
Psalm 30:11

Cousins

2011-09-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

Cousin to cousin we'll always be, special friends from the same family tree.

This past weekend Ryan's parents, his sister Amanda, and our newest niece Mallory came over for a visit. We had been wanting to take some newborn pictures of Eva using Amanda's amazing camera. We ended up with some really great shots of Eva that we're using on birth announcements and possibly a family Christmas card :) It's crazy the difference that a high quality camera can make.

Since we had 2 beautiful little babies in the same place we decided to take some cousin pictures also. Mallory is only 4 months older than Eva. When I see how much Mallory has grown during that time it makes me happy because she is so cute, but also a little sad to think that my own baby will grow that fast too. Can't they just stay tiny?

It was fun to try to get the babies to pose together. Mallory was very alert and entertaining. Eva was... ASLEEP. Like the kind of newborn baby asleep where you could take them to a rock concert and they would stay passed out. I tried to wake her up but it wasn't happening. In a way I think that makes the pictures even better though because you can see what a big personality difference there was on that day. One day I'm sure they will both be running around playing and laughing. All of my cousins are boys and either way older or way younger, so I hope that Eva and Mallory grow up to love each other and value the awesomeness of having a girl cousin who is about the same age. We sure love these little girls!

The Bradley's: Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

2011-09-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Photos Taken by Amanda "Bradley" Estes - Thanks Aunt Amanda!

Over the past few days I have begun to feel a bit stir crazy. I love being at home with my baby but basically our only outings have been to doctor's offices for check ups. This germ-fearing mama doesn't want to expose her baby to illnesses which means a lot of staying home. Since today was Ryan's day off we debated taking a little venture out to Southlake. I decided that being around people was more of the germ issue than being out somewhere so I figured it would be okay to take her with us to see an early bird movie this morning. Thus our adventure as new parents taking our baby out in public began.

The first step in taking a family outing is packing a diaper bag. Diapers? Check. Wipes? Check. Video camera, baby swing, portable crib, and 10 changes of clothes? Check. Ha, just kidding with that last line, but sometimes that's how it feels when going anywhere with a newborn. You always want to be prepared.

We decided to go see the movie Contagion. You know, the new movie about a deadly virus that spreads quickly without people knowing it and without any known cure? That seems like the perfect movie to see the first time you take your baby out, right? Seeing a movie about how germs spread makes you over analyze everything you do. Did I sanitize my hands after I scratched my nose? Is her blanket touching the germs left on the seat from the person before? If I wasn't paranoid before, I am now.

We got to the theater and Eva was slightly sleepy so I decided to hold her and try to bounce her to sleep. I was so worried about her being the crying baby at the movie that I continued to bounce and rock her for pretty much the entire movie. She did relatively well and only let out a few baby sounds. Until about 10 minutes before the end of the movie when she clearly needed to be changed and started to scream. I grabbed the diaper bag and the baby and made a bee line to to the bathroom. It was my first time to change her in a public restroom and I'll admit that it's a bit tricky to pull everything out of a diaper bag while trying to safely hold down a tiny baby. After I changed her I realized that I kinda needed to go to the bathroom also, but I couldn't figure out how that would ever happen so I decided to wait. Aside from the diapering incident the only other hiccup in our movie going experience was trying to nurse in public for the first time. It's a bit awkward. We're not doing bottles yet so it's all about being discreet. Thankfully we were in a dark theater that only had 4 other people.

After the movie we were hungry so we called in Corner Bakery to-go thinking that would be the fastest option. Only when we got to Corner Bakery we realized that we hadn't called the right location. Since we had to wait for our food we decided to go ahead and eat outside (less people, less germs). Eva was sleeping in her stroller and things were going peacefully until she suddenly opened her eyes, looked at us, and spit up everywhere. If you don't have a baby and don't want to read this, I apologize. It really wasn't gross, just unexpected. We scrambled to get her cleaned up and laughed our way through one of many new parent experiences.

The best parts of the afternoon were definitely the moments when Ryan and I would look at each other, smile, and say, " I love you." A love that understands that some dates are now family outings. A love that understands that baby cries take priority over movie plots. A love that laughs about awkwardness. A love that helps you quickly clean up messes. It was a good morning.

Catching Some ZZZZ's

2011-09-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ah sleep. I have always been a lover of sleep. Back in high school and college when people would stay up all night to finish an assignment or watch television, I chose a different path. I chose to sleep. I have never been a party all night type of girl. Nope. I prefer to get a good 8-9 hours of sleep even if it means going to bed before all of the cool people. Nothing is quite as wonderful as the feeling of your head hitting the pillow. Or the times when your body can awake magically on its own without an alarm clock. I love a good night of sleep sooooo much. There is an episode of The Office where Kelly gets to choose between an hour of TV or an hour of sleep for her birthday. She selected the hour of sleep. Right choice.

Ironically as a child, I hated to sleep. When I was a toddler and my parents put me to bed I would stand in my crib and scream, "I'm not very happy in here!!!!" Then I was smart enough to figure out a way to wiggle out of my pajamas and diaper, not good for a kid that wasn't potty trained yet....my mom finally had to sew huge buttons on the back of my pajamas. If I knew then what I know now, I would have smiled sweetly and gone right to bed. Sorry mom and dad.

On our honeymoon I remember that Ryan turned to me after we'd been up late one night and said, "I'm so glad we're married now. We can stay up all night talking and getting to know each other better." My response: "Aww, you're so sweet. I'm going to go to sleep now." I love my husband dearly, but I know that if I don't get sleep I'm just no good. I get grumpier than a baby....

Enter Eva. I am thankful for all those years of stored up sleep because they have prepared me for this new era of sleep deprivation. I would use the typical, "I knew I would be tired but I didn't know I would be this tired" phrase but I would be lying. I knew I would be tired. Honestly, it was one of the things I feared most about being a new mom. I even considered the sleep deprivation aspect of parenthood before deciding that we were really ready to try to have a baby. I knew that sleeping in on Saturdays would become a distant memory. And yet, I decided to be a mama anyway.

To be fair to Eva, I have to say she sleeps very well for being only 17 days old. Her stomach is tiny so she has to eat often which means she must wake up more than I would like. Aside from a few times of terror, she gives us a good 4-5 hour stretch in the night. Sometimes when she wakes up too early (aka before the sun comes up) we are able to convince her to sleep a bit longer. Therefore I am not complaining. I literally thank God every morning after a decent night of sleep, though my definition of decent has shifted over the past 2 weeks. I know it could be a lot worse. I could have twins, or triplets, and then it would be even harder. I also have amazing family that comes over and lets me take a nap sometimes. Today my dad was here for 4 hours, 1 1/2 of which I got to nap for while he took care of her. My mom and mother in-law have also taken a few turns at helping out at night to give me a little break. I will be grateful for the sleep I get. I love my baby so much that it is worth it, even at 4 am. Hopefully one day sleep and I will become good companions again.

I definitely look like this at 4 am.

Happy Fall

2011-09-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Happy first day of fall! A new season has arrived. When I got in the car early this morning the temperature read 59 degrees and I had to do a double take. I even had to wear a sweater this morning to stay cozy. In celebration of this wonderful time of year when we put away the sunscreen and indulge in a pumpkin spice latte I decided to do a little home photo shoot. My mom spent the night last night to drive me to my doctor's check up today and we had fun decorating the apartment for fall. My home is now covered in leaves, pumpkins, and pine cones and smells delicious thanks to a few new candles.

Look what we found in a pumpkin patch! Do you know that it is impossible to prop a 2 week old baby up against a pumpkin? We had lots of takes to get a good photo. How does Anne Gedes do it? Maybe we needed more pumpkins.

Dining room table

Kitchen Bar Top

Usually I wait another week or so to take out the Halloween smores people but I decided to go ahead and do it now while I had help and felt like decorating. The characters each look like they are made out of a graham cracker bottom, chocolate, and marshmallows and have on Halloween costumes. The 2nd grade teacher in me loves them. I also have Thanksgiving and Christmas smores people. I wish I was eating a real smore right now.

Coffee Table

Bookshelf

2nd Bookshelf

Outside Decor

Every year we are inevitably left with the decision of how to dispose of old pumpkins. TWICE I have put them outside somewhere only to discover that other people have added to their old pumpkins to my pile. Either that or my pumpkins sprouted new pumpkins over night! This was fine the year I put them in an empty field area. Not as fine the year we casually set them to the side of our old apartment yard and felt obligated to carry everybody else's pumpkins to the dumpster.

Front Door

Look who's back??!?!? Cosby is probably here to stay. I didn't want him to think I loved Eva more than him (though I secretly do....) so I let him in on the fall fun. Woof.

Rub a dub dub, We put our baby in the tub!

2011-09-22T20:08:00.001-07:00

The umbilical cord. The God created source of life for a baby for 9 months. And then a cute little baby is born. And part of that little cord stays around for a while. Until today - Eva's little stub finally fell off and we got to celebrate by giving her a bath! We were so excited to give her a bath in her little baby tub. She loved it!

Her Nana gave her the "Whale of a Tub" and it was just right for a newborn. She stayed in place and it was easy to suds her up. Plus it is super cute, which we all know is what matters when shopping for a bath tub. I'm a little jealous of how cute her tub is. My bath tub is just plain old white with a faucet.

After tub time we wrapped her in a ducky towel. She was less happy about this part and screamed a bit. Once she was warm and snuggled she settled down a bit.

Eva was so fresh and clean after her bath so we showered her with lots of kisses! And Ryan put the duck head over her head. What a jokester.

Then we took our clean baby on her first trip to Super Target! I will admit that I am that crazy mom that doesn't want her to get exposed to any germs for the first month or so. However, I am also the mom that realized that we really needed to pick up a few things from Target and while I didn't want her to get germs, I also am not ready to leave her. So I wrapped her in a blanket and hopefully that shielded her. I'm pretty sure that Eva loved Super Target. She chose to express this love by sleeping through the whole experience.

First Walk at the Park

2011-09-20T15:19:00.001-07:00

One day I will blog about something other than my brand new baby, but today is not that day! I am pretty much home bound these days since I can't drive and can't go up and down our stairs much. Yesterday afternoon was so pretty though that we decided to go for a walk at the park as a family. Usually I can walk to the park and around it, but since I'm still sore we decided to drive to the park and then walk. Good choice.

It was the first time we got to use our stroller and Ryan was eager to push it and show off his new dad skills. It was also our first family outing that did not involve a doctor's office check up.

Eva did great in her stroller. She usually does good in her car seat and I think she enjoyed getting pushed around.

I enjoyed the fresh air and the chance to move around a bit. It's so hard when you want to move to get stronger but you know that if you move too much you'll be exhausted and hurt. A gentle stroll was just right for me!

And here are a few random pics that have nothing to do with our family walk. They are mostly for all the grandparents who wish they could see her every day.

Meditating...or recovering from a great feeding time.

Glamour shot! You have to do something in those early morning hours!

12 days old and already knows when I am taking a picture. She'll have such a perfect face and then change it right when I pull the camera out.

Cuddled in her boppy.

Sleeping in her pack and play bassinet! This is a big victory! We want her to sleep there but it doesn't always happen. So far today she's taken 2 1/2 good naps there.
We'll see how tonight goes.

Her Heart Belongs to Daddy

2011-09-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Today Ryan heads back to work. We've been lucky to have him off for 9 whole days when we only expected him to have 8 days. I don't know what I would have done without
all of his help. Eva definitely loves her daddy, and I love him even more!

He loves her so much and always wants to hold her as much as he can.
What a lucky little girl!

It's hard because I know that his job is so important and I want him to work hard. I am thankful that he has a job and that it doesn't require him to travel or be gone for too long at a time. Plus this weekend he is getting to ease back into working a bit before next week starts. But it's still hard to say goodbye. I've only cried a little bit. I want to be encouraging to him because I am so grateful to be the one that gets to stay home with Eva. I am super proud of him for working and I know that he will be home later this evening and that we can give him lots of welcome home kisses and hugs.

My little family. They are the best.

Part 3: Life at Home

2011-09-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

When I last left off, we were leaving the hospital. Here we are now - home sweet home! When people say that it's hard, they aren't just kidding with you. I meant to post this blog about 2 hours ago, but life happens and I'm just now getting around to it. (And now it's been 30 more minutes since I typed the past sentence and I'm sitting down again for attempt 3 at this).

Cosby Meeting Eva for the 1st Time

If you've met Cosby, you know that he is the most chill dog ever. He walked up to her when Ryan took her out of her carrier, sniffed her, and then walked away. He seems interested in her, but not at all jealous or weirded out. He is actually staying with my parents for a few weeks since I can't go up and down the stairs at our apartment any more than necessary and we are exhausted enough without worrying about him too. But he will come back.

A newborn baby is one of the most precious things God ever created. We love to snuggle with her and talk to her. It is a pure joy to have her fall asleep against my chest. When she is awake I just want to play with her and cherish the moments we get to see her tiny little eyes gazing around the room....

This is one of the other precious things God created. SLEEP. Aww, she looks so cute taking a nap in her bouncer. But did you know that sometimes babies choose not to embrace this wonderful activity? Sometimes, they choose to stay up and scream. All. night. long. I knew this would happen, but when you are living it, it is incredibly hard. Thankfully we have only had one terrible sleepless night so far. She is mostly a decent sleeper at this point and is even in what resembles a pattern of eat-snuggle-awake-sleep. I know this can change at any moment, so I'm not taking it for granted or expecting it to last. Just praying that it does! We have also had some grandma sleepover nights where our loving moms take care of her at night between feedings.

She has only slept in her crib a few times while the grandma's were sleeping in the guest bed right next to her. I can't believe how tiny she looks in her crib! It's like a baby doll that someone wrapped up to convince us that we have a child.

We bought these pajamas right after we found out I was pregnant. We wrapped them up for our parents to open as our way to tell them we were having a baby. They are a newborn size but so big that she can wiggle her legs out of the individual leg parts.

Besides the whole "this is your baby that you now have ultimate responsibility" thing, the hardest part of being at home is recovering from my c-section. It is still difficult to get up and down and when I walk very much my feet ad legs swell adding to all of the other pain. I know that recovery takes a while and I'm doing everything I can to rest and let my body heal. Ryan is a good helper and encourages me to stay on the couch or in bed as much as possible. And friends and family having been AMAZING at bringing us food. THANK YOU to everyone so far who has brought a meal and everyone is planning to do so over the next few weeks. This is one of the best gifts we could receive right now. I'm pretty sure that if it was just me and Ryan trying to make sure we had food at every meal we would be eating mostly cereal and hot pockets. I will make every effort to bring every new mama I know food in the future. Along with disposable dishes so that cleanup is easy. We are well stocked now and look forward to giving our dishwasher a break. If only our washer and dryer could be as lucky :)

It's hard to be a diva!

Another fun part of having Eva is dressing her up. Most of her clothes are huge on her, but we play around anyway. I love to put bows on her even if it's just for my entertainment. Her feet are almost too tiny for socks to stay on. I think that dressing her in cute clothes balances out changing diapers.

At her first doctor's appointment.

Yesterday we took her on her first trip out of the apartment. She is still healthy and has regained a little bit of weight. She is now 6 lbs, 3 oz and jaundice free. Hooray!

We will keep living out our new life as a family day by day. Every time I have a wonderful moment I remind myself to remember that during the next hard moment. Tomorrow she will be 1 week old!!! And now it is time to snuggle.

Part Two: The Hospital

2011-09-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Grandpa with Eva

Our family had such a wonderful hospital experience at Baylor Grapevine. After my original visit last Sunday with a pre-labor pains and infection I was a little worried because that day wasn't as positive, but my fears about actually staying in the hospital were put to rest when we arrived. Since most of my laboring took place from 7am until 7pm (when I was transferred to the Mother/Baby unit) I was lucky to have Nurse Patti with me the whole time. She was so helping and comforting at a time when I was not so sure about what was happening. She did everything she could to work along side my doctor to help avoid the c-section and answered all of my immediate questions as soon as I woke up from the surgery.

We were also blessed to have 2 other amazing nurses, Nurse Tatum and Nurse Lizzie, who just both happened to work several back to back shifts with each other the days I was in recovery. Since they switched out for each other they would keep each other well informed and I always felt like they knew what was going on. Not only were they professional, they were caring and friendly. Nurse Lizzie even said we were her favorite couple in the unit because we spent a lot of time watching Saved By the Bell on dvd and she would always make jokes about the show when she came in. If you are reading this and you are a wonderful nurse, or studying to be a nurse, know that your love and attitude can make such a huge difference at a difficult time. Based on the things that they had to do it was so obvious to me that nursing is not glamorous and many of the situations can be gross or awkward, but our nurses were so helpful. We nominated both Tatum and Lizzie for "gold star" hospital awards.

Mamy with Eva

When we had Eva we asked that it would only be our parents in the waiting room so that we didn't feel pressured to visit with everybody right away. We knew that they would want to hold and see Eva as soon as possible, plus there were a few times when I really just wanted to see my mom and have her tell me that everything would be okay. Ryan and I are thankful for great parents who are already loving grandparents. We are also thankful for all of the lunches and dinners they made sure to provide for us while we were there :)

Papa and Nana with Eva

On Friday we were ready for just a few more visitors. Our parents came again, along with some more of Ryan's family, and my best friend Erica. Saturday was our big day when we were really ready to see some more familiar faces. I felt like we had the perfect amount of company! If you got to come see us, know that we appreciated the time you took to see our precious baby, and if you didn't that is also very okay with us. We know that everybody has busy lives and by the end of Saturday we were worn out.

Eva meets her best friend and cousin!
Ryan's sister Amanda and her 3 month old baby Mallory.

After our first night in the hospital, we were so exhausted by the whole go through labor, try to recover, and take care of your brand new baby experience that happens within the first 24 hours. For the 2nd night we decided to send Eva back and forth to the nursery a few times, with her only coming in to nurse. That gave us a little bit of sleep so we would be more recovered the next morning. At first we felt so guilty but Nurse Tatum assured us that it was really a wise choice and that she would not be the only baby in the nursery. Don't judge us, and if you ever wanted my opinion, I would recommend the same thing because it was so helpful to rest especially because the pain of my c-section has been worse at night than in the day.

The 3rd night we also sent her to the nursery but this time it was harder. After sending her I started feeling much worse as far as recovery and had to get some extra meds and help from the nurse. A while after that the nurse came back and told us that while in the nursery they were assessing Eva and realized that she had dropped down to 6 lbs. It is normal for babies to loose some birth weight right away but they were getting concerned and recommended that she stay in the nursery and get a few formula feedings that night. This made me so sad! I am not against parents using formula, but its not what I wanted to do for me and Eva. They said that it was my choice, but that if she lost any more weight it would be likely that the pediatrician would require her to stay another day or so after I was released. I did NOT want that. Ryan was so supportive and in the moment reminded me that I already felt really sick so I probably wouldn't nurse well that night and that it would be best for Eva and that a few bottle feedings didn't mean giving up on nursing. It was an emotional decision, but I think it went well and helped us all get to go home together. I'm still nursing now but have to continue to supplement with a tiny bit of formula using a dropper at each feeding.

Eva meets one of mommy's best friends! "Aunt Erica" is always so much fun!

Throughout the hospital stay, my husband was so incredible. I think he knew that he'd need to help out, but I don't think either of us realized how important his role would be. It was really difficult for me to do even simple tasks like getting out of bed or changing Eva's diaper so he pretty much had to take on completely caring for both of us. He was just as tired as I was (minus the surgery part) but was so encouraging and didn't complain about how hard it was to do everything. He is the best diaper changer and blanket swaddler I've ever seen! He loves on Eva and does a great job of soothing her. He was always so kind and didn't make fun of all the awkward parts that go along with taking care of a wife post c-section. When I was hurting or on meds he did the best he could to communicate to the nurses what I needed or to remember what they were telling me when I couldn't keep my eyes open. If someone asked me what to look for in a potential husband, I would say to keep in mind that one day you might completely need that man to take care of you and your child, so pick someone who is humble enough to serve you and strong enough to take on the pressures that go along with that.

Great Grandmother Dede (My grandma)

The rest of this posting is mostly just pictures of people holding a baby. (The same adorable baby...) I know it may not be interesting to everybody, but I want to remember how loved we were while we were in the hospital. Plus maybe you'll get to see yourself on the blog which is always fun, right?

Great Grandfather Papa (My grandfather)

Great Aunt Sherry and Uncle Mark (Ryan's Aunt and Uncle)

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Craig (My mom's best cousin)

Pastor Scott and Koni with their kids

Great Aunt Terri and Uncle Peter (My aunt and uncle)

Uncle Greg and Aunt Melody and our neices Kiersi and Kayden (Ryan's brother and family)
It seems like they were just babies!

Great Grandpa (my Grandpa)

This looks like an ordinary picture of breakfast, but it represents much more than that. On Saturday morning, I woke up a little before Ryan because I knew they were about to bring Eva back to me after her nursery/pediatrician assessment. I also knew that breakfast was soon to be arriving on a tray. As I lay in the stillness of the room I thought to myself, "It's Saturday. I sure would love a special pancake breakfast." Wow. I was all smiles when the hospitality woman arrived with this tray. I told her that it was exactly what I was hoping for and that I was so excited to eat it! Plus it was actually very tasty.

Leaving the hospital! Apparently no matter how much they care for you, eventually they make you go home and learn to do this whole parenting thing on your own.

Eva Kate Bradley: The Birth Story

2011-09-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Our daughter Eva Kate was born on Thursday, September 8th!!! I know most of you have already heard, but I was a little busy giving birth and taking care of a newborn to blog until this evening. Since I'm behind and have so many wonderful pictures to share I decided to break up everything into 3 parts - her birth, the hospital stay, and life at home. Here is Part One: Eva's Birthday.

Ryan in his labor scrubs - the back said COACH, so cute!

On Wednesday afternoon around 4 pm I started having small contractions. They weren't very strong and they started every 3 minutes apart, lasting for about a minute. Since everything I had read and heard said that by 5 minutes apart you should go to the hospital I was pretty confused. They hurt enough to be considered painful but not what I thought regular contractions would feel like. I decided it was probably false labor and just relaxed that afternoon and evening. 10 hours later at 2:30 in the morning I woke up (from the 2 hours that I had finally decided to go to sleep) and was still having the same contractions. I tried to eat a little and try combinations of walking/sitting/lying down to make them go away but nothing changed. After another 2 hours of this Ryan and I tried to decide what to do. Should we wait until 8 am and call the doctor? Put in a call for the doctor on-call and see how long it takes to hear back? Go to the hospital? This was not an easy decision to make in the middle of the night. I had decided to try to go back to bed for a while and hope that everything was good and we could wait until morning. Then I noticed that they were hurting more and at 5 am was up and got to the point where suddenly it hurt to walk through the contractions. We decided to head to the hospital at that point.

6 lbs 10 oz, 19 1/4 " long

We got to the hospital and Ryan dropped me off so I get right to Labor & Delivery while he parked the car. Don't worry, I was walking so slow that by the time I went up the elevator and told the check in lady, "My husband will be right here," he was already walking in the door behind me. It was so weird to just walk up to the desk and tell them that I was in labor. You expect them to have a frazzled, "Okay - lady with baby!" reaction but really they just checked me in and walked me calmly to a room. Luckily the typical triage rooms were full so I got a private room right away. The nurse checked me out and confirmed that I was really in labor and put in a call for my doctor to come by to officially admit me. She said I'd have to wait about an hour for the doctor to see me. Within that hour my contractions definitely increased in strength and pain. I don't want to be the person that scares other people with a birthing story because looking back, it was obviously not so bad that I couldn't take it. Instead I will just say that getting an epidural was the best labor choice I could have made. I know lots of women have natural childbirth and that is so awesome for them. It would not have been awesome for me. So thank you to the nice man that gave me my epidural and made labor much more relaxing and pain free! My husband also did an awesome job while I was in labor. I know it was hard for him to see me like that, but he was a great coach!

Mama and Eva Finally Together

I don't know if you would say that I had a fast labor or not. If you consider that my contractions started at 4pm the day before, I guess not. But the time that I was in "active labor" was only from about 6am - 2pm and things seemed to progress quickly. I was given Pitocin so I'm sure that helped. I was really scared to get Pitocin because I've heard how much it can hurt, but since I was far enough along when I got to the hospital I was able to get the epidural first and never felt the contractions that were caused by Pitocin. At 2pm it was time for me to push the baby out. So I pushed. And pushed. And pushed. Then the doctor finally decided that Eva was too stuck in a crooked position to be delivered that way. We tried a few things to get her to shift and I had the option to try pushing for another 2 hours but it was recommend that I get a c-section for her safety. I cried when my doctor told me that the best, most realistic choice was a c-section. I knew that would automatically make recovery harder. And I felt discouraged that I had already gone through the labor process. But I wanted to make the safest choice for Eva. So I got prepped for surgery. At that point I also started to tell the doctor that I could feel the part of my belly where she was stuck. They tried to up my epidural but it didn't work. Getting a c-section and being able to feel your stomach does not work so the doctors in the OR quickly decided that I needed to be put fully asleep right away. That meant that Ryan couldn't even be in the OR with me and had to wait in a special room right outside so that he could come in as soon as possible after they had her out.

Eva's birth didn't go like I had expected. Labor pains were so different that what I had thought to look for. I didn't plan for a c-section. I didn't get to be awake to hear her first cry or hold her right away. All of these things were out of my control. No decision I could have made would change things. My doctor even said after the surgery that it was difficult to get her out that way and that I definitely wouldn't have been able to deliver her normally.

All that doesn't matter as much though because at 4:56 pm, our beautiful baby was born. She is completely healthy. She is a girl (there was always that chance....). She is ours to take care of and love. We are so blessed!

Proud Daddy

After waking up I had to wait about an hour before I could finally be taken to our room to meet Eva. It was so surreal to finally see and hold and kiss on the little baby that had been in my belly for the past 9 months. We're not sure who she looks like yet. She does have pretty dark hair and dark blue eyes but that could easily change. We are so in love with her.

Walk It Out

2011-09-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and decided that today would be a perfect day to go on a walk - umm, make that a waddle - around the block. Back before the crazy heat wave that started in July I used to walk Cosby several mornings a week. Since then I have stopped walking him, but I have tried to at least go walk laps around the pool since it was too hot and my feet hurt too much to walk much more than that. I know that it is healthy to stay active when you're pregnant but the realistic side is that sometimes it's really hard to work out! Thankfully the temperatures were breezy this morning and I was feeling so much better after many days of being painfully sick. Plus I know that Cosby will soon get to take a "vacation" to my mom's house for at least a week after I have the baby, so I want to give him extra attention and love. So, I started to get ready for our walk.....

Ironically, I felt the need to put on "exercise clothes," although I wouldn't think that any fitness guru would classify what I did as exercise. I laced up my tennis shoes and pulled my hair back in a pony tail (in case I got sweaty???). I made sure to take my phone with me in case I started out and got to where I couldn't make it back home. Cosby got up off his doggy bed, and with that we were up and out of here!

Ryan likes to joke that I walk at one speed now - slow. I prefer to say that I walk at the speed of a very pregnant woman who feels the pressure of a watermelon inside of her every time she moves. Either way, it was funny to see that even Cosby noticed the extremely slow pace of our walk. He would dart way up ahead on his leash and then look back at me to make sure I was still moving. I'm pretty sure that snails were passing us up as we walked down the street. Usually by the end of the walk I'm pulling him and trying to convince him that he doesn't not actually need to make friends with every fire hydrant and bush. Today though, I was just moseying along behind him and he got to sniff everything in his path. I'm sure it was quite the pathetic site to anybody that drove passed up. But it was nice to get out and enjoy "fall" a little bit. I am now back on the couch with my feet propped up.

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day! This picture - from our 2010 trip to Vancouver - is where I wish I could have spent the day. Out on the lake, in a sail boat, with family, friends, and a picnic. Maybe next year.

Since Thursday I've been feeling bad and actually thought yesterday afternoon that I could possibly be in labor. I won't go into the details but I ended up spending several hours in the hospital getting treated for some painful conditions. Everything is good and safe with me and the baby (which I have NOT had), but I feel really sick and uncomfortable. I don't want to explain more on the world wide web.....so I will continue with our plans for today.

My parents had planned to come up and have a fun day with me and Ryan. We talked about going swimming and having a fun lunch and possibly seeing a movie or playing games. I was not feeling up for any of that, but wanted them to come over anyway. We went to lunch at Twisted Root and then spent the afternoon just hanging out at the apartment. It was not exciting or adventurous, but I really appreciate that they would come up and hang out with us. I am so thankful for my parents. They used to both be massage therapist, so they were able to massage me neck, back, and feet to try to make me more comfortable. My mom made some dinner for me and Ryan, including enough left overs to freeze for after we have the baby. Ryan and my dad watched plenty of sports. Plus the weather was beautiful and we had the patio door and windows opened for a nice breeze. It was really a good afternoon :) I still feel really sick, but I also feel really happy and blessed to have such loving parents that would hang out at our place all day just to be encouraging and help out. I'm also grateful for my sweet husband and his loving attitude. If I were him I'd be so bored with helping take care of me, but he is always gracious and has such a servant's heart.

So far, no "labor" on labor day...but you never know!

"Phoebe Buffet?".... "Fire Alarm?"

2011-09-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

The other night Ryan and I were home in our apartment when all of the sudden we heard it. Beep.
Me: (in my head) Hmm, maybe I just imagined that beeping sound. Beep....Beep.
Me: Ryan, I think the batteries are out in one of the smoke detectors.
Ryan: I don't know Kate, are you sure? Beep....Beep....BEEP.
Me: Yes, I'm SURE.

Oh, it is a familiar scene for most people. The dreaded moment when you realize that you need to fix the smoke detector. It is even worse when you realize that you don't have a ladder tall enough to reach the ceiling. Or the right battery to replace it and make the beeping STOP.

For the first night that the beeping started Ryan was somehow able to reach up and rattle it a little to make the beeping stop. Temporary bliss. And then last night it started again. He figured out how to stand on something to disconnect it. We took the battery out. Those crazy things just keep on beeping!!!! We were out running a few errands so we figured we could pick up one at 7-11 because they sell everything there - everything except smoke detector batteries. And we were too exhausted to make a Walmart run. Luckily, it was the smoke detector in Eva's room, so we just hid the beeping part way back in her closet for the night. This morning I went by our apartment office and asked them to come and fix it. They said they'd have someone come out right away...right away on Tuesday morning. I guess since it is a holiday weekend the maintenance people are only working on true emergencies and we do have 3 other working smoke detectors in our 1000 foot apartment, so its not urgent.

Although it is inconvenient, the situation made me think about the Friends episode where Phoebe can't get her smoke detector to stop beeping. I love this clip from Friends so I am posting it for the joy of fellow Friends lovers :) If you can't get the beeping to stop, you might as well find a way to laugh about it!

Phoebe's Fire Alarm Clip

As the days go by...

2011-09-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

It is officially September and only 9 days until my due date! My goal all along has been to make it to September and now I am ready for Eva to arrive. I actually woke up early this morning and had a couple of hours of contractions that were about 7 minutes apart....but then, nothing. I guess that means I could have her soon (tomorrow????) or it could have been false labor and I will continue to love my ever growing belly for another week. I have my weekly doctor's appointment tomorrow morning so maybe we'll know more then.

I've taken pregnancy photos the past 9 months with the idea of comparing them all together towards the end. The end is now close enough! Most of these pictures I've already shared on my blog, but I think its fun to see the progression. I originally thought I would wear the same outfit every time. That didn't happen. I meant to do them every 2 - 4 weeks. It was more like 4 - 6 weeks. I should have always taken them from the same side. Oops - week 16. I wish I was more tech savvy and could figure out how to insert a slide show into my blog or at least create a picture block. That's not going to happen. It would be amazing if each picture of me had a matching sonogram picture of her. We only got 3 and the last one was at 20 weeks. So.......Here is my best attempt to show how God amazingly creates a growing baby inside of a happy mama.

6 weeks - Guess who's pregnant???? I WILL look like this again one day.

12 weeks - A tiny bump.

16 weeks - Time for maternity clothes!

20 weeks - It's a girl!!!

25 weeks - There is definitely a baby in there!

30 weeks - The fine line between feeling cute pregnant and huge.

32 weeks - Maternity Photos

36 weeks - Getting closer, wardrobe becoming VERY limited!

38 weeks - Ready for Eva!
(Ironically, wearing the exact same outfit from 16 weeks. I may have grown a little.)

The waiting will continue. I have received many outside requests for which day I "should" have her on. All I can promise is that she will come on her birthday, and that's as good as I can get it. But I will accept prayers :)

38 Weeks....Still waiting....

2011-08-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today I am 38 weeks pregnant, and only 2 weeks away from my official due date - September 10th. So it's pretty much just a waiting game, knowing that she really could come at anytime. I had my checkup yesterday and so far there are no big signs that Eva is ready to come, but based on what I described my doctor is pretty sure that I am having random contractions and getting ready for the big day. When I have long days or uncomfortable nights I think that I am ready to get her here as soon as possible. But then I think about really being a mama and all the changes that will happen, and I decide that maybe she could wait another 2 weeks. In the end, I know that she will come when she's ready, and I'm hoping that at that point I will be ready too.

At 38 weeks, I am definitely uncomfortable and having a hard time doing too much. Whenever people ask, "How are you doing?" I am torn between smiling and saying "Great!!!" and looking at them with a bewildered stare that politely suggests, " How do I LOOK like I am doing?" I have decided that when people who have never had a baby look at you and smile they are admiring your glowing pregnant body and dreaming of what it will be like when they are pregnant one day. (I know this is true, because this is how I have always looked at pregnant bellies). When someone with children looks at you and smiles, they are probably secretly laughing at you in their head, knowing all that you are endearing, but hopefully also knowing that it will all be worth it.

Thankfully, over the past week I have actually found a bedtime routine that allows me to sleep at night. This is so awesome because for about a month before I hadn't been sleeping and I know that this is my last chance to rest up before life with a newborn. I've also had more swelling in my feet and hands this past week or so. It is strange how much swelling can hurt - not to mention the vanity side of it. I used to workout in the mornings, but now it hurts too much to stand that long, so I do most of the same exercises in the pool and that helps some. I also take my huge spaghetti pot and fill it with cool water to soak my feet in in the evening. Don't worry, I will wash it out really well before I make spaghetti in it for you!

I also keep thinking about Mary making the trip to Bethlehem right before she had Jesus. Oh. My. Goodness. Ride a donkey? At this point? You would have to drag me there all the way. And at the end of it all to give birth in an old barn on hay with animals. No ice chips. No epidural. Not even a camera to take a sweet picture with your new little baby. The Christmas story is beautiful and miraculous, but I'm thankful that it wasn't me. I will hope that God will use me for His glory in other ways :)

And so today we will continue the waiting came.....baby coming soon!

Going Steady

2011-08-16T15:12:00.001-07:00

"Going steady" is one of the great romantic enjoyments of young love. Dating when you're married is even sweeter. With out busy schedule and limited finances, we don't get to go out on many big dates, so I always appreciate the times we do get to go out. Sunday night we decided that we'd have a date night and go to dinner and a movie. The timeless classic.

Trying to make the most out of our big date, I even managed to dig through the closet and create an outfit that Ryan hadn't seen me wear 10 times in the past month. I even accessorized! I wanted to wear cute zebra print heals, but my little pregnant feet decided that flip flops were just as romantic.

I had just finished getting ready when my cell phone rang. It was Ryan, saying that he was calling from the guest bathroom and that someone was knocking at the door. Marital romance sure is hot! I went to open it, and guess who it was???? It was RYAN, at the door, ready to "pick me up for our date." What a sneaky, wonderful husband! He had even turned the bathroom on in the guest bath and closed the door so I'd really believe he was in there. I wish I'd taken a picture of how sweet he looked waiting for me at the door.
We started our night at Pei Wei. I've been loving rice - all kinds of rice - lately. And the best part of a Chinese meal is opening fortune cookies!!!!

Ryan's Fortune: Happier days are definitely ahead for you. (Awesome!)
My Fortune: Face any problem with dignity. (In light of my upcoming labor process I was less than excited to open that cookie.)

Oh well, a cookie is just a cookie. We did have a nice time eating out. I got crab wantons and fried rice. Ryan got chicken fried rice. We're so crazy.
36 weeks pregnant...or maybe way too many crab wantons. I'll let you decided :) Thanks to Eva for letting Mama borrow one of her cute flower bows (since she wasn't going to be wearing it that night).
0 weeks pregnant and only 1 crab wanton. Look at that studly physique. What a handsome man!
And the movie for the night was The Help. I'd been looking forward to seeing this. Since we no longer get a student discount at the movies, we have to really, really want to see a movie to go the the movie theater. Plus there are so many dumb movies out there that I don't care about at all. Thankfully, The Help did not disappoint. I love movies about the south and I loved the time period it was set in. Plus, the story line was so interesting and the movie was very well done. I guess you'd call it cinematography, but I really loved how the movie was shot- the colors, the camera angles, the costumes. I highly recommend this movie!

Our date night was extra special to me since I'm not sure how many more we'll get to go on before the baby arrives. At this point I just want to take advantage of our time together. I love you, Ryan!

Proud Moments

2011-08-14T14:51:00.001-07:00

This Sunday morning I woke up early, got ready for church and headed to.... Hawaiian Falls? I know what you are thinking. Kate. It's Sunday morning. Go to church! You blogged about the wonders of Hawaiian Falls last week. All of this is true, but the awesome thing is that this morning we had church at Hawaiian Falls! Not just a fun splash day, but a very special morning of baptisms.

Redeemer Church was blessed to get to go to the park before it opened for a time of worship, testimonies, and baptisms. We had 9 people from our church make the decision to get baptized, including 4 of our youth. I was so proud of them and their choice to publicly declare their faith. Baptism isn't what "makes them a Christian," but rather an act that allows them to proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ. They each stood up and shared why they decided to get baptized and hearing their sweet testimonies truly brought tears to my eyes. I appreciate that we live in a country where we can do public baptisms at a local water park without fear, knowing that many around the world do not have this blessing. I look forward to seeing this special group of students grow up and grow in their faith.

Fun in the Sun

2011-08-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo! We just got home a little bit ago from a wonderful day of playing at Hawaiian Falls! Ryan and I got to go with some friends and had an awesome time! I think Ryan had way more fun riding all of the cool slides with our friends than he normally does with just me on the little slides or in the wave pool. And I had fun just because 2 of my best friends were there! Unlike the majority of college girls in America, I prefer not to take pictures in my bathing suit, especially in my current stage of pregnancy, so instead I found this actual picture of the Hawaiian Falls Roanoke on the world wide web. If you look at the top right of the picture you can see the giant pineapple bucket that dumps out about 1000 gallons of water every few minutes. I love watching it pour. I do not want to be underneath it when the water falls. A nice side splash is much less overwhelming.

Thanks to Marianne, Regan, Erica, and Brian for making the trip out here and spending the day in the sun with us! I hope you had as much fun as we did!!!!

Breakfast with the Bradleys

2011-08-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

Oh the irony of me actually blogging about "Breakfast with the Bradleys." When I came up with the title for this post I giggled and thought to myself, "Kate, you are so punny." I love a good word play.

This morning it was decided that I should post about a favorite tradition in the Bradley apartment. Ryan and I LOVE to have a special Saturday morning breakfast together. This weekly tradition started many years ago, and continues to be a special blessing. During the work week I've always been in a rush to get out the door. I eat a boring breakfast that includes things like cereal, oatmeal, and yogurt. On Sunday mornings it is Ryan who is up and out the door super early to get things loaded and set up for church. But on Saturday, we sleep in a little and enjoy a nice leisurely breakfast.

Saturday is also the perfect morning for those less than healthy beloved breakfast foods that you shouldn't over indulge in during the week. Pancakes. Waffles. Cinnamon Rolls. Orange Danish Rolls. Hash Browns. Sausage. Bacon. I truly enjoy breakfast foods. We wake up on Saturdays, stumble around in our PJs, and cook together in the kitchen. Even if it's just popping some orange danish rolls in the over it's still fun to celebrate Saturday. Thankfully, our apartment complex recognizes the value of this tradition and once a month has free Chickfila breakfast that we can walk over and pick up.

Today's menu was eggs (cooked 2 ways - scrambled for me and fried for Ryan), hash browns, and sausage. It was one of those mornings when I was thankful that my wedding set Martha Stewart pans came in a large set. Using multiple pans helps everything to come out hot and ready at the same time. Ryan and I ate our meal, talked and enjoyed some fun Saturday morning music - shout out to my bff Ashley Gatta for providing the breakfast tunes! After we ate we cleaned up, danced around a bit, and then prepared for the rest of our busy weekend.

I hope that even when we have Eva and the term "sleep in" is redefined that we can continue to have fun on Saturday mornings. And now, after googleling and searching through many pictures of breakfast foods, I believe that I am ready for some homemade waffles topped with fresh strawberries. Who says you can only eat breakfast once a day?

Wow. You are 8 months pregnant in August? You must be HOT.

2011-08-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

Today I had ice cream with a friend in Denton. It was very hot, even inside the ice cream shop. It got me thinking that I probably have people comment to me about pregnant,hot and uncomfortable about 10 times a day. And with 114 degree temperatures, it's true. I am hot and uncomfortable. But there are also many hidden blessings in being pregnant over the summer. Here are a few of the benefits I've discovered:
1. I can wear less clothes. If I had to wear pants and shirts, and dare I say a sweater, every day I would be annoyed not only with having to wear so much clothing that grows increasing tighter, but also with having to pick out more clothing to put on. Wearing a dress is so much easier.
2. I have saved money on clothes. Thankfully, I have only had to buy 6 maternity shirts and 3 pairs of maternity pants. Shopping is fun, but when you consider how briefly you wear maternity clothes, I didn't want to buy a whole new wardrobe. My normal summer clothes are naturally more flowing and have given me more options with a growing bump. If I was pregnant in the fall or winter. I would probably have to buy more pants and even a coat.
3. Nobody judges me for eating ice cream every day. Everybody else is enjoying this sweet treat too, so I don't feel as guilty. 2 scoops? Don't mind if I do.
4. I can go swimming all the time. Swimming not only makes me feel cooler, but takes away some of the strain of the baby weight on my body. If I was pregnant in the winter, I'm pretty sure I'd still feel hot and my back would still hurt, but I couldn't get in the water.
5. I don't have to worry about having a perfect bikini body. I'm actually just guessing on this one. I have this hope that when people see me at the pool in my bathing suit they think, "Oh, that lady is about to have a baby," and show a little grace on the physical appearance of me in my bathing suit. Plus after I have her in September I will have almost a whole year to get back in rockin' shape for next summer!
6. By next summer Eva will be big enough to splash around in the pool with me! Who doesn't want a cute pool buddy? If I had her in June, I'd probably have to wait out most of the summer before we could safely hit the pool.
7. Summer has been a fun time for baby showers. We've had ice cream, pie, and lemonade - perfect summer treats! Plus my wedding showers were in the summer 3 years earlier, so it brings back fun memories.
8. Since Eva's birthday will be in September, she will likely always be one of the oldest in her class. I like to think this will give her an edge ahead :) Plus I'll get one more year of being at home with her before she starts Kindergarten and one more year before she goes away to college. Yes, both of those events are WAY far away now, but they'll happen one day.
9. It's always a good conversation starter. Minus a few awkward comments, I usually enjoy talking to strangers when I'm out and about. So even if the conversation starts off talking about being hot I enjoy getting to talk to people.
10. I love summer. And I love being pregnant. Putting 2 amazing things together always makes them even better!

Eva's Nursery

2011-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's finished! Eva's nursery is decorated and ready for a baby. Ryan and I spent some time hanging things on the walls this week, I organized gifts from baby shower, the bedding arrived this week, and just this afternoon we got the E-V-A letters in the mail to hang on the wall! I love how the finished room looks. Here are a few pics - it's always tricky to get good pictures of bedrooms because of the square shape...there is never quite enough room to scoot back and get the perfect shot. Hopefully you can imagine how fabulous everything looks together. I also really like how we took such a mixture of old and new to create a bright, bedazzled nursery!
Wall letters! A friend's mother in-law made these and they turned how super cute! I just sent her a few pics of other nursery ideas and let her be creative....ironically the name of her craft business is "Bee Creative!" Thanks, Brenda!
The crib and bedding, laundry hamper, and wall letters. It was hard to get a cuter picture of the bedding because there is so much white. We have a couple of interchangeable pink and green sheets with either dot or paisley prints on them that coordinate with the crib skirt. I really like the laundry hamper because it is the perfect size and has just the right colors and prints to match the room.
The guest bed. Every loving grandma needs a place to sleep when she babysits! The print I picked out so long ago from Hobby Lobby looks awesome with everything else. The blue sparkly pillows were part of our living room decor when we first got married. The white lacy pillow cases and quilt were my mom's. The flowery boppy pillow is brand new!
Some bling-bling pink curtains that make the room extremely pink in the morning. The Scripture verses were Ryan's from his college apartment and help to frame the window wall.
This wall photographed the best. My amazing glider that is topped with a blanket I received at a shower that matched our theme so well. The nightstand was mine growing up and my mom lovingly refinished it in hot pink, plus we added the rhinestone draw pulls. The green shelf used to be an old wooden one at my mom's that we repainted. Right now there are Scripture verses in the picture frame parts, all about children and the Lord. We touched up our Craigslist changing table and added a few polka dot baskets for supplies. The flower painting was a shower gift that my aunt gave me from a local artist and the "Laugh" wall hanging comes from the best store on earth - Super Target!
The dresser we found at a boutique all decorated with fancy things. The lamp matched my pink and zebra print room in college. The little boxes on top coordinate with the wall letters. Ryan painted some old white picture frames turquoise and we printed off a few maternity pics to put in them.

We may still make a few other enhancements. I'd love to find a way to hang some polka dot paper lanterns in the corner near the crib. But for now, I am so happy and content with everything. As the old saying goes, "The cuter the nursery, the better a newborn sleeps"..... Wait, that's true, right?

A few more special gifts.

2011-07-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, I was sitting around, waiting for the stork to bring me my baby, when I decided to go to a party with some fabulous friends and open up a few more special gifts! I decided that it would probably be okay for me to leave the house and enjoy my friends, since the stork isn't scheduled to appear for another month or so.

The shower was hosted by some sweet friends, Shelise and Koni at Shelise's house. They were so great to put everything together and invited all of our Redeemer Church ladies.

One of the games we played involved measuring off a string to guess how big I am. I guess this game is only okay when you're pregnant, because nobody else offered for us to measure their waistline. I actually guessed my "roundness" exactly! All those profile glances in the mirror the past months actually paid off!

Ice cream bar! This was awesome and delicious! If only I could figure out a way to make this appear in my kitchen every evening around 10pm I'd be set. And rounder....

Love my "MCG West" girls! Thanks for celebrating and being so generous!

More church friends!

With Channing and Molly, 2 of our fun youth girls!

Adorable little girl outfits! This picture is mostly for my mom, who is in Colorado and couldn't make it to the shower. I called her afterward when I admiring all the outfits and told her that I'd post a picture for her!

Thanks again to all the friends that came to this shower, as well as my other showers. I've been so surrounded with love and have enjoyed getting to spend time with the women I love. Opening presents was pretty fun too :)

Maternity Photos

2011-07-23T11:51:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Ryan and I took some maternity photos together in downtown Royse City where his family lives. Julie, a family friend, met up with us and was so great to sweat it out with us in the 100 degree heat. Thank you, Julie!!!! We were really happy with how they turned out and look forward to posting a few in the nursery. At the time of these photos I was just past 32 weeks. I hope Eva enjoys looking back at these one day!