Blessing Day

Yay, I'm Blessed!

Aimsley was blessed on September 25th, and we were lucky enough to have lots of family come out to enjoy the blessed event. Because she was only 5 weeks she was kind of drowning in her blessing dress...so the pictures of only her were more recently taken :) Thank you to everyone who made it out, having family and friends there made the day even that much more special.


I am so grateful for my amazing husband who gave Aimsley a beautiful blessing, hopefully first of many.







We Love You Baby Girl

Firsts...

As a newborn you have hundreds of "firsts" in your first few weeks of life. We found ourselves constantly saying "It's Aimsley's 1st car ride, It's her 1st stroller ride, her 1st time to target, 1st movie..." you name it really. For the most part they all make me sad, sad she is growing up too fast. Like the day she switched from new born diapers to size 1, or the first article of clothing she grew out of, her first shots and the most sad for me; the first night she slept in her own room :(. But some of her firsts also make me happy such as; the first time she slept 8 hours straight, her first real smile and her first Halloween. But some of her most special "firsts" were when she met all the people who love her for the first time. I didn't capture them all on camera like I would have loved to but here are a few good ones.













Oh Baby Girl, you are SO Loved.

Having an addition brought us many visitors and we cannot thank everyone enough for coming out and enjoying our excitement of Aimsley. We thank all of you and are so grateful for all the memories made. Even if all Aimsley has are the pictures to remember them by, she feels the love. xoxoxo

Here's to millions of more "firsts" to come.

Labor & Delivery: What Your Mama Doesn't Tell You

No matter how hard you try to to fake yourself for 9 months by "planning that your baby will come a week or two late" you're body really knows you want nothing more than to have that baby come out 2 weeks early :)

So when I still had a week to go till due date and Doc told me he didn't expect I'd last that long I tried really hard to not believe him. So much so that when I started contracting that night around 7pm I kept trying to convince myself it must be an upset stomach or maybe gas pains, there is no way she's actually coming early.

Around 8am; after ZERO minutes of sleep, and barely able to walk due to my insanely painful "gas pains" I figured I'd better call the doctors office. The nurse calmly confirmed I was having actual contractions I then told her I thought they were approximately 5 minutes apart and the day before at my appointment I was dilated to a 4...she then not so calmly told me to get my booty to the hospital cause things could start moving FAST.

Suddenly, my worry of going to the hospital only to be sent home, quickly changed to a worry of getting to the hospital and it being too late for an epidural. I then, not so nicely, woke Porter up (from his peaceful 10 HOUR NIGHT SLEEP) and told him to drive us to the hospital! We were in a delivery room by 9am and I had my heaven-sent epidural in by 10. From there I was dialated to a 7 and the nurses told me it wouldn't be much longer....but just as labor goes...after 2 movies and 10 popsicles later; our little Aimsley Mae didn't make her grand entrance until 5:19pm.

I am grateful those 24 hours have come and gone. Being a first-timer, labor and delivery is what scared me the most. And now that our healthy little pooping, squeaking, sleeping, eating bundle of joy is with us, I'd do it all over again. Just give me two to three years :).

1.The entire last month of pregnancy all I wanted was Aimsley to come out. Then I felt my first contraction.
2. When I was contracting the entire night before, I obviously couldn't sleep so in hopes of keeping my mind occupied I did mindless things such as laundry, showering, dishes etc. But, the few times I tried to get some rest I would wake Porter up with my loud breathing and he, in his half-asleep state of not knowing what to do to comfort me thought it would help to mumble-out the "crazy dreams" he was having. Really? Hearing about your dreams? You think that's what I want right now hun? I don't even like hearing about those when I'm not in the worst pain EVER.
3a. Although at times I was in pain, I absolutely loved pretending like we were in a movie...frantically running around the house, making sure we had everything, then speeding to the hospital, honking and screaming: "Outta our way! Lady with a baby!" Then when we arrived, Porter throwing our keys at the Valet and shouting: "We're about to have a baby!" and rushing into the hospital.
3b. Reality hit when after checking in we were kindly asked to sit in the lobby till our room was prepared. Lets just say It made for an awkward moment after 20 minutes when the Valet boy came in and saw us still just waiting around.
4. Your doctor isn't on-call today. Dr. Random will be delivering your baby. Typical.
5. Why do labor terms sound so disgusting? Mucus plug, ripening, bloody show. Seriously?
6. You know you have been in labor too long when the lady in the room next door came in after you and delivers before you. Then, the nurses who have been with you ALL day and you've grown to love have to go help deliver lady-next-door and you have to deliver with random new nurse and random Doctor. Perfect.
7. It's hard to imagine the intimacy of nurse holding one leg, Porter holding the other and you...pushing like there's no tomorrow. Porter thought he would be able to not watch, just stand by my head filming and holding my hand. Boy was he wrong. Front seat, right in the action for you Daddy! (He surprised himself, he loved it. It was adorable)
8. Would you like to tear or have an epeisiotomy? A question I wouldn't mind never hearing again.
9. "Okay, we are going to take you off the monitor, you just push when you think you're having a contraction." Wait, What!? Seriously, remember, I got an epidural specifically so that I wouldn't feel those.
10. "Let's pop this baby out" is a term often used. More like "Let's have you push harder than you've ever pushed in your life, till you think you're gonna pass out, and your brains are going to explode out of your head. Okay good, now just do that for 30 more minutes and op, aww your baby's here!"
11. Was it selfish of me that I felt like screaming: "Dammit Porter, HURRY UP and cut the cord already so I can hold my baby!!!!!" I didn't.
12. Finally being able to hold our crying, messy, swollen, cone-headed, absolutely perfect, beautiful little baby girl. Completely Worth it.

There are no words to describe how miraculous that moment is when you see and hold your baby for the first time. Luckily we are able to be here at this time when film and photos may do a better job.

Proud to be "Those Parents"

Our Baby Girl has finally arrived! Aimsley made it here on August 24th at 5:19 PM weighing in at 7 lbs 2 ounces and 19 and a half inches long. We are completely in love and can literally not get enough of her. I know I have been extremely out of touch with the real world....I have successfully turned into one of "those moms" I said I would never be that is totally obsessed with their kids and can't quite function in real life. I will get around to showing her off on the world wide web one of these days. For now, let me just enjoy sitting around on my donut, in my PJ's staring at our child who sleeps 23 hours a day. Here's a sneak peak of our little love.

Baby Room Reveal

I wish I had a better camera to capture the true essence of start to finish. Guess you will all just have to come visit to see it (...and her I suppose) in real life) :) Trying to get baby's room together all while you're SUPER pregnant is quite the task. Thanks to IKEA, Hobby Lobby, my man-slave: Porter and Craigslist we stayed fairly close to budget. (Porter would answer differently)












I really could not have gotten much of anything done without the help of my man-servant and one true love Porter. He has been amazingly patient with me over the past 39 weeks and especially here at crunch-time. He has gloriously had the past 3 weeks off from school where he would come home from work to a new "honey-do" list each night...the list was always endless but he did it all with a smile and for that I am beyond words grateful. Here are just a few of him in action.

Helping me model baby gifts and running ENDless trips to babies R us and Target.

My dumpster-dive rocking chair that I forced him to sand, re-sand, stain, and paint....all while knowing that I may end up being practical and switch it out for a super nice glider we got from Porter's co-worker :) I just couldn't resist though, it's my favorite part of the room. :)



Oh, all the leveling, hanging, assembling, painting, the millions of: "How does this look hun?".....







I love you!!! Now let's get this little lady here so she can boss you around too :) J/k, but seriously.

36 Weeks Pregnant: What Your Mama Doesn't Tell You

Not sure if both names will be full name or maybe first name Aimsley, middle name Mae...time will tell.

Two more weeks PEOPLE!

1. No matter how many times they tell you...no one can prepare you for the uncomfortable-ness of the 9th month.
2. On the plus side, I officially have a food shelf :)
3. I haven't been able to see my ankle bones in 2 weeks. (glorious swelling)
4. Sleeping. A thing of the past.
5. We babysat our friend's new baby boy for a few hours yesterday. He cried about 80% of the time. Porter was gone when I woke up this morning...reality may be finally sinking in for him.
6. Still waiting for that "nesting" thing to kick in. I have more of the "sit, be tired, and can't move" thing going on.
7. I think I had Porter buy my 7th carton of tums last week.
8. In hopes of going into labor any day now, I have been trying to shower, blow-dry my hair, and pick up the house every day. But the better part of me knows that the one day I look like a greasy, un-makeuped cow and the house is a complete stinky disaster will be the day it actually ends up happening.
9. I think my friend Rachel says it best:
(I think it will make you watch it on the actual you tube website...still worth it :))

"Uhhhhhhh, Get out, Get out, GET OUT, GET OUT!!" She couldn't have said it better.

10. Walking in on your hubby packing "his" hospital bag, totally worth it. :)

80 Miles Strong

Just in case anyone has been wondering what Porter has been doing while I sit around and gain 30 pounds...my hunky husb has been biking himself into tip top condition. Just this last Saturday he biked the "Copper Triangle"; 3 separate mountain passes that form an 80 mile triangle. Being the good wife that I am, I drove up to catch him at the finish-line....never mind that he flew by so quickly I missed the ACTUAL finish :) Don't worry, I made him re-do it so I could catch him on video :) I will post later.

Although jealous of his capableness that I can't imagine having back someday far away...I was an extremely proud wife screaming like a crazy person at the finish. Good job lover, next time, let's cross a finish line together. xoxo

32 Weeks Pregnant: What Your Mama Doesn't Tell You

32 Weeks


34 Weeks


1. My feet have grown a half size in length AND width
2. My belly button hasn't popped out...should I be happy or worried.
3. Each maternity shirt I own is acquiring more and more food stains around the mid-section...? Weird
4. I don't trust myself with anything fragile, any full glass/bowl, or remembering anything important. I'm like a child
5. I thought I was being financially smart by putting off getting everything ready for baby, didn't want to get her whole room ready then just sit around and buy stuff...now at 8 months pregnant I'm too tired to get anything done, at my pace everything will be ready by about her 1st Birthday.
6. Sometimes I can't tell if I am being lazy or if I literally just can't get up once I sit down.
7. Instead of me walking Indo, he walks me.
8. Aaaand the laundry begins:


9. My speedo swimsuit is not stretching fast enough with my growing body parts, I'm looking a little riskay in the chest area for the 24 hr fitness pool.
10. Little ninja is finally packing some heat in her kicks, I get startled so easily they always scare me, I gasp loudly, Porter rushes over wondering if everything is okay. I'm always "false alarming" him, by the time the real deal happens he's never going to believe me. :)
11. SLURPEES! Can't get enough of them.
12. Six More Weeks People!
13. Watching Porter happily fold size "new born" pink onsies...makes everything worth it.