Eleanor's Baby Blessing

Sunday (February 19th) was a wonderful day for our little family. First of all, it was Peter and I's two year anniversary! I can't believe it has already been two years. Secondly, we had Eleanor blessed at church. It was an amazing day filled with happiness, family, and friends! Peter gave Eleanor a beautiful blessing and it was so fun to celebrate with that blessing with the people we love.

Sometimes it is really hard to get a 2-month old to take a happy picture. Even though she is not smiling in any of these, she is still super cute!! =D

I promise, she really is a happy child!!

I LOVE the yawning picture! She is such a doll.

After the blessing we had a little lunch back at my apartment. Thank you to Ashley, Erika, Tyler and especially Kathie (Peter's mom) for all your help with the lunch! It turned out really cute and really yummy!! Thank you so much to everyone who took time to come to Eleanor's blessing, we really appreciate it. And to those who weren't able to make it (mainly my family) thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers, we missed you. We love you all!

YUM! =D

We had a table with sweets, pictures and little things related to Eleanor's life so far. That is her very first cast...I can't believe she has grown so much already!

Thank you Janssen for the cute garland idea!

Idea from: this blog via pinterest

We used her cast as the guestbook for everyone to sign. It makes it much more colorful and fun! =D

Eleanor is such a blessing in our lives. She has the sweetest little spirit and bring us so much joy. I can't imagine our lives without her and I am so glad we are blessed enough to raise such an amazing little girl. We love her so much and thank Heavenly Father for her every single day.

Twins?

Tyler holding Eleanor

Tyler (my brother) holding me

My grandma and me

Eleanor's Grannie and her

My daddy and me

Eleanor and her daddy

Me sleeping

Eleanor sleeping

What do you think? Do we look alike?

Uggs!

Oh my, I can't get over how cute these newborn uggs are!! I just love dressing her up! =D

What the $200?!

I recently got a free baby magazine in the mail. I don't even remember signing up for anything like that, but whatever. Inside the magazine there was a coupon for a free photo session and 10x13 portrait from Sears. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I saw some pictures on facebook of someone who got their babies pictures done at Sears and they were pretty cute. What the heck? It was free. So, I decided to call and make an appointment.

Besides getting the free stuff, I wasn't planning on getting much else. However, I thought if I REALLY liked some of the pictures, I would just pay to get them on a disk and then I could print them out later.

The appointment was scheduled for Thursday at 6pm. I brought a few outfits for her and some bows and hats, I washed her hair and got her all ready in her car seat and we were off. One thing that I have learned since having a baby is it takes twice as long to get out the door as before, and it is twice as much of a hassle. So we get there and Eleanor is dead asleep and will not wake up for anything. Finally, I coax her awake with a bottle and we are ready to take the pictures...the camera breaks. Yes, the camera at Sears Portrait Studio just breaks. They tell me we will have to reschedule after they can buy a new camera.

That Saturday we do it all again, and this time the camera is working and Eleanor is actually wide awake and happy, which is great. We take the pictures and it was really fun. It takes them a total of 10 minutes to edit the pictures and then they call you over to look at them. Some of them were pretty cute, so I just ask "How much would it be to get some of these on a disk?" and her response "$200 for a disk of the pictures, or $25 each shot". I was shocked! How on earth can they charge that much just for a disk of pictures?

Needless to say, I did not buy any of the pictures besides the free one that I already got with the coupon and one other print. However, they put all the shots on their website so you can view them and order them later if you want. So, I decided to put my favorites on here, despite the "Sears Portrait Studio" written all over them. Enjoy! =D

Baby Update!!

I think it is about time for an update, what do you think? Things have been pretty good lately. Our lives are pretty consumed with getting ready for our baby girl to arrive, and we are extremely excited to meet her! I am almost 34 weeks along. I can't believe she could come in only a few short weeks and be completely healthy. Our lives are going to change forever and, even though I'm scared out of my mind, I can't wait. Here is my updated progress:

Ever since the morning sickness stopped (week 22), I have felt pretty great. Yes, I am big and it is not the most comfortable thing in the world. And yes, it is hard to sleep most nights. However, anything is better than puking every single day, so I count my blessings. A few weeks ago (week 32), my back started hurting really bad and few other things didn't seem right, so I called my doctor. I was told to go into Labor and Deliver to make sure I wasn't going into labor too early. Baby girl has always been sitting pretty far back and people have told me from the beginning that I will most likely have back labor. So, Peter and I went to the hospital and they did some tests to make sure everything was okay. It was kind of fun to get all hooked up and watch the baby's heartbeat. They told me that her heartbeat and brain activity were beautiful and that she looks like she is doing great. That made me REALLY happy! They also told me that I was having regular contractions, but they didn't seem to be dilating my cervix, so I should be fine to go home, but to come back if I feel any harder contractions. Since then I have been trying to take it easy, every time I feel contractions I go lay down and they stop after a little while. So, I am not too worried about it. Maybe this means that baby girl will be coming early (but not too early), I'm crossing my fingers for that.

In other baby-related news, I have been blessed to have some amazing people do some very generous things for me lately. I have had two baby showers, one thrown by my wonderful Aunt Cindy (with help from Peter's mom and sister) and that was so much fun!! There was wonderful food, fun games, and great company. My mom actually flew here from TN during that time so she was able to be there which was SO great. My mom got us the stroller you see in the above picture, and we are very, very grateful for that. We didn't get very many pictures of that first shower, but I did snag one of the food (shows what I care about most, ha).

Secondly, one of my besties Ashley and my cousin Merrick threw me a baby shower as well. Ashley hosted at her house and the decorations and food were fabulous. These girls know how to throw a party. It was so fun to see all my friends and family at these showers and we are so grateful for all the fun gifts we got. Baby girl already has way more clothes than I do. She is going to be SO cute and SO spoiled!! =D

Jordyn/Sarah/Destinee

Cristal/Andrea/Ally

Marni/Me/Merrick

Finally, as if she hadn't done enough already, Merrick took some maternity pictures for Peter and I. We went up the canyon, found a pretty field, and Merrick worked her magic. I initially wasn't going to do maternity pictures because I really didn't like the idea of taking pictures of myself when I weigh the most I have ever weighed and look the fattest I have ever looked in my life. However, people kept telling me that I would regret it in the future and that pregnancy is beautiful, so I caved. Luckily, we had a very talented photographer and I love the way they turned out. Thanks Merrick!! =D

I have the best family and friends ever, and I am so grateful for all the love and support we have had throughout my pregnancy. Even friends from TN have sent me gifts! I am so excited to welcome this baby into our home and learn all about being a parent. Peter and I are working on the nursery and I am excited to post pictures when it is all done. We just love this little girl more than I ever could imagine!!

OH BABY!!!

First of all, you should all read the post before this one because Peter is amazing and I am so proud of him!!

Secondly, I feel like since Peter shared what he has been doing these last few months and the feat he has accomplished, I should probably share what I have been working on these past few months as well. That's right, GROWING A BABY!!! =D

I am 25 weeks pregnant today. And yes I have been shirking my first-time motherly duties by not posting a picture and an update every single week on my pregnancy progress and the changes my body is going through. But honestly, I don't really want to broadcast all the changes my body has been going through, for your sake and mine. However, I have decided to treat you with a few pictures and a brief pregnancy update.

The Due Date:

December 20th. I am hoping the baby comes about 1 or 2 weeks early (wishful thinking, I know) just so she doesn't have to be plagued  with a "Christmas birthday" her whole life. However, by wishing for that I am setting myself up to go into labor while Peter is in one of his 3 hour law school finals. So, it's either potentially have the baby on Christmas, or not have my husband with me while I am in the hospital...

The Gender:

As you probably guessed by the "she" and "her" in the above section, we are having a little girl!! It seems like everyone knew it was a girl right from the beginning, even me. I have always had a feeling that is was a girl, so we were excited when we got that information confirmed. I think secretly Peter wanted our first to be a boy, but he refuses to confirm or deny it. Either way, I know he is VERY excited and he is going to be an amazing daddy!

Health:

The baby is doing great and that is the most important thing. Every time I go to the Doctor things seem to be exactly how they should be, so that is reassuring. However, I have not been as lucky. I have had morning sickness throughout my entire pregnancy so far. Everyone told me it should go away between 12 and 16 weeks, but mine decided to stay a bit longer. I had one ER visit because of dehydration. Other than that, I have just been taking a lot of Zofran and praying not to throw up in public places. I haven't had to rely so much on medication lately, so hopefully that supposedly beloved second trimester will start before the dreaded third trimester sneaks up on me.

Cravings:

For my first trimester I basically had to force feed myself. I hated the thought, smell, or look of food and threw up most things I ate anyways. However, once I hit my second trimester I started craving Pizza and YoZone (which I think went out of business...because it is completely empty now and we have no idea what happened =( ). Now, I just crave anything anyone mentions or anything I see on TV. If we pass by a doughnut store, I crave doughnuts. If I hear an add for a specific restaurant on the radio, I MUST eat at that restaurant. If I see a billboard with a picture of watermelon on it, I crave watermelon. It is really inconvenient and expensive.

Names:

Peter and I definitely have names in mind, however, we have decided not to broadcast our ideas just yet. Stay tuned and you will find out in due time what our little girl is going to be called.

Other:

Apparently, my placenta is right in the front of my belly creating a barrier between the baby and my skin. It is not in a dangerous place, thank goodness, but it is making it impossible for me to feel the baby inside of me. I have never felt her kick. I rarely feel anything at all. This means I am constantly worrying that something is wrong, and have mini breakdowns when people tell me I should have felt her weeks ago. Fortunately, my doctor visits help put me at ease for a few weeks and tell me everything seems to be okay.

Peter and I just moved from our small one bedroom apartment to a big two bedroom apartment in preparation for our addition. I am currently day dreaming about all the fun things I am going to do to the nursery and I am very excited to start decorating. We really like our new place and we are very excited to be parents, and terrified of course. However, I do love this little girl with all my heart and even if I don't feel ready to be a mom yet, I know she is meant to be in our family and I can't wait to meet her and welcome her into the world.