on the farm

(pic taken last week, I am now 28 weeks along)

Hello THIRD TRIMESTER! Holy cow...(literally, cause I pretty much feel like one). At my appointment last month I found out that my belly was measuring 2 weeks behind while Emmalynne was growing on track, so she was packed in there pretty tight causing lots of discomfort. I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday, and I am happy to say that my belly caught up! Woo! Everything else is normal but I am still so bewildered as to how very different this pregnancy has been from my first. Instead of heartburn and carrying high, I feel like I'm lugging around a bowling ball on my hips and its causing so much joint pain. Emmalynne is even more active than Talmage was...she never stops moving! This girl has a LOT of energy. I am still really tired ALL the time, and I can't stop eating. Every night after dinner I have second dinner and sometimes third. And sometimes I just want sugar for dinner (I know, it's bad...) Like last night Jonathan & I made chicken enchiladas and I didn't touch them. Instead I ate 3 bowls of Mini Spooners. I know there are a lot of wives' tales out there about wanting sugar with girls, carrying girls lower, etc. but maybe there is some truth to them because so far they have all come true!

This year for Thanksgiving we were spoiled and got to see Jonathan's family AND mine! It was sooo wonderful! I forgot to bring my camera on the trip (which I kicked myself in the butt for) but thankfully my pro photographer dad brought his and got some shots of my mom, sister, and I :)

The last one is really not that flattering of me..haha..but I still like it because that's what I genuinely look like when I laugh :D

And here is my dad, or "papa" as Talmage likes to call him!

The highlights of the week were:
1.Seeing my family. I maybe get to see them twice a year and it never seems long enough! I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents and an awesome little sis!
2. Goofing off with Cressa (Jonathan's sister) and Dana out in the corn fields :)
3. Watching and assisting in photo shoots for Cressa's senior pics and Christopher's engagement pics. Oh, remember that secret about Dec. 31st? Well the big news is that Jonathan's oldest brother Christopher is GETTING MARRIED! :)
4. Eating all the very yummy food on Thanksgiving day.
5. Seeing Breaking Dawn (oh my gosh SO good) and then rushing out of the theater to go Black Friday shopping. It was madness!
6. Baby shopping. I really wish we had Burlington around here. Their baby dept. is massive! We got some stuff checked off our list including clothes, bumpers, crib sheets/mattress pad, and a car seat. It's so much fun to shop for baby girl...also very dangerous because I could easily blow all our money.
7. Taking family pictures. We had about a 15 minute window to get these done because Talmage was being a grump, but luckily my daddy is very talented and was able to get a lot of really good shots! Here are a few of my faves.

Okay maybe a little more than a few. I just really love how they turned out!

In a few weeks after Jonathan's graduation we will return to Parma for a winter wonderland Christmas. That visit will be about 2 weeks long and I just know we'll have so much fun! Don't get me wrong, I like being home in Rexburg, too (especially in my super comfy bed). But it's nice to leave every once in a while, and little man loves the attention of the in-laws :)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday!

It's the Most HECTIC Time of the Year

BIG THINGS are happening. Lots of things. And with everything coming up in the next week/month, it really feels like this baby girl will be here in no time! Here is our calendar for the rest of the year :)

November 22-27: THANKSGIVING BREAK. Going to Parma with BOTH sides of the family! That's right, my parents and little sis are coming all the way up from Louisiana to spend this special holiday with my in-laws! It will be so wonderful having so many people that I care about in one house for a few days! And magical, and delicious, and crazy busy.

December 3: BABY SHOWER for Emmalynne. I am really excited for this. I wasn't planning on having another shower unless someone offered and REALLY wanted to do it. Lo and behold, one of my favorite girl friends Ashleigh asked me if I could please let her throw one for me :) It will be so much fun having some girl time...I feel like all I ever to is sit around the apartment with my toddler every day. Oh wait, that IS what I do.

December 15 or 16: JONATHAN'S GRADUATION! He is finally getting out! Haha. I am so proud of him- he works super hard to get A's and B's in all of his classes and still find time to be with Talmage and I. I'm also proud that he is getting a degree that he truly wants and loves and will put to good use.

December 19: 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY. Wahoo!

December, the end of it?: CHRISTMAS. In Parma, of course :) As sad as I am that I can't go home this year, I also REALLY love Christmas with Jonathan's family. There are some fun and different traditions, and the snow is truly beautiful out there in the fields. And of course I love his family, too :D

December 31: I am not yet allowed to say what happens this day, but it will be BIG. hehe.

Jonathan will also be starting a new temporary job in Rexburg hopefully after Christmas break. It will only be until we move sometime in April or May. We still don't know know where his internship will be, but some options are getting more promising. I am very grateful that we can stay in Rexburg for a few months after Emmalynne is born so that we can settle to having her around before things get busy again.

So there you have it- our crazy end of the year! And once January hits we only have about 2 months until baby comes, which will most likely be spent preparing for her and getting as much sleep as I can :)

Christmas crafts

I've been very bored lately. Jonathan told me that one of the things he loves about me is my creativity. I told him, "Oh hun...I am not creative. I just copy other people's ideas and add a twist." He got me talking about some of those ideas, and encouraged me to craft more with all the time I have at home. So I started with one...and couldn't stop. It didn't get *too* out of hand, but I did spend a lot of nights staying awake thinking of cardstock, wood, and paint. One of those nights I even dreamed of vinyl. It's true...I am an official Silhouette nutcase.

So here are a few of my projects for Christmas. Thanksgiving will always be my favorite holiday, but it's not as fun to craft for. And those decorations would only be enjoyed for about 2 weeks, since we always leave town. But Christmas stuff can be enjoyed from Halloween to New Year's (so much more worth my energy!). I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving to put it all up, but I sort of broke down after it snowed- it just didn't feel like Autumn whatsoever. I've even started busting out my holiday tunes. You can judge me if you want :)
ps- If you haven't bought Michael Buble's new cd "Christmas", you are truly missing out!!

Holiday wreathe
On Pinterest I found the idea to buy foam tubing and cut it into a wreathe shape instead of buying those pricey foam ones. (Yes, $5 is pricey for me) The only issue is that it is flimsier and may not retain a round shape especially with weight on the bottom, but it cost me $1 and I had enough extra to make a mini-wreathe. Ingenious!
And the flowers are all felt. Very easy, anyone can do it! Go on, you know you want to buy some felt now :)

Stand-Alone Signs
(I found these boards for a buck each at D.I. and mod-podged cardstock on them.)

Lettered Blocks
These wooden blocks were 79 cents ea at JoAnns. I didn't care for the chunkier blocks that go for $5 a piece. You can lean these against something or if you're lucky they will still stand after being painted.

Paper Trees
These 3D Christmas trees were downloaded from my Silhouette online store. The machine actually perforates the paper so you can fold the trees all nice and neat! It was so simple and so satisfying. I used some spare ribbon to tie off the tops.

Nativity Frames
This was my favorite project. The picture frames were free from a yard sale a few months back, and I just stuck vinyl to the glass. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my Silhouette? (by the way, there's promotional codes everywhere around this time of year for one if anyone is interested. If I find one I will surely post it.)

And then of course I had to put our little tree up. We love our little tree :)

Christmas is DEFINITELY in the air. And so is the scent of some Cajun-fried turkey and sweet potato casserole. YUM.

the plan

So this post will be long and probably not all that exciting...haha...but so many people have been asking me about my birth plan already that I thought it would be easiest to just post about it.

If I've learned anything from watching my friends go into labor and give birth (and from my own experience), it's that you can't always plan out everything and have it go just that way. I didn't really have a plan with Talmage except that I wanted an epidural, did not want an episiotomy, and did not want my baby offered a bottle. I trusted my doctor enough to let the rest fall as it may (bad mistake). That being said, I've been thinking a lot lately about how I "envision" things going for me next February. I understand that it may not work out the way I want, but here is my "plan"...(for now)

One of the major reasons we wanted to have our second baby in Rexburg was because of the hospital here. I am one of those women who needs the added security of giving birth in a hospital. I just feel a lot safer if anything were to go wrong. I've considered natural birth, and I really love the idea of it- I just don't feel completely comfortable doing it YET. I admire those women, including my mother, who have given birth naturally, and maybe someday I will feel more relaxed about it. I think its better to ease myself into something like that, though, since my only delivery so far was induced and I don't even know what going into labor feels like.

My experience at the hospital with Talmage was wonderful. The staff made me feel comfortable and totally pampered. They would bring me food in the middle of the night, take our baby boy for a few hours so I could sleep, help me into the jacuzzi tub, and bring me countless cups of raspberry flavored ice with no complaint. I would talk to the nurses as if they were my friends that I'd known forever, and it was so nice having their support when none of my family could be present. The labor & delivery unit itself was very accommodating, very home-like (it had been recently refurbished). I know some of my friends would say otherwise, but I have to say that I LOVED my time at the Madison Hospital.

I did NOT, however, like that my doctor decided he could leave town all day and go shopping when I was started on pitocin. He figured he'd have all day before I needed to push. He thought that because my pitocin was set to a 1- the very lowest setting- that I wouldn't be ready to push until late that night. He thought he knew how my body, completely individual from everyone else, would work. Turns out 6 hours later I was at a 10 and my doctor was not there. In fact NO ONE was there, and I had to beg Jonathan through tears to call someone in numerous times. I had to wait for doc to come back from Idaho Falls before they let me push, which was pure torture. Even before he left he was never in the room with me at all, just the nurses. I kept thinking, "Why is he even here?" It seems like all the doctors at the clinic I went to worked me around their schedules. Whenever I went in for an appointment, I felt like they rushed it and I had no time to ask questions. While I recovered from delivery, my doctor came in ONCE to check on me and it was a very brief visit. Needless to say, he got the job done and was paid but he did it in a very poor manner.

So, this time I am seeing the midwives and it has made ALL the difference! They are so kind, loving, and want to give you their full attention at appointments. Being women, they understand what you're going through and are gentler with your feelings. They aren't stingy about giving ultrasounds, or letting you come in anytime to listen to the baby's heartbeat, or sitting down and talking to you for an hour straight about whatever. Every midwife here is certified to deliver, so depending on who is there when I go in, I can be certain that it WON'T be one of the doctors. And one of them will sit with you through the entire labor process unless you ask her to leave.

I've told my midwife that if at all possible I do not want to be induced, I would rather go into labor on my own this time and labor at home as long as possible. I understand that this poses the possibility of not getting an epidural, but if things went my way I would like to have one still. (If not, so be it. Natural it is! haha) With Talmage, the doctor scheduled an induction the day after my due date because I wasn't having any contractions, and that worked out fine...I actually loved being induced because it got things going and it's nice having a plan. Still, I would like to know what it feels like for my body to labor naturally. The midwives here generally wait 2 weeks post due date to induce.

So, that is the plan for now. I guess I could better prepare myself for the possibility of laboring naturally but I don't really care to. I understand that our bodies are meant for labor with no drugs etc., and that's all really wonderful. I also know that labor is a beautiful, intimate experience, especially when shared with your spouse by your side- drugs or no drugs. So either way, as long as our daughter is happy and healthy, I will be satisfied. I know I can't force one set of ideas on myself because things can always change. I am not against a C-Section if that is what is necessary. I'm actually REALLY excited to have this baby, regardless of how she gets here. I'm not scared at all this time around, just anxious :)

first haircut!

Yesterday Talmage had his very first haircut EVER!

Goodbye, beautiful golden curly locks...

When Talmage was a baby, his hair was thick and perfect. There was no reason to cut it. He never molted any of his baby hair, and as time went on it got blonder and curlier. I have always loved his curls :) In the last few months, he was starting to look like a girl because it was growing so long, plus it was a pain to wash and dry and detangle every day (even with detangling shampoo!) People mistook him for a girl EVERYwhere we went, which didn't really bug me until just recently. And then I discovered that I could actually give him pigtails. Then, to top it off, Jonathan made the comment that it looked "mullet-ish". I hate mullets on little kids so that was the last straw. I called the hair salon and made an appointment PRONTO :)

While our little guy was getting trimmed, I was across the room getting my own haircut. I'm glad that I was distracted while they cut his hair, because honestly I don't think I would have been able to watch...but the hairdresser did great with him and she even gave him a little mohawk on the top! (I meant to get a picture. oops.) He looked so grown up and boyish! Just when I didn't think he could get any cuter! I loved it :)

It still curls, but the ringlets are gone...this will take a while to get used to but I'm just glad we finally did it.

And here is my new hair. I got bangs :)

(sorry its not a very good pic. That's mac photobooth for you)

I am just SO glad this week is over. October was a crazy busy month and this last week was just as crazy. I am ready to visit with friends, redecorate the apartment and nursery and just take it easy :)

By the way, Talmage got a big boy bed this week! He really likes jumping on it and being silly. And I love how much bigger it makes his room look :)

Note that his hair was still long when we took those pictures...*sigh, sniff sniff*

Have a great weekend everyone!

Halloween!

Last night was Halloween- oh boy! We wanted to do something with Talmage but I knew trick-or-treating would be a bit absurd. People don't expect trick-or-treaters to come before dark (most people) and our little guy had a bedtime schedule to keep. Plus, he doesn't really eat candy and he's still kind of young to appreciate trick-or-treating, so we decided to keep it simple.

I dressed him up differently, mainly just for fun, but also because he's always miserable in his pirate getup- haha! So that morning I threw together a backup costume with felt scraps I had. He seemed MUCH more comfortable and happy in his second costume :)

We first took him to Mommy n Me, a local store that I LOVE. They had a tiny straw maze in the front along with some vendors and games in the back lot. It was okay, nothing great, and Talmage certainly didn't get why the heck we were there...

^T knocking over giant crayons with his buddy, David! (who was a total cutie in his monkey suit)^

Earlier that day at my appointment with the midwife, she had told us that the pediatrician's office was doing a trick or treat from 3-5 pm, so we dropped by there afterwards. I was SO impressed! Every single office in the building was all decorated and there was trick-or-treating at every door. It kind of reminded me of ward Halloween parties when I was little, and you would walk around the church building gathering candy from every classroom. I loved that it was inside and warm, and that there were tons of other little toddlers dressed up doing the same thing. It was the perfect first time trick-or-treating experience for our apprehensive boy :)

This is our son being humble, but he learned pretty quick that reaching in the bucket with both hands produced a much better result.

^popping smoke-filled bubbles! This was by far the coolest thing all night.^

it turns out that the entire professional medical plaza was in on the trick-or-treat, so we walked around from building to building. One even had a yellow brick road- how cute is that?

One of the buildings was a dental office, so they gave Talmage a goodie bag filled with things for his teeth (including a Toy Story toothbrush!) He didn't really get it at first...

But when I told him it was for his teethies he understood :)

It was such a fun time and we were pretty trick-or-treated out by the end. And Talmage had a bucket full of yummies!

For dinner we had jack-o-lantern pizza!

It was a fantastic night, though I'm a little sad we didn't get more trick-or-treaters come by. Oh well, more candy for me (because that's ALL I need right now).