So Big

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. I must admit, I never thought keeping up would be so difficult but woah baby, no pun intended, it's been hard!

All you blogger mama extraordinaires...I bow down! 

I have so much to catch up on. S is now 8 almost 9 months old, with two teeth and standing on his own. 

We went to Italy to visit family back in October and it was the best, yet most trying 3 weeks in a really long time. Unfortunately EM wasn't able to go due to work. 

I think the best way to update you all would be to just show you some fun pictures :) enjoy!

This picture was taken at our family's beach town just an hour outside of Firenze. 

We were so incredibly blessed to have been able to spend such wonderful times with family. 

S's First Halloween! He was Sebastian the crab, daddy was a zoo keeper, and mama was a cat burgler. 

 

And lastly one from S's First Thanksgiving.

We have so much to be thankful for! 

Now here's my new goal ladies and gentlemen...1 post a week. Might be tricky since our computer crashed. Desperate times call for desperate measures! So let the iPhone posts commence! 

Baby Bits

Rain rain rain....so much rain! It has been pouring here for hours, so today has turned into a lazy day.

Laundry is done and the house is tidied up. S is currently napping in his swing, so I took advantage and took some pictures of me sweet little love. 

I love his little hands. My new goal is to get a picture of all his cute bits. His little hands and feet and his nose. So we never forget just how precious he was, not that we ever will. 

Well le petit prince just awoke from his slumber, and he is deciding to exercise his lungs...LOL sweet thing.

But I will be back later this afternoon with a really simple and yummy recipe that EM just loves! 

XOMB

When It Rains It Pours

this is been quite the week! they say when it rains it pours, well it poured! friday I headed downstairs to go grab the ergobaby (try and calm little love down) and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a spot on the ceiling. it was soaked! I called EM and he poked, yes poked it was that wet!, a hole into the ceiling and 5 inches worth of water came flowing out.

look at that giant wet spot!

so now our current adventure is sleeping on the living room floor. a camping adventure for our little family. 

S has been truly wonderful! it's as though he knows mama is tired. the first night he slept 7 hours straight! such a proud mama! 

speaking of little love, we had his one month check up and we have one big boy on our hands! 

12 lb 6 oz of lovin'! this boy makes me so happy I can't believe I was blessed with such a wonderful baby! 

God is so good!

XOMB

Crazy Wonderful Time

i cant believe how many wonderful things have happened since my last post.

realizing it has been quite a while, there is a lot to announce. most importantly we welcomed our son Sebastian Michael! a perfect 10 lb 2 oz, 22 inches long!

we could not be more excited and blessed to have this baby! he is truly wonderful. check out little ones to see more photos :)

his birth story is a lengthy one. towards the end of my pregnancy my heart rate started getting higher than it should be and the cardiologist, though finding nothing wrong, suggested that the only way to have my heart rate regulate was to deliver. i was 39 weeks and very much ready. my dr suggested scheduling an induction at 40 weeks in case i did not go into labor on my own prior. 

well 40 weeks came and we decided to try a membrane sweep first...crossing our fingers for it to work. that same day we were able to see him one last time before his being born and the dr said he was around 9 lbs...give or take 2lb.

we returned home and waited two days to see if the MS would kick start my labor. unfortunately it didnt. the induction was scheduled for the following tuesday. that friday i get a call from my dr saying i had to come in for a non stress test because i was carrying extra amniotic fluid.

after an hour of being hooked up to a fetal heart monitor my dr decided that S wasnt reacting the way she wouldve liked to have seen and sent us over to L&D for further monitoring. turns out that further monitoring turned into being admitted and induced that evening. 

it was quite a whirlwind and 31 hours later on the 31st we welcomed our not so little peanut.

we are so in love! and so blessed with an amazing baby. he sleeps the majority of the night already and hes only 3 weeks old. he's not a crier and from day one has held his own head up...he's super strong! not that im bragging...ok im one proud mama! 

XOMB

A Letter to My Baby

God is SO good! the closer and closer i get to meeting S the more emotional i become. if you had asked me a year or two ago where i would be now i would certainly never imagine that i would be where i am today...expecting my first baby. a perfect baby boy.
i cant even begin to describe the emotion i feel when i think about him. even now as he kicks my ribs :) i had always imagined that i would have a little girl first then a bunch of boys...but they say if you want to tell God a joke, tell Him your plans. how true. i could not be happier than i am this day knowing that soon i will get to meet my son. the amount of love i have for him already is indescribable. just the thought brings me to tears.
i cannot wait to hold his tiny body in my arms. though i will miss having him within me. something so incredibly special that any mom understands. i felt him move before anyone else could.


sebastian,

my sweet little boy. you are so dearly and purely loved. your daddy and i couldnt have asked for a greater blessing. he always tells you good night and kisses my belly, telling me how much he loves you and how he cant wait to meet you. you have taken a man who was afraid of not being ready to be a dad, to someone who cannot wait to hold you and that smiles at the thought of you. that is the greatest gift you could ever give him. because of you we have become an even stronger family. you are so small yet what you have already accomplished is so great.
we are close to a month away from your birth and we practice every night for that wonderful event. i know it will be one of the toughest days of my life, with the most amazing of outcomes. we get to bring you, our son into the world. i just pray that your daddy will be there, for it's something i truly dont want him to miss. he always tells me how great i will be, even if he cant be there...but i know it would kill him if he couldnt see you make your first appearance into this great big world.
we have loved you from the minute we knew you were in our lives and that is something that will never change! that love will only get deeper and deeper. you are so blessed to have such an amazing man as your daddy. he is already so protective of you, touching my belly ever so gently, never wanting to do anything that could remotely hurt you. the day we were able to see your little face was such a wonderful day! you were already so handsome! and your daddy had a grin from ear to ear seeing his little boy.
you are our heart. and we are so blessed to have you.

love you forever and always,

your mama

29 weeks our last echo-cardiogram 

XOMB

Fit Mama

so in this midst of folding laundry, something im sure all you moms enjoy, i cant help but get super excited/distracted thinking about the event that is happening friday.
wait for it....
we are FINALLY joining a gym! having been a gym addict for years, it is quite exciting! ive always said that when i became pregnant i would never give up working out or staying fit, but thats easier said than done!
of course i know the benefits of being active during pregnancy but as any of you moms already know...its not always possible. whatever your barrier may be, things happen in life but the benefits of staying fit during pregnancy are huge!
better now than never!
since i am dedicated to having a natural birth this is more of a necessity than simple want. birth is like a marathon, or so i have heard, and what better way to succeed and push through the pain of a marathon than to train. a good friend of mine is pregnant as well, due just a week before i am and she recommended looking into the bradley method of birth. i cannot wait to buy the book and get started!
this method has the highest success rate of natural births. from what i have researched so far, eating high levels of protein, doing an insane amount of kegels (yes ladies there are multiple benefits to this one!), as well as some other exercises are key components to finishing this marathon.
kegels, though every woman has heard about them for their other benefits, having a kick butt birth is one most people fail to mention.
doing kegels is a great workout! (though you dont break a sweat) but what do you use to push that baby out? MUSCLES! all muscles need to be strengthened, the stronger they are the easier the inevitable will be!

now for overall fitness the fitter you are while pregnant the easier it will be to bounce back, for lack of a better term, after you have that bundle of joy. everyone has heard the wonders of breast feeding in helping you shed that pregnancy weight but what so many women forget is that the more muscle you already have the easier it is to burn the fat.

so here is the plan, not only do i want to increase my cardio (which as of now has been lacking) and get back to lifting weights (always done in a safe method, you are pregnant dont forget) but i want to start yoga. natural birth is all about how you cope with pain and how you can train your body to relax and find your zen, what better to assist in that search than a yoga class?

i truly believe that staying healthy is not merely something you deserve but something your baby deserves as well! your baby deserves a healthy mom that can keep up with everything he or she throws your way.

i will definitely report any physical changes i can see along the way.

XOMB

Busy

ive read other blogs and articles about how much there is to get done before baby arrives and how much you need to prepare, but did i believe it.

NO.

i grew up with four brothers, all younger, so i experienced my mom pregnant each time. i never noticed how much she did, but what kid notices those types of things. my mom was truly superwoman though! she never once looked weak in front of us kids. i hope to one day be as strong as her, be the true rock for our family. God has blessed me with so many blessings! this year has been the greatest of my life thus far! i married my best friend, went on the most amazing honeymoon and now am expecting the most amazing little boy!

being pregnant is the most amazing time ever! feeling him move is so wonderful! i love his little kicks, true love taps!

we just went for his third ultrasound on tuesday and he is getting so big!
u.s are so amazing now, we could even see his little face. he has the cutest lips and nose!
we cant wait to meet him!
luckily we get to see him one last time before he is born. december 13th, EM and i have to go for S's second echo-cardiogram. thankfully he is perfectly healthy, but for precautionary purposes we have to get him checked out; this allows us to spend a whole hour watching him while they make sure hes A O.K. a truly wonderful hour!

i think my next project is going to be to crochet him a baby blanket. have any of you done that before? any suggestions for patterns or good materials? id love to hear your feedback!

also, check out my little ones page and fun times for a new posts!

XOMB

Hear Hear...A Special Announcement!

we returned from our honeymoon to hit real life quite quickly! our first order of business was visiting ikea to buy some furniture, we were moving from charlottesville to virginia beach! it was a move that would take quite a while for me to get used to.
i grew up in a beach town and just wasn't ready to move from my central va home back to the coast.

there was however one special weekend that my parents came to visit for the first time in july and we were able to share the most wonderful and unexpected news with them.

we were having a BABY!

we couldn't be more excited! it was not planned nor expected to have happened this early on but this is such a blessing and we are enjoying every minute of it! and in honor of our little peanut, i am starting a new page. look out for "little ones" coming soon!

XOMB