The back half of pregnancy till now

Oh the sweet 3rd trimester...sweet? well...something like that. The aniticipation of meeting this little guy who had been the root of all heartburn and swollen feet was building by the day. We spent the 3rd trimester nestling into the new home and making sure we knew how to install the carseat.






My dad came for Thanksgiving and stayed until landon was born. He was due on Dec 6th however chose to be 10 days late! I was beginning to lose hope that this child would ever come out of me. I became so used to the woes on my body and the contractions that were not happening that I began to think the pregnancy was all in my head :) Dr visit after dr visit I was not progressing towards labor. Finally my dr decided to put me on the calendar to be induced. I was scared because of the stories I had heard about Pitocin but I was also so happy to have a set date in my mind that Landon would be here by.






Bless his little heart, he went all the way till the induction date. On Dec 15th I checked into the hospital and got all setup on my IV and hospital food. My dr started me on a little pill that is designed to get your cervix to ripen. By 3:30am I had started going into labor! From 3:30am until 12pm I di every tactic I could think of to stay comfortable and positive....yoga ball, hot tub, laying in different positions, pain meds in my IV....all of it. Finally the God-sent hour of noon arrived and I was dialated enough to get my epidural. Praise to the epidural! It was incredible and I was able to relax and prepare for what was to come. 7pm hit and I was in full swing of getting Landon out. 2 hours later my dr came in ready to deliver and Landon decides now is the time to speed things up. After 41.5 weeks of feeling like he would never come, he flew out before the dr could put on her gloves! What an overwhelming feeling. We laughed and we cried and we sat in awe. He was perfect at 8lbs 9oz and 21" long.







Every family has their story and their journey. Our first journey as a family (besides learning what in the world to do to stop this kid from crying!) is to fix the club foot he was born with. It's going to be a couple years to get through this journey but it will be our story forever. Landon's right foot was a little clubby at birth. By the time he was 2 weeks old we had him in his first baby cast. Oh man did mama cry seeing my 11 day old baby in a cast to his hip. Landon is a champ. He is now on his 3rd cast and has not paid a care to it since. He gets a new cast every week for 6 weeks and then he gets to wear a Ponseti shoe brace for 3 months straight followed by 2-3 years of wearing it to bed. Although this is not how we pictured the first few years of life to go, it's our journey and I plan to capture every memory I can with it so that when Landon is older we can show him how strong he was as a baby.

Today Landon is 1 month and 3 days old. I feel like he is 6 months old! He already has quite the personality. He loves to be swung in daddy's football hold, eat till he's in a food coma, keep his hands near his face when he sleeps and play on his activity mat. And by play, I mean stare at the hanging butterflies...eh it's easy entertainment. He hates the end of a bath, getting his diaper changed when he wakes up, putting clothes on and being passed around when he is trying to sleep.

Where have my blogging manners gone?

I started this blog with every intention to post about my pregnancy at least every other week. Welp...I failed at that one as you can see my last post was halfway thru pregnancy. I can say I have reasons and I do....So let me explain. We moved twice in 2 months, drove to Sacramento to see Brooks & Dunn perform their last rodeo tour (*tear*)

BOUGHT A NEW BABY HAULER
Watched the Giants take home the World Series Championship

Celebrated my husband's 1/4 century mark

Watched the Ducks make it to the BCS Championship game

And ate a lot of chocolate chip cookies (Cafe Brent....yum!). So as you can see, I had a hard time staying current with my blog. But give me another chance okay?

Belly Shots

Here's some belly shots of the last 2 weeks. We are working on more nursery projects that I want to share with you but until then...here's the most recent belly poppin pictures.

Week 23

Week 24

Week 22

The last time we met, I still didn't know the gender of our baby....But as you all know by now...it's a BOY! And his name is LANDON CALVIN. Hooray! The ultrasound was incredible. So what if I didn't know what exactly I was looking at the entire time...I knew I was looking at my son. As of the last week or so I have been able to feel him move. People kept telling me it will feel like butterflies....How nice and pretty that sounds. Well mine feel more like a bubbling tummy...not as attractive sounding. But nonetheless, we all know that feeling him move is the best feeling. At least you know he is moving right? So we have another dr appt and another ultrasound tomorrow. Landon was a little stubborn at the last visit and the dr was not able to get all the measurements she needed so she is going to try again tomorrow. He is much bigger now which makes for an excited momma!

I have OFFICIALLY moved past the sickness and having to take the nausea pills. Yay! Now I feel like I'm checking myself out in every mirror or piece of glass I walk by to see if my tummy has grown any since the last time I looked at myself in the reflection. It's really hard to see the progress in my belly. I know it's growing but I also feel like it's staying the same size day in and day out. Today as I was standing in the shower, I realized....I can't see my toes unless I back by booty up a little. hmmm....so when can I start asking my hubby to paint those toes for me?

Some belly shots for you

Week 21

Week 22

A few weeks ago Brent won a Nordstrom gift card...holla! So I did a little damage in a store that I typically pass up. The best part....besides new shoes...was my new diaper bag! I scored a 2010 winter collection Petunia Picklebottom bag. It's gorgeous!

As you can see here, I'm anxious to start using it...

Like that Landon sign? It's 6' long! and it's our first project for his room. We're pretty proud. Now Brent wants to make more Landon signs. haha not sure how many we can have but I think he's more into going in business for name sign making. He's funny.

18 weeks and 4 days

Today is the big day! Boy....or Girl?? Lame of me to make a 4pm appointment though. I tell ya! Been waiting for months and then I make the last appt of the day so I just sit here and wait...and wait...all day long! What was I thinking? I should have been there at sun up ready to show me that baby! I told the baby this morning to spread those legs! We need to see your stuff. Today is not the day to be bashful...mama needs to know what you are! I'm trying to convince Brent to participate in a fun way of telling my family back home what the gender is...so far he just says (in a very monotone voice) "sure." I'm trying to capture memories here and have a little fun and he says "sure." Well he also knows we'll do it regardless of "sure." As Bill Engvall says "she wins because she has boobs!" He's so smart!!

So I started reading Jenny Mcarthy's Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and let me tell you it's hilarious! I find myself on the couch cracking up thinking..."yup! That's exactly how it is". Every pregnant woman that needs a break from the "don't eat this or do that" should read this light hearted...yet vulgar...book.

This morning I put on my new yellow maternity shirt that I love so much....I looked like Big Bird! Brent thought it looked nice...yeah for a big yellow bird. So I changed. Twice. It's hard trying to wear your normal clothes for as long as you possibly can and then realize that shirt is a lot shorter on you now than it usually is. I mean my stomach now sticks out farther than my boobs. This is something I vowed never to come to. Granted there's a baby in there...yeah I know.

Belly Shot for the week:I'll be sure to post the little something we want to do to tell everyone the gender. Stay tuned...

16 Weeks

Ok shame on me for being so lame at keeping up on my blogs. So it's been since week 9 and a lot has happened in those 7 weeks! We had our first doctor appt at the end of week 10. We were greeted with a cute little bag in our room full of samples, formula, breast milk ice packs and a magazine about baby talk. What a way to help you transition into this time. They did the normal testing, drawing my blood, etc. My doctor pulled out this ancient radio to listen to the heart beat which was the one thing we were most excited about. So we wait while she searches for the heart beat...and we wait....and still nothing. So Im getting nervous, Brent is totally quiet. It was a weird moment. Then the dr says she has been having trouble with her little machine...well yeah it's ancient!! So we got the opportunity to have an ultrasound done to see the baby's heartbeat. Dr said the baby was sitting way back on my tailbone which is one reason she couldnt find it on the radio. So there we are, experiencing the heartbeat for the first time. It was so cool. Even though the baby looked like a kidney bean, to see the whole thing beating was quite an excitement!





A few days later, I become quite familiar with the wonders of morning sickness. It went on for almost 2 weeks when I finally called the doctor. She gave me an RX to Phenergan which has been my favorite thing ever during this pregnancy. Since I have taken it, I have not gotten sick....although it puts me to sleep about 8pm. I decided this is a must for any future pregnancies. I can finally eat normally and get on with my day without worrying too much about getting sick. I stopped taking the pills for 2 days and I got sick both days so back on the pills I went. The dr said it's totally safe for the baby so I was good to go.

Here's my belly shot at week 13:

I bought the belly band during my 13th week. My favorite jeans were no longer buttoning with ease and the maternity clothes were still too big. That band is the greatest invention! I thought it would be so weird to walk around with my pants unbuttoned but so far, every pair of pants I wear with it stay up just fine. It's amazing! I definately recommend to any pregnant woman. Right now I'm in the super awkward looking chub phase where none of pants fit and my shirts make me look like I had a nice giant cheeseburger for lunch! I am hoping my belly will just pop here soon so I can look pregnant and not super overweight.

Week 16:

This week we are moving into a 3 bedroom house. Still renters...boo. But we are lucky to be able to live in a nice neighborhood and greatful a nice place became available for us. I will do my best to update more than once every 7 weeks. Till next time!

9 Weeks

Ahhh week 9. How sweet of you to come....and then go! It was a rough week for me. I was at the tail end of a cold and all I wanted was to eat steak and potatos! That so hard to ask? My lovely husband got into the habit of bringing me Jamba Juice a few times during the week. Also, my lovely husband has been officially been put on "clean out fridge" duty. I could get used to that! I attempted to clean out old pineapple and ended up flushing it down the sink with my already eaten Apple Jacks. yuck! Seems like it was an every other day event. I learned quickly that maybe Apple Jacks arent for me....right now...

I courageously and fearfully weighed myself this week...and I LOST 5 pounds! Now how come when I TRY to lose weight I just sit between 1 and 2 pounds but when I crave the steak and cheeseburgers I lose? I know it's common to lose in your 1st trimester and I definately have been a picky eater. SO as happy as I am about that....I kinda want my baby bump to arrive already. Which leads me to this....week 9 belly shot: Not much..ehh it'll come.



So we got our first piece of baby furniture! It's been so hard not to buy yet. I'm trying to hold out until we know the gender. But we found this and it was on sale for a great price...so we bought it and now it sits in its box in our garage.

Sorry about the tiny picture. You get the point

Anyway...until next week.