Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Looking back

Tomorrow is my sweet "little" baby's first birthday. In honor of this I thought I would post my birth story and some pictures. :)

Raedyn Hope was born on Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 at 12:53pm. She was 8lbs and 20in long.

I started having contractions at about 2:30am on Wednesday morning but they were so mild I assumed they were just the same braxton hicks I had been having. When they wouldn't go away I started timing them and they were 5-10 min apart. I still didn't believe it was the real thing but I kept timing them and when they started gettting closer together I woke my husband up. He wanted to get to the hospital right then but I was worried they would send me home so I started walking around the house to see if it they would let up. Of course they didn't and they got to about 3 min apart when we decided it was time to go in.

We got to the hospital at about 5am and they checked me and I was 5cm! I was so relieved that we didn't have to be sent home! L&D was packed that day so I was actually in triage for quite a while. We ended up getting put in the only room they had available which was the "isolation room." It was not nearly as welcoming as the room we saw on our tour.

Over the next 3 hours the contractions got really intense and were less than a minute apart. I felt like I barely had time to catch my breath. I was sure they must be doing something. The nurse checked me again and I was still only 5cm! At that point I decided to go ahead and get the epidural so I would have the strength to push when the time came. I was glad that I was still able to feel the contractions but they weren't painful. The doctor came in and broke my water and started me on pitocin.

Within an hour I was at 8cm and about 2 hours after that I was ready to push! I was totally watching Full House in between contractions! I pushed for about 45 min and then she was out! When they put her on my chest it was seriously the best moment of my life so far. She was so beautiful! She stopped crying as soon as I started talking to her and she opened her big eyes and stared at me.






Day 8

Day 8: A place you’ve traveled to and where else you want to travel.

Kenya!








I would love to travel to Australia, Ireland, and Germany!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Day 7

Day 7: What makes you happy.

My husband.
My daughter.
Chocolate.
Hugs.
Swimming.
Star gazing.
Helping people.
Kids.
Music.
Best Friends.
Reminiscing.
Old pictures.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Day 6

Day 6: Pet peeves.

Being interrupted
Nosy people
Doing the dishes
People who can't spell simple words and who RiTE LyKe DiS
Bad drivers
People who hear something new or different and automatically think it's stupid/wrong/gross etc. without doing any research on the subject.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Day 5

Day 5: What song inspires you.

Right now I'm loving "In your arms" by Meredith Andrews.
Video

Lyrics:
I'm turning the world off
Embracing the silence
Walking away from all the voices
That are Screaming in my ear


I've been too caught up
I've been so stressed out
All of the noise replaced the whisper
That used to be so clear


So I close every door
Put my face back on the floor


And I'm in Your arms
Where I belong
There's no other place for me
Than right where You are

Some things just don't change
When I call Your name
You never hesitate to wrap me in endless grace
When I'm in Your arms


I'm letting my fears go
Giving You control
For You are the one who holds me closer
In my soul's darkest night


Everything I see
Is so temporary
So help me to run the race before me
With eternity in sight


Now I close every door
Put my face back on the floor


And I'm in Your arms
Where I belong
There's no other place for me
Than right where You are

Some things just don't change
When I call Your name
You never hesitate to wrap me in endless grace
When I'm in Your arms


To sit at Your feet
At Your table of mercy
To gaze on Your beauty, my Lord

To drink from Your well
And be changed by Your glory
How could I ask for more
Jesus, how could I ask for more


And I'm in Your arms
Where I belong
There's no other place for me
Than right where You are

Some things just don't change
When I call Your name
You never hesitate to wrap me in endless grace
When I'm in Your arms


It's a beautiful song and it reminds me to take the time to shut out the world and just be embraced by God.

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Little Gym

I have been looking for things to do during the day to get me and Raedyn out of the house. I checked out the website for The Little Gym and found out they let you go to an introductory class for free! Raedyn and I went today and she had a blast! She wasn't as shy as I thought she might be and by the end she was off exploring by herself. I really liked the format and how the class had some structure but was still laid back. The instructor let us know not to worry if the little ones wanted to wander off instead of sit and participate the whole time. The class we went to was for 10-19 months so most of them have pretty short attention spans. It's $88 a month which isn't too bad since you get to go to 2 classes per week. You sign up for one class per week and can pick any other class to go to for free. I'll have to fill Travis in on the payment part of it but I hope we'll be able to work it into the budget.

Day 4

Day 4: Your family.


I'm married to my best friend Travis and we have an adorable baby girl named Raedyn. Travis and I met on a mission trip to Kenya in 2006. We started dating around October of 2006 although neither of us remember exactly when. He proposed in March of 2007 at Fenway Park when we went home to visit my family. We got married on August 8th, 2008 at Castleton in Windham, NH. I found out I was pregnant on January 2, 2010 and Raedyn was born on September 1, 2010. We also have 2 dogs. Keira is a 2 year old German Shepherd mix and Lexi is a two year old mutt.


Sunday, August 21, 2011

Day 3

Day 3: Your first love.

That would be my high school boyfriend who we'll call Z. It was the summer when I turned 15 and we had been on a mission trip with our youth group. We liked each other but were both too shy to do anything about it. My friend H had enough of our shy smiles and telling gazes at each other so she took things into her own hands. It went something like this:

H: Do you like her?
Z: Yeaaah
H: Do you like him?
Me(very quietly): Yeah
H: Then ASK HER OUT!
Z: Will you go out with me?
Me: Yes

Oh young love! Haha! We dated for a little over 2 years and it definitely taught me a lot about relationships

Friday, August 19, 2011

Day 2

Day 2: Nicknames.

I've had plenty of nicknames through the years but none have ever really stuck. When I was a baby my nickname was Chubbabubba. Yes, I was a chunky baby. Other nicknames from my childhood were princess, bug, crybaby and my least favorite Allan's(or Heather's) little sister. My husband has plenty of "pet" names for me like princess, sweetheart, baby, and bum. My newest one, given to me by the cutest little baby, has got to be my favorite of all time. She calls me "Mama."

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Day 1

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts.

This is me.
Well a very made-up me! My sister-in-law had fun doing my hair and make-up for this picture.

15 facts
(I can't promise they'll be interesting)
1. I'm extremely shy...until you get to know me
2. I lived in the same house for the first 18.5 years of my life
3. I grew up in a tiny town in southern New Hampshire
4. I can bend my elbows backwards and clap with one hand
5. My husband proposed at Fenway Park 5 months after we started dating
6. I originally moved to Arizona to go to college with my high school boyfriend
7. I graduated high school with high honors
8. I was always the "good girl" in high school but had one night of rebellion involving a B&E
9. I had stitches 3 times before I entered Kindergarten
10. I used to be a gymnast
11. I never had a single craving while pregnant
12. I am a Christian
13. I met my husband on a 5 week mission trip to Kenya
14. My favorite place to be is on a speeding boat on Lake Winnipesaukee
15. I care way to much about what people think of me

It's time

Time to keep up with this blog! To help me get going I'm going to do a 30 day blog challenge. I found a few different ones in my internet search but I think I'm going to stick with this one.

30 Day Blog Challenge

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts.
Day 2: Nicknames.
Day 3: Your first love.
Day 4: Your family.
Day 5: What song inspires you.
Day 6: Pet peeves.
Day 7: What makes you happy.
Day 8: A place you’ve traveled to and where else you want to travel.
Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend.
Day 10: Something you’re afraid of.
Day 11: A quote you love.
Day 12: Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 13: Goals.
Day 14: A picture of you last year – how have you changed?
Day 15: Death row meal.
Day 16: Your opinion about your body and how comfortable you are with it.
Day 17: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs.
Day 18: Something you miss.
Day 19: Things you want to say to an ex.
Day 20: Something you wonder “What if…?” about.
Day 21: Something you’re proud of.
Day 22: What do you want your future to be like?
Day 23: Favorite Movies and TV Show.
Day 24: Something you’ve learned.
Day 25: Something you are looking forward to.
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding.
Day 27: Photo of your city .
Day 28: What stresses you out?
Day 29: Who is you hero?
Day 30: A picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge.

I hope this will give me the jumpstart I need!