Baby Cardigan Onesies

So I've been a little crafty lately (I love nap time!). I made a couple cardigan onesies for Wes and had so much fun making them that I made a few more to sell on Etsy.

I found this tutorial on Pinterest so you can follow it if you feel like making your own. If you don't feel like making your own and want to buy one or two for a baby shower gift or for your own little babe check out my Etsy store here. They're cute on both baby boys and girls. 

Wes was the perfect model. Here are some pictures. The last one is my favorite :)

Over it.

Maternity Pictures

8 weeks, 37 weeks, 1 week!

About this time last year I found out I was pregnant with my sweet little boy. I totally forgot that I took  pictures to document my pregnancy and have never shared them. So I've finally shared them on here. 

I cannot express my love for my little Wes. He melts my heart more and more every single day. I kept a journal while I was pregnant and I was one of those crazy ladies who loved being pregnant. I really actually enjoyed most of my pregnancy. I spent my first trimester working as a middle school teacher in Denver. I didn't have horrible morning sickness, thank goodness! I was only really affected by morning sickness for about 2 weeks. I was however so so soo tired my whole first trimester. That made being a middle school, high energy, exciting teacher almost impossible. My students would be reading in small groups and I would be hanging out by my window, having a hot flash and bending over a trash can while holding my hair back and trying not to throw up. I never actually threw up during my pregnancy (at least not from morning sickness) I just felt like I was going to. Again, that only really lasted 2 weeks. I was so lucky!

///side note///

Some of the things that helped me relieve nausea while I was pregnant were: 

::Seabands:: 

They look super weird so I always wore long sleeves but I swear they worked for me. 

It might just be all psychological though. Either way, they worked. 

::Water with lemon::

I love drinking water this way anyway.

::Ginger Altoids::

I hate the taste of these things but they seemed to help

::Reed's Ginger Candy::

Again, don't love the taste but I was willing to try anything. 

::Anit-Nausea Gum::

This stuff was amazing. As soon as I would start to feel sick to my stomach 

I would pop one of these in and I would feel better almost instantly. 

I'm not sure why I decided to include all that info above but I found all of those things to be helpful and maybe you (or a friend) will too! I know everyone is different and some people are just plain lucky and don't get any morning sickness at all. Since I had to go into work and decided to not tell all my students I was pregnant until I was past my first trimester, I tried it all. 

Anyway, pregnancy was great. Once I hit 12 weeks I swear I felt amazing until about 37 weeks, then I just started feeling like a blimp (as you can see in the pictures). I wrote little notes to Wes in my journal each week. I'll include a little of what I wrote with each picture. 

Yay I'm not feeling sick anymore! We recently found out dad
got a job in San Francisco so that's where you will be born!
We got some cute pictures of you at the ultra sound last week.
You have the cutest little nose and a huge head!

We're taking you to Arkansas this week. Lately I've
been craving french fries and bagels with cream cheese and fresh
lemon juice. Speaking of lemons, this week you are the size of a
lemon! That's so hard to believe since you're not quite showing
yet!

We're so busy right now trying to pack and get some traveling
in before we move to San Francisco. We get to find out what you
are in two weeks. Daddy is praying that you're a boy and I
want you to be a girl only because daddy wants you to be
a boy so bad. (p.s. I secretly know you're a boy because
you've only been a boy in my dreams so far!)

You're a boy! We took you to Costa Rica last week and you
were so well behaved. You've been to a lot of exciting places already! You're starting
to take up a lot of space in my tummy and you're making me get up at
least once in the middle of the night to go pee.

You've arrived in San Francisco and I wish you were here
already to keep me company while daddy is at work. I can no longer
button my pants because you're so dang big. You're moving around
so much in my tummy. I can totally feel you and daddy
is getting sad that he hasn't been able to feel you move yet. We
cannot believe you're already 6 inches long and the size of a mango!

Daddy felt you move! He won't stop touching my tummy when he comes home
from work. He kisses you and tries to play with you. He always says he
can't wait for you to be here so he can wrestle you. My tummy all of a sudden
looks pregnant. I am so happy because people can actually tell
that I'm pregnant with you now! You also spent the last week with me
in Idaho. We had lots of fun and you were such a sport while I
tried to wake board. I can no longer sleep on my belly anymore. This is going
to take a while to get used to!

You're getting so big! It's hard to believe your'e the size of a
cantaloupe! I totally believe it because I wake up 2-3
times each night to run to the bathroom.
Your dad and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary this past
week and you came camping with us in Carmel. Your first of many camping
experiences, I'm sure! 

This week your daddy and I started childbirth classes at the hospital.
It's been so fun learning about all the new things to expect with your
arrival. I also got to see you in an ultra sound this week. There's
no mistaking that you're a boy! It was so fun to see you again this week.
We won't get to see you in an ultrasound any more so the next time
we see you will be when you're born! Brittany and Ben came to visit
us this week. You've already met so many family members. We can't wait for you
to be born so we can actually see you and snuggle you!

You're getting so big! It's been fun to look back at the pictures of my
belly and see how much you've grown lately. Because you're so big now, we
can actually watch you move! Grandma Lisa came to visit this week
and we had a lot of fun shopping for fun things for your room. Keep growing
little babe!

Your dad and I have been busy learning so much about you in the
childbirth classes. We've also enjoyed going to the temple on Fridays as much as we
can before you get here and that gets a little harder! I feel so close to you while we're 
there. You're already as long as a cucumber
and weigh about 3 pounds. You are moving around more than ever
now. We can feel your little limbs move across my tummy ALL THE TIME!

We can't believe you're bigger than a pineapple little man! Keep up the growing!
We are so happy that you are healthy. Most of the time I can barely breathe
because you are crowding my lungs. It's ok, I can handle it for 8 more
weeks. We bought you the coolest stroller we could find this week. I think dad
is a little more excited about it. He won't stop talking about it! Our first 
purchase for you at REI!

You are going to be here so soon! I get to go to the doctor
every two weeks now to check up on you. The doctor says you're doing
great and your little head is already down. Such great news. The bad
news is that your head is right on my bladder. You and I
go on walks almost every day which is a good thing because you're making
me crave chocolate more than ever now. The ladies at church threw you
a baby shower this week. We are feeling more and more ready for you
to be here. Take your time though, you have more growing to do.

You are enormous and so am I! We watched you move around in my
tummy this week. Your little limbs were poking out so far that we could
actually pinch them. We're not sure if you actually liked that or not
but we loved playing with you! I hope you know how much we already
love you. 

Mom and dad are counting down the days until your arrival. We can hardly wait.
Your dad took us camping this week. It rained all night. Glad that's over.

You came early! We are so happy you're here little Wes. We had no idea how
much we could love you and how much your dad and I could love
each other. The first few days you were here, we spent our time at the
hospital just snuggling you, kissing you and enjoying every second!
You are the sweetest little thing and we can't wait to love you and teach
you all that we know.

Christmas was how many months ago?

When Wes was 2 weeks old we flew to Denver for Christmas. We had so much fun spending time with both sides of our family. Since I have about 5 minutes before Wes wakes up from his nap, I'll skip ahead to pictures and let them explain our trip.

I can't believe how teeny he was.

Mom and Trev's first time meeting Wes.

Mike is so happy we had a boy. He can't wait until Wes can wrestle like this.

We got to hang out with Allison. Wes loves her.

Niki came to visit too. It was so great to catch up! Love you Nikis!

Britt "surprised" us and came for 2 days. It was the best.

Jas needs a baby.

Christmas is the best!

I can't get over how tiny he is. I want that little nugget back! Laura needs a baby too.

So happy we got to see my cousin Teisha at the baby shower!

Aunt Mary is the cutest.

Jen holding my little tiny man.

We were able to do Wes's baby blessing while we were out there with all my family. 

I love that the cousins wanted to hold Wes. They were so cute with him! Riley kept calling him "baby weth" and David called him "West David".

Dad's first time meeting his first grandson. Wes was over it.

My birthday was the best. So happy I could spend it with these girls!

This doesn't quite capture Wes's cuteness enough. He was so dang cute every time Mike would burp him. He was seriously as big as Mike's hand.

We had an amazing trip and got to see all the people we love the most!

We love San Francisco

A couple weekends ago one of my best friends, Shannyl, came to visit us. We loved having her here. She came Saturday night and we went to dinner in the city and came home and just caught up a little. Sunday we went to church and while we were there Shannyl, being a cute little mom in training, cooked us up some amazing homemade chicken noodle soup with all the fresh veggies she found at the farmer's market. We spent the rest of the day driving around this beautiful place we call home. We have loved living here so much. 

When we moved out here in July of 2012 I thought that I was going to be counting our days until we moved back to Colorado. As much as I love Colorado, I could honestly live here for the rest of my life and be happy. I love the area we're in. We're just north of the Golden Gate in a little town called Corte Madera. It's a cute little quaint town full of happy people and green trees everywhere. 

Since we moved here Mike has been scoping out surf boards every single day on Craigslist and on the weekends we go to surf shops in the city and see if they got any used boards in that week. Mike finally found "the one" a couple weeks ago and we've spent our past two Saturdays at the beach. The first day he went out he was so cute and happy, it made my day seeing his cute smile as he waxed up his board and walked down to the water. Don't worry..I documented the whole thing like it was his first day of school. He hated it. I loved it. Oh yeah, I got a picture of every moment..except of him surfing. It was so bright and when I looked out into the water I could only see the silhouettes of the surfers so I totally lost track of where he was. Then I went to the car to feed Wes and took some pictures along the beach. When I got back Mike was getting out of the water. What the heck. So I took pictures of him getting out..haha! He wanted to kill me!

Wes was not all about the kisses.

cuties

This is one reason why I didn't get any pictures of Mike surfing. This graffiti was so cool!

For a while I was taking pictures of this guy. Turns out he's not my husband.

Oh hi!

Glad Wes was a content little babe.

Love this little guy!

My Birth Story

Now that my baby is 2 months old, I am finally finding time to update this baby. I have been wanting to share my birth story since the moment I came home from the hospital. I had the most amazing experience. I hope you're all ready for my longest blog post...probably of my entire life. Here we go...

On the morning I knew I was in labor...

As a typical pregnant lady would be, I was up for probably my 4th or 5th trip to the bathroom at 4am and I noticed something was different. I quickly took care of bidness and went back to bed. I woke up again at 5:30 (because of course the few drops of pee I had in me couldn't wait one more second) and this time I KNEW something was going on. I ran back into our room and woke Mike up and told him I might be in labor...or something. I had been through the new parent classes and birth classes and all of that but really, how can you actually be prepared for that moment when you just know you're in labor and it's actually happening. Mike told me to go back to bed and that everything was fine. So I tried. Then I started getting really mild Braxton Hicks contractions. I never got contractions in the morning. I always got them around 10 or 11 at night for an hour or so.  

Even though Mike wanted me to go back to bed and stop worrying, I got out a notepad and stopwatch and started tracking my contractions. I felt a little silly because this was about a week before my due date and everyone told me I would go past my due date with my first pregnancy. Well guess what everyone..I didn't. I sent a text to my cousin and told her what was going on because I needed someone to tell me I wasn't crazy because I think at this point Mike thought I was. 

I would have called my doctor but I had my 39 week appointment that day so I figured I would keep tracking contractions and see what she thought when I got to the office. My appointment was at 11:40 and Mike decided to come with me "just in case". I told my doctor what was going on, she took a look and said, "Sweetie, you're in labor. We need to get you to the hospital. You're going to have a baby by the morning." I KNEW IT! I immediately started crying. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. 

Since Mike came to the appointment he drove me straight to the hospital. I had left the house with my hair wet, right out of the shower, thinking I was just making a quick stop at the doctor's office then I'd be back home to get ready. I left our apartment a complete mess. I was in the middle of at least 43 projects, I had piles of laundry I was planning to get done and dishes piled in the sink. Oh well, those things needed to wait. I was having a BABY! 

I was having contractions all morning but the really uncomfortable contractions started around 3pm. This is when I sent Mike home to grab my hospital bag and, of course, chocolate covered pretzels. He had to stop by his work too to grab his laptop so he could finish up some work while he was at the hospital with me. He was gone for at least an hour and a half and it seemed like the longest hour and a half of my entire life. 

Well, contractions were NOT fun. I'm hoping that was the worst pain I'll ever be in in my life. It better be. I was doing OK without any medication until about 7pm. When the nurse told me I could get an epidural and sleep through contractions I basically would have done anything for that nurse at that moment..seriously anything. I had been up since 4am and had no energy and I could feel my energy draining quickly with every contraction. My contractions were lasting about 1.5 minutes each and I only had 1 minute or 1.5 minutes in between each one. I was exhausted. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing husband. He was there through every miserable contraction, holding my hand, breathing with me, rubbing my back, telling me how amazing I was. I just kept thinking to myself, "how could I do this without him?" I honestly couldn't have. He is the best.

The nurse moved me from the labor room to the delivery room around 8pm. I was alraedy 8cm dialted. This is when I got the epidural. The nurse told me to lay down and said they would be coming in to check on me. She told me I would wake up on my own when I felt the urge to start pushing. This was the best I had ever felt in my life. Seriously. At that moment when I laid my head down on the pillow and let my body do it's thing, I looked over at Mike and told him I thought I was in heaven. I also told him I would want 10 kids if I could just get the epidural right away every time. I kinda take that back now. 

So I laid down. Mike made me turn off my phone because I was texting my family and letting them all know the baby was on his way. I can't even describe how amazing I was feeling at this point. The doctor came in and broke my water around 11:30pm and said everything looked good. A nurse came in around 1:30am and said I was ready to start figuring out how to push so I would be ready when the baby was. Mike was right there, holding my leg, and foot and hand and whatever else I needed him to hold. He was so sweet. Counting for me and telling me how great I was doing. Have I mentioned how sweet my adorable husband is? I love him so much. 

Well I had a great time talking with Mike and the nurse as I pushed and we talked about our lives. At one point the nurse looked at me and said, "Stop pushing, you're going to have this baby. I need to go wake up the doctor and get the room ready." As soon as the doctor walked in I asked her if I could start pushing because I knew I needed to. She told me to and I pushed a few times. She grabbed my hand and made me feel the baby's head coming out. That was enough for me. Holy cow. I have a weak stomach and couldn't really handle that. It was amazing nonetheless. I can't remember exactly how many times I pushed or how long it was. It felt like everything was in fast forward. Before I knew it the nurse was handing me my perfect little boy.

Wes was born on November 29 at 3:14am. (5 days before my due date) He weighed 7 pounds one ounce and was 19 1/4 inches long.

Those three days we spent at the hospital were the best 3 days of my life by far. Every single moment seemed to last forever. I think I shed more happy tears than anyone ever has in their lifetime. Every time I would look over at Mike holding little Wes my little heart would melt and the tears would just flow. (and they are now as I'm typing this remembering all those sweet moments). 

My little Wes is a miracle. We feel so blessed every day. These past 9 weeks that he has been here with us have been heaven. I was sitting in a church meeting recently just thinking about how much my life has changed since he was born. My perspective on life has changed so much. I feel like  my heart is at least a million times bigger and is overfilled with love for my husband, love for my beautiful baby boy and my Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this amazing blessing that I get to enjoy every day of my life. 

we love his funny little faces

Sometimes when I put him in his car seat he gets so excited he can't control himself. You can tell by the blurriness of his little hands. He moves them a million miles a minute and makes the cutest sounds.

When I run out of the manly bibs I have to use the girly ones. Wes lets me know when he's not happy about something. He was not havin' it.

He's like his momma. We loooove taking baths. 

I wish I knew what this funny little boy was thinking sometimes.

Just a happy little kid.

We love you so much Wes baby.

And we will love you forever!