Labor Class

Nick and I started our labor classes this past Tuesday.  We are taking a class called the Bradley Method at Memorial Hospital with a wonderful Dula names Moreen Favorite, and from what we have heard she truly has been everyones favorite instructor for this class.  You can read more about the bradley method at http://www.bradleybirth.com/WhyBradley.aspx


the class is 2 hrs long and last for 7 weeks, it is divided up into lecture, exercises and then video, oh and we also have break time and each couple takes turns each week and brings a yummy snack!   this past class however was mostly lecture with some yummy muffins and apple cidre.  there are 6 couples in the class and its actually pretty neat because we pair up perfectly there are two that are having home births using the same midwife, and then there are two that are delivering at birthing centers using the same OB and then Nick and I and another couple are delivering at the hospital with Kristin Vincent ( Midwife.) Moreen said that it has never happened like that before but it works out great. so any who... by the time the class ends I will be 38 weeks, which I figure will be great timing, I should be able to get alll the info we will need, there is one couple in the class that is due December 29th and then we are Due on January 1st, everyone else is late January or later months. 

Nick and I are very excited for the classes, just after leaving the first class we truly learned so much about the birthing process on the body which I feel is so important when wanting to have a natural childbirth, we learned all about what medications are available to you and how they really work on the body VS. what the body was naturally created to do on its own...


I have always looked forward to taking the classes, I can remember when i worked out at a gym that was inside of a hospital and when i would leave I would pass a bunch of prego ladies with their hubbys carrying pillows into their labor class room, and I always thought how FUN! call me crazy, but thats how I see it.

Week 31

I have made it to 31 weeks with still no stretch marks, I am extremely excited... but am fully aware that I have 9 weeks left...... both Jada and I are doing great, however I must say there are a Large number of people who keep telling me I am having a baby BOY... umm no... her walls are already pink.... she is not a boy... I am a little annoyed by this bit of info people continue to give, despite the fact that i have had 2 ultra sounds and both times they saw nothing... and I mean they even highlighted the Girl parts.... so I must let people know, in all honestly, it does not matter how you carry.. there is no way that a boy or a girl causes you to grow differently.... I mean when you read what to expect when expecting it doesn't tell you well if your having a boy he weighs this amt this week and if its a girl she is this amt this week... so they are growing at the same rate.... its the MOM that carrys differently .... no ones body is made the same.... So just because your moms mom's sisters second cousin twice removed had all boys and she just popped straight out and looked like she had a beach ball under her shirt, does not mean that I am having a boy.... ok, now I have vented that I must admit I feel Lots better.  So here are my pictures from week 31, I am not sure if i notice much difference from last week but I am sure she is growing stronger, I no longer feel Sharp jabs but I feel more rolling movement, like when she turns I can feel it from the outside but I cant see it yet, so i am looking forward to when i look down and just see my belly go vooomp to the other side.  Do you see the Changes ?

Pregnancy Dreams

these are not your typical dreams, and no, I dont mean pregnancy dreams as in giving birth, or anything like that I am talking about the SCARY dreams you get while pregnant... seriously I remember when i was a young kid growing up I was SOOOO bad when it came to night time sleeping, I was always scared and would sneek in my moms bedroom to sleep on the floor, feeling protected just to have someone else in the room.. I mean it was bad, my mom thought I had a deamond inside me, no joke, she would stop giving me sugar after a certain time, I even remember her taking me up to Edison school to walk the track before bed time, thinking I just wasnt tired enough. Well now here I am 23 years old and 30 weeks Pregnant... hating bed time again.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my bed and sleep... but lately, not too much of that has been going on.  here are a few examples of what things I am talking about...

We go to bed at a decent time every night, averaging anywhere from 9:30 to 10, I get in bed and nod off til about 11:30 ( that is typically when The first bathroom call is made) and then get back in bed... a little while later BAM it happends...


on a few ocasions I have Literally opened my eyes only to see a mans face like staring at me so I scream my husbands name and roll over to his side of the bed ( its a King)

I remember the first time this happend it was as if the face was getting closer and closer till finally i screamed nicks name and the face was then gone... SCARY hu?

the other night I had another one where I was asleep and then I woke up I literally woke up and looked straight ahead ( our bed faces the bathroom and we have very high windows in the bathroom) and looked out of the window to see that it was pitch black outside but yet someone with a ski mask and a green sweatshirt climbing up a latter to get on top of our house... I literally FREAKED, I said nick.. and he didnt budge.. so I walked up and unplugged the fan telling myself that Chelssie if someone is on your roof you will for sure hear footsteps so unplug the fan and listen... I heard nothing, then I said Chelssie... if someone climbed a latter to get on your room surly the latter is still there... looked out the window... no latter.... So i calmed myself down pluged the fan back in and went to sleep....


Last night... 3:30 am I was in a dream, I was holding someones baby and then my dream was interupted with a mans voice saying HELLO.... so i open my eyes and hear it again one more time HELLO... I say nick nick wake up someone is in our living room saying Hello??!?!? ( nick is confused.. what Chels?) ... so I say to myself Chelssie if someone was really in your house they prolly would not be saying Yoooouuu Whoooo Hello.... here I am ... so I listened to hear if I could hear anything else in the living room and there was no noise... I also reasured myselef that we have a 60 lb Boxer that sleeps in our living room and he didnt bark and we also have an alarm system that didnt go off... so I was probably ok to just roll over and go back to bed... and I did...


but seriously what is going on! I HATE being scared and I mean HATE... I am not talking haunted house scared I just hate the thought of someone being in my house... I am not a good one to be home alone at night.. which I never am but... seriously I dont know how people who are can do it... now normally I do not have these dreams but since being pregnnat I get them, and they happen often... its nuts..

so people say get as much sleep as you can before baby comes, and I read in the last tri mester sleep is hard because of discomfort and frequent bathroom trips, well i am definatly not feeling discomfort but between the bathroom breaks and the Freaking nightmares... my sleep is being interupted... luckily because I go to bed at a decent hour I still get plenty of sleep it just isnt a deep one..

have any of you other Prego ladies had this happen to you?! or did I just write a really long post admitting to how weird I am?

Weekend Re*Cap

This weekend I worked both Friday and saturday, Saturday I actually had to close which is pretty unusual so I missed out on the family dinner over at grandmas but Nick brought me a plate home and it was soo nice to get off work and have food all ready warmed on a plate for me.  So Saturday night after I ate, we finished up the last paint touch up's in Jada's room and then watched Suzy Ormans show.. what an event filled evening, haha but it was nice just to have my feet up becuase my body is definatly feeling soar this trimester, I think I ask Nick to rub my legs and feet twice a day, he's great. 

So Sunday morning Nick had his first Flag Football game at Soccer Zone in Granger, he was so excited! he has wanted to get involved in an adult league ever since graduation and he was done playing in college so I was glad to see him actualy find one. His team name is called the HOUSE team, ( they are a group of guys that soccer zone just put together on a team ) where as most of the other teams have been playing in the league since they first opened it.  His game was at 9:00 Am and they won 76 to 6 it was crazy... and really fun to watch.

so after his game we came home and I made Open faced Breakfast sanwhiches .... Super Yum... I buy these chibatta bread squares from target  ( they bake fresh daily) cut in 1/2 and then put in oven at 350 for like 10 minutes to get them crunchy and in the mean time I was making scrambled eggs and Vegetarian sausage patties, then I added the eggs and sausage on top of the bread and added thinly deli sliced pepper jack cheese and put back in over just long enough to melt cheese... served with a glass of OJ and this was mightly tasty....

we then ventured off to the 11:30Am church service and then spent the afternoon on Notre Dames campus walking around with Sparty and looking at all the fall colors. It was a perfect day! and than pretty much wraps up my weekend...

and now its Monday, Time to return to work...  Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Ta Da...

Here are a few pictures I promised to post after we were all finished with the painting, her room does not get much natural light other than that window so the colors are hard to tell in some of these pictures so just refer back to the earlier post of the colors i posted if need be.  This was such a fun project although her Daddy did most ALL of it, I did enjoy the time i got to spend working on a project together. As you can see all of her walls are the pink color and then accented with the brown wall, we plan to have her crib up against the brown wall and are still waiting on that to come in, we already have bedding so as soon as it arrives we will put together and I can post more pictures, so stay tuned!

 

Jada's RE decorating .....

yes, this is me... why does my face look like this?? scroll down a little further... yep, thats me, those first 2 pictures of my belly are ones I took tonight, 30 weeks... the 3rd picture was one I took at 28.5 weeks.... and I am so happy I did, I have told Nick that I have Literally felt my skin wanting to rip off my body, like our cute little girl in there was like umm MOVE over mom, I am redecorating in here.. its honestly crazy! my skin feels so tight, almost as if someone would poke me with a needle I would deflate.. I cant tie my shoes anymore with out having my leg bent to the side and even then I feel like I am injuring a Lung, and shaving.. wow well yeah I have to thrust my lug up on the side rail and take breaks, what used to take 2 minutes now takes 5....  seriously though, can't you see the change from 28.5 weeks to 30.. I cant imagine what is to come in the next 10 weeks... I will be sure to keep up with the taking of pictures weekly now as the changes are coming faster....  

Baby Project # 1

These are the colors we will be using for Jada Grace's room. All walls will be the Pink shade with the accent wall this sandy Brown.  I am so excited! I have the next 2 days off work and plan on getting started with this project.  Nick is home now putting the blue tape up along the trim so when I start to paint I dont get it everywhere.  I am so excited that I will be able to actualy PAINT!! this paint is purchased from the Baby Supermall, so it matches her crib bedding perfectly and also is  a RISK free Latex pain which means it is ok for me to be around, unlike when we painted our living room and bedroom I had to be out of the house for a while.  So needless to say, I am really looking forward to this project. 

Another Project I am excited to get started with is learning how to make the cute Floral headbands and little bows for our little girl. Tomorrow after our Dr. Apt I am heading over to Hobby Lobby to pick out some cute little things to bring home and make, hope they turn out as cute as the ones I look at online, I just figured before I go paying someone else anywhere from $6 to $15 bucks I may as well try to make my own.. so stay tuned to see out how my projects turn out!

Have You Been Here Before ..

Have you had those days where you feel all your doing is thinking... thinking about your future and then you get overwhelmed with making the "right" decision... and before you realze it you find yourself flustered as to what path to follow, so you pray, and then get flustered and ask yourself are you hearing the message clear? or are you twisting it to what YOU want..... or are you hearing anything at all? well this is where I find we are. My husband and I are finding ourselfs in this unique position. we are young. 23 and 25 yrs of age, both with degrees mine in Psychology and his in Communications. While in college we both landed great paying jobs that offered great bennefits.  towards graduation Nick found himself faced with a new oportunity, something he had not thought of before but all of a sudden became very interested, this was the oportunity to become a State Farm insurance agent. He began his path taking all the steps necessary to make that goal become a reality one day passing each step with flying colors.  I continued working for the company that we both were originally at during college, only now I had graduated and was living at home awaiting our wedding day. 

Nick and I got married and headed to Jamaica on our long honeymoon with the Golden ticket in his hand that had State Farms stamp of aproval to one day become an agent. after returning from our honeymoon we began out lives together in Carmel Indiana , he was working for a state farm agent learning the ropes of the business and getting all of his licensing taken care of, I was still working for the same company as i was in college. 

so there we were, recently married and both holding great jobs, although my job required that I work weekends, we were working diligently on becomming debt free so we didnt mind, we achieved that just 7 or 8 months ago.  Paid off both student loan debt, my car, our honeymoon, and our part of wedding.  It was great, to achieve such happiness and freedom at our age. We both agreed that this would put us in the best position for starting our lives together, agreeing that we didnt want to live with the pain and suffering we have seen in other people when you are living with debt. 

After nights of talking about where we were in life, we both agreed we were ready to advance our future, taking that furthering step with having nick apply for a posted position for an agency that would have been  in Arizona. we were flown out there, Nick presented his business plan and the room was lit up with smiles, and all we liking what he represented. I sat in that interview in amazement, with such awe for my husband, I was so proud of him, and I truly enjoyed seeing him express his passion and drive for this oportunity.  when the interview ended they had nothing but positive feedback , but after looking at our financial situation, the one Nick and I felt confident in, we were told that we should work on having more liquid funds available and were given the number of 25,000 that they would like to see us have. 

there we were, 23 and 25, having just paid off over $40,000 worth of debt, looking at eachother on the plane ride home reasuring eachother that if we could have done it all over again, we would have continued to pursue becomming debt free. So we learned from that situation and decided that we were going to work just as hard at Building up our saving act with as much intensity as we paid off all the debt. feeling confident in all other areas that once we have the financial side built up better that there would be no stopping us.

while on our plan for saving, and enjoying our marriage together we talked of having a child and God surely blessed us.  We were elated with this information and were so excited for our soon to be expanding family. We quickly set up a savings account just for our little one, we had already opened a 529 plan while in college knowing that one day we would be married and have a family, and we wanted them to have a college fund already in place when it was time for them to go, so they wouldnt have to take on student loan debt like 95 % of American college students do.  so we continued contributing to the 529 plan while also setting aside a certain amt of $ each month for our little one that would take care of crib buying and ect....

while I advanced further along in my pregnancy we were faced with a choice, were we going to stay in Carmel with our baby or were we going to move back home to Granger to be where my family was so that when the baby was born we would have family take care of  our baby during the day becuase I would have to be going back to work because remember we are still saving and building up to have the funds for nick to apply again.  We had to decide rather quickly for my job purposes becuase the longer we waited the further along i got along and the closer i got to taking maternity leave... and if I was going to keep my job which we needed so dearly, then we needed to go asap.  We chose that moving with family would put us in the best position, even though it would cost us a substantial amt to make the move, but because we had the $ set aside although it was for savings, we chose to use that rather than put it on a credit card.

so we moved, we are renting a beautiful home at an incrediable price, and we are saving 100% of my income and living soley off nicks income.  his covers all of our insurance expenses, bills, and gets us whatever else we need, but we arent out buying new cars, and all the home decor that I would love to have knowing that one day we will have it and live like no one else.

I have longed for him to have the oportunity of opening his own office because when this happends it will allow we to work for him from home and be a SAHM ( stay at home mom) for our little baby girl.  I will admit this has been something I drempt of, almost to the point of fantasised about just becuase it feels so close like I can see the finish line i just cant reach it.

Nick and I feel more comfortable with our financial side as we are nearing the marking point that we have always wanted to be at and we will then start investing in money market accounts and funny funding a roth IRA.. so we are making progress and we are very fortunate, but there arent any posted positions currently in this area.


So we wait, or do we wait? or for how long?  I long for home ownership and establishment and all that comes along with that, but on the same side I know that day is in our deck of cards that will get played out one day.. now obviously we are renting and are under contract that will take us throgh the summer, and we are having a baby  in like  74 days!! so you can see the importance of staying with the midwife and doula that I have been seeing through out the pregnancy. 

I find myself feeling fortunate that I have been blessed with the greatest gift of carying a child, and feel so greatful for the husband that I have and the love and strenght our marriage holds, and knowing that where ever we are we are there together, as a family, one that suports one another, but find myself reaching for that "Next Step" but latly that "Next Step" has seemed blured, have we been limiting ourselves? or just not giving it enough time... have we involved God enough? have we been praying for the right thing, have we been listening? these are the questions we both find ourselves asking, having faith in knowing that one day all will be revealed to us, just trying to wait patiently in the mean time.

Change

Today I decided the Blog needed some change. I don't know how to do all the super cute stuff like all the other blogs I follow seem to know how to do, so this will do for now until I get with my friend Mo and have her "pimp my blog." so here we are for now, a nice, plain classical look.

Krispy Oatmeal Chippers

Today I woke up with the Warm feeling of wanting to Bake some Yummy Delicious cookies and nothing sounded better then the ones I grew up eating at Grandmas house. She never had a name for them so today I decided while making them that I had the perfect name, Krispy Oatmeal Chippers and you will see why here shortly, I took pictures and am going to post the recipe and I encourage you the next time you get the itch to bake you should really try these, and Ladies your Husbands will L*O*V*E* them, I think its the Key to my grandparents Marriage :)

Krispy Oatmeal Chipper Cookies

2 sticks butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp Vanilla

3 cup Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chopped nuts ( I used wall-nuts)

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup coconut

1 cup rice Krispies

1 cup Oats

mix all together

Roll into balls

press balls out onto cookie sheet and press down a little

bake at 375

for 8 - 10 minutes

the CounTDownN

there have been so many times in my life where I have looked forward to the countdown, you know there are X amt of days til my birthday , and christmas, then there were the countdown of the says til summer and school would be out, and then senior year in college came and the Countdown to graduation came, and then I was engaged and the Countdown to our wedding day had come and gone, and HOLY COW....

I am now on the official count down til our Little Jada Grace enters the world... do you realize we now have 80 days.... 80 I tell you...I can't really even begin to process this, I mean we now have a high chair sitting in our kitcken, so i mean it looks like a little one is going to be moving in... but lets be honest, shes not going to use the thing for months after she is here, what she needs is her FrigiN CRIB!~~~~!! you know the thing the child sleeps in and parents usually have before the 80 day marker is here!!!! but yes our company we chose to order from is taking their sweet time, and it looks like it will be atleast 2 more weeks... thats 14 days then we will be at 66 days, and we still wont have her changer table/ combo dresser... because that isnt due to come in til mid november.... ARGH!!! we ordered these things at the end of August! we Ordered her little rocker chair and that should be here in 6- 8 weeks... thats right, the time is just a falling off our little day counter..

so yes.. 80 days is staring me in my face and the countdown is on....

I DID IT

I always wondered when I was younger and dreaming of the day I would be married and start a family if when i got pregnant would I wear a bikini if it was summer? well here is my answer, I DID IT! I will admit I was the only one i saw walking on the beach that day with my belly out but I think little Jada Grace enjoyed it because she was sure moving around a lot :) Although this photo looks very different from the last summer I had a bikini on, I couldn't have been happier! it was just mommy and daddy walking on the beach with our little baby girl , well our belly of a baby girl :)

Happy 1st Anniversary!

October 4th was the Hubby's and My anniversary, can you believe it ONE year, WOW has a whole lot happened in a year , we have Lived in Carmel now Granger and we are 7 months Prego with a Precious Baby Girl. this has been a great year, and I Love my Hubby Dearly. looking back it didn't take too long to adjust to the married life, it just worked... from the night we left the reception and walked hand in hand to the car I have felt protected, Loved, and adored, what more can a woman want.

Our Anniversary landed on the time we are on florida on Vacation visiting family, however we had a very nice hotel room on the beach for the day and ate dinner that night at a restaurant called the Ocean Grill, it was great. here are a few photos of our view and I will eventually have videos, I am just not sure how to load them up.... so here is to a good year and many more ahead of us ,I love you Hubby!

Here is a pic of my new addition!! I absolutely L*O*V*E it, it is just an additional band that we call the Anniversary band.

Live From Florida

So i brought my lab top to stay connected to the blog world and watch movies during our car trip, well we have been gone since last Wednesday and this is my fist time on the blog and I only watched 1 and 1/2 movies on the trip down here. and there are lots of things I need to update on here, for starters our little baby girl Jada Grace, we had an Ultra sound apt Wednesday morning before our trip to Florida began and we were blessed with a surprise, our lab tech lady gave us a quick look at her in 4D!

thats Our little Baby girl! her Daddy and I were so excited to see her! some say she looks like her Daddy, but I however think she looks like one of my newborn pictures, but either way I think she is Beautiful and we are completely in love already! when she is born I hope to have these pictures with us to compare the picture taken at 27 wks to the day she arrives :) we couldn't be happier or more excited!