Taking Matters Into My Own Hands

Back in March Josh and I purchased some letters for Callie's nursery from a shop on ETSY.  We were so excited to get them in the mail and finalize her nursery before she arrived.  6 weeks after placing and paying for our order we still had not received them... I emailed the dealer and received a message back saying her mother had fallen ill and she would have them in the mail the next week.  After another week passed I emailed again... This time she had "sent them priority."  When yet another week passed I emailed her again and received the response, "I sent them and they were returned to me saying there was no such address."  I responded with my address once again and she said they would be in the mail immediately.  Needless to say it is now 4 months later, we have not received our order and the shop is now closed.  I've done all I can on my end and unfortunately was robbed of $70 dollars that we now will never get back.

Instead of pouting and throwing a fit I decided to take matters into my own hands.  After a quick trip to hobby lobby where I found canvas on sale (woohoo!) I got started on my own little project.  Here it is!  I think we like it even more than the original ones we ordered.

{Take your plain canvas.. these were on sale: 2 for $3.99}

 

{Tape off a chevron pattern.  See tutorial here}

 

{Then with acrylic paint and a sponge brush apply your color on the canvas}

 

{This was by far the most tedious part... Probably took around 1 1/2 hours}

{After they're painted I let them dry and then removed the tape}

 

{Plain ol' letters from Hobby Lobby}

 

{Add a little pink paint (same color as the birds on her mural) and hot glue onto canvas}

 

{Then hang!}

 

{I am SOOOO happy with how it turned out!!! Who needs ETSY?!}

Kinsley Rae's Arrival

On July 13, 2012 my sweet little niece was brought into this world.  Kinsley Rae was born in the middle of the night and surprised us by showing up a week early!  As soon as I heard the wonderful news I was up, showered and rushing to the hospital to meet her. 

Mom and baby are both healthy and happy and were released from the hospital in only 3 days!  It has been so incredible watching Jamie and Kenneth become parents, they both took to it like naturals.  Our family feels so complete and it's been wonderful to see Steve and Marsha soaking up their new grandchildren. 

Callie doesn't seem very interested yet, but before too long they will be pulling each others hair and playing together!  I can't wait to watch these two beautiful girls grow up together, they are so lucky!  Here are a few pictures from Kinsley's big arrival.

Congratulations Jamie and Kenneth!!!  She is a doll.

Callie - 2 Months

Holy cow!  It has been two months since our lives were forever changed by Callie's arrival.  It's almost difficult to remember a time when she wasn't around.  This past month was full of wonderful memories being made and watching our sweet little thang grow like a weed.  Here are some pictures from her two month photoshoot and some comparison shots!

Callie has gained tons of weight and is just over 9 lbs!  Hard to imagine that she's almost doubled in size since being born.  She has gotten more interactive and has recently started to smile at us.  This month she discovered her voice and it has been so much fun listening to her coo's and watching her reaction as her eyes grow wide and she smiles like she's proud of the sound she just produced.  She is still an absolute angel.  We joke that she's spoiling us for all future Morgan babies. 

Some of her favorite things are:

• Taking naps in her swing
• Making crazy monster noises
• Smiling at mommy and daddy
• Cuddles 
• Listening to mommy sing "You Are My Sunshine"
• Her musical seahorse
• MILK
• Being the gassiest baby alive (lots of poots and burps!)
• Peeing on mommy and daddy
• Tummy time
• Spending time with Grandma, Gigi, Big Popi and Aunts/Uncles
• Swimming 
• Bath time

 Callie is still wearing newborn clothes but has officially grown out of her preemie sizes.  She is still wearing newborn diapers but the Pampers newborns are getting a little snug.  She loves wearing headbands and looks utterly adorable in pink.  She's on the same schedule that she's been on since the beginning... Nursing exclusively every 3-4 hours.  Baby girl has yet to sleep through the night but has blessed us ONCE by sleeping for 5 hours!  We are hoping that the full night's sleep is just around the corner.  

Our lives truly have been turned upside-down and though there are times I want to cry from exhaustion all it takes is one look in her beautiful hazel eyes and it all goes away.  She is truly our blessing from God and we love her more each and every day!   Here are a few pictures of Callie doing some of her favorite things over the past month.

Father's Day - The day she was dedicated to the church

 

4 Generations

  Spending time with cousins Matty and Andrew

 

First time in the pool!

 

Meeting "Aunt" Ashley

 

Bath time with Mommy

 

Tummy Time

 

Her first Fourth of July

 

She loves being outside!

There are hundreds more pictures but this will do for now!  Lots of exciting things have been happening lately so stay tuned for more updates.  As always thanks for keeping up with us!!

Life After a Baby

I've always looked at pregnant women with such awe and desire.  Their skin glows, their bellies are so cute and I love it when they walk away waddling.  It's all super duper cute until its you. :)  Now, I am not writing this to get sympathy or have people tell me that I'm lucky I didn't gain as much as they did or that I don't know how good I had it... I use this blog just as much as a diary for myself as I do to keep family and friends updated so please give me a little grace to vent and be honest.

Pregnancy was nothing at all like I thought it would be.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored being blessed enough to carry Callie Bug, and even liked having a belly (for the most part) but there are so many things that people don't tell you about during pregnancy!  Random pains, aches, heartburn, reflux, peeing every five minutes, morning sickness that never goes away, kicks to the ribs, not being able to sit or stand for long periods of time, swollen everything, but worst of all for me was watching my body change and not being able to fit into my clothes.  Yes, I was pregnant and you're supposed to get big and round but I don't think it's any girl's dream to get bigger.  It was a constant struggle for me to feel beautiful.  Josh did an amazing job making me feel gorgeous and sexy but being told you look great and feeling great are two totally different things.

After having Callie I was surprised at how much weight I had lost.  I gained 26 lbs during my pregnancy and dreaded getting on the scale at each appointment.  After getting back home from the NICU I had lost 16 lbs. When you're at a certain weight for the majority of your life and then gain a large amount in a short period of time it really messes with your self esteem.  I was very excited to have lost so much weight right after she was born and eager to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight as soon as I could while still being healthy.  I had a pretty severe episiotomy during labor and 8 weeks later I am still recovering from it.  When the 6 week waiting period finally arrived I was so eager to start working out again.

A friend of mine keeps a blog that I read pretty regularly and she had started the Ripped in 30 DVD by Jillian Michaels.  Her experience with it really encouraged me, so when 6 weeks had passed I didn't wait a day longer to go out and buy the DVD for myself.  I am now on week 3 day 3 of the program and am SO happy with the results.  I've lost half an inch in my hips, an inch off my waist, an inch from my thighs and half an inch in my calves!  My clothes are fitting better (still not quite back to where I was but I don't think it will ever be that way again with these newly formed hips and larger chest) and I am feeling a lot better about myself.  That was until yesterday. 

I mentioned something about how happy I am with my progress and how I'm feeling/looking on Facebook and read a pretty hurtful, passive agressive response from someone .  It hurt beyond words to read and really knocked me on my rear.  Not once did it cross my mind that I was bragging or fishing for complements or praise... I simply wanted to share my excitement with family and friends and apparently it was taken the wrong way completely.

I understand that how I feel something should come across and how it is perceived by someone else are two completely different things that I have no control over, but it has really discouraged me and hurt me more than I should have allowed it to.  There was a part of me that thought I could possibly be an encouragement to others who feel badly about themselves post-pregnancy, but after this ordeal I have no desire to put myself back out there.  It is insanely difficult to be judged and seen as something you are not.

All of this being said, I am still very proud of myself for all of the hard work I am putting in and will continue on my journey to making myself the best I can be both inside and out.  How I am perceived matters a lot to me.  I know it probably shouldn't but it hurts to be seen in a negative light when I work so hard to live my life in a positive one.  As a Christian it is especially difficult to hear that you are coming across as egocentric or conceited.  To those of you who have seen me in this light, I apologize and will do my best to stay humble and more reserved about things of a physical nature. 

Vent over...

:) And in order to keep this post on the lighthearted side, I'll end with a picture of my sweet Callie Bug!

One Month!

So this post is nearly a month late... Please forgive my tardiness, a little princess has been keeping me very, very busy!

Callie was one month old before we knew it.  The first month consisted of feedings every 3 hours day and night which made for a very sleep deprived mommy.  Josh went back to work the week after we got home, I decided that since he had to work I would do everything at night.  It worked out pretty well but after a while I was starting to feel like the walking dead.  After a month, though, I was starting to get used to it. 

She had so many visitors and we had fun just getting to know our little girl.  Two days after bringing her home we took her to her very first photo shoot.  She slept the entire two hour session and acted like a pro.  We couldn't be happier with how her pictures turned out!  Thank you to Lesley Lane of Lane Portraits, we would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone looking for professional pictures, not only newborn but all types!

The following pictures were taken on her one month birthday!  She is growing like a weed.  At this point she had gained about two pounds and was just over 7lbs.  I couldn't love her more.  Some of her favorite things are smiling, snuggle time with mommy and daddy, eating (like a little piggy) and snoozing the day away.  She is an ANGEL baby and is totally spoiling us for any future kiddos! :)