This time last year I was sitting in a hospital room knowing that tomorrow I would have a c-section. I was feeling excitement and a lot of fear. Would she be okay? Could I do this?
Here is a little remembering:
Sunday night Brian arrived in Louisville after driving from Boston with Justin & all of our stuff (the day following HBS graduation).
Monday morning we closed on our house and then spent the entire day negotiating on his car. We arrived at our house at 4pm and started to move in. I was 37 weeks pregnant so I plopped down in Kendall's room with Lorie and assembled her crib and changing table. It was my one true night of nesting.
Tuesday morning I had an ultrasound scheduled. Kendall was breech and they wanted to see if they could maneuver her around. Brian wanted to come but he had to be home for our appliance delivery. Lorie wanted to come too but she was teaching that day. During the ultrasound the technician kept saying how little fluid was in there. The doctor came in and kept asking me, are you sure your water didn't break?? They wanted me to go home and pack and go to the hospital. I cried the whole way home, I called Brian hysterical, I called my mom hysterical, and I left multiple messages for Lorie. Brian was in the driveway waiting for me when I got home, I just hugged him and cried (and he said "did you know you just pulled into the neighbor's grass?"). Lorie saw that I had called a billion times and knew something was wrong, she met us at the hospital. I hadn't sent in my pre-admission forms, I hadn't called a pediatrician yet, I hadn't taken the hospital tour yet, it wasn't time. I spent the night getting "hydrated" the next morning I had another ultrasound with the same results and they scheduled my c-section. Kendall was born at 4:06 the next day. Five pounds 13 ounces and 19" of pure joy. My heart that loved so much grew immeasurably more that day.

I've slept in this house only one night more then she has. Sometimes I have to creep into her room at night to make sure it isn't all a dream, sometimes I want to pick her up and cuddle her because my arms feel empty without her. All the time I love her, all the time I love my husband because he loves her and works so that I can stay home with her. My life will never be the same, thank you God.

My Internet No Workie

Just a little note to let you know my internet is down (Kendall and I are at the library updatingt his). So if I'm not responding to your email that is why. It should be fixed by the end of the week (lets hope)!!!

Whetever Happened to Cows & Dogs!?!?

So Brian and I were trying to think of ways we could be stimulating Kendall's brain. My friend Karin loaned me some cute Baby Einstein flash cards that Kendall is loving. Well, I decided we needed to get more since she is so excited about learning (my little genius). Today I picked up some animal flashcards. The box had a picture of a cute little penguin on the front. Well, we got home and I started looking through them and they had the following animals:
red spotted newt, spadefoot toad, piranha, komodo dragon, tuatara???? White sturgeon, sockeye salmon, peregrine falcon, mud puppy, eastern hellbender salamander, caecilian (worm like creature), lamprey, bullhead catfish! Whatever happened to dog, cow, kitty, fish...?!?!?! Well, Kendall started crying when she was looking at the pictures so I think that these may be a little too advanced or maybe scary is a better word.

We had a fantastic busy weekend. Kendall got pretty wound up I think because she has had a couple of bad sleep nights and poor nap times. Or perhaps she is having nightmares about the Eastern Hellbender Salamander.

Note: even the spellcheck doesn't recognize most of those animal names.

Little Paper Doll

I really like the collage artist Claudine Hellmuth's work. She inspired this:

Bloggity Slump

Well, I haven't been the worlds most fantastic blogger lately. I've been staying busy though! I've been to the gym twice this week (and again today), yesterday I had lunch with my gal friend Jennie, Karin and I played outside with the kids one day and Kendall experienced her first real swing, Saturday night I'm having a scrap get together for the local girls in my online class and Sunday Jenn & Justin are coming over!

I'm loving the online class. I like the pages that I'm doing much better then the ones I normally do. I think it's because I plan it out all week instead of just sitting down and expecting the inspiration to come. I've done a couple of pages that are for Kendall's book and my family book that I'll post here. My other pages are on the online class blog.

Kendall and I are going to stay home most of the day. I think we may get out to go the library and the gym though.

Our Weekend

We had a nice weekend with Kendall's Great Gram and Aunt Bonnie visiting. It was nice to visit with them! Kendall got to celebrate her birthday a little early with a cupcake one night. She had a lot of fun with it, Brian came close to having a heart attack watching the mess unfold though :)

Warm Weather = Seeing Chubby Legs

I just tip-toed into Kendall's room to check on her and was kind of shocked by how big she is! Up to this point I haven't been sad at all about her growing up, just excited for her to learn and experience new things. But tonight as I peeked over the edge of the crib and saw her all stretched out it kind of hit me all at once.

Gosh I love this kid. Her personality is really starting to show now and I love it! She is goofy and funny and fun loving. She does fake coughs to get attention (or to mimic people that we pass in a store), she makes silly noises and laughs at herself, she sits down, stands up, sits down, stands up and then laughs at her silliness. Mommying is hard, it requires you to be so selfless, which doesn't always come naturally, but she is SO worth it. I am still excited for her to learn and experience new things but I want to slow down and cherish every little small thing that happens now too and I want to thank God every day, every hour, every minute for allowing me to teach her things and to watch her experience things.
Note: crawling is rough on the knees. We have to wear pants every other day to give them a break, ha

Hippity, Hoppity

So Blessed, I Can't Contain It

Just feeling really blessed these last few days. I have so much to be thankful for:
A beautiful healthy baby
A husband that is a wonderful provider
Fantastic friends
An amazing family
and most importantly
a God that sent His son to die for my sins

I've been getting a lot of stuff done lately. I've started to paint Kendall's room and tapped off the dining room for painting. This morning I dusted, mopped, vacuumed, cleaned, and stocked downstairs. I love being productive sometimes, Spring does this to me.

I took this picture of Kendall yesterday, it was her first time sitting in the grass and she didn't want to put her hands down. Too cute. The other picture is Kendall all dressed up for her friend Anna's birthday party last Saturday.

Lots of things to be excited about right now. Getting a lot of fun stuff done to the house: painting, new furniture...we have a special birthday party to plan for, and we have lots of guests coming to visit within the next month.

New Life Experiences

I get so excited about sharing new things with Kendall. I think that sometimes I may drive Brian nuts saying things like, "this is her first time wearing sunglasses, this is her first time seeing a rainbow, this is her first time smelling vinegar..." Well, I got to share two new things with Kendall yesterday.

1) Her first time eating honeydew. She seemed to like it but she has spit up a couple times since then so I'm going to avoid it for awhile just in case it's related.

2) Her first time experiencing the joy of riding in the car on a beautiful day with the windows down and good music playing.

Hmmm, maybe next week we'll rent a convertible, every girl needs to experience the wind in her hair like that before her first birthday right?!?!?! Okay, maybe we'll wait.

Okay, Okay

I haven't wanted to update my blog because I like to see that pucker picture when I open my browser! But, I have been getting threatening messages demanding an update.

The online class has started and we are having so much fun. I've been receiving phone calls and emails galore :) We're doing self portraits this week (a little challenging) these are a couple that I didn't choose.

Today I spent the day with Lorie and Alex, a nice little unplanned day. Gotta love those. Jenn, we were near your town (at the Gap outlet). If I knew how to get to your school I was going to leave a note on your car!!

I'm happy to have my husband home this week. He's a good guy even though he did give me quite a scare last night. We were having a heck of a storm and the cable went out (poo, no Grey's Anatomy), he was in bed so I tip-toed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I came out, crept to the dresser and heard the door creak (we're out of WD-40), just then a bolt of lightning lit up the room and there stood....a man. I gasped and darn near wet my pants. He got up while I was in the bathroom to check for tornado warnings, he found my reaction amusing though. My blood was pumping so much that I couldn't go to sleep so he got to listen to me talk for about a half hour (pay back).

Life is So Good

Pictures courtesy of Aunt Lorie
Warm weather today...puts me in such a good mood.
Cleaned up the house...love that feeling of accomplishment.
Got mail...not magazines but notes so even better.
Browsed the new stuff at Target...I'll just say again that is the greatest store.
Picked up some supplies for my online class...what could be better?
Kendall has been so good today...I have the BEST girl in the world.
Going for a walk with Karin this afternoon...really appreciating that I have good friends lately.

Missing my hubby though...I love him

No News

These are pictures from two weekends ago at my cousin Jamie's baby shower. Kendall wore a stylish purple party dress and sported her new white shoes. She also rode a see-saw for the first time with her cousin Maggie. Evidently Maggie is better at sharing playground equipment then I was. I bit Maggie's mom on the back of the neck (when we were little) when she was on my slide. I'm sorry Colette, I'm really embarrassed now!!

I'm psyched about the online class. There is still time to sign up if you are interested, we currently have a class size of 14.

I'm staying busy but I don't really feel like there is too much to blog about. I've been working on some Paper Chick orders lately, I've picked up some paint for a dresser that I want to paint for Kendall's room. I've also been picking up paint chips to help me decid on wall colors, I may do Kendall's room this week. Really no big news.

I do realize that I left you guys hanging on the "big changes" post. Sorry. It has to do with Brian changing jobs but we aren't really sure if it has all been resolved yet so I will just wait to update once everything has settled in that area.

Random Thoughts

Hello, my name is Ashley and I love magazines. There I've said it, admitting you have a problem is half the battle right? I'm not into the celebrity magazines (although I really try not to discriminate against any magazine) but I love the home themed and scrapbook themed ones. Total letdown all week...I open the mailbox and my breath catches in my throat, my heart starts to beat a little faster, I reach in and find...Business Week, Harvard Magazine, or Sports Illustrated. BUMMER! Where is the Better Homes & Garden, the Home Companion... (I could go on but I won't incriminate myself by listing them all).

Also, may I just say that Heidi Swapp makes pregnancy look just a little too cute to me. Muttering to myself: "I am NOT tempted, I am NOT tempted...I do not look that way when I am pregnant. I more closely resemble Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the original) when she ate the blueberry gum and inflated like a hot air balloon.

Kay, just had to get that all out of my system. Thanks for listening.

New Link

Another photo stolen fair and square from the Weires blog.

Just wanted to draw your attention to the new link added on the right. The Paper Chick will be offering an online class soon--->

Don't Wipe That on Me

Kendall and I spent the morning at church. Well, Kendall went to the nursery and I volunteered in the four year old room. All and all it went pretty well. It's amazing how much they change in just three short years, it's also amazing the difference between boys and girls. I was sitting on the floor building a Lego circus and one of the boys came over to squat next to me and tooted really loud. Later in chapel another little boy came to sit next to me and I caught him wiping his booger on me. I called him out on it but he wouldn't take it back so I took his shirt sleeve and wiped it off. Gross, makes me gag a little.

Happy St. Patricks Day

Just a day late. Brian got this special necklace for Kendall when he grabbed a drink with some work guys yesterday. She has carried around the Bud Light one that flashes all day. She even took it with her to the doctor today. She has been SUCH a GROUCH!! I felt certain that she had an ear infection or some other highly painful affliction but it turns out she doesn't...just a case of the brats. Gosh I love her but why is she so grumpy!?!?

Attack of the Crawling Baby...and stuff

Hmmm, what's that clicking and flashing going on, I think I'll go investigate.

Pay no attention to the pacifier, she hasn't been feeling well lately so I have been letting her have it just a tad more (usually it is just in bed and the car seat). She has a low grade fever and congestion, I know how she feels so I just want to comfort her in any way.

Remember when I said that one of my dreams was to have just enough work for the Paper Chick to be busy well, I do! I'm at a really good place right now, I have my big ongoing order (two albums complete and about six more to go), and Gram has been helping me out a lot by selling my cards and notes to ladies that she knows and now she ordered her change of address cards from me. On top of that I occasionally get a gift album every now and then. I have a new contact at the craft store here and she asked for my business card (she actually got me the other big order when she worked at the other store here in town) so I know she will promote my business. Very cool. The other night when Karin came over I worked on 'non-work' stuff and made a cute little album for Kelly that will be from Kendall (have to get that in the mail today) and a little froggy clipboard for Patrick to use to practice his writing.

Rain Rain Go Away...

...little Kendall wants to play.

Actually I like the rain, especially when I don't have to drive anywhere, I can just listen to it, feel the dampness, smell the wet grass. My favorite part of a rain storm is when it has just finished and the sun is trying to come through the clouds and it looks a little eerie but it's so beautiful.

Kendall was a bargain shopper today, she found this fetching coat with matching hat for only $4.
Have I ever said how much I love this neck? I just love to kiss it.

Karin's coming over tonight to scrapbook, gonna have some fun.

The Chick's List Part Deux

Today was a warm but rainy day so I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to bum around in comfy clothes and cuddle with the Snuggle Bug. Evidently, Kendall had other plans. She was fussy, clingy and just generally unpleasant to be around so I knew that we had to get out of the house (she has a complete turn around in attitude when she is in her big girl stroller flirting with complete strangers). She is a bit young for art museums and movie theaters and it was too rainy for the zoo so we went to the next best place...the mall. Seriously, it is a great learning experience when you talk about all the different colors and textures....and it is essential that she adds the following words to her vocabulary: Gap, Pottery Barn Kids, Starbucks...

I am oh so proud of myself because we made it through the entire experience without buying one thing!! Well, except for the cookie and Diet Coke but who could expect me to demonstrate such stellar self control without proper nourishment? Anyway, here is the Chick's list of goods that I would have purchased if I had won the lottery last week :)

Janie and Jack:
Ribbon Rose Embroidered Dress (would make the perfect Easter dress for Little Bug)
Lots more in this store that had great potential

Gymboree:
Corkscrew Hair Curlies
They also had "sweet pea" clothes (one of the names we call Kendall) but I can't find them on their website.

Pottery Barn Kids:
Chez Moi Four-Drawer Dresser: time to move from the changing table to a dresser
Kayla frames: for pictures of her family...cousins, grandparents...
Easter Basket Bucket
Patchwork Bumper Her bumper has had a meltdown and her pacifier falls out sometimes, it is so sad to go into her room and see her with her forehead pressed against the crib just looking at her pacifier on the ground and crying.
Ava Peg Rack and Ledge

Starbucks:
White Chocolate Mocha (this demonstrates the amazing self control that I exhibited)

This is a Test....and a long distance dedication **updated

So Kendall will soon be growing out of her Pampers Swaddlers (we hope). Let me just say that I love Swaddlers, they are so very soft and they fit so very well. We decided to try out some new diapers in preparation of the big step up (in diaper sizes) and I bought Luvs this week. Today I noticed a foul smell being emitted from my sweet baby girl and knew that the Luvs would be tested today.
Let me interrupt my own story to say this: I had a fairly easy pregnancy (except for the unfortunate amount of weight that I gained) I had no morning sickness and very few yucky cravings (just ham spread with cream cheese and wrapped around a pickle, but really that was good). The one thing that bothered me was the smell of buttered popcorn. Unfortunately, my husband loves buttered popcorn and I would have to lock myself in the bedroom every night around eight and not come out until morning just to avoid the stench. Anyway the ironic thing was that Kendall's #2's smelled like buttered popcorn forever!!!! With the introduction of solid foods the smell of buttered popcorn is no more and an odor best described as 'horrid' has replaced it.
Anyway, I digress. Before I dropped Kendall off at the nursery for my Bible study I changed her diaper because said odor was lingering. It was just a false alarm...the big one was still due to come. When I picked her up the ladies warned me that something bad would soon happen in that diaper, they too had been plagued by the foul stench. All day I waited and all day I was teased by the false alarms.
Tonight I took "Kick and Jab" at the gym and when I picked Kendall up the girls working in the nursery were all smiles for me. I noticed the foul stench but thought it must be another false alarm...Surely they would not hand over a baby that had a dirty diaper!?! We came home, Kendall ate a little food and I took her up for her bath. I grabbed the wet wipes just in case (Pampers, of course), drew the bath, opened the diaper and lo and behold the long awaited gift had arrived with only slight leakage out of the right leg hole. I guess the Luv's passed the test.

This post is dedicated to my pal Justin

Note: sorry about the 'big changes' teaser but I can't reveal it just yet. I'm thinking early next week once all involved parties have been properly notified.....and no we aren't pregnant.

**update: I knew that Cruisers were the next step up but she doesn't weigh enough to make the transition quite yet. I tried Luv's because I could get them in her size now, we'll try Cruisers once she has gained a little.

Big Stuff

Brian has the camera with him so I won't be posting any new pics for awhile. Here are a couple more from our photo shoot

BIG changes happening here at the 'S' household, I'm going to wait until things are a little more finalized before posting them though.

Kendall went to story time at the library today. She enjoyed watching the other kids but I think she thought everyone's attention should be on her (hmmmm, I wonder who she gets that from). We met Karin for lunch...love that gal...and then picked Alex up at school to go to our Fitness Ball class. Have I mentioned that I have triceps now?!? Well, I know I've always had them but you can actually see them!

Say Cheese

We had a family photo shoot today. Here are just a couple of the favorites:

Home

Today is a PERFECTLY beautiful day. It's sunny and in the 70s. This morning I was up and out of the house early (going to Bible study) and it had the feel of home. I always got up early growing up, I always had things I wanted to do, I had to fill the day. So as I was driving this morning, the sun was shining, the air was warm and I just had that same feeling that I always had growing up: happy to be alive, excited about what the day had in store, the inability to stop smiling, and it was as if I were back home in Florida again, I could almost feel the beginnings of a sun burn on my skin, man it felt good.

These are pictures from two summers ago at the beach house, I can't wait for July!!!