Another Day in R Life

I love technology...

2012-01-27T15:54:00.003-06:00

Facetime (iPhone) is GREAT when you have a child...

Talking to Sugah Momma and (unknown name grandfather) <3

Our Wednesday...

2012-01-25T08:45:00.001-06:00

I'll give a recap on what a day is like with Cooper at 3.5 - 4 weeks of age.

We'll start with last night.
6-7:15pm - bath time, feeding, cooper in RNP to sleep

9:30pm - mommy goes to bed for cat nap

10:45pm - cooper wakes up, mommy feeds him in nursery. Changes diaper midway through feeding.

11:15 - both of us back in bed asleep

1:15am - cooper wakes up, mommy feeds him in nursery. Diaper changed midway through feeding.

1:50 - both of us back in bed asleep

4:10am - cooper wakes up, mommy feeds him in nurses. Diaper changed midway. We both fall asleep in the recliner in nursery to let daddy have last 2 hours of peace before getting up for work (he's been super grunt-y at this time every morning...so loud!)

6:00am - daddy comes in nursery and kisses us both goodbye. We fall back asleep in chair.

7:10am- cooper wakes me up rooting and sucking on his fingers :) cooper eats, diaper change, then to the living room

7:45am - cooper hangs out in bouncy seat while mommy pumps and eats breakfast. We watch the today show. Cooper is content in chair watching tv.

8:30am - cooper falls back asleep in bouncy seat.

8:30- 9:15am - mommy folds towels, throws clothes in washer, straightens nursery, puts away towels. Cooper wakes up at 9:15 from cat nap.

9:15-9:30am - mommy showers while cooper chills in bouncy seat in bathroom (no makeup and fixing up today because it's rainy..and we all know mommy's not ready for that with a baby!)

9:45am - change diaper! And outfit cause poop came out side of diaper ...fun!!!

10:15-10:40am - cooper eats. He explodes his diaper while eating, so change his diaper again midway through eating.

10:45am - cooper is back to sleep.

10:45-11:45am - more laundry, unload dishwasher, lunch for mommy, cooper wakes back up so we play a little.

11:50am - change his diaper again cause mommy realizes its wet and poopy. Tried moby carrier again. He liked it for 5 seconds before he decided he wanted to eat. So he eats again.

12:30pm - cooper asleep and time for mommy to get things done on computer.

1-2:30pm - cooper is in and out of sleep. Diaper is changed. Stuff is getting done in between rocking him and him being fussy, etc.

2:30pm - daddy is home! Mommy finishes up computer stuff, then runs errand.

3:30pm - feed cooper. Work on him getting a good nap, he fusses, eats, gets diaper changed, etc.

4:45pm - cooper officially asleep on mommy. Mommy is afraid to put him down cause he's been sleeping so light today. Mommy surfs web on iPad :)

6:15pm - cooper eats again.

6:45pm-9:30pm - dinner, work on computer, mommy/daddy time, watch tv, cooper sleeps off and on.

9:30pm - feed cooper again and head to bed :)

D is for Daddy

2012-01-23T15:49:00.001-06:00

Today is my Daddy's birthday, he is the bestest dad in the whole wide world!

Tutorial - Basic Lightroom Collage

2012-01-21T11:27:00.000-06:00

As some of you are aware, I'm participating in the ABC Project - I'm doing it with a bunch of people, the facebook page can be found here: Project 52 - ABCs. Amanda, who is the 'head' of it, did a tutorial on how to make the color blocks on your 'collage' in photoshop, but people were still asking about how to do it with Lightroom...or if it was even do-able?

Well guess what? You can, indeed, do this in Lightroom.

I had a few minutes so I whipped this up to see if it would help anyone without photoshop, etc that wanted to achieve something like this in Lightroom, I have LR3, not sure if you can do it in LR2 or less.

Again, this is a super simple collage, I didn't do any fancy colors (update: I do show an example at end with colors) because I didn't feel like it

This is what we're going for:

or something like this:

Once you are in the library of pictures you want to put in your collage, select the print module. Under Layout Style, click on Custom Package. Then go to Page Setup on your left panel.

This screen will pop up. Pick the size of 'print' you want. I just picked 5x7 because, well just because. My pictures are already cropped to a 4x6 ratio, so I needed some extra space for the writing. You kind of just have to play with this to see how you like it. I also wanted it to be horizontal, so I picked landscape.

Then you will pick your picture, and click where I *'d it, and drag to your print.

Then you can drag your corners and size it how you want it, or click on top of picture and move to where you want it to be.

Then go to the right panel, and let's play with the wording and backgrounds and such. Under PAGE in your right panel.

My arrows should be somewhat helpful in showing what is what. Page background color is the background (mine is white), identity plate is the wording, just click on that and edit, you can choose your font and color, or use the override color to change color of font. If you check watermarking, it will watermark the picture with one of your saved watermarks. Note: if you have 400 pictures on the collage, all 400 will be watermarked if you check this.

Scroll down further on your right panel, and get to the printing part.

These are my settings. Normal web files, I size my file resolution to 72 ppi. But since this is only a 5x7 template, if I were to do 72 ppi (what the standard web file is sized to, not suitable for printing!!), it would only be about 500 on the long side since it's a 5x7 (7*72 = 504). I normally make my web files about 800-950 ppi on long side. Just do it how you prefer. I went with 150 ppi here so my file would be about 1050 on the long side. Print sharpening, I just set to glossy and standard. Again, that's preference. Once you click 'print to file', you choose your folder and name it, and save.

And here is my final image :

I went back and did a colored one real quick to show that example:

I did this one on a 8x10 template (under page setup). This is how I set up my print to file:

I set it to 90 ppi, so that the file would be 900 on the long side (10x90ppi), which is perfect for my blog and facebook.

On the left of the last picture I showed, you see the Template Browser. Let's SAVE this template, so we don't have to make it every time why don't we?! Great idea.

Just click on the plus sign to the right of that Template Browser, and this pop up will come up:

Type in what you want to call it in the Template Name - I named my 'ABC template'. And then you will want to choose your folder, I have a folder where I make my own templates, so I put it under 'Melissa'. Now you have the template saved, so every time you have an ABC project or other something, just go into your print module, click down in the Melissa (or whatever yours is named ha!) folder, and click on 'ABC template' and all your stuff should be right there so that you just have to move your picture and edit your identity plate!

If you have any questions, let me know!

Some things I want to remember...

2012-01-20T11:47:00.002-06:00

This is going to be bulleted random post, but it's things I want to remember, so just ignore, or read, and then comment ;) (the formatting is not showing up how I'm editing it, so I apologize, ugh)

**We had a streak of bad lucks (nothing major) before, and after Cooper was born:

*Two nights before going into labor, we were driving on interstate and got a 1 foot crack in our windshield.
*I dropped my phone in the toilet the day I went into labor, so I had no phone.
*I spilled rice all over the kitchen trying to fix said phone.
*Enter : Cooper is born!
*We leave the hospital as a family of 3 for the first time, anddd, our vehicle's battery was dead. We had to jump it in the parking lot with a screaming newborn in the back (I think he sensed something was wrong ha!)
*One or two days after being home, our house heater goes out (we realized it at night, so just bundled up that night). Next day, heater people came out and fixed it thankfully.
*A couple of days after being home, we realized we never filled out ANY paperwork stating what Cooper's name is. No birth certificate stuff, nothing. I went through my paperwork they discharged us with, and everywhere his name was "Baby Boy R". I seriously thought we were going to have to do a name change at one week old :) (we got it fixed...paperwork somehow got missed or something, not really sure).
*As you can see, none of these are major, but it was just so odd that it all came our way that week. We feel like God was challenging us/preparing us for parenthood. I felt like we took every curve ball rather well though, we just went with the flow and fixed things as they came...I'm positive we're meant to be parents :)

**What is Cooper sleeping in?

*First night at home, we put him in the pack n play with folded towels next to him to make him feel more compact. He slept for 15-30 minutes and then would wake up. He either, A. hated it, or B. was just having one of those marathon feeding sessions...I was up all night.
*Second and third night, I was exhausted beyond from just the whole birth and being up all night that first night, so I just let him sleep on me. We slept well :)
*Third night, we put him in the bouncy seat inside the pack n play. That worked pretty well.
*Fourth night and ever since, we put him in the Rock N Play. After that first night or two, I had asked around and got SO many recommendations for this, so I bought it off Amazon, and had it shipped quickly. I love it...he sleeps very well in it!

**How are the nights in general?

*Normally around 7 to 8:30pm, I nurse him, and then I hand him over to the world's best father, and I head to bed. They have some one on one time until Bryan decides it's time for bed. He puts Cooper in his Rock N Play, and lets me know to start sleeping with one ear and one eye open ;) I then usually feed anywhere from 10:30-11:30, then up again around 2-3, and then again around 4-5:30. So he's sleeping 2.5-4 hour stretches at night. Honestly, not bad at all.

**When Cooper was about 8 days old, for about 7 days straight, he would literally throw up everything he had just nursed once a night. I was super worried there for a few days because I thought he may have an allergy or reflux. Turns out, it just went away after about 15 days old. Hasn't happened since. He does spit up of course, but no more projectile vomiting all his milk.
**Every day he has 1-3 episodes of the crying out, whimpering, and straining. It's absolutely heartbreaking because he looks like he is in so much pain. Again, I was worried when he started doing this because I had no idea what it was. He was having BM's like normal (and not hard ones!), so I just have to console him and let him work through it. They usually last about 1-5 minutes, and then he passes out asleep. ::shrug::
**We caved and gave him his first pacifier at 2 weeks old. He, um, loves it. But actually, just here in the past couple of days (he's 3 weeks old now), he hasn't been interested in it unless he's super fussy. Guess that's a good thing?
**Here in past few days, he doesn't get his good naps in until the afternoon (usually after 12). Pretty much, after his last nightly feeding (the 4-5:30am one), he doesn't sleep as well, and is either A. alert, B. chilling, or B. sleeping but grunting, whimpering, baaaa'ing, squeaking, etc.
**Speaking of his noisy sleeps, not sure what we will do about that. I feel bad because he's the loudest right before B wakes up before work, so last couple of nights, I've just slept for that period in the rocking recliner in the nursery (I must say is pretty darn comfy!). But yeah, I'm not sure if we'll go ahead and move him to his nursery soon or what. I know I will still hear him over the monitor but maybe not AS loud since he won't be right next to our bed? We'll see.
**I think he went through a growth spurt earlier this week. On Monday and Tuesday, he was pretty fussy all day and ate every 1.5-2 hours that day. Then on Wednesday, he was PERFECT baby. Just chilling or sleeping all day. No problems in the world. Thursday, again, perfect baby, sleeping angel. He even had a 4.5 hour nap in there on one of those days!

That's all my randoms for today, I'm sure I have more that I want to remember, but I'm forgetting them at the moment. I'll slip in a picture here since blog posts without pictures are never fun ;)

Taken from iPad.

I love this picture because he holds his hand up like that all the time while sleeping! We always try to think of the 'story' that goes behind it...for example, on Sunday morning, he did it, so we said he was praising Jesus! In this actual picture above, I think my mother in law told Bryan that he was raising his hand in class because he is the smartest kid in class (she is a teacher, and is positive our kid will be a genius!).

Anyways, happy Friday!

Picture Comparison

2012-01-18T17:14:00.001-06:00

This isn't really that accurate because Bryan and I are different ages, and we just really didn't have a whole lot of pictures to choose from for comparisons, but here ya go. Who does Cooper look like??

C is for Cooper

2012-01-17T16:54:00.001-06:00

I finally found my stickers that Krista from K to Z Designs gave to me, so I decided to do my C picture for my Project ABC's. Here is Cooper, at 20 days old.

Cooper was also gifted this super cute monkey from the Fulmer's, so I had to put him beside it. Will probably use it to 'watch him grow'!

Cooper's Room Reveal!

2012-01-16T17:15:00.001-06:00

I am finally getting around to putting up pictures of Cooper's nursery. I was going for a non-themed nursery, with a modern twist, and some pops of color. I searched forever for modern boy nursery inspiration on the internet and pinterest, and I took bits and pieces of what I found to make Cooper's nursery! I loved how it turned out, but of course, there are a couple of things I would have done differently, but I still think it looks great! I'll just post the pictures here, and then do a later post on where everything is from if any of you are curious!

B is for BABY

2012-01-12T15:03:00.004-06:00

Cooper is 2 weeks old today!

Birth Story - Part II

2012-01-11T16:01:00.000-06:00

...continued (Birth Story - Part I here)

I was admitted to Labor and Delivery at approximately 3-3:30am, on Thursday, December 29th. They got me a room and told me to get in a hospital gown. Soon after, I was hooked up to monitor to watch my contractions, and was checked to see if I was dilated. Unfortunately, I was still not dilated...at all. But the nurse could tell from the monitor that I was having pretty strong contractions. They went off and called the doctor on call, and were told to keep me for a couple of hours to watch me. I was then told that it wouldn't be a bad idea to walk the halls and try and get some dilation going.

So for the next 2 hours, I walked the halls, all the while having 'stop you in your tracks' contractions every 3-5 minutes or so. Bryan walked with me a lot, and other times, he talked to his parents who were now on their way to the hospital (they live 2 hours away). My mom had been notified, but was waiting on update (she lives 10 minutes away).

Around 5am or so, I was checked again. At this point, I was a fingertip dilated, but luckily, I had progressed a little bit - I was now 80% effaced! So we were making some progress. Again, I was told they would check me in an hour. At this point, I just stayed in bed and slept.

About 6-6:30am, Bryan had been talking to his coworkers (he is a CRNA) so some of them were coming by and chit chatting. We were at the point where we pretty much knew we were there for the day to have this baby, but still hadn't talked to my doctor. Soon enough, my doctor walks in, and says, "What are we doing here?!". Apparently, she hadn't been notified that I was there, but happened to walk by and see my name and came in. I replied with a, "WHAT did you do to me yesterday?!" haha! She looked over some stuff, and said something like, "Well, let's do it, you're having a baby today! I'm going to break your water!"

I remember feeling super excited, and a "ZOMG, here we go, we're really HERE." Bryan was over the moon excited, you could just tell by looking at him <3 love that man!

This next part of the update is really short and simple, I was somewhat out of it for most of it :) Basically, water was broken, and then I was given a pain medicine...called Stadol. Mark my words..I will NEVER take that drug again hah! They gave me Stadol to help with the contraction pain, and boy did it make me flip out. This is definitely a normal side effect to this drug, and most people it doesn't affect at all, but some people, like me, it makes them totally trip out. I apparently fell asleep after being given the drug, and from what Bryan says, I woke up FREAKING out and saying they were trying to kill me, and that I couldn't see, and that they gave me way too much of this drug, and that I was totally out of my mind. I remember telling him that I didn't know where I was, why I was there, and who everyone was. I also remember being so upset because I wanted to be lucid for my baby's birth. In summary, it was a really bad trip (not that I know what that's like, but I was hallucinating and just freaking out). My blood pressure shot up, people came running in, and Bryan took control and told them once I chilled out I'd be okay. He got me to chill out, and all was okay...or well okay enough, BP went back down anyways.

For the next couple of hours, I was out of it, sleeping and waking only to ask what happened, but slowly, I was coming back around. I remember asking when I would wake up, "When is this going to be out of my system, I hate it!" (talking about Stadol that is).

At some point, one of Bryan's awesome coworkers gave me my epidural. I really thought it would hurt, but it didn't at all...I had a very pleasant experience with that :)

With that said, the rest of the day, I don't remember many details. I remember a lot of people coming in (family mostly) and being ready to cheer us on while we had Cooper. We had an amazing support system that showed up :) I love my family and friends!

It basically took all day for me to dilate further and further. I remember being an 8 around 4 or 5pm maybe? One thing I know for sure though is when it was GO time. We decided to start pushing at 5:30pm. What happened in that next hour and a half is something I will never forget, but something that I'm so proud to have made it through. And for those that haven't had kids, it honestly wasn't that bad. I had always pictured myself pushing the kid out in like 3 pushes, but alas, that didn't happen. I pushed for 1.5 hours with the help of my AMAZING coach, Bryan, and Dr. W. My mother was also a great coach, and my mother in law was also present in the room being a great cheerleader. That hour and a half was definitely the most challenging, rewarding thing I have EVER done in my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat if the end result was that sweet little baby Cooper...it truly is an amazing experience.

He was born at 6:58pm, and then immediately laid on my for .2 seconds, then they rushed him off to make sure he was okay (he had umbilical wrapped around him when he came out). It wasn't long until we heard that cry that we had dreamed about, that sweet little cry. Something about your own child's cry...it's beautiful. He was a healthy 7 lbs and 12 oz. and couldn't be more perfect!

Words just can't describe having a baby...I loved every minute, every painful contraction, every hard part of it. It will forever be stained in my memories as the day I became a mother, the day that I received the greatest gift from God.

I love you Forrest Cooper. You and your daddy are the lights of my life now. I can't wait for you to bring us so much joy for many years to come.

Rounded Corners in Lightroom 3

2012-01-09T15:42:00.003-06:00

Here's a tutorial on how to make rounded corners for your pictures in Lightroom 3. All you need to do is go to your Develop Module (see tabs at upper right part of screen?), pick your picture, and there over to the right, scroll down until you see Effects. Open that up, and set your Post-Crop Vignetting as below for a rounded corner. The only thing about LR3 is that you will still have a black or white background, so keep that in mind. I know my blog has a white background, so I opt for the white rounded corner settings.

The settings below (in Post-Crop Vignetting) is for the black rounded corners:

A closeup on the Effects settings:

After exporting the photo with the above settings, you should see this:

And for a white background rounded corners, use these settings below:

A closeup on the Effects settings:

After exporting the photo with the above white rounded corner settings, you should see this:

Note: you don't have to have the settings exactly as is...you can play with the roundness, midpoint, etc. to get it how you like it. Once you figure out how you like it, it's super easy to save it as a preset that way you don't have to set up these settings every time, and you can just click a button and it will be rounded! If you have questions on how to save it as a preset, let me know and I can do another tutorial on that at a later time!

My Birth Story - Part I

2012-01-09T14:06:00.003-06:00

It all started on Wednesday, December 28th. I worked from home that day, and just felt...off all day. Didn't feel too great, which is funny because I remember telling my boss the day prior how good I felt and that there was no way I was having this baby soon unless things just drastically changed. Anyways, so my stomach was just not feeling great, I felt..crampy. I felt exactly how I used to feel when I would have period cramps - which basically, for me, feel like poopy pains (sorry, tmi).

In addition to feeling off, I was very clumsy that day. I'm not sure what my deal was, but yeah, so I dropped my iPhone in the toilet that afternoon, I can't even tell you how. 39.5 weeks pregnant, and I drop my phone in the toilet?! Seriously?! The phone I'm supposed to call my husband on when I go into labor, the phone I'm supposed to let my family and close friends know that I'm going into labor, the phone that I NEED very much right now. I'm OMG days away from my due date, and NO PHONE??!! Ugh.

Facebook status (which was after my appointment):

So, I immediately got my phone out, and then tried to turn it on and yeah, it didn't work. I decided to do the rice trick, where you put rice in a zip lock bag with your phone and let it sit for hours and hours. Well...as I attempted to do that, I spilled rice all over the kitchen. Strike 2. All I could think is GAH WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!???

My doctor's appointment was at 2:30pm. Strike 3 came when I was walking up to the hospital and tripped on my own feet, and about fell on my face. Luckily, I caught myself. I went to Dr. W to get checked and see if I'd progressed any. I guess I should mention here that the night before (Tuesday, December 27th), I had this facebook status:

That night before, I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes, did a few squats, and a couple of jumping jacks. We were finally ready for Cooper to make his entrance!

Anyways, back to the doctor's appointment. I was checked, and yep, you guessed it, I was NOTHING. Not even a fingertip. Nada. Zip. My husband got off work and came into the doctor's office so we could talk about an induction date. We set the day for Thursday, January 5th.... if no Cooper, we were to be induced this day.

Dr. W did some extra something somethin when checking me though, and said she was trying to dilate me. Hah! Then she proceeded with the normal saying that she said every week, "If you spot, don't be alarmed, it's normal." I replied telling her that I never spot when I get checked, so I'm sure it won't be any different. She came back with, "Well, you might this time, I wasn't trying very hard those other times because I didn't want you to have him while I was out of town." She had just gotten back into town on that day before (Tuesday, 27th) - she had been gone for like 10 days.

We went home, not really defeated, just knowing Cooper would come when it was his time. I wasn't in any hurry to force him out, but of course, was so ready to meet him! Bryan went by the AT&T store, and got me a temporary card for an old phone, so I could at least call someone if something were to happen in the next few days. So, I had a phone, but only a few numbers that I knew from memory.

A couple of hours later, sure enough, I started spotting. Nothing alarming. But just a "hmph, well I guess she did try harder this week." Then we decided to go eat some spicy food at Senor Tequila. I still wasn't feeling very good mind you, so mexican really didn't even sound good to me, but we went anyways. I ate chips and salsa, and then an enchilada with a side of jalapenos. It wasn't appetizing at all, but I forced myself to eat some japs just to please Bryan :)

We got home from our late dinner, and watched tv. Around 9pm, is when my 'cramps' feeling started getting a little stronger. And then I started noticing they were turning off and on...which made me curious, and I then googled, asked some people, etc about whether contractions could be like period cramps - MY kind of period cramps (poop cramping, not back cramps, shooting pains, etc). Sure enough, I found some instances that yes, indeed, this could be contractions. At that point, they were like 10-15 minutes apart, nothing patterned, so I just figured it was a fluke.

We go to bed, and my 'cramps' were getting a little worse (stronger and more painful) and closer together. It was probably about 11pm when I realized, this has to be contractions. By 12:30am, Thursday, December 29th, my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart, lasting anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds, and just felt like strong period cramps. I was having to breathe through the moderate pain, so I knew this wasn't normal. I woke Bryan up at 12:30 and we started timing them and trying to decide if this was the real thing, and what the heck we're supposed to do considering we KNEW just hours before, I wasn't dilated at ALL.

By 1:30am, after googling (gotta love technology these days) and talking it over, we called Labor and Delivery and talked to a nurse. We explained that we had gone to the doctor and that I wasn't dilated or effaced as of 3pm the day before, but that I was now having somewhat painful contractions 3-5 minutes apart. The nurse asked me a few questions, and I even had a contraction while on the phone...which I could barely talk through, but could still talk (which was another thing I wondered about..they say you can't talk through them, but I could for quite a while.). She put me on hold, talked to the charge nurse, and came back with, "Okay, keep timing your contractions, drink 3 huge glasses of water, and take some Tylenol. If you are still having them 3-5 minutes apart, come on in. You're probably in the early stages of labor."

I drank 3 huge glasses of water (this was more because I *might* have been dehydrated they said, but I had drank tons of water that day, so I knew I wasn't), and I took some Tylenol. I couldn't sleep, so I took a shower, and in between contractions, just kind of got things together.

At 3am, it was go time. It was also about the time that my contractions started wrapping around into my back. Ouch. We drove to the hospital, parked in the parking deck, walked down a long hall (while stopping every so often so I could breathe through my contractions), and we were admitted to Labor and Delivery.

Part II coming up next....

Project 52 - A

2012-01-08T18:27:00.000-06:00

An e-friend of mine from a photography forum started a facebook page for a Project 52 - ABC's - which means every week we will do a letter of the alphabet (we'll go through them twice to get to end of year), and you challenge yourself to take a picture of something/someone that starts with that letter. You know how I like challenges like this, and we'll see if I actually FINISH this one...but alas, I am going to make it a goal to do it...surely I can take ONE picture a week right??!

If anyone wants to join in, head on over to Project 52 - ABC's and like them, and join right in, anybody is welcome!

First up, 'A' - a picture of my men ASLEEP.

Forrest "Cooper" has arrived!

2011-12-30T16:35:00.000-06:00

(all photography by my BFF Lacey - unedited)

I'm finally able to blog some stuff, so first things first...Cooper was born! I'll post a birth story later, and just do pictures now.

Forrest "Cooper" was born on December 29th, 2011 at 6:58pm. He measured 7 lbs and 12 oz, 20.5 inches long! He is PERFECT.

Family Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T16:59:00.001-06:00

Pictures from last weekend (with in-laws) and then Christmas weekend with my family....

This was from Payton, the girl in the navy and green striped shirt - she is 9.5 and SO sweet <3
(and yes, our names are misspelled...love her!)

39+ Weeks!

2011-12-26T09:26:00.000-06:00

I'm still hanging...or rather, Cooper is still hanging in there! I still feel pretty good, just a little pressure and lots of tight belly going on. Today might be the day I start trying to do things like walk this baby out and such...we'll see. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday, and I know she won't induce until 41 weeks, but I'm not sure if we'll go ahead and somewhat 'schedule' that day at my appt on Wed, or if we'll wait til after my due date to do that (Saturday is my due date!).

We had a very low key Christmas weekend - I enjoyed it! Friday night we went to Conway and hung out with our best friends, Wade and Toni and their little boy Wit (well, he's 3 and not so little). They are pregnant with their 2nd little boy and only due a month after us, so we are dead set that our boys will be BFF for life :) I actually made B take pictures of us in front of their Christmas tree so our boys could look back in many, many, many years and see that they've been BFF since they were in their mommy's bellies (I'm such a dork, I know). I'll post those pictures at the end.

Saturday, we headed to my mother's house for my family Christmas which is always enjoyable with all the 5 kids running around :) Saturday night, B made chili (not too spicy we didn't want a Christmas baby!), and we lounged around and did nothing. Sunday, B was on call for work, so again, we lounged around, watched football and movies. He got called in about 4:30 and worked for about 3-4 hours, so not too terrible.

So here we are, Toni (about 32-33 weeks with baby boy G) and I (a swollen 39 weeks with baby boy Cooper):

(iphone pictures taken by Bryan)

Card Display

2011-12-24T08:34:00.003-06:00

This is our christmas card display as of December 23rd...and I know there are more coming! I LOVE receiving christmas cards and can't wait to start sending them out next year (since I'll have something to show off ... aka a kid).

Better Than Sex Cake

2011-12-18T07:24:00.001-06:00

Well...not really. But that's what it's called. I wish I had a different name for it, because yeah...when I took it to a work potluck it sort of, kind of, felt awkward stating the name of the cake. I actually just started calling it "Better Than Work" cake that day, because let's get real, there are LOTS of things that are better than work, and this cake was definitely one of them.

There are a ton of versions of this recipe (along with different names) all over the internet, but this is what I ended up with:

Better Than Work Cake

Box of cake mix (I use devil's food cake, some people use chocolate, some people use german chocolate,etc).
Ingredients to make said cake (usually oil, water, eggs)

Make the cake according to the instructions. Once you get it out of the oven, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and then pull out your wooden spoon. Turn it upside down, and poke holes into the top of the cake (only dig about 1/2 cake deep).

1 can of condensed milk (14 oz)
1 jar of hot fudge topping (8-12 oz)

Mix these together and put on top of stove on low heat, OR just heat it up for 30 seconds to 1 minute in the microwave. Stir, and then pour over the cake and let that goodness seep down into those holes. Also, some people only do a half can of milk and half of the fudge, your call, just depends on how rich you want it to be.

topping of choice (heath, butterfinger, reeses, etc)

The first time I made this for work, I used reese's cup because we still had a ton left over from halloween. I chopped up about 8-10 reeses and layered those underneath the whip cream, and then used about 6-8 cups chopped for the top. When taking these pictures, I just bought a bag of heath bar chopped up from the grocery store baking section. Just use your own judgement on how much you want :)

Tub of cool whip (8 oz).

At this point, just let it finish cooling, and then stick in the refrigerator to chill until you're ready to serve. Go ahead and make sure your cool whip is in the fridge as well. For my potluck, I just transported the dish like the picture above, and then AT work, spread the cool whip on right before and topped with my topping. You can do it either way - with the cool whip on, my dish lid touched the toppings/cool whip, so I waited until right before serving to spread it all about. Funny logic huh?

I got a little crazy and grabbed some chocolate syrup to throw on top for a little extra oomph!

Seriously, this is SO easy to make and pretty dang good. I mean, you can't go wrong with chocolate cake, whip cream, and a chocolate bar of choice right??

Better Than Sex Cake:
- 1 Box of Devil's Food Cake baked according to instructions
- Chopped candy bar of choice
- 1 can of condensed milk (14 oz)
- 1 can of hot fudge (8-12 oz)
- 1 tub of cool whip (8 oz)

Bake cake according to instructions. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Take end of wooden spoon and poke holes halfway down into cake. Mix together condensed milk and hot fudge, heat on low heat or microwave for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Pour mixture over cake and into poked holes. Spread half of your chopped candy bar over cake. Chill cake for at least a couple of hours (cool whip will melt if you don't let it cool). Right before serving or after couple of hours, spread cool whip on top of cake, and add more chopped candy bar. Enjoy!

We're Craving Cooper Shower

2011-12-18T06:29:00.001-06:00

Over Thanksgiving, some GREAT friends of my husband's family threw us a baby shower. I think I have to give credit to Kim, who was the creative muse behind all of it....it was so dang cute! They did a "We're Craving Cooper" theme, and all the food was all food *I* have craved since being pregnant. So of course, the food was my one of my favorite parts (in addition to just the people there), because it was everything *I* loved!! I didn't take too many pictures, but threw a collage together of the ones I did take!

Looking back - When I was 10 weeks along...

2011-12-15T16:00:00.000-06:00

Last journal entry from beginning of my pregnancy...

Sunday, June 5, 2011 – 10weeks 2days

Update on the doctor…so we wenton Wednesday early afternoon. Waited inthe waiting room for like FOREVAHHH (an hour). Then I went back, peed in a cup, got my blood pressure taken, and thenwas told that my due date was December 31^st, 2011. Crazy huh? Maybe we will have THE new year’s baby! Annnndddd…get a year’s worth of free diapersand be on tv?? Just kidding.

Anyways, so Bryan was with me, and he was stepping out of work tocome see this baby move around on the sonogram. Thankfully, that’s the first thing they did with us! So we went on back, and Dr. W came in and didher thing and BAM, there’s our little blob on the screen!

She starts pointing everything out, and I’mall like, “um, yeah…never have understood ultrasoundpictures, and I really hope I understand my own kid’s”…said this inmy mind ;) So,I’m holding Bryan’s hand, and we are just AMAZED. I totally didn’t realize the kiddo would bethat big already! It has arms andlegs! CRAZY. This stuff is way amazing.

It was so comforting to actually seesomething in there, and then even more comforting when she said, “Oh see, lookat that heart beating!”….towhich I said, “um…Idon’t see it!!!” This moment totallyreminded Bryan and I of that ‘Friends’ episode where Rachel is doing the samething, and she acts like she sees it, and is all excited, and then startscrying saying, “okayyy, I don’t seeee ittt” crack me up.

Anyways, so Dr. Wrepositioned the camera and then WOW, I saw the heartbeat…it was just going 90 to nothing! Sooo cool!

We got 4 cute ultrasoundpictures, including one I’m SURE baby R is turning on it’s side just wavingat us!

After the ultrasound, wewere moved to another room, asked some history questions, and then I had someother stuff done along with getting my blood drawn (holy cow, they took a lotof my blood!).

After the appointment, Iwas so excited, and just felt so much better that there was actually a real kidin my ute, and I wasn’t just making this stuff up. It was very surreal (as anyone on theBachelorette/Bachelor would say). Wesoon started to tell people, and now a lot more people know, and everyone isjust thrilled for us.

Anyways…just an update. Ifeel great as usual….

Until next time…

My Top Pregnancy Must Haves...

2011-12-15T13:43:00.000-06:00

In no particular order...

Maternity Tank Tops - I got mine from Old Navy. Wore them underneath EVERYthing.

I had horrible heartburn until my doctor finally convinced me to take medicine for it. This stuff is amazing! Some days I forget to take it and right about night time, I REALLY regret it.

Snoogle. It changed my life. I seriously couldn't have lived without this.

Leggings. I wear normal leggings and I have a pair of maternity as well. Dresses are so much more comfortable towards the end, so I match a pair of leggings with them since it's cold.

Must have water near me at all times. I'm always thirsty...in the car, in the middle of the night, out shopping, etc.

This is the brand of prenatal vitamins I take every single day.

I had to change my underwear to a looser fitting kind (instead of the elastic bands that DIG into me). The lace 'lacie' Victoria Secret underwear did the trick. Love them.

Gap maternity pants...in long. Enough said.

I also got Gap maternity jeans...they go on sale every once in a while, so I grabbed a couple of pair at 50% off. Cute and perfect for what I needed them for.

This Clarins 'Tonic' Oil is what I rub on my belly every.single.day mixed with regular lotion. Not sure if it will actually prevent me from getting stretch marks, but at this point, at 38 weeks, I still don't have any. Even if it doesn't prevent stretch marks, I haven't really itched at all, so I attribute it to this stuff.

Self Tanner for my face and neck. I hate being pale. Worse than being pale? Swollen, fat, and pale lol. I use this probably twice a week to just keep myself looking alive in the face.

My toms. I wear the heck out of these, they are comfy, and I don't have to worry about what my toes look like (not painted and sometimes, long toenails because...I can't reach them comfortably!)

So there ya have it....the things I couldn't have lived without so far in this pregnancy. I'm sure there are more, and if I think of anything else, I'll be sure to add it.

Looking back - When I was 9 weeks along...

2011-12-14T16:00:00.000-06:00

Another journal entry from beginning of my pregnancy...

Monday, May 30, 2011 – 9 weeks 3days

Okay, I’m already slacking giving updates. Not good. So, to update on the El Dorado weekend, Bryan and I were eating dinnerwith A & J (his mom and dad), and then Grandma and Grandpa. We gave A her Mother’s Day card, and in itwe signed it “Bryan, Melissa, and BABY R!!!”. She immediately looked at Bryan and laughedand said something like “yeah right.” Well then, I said something like, “oh I’m going to start crying”, andthat’s when she knew it was real. Sheleaped out of her chair and screamed, haha, it was so cute and JUST what weexpected out of her.

J was equallyecstatic, I might have even seen a tear in his eye! Grandma and Grandpa were thrilled aswell. A wanted to know if she couldstart telling people, but unfortunately, we are making her wait for the mostpart (until we get confirmation from our dr). M & E (BIL and fiance) weren’t there in El Do because M had last minutework stuff he got called out for, so once we got back into town, we met up withthem and told them the news. It makes mehappy how happy they are for us, I know they will be awesome uncle and aunty!

Then, we went to my sister’s house for that Mother’s Daycelebration. I spilled the beans in arandom conversation, and again, excitement and happiness for us allaround. They’ve all been waiting for theday when I can join in on the ‘I have children’ status so I can be on theirlevel hehe. For those of you that don’tknow, my sister has 3 children, ages 9, 12, and 13. And my brother has 2 children, ages 7 and2.5. I adore my nieces and nephew, sowe’ve been ready to add one to the bunch for a while :)

Soon after, we told a few close friends, but we’re waiting ondoctor’s appointment to really spill the beans to all.

Bryan and I went on a vacay to Destin in the middle of May, whichwas interesting for me because I didn’t get to have my good ole beer on thebeach or patio :(….definitely worth it though. We had a good time, I felt good for most ofit, and got to eat lots of yummy food.

Okay updates on me. I’mstill feeling good, I figured out that I get super nauseated if I let myselfget hungry…so that means that I eat all day long. Which means I’ve gained about 4 lbs already. All Iwant to eat is carby stuff, and something of substance, so my snacking isn’tsuper healthy (pop tart or apple/orange? I’m going for poptart!).

I have only gotten for real sick once, and that was random. One night, I was alone, so I picked upCarino’s take-out, and as I was eating it, something hit me, and I had to runto the bathroom and just got sick. Iimmediately went to bed afterwards, it was odd. Another symptom is definitely the tiredness…I’m stillnot entirely sure if it’s just the normal “Melissa is always tired” thing, orif it’s pregnancy. I do know that in themiddle of the day, it’s the worst. All Iwant is to take a 2 hour nap. I struggleat work right after lunch. STRUGGLE.

Oh so I went to the lake this weekend to my grandmother’s withthe rest of my Dad’s family. Dad issuper thrilled for us by the way. Well Iwaited til this weekend to tell my grandmother, just because I wanted to tellher in person. So I gave her the news,and she immediately screams (she always screams, it’s funny) and is soexcited. Then she says, “awww, my littlemiss America is having a baby!” and starts getting teary eyed. She has always called me that, so it wasfitting and super sweet.

Now it’s Monday, Memorial Day to be exact, and we FINALLY areclose to our doctor’s appointment. Itwill be on Wednesday at 10am. I’m soready for confirmation, validation, someone of expertise to tell me that thisis really real and I have a kid baking in there :)

Once I go to the doctor, I’ll spill the beans, and hopefully movethese updates to the bloggity blog.

Until next time….

Looking back - When I was 6 weeks along...

2011-12-13T16:30:00.000-06:00

Thought I'd post my journal entries from when I first was pregnant and not telling people. Some of it may be more details than you wanted to know, but I'm pretty much an open book :)

Friday, May 6, 2011 – 6 weeks

Well I’m going to start a journal of this pregnancy journey so Ican REMEMBER everything. My memory isalready bad enough as it is...and I want to document everything just becausethat’s how I roll.

Let’s go back to Easter Sunday,…or well, let’s go back to Monday, April 18^th. I had a consultation with my OBGYN that dayto discuss our next steps because I was on cycle 13 of trying to getpregnant. She whipped into my room, andasked me when my last period was, asked if Bryan had kids (he doesn’t that Iknow of), and then said, “Okay, when you start your next period, call up here,and make an appointment for a pelvic ultrasound, semen analysis, and anhsg. Then after they give you the dates of thoseprocedures, in same phone call, make appointment for a week out to come backand see me and we'll go over it all.”
So I was finallyrelieved that we were actually going to do something. We were ready to have a baby!

Fast forward to thatweekend. We went to a wedding shower anda crawfish on Saturday, had a good time, and then we were up late with our bestfriends, Wade and Toni, but finally went to bed only to get up a few hourslater to drive to El Dorado for Easter Sunday.

So on Easter Sunday,April 24, I was on day 31 of my cycle (my cycles varied from 29-33 days), Idecided, what the heck, I’ll take a test. Peed on the stick and BAM, 2 lines. Like no hesitation. Bryan wasn’tup yet, so I didn’t yell…yet. I looked at the package, I can’t tell you howmany times trying to make sure I was seeing and reading it right. I was in disbelief.

Finally, after about 10minutes of convincing myself that I was seeing the real thing, I went and wokeup Bryan. I think I said something like,“Hey baby, you need to get up, and um..I took a test…andit says I’m pregnant!” He went from deepsleep to WIDE AWAKE and STOKED the next second…he responded with somethinglike, “NO WAY, seriously?!!” And then ofcourse, I got all teary eyed and was like, “yeah!”

Needless to say, we are SO excited about thisnew addition…we have waited and waited for this day, and we wereso glad it was finally here. I can't even describe out feelings, our hearts were so full.

We went to El Doradothat day, but didn’t tell anyone. I was SO exhausted, but I’m not sure if itwas from being up late, or because I now ‘knew’ I was pregnant. I haven’t had really any symptoms sincefinding out 2 weeks ago. I’m tired, yes…butaren’t I always tired? I quit drinkingdiet coke and my crystal light energy, so that’s what I assume I’m tiredfrom. I’m so blessed to still feelgreat! I hope it’s a seamless 9 months:D oh and healthy! Oh I forgot, BIG symptom? BIG tatas. Gah, that first week I found out…they were SUPER sore. I always get sore before starting my period,but this was like 10 times worse. Bothered me in my sleep. I tossand turn in my sleep now too..odd.

Anyways, so today isMay 6, 2011, I’m exactly 6 weeks, and we are about to head to El Dorado forMother’s Day. I’m super excited andanxious, because we are going to spill it to our family this weekend. I KNOW his family will flip out. Bryan’s mom has been waiting for this day fora while too, she has all our names picked out and everything. I’m excited to be able to give her her firstgrandchild. I’m also excited aboutseeing the love of my life be an amazing dad, because I KNOW he will beawesome. I will fall in love with himover and over again, I just know it. Hehas such a caretaker, sweet side! CAN’Twait. Sunday evening, we are spendingtime with my family, and they will find out then too. All of them will be so excited as well…they’veall been waiting for this day for me to bring a child so I can be like them (mysister and brother already have 3 and 2 kids!). Whhoooop! Alright, off so I canpack for my El Dorado trip.
Until next time…

36+ week belly | A different perspective

2011-12-06T18:14:00.001-06:00

From where I'm standing, I see:

a 37 week belly
an exciting future with baby Cooper running around
just a few more weeks of Cooper to myself (I know you mommas understand!)
Christmas is just right around the corner
My 2nd cousin's foot while she is playing with her cousins.
A fun weekend with my family celebrating Christmas

From where you are standing, what do you see?

Cooper's First Baby Shower

2011-12-06T11:29:00.001-06:00

This was held over a month ago, and yes, I'm just now sharing pictures. My friend Lacey took a few pictures, so here's a sampling :) I'm so blessed to have the bestest friends in the world, they spoiled me with this shower! Bryan, Cooper, and I got so many good gifts!

35 weeks

2011-11-28T18:49:00.001-06:00

I'm officially pregnant. Or rather, I really feel pregnant now. I still feel pretty darn good, but I'm definitely 'feeling' it these days.
Belly is super tight, all the time.
I'm swollen. Face is swollen too :( I had B take a couple of pics of me and yeah, my face looks twice the size it usually is (okay exaggeration, but that day it was REALLY swollen for some reason...maybe because it was day after Thanksgiving? ha!)
I have cankles.
My sleep is getting worse. My belly weighs a ton, so if it's not sitting just right, it's like a bowling ball hanging to the side. I am peeing a lot at night as well.
I have officially 'slowed' down. Getting up isn't as easy. Walking isn't as easy. I'm that pregnant girl...but not too terrible. Just funny that it JUST started.
I guess I've gotten bigger because I've had a couple of comments on "when are you due?" and then when I say I have 4.5 weeks to go, they say, "are you going to make it?" or "oh I bet you go early!"
Cooper is still moving around and letting me know he's there. I love him SO much already.
Eye twitch still hasn't gone away. Super annoying.
Weekly doctor's appointments start tomorrow! Internals start...tomorrow. Ackkk!
I have a semi nesting thing going on...just started a couple of days ago. I'm not convinced it's nesting yet.

And here is my bump. I took these before Bryan would come out and take them for me. I chose these over the ones he took because, welp, you can't see my face as much :)

34 week bumpdate

2011-11-18T10:00:00.001-06:00

I'm so behind on blogging...I need to blog about a couple of things, like my first ever baby shower that was FANTASTIC!! I'll do that soon.

As for my updates...everything is going good and same ole same ole. Some notes:

Starting taking heartburn medicine finally a couple of weeks ago, and heartburn is MUCH better...like sooo much better!
I have cankles now. Boo. I worked Holiday House last week for like 4 days straight, and that's when I noticed all my swelling to start in my hands and feet. I no longer wear my wedding ring either now as of last week :( I'll get a fake one if I ever go somewhere to actually get one. My face has definitely rounded out in past few weeks as well. Chipmunk here we come!
I have an eye twitch...as of today, I've had it for 6 days. So annoying. Some people think it's pregnancy related and have said they had it for their whole last trimester. ZOMG, if I have this eye twitch for 6 more weeks...that will suck. On top of the eye twitch, I have super dry eyes, and they burn...so really hard to focus while at work ;)
I'm getting big. In the past week, I really feel pregnant. Not that I didn't feel pregnant before, but moving around is becoming so much more of a chore. Walking uphill or on inclines, I feel like my baby might fall out (the pressure intensifies down there).
My belly is super hard...I feel like it will rip open soon if he gets any bigger.
Cooper moves ALL the time. I love it. He just squirms around all day and all night. Before, I would just feel kicks here and there, but now...as of probably 2 weeks ago, I just feel him all day. This morning it took him a while to wake up and I got worried for a minute lol.
I have a doctor's appointment next week, and then my weekly visits start! Acckk! I can't believe this is all happening so quick sometimes!
I actually washed some of Cooper's stuff the other day, finally! I have some room pictures to do soon too, his room is mostly finished now!
Maternity pictures - several people have asked if I will do them. I had originally just planned on hubs taking like a handful of them, but getting dressed up to do them as been the issue (and finding the time). I also have a ton of belly pictures, so we've all seen progress, so not a huge deal if they get done. Might try for some pretty ones while on Thanksgiving break...when I'm swollen and huge :D

And on that note, some pictures:

This is at 33 weeks...I re-used my bridesmaid dress from Lacey's wedding and wore it to a friend's wedding - threw on a long necklace to dress it down a little. Funny how from the front, I don't really look too pregnant! Oh and this is TOTALLY my America's Next Top Model Pose...totes!

And at 34 weeks, yes, in the bathroom at work, showing a friend my new Target dress that I got for $7 and is perfect for pregnant belly.

I promise I'm not self absorbed with all these pictures of myself, I just like seeing belly progression, and know I will like to look back on these one day when I'm not pregnant :D Soon enough, you will ONLY see TONS of pictures of baby Cooper!

Who is ready for Christmas??

2011-11-10T09:39:00.001-06:00

{friday foto dump}

2011-11-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

2. Toni, Me, and Laura before our best friend, Lacey's wedding
3. Cooper's masterpiece in progress
4. Homemade nachos for dinner!
5. Wes working hard on the masterpiece.
6. Bryan and Wes working on sign again.

1. My niece, Maggie, at her 3rd birthday party.
2. Bryan and I took a CPR class this week, we are now infant and toddler CPR certified!
3. Lacey getting ready before her wedding.
4. A SUPER cute trick or treat sign I got on super sale at a cute store. Had to snatch it up.
5. My friend Megan let me borrow her baby wise book, now...to start reading it!
6. Bryan and I also took a Newborn Care class - we enjoyed it!

These are all from last 2 weeks since I skipped out on last weeks photos...was too busy doing Lacey's wedding festivities.

31 weeks bumpdate

2011-10-31T20:12:00.000-05:00

How big is baby this week? I'm not sure. But we went for 4D a week ago, and he was estimated at 3 lbs 5 oz.

Due Date: December 31st, 2011 (Babyviews says December 23rd, doctor says December 25th!)

Weight Gain: Went to doctor last Wednesday, and I'm officially up 25 pounds. With 9 more weeks to go.

Symptoms: I feel really great other than lots of heartburn, getting harder to get up and down off couch, harder to put on shoes, bending over sucks basically.

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

Cravings: I don't have any cravings lately. I am having more trouble just figuring out what the heck I want to eat. Nothing sounds horrible, but nothing sounds awesome either.

Aversions: No.

Sleep: It's doing pretty good except when I wake up to heartburn. It's weird though, I go to the bathroom constantly during the day, but at night sometimes...here lately, I can go all night without peeing? Of course, when my alarm goes off at 5:30, I'm about to DIE. :)

I am loving: Feeling Cooper moving all the time. He's active and I just LOVE it! He's not so much kicking, just moving his arm across my stomach, sticking his butt or something out, etc. Ultrasound did say his head was pretty low in my pelvis, and that he's more on my right side, with a foot in my ribs every once in a while :)

I miss: my smaller butt and bewbs, margaritas and beer, crystal light energy drinks, and my sugar free kool-aid.

I am looking forward to: seeing the nursery be finished! Also, my first baby shower is this Sunday! So excited to see everyone!

I'm spazzing about: not much really. I'm pretty chipper these days :)

Best thing about this week: Cooper was in his 2nd wedding! First was my sister's back in July and this past weekend was one of my best friend's, Lacey. Fun times!

It's a...: BOY! Forrest "Cooper"

Exercise: nada. Supposed to go in the morning.

Diet: Been pretty good except for the sweets from Lacey's wedding, and all the halloween candy :-/

Other goals: Finishing the nursery!

31.5 weeks bump pic.... (I have no idea what the edit looks like on this, because I did it on my laptop screen instead of my *special* monitor*...oh and excuse my ratty hair - long day)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:19:00.000-05:00

(yes, I realize I'm a huge dork.)

Cooper in 4D Ultrasound

2011-10-24T19:21:00.001-05:00

I never thought these were cute until it was MY kid, and oh my, I can't WAIT to nom on these chubby cheeks! I just am so in love with him already <3

Cooper...at 29.5 weeks...in momma's belly :)

30 weeks bumpdate

2011-10-24T19:13:00.001-05:00

How big is baby this week? The size of a head of lettuce! Average size: 18 inches, 3.2 lbs.
Due Date: December 31st, 2011 (Babyviews says December 23rd, doctor says December 25th!)

Weight Gain: According to doctor weight, and my last dr appointment a week or so ago, I've gained about 22 pounds I think? I'm going again to doctor on Wed, so I'll get definite. I keep forgetting how much I've gained, which I guess is a good thing :) (I don't weigh myself at home ...really...ever?)
Symptoms: I feel really great other than lots of heartburn episodes, which SUCK by the way. That's by far, the worst thing about my pregnancy, so you see, I can't really complain right?! It's getting a smidge harder for me to get around, I get out of breath when I'm doing a lot of things (like cleaning and getting ready for the shower I threw this past weekend, had to take lots of rest stops!)
Maternity Clothes: Yep!
Cravings: I don't have any cravings lately. I am having more trouble just figuring out what the heck I want to eat. Nothing sounds horrible, but nothing sounds awesome either.

Aversions: No.

Sleep: It's doing pretty good except when I wake up to heartburn craze and want to literally throw up. I usually wake up, eat some tums, and then fall back asleep sitting up.
I am loving: Feeling Cooper moving all the time. He's active and I just LOVE it!

I miss: my smaller butt and bewbs, margaritas and beer, crystal light energy drinks, and my sugar free kool-aid.
I am looking forward to: seeing the nursery be finished! We are actually getting somewhere! Crib, dresser, chair, lamp are all in there now. Just need picture that Bryan is making, bedding, and a few decor things and we're golden on the 'look'! Shower in a couple of weeks, so the necessary stuff will come soon after too!
I'm spazzing about: not much really. Still need some motivation and focus for work.

Best thing about this week: That I got to see my baby on 4D ultrasound. Pictures are below! They said he probably weighs about 3.5 lbs, and that his belly alone would have measured him at 3 lbs 12 oz, so I got me a chunky monkey which I love! He looks great and everything is going good.
Movement: He loves to kick now. And poke. And just move.

It's a...: BOY! Forrest "Cooper"

Exercise: I've been pretty busy lately, so haven't been doing as much as I'd like. Not sure when I'll get unbusy...life is crazy right now (BFF is getting married this weekend!)
Diet: Been pretty good.
Other goals: Finishing the nursery!

I'll show 4D pictures in next blog post, he deserves his own blog post :)

{friday foto dump}

2011-10-21T17:54:00.003-05:00

(definitely posting this late....sorry! but it is still friday to friday iphone pics!)

2. Bryan's masterpiece for Cooper's room...in progress.

3. We got a 4D ultrasound done this week, little stinker loved his hands by his face, so this is the best we got. I love those chunky cheeks, and can't wait to nom on them!

4. Thursday night we had a KapichE show, even though there weren't as many people to show up as we thought, we had a great night of sales!

5. Subway is what I ate before my 4D to get Cooper moving...I had eaten it last week, and noticed he was jumpy, so decided that would be THE meal before the 4D (chicken breast with sweet onion sauce, chips, and a couple of cookies! oh and a coke).

6. Went to the Arkansas State Fair on Tuesday night to take pictures of my BFF Lacey and her fiance, Kevin. I showed a sneak peek here!

1. 30 week bump!

2. Went to eat at a japanese grill, I haven't eaten AT the grill in quite sometime, it was yummy!

3. Deer out by our house. Bryan got hit by a deer almost 2 weeks ago, so we had to carpool ALL week last week since his truck was in the shop. $5200 worth of damages! CRAZY! So glad hubs was okay though, so scary!

4. Baby alligator at the fair.

5. Stuffed owl for Coop's room :)

{friday foto dump}

2011-10-14T23:50:00.005-05:00

I figured I'd try something new around here, and do a photo dump every week of what's on my phone. I've been playing around with instagram (app in iPhone) and making my pictures all vintagey and just different, it's been fun! So, I'm going to try to do a 'friday foto dump' every weekend and it will give you a little glimpse of what is going on in our lives. I was able to do this kind of when I did project 365 last year, and I miss it, so this is my alternative!

2. Baby room is coming along! That's our chair and lamp.

3. Baby bump at 29 weeks.

4. We hung curtains last weekend - whoop!

5. B got a new iPhone 4s in the mail yesterday, can we say super pumped?!

6. GO HOGS! Game was awesome last weekend!

1. B put together a cube shelving for baby C's closet.

2. Artwork for C's room, not yet hung.

3. We have a CRIB! Just waiting on bedding to come in now.

4. My heartburn is out of control, I've invested in some TUMS this week :)

5. I registered! It's amazing! Target and Babys R Us done, still need to finish WalMart.

6. I got my hair cut and darkened (not too much difference actually) this week.

Again, don't forget to change fitandcrafty to

www.anotherdayinrlife.com!

New Blog Address

2011-10-14T07:42:00.000-05:00

I finally came up with another blog domain name. I knew once we started a family, I wanted to change my blog name or start a new one...I decided to just change the name because I didn't want to have to keep up with 2 different blogs. Coming up with a new name was a tad difficult, as I'm not super creative with words, but the other day I came up with this one and just thought, what the heck, let's go with it.

www.AnotherDayInRLife.com

Our last name starts with an 'R' for those of you that don't know ;) But anyways, I wanted something easier than spouting off, "Hey, go check out pictures of my baby on fit and crafty dot blogspot dot com!" Sounds....so....cheesy and dumb lol. Granted, not that the new name isn't cheesy, but it doesn't say fit and crafty! All of 'me' will still be on the new blog, all my random ramblings, photography, fit'ness, crafty'ness, but you will get lots of family stuff in addition and get to see the cutest boy grow up!

If you type in my old blog address, it should still direct to the new one, but I'm not sure how long that will last, so go ahead and add http://www.anotherdayinrlife.com/ to your readers and bookmarks!

27 Weeks Mini Bumpdate

2011-09-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

First of all, update...I had to go in Monday for my 3 hour glucose test to see if I really had gestational diabetes or if the 1 hour was just a false alarm. LUCKILY, it was a false alarm, and I'm all good, perfectly normal! Yay! I'm sure I need to keep my diet in check anywho, so I'll try to start being better.
Cooper is moving all day long now, I'm loving that!
I'm hoping to start being VERY aggressive with the nursery...like this weekend. I've got to get things going in there.
I need to register. My good friend Courtney volunteered to help me, I just need to pick the day.
I have been feeling really good lately. Like my mental image of my body good. I was feeling so fat and bloated for so long because I was just steadily gaining weight in all areas...but I think it's finally just pulling it all into my belly, so I feel much better these days. Either I'm used to it, or just my weight really has just leveled out and only going to my belly these days.
I'm been extra hungry this week. I've been wanting to eat for 1.5. You know...they say don't eat for 2 or you'll get huge, well..I don't...but now, I want to eat for 1.5. K? K.
I'm so ready for FALL!
When does my 3rd trimester officially start? I get so confused on all that. It's actually a slap in the face if it's like...REALLY soon (in few days), because um...all I have is a painted nursery, a chair, 2 outfits from Syd, a bathtub thingy from Megan, a mobile from Megan...and yeah, that's about it. WHAT if I have this kid like 6 weeks early!?? I'm screwed.

Now for pictures, above is my shadow picture...I had a vision that it was going to be supAH cool, but sun had already dropped and that is what I ended up with. I took a normal picture just in case shadows aren't your thing...

26weeks bumpdate

2011-09-25T12:43:00.001-05:00

How big is baby this week? (26 weeks stats:) The size of an eggplant! Average size: 13.6-14.8 inches, 1.5-2.2 lbs.

Due Date: December 31st, 2011 (Babyviews says December 23rd, doctor says December 25th!)

Weight Gain: Went to the doctor last week, I only gained 3 lbs the past 4 weeks, which is a record for me considering I've been gaining at least 1-2 lbs a week so far :). Total weight gain is about 20-25 lbs...I don't really remember what my starting weight was at the doctor...

Symptoms: I feel really great. I've gotten the pregnancy brain thing going on more in past few weeks, there have been a lot of stories started and not finished, or just random brain farts where I can't think of things, and yeah, it's annoying. Brain dead a lot these days.

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

Cravings: I don't have any cravings lately. I am having more trouble just figuring out what the heck I want to eat. Nothing sounds horrible, but nothing sounds awesome either.

Aversions: No.

Sleep: It's doing well! I do have 2-3 nights a week where I'm waking up at like 3 am and can't really go back to sleep, not sure what that's all about.

I am loving: Feeling Cooper moving all the time. He's active!

I miss: my smaller butt and bewbs, margaritas and beer, crystal light energy drinks, and my sugar free kool-aid.

I am looking forward to: getting going with the nursery. We're going to Ikea soon, so hoping that will kickstart the decorating.

I'm spazzing about: not much really. Still need some motivation and focus for work.

Best thing about this week: That I feel great.

Movement: He loves to kick now. And poke. And just move.

It's a...: BOY! Forrest "Cooper"

Exercise: I've been pretty busy lately, so haven't been doing as much as I'd like, but still getting a couple of days in there of walking/slow jogging.

Diet: Been pretty good. Speaking of diet, I failed my 1 hour glucose test last week. I'm bummed, because they said I was "pretty high"....aka, normal person 139 is the okay level, they want pregnant women to be at 120. What is Melissa at? Welp, I'm at 148, so booyah! Ugh. Going for 3 hour test tomorrow...hope I pass, or else, I get to be lucky and be on a strict diet. But hey, I'll do whatever to keep this kid healthy.

Other goals: Eating better for baby Coop so I won't be getting all gestational diabetic on him ;)

Trying to show you what it really looks like :)

KapichE $50 Giveaway

2011-09-20T12:11:00.001-05:00

You know how I love to just have lots of random side businesses?? Well, KapichE Boutique has become one. One of my best friends has run this jewelry business for over 4 years, and I decided to hop in and help her .... it just kind of happened, she didn't ask, I didn't ask ... I just started helping a lot, and then one day we were like, "Oh let's just add me as part owner" haha!

Anyways, it's mainly a jewelry business where we only do trunk shows and private parties. We do a lot of local 'fair' kind of booths and such. Just recently (where I came in), we've decided to try our hand in selling stuff online. Our problem though? We only have limited quantities of everything, so having a website deemed difficult since some of our items sell out fast and we can't reorder. So...we're going to start posting on Facebook, and selling on there!

Basically, we will try to upload items every week or so, and if you are first to comment SOLD with your email address, and after you pay via a paypal invoice we will send, we will get the item shipped to you (we ship anywhere in US). Fun huh?!

To kick this off, we are currently doing a $50 gift certificate giveaway. To enter, you have to go LIKE KapichE Boutique on facebook, like the giveaway picture, and then tell your friends!

Hurry up, because the contest ends tomorrow night! Again, anyone that lives in the US *should* enter this giveaway - we can ship to you!!

We will upload our first selling album at the end of this week...here's a sneak peek of what is to come this week!

Cute stuff, huh??!!

Inspired by Pinterest...DIY Fire Pit

2011-09-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

When I first starting doing the pinterest thing, I pinned a DIY firepit from here. The hub's brother had given us an old iron fire pit that was all rusted, but we knew we could do something with it. It was one that looked like this:

image

(except it looked rusty and old)...

We spray painted the fire pit (with non-flammable spray paint). Then we bought the patio bricks at Home Depot..overall, this project was about $30 buckeroos. Awesome right??

The end result...

We made it like months ago, so the bricks need to be adjusted to sit closer together (we didn't glue or anything, the heaviness keeps them where they need to be for the most part.) We use it as a stepstool, so they've shifted ;)

DIY Burlap Wreath

2011-09-17T17:05:00.002-05:00

Pinterest got to me again...I LOVE PINTEREST, have I mentioned that lately? If you're not on there, you need to be, and if you are on there, follow me and more than likely, I'll follow you back

(my pinterest).

I've been wanting to do something razorback/hog (ARKANSAS) related on a wreath ever since football season started, so a few weeks ago, I searched all over pinterest for DIY wreath ideas. When I saw this on pinterest, I knew I had to do it because I have some burlap left over from who knows what.

So off to Hobby Lobby I went.

My supplies consisted of:

*styrofoam wreath - I got 18" I believe.

*wooden letters

*black spray paint

*red paint

*wooden rod thingy (gah, what are those called??)

*leftover burlap (I used about 2 yards?)

*balled pins (found in sewing section)
*hot glue gun

I followed directions mainly from here - Today's Fabulous Finds blog. But long story short, this is what I did:

1. Spray painted my letters black.

2. Cut my burlap in about 4"x4" squares. I would estimate I ended up using about 180-200 squares for this 18" wreath.

3. The bubbling is demonstrated in the blog I mentioned I above, but I just kind of worked with it and found something that worked for me. Just bubble up each square and pin into the styrofoam. Some people glue, but I think I would stab my eyes out if I had to do it that way - pins are the way to go! I didn't put burlap bubbles on the back or really much on the top. This wreath is meant to be seen far away :)

4. Half way through, I hot glued the rod thingy on top of the wreath in the middle, so the letters would have something to stand on. I did burlap bubbles around it.

5. Once I finished the burlap, and finished painting my letters how I wanted them to be, it was time to glue the letters on. I figured out where I wanted them to go, and then started with the O and glued it to the rod (I actually glued little cushion thingys underneath so it would stand out further. Then went to the G, and then glued the H and S on the bubbles and a corner of the letter next to it. Let it dry for an hour or two.

6. Go hang it up and be excited you accomplished something cute, simple, and crafty!

I plan on probably doing a halloween one soon with black or orange burlap, I think that would be cute! Fall wreaths would be perfect for this as well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

Oh and...

GO HOGS GO!!!

Cooper's Thank You Cards

2011-09-15T18:26:00.002-05:00

I decided I wanted to make my own personalized thank you cards for baby Cooper's gifts. I absolutely, probably overly, LOVE anything and all things chevron patterned, so that's what I went with. I was excited to order them, and so I placed my order with my photography lab.

A few days later, they come in. I squee with excitement because I can tell already, that I LOVE them. I open up the package, and feel the cards (they are linen) and inspect them, and they are *exactly* how I wanted them...or so I thought.

Turns out...I ordered FLAT cards. Not folded, like I originally intended. Seriously, WHERE is my brain??!! People aren't kidding when they say you lose some brain cells when you're pregnant. Gah, it can be really annoying, trust me.

After beating myself up for a good few hours about it, with the help of some great friends, I realized...that all in the world is going to be okay. And then, THEN, with their encouragement, I decided that these flat cards? Welp, they are the new and upcoming trend for thank you cards!! You didn't hear about it? Well, I'm here to tell you about it! The new thing for 2011-2012 is..flat thank you cards. They are modern, minimalistic, and super duper cool....not to mention, UNIQUE. Jump on the flat card train people!!

Anyways, here they are :) I realize there is nothing original about them, but I love them because A. they have my baby's name on them, and B. they're CHEVRON!

24w3d mini bumpdate and product rave :)

2011-09-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to do the whole questionnaire thing because not much has changed since last time. I'm feeling wonderful, my belly is growing weekly, and Cooper is a kickin like crazy!

Here's a picture from Sunday (24w3d):

Okay so for product rave #1...this outfit I'm wearing? Well, I bought it a little over a week ago and have seriously worn it 3 times (actually have worn pants more than that). I'm PRETTY sure it's pajamas, but I've worn it to run to Walmart and such. SO comfortable, and I just love it. It's not maternity, I just bought a size up. It's from Old Navy, and I *need* another set in a solid color...LOVE and highly recommend! And look, they are long enough! That's after wash and dry!

Pants are here

Hoodie is here

Another product rave I have is nail polish, I'm LOVING this navy color I'm wearing. I bet I will wear the heck out of this fall season.

OPI "Road House Blues"

30 Day Challenge - Day 3 and 4

2011-08-31T21:48:00.001-05:00

I'm already slacking on my creativity! It's been a REALLY busy couple of days (worked a 16-17 hour day yesterday YUCK)...so hopefully my next few photos will be more exciting!

Day 3 - Clouds (taken with iPad)

Day 4 - Green (iPad pic. What time I got into bed after having dinner with the bestest girlfriends ever!)

- Posted using BlogPress

30 Day Challenge - Day 2

2011-08-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

What I wore today:

There is a story behind this shirt, so I'll go ahead and share it. I have an internet friend that started a facebook selling page I guess is what you call it, and started selling stuff out of her closet and her son's closet, etc. This shirt is from her "closet" that I bought off of her. I comment SOLD on the picture in her facebook album, and she sends me an invoice via paypal, I pay it, and voila, just a few days later, I receive this lovely shirt (and a couple of others) in the mail. Pretty cool!

Anyways, she made some decent money within a week, so I decided to try it out too. So I started my page (it's called Mel's Closet if you'd like to go and play around - just request to be my friend and I'll let ya in). There was some major purging that needed to be done in my closet, and while I've listed quite a few things, there's still many many things to sell (mainly in my hub's closet, and just random household stuff). So anyways, I've been doing it for about 3 weeks and have made almost $600 (granted, a camera lens was half of that, but STILL!).

So what did I do to start all of this? I'll share how *I* do it, in case anyone is interested. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and ask or email me (msfbr828@gmail.com)

1. Created a facebook page - I did a just normal personal page, but you can also do a business page, which I almost wish I did so that way it would just be connected to my existing personal page and I could swap easily without signing in with a different userid/password.

2. Ordered polymailers to mail the garments in. I ordered mine from here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HG9I5A

3. Took pictures, uploaded the pictures to a facebook album and priced everything! I just have a spreadsheet that I keep with everything on it, who buys it, etc.

4. I include shipping in my list price, I usually just estimate or use my food scale to figure out how much the garment weighs so I can calculate shipping. I've been able to send everything (under 13 ounces) for about $3.28 at most (if I do it from paypal.)

5. If a person would like the item, they comment on picture with SOLD and their email address.

6. I send them a paypal invoice via email for the total amount.

7. Once they pay, I click on 'print shipping label' from the paypal screen, and weigh my garment/s inside of bag, enter that weight in, what kind of package I'm sending it in, and just pay for the shipping and print a label right then and there. Like I said, most of my shipping has cost, at the least, $2.09 to about $3.28 (majority of the time it's this price). I also state that I only ship on Tuesdays and Thursdays - just to not make myself crazy with it and so I won't be running to post office every day.

8. I package it up, tape shipping label on bag, and drop it off at a USPS dropbox or if it's more than 13 ounces, I have to take it inside. Easy peasy.

It's fun stuff, and I keep finding stuff I want to sell just so I can make some mula! I'm sure I left out lots of details, so if you have any questions, just comment below and I'll answer them!

22w3d bumpdate

2011-08-29T17:55:00.001-05:00

How big is baby this week? (22 weeks stats:) as long as a spaghetti sqaush! 11 inches long and about 1 pound!

Due Date: December 31st, 2011 (Babyviews says December 23rd, doctor says December 25th!)

Weight Gain: Went to the doctor last week, and I think I'm hovering over the 20 lb mark. Doctor hasn't screamed at me yet though, so I guess that's good. Oh and by the way, taking the glucose test next doctor's appointment - fun stuff!
Symptoms: I'm feeling awesome these days. Still not all there brain wise, but heh, that's been always ;)

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

Cravings: Not any huge cravings this week. Loving salad though, and tomatoes, and ranch :)

Aversions: Not really.

Sleep: It's doing great! If I don't have the snoogle, I toss and turn alot and wake up with sore hips, hmph.

I am loving: Food. My belly.

I miss: my smaller butt, margaritas and beer, crystal light energy drinks, and my sugar free kool-aid.

I am looking forward to: waking up one day and just KNOWING what I want to do with the nursery. Still lacking some key pieces in the design I want to go for.

I'm spazzing about: not much really. Still need some motivation and focus for work.

Best thing about this week: That I feel great, showing off my bump more, so random people at work are definitely noticing. Cooper has been kicking aLOT more, love it!

Movement: He loves to kick now. Or poke. Or something. It's almost a fact that he will kick hard and good around 8:45pm every night. He also kicks a lot in the morning, along with while I'm eating.

It's a...: BOY! Forrest "Cooper"

Exercise: I was okay last week, walked 3 times I think.

Diet: Been pretty good this week except for indulging in a few awesome things while at in-laws this past weekend.

Other goals: Exercising 3-4 times a week (no excuses now with gym), and eating good 75% of the time ;)

30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-08-28T19:46:00.002-05:00

So, I'm participating in a photo challenge...hoping I will pull out my camera for personal creativity again. There's a few people on a photo forum that I'm on doing it as well, so hopefully they'll keep me accountable! The link to what the 30 days are is here if anyone wants to join in:

http://whitepeachphoto.com/2011/05/25/photography_challenge/

I will entertain you and post the pictures I take, how fun right??!!

I, of course, wore no makeup today, travelled over 2 hours back to my home, and haven't showered....so I used a little photoshopping to help my rawness. By the way, Patch tool is SERIOUSLY the best thing ever for dark under eye circles(mine are horrible)!

- Posted using BlogPress

Day 1 of 30 - Self-Portrait

20 weeks

2011-08-16T20:24:00.002-05:00

At 20 weeks, we have hit some milestones!!

1. We started on Cooper's room! We (or shall I say my awesome hubs) painted the bedroom this weekend! Pictures soon.

2. We bought our FIRST, oh yes, the first baby related purchase! We got the recliner I've been loving...I can kick back and relax and sleep and yep, this recliner will rock my socks off! (eta: Recliner is La-Z-Boy, custom ordered because I picked that specific fabric).

And 3. BIG NEWS!! Bryan felt Cooper kick on Sunday night (8/14). He said it felt like a thump <3. We keep trying to get him to feel again, but right now it's random when he's really kicking around.

That's all for now folks...

Posted using BlogPress

19w5d Bumpdate

2011-08-11T11:52:00.000-05:00

How big is baby this week? (20 weeks stats:) Cantaloupe! 6.5 inches and 10.6 ounces! Doctor told us a couple of weeks ago though we have an 11 ouncer...so I'm assuming he's probably more like 12-13 now <3
Due Date: December 31st, 2011 (Babyviews says December 23rd, doctor says December 25th!)
Weight Gain: Probably about 15-20 lbs. I'm not really weighing myself because I don't like the numbers :)

Symptoms: I'm feeling pretty darn good these days. Just a little mindless and dumb blondish ;)

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants for sure. Maternity shorts mostly. Shirts, mostly regular ones, but a couple of maternity ones.
Cravings: Not any huge cravings this week. Loving salad though, and tomatoes, and ranch :)

Aversions: Not much lately.

Sleep: It's doing great! Again, snoogle saved my life. :)

I am loving: Food. My belly.

I miss: my smaller butt, margaritas and beer, crystal light energy drinks, and my sugar free kool-aid.
I am looking forward to: making myself start the nursery! I'm slacking big time. Still haven't bought ANYthing. Not sure what's wrong with me....probably cause I know it'll be buy buy buy buy forever once I start ;)
I'm spazzing about: not much really. Still need some motivation and focus for work.

Best thing about this week: That I feel great, showing off my bump more with tighter shirts, and loving the attention...thus far.

Movement: Definitely feeling him kick more. Usually in the morning, or later at night...and when I have on too tight pants Hah!

It's a...: BOY! Forrest "Cooper"

Exercise: Still too hot, so I joined a gym this week! I've exercised twice thus far. Plan on going this afternoon!
Diet: Been pretty good this week.

Other goals: Exercising 3-4 times a week (no excuses now with gym), and eating good 75% of the time ;)

Belly Pic: big things are happening around here.....in several places ;)

Seriously losing it...

2011-08-03T15:47:00.000-05:00

My husband thinks I've been losing it for quite a while, but as of yesterday, I think I'm officially losing it. Not sure if it's a pregnancy thing, or ... just, I'm showing my dumbness hah.

Okay first story, was from today. It's no news to most of you that I'm on a message board with a ton of people I met on a wedding forum back in 2008 (oh hey, my anniversary was yesterday, need to post on that!). We have still kept up and yeah, it's pretty cool (more on them here if you don't know).

Anyways, so I'm talking to one of them and they mention something about a "vbac". I'm all like, "WTH is a vbac?!" Well, it's a vaginal birth after C section. "Ohhh ok!"

Few hours pass, and I come back with, "Wait, I'm confused, how does this work again? Explain this please, how do you have a vag birth after C section?"

I get a great straight answer explaining that it basically means with, say, your first child you have a C section, and then on your 2nd child, you have a regular vaginal birth. Most doctors won't allow you to do that though (just fyi).

Me: "AHHH okay...gah, I was seriously thinking, same kid, same day... you have a csection one minute, and then another minute, oh lookey here, let's have a vaginal birth! Wasn't getting it AT ALL."

LOL.LOL. I'm such a dork.

Second story:
We had our official 'real' ultrasound yesterday that would reveal the gender of our kid. Nurse tells us that the kid weighs 11 ounces! I'm all like, "OMG, that's so crazy, just 2 weeks ago he weighed 7 ounces, he's already gained THREE ounces!!??? WOW!!!!"

Fast forward to 30 minutes later as we're going down the elevator leaving the hospital,

Bryan: "Just for future reference, 11-7 is NOT three, it's FOUR."

Me: "OMG, I'm such a dumba$$!!! Dude, why didn't you correct me?!!!"

And what the heck, I'm like good at math! I STILL can't quit laughing about it, I'm so embarrassed that every time I think about it, I just crack up...that nurse really probably thought I was the biggest airhead...and well, I can't blame her. LOL!!

18 weeks bumpdate

2011-07-29T10:38:00.001-05:00

How big is baby this week? The size of sweet potato! (about 5.6 inches and 6.7 oz!)

Due Date: December 31st, 2011 (Babyviews says December 23rd, we'll see what my doctor says next week)

Weight Gain: Since my first doctor's visit? 13 lbs. But it's probably more like 15 lbs. Blah.

Symptoms: Still have the clearing throat thing, it's super annoying (and drainage). Other than that, I feel pretty human these days.

Maternity Clothes: I've moved onto maternity pants at work. I have a coworker selling me her pants, thank goodness she is tall like me so I have some discounted pants, yay! I wore regular jeans the other night with a Beband thingy, and yeah, it was NOT comfortable. I need to get some maternity jeans asap.
Cravings: Not any huge cravings this week. Loving salad though, and tomatoes, and ranch :)

Aversions: Raw meat - not AS bad though.

Sleep: It's doing much better! Again, snoogle saved my life. :)

I am loving: Food. My belly.

I miss: my smaller butt. I'd be okay with growing boobs and belly, but the butt thing is bothering me. I need to get over it, seriously haha. I miss margaritas and beer, crystal light energy drinks, and my sugar free kool-aid. I miss eating all the sushi rolls I used to eat.

I am looking forward to: Seeing baby boy again on Tuesday (our anniversary!), our doctor is doing this ultrasound.

I'm spazzing about: my weight gain...need to get over it. Spazzing about not being able to focus, it's affecting my overall work view (in other words, I hate being at work).

Best thing about this week: Not baby related, but my sister is getting married tonight!! Telling my family that I haven't seen that we're having a boy - my Grandma last night screamed when I told her hehe. She was excited to say the least :)

Movement: Feeling flutters still every once in a while, still can't ever confirm that's what it is though.

It's a...: BOY! Forrest "Cooper"

Exercise: Still too hot. Went one day this week though, yay?

Diet: Been okay, always can be better.

Other goals: Start eating better and exercising more.

Belly Pic: Last night for rehearsal dinner. Yes, a self pose, Bryan hates these kinds of pictures, but I just remembered I needed to take one...so I did.

It's a.....

2011-07-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

BOY!!!

So yeah, what we went to was an elective ultrasount when I was about 16.5 weeks pregnant. This is a 3rd party place - Babyviews, not our doctor (our doctor had to consent that it was okay though)...and it was BY FAR, THE BEST money I've EVER spent.

She spent probably 30 minutes with us just looking at everything, checking the heart, the brain, the neck, the kidneys, the diaphram, the joints, the hands/feet, the spine, etc. She pretty much ruled out spina bifida and downs and cleft lip. She measured head, looked at neck to make sure umbilical cord wasn't wrapped, measured the lining (not really sure what to call it) of the brain, made sure there weren't holes in diaphram and heart, etc etc etc. AMAZING. I had NO idea she was going to do all of that for this 2D (there is a 4D that we are also signed up for to do at 27-30 weeks that I know she does a lot of detail for)....so yeah, I was overly gracious and I'm just so thankful and RELIEVED to know that our baby is perfect right now, and everything looks as it should (right now)! It's not that I worry a lot, but I'm realistic and know issues come up in random people, so it was just a huge relief for me, especially when I can't feel him yet. We got 4 pictures (only one of them is really awesome showing the goods), and a DVD of the whole time she was looking around. Pretty cool.

Within the first 5 minutes, he went spread eagle and showed us the goods LOL...Bryan was over the moon ecstatic about that one, and I was shocked, I really felt like it was going to be a girl (not disappointed, just ALL signs pointed to girl. We are super stoked, and I can't wait to have a little mini-Bryan!

Afterwards, I ran by Target to get a baby shower gift, and then decided to maybe try to buy my first outfit...yeah, I'm already disappointed in the boy selection haha! Didn't buy anything for my little one yet..

Oh and the lady told me I'm measuring ahead of the game - 8 days ahead which puts my due date at Dec 23rd instead of the 31st. And he weighs about 7 oz. right now (which I got an email the other day saying he was supposed to weigh 5 oz. - so that makes me happy that he's already a little chunk)

So there's my update, we can't quit smiling, we are very excited. And I'm backdating this post, because it should have been posted over a week ago.

Oh and names...we've had since before we were pregnant. They're mostly family names. The boy middle name was actually the only one that isn't a family name. But for quite a while, our boy name has been Forrest "Cooper" (call him Cooper and Coop for short if we get lazy).

So, yay for a boy!

(going to have to fix that picture later, it's making me mad that blogger won't put it in landscape when it's...a landscape photo)

16 weeks bumpdate

2011-07-16T15:40:00.000-05:00

How big is baby this week? The size of an avocado! (about 4.6 inches and 3.5 oz!)

Due Date: December 31st, 2011

Weight Gain: I'm up 10 lbs already from *my* prepregnancy weight. Doctor weight..I'm only up about 6. Praying and hoping that I gain at a slower pace for rest of pregnancy ;)

Symptoms: I'm still tired all the time, but not as much. Achy joints are starting up, but not too terrible. Sleep is when it's the worst. Oh and not sure if this is pregnancy related, but for past like 2-3 weeks, I am constantly clearing my throat after eating (like for hour-2). I also constantly have drainage.
Maternity Clothes: I have great friends that are letting me borrow some of their pants that are a size or 2 bigger than my prepregnancy weight, so I'm in those right now at work. Otherwise, it's dresses mostly. And maternity shorts in afternoons and weekends.
Cravings: This week it's pickles, bacon (BLTs), and just meat in general (tacos, hamburgers, meaty cheese dip, etc).

Aversions: Raw meat.
Sleep: It's doing much better! The hubs bought me the snoogle, so that has helped tremendously. Still getting up about 2 times a night to use restroom.
I am loving: Food.
I miss: Having energy, feeling thin/fit, ice cold Bud Light with a lime, cooler weather so I'd actually exercise, smaller boobs, flat stomach.

I am looking forward to: Finding out what we're having on TUESDAY!! (elective 2d ultrasound)

I'm spazzing about: Hmmm, not much? I'm pretty chill. Too chill actually, work is extremely hard these days because I have no motivation or focus.
Best thing about this week: Well this next week, we'll get to maybe find out the gender!
Movement: Not much, feeling slight flutters still EVERY once in a while. I'm ready to feel them just for that reassurance factor.

It's a...: We'll hopefully find out Tuesday!

Exercise: Slackalackin. Too hot.
Diet: This week has been pretty good actually.

Other goals: Start eating better and exercising more.

Belly Pic: Last night before we went to eat dinner.... (iphone pic)

What might have changed my life forever...

2011-07-14T21:03:00.001-05:00

(besides a kid...)

Is this thing:

What is that you ask? It's called the Snoogle. My husband, I guess got tired of me either, A. tossing and turning every night when I sleep, or B. complaining about my hips and back hurting when I sleep. You see, most people, I don't think, have these kind of sleeping issues until they are like...8 months pregnant. But here I am, at 16 weeks, and already having issues. Maybe it's because I used to be the world's BEST sleeper, and now, all the sudden, something is going on with my body and it doesn't know what to do with itself??

But anywho, the snoogle. Bryan surprises me with it yesterday afternoon when I got home from work. How sweet is that?? Even sweeter? I didn't even tell him about it, he heard about it from someone at work! Score!

So, I tried it out last night, and Ohhhmmyyyygahhhhh. Every person, single or married, pregnant or not, man or woman...needs this pillow. In just one night, it seriously might have changed my life forever. I may not ever let this thing go! So comfortable, and I slept better than I have in weeks!

This is how I slept with it most of the time, I like the support on my back...

But at one point, I turned it around and slept like this. Good stuff good stuff.

I'm sure it will get harder to wrangle as I get bigger, but as of right now, I don't *think* I knocked out Bryan or anything while sleeping. But anyways, yeah..if you have trouble sleeping, and are pregnant....after just one night of trying this pillow, I give it 5 stars! Oh and it comes with a removable cover so I can wash it and stuff, pretty great huh?

Can't Stop Eating

2011-07-06T08:23:00.002-05:00

That's all.

13w6d bumpdate

2011-06-30T18:02:00.000-05:00

How big is baby this week? The size of a peach! (almost 3 inches!)

Due Date: December 31st, 2011

Weight Gain: I'm up 10 lbs already from *my* prepregnancy weight. Doctor weight..I'm only up about 6. Praying and hoping that I gain at a slower pace for rest of pregnancy ;)
Symptoms: I'm still tired all the time, but not as much. Actually, today, I feel more energetic than ever. Just this last week, I've noticed I'm peeing more. So it took me 13 weeks to get the "pee a lot" symptom. I'm getting up 1-2 times a night to pee.
Maternity Clothes: Only that one pair of jean shorts. Must get pants soon. I wore a pair of my normally loose pants to work yesterday, and they hit me at the wrong part of my belly or something, they were so uncomfortable. It's time...time to get some clothes.
Cravings: This week it's pickles, sour skittles, and bacon (BLTs).

Aversions: Raw meat...from the very beginning, that is one thing I want to stay very far away from. Can't even look at it at the grocery store without slightly gagging.

Sleep: It's okay this week, could be better, but not bad. I'm uncomfortable for some reason. I started sleeping with one of my pillows in between my legs to see if that helps. This morning I woke up with an achy hip. Still getting up 1-2 times at night to use restroom.
I am loving: Pickles. And my growing belly.
I miss: Having energy, feeling thin/fit, ice cold Bud Light with a lime, pushing myself with running, smaller boobs, flat stomach.

I am looking forward to: This weekend - we're going to family lakehouse. Only bad thing is it's SO hot (100 degrees).
I'm spazzing about: the fact that I really need to clean out my closet. We're having a shower at my house in 2 weekends, so I want every corner to be somewhat clean.

Best thing about this week: Got to hear the heartbeat (whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh). Had a good doctor's appointment yesterday, everything is good! Baby's heart rate was low 150s.

Movement: There has been 2 times where I stop and go, "Oh, I think that was a flutter"...but it's so quick and goes by so I can't confirm if that's what I really felt.
It's a...: Won't find out gender for another 5 weeks, unless I go in for a 2d, which we haven't decided yet on.

Exercise: I've walked/jogged twice this week. Will probably make it out 1-2 more times. So, getting a little better!
Diet: This week has been pretty good actually.

Other goals: Start eating better and exercising more.

Belly Pic: This is a collage, if you will. Far left, is how I look if I'm in front of someone and I suck in a little bit. Middle picture, is me relaxing. Far right, frontal view. As you can see, I don't look as big as I did last week because A. I have looser clothing on, and B. Still haven't eaten dinner ;)

Blogpress test

2011-06-27T16:25:00.001-05:00

Blogging from blogpress app on my phone...testing...testing 1,2,3!

Here's a picture to test (from this weekend in Memphis):

I have a feeling that's small??
Maybe this one will be better...

Posted from my iPhone

12w5d Bumpdate

2011-06-24T19:20:00.000-05:00

12w(eeks)5d(ays) Bump-Update ;) ... for those of you that were unsure of what the heck I just wrote in the title!

So, as I said before, I'm going to start doing these bump pics and updates along the road, because I *know* I will want to remember this and especially if/when we have another kid. I'm actually a few days late on this one...but I'll go ahead and act like I'm still 12 weeks (I'm 13 weeks today!)

How big is baby this week? The size of a plum! (you know, about 2+ inches)
Due Date: December 31st, 2011...oh yes, New Years Eve people!
Weight Gain: I'm up about 5-6 lbs already. Maybe even more. WAHhhh. I like to think I'm an overachiever. No but really, 3 of these lbs HAVE to be in these girls up on top...oh boy...they are...wow. As for my belly, I feel like I'm already starting to pop a little bit...especially as the day goes on, mornings - I look like 16 weeks pregnant, evenings - 6 months pregnant lol.
Symptoms: My symptoms of being pregnant are slowly fading away. I didn't really have a whole lot to begin with, but the 2 main ones were just tiredness and then extreme nausea if I let myself get hungry (ahem, another reason for my packed on lbs). Symptoms that are probably here to stay? Growing belly and ginormous boobs.
Maternity Clothes: I'm definitely close to having to buy lots of new stuff. I can still fit in all of my pants and jeans for the most part. My shorts, for whatever reason, most of them don't fit. I did buy a pair of distressed Target maternity jean shorts this week...needed some shorts for this weekend! I'm running out of shirts that look right for work.
Cravings: Pickles, tomatoes. Salads. Chicken nuggets/fingers.
Aversions: Raw meat...from the very beginning, that is one thing I want to stay very far away from. Can't even look at it at the grocery store without slightly gagging.
Sleep: Pretty good. I do get up to pee about 1-2 times a night. I also wake up randomly when my body somehow realizes I'm on my back or belly, I'm trying to not sleep that way.
I am loving: That I'm starting to get a belly. Bryan is loving it too, it feels more 'real' :)
I miss: Having energy, feeling thin/fit, ice cold Bud Light with a lime, pushing myself with running, smaller boobs, flat stomach.
I am looking forward to: My doctor's appointment next week, I think we'll get to hear the heartbeat!
I'm spazzing about: ...overwhelmed with people telling me what to not eat, not drink, not do. Also overhwhelmed with all the crap I will have to buy in the future for this kid. Still haven't bought a single thing.
Best thing about this week: Hmmm, pickles? Need to go buy a new jar.
Movement: Nope.
It's a...: I figure we'll find out sometime at the end of July. I don't have a feeling yet. Chinese calendars say GIRL. Bryan and I don't care what we have, just need a healthy CUTE kid ;)
Exercise: I have a little more energy, so I *need* to get my butt out there and jog lightly and walk. The 100 degree weather isn't helping my exercising...so I have to go in the early morning (5am) if I go. I have been averaging 1-2 times a week this pregnancy so far, and I need that to be 3 times a week minimum starting next week. K? K.
Diet: Could be much better. I'm splurging a tad too much still, especially since I'm not running to burn it off. Lots of veggie wraps for lunch, been eating banana bread for breakfast (no bueno), and dinner has been consisting of either eating out (never healthy food), or the norm - grilled chicken with veggies and rice...something of that nature.
Other goals: Start eating better and exercising more.
Belly Pic: I took this on Wednesday night with my iPhone. You *must* remember...this was after a long day of eating, just right after dinner. I am not pushing out, but I'm not sucking in either....the important thing here is that...I do NOT look this big in the mornings. I also don't look this big with normal, not skin tight clothing on. I can mostly still cover up my pregnancy with most clothes, but as the day goes on...the bigger the belly and tighter those clothes get!

Did I mention?

2011-06-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

That I'm pregnant?

Yeah, I've been meaning to do a post here announcing it, so HERE IT IS! I got my dream job, I'm going to be a mommy!!!

I'm almost 13 weeks pregnant, and feeling fabulous! I have lots of updating to do, and plan to be a better blogger because A. I will have something to talk about! and B. I'm forcing myself to slow down my life very soon so I can get back into things like this and other hobbies.

I have some back journal pregnancy entries I will post on here eventually for my own memory's sake...I want to remember how I felt and all that.

I'll also be doing belly pictures, even if I feel HUGE.

And....I quite possibly might be changing my blog name. I have found that I'm pressured to talk about being fit and crafty and photography, and well, I want a more generic, simple name...one that I can give to family members and they will remember it. So any suggestions would be great. My husband suggested, "Hungry and Lazy"....um...no, butthead.

Until next time...

Destin Pictures

2011-05-31T20:24:00.000-05:00

Just a few since I'm a huge slacker. I'm in a Fuuuunnnnkkkkk. I even rented a new lens for the trip, and I took a total of like 10 pictures on our whole vacation to Destin. I need to do project 365 again or something, something that will force me to get that camera out for leisure. I actually kind of miss project 365, which is...odd. But whatevs.

Anyways, so we went to Destin in the middle of May and had a fantastic time. Just Bryan and I went, but we did have a few friends there that we met up with a few times. It was a little bit on the chilly side on some days, but we still got plenty of sun! And like always, we enjoyed lots of yummy food...this year we went to...Lousiana Lagniappe (fav!), Stinky's (yum!), Dewey Destin's (meh), Krispy Kreme (hah!), AJ's (so so), and I feel like I'm missing somewhere else.

Here's a few pictures (and oh my, in case you forgot what I looked like since I never blog anymore, I'm actually in a few pics!):

Our view from our balcony:

Our balcony (how bout that wide angle lens!):

I suck at self timer, but here's us!

Again!

This was our first night I think? At AJ's....we were going to go out after dinner, but we were all so tired, we just went to bed at 10:30, can you say OLD?!

(all of the pictures below were taken by Courtney, yes...the above pics were all I had pretty much)

We rented a boat one day for fun, this is before we went out:

Me, Courtney, and Shelley (and behind us is MY oceanside house...nice huh?)

Told you it was chilly!

Courtney and I on AJ's night:

One night we grilled steak and shrimp at our friend's condo, then played games, fun times!

(don't look at our outfits...we went straight from the beach, and again, it got cold, so my dress turned into a skirt, and the long sleeves went on)

A Random Update

2011-04-27T20:42:00.000-05:00

Let's update my life shall we??

I'm FIT.
Well, I'm not running as much as I used to, but still getting out a couple of times a week. I got lazy pretty much to put it lightly. The cold weather does that to me. Well, now? It's warmer but it's RAINY and stormy so much lately, no bueno. Speaking of...I went for a run with B yesterday, and I could see it was probably about to rain. So I mention, "let's not go far okay?". He's all like, "Nah, let's go to X point, which is a mile out."

Okay whatever. Yeah, we turn around at 1 mile, and it starts POURING rain..like huge droplets. That was fun :-/

I'm CRAFTY.
Or actually, not so much. I haven't done anything crafty in a while. I have 3-5 gifts I need to make pronto. Ugh.

MARRIAGE.
Welp, we're still hanging in there ;) Hah, just kidding, we're doing wonderfully. We both stay busy, and it's going great. Couldn't get any better actually.

PROJECT 365.
I'm going off my topics in my header if you can't tell. I don't do this anymore, but I kind of miss it. If you are trying to learn your camera and take better pictures, I seriously recommend doing this. Best thing ever, and it's fun!

LOVE.
Well other than my husband, the love around me is fabulous. My sister is engaged to a wonderful man, and they will marry at the end of July. And THEN, my brother in law just proposed to his girlfriend, whom I love, a couple of weeks ago. So I'm so stoked to have 2 people soon to be added to our family that we LOVE!

HOUSE STUFF.
It's still not "finished" according to B. He has a never ending list of things he has to have before he calls it finished. I think it's finished, but we just might need to add stuff here and there ;) We just had a sprinkler system installed, just in time for the 10 days of rain and tornadoes heh. He is super excited about that of course, and I'm, well...yippee?? Next up? Hmm, maybe patio furniture? If we ever find any that is. Or maybe painting is next? We have a couple of rooms we want to paint for the more excitement factor.

PHOTOGRAPHY.
If you read this blog, you know I've been so absent lately, and this is why. Starting a photography business...wow, I love every minute of it, but it takes up sooo much time. I'm trying to learn to balance it all, and find a happy place on how many sessions I can do and still have a life and see my husband. It's going really well, and yes, you need to go look at my pictures - http://www.melissareibephotography.com/. Oh and...facebook fan me! www.facebook.com/MReibePhotography

Okay, is that a good update or WHAT?! I hope everyone in this area is staying safe with all the storms, and the rest of you, thanks for reading!

Self Collage

2011-04-14T17:29:00.001-05:00

I'm on a photography board and we're doing a creative photo contest every couple of weeks. This one was for "inside a refrigerator" kind of theme. Basically, what does a refrigerator see?!

None of mine turned out that 'creative', so I had to make a collage to make it creative hah!

Oh and since fit + crafty hasn't seen me in a while...this is what I look like these days ;)

ZOMG, I've neglected this blog :(

2011-04-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

This is totally me these days. I promise, I'm not 'ending' this blog...I still want it around to chat about nothing and everything. I can't believe it's been over a month and a half since my last post, how sad :(

Good news is...I'm proactively saying "no" to a lot of things here recently so my life can go back to normal.

Bad news is...I still have to finish out all my "yes's"...so I still have a ways to go before I'm all caught up in life. My plate is overflowing right now...and I'm hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel SOON.

I'll update on all things Melissa related here soon!

Seventeen Baby Gift Set Pieces

2011-02-23T19:02:00.000-06:00

Oh yes, you heard me right! I've been doing lots of sewing. And sewing some more. With a little 4 day trip to Vegas in between. And some photography. And more sewing!

I decided to do a collage for all my projects...all of them are here except for one razorback set I didn't get pictures of. I'll probably be taking a break from sewing for a little bit...haha!

Before + After

2011-02-06T21:25:00.000-06:00

So I have been wanting to show before and afters for a while but just haven't had time. Today, I want to show the importance of white balance. I have a lot of mommy photographer friends that ask me tons of questions about photography...and well, I don't really know everything, I just know what works for me. If I don't know the answer, I usually go to my trusty forums or google, and figure it out. But...I have the time to do that, and frankly, a lot of moms don't have that same kind of time that I do.

So anyways, I think one of the most important things to do with your photos after getting the exposure and focus down is to fix the white balance. Below, on the top is the SOOC screen shot, which is underexposed...but whatever - that's the beauty of editing programs, you can fix it (while I don't advise always shooting underexposed..at all!). The after, is the on the bottom, and that is just adjusting the white balance in Lightroom 3. All I did was import the photo into LR3, and adjust the white balance to 'auto'. In some cases, auto doesn't work for me and I have to tweak it. In this case, I left it as is. Can't you see how much better it already looks?

As can see, it went from dull to looking a little warmer and having color. Pretty awesome, right? If you don't have LR3, I am almost positive you can adjust this kind of stuff in the free Picasa, and probably even Gimp. Or if you have ACR, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, etc...you can definitely do it in there.

Now...I wouldn't stop here in editing because if you look closely, the color still don't pop, and the skin still looks red and dark. Now..again, this is how *I* see things...so I'm no expert...remember that. I like my skin bright, and so after all my edits in LR3 (playing with exposure, brightness, blacks, contrast), and I then went over to CS5 (Photoshop) to resize and sharpen..this is what I ended up with with a very quick 3 minute edit.

So what do you think? Please, let me know if this helps anyone and I will do small little tutorials like this every once in a while....cause I know mom'togs sometimes need layman terms, and welp...I'm about as far from technical terms as they get :-D

Bow Ties

2011-02-06T18:57:00.000-06:00

After a bowtie made by a girl on one of my forums, I went and scoured out a pattern. Found one on etsy, and they are SO easy to make! I wanted them for photography props, and you decide...worth it or not?!

....and the result? Head over on to my photography blog to see the sneak peek!

Lately...

2011-01-26T05:24:00.000-06:00

So obviously, I've been slacking big time with my blog lately. I have a little bit of an excuse but it's unfortunately not the one you might want to hear (yes, Syd, not that one).

The real reason for not blogging for the past month is because...my computer got a virus. A stupid virus. I killed the virus after researching online what to do with it (Malwarebytes killed it for those of you wondering). Well then, something odd was lingering from the virus and I finally figured out what it was. My google everything was messed up. I would search something in google, and it would redirect me to some other site saying I had JUST WON $1000 WALMART GIFT CARD!!! Like really, it yelled at me. It was so annoying. Then...my gmail wouldn't pull up. It kept telling me that my internet wasn't available. UGH. Thank goodness for my phone, or I would have been dying not being able to check my email! And then...the worst thing about the virus? I couldn't pull up blogger. None, zip, nan. Just wasn't happening. I could pull it up on my work computer, but that required a lot of effort...so basically, there wasn't any blogging for like a month.

Anyways, enough of my blabbing...I basically got desperate and posted on a techy forum about my virus (which I then realized was VERY common - google redirect virus is what most call it) and a few days later, a nice guy named Kevin wrote back and walked me through killing my infected host file. Now we're back on people! Squee!!!

I have lots of catching up to do, I still haven't even blogged about my family Christmas which I have a ton of pictures for. I'm working on a ton of photo related things for my business. I'm also working on a ton of sewing projects. I'm busy, busy, busy. In between all of that, I'm spending lots of fun time with the hubs - went to Tunica last weekend for his birthday, and then Hot Springs to the races the weekend before.

So, soon, people, soon. I'll be back to somewhat normal blogging. I'll make it my goal to bounce back in February :D

And now for a picture...let me go find one...

Ahh, here's a funny picture of me and my Uncle Sonny at my family Christmas. We were dancing under the carport, being goofy, and just laughing - I just love my family!

Christmas Card Display

2011-01-10T16:34:00.003-06:00

I never got around to posting (or actually, taking the picture) until this week of my Christmas card display. I was actually pretty proud of it, and loved it! I saw the idea somewhere, and kind of ran with it.

I basically bought some twine and clothes pins, and went to town (made an awesome display). Don't you think it turned out super cute?! I'm actually sad to take it down (no, I haven't taken inside Christmas decor down..yet..don't hate!)

Baby Gift Set for...no name.

2011-01-10T16:26:00.004-06:00

Sometimes the parents don't have a name or are keeping the name as a surprise, and in this situation, I just make a plain ole burp cloth with matching material..especially if it's a boy. I made this for my dear friend, Lacey, to give to her friend!

Is anyone else having blogger problems? I had to go back to my old editor because every time I opened this up to write a new post, the posting area just clocked and clocked and won't ever let me write anything?! Frustrating. And now my pictures are small, boo.

A new lens - woohoo!!

2011-01-05T16:39:00.001-06:00

I have moved up in the world, and sold my nifty 50 lens (the popular 50mm 1.8 lens), and upgraded to a 50mm 1.4 lens. My new lens came in today, and I can't wait to take it out for a whirl! The nifty 50 was by far my favorite lens, so I know this new one will get used a whole lot!

If you have a DSLR and do not have this lens, I encourage you to run and get one (the 50mm 1.8)! It's good to use in low light because of it's low aperture range, and it is super sharp. If you are a Nikon person, do your research and make sure it can autofocus on your camera. If it can't, I don't advise getting it, unless you want to make your life super hard and manual focus...not fun, I promise.

Introducing....

2011-01-02T12:31:00.004-06:00

...my new photography blog! Watch the video, and then go on over and check it out!

http://www.melissareibephotography.com/

Project 365 in Review

2010-12-31T10:07:00.000-06:00

2010 was the year of Project 365 until...November or so hit. BUT, since I did take a TON of photos and lasted more than 300 days, I figured I would go through and quickly pick one picture from each month just for fun. I would call this my TOP 12...but, I didn't really take the time to pick out my top favorites, because...well, I'm lazy. Maybe I'll do that next week. I'm sure I have a ton of favorites.

Anyways, so, here you go...one picture from each month!

(story about monkey here)

Baby Keller

2010-12-29T16:55:00.000-06:00

One of my friend's needed a baby gift, so I made this for Baby Keller. I love this yellow!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T17:03:00.000-06:00

I am finally going to post my Christmas cards that I ordered from Shutterfly. Overall, I was pretty pleased with how easy it was to make the card, and how quickly it was sent! The quality of the print (mainly on the skintones) wasn't the best of the best, but I think I just notice these things now (other people didn't notice at all). Would I order from them again? Sure!

My mom loved the cards, and was glad she was able to give some out this year, so that was fun! I even gave a few of my friends one, the ones that know the kids :D

Hope everyone has a Happy Holidays!

Handmade Baby Bib

2010-12-23T20:00:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine asked me to make her a bib for a baby gift, and here is the result!

I Heart Faces: Pets

2010-12-13T08:18:00.000-06:00

Someone's ready for Christmas!! Izzie looks excited huh?

(this is one of my best friend's dogs...how cute huh?!)

If I had a holiday party to go to...

2010-12-12T13:03:00.000-06:00

I just might buy a dress from Ruche. I love their clothing, they always have something I want, but I just haven't caved and actually bought anything from them yet. I ran across their blog post about dresses, and decided to post what kind of dresses I'm loving from them right now (for a dressier event). This is totally something I'm just doing on my own, Ruche has no idea who I am. I'm fake shopping if you will.

What's amazing? All of these dresses are $50 or less. That's awesome. BUT I've noticed they sell out quick, so you gotta be fast on your fingers and order your size! ...now if I can just find a holiday party to go to..hmmm, hmmmm.

Christmas Pictures

2010-12-12T12:48:00.000-06:00

I played around with taking pictures of my tree, wanting to get that glowy, sparkly look. I turned all the lights off except for the tree lights. Basically what I did was make a do it yourself tripod (aka, set my camera on a chair), and then set the timer so I wouldn't shake it when I pressed the button. My settings are above each picture. I think they turned out pretty well!! I also have some bokeh ones I haven't uploaded yet...those will come soon.

Camera : Canon 50D

Lens: Tamron 28-75mm

ISO 200, f/20, SS 2 seconds

(see how the lights twinkle, sooo cool!)

ISO 200, f/20, SS 20 seconds

(our reindeer friend)

ISO 200, f/20, SS 6 seconds

This turned out to be a lot of fun for me. I had to just play with the shutter speed to get it to look how I wanted to, but knew I needed a really narrow aperure (bigger number) and a low ISO. I encourage you to try it, you can even do this with a point and shoot as long as it has some manual settings.

Trying to keep the 'Favorite Child' status...

2010-12-09T17:59:00.000-06:00

Shutterfly is offering bloggers 50 free christmas cards, pretty awesome huh?! In the past, I've always been super pleased with Shutterfly's customer service. I don't have kids, so I have to use my brother and sister's kids and plaster their faces in pictures as gifts, clever huh? And it works out because...I'm their photographer ;) and have tons of good pictures of them!

(*this would not be the picture I would use for the card...can't spoil the surprise!)

Last year, I bought a shutterfly book and put pictures of all my nieces and nephew in it from the year - I gifted this to my mom (Grandma), who LOVED it. Speaking of my mom, she was just saying the other day how she wishes I would show her the pictures I took of the kids last month so she could use one as a Christmas card. DING DING DING. So there you have it, I'm going to design a Christmas card for my mother to send out, how nice am I?!!! I would totally get brownie points and ...once again, be voted favorite child (I promise I don't have middle child syndrome!). But really? I just adore this one picture I got of the kids, it totally needs to be sent all over the US to loving friends and family!

So here's what I'm thinking on the christmas cards that I love... If I decide to go with a folded card (that way Mom can write in a little note to whoever she sends these to), I like these simple ones...where you can still keep the picture basically without too much distraction.

Hey what can I say? I like a lot of emphasis on the photo not the card ;)

If I decide to go for a flat card, I think I'll go with this one, because I like that it says peace, love, family!

I might even get crazy and order myself a photo gift, maybe a mouse pad with the picture on it? I desperately need a mousepad!! I actually kind of want to get a calendar too, for my desk at work.

So anyways, I'm super pumped because I LOVE making my mother happy, and boy will she be excited! Click HERE now and get YOUR free cards!!

Go Hogs!

2010-12-07T15:17:00.000-06:00

How exciting?! How bout them Hogs! We are going to the SUGAR BOWL, woot! And in honor of that celebration, I'll post my hog gift set I did for my brother in law's boss.

Who's going to New Orleans??? I unfortunately can't because I don't have enough vacation days, boo!

Baby Gift Set

2010-12-06T16:59:00.000-06:00

I did this gift set for a friend of mine like last month. She wanted a gift to give to one of her friends, and just told me the name of the baby boy and to just go with whatever I wanted. I love these kind of requests! I ended up using Michael Miller fabric, which I love because his stuff is modern and sooo cute!

I lost.

2010-12-05T21:01:00.000-06:00

I lost at the Project 365 game. I totally lost. I went like 325-330 days, and then...I got too busy and just quit. What a loser I am. Lame-o!

But honestly? I did it so I could get better at photography which A. I have, and B. that's the reason I am so dang busy, so yeah... take that however you want it. I actually still have some pictures from the last week or two to post, but there's other things that are more important lately.

Since a post is boring without a picture.... here's a friend's cute little dog, Izzie.

Ready for Christmas, Izzie?!!!

Whew!

2010-12-01T08:16:00.001-06:00

Okay, I just got a text from my hubby asking, "did you quit blogging?" Bwahaha! Yes, I've been ubbberrrrr busy lately. I have a lot on my plate, been working like a slave these days. Regular work and photography are taking up ALL of my time. And I'm still playing volleyball two nights a week (next week is 3 nights!), and then trying to spend time with the hubs so he won't divorce me for editing pictures all the time.

Anyways, so Craft Tuesday? Yeah, I'm done with that. I'm impressed I kept up with it for a whole year. From here on out, I will just post my crafts as I do them. I still have one to post from weeks ago, and am working on another sewing project this week (I neeeeeeeeed more time!).

Photography? When I get time, I have soooo much to share. I have been a busy, busy, busy girl. Probably going to start another blog for that, but have to find the time to make it first :)

Thanksgiving was fun, we drove all over the place like always, but it's always worth it when you get to see all sides of the family in one week!

Now...for Christmas! We have our decorations up, thanks to Courtney! Here's some pictures:

Outside decor:

Living Room decor (we'll eventually add a red/green tree to this room - like next year)

Dining Room decor (you can see the tree from front of house)

So there ya go hubs...there's you a blog post. I'm glad someone misses my blogging ;) ha!

Hope everyone has a good December!

Project 365 Catch Up

2010-11-21T09:21:00.000-06:00

Okay, I've been incredibly busy lately, as you may see, I'm a blogger FAIL these days! All my days are filled with sleeping, eating, working at my real job, running, photographing, editing, sewing, and volleyball. Oh and sometimes hubby time. I don't see light at the end of the tunnel just yet, but do know that I am enjoying every.single.minute of my busy-ness!

Tuesday - volleyball!

Wednesday - yes...that 9 foot beauty is UP!

Thursday - Courtney came over and starting decorating away! Almost finished, more pictures to come! (oh and this was taken with my rented Canon 35L lens, beautiful huh?)

Friday - Octupus anyone? My BIL for whatever reason asked to try it at Sushi Cafe...he didn't like it. (sorry for horrible dark pic)

Saturday - I took pictures of a newborn today! Session went well, great practice! Here's my setup (beanbag on bottom, then boppy, and then black fleece for backdrop - mom and grandma and helper held up backdrop for me)

Hope everyone is doing well, and someday, I'll get back to my blogging self. I'm debating on starting a new photography blog to AW (attention whore) all of my photography sessions I've been doing (after today..I'll have done 15 sessions in past month!) News on that blog to come...if I ever have time to do it :)

Melissa's Week in Pictures...

2010-11-15T20:05:00.000-06:00

I'm so behind on blogging, I'll just post the past week's pictures of the day in one post.

Mmmm, mmm taco soup.

Iphone picture of the pretty fall colors!

Boots I need to sell since I bought 2 more ...in this color. I have a problem considering these are in excellent condition!

Random fillers/xmas decorations I got in case I need them for my tree haha! Hope Hobby Lobby takes returns if I don't need them :-/

In Memphis, about to go to dinner...taking a picture of my random, *trying to be* trendy outfit.

Beale Street

My husband has a habit of ripping open mail...not good when it's Netflix.

Trying to figure out what I need and don't need for when Courtney comes and decorates for me. Our spare room looks like Christmas/junk fairy threw up in it.

Test Shot

2010-11-07T20:47:00.000-06:00

More picture taking...

I was testing out the self-timer (never used it til today!), and obviously my husband didn't want to cooperate...apparently Fantasy Football is more important then smiling for the camera, how dare he!!

More pictures in a field

2010-11-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

I took some more pictures today with the couch/field combo, and here's a random for my project 365 picture.

I'll share the actual people photographs eventually ;)

Magic Cookie Bars

2010-11-05T17:44:00.000-05:00

I posted this recipe a year ago, and my pictures are horrible, so I thought I would take some new ones since I had to make them for B for his work. I make these often, and they're ALWAYS a hit. I love them, so so so yummy!

MAGIC COOKIE BARS

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

Melt butter and stir in graham cracker crust. Pack/press in even layer on bottom of 13x9 pan (coated with nonstick spray). Spread 3/4 can of the Eagle Brand over graham cracker layer evenly. In separate bowl, mix chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts. Spread mixture into pan evenly. Take a fork and press down that last layer firmly, and then pour rest of Eagle Brand over top.

Bake in oven on 350 (325 for glass pan) for 20-25 minutes (until browned). Let it cool at room temperature. I like to put the pan in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before cutting...makes it easier to cut and taste better a little chilled in my opinion. When you are ready to cut, cut them in fairly small squares since they are pretty rich. Enjoy!