friday photo

Another week down! I can’t believe we’re going to hit double digits this Sunday – ten weeks!!

Kellan has yet to sleep In his crib. He still sleeps with me in bed.

I know. I’m probably more of a crunchy granola mom than most. I need my sleep, though and this is how I get it.

I’ve started putting Kellan in his crib during the day, though, with his stuffed animals (his “friends”) so he gets used to it and comfortable in the room. I don’t want to just toss him in there one night and he wakes up terrified.

(also know that, yes, I’d take the animals out of the crib when he sleeps)

This was our play group outfit. I’ll have you know that we have a few different outfits with bugs on them and Kellan has pooped or peed on each and every one EVERY time he’s worn them. This one didn’t escape, either, as we had an explosion on the way home that rocketed all the way through his diaper, outfit and into the depths of his car seat.

Diaper explosion FTW!

I love going on walks with Kellan in the morning. I don’t always make it out, but when I do, this is one of my favorite routes.

Happy Friday, friends! I’m off to the OB today, again, for a follow up appointment since my “tear” still hasn’t completely healed.

I’m totally planning a recovery post…just so you’re all aware of what exactly I’ve been dealing with.

friday photo + a surprise!

I’ve been a super lazy blogger this week. There really is no real reason, other than this:

Not only did Kellan and I have our first solo-middle-of-the-week outing to Babies R Us (obviously) to exchange some clothes for a bigger size and to the grocery store…

We also had the dreaded two month well baby checkup.

He’s in the 50th percentile for weight, 75th for height and 96th for head circumference (OMG). Basically, he’s tall and skinny with a giant head.

Tim said he and I both have big heads.

I have no idea what he’s talking about.

Also at the checkup? Shots. Lots of shots.

I knew they were coming…I just had no idea I’d react the way I did.

I was sitting in one of the chairs while Tim held Kellan’s arms as he laid on the table thing and then two nurses, one on either side, counted to three and then stuck him.

I have never heard a worse sound in my entire life. That scream….will haunt me forever. And Tim was torn up because Kellan was looking right at him when it happened and his eyes basically said: “Why are you letting this happen to me?!”

I took Kellan from Tim, tried to nurse him and then after a few unsuccessful seconds, gave him his binkie. As he calmed down I looked at Tim and was all, “I’m going to cry.”

He didn’t think I was serious until he saw tears rolling down my cheeks.

Then he almost started crying because I was crying and Kellan was still whimpering.

That was the most awful day ever.

The shot-gate aftermath:

He slept most of yesterday, but managed to bust this out for me…little trooper he is:

And I know invert (autocorrect fail) never post videos….but this happened yesterday morning and it’s too cute not to share. The beginning is the best…kinda tapers off from there…

My voice is weird, I know. It’s my “I’m talking to Kellan” baby voice.

I’m getting a haircut this weekend. I’m going to ask for the sexy mommy style. Whatever that is.

happy easter!

Love,
Kellan ‘Reece-ter Bunny’ Bold

friday photo

So, I got super sick yesterday.

It came out of nowhere.

I woke up feeling normal and then…I started feeling sicky. I texted Tim around 9am all, “I’m not feeling well.”

A few hours later I texted him again all, “I’m sorry…you have to come home. Something is not right.”

“not right” was a 101.6 fever, chills, body aches, headache, stomach pains, bowel issues…etc. It was almost like I had the flu, even though I got a flu shot this year. My first EVER.

It was also the first time I had ever insisted Tim leave work.

He did…though I felt bad asking him to do so. I knew I had no choice, though, since I almost passed out while changing Kellan’s diaper.

Anyhow, once Tim made it home, Tylenol and sleep became my only concern, besides feeding Kellan. Tim was on baby duty all afternoon and evening. By 7:00, I was feeling a bit better and took over the baby duties so Tim could get some sleep.

I woke up this morning (I mean…I woke up multiple times during the night, too) feeling much, much better. Still not 100% but greatly improved. Greatly improved and 3.5 pounds lighter. I’m severely dehydrated. Breastfeeding and not eating yesterday probably didn’t help, either.

***I never get sick. Like, ever. I think I’ve had a fever three times, including this time, in the seven years Tim and I have been together***

I think my body was just run down and worn out.

Anyhow, pictures!! I just jumped on the instagram/frametastic boat…and I’ve been having way too much fun, as you’ll see below.

(I’m jbold23 on instagram, if you want to follow my picture creation prowess)

Happy Easter Weekend (if you celebrate)!

We have zero plans for Easter. Zero.

friday photo

It’s Friday.

You’re worn out.

I’m worn out.

Who really wants to read a bunch of gobbility guk junk garbage words?

(I have no idea how to spell gobbility guk. Obviously.)

Moving on.

Pictures! Yay!

…just giving myself a hickey…nothing to see, here…

Modeling is such hard work. *long, overly dramatic sigh*

(Aunt Abbie gave us that blanket. We love it!)

Car trips make me sleepy….

What? So I’m hanging out with a giant dog. It’s kind of awesome.

(Kellan is five weeks old in that last picture. He’ll be six on Sunday. Yowza! Has time really flown by that quickly?!)

Happy Weekend, Friends ( family, past co-workers…..etc)! We’re going out on the town to celebrate the end of the six week quarantine!

(And by ‘on the town’ I mean rollin’ in our stylin’ stroller around Babies R Us)

baby sprout is…………………………here!

Introducing (drum roll)…..

Kellan Reece Bold

(I have no idea where the picture posted within the post…hopefully somewhere, beginning, middle or end…I’m writing this one handed from the bed, breast pumping at the same time)

He actually came on February 19 at 6:37pm…this is just the first time I’ve had a free five minutes to even contemplate something other than Kellan – which is a good thing for sure. I’m so doing a “you know you’re a mother when” post.

Long story short, for now, anyway: Kellan was born 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 22 inches long with a head circumference of 14.25 inches.

He also came out “sunny side up” with means he came out the hard way.
My vajayjay only knows one word at this point: OUCH and why just OUCH?

Third degree tears is all I’m sayin.

Also, I made it to 7 centimeters before getting the epidural. My labor stalled, thanks to Kellan first deciding to lay transverse in my pelvis for a few hours.

I probably definitely would have died without the epi, by the way. OMG. Contractions are no joke and there is absolutely no mistaking them for anything else.

Tim was an awesome, awesome coach and we’re all doing great, minus serious sleep deprivation. Thank God for my mom, who has been here, feeding us, stocking our freezer and giving me more helpful, useful advice on being a mom than any book ever did or will.

More to come….like the full birth story that started at 1am Sunday morning and 15 hours later, ended with one and a half hours of pushing. My OB thought it would take me three hours to push him out.

Obviously, I’m an overachiever.

one whole year of getting up at the crack of dawn

I started a project last year and I still have no idea what made me want to attempt such a feat. Probably….no. I have no clue.

However, the fact that it is now over?

Another check off the list of Things That Will Happen Before the Sprout Comes.

And this one was a biggie because this one required daily monumental effort.

What did I do?

For the past 365 days I have risen before the sun in order to take a picture of the sunrise. I posted them all here, on photo bucket, if you’d like to take a look-see.

Day one of my project. February 1, 2011

It was freezing and snowy and completely opposite of today, the final sunrise:

Before I began this asinine idea, someone probably should have told me that the sun begins to rise around 4:30 in the morning during the summer in Colorado. This never happened in Georgia. Ever. 4:30 in the morning? For serious?!

Or they failed to mention that I’d have to plan my entire life – including early morning workouts – around the sunrise…as in bring my camera with me to the gym and stop in the middle of a spin class to capture this:

I also had to lug my camera to the start of a 10k race because I couldn’t miss the sun coming up before we had to skedaddle down the course.

And I never took just one picture…noooo…every single day has – at minimum – three pictures of the sunrise so I’d be able to pick which one I wanted to use. Funny, though, about 90% of the time, this is what the sunrise looks like:

I swear I never used a previous day for one I skipped. We just have a lot of cloudless, clear mornings, I guess…)

Once I started to understand which morning would net the “typical” sunrise versus the “pretty” sunrise, I’d either be really happy – because the “typical” sunrise is easy and quick – or really grumpy – because the “pretty” sunrises require me to watch the sky and grab a shot at the peak of the colors.

Like this one:

Or this one:

Or this one:

But…because I started the project…that meant I had to finish. I couldn’t just half ass my way through it. This created much anxiety on my part all, “What if I sleep through the alarm? What if I forget to set the alarm? What if I MISS THE SUNRISE?!”

Missing one meant starting all. over. again. and there was no way in hell I was doing that.

Somehow I managed to wake up every morning and take a picture.

And now…it’s over.

Except, the other day I got this crazy ass idea to want to take a picture of the sunrise every year on the sprout’s birthday.

But…you do realize what that means, right?

I now have to continue to get up and take a picture each morning because NO ONE KNOWS WHEN HE’S COMING.

Still, wouldn’t it be awesome to have the sunrise on your birthday every single year? Who has that?!

Exactly.

The things I already do for you, baby sprout…the things I do…

*37 week bump update* + fu manchu

If I start making zero sense at any point it’s because I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I have no idea why but I am d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g and could definitely sleep ALL. DAY. LONG. if it weren’t for the constant bathroom interruptions.

As far as pregnancy symptoms go, I have no idea what this means but it seems to be happening more often these days.

Anyhow.

My birthday is Thursday.

I’m in denial.

My birthday was the last “thing” on my “What Has to Happen Before the Sprout Comes” list and that thing is Thursday.

THURSDAY.

……..

Not to mention that after Thursday I’ll only be a year away from 30….

I told Tim if we don’t celebrate my birthday then technically it didn’t happen and then maybe everything will just slow the hell down so I can have a minute to process the fact that our lives are about to be turned upside-down and backwards. The anxiety and mini-freak-out-attacks I have now are both ridiculous and necessary, I think. I mean, having them means I understand that my life and my role as a person is about to change forever but having them also means I’m having them…which does nothing to encourage the calming thoughts I should probably be having at this point.

And then, I have other moments where I’m completely giddy about the sprout.

It’s like I have multiple personality disorder and FYI it is extremely confusing to live inside my brain right now.

Also? Did someone forget to tell me that the heartburn gets worse at the end? OMG. I’ve never had heartburn in my life and now it’s like I need an ongoing prescription for Tums.

(the ironic part is I’ve yet to even take Tums…ever)

In the middle of my multiple personalities, I have moments where I’m all, “I’m ready! Let’s get this show on the road!” and then I have other moments – usually somewhere between 1 and 4 am where I’ll be awake, unable to fall back asleep even though I’m exhausted, and think, “Dear God…please don’t let my water break now because I’m really not in the mood to deal with it.“

Of course, because I’m saying this, my water is going break at 2:15 in the morning.

That’s how pregnancy karma works, I think.

At this point, I’m preparing myself for “any day now” or having the OB tell me that I’m not going home after my appointment but instead straight to the hospital.

Notice I said preparing.

I’m not entirely sure how I’ll handle the situation when it happens.

Tears come to mind.

I had a list of things I wanted to get accomplished this weekend because, you know, “any day now…” so we managed those even though neither of us really wanted to do them.

The big one was cleaning the house. Tim was in charge of the kitchen and vacuuming while I dusted and did little stuff. I don’t know why but cleaning the kitchen is A: the most difficult and time consuming task ever and B: the most rewarding when you’re finished.

Our kitchen is literally sparkling, now. Mostly because Tim did extra super cleaning on stuff we normally don’t clean because he said he “knew I wanted a super clean house.”

How sweet, right? I know.

Then…because you can’t have a weekend of no fun, Tim shaved off his goatee and things got real.

This…the man I married:

Who the hell these people are…I have no idea.

I think somebody’s uncle Ralph is the second one and I’m pretty sure the first dude shot up an old saloon.

And lastly, (also probably what you’ve been waiting for), the bump!

I really don’t see much change from 35 weeks to this weekend (37 weeks). Do you?

35 weeks…

35 weeks, 3 days

37 weeks…

37 weeks, 4 days

I guess my boobs look a little smaller?…and my face looks fatter.

The hell with it all at this point. I’m big. I know it.

People notice I’m pregnant even with a huge bulky jacket.

The sprout is in there and taking up all the space and I’m just saying it’s about time he comes O-U-T.

*bump update* the one month to go edition

So…wow.

We’ve made it…this far.

Today, I am exactly one month away from my due date.

ONE MONTH!

I’m not entirely sure if I would consider myself “miserable” at this point or not. I don’t have any swelling or a baby sitting on my sciatic nerve or sore joints or weird pains. I mean, the belly gets in the way, sure. It’s super huge and I’ve resorted to lugging myself around, having to lean back, lift both my legs up in the air and then project myself forward to get off the couch but…generally speaking, I’m mostly mobile.

Sleep is a thing of the past. I’ve kind of accepted walking around like a zombie, especially if I don’t get a nap in during the day. It doesn’t help when I have mornings like today when I was awake  from 1 to 3 for no apparent reason other than I was wide awake and uncomfortable.

I also forget everything.

I mean e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

Perfect example: when Tim was making breakfast yesterday morning (he makes us breakfast on the weekends, usually on Sunday), we found out that we had run out of baking powder. I do a majority of the grocery shopping and 100% of the “list” for what groceries we need to buy, yet I had no memory of running out of baking powder.

He took the can out of the pantry all, “Why was this even IN HERE?”

I have no idea?

And then?

As I was helping clean up I absent-mindedly put the completely empty can of baking powder back into the pantry.

Pregnancy brain is real, y’all.

The thing I’m struggling the most with is exercise. I’ve been really tired and wanting to nap instead of workout…even though I usually feel better if I manage about an hour of some kind of activity. I managed to pull out a workout on Thursday last week and then Tim and I went for a 4.3 mile walk on Saturday and a 3 mile walk on Sunday. It was a far cry from my goal of five days a week but it was better than nothing, I suppose.

Tim was also keen to point out that out 7.3 miles we managed in two days we used to eat up in a single run.

Thanks, honey.

Three miles with this belly  is a workout at this point, thanks to the pressure I feel in my pelvis with every step, not to mention that I have to pee the entire time, even if I went right before we left.

Oh, and a sore vajayjay afterwards. Lest we forget that fun side effect.

I’m really looking forward to being able to roll over in bed without having to wake up in order to remember to keep my knees pinned together. If I forget, I shoot up in excruciating pain. The pelvis…the vajayjay…ouchie. Me no likey.

I have random Braxton Hicks contractions every day. Sometimes I have a hard time differentiating between them and the sprout moving around. He’s so big now that when he moves his entire body my stomach gets hard, just like with the contraction. None of them (the contractions or the movements) have been painful except the other night when the sprout decided to park an appendage or his butt or something in my ribs on the right side. I couldn’t move or bend or get him to move so I sat there, pressing on whatever body part he was using as a jackknife, and begged him to move all, “Puhlease! This hurts!”

He didn’t listen.

Tim tried putting his hands on him to get him to move after I moaned and complained for half an hour. Usually, the sprout will move for him…and he did for a minute…but then he was right back to trying to break out from the inside. My ribs felt sore and bruised the next day.

Dislike, baby sprout.

Also? I’ve been on a smoothie kick for about a week. I crave them like nobody’s business. I guess I’m missing something…or need more of something…or maybe I just really like smoothies in the middle of January. I have no idea.

Anyhow, the bump!

(My boobs have run into my bump…or vice versa…either way, it’s not pretty)

Apparently, it *looks like* I’ve, well, technically the sprout, dropped, hence the disparity in how the bump looked at 33 weeks and at 35 weeks.

bump 33 weeks 4 days

bump 35 weeks, 3 days

This is a good thing, right??

today…is a pregnancy milestone: 35/35

I honestly cannot believe we’re here…already.

Today I am officially 35 weeks pregnant and exactly 35 days from my due date.

How does the math even work out?!

(By the way, I did fraction math – correctly – all by myself yesterday without a calculator. We should all be proud. Or shocked. One of those.)

Back in the beginning of reading about the third trimester during my daily obsession (aka the pregnancy forums), I kept seeing people post things like, “Finally!!!! 35/35!!!!!!!!!!!!” and I was like, “Huh?”

NOW I UNDERSTAND.

I’m more than just in the home stretch. I’m making the final lap. I’m IN the final lap.

Baby sprout is just about fully baked and ready…to be an outside baby.

Last night, Tim reached over, rubbed my belly and was all, “It’s almost time, little buddy….“

And the selfish part of me? The part that is desperately wanting to sleep on her stomach and not have to squeeze my legs together every time I get up (spread legs = excruciating vajayjay pain) and actually work out and get a nice, good, worked my ass off post-sweat?

SO READY.

I think I’ve officially reached the super tired, uncomfortable, waddle-when-I-walk-because-every-step-is-painful stage. I’ve been trying to workout five times a week…and this week I’ve gone to the gym a grand total of ZERO times so far. My goal is the next four days in a row…we’ll see how that works out. It’s amazing how much energy I don’t have anymore when it feels like just last week I was bursting with loads of it.

I refuse to quit working out, though.

If baby sprout goes all the way to 40 weeks, I’m not going to spend the next five sitting on my duff, sleeping and eating like I did yesterday…but OMG did that feel heavenly.

Except the part where my hips and back started to ache.

I suppose that’s the tradeoff.

When I workout, those aches go away, only to be replaced by sharper vajayjay pain, mostly after I do one of the weight classes (light weights…lots of reps…no worries). When I don’t make it to the gym, the back and hip pain is awful. I’ve never really had either to contend with before, so I’m not exactly enjoying it much  at all. I can deal with sore muscles and worn out legs…but the back and hips?…and vajayjay?

No thank you.

Anyhow, I’m feeling pretty good about where we are right now with the potential for the sprout to come at any given moment. After our “scare” last week, Tim and I did a bunch of stuff over the weekend to get ready for his arrival. We charged camera batteries and washed sheets and ordered things off of Amazon and packed our bags for the hospital, just in case this week ended up being baby week.

It wasn’t.

BUT all of that is done, now, so I don’t have to sit around and think about how much I should be doing those things AND we have a car seat (super important piece of baby gear we hadn’t purchased until Sunday), so I’d say we’re set (I mean, I’m going to double check our bags, now and add a few things we forgot and make sure my birth plan is more than just scribbles on a piece of paper…and probably wash more baby clothes…fix his nursery a bit more….).

And as of now, the natural birth plan is back on.

Even though I still really want to try a med-free birth, it scares the bejeezus out of me. I don’t care how many times I read that millions upon millions of other women have done it before me and our bodies are made for this and the pain is good pain and blah blah blah.

I’m not them.

I’ve never done it before.

I have no idea how much “pain” I’ll be in.

IT’S SCARY.

SO THERE.

I have no idea how to transition (That, by the way? The thing I’m most afraid of when it comes to labor. The transition period. The one right before you reach 10 centimeters and the contractions and god awful and for some reason your brain fills with self doubt all, “I can’t do this.”) from a natural birth to this next part so…..here it is….the non-transition.

We’ll be doing another bump update picture this weekend but to tide you over for now…this:

love.