Around Town

Not a photographer by any means but thought these photos "around town" here in Southwest Florida needed to be re-posted. Sometimes I forget just how lucky we are to live here.

I Believe In...

I Believe In...

A quick and quirky list that will hopefully serve as a reminder of the little things that make life exciting.

{Linking up with Living in Yellow}

* Happy Hours.



* Dessert.

* Giving {and not always receiving!} and Surprises.

* Coupons and Clearance Racks.


* Road Trips.



* Creating Traditions. Shown above: A place in Islamorada that we stop for Key Lime Pie every year we head to the FL Keys.

* In Always Trying to Better Yourself. A class, reading an inspirational book, applying for jobs that might be out of your reach, teaching yourself how to design a website, etc.



* "Me" Days. Shown above: A HIMYM marathon and ice cream!

* Big Birthday Celebrations.

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* In Never Giving Up.
{I got to remember this one -- maternity leave has made me a little lazy!}

Photoshopped Cuteness

What My Husband Does When He's Bored

I think this is the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

Party on. 

Hanging Out in the Hospital {After Cannon's Birth}

Not now -- but after the baby was born -- we stayed in the hospital for 48 hours. It was... an experience. Between nurses coming in and out all day long to the various randoms (hearing test, photographer, pediatrician, etc.), I literally think we slept like two hours. The baby was behaving pretty well, he did sleep a little bit. He wasn't a strong breast feeder so I met with lactation consultants the entire time we were there. He always did so well with them around but when it was just me and him ... no so much. 

I thought it was a nice service that the hospital had someone to come around and take photos... while they were definitely overpriced at least my husband whipped out his camera at the same time to take similar shots!

Though ... I did buy ONE picture from this shoot. It didn't have the option of being digital so I just have prints, but this is the picture:

It's great having a husband whose job is to take pictures, but then he ends up not being in any of the photos ... this is the only picture we have of the three of us thus far (we took a few others but the lighting was kind of terrible so it doesn't count).

This is one that I didn't buy that the hospital photographer took-- it's so cute! I might have to later on down the road. His cheeks were so big the day after he was born!

After taking pictures, eating hospital food for too long, and unsuccessfully breastfeeding -- it was time to get discharged. We had our car seat inspected and got the all clear from my doctor and  the pediatrician to GO HOME. The husband, above, was totally READY and very anxious to get home. We had to introduce the puppies to our new lil guy!

A lot of people, myself included, put a lot of thought into the "going home outfit" for a new baby. I ended up just putting him in this little onesie. Nothing too crazy.

Cute enough!

And, one last cute photo from the hospital:

Sigh. Too adorable.

The Vaguest Birth Story Ever

Okay, well maybe not EVER... I'm not just going to write "I had a baby" and call it a day. Though, there are just some things that are not meant to be shared with internet land. In fact, I think I'm suffering from post traumatic stress based on that whole labor and delivery thing. It's a ridiculous process. How did people do this before modern medicine?! So -- here's a pretty vague description of my overall "easy" labor... though at the time I didn't think it was that easy but I do know I was lucky.

Anyway. I was induced at 38 weeks and 1 day. In my mind I thought "Isn't this early?" but I'm not a doctor and trusted her opinion. She basically just said if I wanted any chance at having this baby the ol' fashioned way he had to come early. His growth ultrasound placed him at 8 pounds and if we waited until I went into labor naturally she was thinking I would end up with a C section. I totally believe her now just because it was quite the task getting him out and he only weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces.

We went to the hospital on Sunday, August 26th. I had a fabulous salad at Wendy's beforehand -- I tried to stuff myself since I had no idea when I would eat again. We checked in and were brought back. It was pretty surreal since I had never really been to a hospital nor had I been a patient in recent memory. It was certainly...creepy? I don't know. It was weird.

I was hooked up to the monitors and given cervidil. Ick. They gave me an Ambien too which I eventually took and it DID NOT put me to sleep. I felt drowsy, sure, but I did not fall asleep. I had to pee like every thirty minutes so I had to get up, unplug myself, and go. It was quite possibly the worst night of sleep I had ever had in my life and definitely not something I want to repeat again any time soon. I prayed for morning to come fast and it did and I was thrilled. They checked me out, started Pitocin, gave me the epidural (I somehow got it pretty early, I never even felt a contraction), and then it was party time. I laid in bed and watched bad reality TV. I played Words with Friends. I tweeted. I napped briefly.

At around 3pm the nurse said I was READY. Though... they made me wait until about 5 to try pushing. My first try was pretty pathetic and they said they would just wait a little bit longer. I think we started pushing for real at around 6. It sucked. They turned down my precious drugs so while I couldn't really feel pain...I certainly felt SOMETHING. Good lord. The pressure...they're like are you in REAL PAIN or just uncomfortable?! It was hard to explain since I had never really FELT any real pain and I hadn't felt any contractions... so I had no idea what the flip I was feeling.

Anyway -- that whole pushing process is ridiculous. It felt awful and I'm pretty sure I screamed somewhere in there. FINALLY at 8:04pm Cannon made his appearance and I started shivering like a sick person. I was in la la land because I was feeling all weird and shivering and I couldn't really see what was going on with the baby. Sure, they put him directly on me at first but then took him away for a few minutes. Scott took some pictures now and I peeked next to my bed at the baby getting all weighed and stuff.

So... what did baby look like right after birth?{Note: He looks SO different already from this photos!}

A little swollen, eh?

Well -- he had a ridiculous cone head. His entry into the world was clearly difficult! His head had some bruising/scabs. Gross.

Check out that noggin! They said he was 21 inches long -- I'm guessing including the head! He is definitely not that length anymore (and our pediatrician said he has GROWN since her first measurements but nothing has matched that original length of 21 inches).

At first we thought his hair looked a little reddish!

He looks exhausted.

 

My epidural wore off super fast and I was walking before I knew it... even before they moved us to our "real" room. I finally ate late Monday night -- almost midnight! I can't believe I survived over 24 hours without FOOD. 

The first 24 hours were obviously memorable. The babies room with the parents at my hospital so we were feeding and changing diapers immediately. The nurses were helpful but between a newborn and them coming in to check on me every hour -- there was no sleep to be had.

 

I'll post more about our hospital stay soon -- but if you have any questions about being induced or want more graphic details let me know... induction wasn't as scary as I had thought and the process -- overall -- was painless... I just did have my "moment" of intense this-is-the-worst-pain-ever-cut-this-baby-out-of-me during labor. It definitely made me rethink the idea of having more children and going through this more than once... but I suppose I've already forgotten about the gory details and wouldn't mind doing it all over again. Just not any time soon. For reals.

Things I Want To Do Before 2013 : {Tuesday10}

Ten realistic goals I'd like to accomplish before the new year

Participating in this week's prompt...

Source: dobrador.com via Maia on Pinterest

01. Take newborn photos of Cannon (and QUICKLY! He's already two weeks!) and also try to get into a habit of taking nice photos! We always had our pictures done when we were growing up every few months. It's nice to look back on!

02. Get another tattoo. I know what I want and haven't told anyone what it is or where I want it... not even my husband knows about this tattoo idea yet. I've been toying with the idea for a while -- it's cute, small, black ink, and will be covered pretty much all the time. 

03. Have a real beach day. Yes -- we go to the beach a lot... but it was mainly to walk around, eat, I would watch everyone drink... I want a "real" beach day where I bring my beach chair, a stack of magazines, and lay out in the sun. I have a new bathing suit, a beach chair that I found for $4 at Target this week, and baby has more swim trunks than necessary! We are ready. (And, yes, since it's Florida we still have some time to accomplish this... it will be hot for a while!)

04. Walk at least five times a week and/or use the treadmill that's sitting in our dining room. No, really, I have to use the treadmill.

05. Unpack my pre-pregnancy clothes and make a Goodwill donation trip. More than likely these clothes will not fit me either ever again or for a long while. No need on holding onto such old clothes that might not fit ever again.

Source: Uploaded by user via Terri on Pinterest

06. Stop drinking regular Coke. I started a bad habit in my pregnancy... since I wasn't drinking soda as much as I was before I was pregnant... I figured that I'd just drink regular Coke since I had previously only drank the diet stuff. If I was only allowed one soda a day or every day days... the "real" stuff was all I wanted. Now... Diet tastes awful to me (Even though I used to be addicted to it!) and even Coke Zero cannot compare.

07. Get organized... this is broad and very vague but specifically... Where is my passport? Find the DVDs of our wedding photos and our Bridezillas episodes. I know I packed them away for "safe keeping" but in the move (which was a YEAR ago now) I can't seem to find that "safe" place I put them. Fill out this year's planner... it's already September and I haven't used it yet (It is a planner that started in August)! Organize digital photos. I have like three broken laptops that have images scattered on them along with more recent photos on my husband's computer. Perhaps burn them all to CDs by year? Organize printed images. I have gotten into the habit of ordering lots of photos every time a photo site has free printing... now I need to organize those images. Throwing them into a box isn't helpful. Organize my bookshelf.

08. Pay my overdue library fine and become a more frequent library user. I feel like there are good mom books in the library that I should read. I should investigate.

09. Maintain good contact with out of town friends. It's easy to forget to reply to a text or return a phone call -- especially now that I have a baby that wants to eat every time I get started on something! ;) Make sure to say hello every so often to those that matter and also don't forget to send out some wedding gifts to some awesome friends that are getting hitched soon!

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10. Enjoy watching Cannon grow. Soon I'll have to go back to work and I just wonder how our lives will be busier... three dogs, a husband, a baby... a lot of people in this house want my attention! ;) I hope that we can find a way to achieve balance and keep everyone happy.

Source: simplemom.net via Jen (QuatroMama) on Pinterest

Show & Tell : {Baby Talk}

Baby is napping... kind of. He's fighting off sleep but this gives me a few minutes to update my blog and play on Google Reader! It's very weird living life in three hour increments of feeding, sleeping, changing diapers -- so. much. FUN! No, but really, we are lucky our baby is pretty good so far... knock on wood. He's not very fussy and a pacifier seems to cure his middle of the night fussy sessions...

Anyway! Linking up with Becky since it's about BABIES and I actually have one now. Crazy, right?

1. Tell us your favorite baby names? Aside from your own babies, if you have some :)

BOY: Well, we named our kiddo Cannon Theodore. We obviously like names a little different, but Cannon was definitely a name my husband pulled for! I had a few suggestions but nothing could top Cannon. If we had another boy, I'm not sure what would be on my list. I like Zane and Wade... my original boys list had names like Clark, Asher, and Kent on it. I also really LOVE Silas but don't think I could ever use it.

GIRL: Our girls name -- if we have one and I'm not traumatized forever from my recent labor and delivery experience -- is going to be Marina. We already decided this before we found out if we were having a boy or a girl. If you know me and steal this name I will cut you! ;)

2. Show me your "dream" nursery {can be your baby's nursery or one that you love}

 Our Nursery:

Nurseries I liked via Pinterest:

Source: blushink.com via Krystal on Pinterest

Source: e-tells-tales.blogspot.com via Krystal on Pinterest

3. How many children would you like to have? How far apart? Well I think I had always said I wanted two... but again... still traumatized by the last experience two weeks ago! ;) I think maybe after a few years I'd be down for giving number two a shot. I always thought to myself too... well what if I had another boy? Would I want to try for a third and see if it's a girl? I mean, I don't know. Ideally I don't want all the kiddos to be in diapers at the same time so once Cannon is potty trained we can discuss future children!

 

4. Tell us what you think the importance of parenting is? I don't have an answer all ready for this -- just that it's obvious good parenting is super important. I hope to be a fun and open-minded mama who Cannon adores one day! :)

5. Show us your favorite newborn photo {can be your children or random}

Well -  I don't have any random photos to share but I will share a newborn photo of Cannon. While I don't have a "favorite" one of him yet -- this is the FIRST picture that my husband took of him. 

 

Hopefully soon we will get some proper newborn pictures!

6.  Tell us some things you promise to never do as a parent {and if you are a parent, did you stick to it}
I guess time will tell with this... I didn't think I'd have given him a pacifier so early on. I thought I would be exclusively breastfeeding and I'm not. I'm sure this will be expanded as Cannon gets older!

Introducing...

Cannon Theodore

8.27.12
8:04 pm
7 lbs, 11 oz
21 inches

It's been quite the traumatizing week for mom, dad and baby! After we left the hospital, we had to go back the next day for some LIGHTS.

It sucked so bad. Being in the hospital for 5 days of the last 7 was hard to handle. No sleep, hospital food, watching your baby hooked up to an IV...ew. Anyway - we were able to FINALLY come home Saturday and I hope everything is better from here on out. He was jaundiced but his levels improved and we get them tested again today.

In other news, breastfeeding is no joke. Babies sleep a lot. Newborn clothes seem gigantic on him. He seems to mess three outfits on average a day.