Titus

Today we are saying good-bye to Titus. In 2007 Adam and I moved to Indiana. After deciding to wait to get a house until 2008, we agreed on getting a cat to hopefully hold off my baby fever. I went online and found Titus on the humane society website. When we arrived I could not find him and I was extremely discouraged because I really wanted an orange short haired tabby. Adam suggested walking through and looking one last time and thankfully I found him. He was resting in the back of his cage which is why we had missed him the first time.

Titus has been a very good cat. He has had a few accidents over the years, but they all revolve around big changes such as moving and babies being born. It was never a huge problem though because we had hardwood floors so he would pee on something that we left on the floor, like a towel.


Titus loves the girls. It never ceases to amaze me the things that he lets Kaylee and Ella do to him, yet he still comes back for more. They run with him. They jump with him. They dance with him. They play chase and hide and seek. I know they will miss him.

He has seen me through some of my most difficult moments. From wanting a baby to finding out I was pregnant. From hating my job to finding out that I got a new one. From finding out my Momma had cancer to finding out that her surgery was a success. From losing the baby last year to finding out I was pregnant with Charlotte. From quiet times in the morning to playing with the girls in the loud moments of the day. These are times when he has climbed up into my lap and just let me cry or laugh. He has been a very good friend over the years.

Good-bye old friend.

Charlotte's Birth Story

On Monday when I woke up pregnant, I knew it was time to call my doctor and change my Tuesday appointment to an induction if possible. My contractions had been coming consistently for over 2 weeks and were waking me up most nights making sleep impossible.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am and we were immediately taken to a room.  I'll be honest. It was so very strange going to the hospital in order to have a baby versus going because I was in labor. Come to find out though that my morning discomfort was actually contractions that were 8 minutes apart. Once they had me hooked up to all the monitors and had my IV in, they checked me and I was 5 cm dilated already. The nurses said that if I had stuck to my normal appointment that afternoon, the doctor would have sent me over to the hospital to deliver anyways.

At 8:30 they started me on the lowest dose of pitocin. This made my contractions slightly closer together, but I don't feel like they really turned painful until the doctor broke my water about 30 min later. From that point labor moved quickly. We tried to play a game, but labor became so difficult that we were not able to finish the game before the baby came. Around 10:40 I started feeling some pressure to push, but after asking the nurse when they were going to check me for dilation again I decided that maybe I was wrong. 15 minutes later I was certain that I was getting close to pushing and asked the nurse to check me. She checked me and I was 9 cm. They quickly brought in the doctor and prepared for delivery. As soon as the doctor arrived she checked me to make sure that I could push and I was at 10 cm. 3 pushes later and Charlotte Faye entered the world. 

And she is beautiful. I love her.

Charlotte Faye 11/12/13 Born at 11:08 am. 8 pounds 11 ounces 21 inches

39 Weeks

Well, I made it to 39 weeks. It is hard to believe that 39 weeks have flown by. Flown is probably not the right word. Most weeks have crawled by. Especially the weeks that we were trying to sell our house. 

But here we are. I am quite ready to meet this little girl. Sleep has become uncomfortable and rare. Walking and getting things done have been difficult.

There is this tiny part of me that wants the pregnancy to last a little longer. Since this will be our last pregnancy, I would like to savor those last precious kicks, nudges, and hiccups. Hearing that heartbeat at the appointments and seeing my completely round tummy in the mirror. (still so strange and new to me)  

This is the first pregnancy that my belly button has popped. (I have a freckle on the inside of my belly button and never knew!) This is the first pregnancy that I have craved salt instead of sugar. (Hello McDonald's fries.) And the first pregnancy that I have actually nested. (Cleaning is done and I am making homemade bread.) It is truly amazing to me that with all 3 girls I have had some major differences between pregnancies.

Hopefully, our newest addition will be the focus of my next post. :)

Happy Wednesday and happy 39 weeks to me! The end is in sight!

My Reflection

In our old house all of our mirrors were high. So when I looked at my reflection, I simply saw myself from the chest and up.

One of the last days in the old house, I went in to put some laundry away in Kaylee's room and was surprised by the very pregnant woman looking back at me. Her dresser is usually stacked high with pillows so I still only get the partial view of myself, but this day the pillows were on the floor.

Our new house gives me the whole view of myself every time I go to the bathroom. It still amazes me how surprised I am by my pregnant reflection. We have been in the house for 5 days now, you would think I would be used to it. I know that I am pregnant and have been for 35 weeks, but seeing myself pregnant is crazy weird.

I am looking forward to the last few weeks of my pregnancy and getting to watch my belly grow before Charlotte arrives. Maybe I will even be able to tell when she drops. :)

Craziness of the Last Few Weeks

These last several weeks have been super crazy!

Our computer broke. Which was the best timing ever since we weren't spending any money on buying a new house or anything. (Total sarcasm here people.) We ended up just having it fixed, but seriously just got it back yesterday. Needless to say, I have missed all of you and I am so excited to be blogging again.

We closed on both of our houses, the one we were selling and the one we were buying, on last Wednesday. We slowly moved over stuff to the new house, but had two massive hauls on Saturday with some fabulous help. Thank you to all who helped and that includes wives that watched their children so that their husbands could help!

Pause. I also want to say thank you to my buddy from highschool, Jonathan, as he helped us think of new ways to negotiate our contract with the people we were buying the house from. These ideas helped us win in the bidding war and get the house. Thanks so much Jonathan! Ok back to the craziness.

I thought for sure that I was going to go into labor because of all the contractions I was having, but thankfully baby girl stayed put.

This week has been small amounts of unpacking, but mostly cleaning, cooking, and never-ending laundry. 

My goal is to catch you up on our lives over the next week or so and to also finish up Blogtember. I hate that I missed it. 

How have you all been?

Favorite Online Shop

Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

My childhood friend Tammie has her own Etsy shop called LittleChurches. This is my favorite item from there. Hopefully, someday I will own one of her items.

Honestly, I do not do a lot of online shopping. And her shop is the only current one I know of that has items to sell. And with cute items that I have considered buying. 

Taking a turn.

Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

The most distinct turn that I can think of was when Adam and I got married. We were no longer dating so I did not have to leave and go back to the dorm at night. 

Shortly after we got married, we had to make serious life altering decisions as to what jobs we would apply for and where they were located. We then moved 8 hours away from the life we had known for the last 5 years to a new apartment in a large city where we knew nobody, but were closer to Adam's family. 

After a year of living here, we both found new jobs and moved into our first home where we started talking about having children. Two years after that, we had Kaylee. Two years after that, we had Elanor. Two years later, I find myself pregnant and getting ready for another move.

The turn in my life wasn't just about all the new things that I was embarking on, but it was about my life no longer being just about me. I went from being on my own to being on a team. A lifelong team that requires lots of work and lots of grace. This turn made me realize how selfish I really am as a person and gave me insight into how much I could grow and change for the better.

Best turn I have ever made.