A story (Or, the blogger's annual promise to be a better blogger)

 Let me tell you a story.
One that you are likely familiar with if you have spent any time in the blogging world.
A long time ago... I started a blog because I wanted to share some pictures and some ideas with friends and family. Then I started getting realy into it-- posting regularly. My blog got some traffic, some attention. And while I was never someone who made money off my blog (NONE, I promise) people began to assume I did? and also, I started to act like I did. I put a lot of my time and energy into this.

So now's the part of the story about losing my spark, or realigning my priorities, or blogging for the 'wrong reasons' (are there right reasons to blog for?), or also, I had kids and this became less important. Also, did you know I have two blogs? One mostly dedicated to my thoughts and rants and whatnot and one mostly dedicated to my craftiness and projects and whatnot... and while it seemed a good idea to keep those separate, two blogs? Who am I? What kind of time do I think I have?
Anyway... I dropped off the face of the earth for most of the last year. Did you notice? But I miss blogging. I miss writing. I miss having an outlet for my thoughts no matter how erratic they may be. I also miss getting to share stuff I make. Because creative people... sharing and exchange of ideas is what fuels us, am I right?

So this story ends with me trying to get back to it. Back to it with a little moderation. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. You don't have to make money from your blog to sucessfully share ideas and participate in real conversations. In fact... maybe that's a little truer way TO share ideas and participate in real conversation. (Angry money-making bloggers don't shun me)
At the very least... I have DARN cute kids, I tell you! And you won't want to miss their antics and pictures. (Yay, mom-blogger!)

And dang it I need an eloquent way to wrap up this post, but I can't really think of one today. (Real life, friends)... so... I won't.

Wesley's Birth Story Part 1: Now We Wait

On Tuesday night I was sitting on the couch crying and exhausted.
I was 40.5 weeks pregnant, but the doctor had led me to believe that my child would have arrived weeks ago. Though I am generally on the petite side, and I had gained only a reasonable and healthy amount of weight this pregnancy all I had heard for the past month from strangers and friends was how monstrously huge I was... how far past due I must be... and was I sure I wasn't having twins? I'd been 'ready to pop' for months, and miserable my entire third trimester. As soon as we reached 36 weeks, I started walking.

33 weeks pregnant

Literally, walking MILES every day trying to get that kid out. I bounced on an excercise ball for hours. I ate two whole pineapples, but only succeeded at burning my tongue from the acid. I started involved projects that needed to be finished in a timely manner hoping to tempt fate into not letting me finish. Nothing, nothing, and nothing. I would have BH contractions every night. They'd start around 7:00 and taper off around midnight, and I would punch my pillow in frustration. I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced. At 38 weeks, it was 3 and 70%. At 39 weeks, 3+ and 80. So I was making progress... but baby could still be weeks away. And despite my Doctor's prediction that this kid was large and ready to go at any time (at 36 weeks!) my due date came and went without any indication that he was planning to budge.

37 weeks pregnant

At the doctor past my due date the doctor asked if I wanted to set an induction or if I just wanted to wait it out. I told him, well, I wanted to let this kid do it on his own-- but I DO NOT want to be 49 weeks pregnant. He laughed at me and assured me he would not let that happen, but I was discouraged and exhausted from all the running around like a crazy lady and miles I'd been logging trying to make a kid move. He went ahead scheduled an induction for the following thursday-- I'd be 41 weeks pregnant. And I went home to continue my labor-inducing olympics.

Sam and his 'hosta-pital' bag.

So Tuesday night found me sitting on my couch crying to my husband. I had just gotten back from the doctor-- oh don't be excited for me, it wasn't because I was experiencing any signs of labor. I had  UTI. Could the world be any more cruel to this over-sized over-due pregnant woman? While I was there the doctor checked me and still 3 and 80. No progress for almost 2 weeks now. I was angry and exhausted. I had given up hope. I told my husband that I was just done. I didn't want to be induced, but that seemed to be the way this was going down. I told him the following day-- wednesday-- I was going to do nothing. Just relax to prepare for labor on Thursday. I was so disappointed. Z tried to console me, but I just wanted to wallow. I went to bed early. I slept through the night. This was pretty monumental because at this point I was so huge and uncomfortable I was barely sleeping at all... in between the 5 or 24 times a night I got up to pee. I woke up briefly when Z left for work. I rolled over and kept sleeping.

39 weeks, and way too pregnant to be photographed.

I got nervous every day that my husband went to work. We'd been running through everything for weeks... every possible scenario how it might go down. Z works for FedEx as a courier so he is out on the road all day. He told me that when 'it was time' I needed to give him plenty of advance warning because he would have to come in off the road and he could reasonably be an hour or more away. This stressed me out, because who knows if I would have an hour? Who knows if i called him to the hospital and had hours and hours that everyone had to wait. I didn't know. I was worried.
I also had my mother on call. She works at a school just accross town and would be the caretaker for Sam when this baby thing went down. She had alerted all the secretaries and various people at her school to patch my call through no matter what... but I was just nervous about that. What if it happened in the middle of the day when my mom was at work and zachary was at work and I couldn't get ahold of everyone? Or what if I called everyone for a false alarm? Or what if... I didn't know when to call? Every day when Z left for work I felt a little stressed, and I breathed a sigh of relief every day when he got home. Immediate access to my husband-- my cool, calm, and collected ROCK-- was comforting. I couldn't imagine being in labor and going through some or all of it without him. Could. Not. Do it.

40 weeks pregnant

So even though for several weeks I woke up to worry for a bit when my husband left early in the morning for work... this Wednesday I kept right on sleeping.

In the 'nursery'.
Everything all ready, now all there is to do is wait.

(Part II coming soon!)

Hang it up!

This is probably not a post that is going to change anyone's life... but it is one of those things that has been on my to do list for... almost 9 months now, and I finally got to it. [Internet highfive-ing myself]
Remember way back in the day when Sam was brand new and I promised you a nursery tour?  And then a couple weeks ago I shared some prints I made for Sam's room and told you I was finally finishing it up to get around to that?
WELL.
This is just one more thing.

When Sam was born we had some awesome newborn photos taken of him. Our photographer really got in there close with some detail shots... and I love the pink roundness of those tiny toes, his sweet little lips, and how long his fingers were! Oh, man! I am getting high from new baby smell just thinking about it all. Anyway, I meant for 8 months to get some canvases made with those little detail shots to hang on the blank wall of his room.

I finally got them.
And it was time to finally hang them.
Grabbed my tape measure, level, and a few nails (these things are pretty lightweight, so even though they are hanging above the crib... no special anchor or equipment was required to keep them in place.) and got them up on the wall.

 
And there you have it.
I also re-hung his mobile but (Ooh, foreshadowing!) more on that later...
I am so happy to check that off my to do list! Just a few more things and then I will clean the room and get you a proper nursery tour... hopefully before the kid turns 1. (but no promises.)

A promise

This above picture is extra scary (so I made it extra big for ya'll). That is a picture of the first time I wore a bathing suit after giving birth to my son. We were going to play in the water, so I put on my bathing suit (my maternity bathing suit, but who cares?) and looked at myself in the mirror... and I choked a little bit. I hated the reflection and I wanted to take it off. I almost did. And then I remembered if I took it off becuase I was worried about what I looked like, I would miss an opportunity to play with my son. I would miss his first time 'swimming'. I don't want Sam to have memories of his mom sitting off to the side and missing fun stuff because she didn't like herself in a swimsuit, she was dieting, or she was afraid someone might get her bigger-than-she-likes-it bootie on camera. I looked at myself and said-- I am doing this because I want to play with my son, not because I look awesome in a bathing suit. And I left my inhibitions in the bathroom mirror... and we went swimming.
My mom was running the camera that day, and she graciously considered my plight and attempted to only photograph from flattering angles (Thanks mom! You're the best!) But regardless of how awesome or not awesome I looked, we had a blast playing in the water. I am thrilled I was there to play with him, and I am glad there are pictures of it--and even pictures of me-- to remember that day. I came so close to bailing because of my own vanity and bathing-suit induced terror... how sad.
So here is a promise I made to myself, and my son:  
I promise I won't miss any moments because of my own vanity. I don't care if I look like a fool or feel like a whale, being your mama is more important than any of that.

MAKE THIS: Wedding Hall of Fame

***Quick break from baby gifts, to share this project that I LOOOOOOOVE:

One of my favorite projects from my wedding was the "Wedding Hall of Fame". Super simple... but really special to me.
Our reception venue had this really long and wide hallway that we used for a 'cocktail' area. We placed little round tables down one side of the hallway, and a few chairs. Each table had just a few votives on it, and above each table we hung a picture. I wanted the frames to look like they all belonged in the same collection of things... but not 'match'. I also kind of wanted a vintage feel, and to tie in the feel and colors from our wedding and the pictures in the frames. AND like every other project for my wedding I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this project. SOOOOOO...

I bought 8 $2 wood frames from Walmart. I had 3 that were a dark cherry-stain, three that were a light oak stain, and three that were a platinum metallic finish already (they didn't have enough of the plain wood, but it looked cool in the end) I pulled them all apart (well, took out the glass, backing, etc.) and laid them out over newspaper to paint.

I had some paint from other wedding projects... one was a brilliant gold, and the other was a satin finish champagne gold color:

I sprayed the frames with a light coat of the satin champagne gold first, let that dry, then just a 'dusting' of the brilliant gold paint.

After they were dry I re-assembled, and used some purple ribbon (leftover from invitations) to make ties. I simply hot glued the ribbon to the top inside of the frames.

Then... I placed the pictures inside the frames, each with an ivory mat (came with the frames) that we wrote the couple's name and date of their wedding on... handwritten in gold. My mom wanted to print name plates on the computer, but i liked it handwritten, look more personal--and that's what this project was about for me!

We hung the frames as usual (used 3M Velcro picture hangers so as not to damage the venue's walls) then tied the ribbons in a bow and tacked them above, so it appeared as though the pictures were hanging from the ribbons. I just have pictures of individual pics hanging, not of the whole look going down the hallway... but I promise you it looked cool. Pictured here are my sister and brother in law, my parents, and my dad's parents on their wedding day. (3 generations, cool, huh?) Not pictured here, but included in the display are my mother's parents, and Z's family on the other side of the hallway... parents and 2 sets of grandparents.

 

And then for those of you keeping track... that's only 7 frames, and I made 8. Hmmm... well my mom arranged with my photographer to take a picture of us early in the day on the wedding day, then they quickly transfered that to a jump drive that our coordinator ran to the one hour photo... so at our reception, as a part of the photo hall of fame, we had a picture of ourselves on display as well:

And my mom still has this one proudly displayed in the place of honor on her piano at home.

The rest of the 'leftover' frames have taken up residence in my spare bedroom... which just so happens to be purple so it looks great!

Total cost for this project:Walmart frames/mats: $16.00

Paint/glue/ribbon: already had

Old pictures of my new family: Priceless

(sorry, I couldn't resist the visa commercial...)

But sixteen bucks ain't bad!

Anyway... I hope this has inspired you to create your own 'hall of fame', or at the very least unify a group of frames for a display in your house (shrug, who knows?)-- it's really so much fun, and was a special way to honor our families at our wedding. But it can also be a cool keepsake. Just the other day I was perusing some crafty blogs, when I came across THIS from one of my new favorite bloggers! What are the odds that across space and time and the interwebsss...  Jessica and I had such a similar vision... I just love the internet! ha!

LOOK AT THIS: ...to tide you over.

It's show week... (Come see ANNIE!) so I am kinda lacking in the projects and postings, but I am working on some recipes, baby gifts, and recovering a chair... so there is much to come, and soon! Hooray! In the mean time, here are some Annie Pics to look at! :)

"It's a hard knock life!"

Annie, a police officer and Sandy (HAYES!!!!)

Rooster, Lily St. Regis ("I'm named after the hotel"), and Miss Hannigan

"Something Was Missing"

(think we need a little wine to go along with our cheese?)