Tag Archives: expecting

Hello World!

22 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by in Dear Bundle

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Dear Bundle,

Welcome to the outside! Your due date was today, August 22nd, 2014. However, you were so excited to be here that you decided to be born early and came into this world on August 5th, 2014! Weighing in at 6.25 lbs and 19 inches in length, you are healthy, happy, and every ounce of joy that a little bundle like you was meant to be.

B-Day Bump

We decided to name you Anthony Joseph, after your father and mine. May you be blessed with their eternal love and devotion, and may you carry on their names in wisdom and in legacy of those who came before you.

Hello TJ

Sweet Baby,

Your journey in this life has begun, already fleeting, ever so short. The world is full of things to do, to see, and to learn. Explore it with integrity, compassion, mindful observance, and a healthy sense of humor. Travel this road with a full heart and an open mind. There is no limit to how far you can travel or how high you can climb. I cannot tell you where all the roads will lead or even which ones to always take. But I promise to always be here for you, and I will do my best to help guide you along the way. You will forever be a part of me. Good luck on your journey, my Bundle, my Boy, my Anthony Joseph.

Love You Forever,

Mom

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Painting the Hills & Sky

31 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by in Operation Nursery

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My vision for the nursery walls included soft colors, rolling hills and a neutral sky with clouds. I planned out the landscape first, sketching the hills onto the wall with a pencil, several erasers and a lot of patience. The challenging part was in knowing how my lines were materializing on a 12 foot wall when I’m only inches away from it at any given time. To make this easier, I purchased a cheap art projector like the one below:

projector

Thanks to this little gadget, I was able to sketch my hills out onto paper first and then project them onto the walls and trace them. I definitely recommend this method for painting murals or other projects involving larger-than-life canvas sizes!

With this complete, I tackled the paint. I did the sky first and then the hills to ensure the illusion that the hills were on top of the sky rather than the other way around (trust me, it makes a difference). Two coats were necessary all the way around to ensure coverage of the original yucky mustard-yellow wall color. After rolling on the larger surface areas, I found it helpful to switch to a smaller-bristle art brush for the details.

 

Phase 1 of Painting Complete:

Special thanks to my good friend, Vanessa, who traveled all the way from Chicago to help me complete Phase 1 of the Painting Plan! I love you girl, and your fellow-perfectionist capabilities! ♥ ♥ ♥

Vanessa & Leonie

 

 

Rounding Out at Week 33

07 Monday Jul 2014

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Dear Bundle,

We’re rounding out at Week 33 and things are starting to get really busy around here. Our doctor appointments have been bumped up to every two weeks. And by week 35, they will increase to once a week. Weight gain up until this point has been slow and gradual, but starting about now that velocity will ramp up significantly as well. To put it into perspective, you are only about 4 pounds now, but from here until B-Day (about 7 weeks away) you will probably double in size.

Week 33 Bump

At this point in my pregnancy and with the nearing of the much anticipated event, I am preoccupied with a palpable feeling of excitement and joy (you’ll be here soon!), coupled strongly with an equally overwhelming feeling of trepidation and anxiety (you’ll be here soon!!).

I have also been spiked with some sort of inexplicable energy that has me buzzing frantically about with a mission to clean, organize and obsess over everything in the house in preparation for your arrival- some things more random than others. The other day, for example, I fulfilled this incredible unfounded need inside of me to scrub all the baseboards, door jams and light switches in the house (what??). I suppose this is what they mean by the “nesting phase?” Evidently so, I have decided I need to harness this energy (which is undoubtedly fleeting) toward some much more focused and meaningful applications….

So Operation Nursery, get ready! Over the next few weeks I am blessed to have some family and friends coming into town to help me with this. We will be intently working on things like painting the nursery, organizing closets and assembling, well, tons of stuff! We also have plans to take my creative abilities to uncharted territories involving a sewing machine (… Handmade curtains and pillows are the vision)! In addition to this, your dad will be starting on a unique project to build you a custom built-in bookcase bench that I designed just for your bedroom! I can’t wait to see how everything will come together. Stay tuned, as Operation Nursery is well underway!

xoxo,

Mom

Bundle’s Blanket

30 Monday Jun 2014

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Dear Bundle,

Upon my trip to Albuquerque, I was presented with a very special gift. Well, actually, YOU were.

Your Grandma Rael has been working on your quilt day and night. It’s one of a kind and absolutely gorgeous! Like with everything your Grandma does, she put her whole heart and soul into this blanket. And it was made specifically just for you to love and to cherish.

If you’re anything like me and my siblings with our childhood quilts, this blanket is sure to get its fair share of mileage. From picnics with our stuffed animals to being dragged down the stairs and wrapped around us during Saturday morning cartoons, there are few occasions where we did not have them around.

My favorite childhood blanket was hand made by my Grandma Rael (your Great Grandma). When she passed away 2 years ago, my mother (your Grandma) took up the project to restore it. She carefully went over every stitch, even leaving the mistakes your Great Grandma had made to keep it as original as possible. When she returned the blanket to me last year, the special surprise was that she had enhanced it with new embellishments. These came from patterns that your Great Grandma had left behind, unfinished. Now even more precious and special than before, this blanket will forever be one of my most cherished treasures. 

Now we are honored to add your new blanket to our collection of family quilts, and I know that you will love it just as much as all the love that when into its making.

Love Always,

Mom & Grandma!

29 Week Bump… New Mexico Here We Come!

10 Tuesday Jun 2014

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Dear Bundle,

They say I’m carrying high. According to the old wives tale, that’s a sign consistent to your gender. Although according to medical research, that’s a sign I have killer abs (…hey, I’ll pitch both theories)!.

Week 29 Bump

Well my doctor cleared me for travel and I’m getting ready for my trip to New Mexico tomorrow. This was home to your father and I for many years, but to you it will be known as the Land of Grandparents! Soon you will be able to meet your 4 amazing grandparents as well as your many aunts, uncles and cousins who are all very excited to meet you. But for now, they get to meet my belly!

We have a moderate flight ahead of us tomorrow and comfort may not be the most possible of things, but I’ll be packing the pillows like a mule in order to try. I really wish I could bring our Snoogle along for the ride, but that would probably require me to purchase a second seat… In any case, please pleeease try not to kick and roll all over my bladder too too much (I hate having to pee on planes!). I’m also packin plenty of Pepcid and Tums… a few for the plane, and a lot more for the New Mexican food, which I’m wagering will give us a run for our money throughout our stay (but it’s sooo worth it!). Table for one and a half, please. NM, here we come! 🙂

Hail to the SnOoGLe

29 Thursday May 2014

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Dear Bundle,

Getting into a comfy sleeping position at night is becoming more of a challenge, and for the last couple weeks I’ve been tossing and turning a lot more throughout the night. So a couple days ago, your dad came home with a surprise…

Snoogle in Box Hail to the Snoogle!! Every pregnant woman I’ve ever met swears by these giant wrap around body pillows, so I was eager to put it into use and see for myself what all the hype was about. My first impression as I opened it up and rolled it out onto the bed was this is going to pose a bit of a space challenge. Me + Bundle + Snoogle = not a lot of room for Daddy. I envisioned myself trying to flip sides with it in the middle of the night and consequently smothering him or battering him with it in the process.

SnoogleB copy

But as I lay there wrapped in my own personal life-size nest of soft feathery fluffies, I must attest that this thing is truly a dream invention. Although it’s longer than me, it can curl up into various shapes and sizes. It’s also surprisingly squishy and wraps snugly around my body in any position I want to lay in. Adjusting positions during the night can be done easily without a lot of effort or chaos because you can leave the Snoogle in place and just flip yourself to face the other side of it. But to be honest, I barely need nor want to move at all once I melt into it! I even find myself wanting to go to bed earlier than normal just to indulge in my new pillow.

All in all, my review of this notorious body pillow is well-favored, and I will join the testimony of people who recommend it as a certain survival kit staple for any woman with a bump.  Comfortable rest is possible once again!

Happy Snoogling!

3 Months to Go!

22 Thursday May 2014

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Dear Bundle,

Grow, Baby, Grow! We have 3 months to go!

Finishing up the second trimester and boy, are we growing. You have literally doubled in size over the last month. I use to feel you hanging out on one side of my belly or the other, now you are taking up that whole space. I’m having to eat smaller meals just to fit my food in there without feeling incapacitated.

26 Week Bump

To date, it’s been a very textbook pregnancy. So far I’ve hit all the milestones and had all the typical (mild) symptoms.  I’m experiencing some discomfort here and there, and hormones are up and down. But all in all, I’ve been managing it well. I realize this may all change very soon! So here’s hoping for continued health and endurance. Grow, baby, grow!

Love,

Mom

 

 

Operation Nursery is Underway!

20 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in Operation Nursery

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Operation Nursery is Underway… Here we go!

When Tony and I first moved into this place almost two years ago, we had family on the mind. We fell in love with the town, the house and the idea of nesting up in this very suburbanite family-oriented community.

Since that time, we’ve been busy making this house our home. But for the most part, much of this beautiful house has remained closed-off and unoccupied, waiting for the right time to be integrated into our lives. I knew that one day the time would come to transform one of these rooms into a nursery…  and I’ve had my eye on this one.

Big beautiful front facing window, spacious closet and full attached bathroom. This room has some serious potential. But let’s face it… it screams MAJOR interior-design overhaul!

First thing’s first. Get rid of the sinfully outdated wall-length Star and Moon valence and drapes (along with any wall banners, hardware or otherwise matching adornment that came straight from this highly-popular and over-done “Starry Night” decor craze of 1995). Cool at one time, perhaps (?), but SO over this theme!

Thank you, Tony, for getting these things off the wall and out of my sight so that the REAL vision may ensue.

Stay tuned!

Mother’s Meadow

15 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in Dear Bundle, Spring

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Dear Bundle,

We discovered the most amazing place!!

Sunday was a Mother’s Day to remember. Even though you are not yet born, your dad wanted to make sure I knew just how much he loved and appreciated me for carrying his little Bundle. So that afternoon, without even a hint about where we were going or what we were doing, he packed us up a lunch, grabbed a blanket and told me to put on my walking shoes and bring my camera.

A picnic, I thought. Such a sweet idea… simple, quaint, kinda romantic… and definitely out of our ordinary. As we loaded into the car, I figured we were probably going to a park or to a lake or somewhere appreciable. But trying not to spoil my own surprise, as my sometimes overly-inquisitive mind often does, I did as I was told and tried not to ask too many questions. After a moderate drive away from town, he suddenly pulled off to the side of the road at what seemed like no destination at all. Looking around me, we were in the middle nowhere. Surrounded by nothing but wooded area, there were no people, no parking lot, no trail, no signage, and no way of knowing just what I was about to encounter.

We grabbed our gear and began walking through the brush and trees. The grass was so high it was hard to walk through, and with no landmarks in sight, I began to wonder just what he was thinking trolling a pregnant lady through all this terrain. Hopefully we weren’t going far.

Just then, I saw a clearing appear up ahead. And I could make out what seemed like a patch of red flowers. But as we got closer and the trees parted, I could see it wasn’t a patch of red flowers at all… It was whole field of red flowers! Suddenly I was standing in the middle of a breathtaking hidden meadow… and it was full of these stunning wild flowers that stretched as far as the eye could see. And the butterflies… the butterflies were everywhere! I just stood there speechless, gazing in amazement at the sight before me.

My adorable husband was clearing a spot for the blanket where the trees met the meadow, and started setting up his picnic. He said he had stumbled upon this place when scouting off the beaten path just a week before. The remarkable thing is it’s in a public region, but there’s no map identifying its existence, no path to trace its whereabouts and no name that stakes its claim. We decided right then that we will call this place, “Mother’s Meadow.”

It was one of the most beautiful earthly things to me, partly I think because of the mystery it beared. Here we are engrossed in today’s industrious country, entangled in a coveted society. Yet, in the middle of it all, somehow is this magnificent concealed piece of unadulterated, uncharted territory… and we had it all to ourselves. Incredible. It was as if it had been placed there just for us to experience.

Mother Nature reminded me that day of the beauty and sacredness that is all around us. And I am humbled and honored to be a part of her design. Next year when you are here, we will take you to see this special secret place. Until then, may you always know the maternal grace that surrounds and nurtures you day by day. Grow healthy and strong, little one. The meadow awaits you.

Love Always,

Mom