The Cousins' Vox

   Sometimes you begin something nonchalantly, not have the slightest clue that it will change your life forever. The Cousins' Vox has done that for me. 
  Voxer, for those of you unfamiliar, is a voice-recording, walkie talkie app. Me and my three cousins (Joy, Laura, and Alyssa) have a group vox where we chat EVERY single day.
   Guys, it beyond fun. Each cousin brings something so entirely different to the conversation that we can't help but vox ALL THE TIME! One time, I had 215 Vox messages to catch up on in the span of 2 hours... that's a small picture into our level of love for the cousins' vox.
   Take Laura, for example, she is like having a personal stylist and interior design consultant at your beck and call.. She pretty much single-handedly helped Alyssa envision the decor for her new home. She could probably design in her sleep. Laura also loves to cook and entertain. She is basically the ideal woman. Plus Laura is very prophetic and one of the most naturally caring people you could hope to meet.
   Joy, besides keeping all us other cousins' hair in top condition (she is a hairstylist), helps define our core muscles from the sheer hilarity of her voxes. Joy is the most naturally funny person I have EVERY MET. Seriously. She also is so versatile because not only is she hysterical, but incredibly wise and profound too. This girl hears from God and studies The Word more than I even thought it possible to do (kidding, kinda). Joy also boasts a deep love for her cats Lilly and Mischa, whose pictures make frequent appearances on vox. She has for sure been accused of liking cats a little too much...
   And Alyssa, undoubtebly the most "Zen" cousin of the bunch. Alyssa's calm and level approach to life and being the mother of TWINS makes her the go-to for Joy and my very high highs and low lows that our personalities present. Alyssa is the rock of the cousins Vox. She also will randomly be SO funny without even trying to be that you can't almost stand it. She and I lived together two years in college with some other friends so we have a lot of history together, have been in each others weddings, and plan on living together someday again if we all outlive our husbands.... 
  I will say that I have made several sacrifices being a part of the cousins' Vox. First off, I'm an avid cat disliker and I have had to power through some very long voxes about cat-related incidents because all the other cousins happen to love cats. I did conceded to us all having cats in our future cousins'  old people home (if in fact, we all do end up out-living our spouses- BTW we are hoping our husbands all live long, healthy lives... we just needed a back up plan and alternative to a nursing home).  
   Admittedly, I also have put the cousins through some stretching voxes of my own... Like that trial month where Paul convinced me that we should take a Schnauzer puppy... with me having a new born and not yet two-year-old... Yea those were some interesting times.
   But lest you think the Cousins' vox is all entertainment, think again. For a stitch in time, we actually had a "word of the day" challenge so that we increased our vocabularies. We have collectively participated in healthy eating challenges and regularly share what we are learning from the books we read and scripture we study. The cousins' vox has even crossed over into a couseling tool within the last week as we pleaded with Joy to consult her parents on some parenting questions we had. 
   In short, thank God for the Cousins' Vox. 

BABY Lowell (I love you)

   So I won’t go as far as saying that I am responsible for Beau and Grace getting pregnant because that would just be creepy, but I am fairly 100% certain that I played a part… For one thing, (not to make this all about me, but hey! It’s my blog) I’ve always wanted to throw someone a baby gender reveal party and for another thing, I was desperately wanting a friend to be pregnant with out in Cali.

   Some of our amazing friends Patrick and Courtney said that despite holding adorable Theo, they are not ready for a baby (probably because I couldn’t guarantee that any baby would be as cute as him). We also have these these other friends Kyle and Katrina that chickened out too, so that naturally left Beau and Grace…

   We were in the same marriage small group at Bethel and there is a whole big chuck of teaching about sex… there is even ‘homework’ (no details)… but before we were dismissed for the week, the leaders shared many testimonies of how the Lord had blessed couples with children during this time in the class (couples who did the ‘homework’ that is…) and they prayed over all of us that this would be a fruitful season of growth in everyones marriages (what they were actually saying: that everyone would get busy and have babies). Paul and I are over-achievers and had done the homework 7 months in advance and were ALREADY pregnant- very pregnant! During the prayer time Paul and I nonchalantly extended our hands towards Beau and Grace and they laughed assuming we were joking… I laughed too in order to throw them off my trail (I didn’t want them throwing up any counter prayers to what I was about to do). I  confess to you that I literally prayed one of my all-time best prayers that they would get knocked up and guess what?!? IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!

   So yesterday was very significant as I got to host a gender party announcing the impending arrival of BABY LOWELL and revel in the fact that Bethel was worth every cent because God gives me what I want now ;) (jk).

Yay! LOWELL! you are a boy!!!! Theo's buddy!!

See that bump?!? I did that!- Well, no, but you know what I mean...

Airplane Schmarplane

   So I've had a pretty crazy week. Yes, I am proving to the world that 'I still got it' by not being one of those moms who falls of the face of the planet once they have a baby and only takes up hobbies such as cleaning, knitting, and pinterest. I spontaneously flew out of Cali Thursday after my father (saint of a man) offered to fly me home last minute for my mom's birthday. Some of the siblings were bemoaning not coming, but I sweetly reminded them all they had to do was push out a 9 lb baby and they too could have been airlifted to Omaha.
   I had AMAZING week. My cousin Laura's wedding was this last weekend which means a ton of extended family was in town that Theo wouldn't have otherwise met. My grandpa and his wife have been here (Theo is my grandpa's 1st great-grandchild!) and my dad's sister and brother-in-law (Uncle Mike and Aunt Julie) who live in Florida and are not in Omaha very often. So it has been super special and even though Theo's little eyes have been dilated countless times by the flash of the camera he is still a great sport!
  I write about the family fest it has been this trip because this is what I had to keep in mind while traveling with my infant child on Thursday. Since becoming a mom I seem to have developed into somewhat of a clean freak. I seriously feel lightheaded when my brother Turner cooks in our kitchen because I'm worried he will get raw meat on some part of the kitchen that I won't (secretly) disinfect once he leaves. The 1st-errr --2nd thing I ask Paul when he walks through the door is if he has washed his hands (he works at hospitals though so you can understand...) I will tell you that being a clean freak is NOT what you want to have happen when your baby child happens to have a blowout at the beginning of a 3 hour flight in which he desecrates his clothes, your pants, and nostrils of all rows within 50 feet of you. Let me just tell you that you do NOT want to be a clean freak when you are FORCED to change his little diapey in the airplane bathroom that stinks to the high heavens with his baby arms and legs flailing around due to being stripped.
  Oh my gosh, it was not fun. I balanced my baby, diaper bag, and sanity all in my lap in the TINIEST airplane bathroom (seriously! why are to sooo small?) I was probably in there a good 20 minutes since I had to strip him and wipe him down (we are talking a full-scale blowout). It took me forever to dig around in my diaper bag one handed while balancing it and Theo on my legs as I sat on the closed toilet seat. Once I was finally done I made my way back to my seat triumphantly because I knew if I could make it through that then my life was pretty much downhill from here ;)

Theo enjoying life in the air...

 

I can't believe I'm posting about a breast pump...

   So you know that moment when you are at Target and start tearing up because they won't honor the online price for the $300 breast pump you are trying to buy? Yes, I had that moment today when after 2 days of trying to buy a pump on both Target and Babies R Us's websites (to no avail... our PayPal account was malfunctioning) I said "screw this" and marched off to Target to buy the said pump because it was advertised on sale for $255 online. So you can see why I was a little peeped that they were making me pay the $300 for an item that I don't want but desperately need for my sanity. As the tears reveal, I've been a tad emotional the last month and just need to have the option of packing a bottle so I can leave the house with my baby for more than 2 hours without trying to find a place to privately feed him... you moms know where I'm coming from. I called my mom at Target (Paul wasn't answering his phone) and she said to just buy it and I could always return it if Paul wanted us to save the $50. So I did. I bought it and then got home and started crying- yes, full-blown crying because of my breast pump ordeal... Paul wisely said I should forget ordering online and use the sucker el pronto!
   The emotions are a mixture of many things: I think I miss my mom. I feel sad my sister is leaving and wonder how Theo and I will do home alone together all day (with no help). Having a full month of company has made my little sweetie awfully used to being held non-stop.. I only get anything done (shower included) when he is sleeping. The next few weeks could be a major adjustment and I am a sucker... crying it out? yea right... I've done that once and it lasted all of 5 minutes. Being a stay-at-home mom is such a gift, but not living close to our families is just hard :(. Also difficult is not knowing where we will be in May after school is finished. We are praying we have direction soon. Until then I will continue to forge through the new ground of motherhood. This little sweetie sure makes it worth it! 

40 Weeks and a little honesty...

   It is here! The 40 week mark and no baby, no dilating, no contractions, no nothing (double negative)!!! I am so 'over' being pregnant and took the day to feel sorry for myself and go shopping with some money my wonderful sister-in-laws sent me... I did some serious damage in the clearance aisle of TJ Max...

   I'm going to be honest here because 1) I think it's funny 2) I want to remember this and 3) you can probably relate (or at least may be able to in the future) if you are a girl. As I was getting ready this morning I found some stretch marks on my tummy... or at least the start of some. I was none-too-pleased, but reminded myself that I love my body unconditionally and took a deep breath. I told myself that I won't even care in a few days when I'm holding my beautiful baby. BUT lets get real: I commanded them to disappear and prayed fervently they would... Maybe my prayers worked because I tried to show them to Paul and he couldn't see them and looked at me like I'm a crazy person (it was bad lighting I insisted). If you feel like punching me right now over my vanity cut me some slack because 1) I am hormonal 2) I'm officially OVER my due date and 3) I wouldn't judge you for being upset if the same thing happened to you. That being said, I was a little irritable when Paul picked me up for my Dr. appointment. It also didn't help that he was trying to drive and eat a massive, messy sandwich at the same time. I was so grossed out that I demanded he pull the car over before we had even gone a block and I made him let me drive.

  I am seriously a good driver- well, decent driver, but I admit that I should not try and vent and drive at the same time. I was telling Paul about my said stretch marks, and then getting even MORE irritated when I decided he wasn't showing me enough sympathy (to be fair, we have had a few 'false alarms' when it comes to stretch marks). Finally, I gave it to him straight and said, "please! just for today agree with everything I say even if you secretly don't." He nodded sympathetically (maybe he was too afraid to talk at that point).  To be honest, I don't even feel bad about this dysfunctional pregnancy day... I am not perfect and I want the world to know (that's a bit of an over-statement, but whatev). However, feel free to put us on your prayer list the next few days...

  Getting back down to business, I have ANOTHER appointment Friday to make sure the little guy's heartbeat is still looking good and then Dr. S said he would like to induce me Monday morning if nothing has happened. This is bittersweet since 1) I have had my heart set on going into labor 2) I feel cheated that at full-term no progression has been made and 3) seriously?! couldn't he have let me believe I dilated 1 cm just to make me feel better?!?! The upside is my mom is flying in this weekend and it will be really special to have her here for her first grandchild's birth... 
   And for the record: No, we don't have his name picked out and yes, I realize I look even bigger than I did yesterday (I get told this on a daily basis). ;)