Zetta Mae's first year in review...

I figured since I didn't blog at all through Zetta's first year of life I would do a highlight post of things that I felt were important and things I would want to remember!

November 2012:
-Our big girl was born on the 14th of the month. Weighing in at 9 pounds 2 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long! She was born at 2:06am after being in labor since 11am on the 13th :)
-She had her first Thanksgiving!
December 2012:
-First Christmas
-Her first big outing was to one of Pete's friends weddings, Gabe Baugh in mid December. Everyone LOVED seeing her. :)
January 2013:
-She took her first big trip and plane ride to Denver, Colorado for vacation with my mom's side of the family. She was a perfect baby the whole trip!
-She met her Aunt Ashley for the first time!
-I went back to work the week we got back from vacation. Pete or myself would watch her in the morning then Janet (my MIL) keeps her Tuesday and Friday afternoons and my mom watches her Monday and Thursday afternoons. We are EXTREMELY blessed with the help our families give to us. They do so much for us and we are so, so thankful for them.
-Because I went back to work Zetta also had her first bottle! I would breastfeed her in the morning before I left, then she would get a bottle at 10, I would come home and feed her at lunch at 12, and then was off by 4 and usually would feed her that feeding or sometimes she would get a bottle if I was running late or she needed it a few minutes early. :) Then I would feed her two more times before bed time. She was sleeping from about 10pm-7pm starting around 5 weeks (which would have been  in December) so I got to drop the night feeding pretty quickly! Praise the Lord for that!!
February 2013:
-Zetta was becoming a rock star at tummy time was rolling over both ways!! Big girl!!!
March 2013:
-She dropped her 10pm feeding on her own and was sleeping from about 8pm-7am.
-She started sitting up supported by her boppy pillow. She really enjoyed being upright!
-I took a one of the most fun photo shoots of her. Pearls, pearls, and more pearls..and not to mention those baby blue eyes!
-Daddy went on vacation to one of his best friends weddings for four days. I can't believe how much we missed him! I am getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it! This trip made me so incredibly thankful for an extremely involved and supportive husband. I could not have asked for a better partner to go through the journey of parenthood with.
-Zetta had her first Easter
April 2013:
-We took a trip to the beach with our dear friends Megan and Eric. We drove through the night so the trip went pretty smooth. Defiantly had to make longer, more frequent stops than we planned on but, luckily we were on no time schedule so it was no big deal...learning to go with the flowww
-She got her first tooth!! Her second one was just a few days behind. Her little bottom two. Made that smile even cuter!
-She also started sitting up with no support. Big girl!
-Biggest news of the month-we found out you were getting a new cousin!! JD and Emily are pregnant!! We could not be more excited.
-6 month stats: 16 pounds 13 ounces and 26 inches long. Perfectly healthy baby!
May 2013:
-Zetta was army crawling and could get anywhere she wanted to go! We have a curious girl that does NOT like to be left alone. :)
-We introduced a few solid foods. Rice cereal, banana, sweet potato, and avocado.
June 2013:
-She sat in a high chair for the first time at daddy's favorite restaurant, HuHot.
-She also was holding her bottle on her own. We would lay her in her boppy pillow on the floor and she could feed herself! This was a sad milestone for me, but pretty convenient if I do say so myself!!
-Zetta met her best friend Mila for the first time! They are 10 weeks apart and going to be the best of friends!
-She also was starting to pull up on furniture.
-We swam for the first time at Eesie and Poppie's house. No surprise that she loves the water!
-By the end of the month she was picking up cheerios on her own
-She started standing up in her crib! Time to move the mattress down a level!
July 2013:
-First 4th of July
-She also got her first little bruise on her forehead. :(
-We found out that Zetta was going to be a big sister!
-We also found out more exciting news, that baby Tanner is a GIRL!!!!! So many fun times ahead!
-Was exclusively bottle fed(breastmilk) because I was trying to pump as much as I could to try not to lose my supply.

August 2013:
-Has a love for baby rice cakes and any fruit!
-She is eating like a champ. The only thing she really doesn't like is squash.
-We moved into our new house at the end of the month.
-Her top two teeth started working their way through!
-My milk supply was slowly going away. We introduced formula. She took 2 breastmilk bottles and 2 formula bottles. HARD for this mama. (This topic deserves its own post in itself.)
September 2013:
-Loves black beans!!!
-We make it public news that she is going to be a big sister!! (Due March 29th) She is beyond excited! ;)
-Standing up and letting go of furniture and playing with whatever is in her hands.
October 2013:
-Started taking steps here and there. I think the most she took at one time was 8. She still prefers to crawl though, she is just too fast to give it up yet!
-We introduced yogurt, cheese, and eggs. She did well with all. Praise the Lord!
-The next tooth on each side of her bottoms started poking through. One is completely visible and the other is close!
November 2013:
-Our big girl turned ONE!
-She is officially walking everywhere
-Zetta Mae is such a talker! She never stops jabbering!

Zetta Mae, you have been the best blessing to your daddy and I. We just sit and stare at you, asking each other how we got so lucky. You are the most easy going, loving baby. Your first year of life just flew by and I am sure time isn't going to slow down anytime soon. We love you so much and can't wait for the years to come.

Zetta's Monthly Pictures

Zetta Mae's birth story

I wrote this post when Zetta was 10 weeks old. I figured this was a post I would want to look back on even if I posted it a year after it was written. :)
Disclaimer: This is going to be long and more information than some people really want to read, so don't say I didn't warn you! ;)

I went in for my 40 week doctor appointment on Tuesday, November 13th at 8:00am. Since it was my due date, it is procedure to have an ultrasound to check fluid levels, size, etc. Just to make sure that the baby isn't too big. Pete and I both guessed she was around the 7 pound mark, but boy we were wrong! The ultrasound tech goes well, my guess is 10.4! I was in shock! We went and met the doctor and before she got all the way in the door she said "girl, you have a big, big baby!" ha! Told me I had to go to the hospital to get induced in case they were a pound off in the other direction, making her 11.4. Since she was measuring so big she told me that I could go try to have her vaginally or could choose a c-section and have her right away. I was totally against being induced until they told me I had no choice, so I really wanted to try to have her vaginally. I am not someone who just gives up before I even try something. Therefore, we headed to the hospital, got checked in and pitocin going by 11am. Around 1pm they came in and checked me, I was at 5cm (I was 4cm and 80%-90% effaced for weeks), I told them to go ahead and break my water. After that I could start to feel the contractions. My mom, sister, and her kids were all in the room hanging out. I decided after about 30 minutes, they needed to get out. I could really start to feel the contractions and I HATED the feeling of my water continuously breaking. Hated. I think that is what frustrated me the most. Around 4pm I decided that I wanted to get my epidural. Side note: I was really going to try to go without unless I had to be induced, then I knew the long, drawn out pain wasn't going to be something I could handle. The epidural was easy  and nothing like I was expecting. I could still lift my legs, move around in bed, etc. I had heard so many horror stories I was nervous, but it was nothing but a good experience for me. I was so hungry I was mad, but they wouldn't let me eat anything. So once I got comfortable I took a nap for a few hours. Around 8pm they came in and checked me and I was 10cm and fully effaced but I just didn't feel an extreme pressure to push. Don't get me wrong, I could feel "the pressure" every contraction, but no where close to the point where I thought I could get her out. We hung out until about midnight and then the nurses came in and said okay, we're doing this..let's go. I was like alrighty then...
So I started pushing 3x every contraction (2 minutes apart). The nurses were so great. I am not kidding, they were go encouraging and really excited because they thought they were going to deliver the biggest baby ever! By the time I started to push I was the talk of the floor and my baby according to them, was going to be over 11 pounds! They warned me that I probably wasn't going to be able to get her past my pelvis because she was so big, but I was determined NOT to have a section!!! I continued to push like it was nobodies business every 2 minutes. Pete was right there and so encouraging the whole time. Pushing wasn't a super hard thing for me. I mean it wasn't the easiest thing I have ever done, but it wasn't the hardest either. I mean, I apologized to Pete halfway through because he wasn't involved enough and I felt bad that there wasn't more that he could do. Between every contraction we (nurses included) were watching TV and just talking about different things. I could feel every contraction coming, and I knew when it was time for me to push. They called doctor Cugini around 1:45am and I had our sweet girl at 2:06am. It was so surreal, I could not believe I had just had a baby!!! They threw her up on my chest and I seriously think I was in shock. I was so tired, and SOO incredibly hungry I was delirious, yet so happy that I did it and I proved to myself and everyone else that big baby or not, it was possible. They took her over to the little table in the room and cleaned her off, weighed her, etc. She was 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long!! She scored a 9 and a 10 on her APGAR and ate like a champ. She instantly latched on and nursed like a queen. Then the nurses reminded us that she didn't have a name! Ha. I looked at Pete and told him to choose. :) He said " I mean, I think it has to be Zetta Mae." I could not be happier with the choice! He had his mom and Wes come in first, since it was their first grand baby and my family came in shortly after! Everyone  got to quickly meet her and then they all went home! It was almost 4am by this point! Pete went with Zetta while she got her bath and I tried to eat my amazing Caesar salad that my awesome MIL went to get for me. I was literally falling asleep while I was eating it, so I just went to sleep. Pete and Zetta came back shortly after and the nurses had to come in at 6am and wake us all up because it was time to feed.  She latched on like a champ again! After that, I got up took a shower and had a full day of guest!
 I could not be happier with the way things turned out! It was NOTHING like how I wanted the birth to go, but I knew that was going to happen. :) Doesn't it to everyone?! The main thing is we had a beautiful, healthly baby girl and that's all I can ask for!

What we're up to...

Let me catch you up to speed on where our lives are right now! We moved into our new house over the summer. It is the last house on a quiet, dead end street and we love it! We renovated this one more to our taste than any in the past. It was a fun process, but a bit more stressful than usual considering we are planning on making this our home for a few years! Which who knows if that is even true. If we find something else that we like more, than I am sure we will move but, right now I am just enjoying this house and all it has to offer! Zetta got a major upgrade in floor space in her room, so that is a plus. The minus for her now though, is she get's to share it with her baby sister! There is another room upstairs right next to her's that Pete is currently using as his office that we could make a nursery if we wanted to, but I loved sharing a room with my sister when I was younger and I also really like having Pete's office upstairs. I don't know why, but I feel like if he moved it down to one of the bedroom's in the basement I wouldn't see him as much! So ridiculous, but oh well. We will see how it works out and if we need to make a change, we will! So onto the topic of baby sister! Can you believe it? We are going to two babies, 16 months apart! We knew after we had Zetta that we were going to just let it all be in God's timing on when we were going to have another child and boy, did he surprise us! We just thought since I was breastfeeding and it took us over a year to get pregnant with Zetta it wouldn't be too soon. Which some days I think that 16 months apart isn't too soon but, then others, I selfishly don't want to give up my undivided attention on my first baby just quite yet. With all that being said, we are extremely excited that we are having another girl and know it's going to have it's challenges, but nothing that we can't handle!
I started working full time when Zetta turned 10 weeks old. I started out at a rehab facility being a technintion and really enjoyed the people and interacting with patients all day long. When I was two weeks into that job, a lady I use to babysit for called and said that she was good friends with the owner of LeBounce (a local bounce house in our area) and that I would be perfect for the job! I went and applied, and ended up getting the job! I put my two weeks in at my brand new job (oops) and worked 2 jobs for the next two weeks. It was an incredibly stressful time for me. Not only was I adjusting to motherhood and all that comes with it(pumping at work, waking in the middle of the night, etc, etc), I was working 2 full time jobs. This was my first full time job since college to begin with, so it was just a hard time. Anyone who has made that transition from college student to 40 hours a week job, knows how much of a shock that adjustment is. I truly do not think I am use to it yet!..someday! Since I started at LeBounce in February, there has been a lot of changes there, and all for the better of course. There was 2  facilities under the name LeBounce, and as of November 1st we separated the two facilities, and I work at a place called "Orange Monkey"! It is still a kids entertainment type place, just bigger and better(I will do a whole post on what I do exactly at another time)! Life as a manager has it's challenges but, is also rewarding!
Pete is still flipping foreclosure's and becoming quite the stud if I do say so myself! He has been lucky enough to buy, flip, and sell at a pretty good pace, so he only has about two or three houses he is working on at one time. He also has one rental property(3 separate units though) through his business that he manages and we have two personal rentals that he takes care of as well! He is extremely busy but you would never know it! He is the most calm spirited guy! God knew exactly what he was doing when he put us together! I need someone like him to keep me from going insane!! That is the basics of where we are now! I am hoping to get before and after pictures of our house uploaded soon, I am so pleased with the outcome and can't wait to share!

And we're back for another dramatic season..The Bachelor!

Are you as excited as me about the new season of the Bachelor!?!? I was not a huge fan of Juan Pablo last season, but I defiantly like the Bachelor more than the Bachelorette, so I am excited..bring on the drama! Ha! I have an amazing group of girls that I watch with every week. It is so fun to make time to get together during the week, even if it is for a silly reality tv show! It is going to be interesting this season though, considering I am going to have a new baby halfway through the season. I think I will be hosting quite a bit this year! I am the only one with a little one, so it is just easier for everyone to come to me :) Plus, I love having people over to my house! We have the basement finished now too, so there is a cozy room for us all to hangout and watch together! Can't wait to recap each week with you all!! Cheers to ANOTHER season! It will probably be "the most dramatic season yet"! (I feel like Chris Harrison says that at least once every episode!)

2014...Let's do this!

Well, it is a new year so what better time to start blogging again then at the beginning of a year! Ever since Zetta was born (over a year ago!) the months would roll by and I would be mad at myself for not doing a monthly post for her. Mainly for me to look back on and know when each milestone happened, because it is impossible to remember all the details! So, this year I am determined to stick with it and have a place to look back and cherish our family..especially because we are expanding again! That's correct, for those of you who don't know, I am pregnant again! It was a surprise for sure, but we couldn't feel more blessed. I will do a whole post about baby number two soon. There is a lot I need to catch up on and I still have at least five post in my drafts that I wanted to post before Zetta was born and just didn't. I am excited to start this journey again and can't wait to get started! Check back in often because I promise I will be updating! And please stick with me as I play catch up and post a few post that are extremely out of date, but I want to have them to look back on, so I am going to post them anyways!

Belly and Baby Shower Pictures and a few Tidbits!

Hello! I have obviously been terrible at updating, so I am going to have to do one big post of what's been going on and all the pictures I have! Of course they are all from my phone..owell, maybe the baby will make me better about using my camera! Here we go!

 I am pretty sure that this is 30 weeks

Another 30 weeks

30 weeks bare belly!

This was at my first baby shower that my sister and friend Patty threw for me, 34 weeks and 4 days.

The next weekend my mom's "bible study" friends threw me a church shower, 35 weeks and 4 days.

The next weekend we went to Sam A. Baker for our annual family trip. All my cousins/siblings trying to have a belly like me! 36 weeks and 4 days.

This is 37 weeks and 1 day!

This is 37 weeks and 1 day bare belly!

You can't see me in this really, but this is the day after my shower. It is my bff, Ashley's shower that her mom, our friend Emily, and I threw for her while she was home from New York.

Ashley and I at my shower!! She didn't wear a very belly revealing shirt, but as you can see in the pic above she really is pregnant! :)

Ashley's cake!! The only picture I took of her whole shower. :(

Beautiful decor at my shower from my sister and Patty! There were thank you cards, cookies, and advice cards/tree at this table!

Food table- My mom did an AWESOME job on her big fruit piece!

Cute cupcakes and drink table! Love the mason jars! :)

Ashley-Me-Emily at my shower

My sister-me-my mom at my shower

**Sorry those pictures were in such a random order but it was too much work to move them all around, sorry! I felt so blessed to have two awesome showers- we got so many good things and a lot of necessities too, which makes Pete a happy man!

**My appointment's have been going smoothly for the most part. We had a little bump in the road around 34 weeks. We went in for our normal Thursday appointment and when she went to listen to the heartbeat about 10 beats in there was a little jump sound. It was so clear that Pete and I both heard it. Our doctor wasn't nervous at all, but wanted us to come back the next day to listen again and see if it was gone. Apparently, it is pretty common for a heart arrhythmia to pop up in the later part of pregnancy. Regardless, it was very scary to hear anything could be wrong and it was a rough 24 hours for us. We went back the next morning and our doctor was out doing due to a delivery so the nurse practitioner came in and listened and it was still there so we had to sit and wait for Dr. Cugini to get back and tell us what she wanted us to do. The ultrasound tech that is normally in their office was conveniently out of town for the whole weekend, so we had to go to the hospital to do an hour of external monitoring and get a biophysical profile done. Registration was a disaster, but once we got to the OB floor the nurse was very nice and informative. She said she hears them quite a bit, and usually after birth they are gone and can't even be heard by the pediatrician. After spending practically the whole day at the hospital, Dr. Cugini read the monitoring and decided that she wanted us to go see a specialist. Hearing that news made my heart hurt so bad. That weekend I had my baby shower and put on a brave face, but had a hard time telling 40 people that everything was okay because I did not want to have to explain the situation 40x and plus, we really didn't know if anything was wrong or not. Pete and I had many conversations that weekend about how crazy it that everyone tells you that you won't understand the amount of worry you will have for a child until you have one of your own. Boy, were "they" right. We prayed so much that all would be okay with our baby girl. We knew it was in the Lord's hands and HE is in control. I do not know what I would have done without Pete. He is my rock. He has such a calming spirit, positive attitude, and encouraging personality. The Lord knew exactly what he was doing when he put us in each others paths because I don't know where I would be without having him to turn to. I never, ever want to take him for granted. Okay, back to the story..the next Tuesday we had our appointment with the specialist. First off, the doctor is the one who did the ultrasound and went through every little detail with us. Stopped on everything, pointed out what each thing was, explained what he was looking for, etc. He even took a picture of the hair on her head and gave us a free 3D picture, which showed off baby girl's butt chin just like her mama. :) Although, I am very happy we didn't really know why we were there other than the fact that our baby had a heart arrhythmia and we needed to check and find out what type it was. When he got to the heart and said well I do not see any fluid around any parts of the heart, so you are clear from fetal heart failure. I looked over at Pete in shock. If I would have known that was the reason we were going there before my anxiety would have been out.of.the.roof. He thought everything looked great and said she will have the arrhythmia until she was born and maybe for a while after, but it will not affect her in any way. Praise the Lord. We left there so encouraged and thankful for the good results. We have been back to the doctor 3-4 times since then and you can still hear it for sure, but if the doctors say it is okay, then that is what we have to trust in.

**I had my 37 week appointment today and I am almost dilated to a two and pretty much all the way effaced. She said it was so much that she couldn't give me an exact percent. She all said that last week she could still push the baby's head up and it would move and this week it didn't go back up at all! All good news! We could have a baby any day now!

**I have really been feeling good. I only had a few weeks that she was high enough for it to be uncomfortable to sit or breathe. She has definitely dropped!!! My feet and hands are pretty puffy all the time now. I can't get my rings on anymore. First time I have went without them since we got married!

**Pete and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the 16th of this month. We just kept saying how crazy it is how important we made our 1st anniversary and this year, our lives have changed so much that November 13th is the date that has our attention now. Plus, the first year of marriage was not easy for us. Getting adjusted to living together is a hard, hard thing. Where as this past year has been so fun for us! We are adjusted to each other and have our own life together now and it feels good to look back on the past year and see how far we have came together! I can't imagine what next year is going to look like considering we are going to have a baby who is about to turn 1!! ah!

**We are still waiting until baby girl is born to decide on a name. Although I did tell Pete a few weeks ago that if I had to decide that second I knew which one I wanted to go with. My thoughts have not changed from that either, so that's pretty exciting. Thinking about her with a name is a lot more fun than without, but it will be worth the wait of a few more weeks!

**I really do not want a Halloween baby. At. All.

That is all I can think of right now. I am going to try to get a nursery reveal post finished (for real!!), a post on what/how I want my labor to go (this is the point when anyone who has had a child can go ahead and laugh, but I just want to have my thought wrote down before and after), and my sister told me I should do a post of my day now so I can do one once I have the baby and see what has changed. So I have a busy next few days! :)

xoxo,

Erin