I’m so bad at my blogs now. Any free moment I have, I’m
either taking a long hot shower or laying on the couch and closing my eyes!
Haha Definitely the life of a stay at home mom. The past month I put in over 80
hours with my part time job (at home that I am SO grateful for) but that plus
being a SAHM was very difficult. I am slowing down a bit this month...thank
God! Anyhow this blog will be my review of 2012...which has been the BEST year
of my life thus far and I know will only get better now that Estella is a part
of our lives.
This blog started off as an attempt to not let 2012 look
like 2011 which was such a tough year for many reasons we could not control but
also a year that took control of our emotions in a negative way.
We both had difficult things that we were dealing with (not
each other don’t worry!). So I promised to myself, to Ryan, and to this blog
that I was not going to get swallowed in the negativity but bring myself back
to the reality that my life is DEFINITELY beautiful despite the ugly parts.
It turned out that this blog transformed into an experience
I didn’t expect and I am forever thankful for the support...love....and
acknowledgement that I’ve received. Thank you!
Well here goes-
January 2012
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| January 2012- I was pregnant here but had no clue! :X |
The month we found out we were pregnant...what a crazy
month! It was filled with tons of nausea...fatigue...and a plethora of
emotions. Ryan and I individually had to deal with our emotions. We had lots of
plans ahead of us..and a baby was not one of them in the near future. After
what we had to deal with two years ago, we felt blessed and happy.
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| The first time we told my family....I was 7 weeks pregnant. |
February 2012
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| Feb 2012- we told Ryan's parents by giving them a picture frame with Estella's ultrasound for their anniversary gift. |
We announced it to our families and a couple friends. I was
extremely nauseous. I had to take my Naturopathic Part I board exams. Funny
sidenote- on my bathroom breaks, I ate granola bars in the bathroom. Haha
Surprisingly enough...I passed!! From that point on, we knew Estella was
already a good luck charm!
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| Valentine's Day together. |
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| Everyone knew at this point! 14 weeks pregnant for my cousin Crystal's birthday. |
I was counting down to graduation with my Naturopathic
doctorate, celebrated my cousin’s birthday with mustaches, and getting ready
for my week long (clinic vacation) in California (April). My little baby bump
was slowly appearing and we announced our pregnancy after I *gasp* made it
through the scary first trimester!
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| My mentors that helped me through Naturopathic school!! Love them Dr. Martin & Dr. Lou |
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| Yay to graduation! Finally!! |
I graduated with my second doctorate, Baby “D” walked across
that stage one final time with me, and I found out I passed my Part I medical
board exams!!! It was an amazing month. Plus I observed an amazing Naturopathic
doctor in Pasadena area and Ryan and I had our baby moon filled with a vineyard
wedding of good friends and our first baby shower! And how can I forget that
this is the month we found out we were having a little diva!!
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| Having dinner after we found out we are having a girl! |
May 2012
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| 1st Mother's day in Michigan together |
This month my best friend got married, I was the very
pregnant woman in the clubs celebrating her bachelorette, and celebrated my
“first” Mother’s day in Michigan. I was recuperating from so many years of
education and stress....this was an amazing month...but I realized that I had
to get my head back into gear for Part II (final) ND boards in August!
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| My best friend got married at the end of May! |
June 2012
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| Happy golden 26th birthday to me! |
Oliver, baby D, and I went to the beach A LOT, I started studying
for my boards, Ryan and I started Bradley birth classes, and I celebrated my
low key GOLDEN birthday! I was more comfortable with my growing belly, eating
became better and nausea was completely gone, and my snoogle I got for Mother’s
day felt like a God-send.
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| Kayaking down the Chicago river 6 months pregnant:) |
July 2012
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| My baby shower in Rockford :)
Temperatures were extremely high. I stayed in the AC a lot.
I went back to LAY Camp to be a part of the worship team which I was a part of
for so long but had to stop since I didn’t have summers off. Our Rockford baby
shower at my home church was this month and it was tons of fun! My family did
an amazing job. I can’t believe we were more than halfway through with the
pregnancy!
|
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| I love my grandparents! |
August 2012
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| From our maternity photo shoot 35 weeks pregnant |
I went to Royal Buffet!! Haha Yes this is included in my
2012 review...what an amazing place EXCEPT since I already felt SO FULL I
couldn’t eat that much (probably a good thing) and no sushi for me either! What
I did eat was yummy! We had our maternity photo shoot and completed our 10 week
Bradley birth class! We met some great people too..and a couple who we are
still friends with that delivered their baby girl in the same hospital the day
before us! Ryan and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary and knew that this
time next year, our little girl would be celebrating with us! I started getting false contractions
this month...
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| the Grandmas at our August baby shower! |
September 2012
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| Sept 20th :) |
The best month of our lives! We celebrated Ryan's 30th birthday at the Chicago Wine Festival before we welcomed our beautiful girl into the world. Yes I was overdue, yes I had a
long prodromal labor, long early labor, and a fast unpredictable painful
labor.....but I am proud to say our baby girl was healthy, mama was healthy,
and daddy remained sane! We definitely had our struggles in the beginning since
babies don’t come with an instruction manual but we’ve already grown SO much
since this month...and Estella has too!
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| Chicago Wine Festival 39 weeks pregnant |
October 2012
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| Estella's first wedding in Michigan
Estella went on her first road trip to Michigan to attend
her first wedding at only 5 weeks and we quickly learned why everything is a
bit harder with a baby...especially a newborn and a mom who was still getting
use to the whole nursing thing. I think it really wasn’t until that weekend when
we realized how different our lives
are now. She also had her first cold to fight through which she did without
medications! Oh and her baby dedication at my home church in Rockford.
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So quickly she already mastered many of the milestones for
her age and even advanced to other ones. I learned about the human
body...brain...everything in school but until you get to see how amazing our
body is from the start, you will not be able to appreciate the amazing
intricate work God has created. Estella continues to make us smile and be in
her presence speechless at how much she’s already taught us about life.
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| first time in the beautiful city of Chicago! |
December 2012
Our first Christmas as a family shared with both of our
families and my brother Toby came all the way from California to share it with
us. My favorite holiday of the year! Ryan and I just soaked in all the love
shared among all of us and knew that 2013 was going to be just as awesome if
not more than 2012 was to us.
In conclusion, my life is great. When I say great, I really
want to say PERFECT. I have everything I could ever wish for and dream of. Of
course we hit obstacles, I find myself at the brink of tears from exhaustion,
and we realize our stress levels have increased tremendously now that we have a
human being to be accountable for....but all in all, Estella truly is the best
thing that has come into our lives.
“We know that God loves us so much because He gave us you.”
–Ryan
May your 2013 be filled with many blessings.
I will continue to blog here and there as I can. I am so
touched by all the love and support that you all showed me in 2012.
Hold onto your seats though...I plan to talk about Estella a
lot. Oh and a bunch of other random stuff too!
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