Long Time No See + Sarah Parker is ONE!

Long time no see! It has been about 12 months since my last blog post. This has not been because I haven't had anything to say but, man, is motherhood busy! I am so happy and blessed to report that I am OFFICIALLY a STAY-at-home mom! With that said, I will have so much free time now to put my feet up and write posts for this blog (I hope you read those words with as much sarcasm as I intended them to have). But seriously, now that Sarah Parker is a TODDLER, and has an ounce more independence, I intend to put all the words I have been keeping inside for the first year of her life out into the universe. 

I thought I would ease back into the blogging world gently with a short post about Spark's first birthday party. 

When Sarah Parker was about six-months-old, it all started. People began asking me what the theme of her birthday party would be. I am sure the first time I must have blinked blankly as the questioner looked on like they just asked the simplest question in the world. I am sure I should have known the answer before I even gave birth to her, but the fact was I had no clue what her party was going to be like. Frankly, I could have cared less. 

"I'm not sure," I said, "I guess I will have to look on Pinterest for some ideas." And look I did. I even pinned a few pictures. But let me tell you, some of those Pinterest-folk are insane. The limits they will go to in order to have a picture perfect party far outweigh how much their children actually enjoy their parties. Their ONE-YEAR-OLD children, at that. The more I looked, the more I could feel myself being sucked in to the stress and the mess. Then I began to remember the wise words of a godly woman I highly value (I am looking at you, Courtney Atkins). She said she didn't want her little ones to feel entitled to the best, biggest birthday bashes. She didn't want them to feel entitled to a party at all. Luckily, I left my filtered-photo-induced fog and began following that wise train of thought. No theme, I decided. Just family and the closest friends. No stress, just a happy day to celebrate (but not worship) my daughter. 

Below is a huge picture dump of how that new dream of a party turned out (feel free to skip this part if it doesn't interest you). The photos below were taken by the one and only Autumn Vernon.

Also, the ever-talented Jacob McGarry created the video below. He also took a ton of great pictures of the party tagged to my Facebook page! If you haven't seen those, please go check them out! It is good to know gifted people :)

Happy Birthday, little one!

Newborn Photo Shoot

Here are a few pictures I took of Sarah Parker hanging out on our kitchen floor. I'm not the best photographer, but I had a pretty great model. Enjoy!

Birthday + A Few Hospital Pictures

For the course of my pregnancy, I had a gut feeling that Sarah Parker would be born early. I didn't have a particular reason for this hunch other than my mom delivered ahead of her due date with all three of her kids and the fact that as a teacher I am usually up on my feet for the majority of the day. With that being said, from about May 20th onward the thought "will today be the day?" crossed my mind at least once. Each day passed without even a semblance of a birth pang and when my due date June 12th passed by I had convinced myself I would have to be induced.

Monday the 15th I had a doctor's appointment and the doctor asked if I wanted to go ahead and schedule my induction for that week. I had assumed that they would make me wait at least until a week after my due date to be induced, so I was surprised when he said he could try to get me scheduled for Wednesday the 17th. I said that sounded great, but the nurse came back and said the hospital was all booked for Wednesday and we left with instructions to be at the hospital on Thursday the 18th at 4:30 am.

I woke up at 1:30 am the very next morning with a dull but increasing pain in my back and abdomen. Everyone had told me that when I started feeling contractions I would be sure of what they were, and they were right. Immediately I grabbed my phone and started timing the contractions with an app I had previously downloaded. If I remember correctly, these contractions were about twelve minutes apart and were totally bearable. I relaxed myself as much as I could and slept in between them until they started getting more intense. Around three I just had to get up and move, so I filled the tub with a few inches of water and sat there through a few contractions and tried to relax. Wes stirred a little when I got back in bed and I told him what was up. I continued to time the contractions until about 5:30 when they reached five minutes apart and lasted 45 to 60 seconds. I woke up Wes, called our parents, and we headed out the door.

When we got to the hospital the nurse checked my dilation in triage and told me I was at a 4.5. At the doctor's appointment the previous day he said I was almost a four, so I felt relief that I had progressed. As ridiculous as it sounds, I was so scared they were going to send me home and that I would be one of those "first time moms" who came too early (which, of course, would have totally not been a big deal, just disappointing). The nurse said she thought the doctor would let me stay but he would be coming to check me out himself soon. About an hour later he came by and told me he would probably let me stay. He then checked my dilation and to his and the nurse's surprise and my glee he told me I had progressed- in an hour- to a seven. They were in utter disbelief but I wasn't surprised. I told them I had been praying all through my pregnancy that God would give me a fast labor if it was His will.

The next few hours are a blur to me. They brought me back to my labor and delivery room, and the nurse told me I could walk around the floor for an hour if I wanted. Wes and I started walking, but after a few rounds I just wanted to get in another position. We went back to the room and I laid down and eventually turned over to my side. The nurse kept checking me, but I hadn't progressed much more. Finally I reached an eight and the doctor came to break my water. After this, my contractions got even more intense and I had the strong urge to push. This was seriously the hardest part of labor- feeling like I needed to push but being told by the nurse that I couldn't. I sent poor Wes to tell the nurse I needed to push probably five times. Each time she would come in, check me, and say I was close but not yet. During this time my back was hurting so much with each contraction I had Wes push up against it with all of his strength. This helped a little, but I was still miserable. Finally, the nurse felt enough pity on me to tell me that although I was still just shy of being a full 10, I could go ahead and push. Pushing was hard, but I felt so much relief at the same time because I was finally able to do what my body was telling me. They tell me I pushed for a little over an hour, but looking back it seems like it was only a few minutes. Finally the doctor came in and she soon was here. She was born on June 16, 2015 at exactly 3:00 pm. When they placed her on my belly and I looked up at Wes and said "she looks like you!" and then "can we have another one?". Needless to say, we are both smitten by our little girl and although the pain was more than I could have handled without the strength of God, I would do it all over again just to be able to know her.