2012

Basically, Horace got into photography and Owen got born. I loved this year and will always remember it as wonderful.

My Favorite {baby} Things

Since having some time to try out all our great baby shower gifts and products that I've bought for Owen, I thought I would share some of my favorite things. I have quite a few pregnant friends out there, so hopefully this can help give you an idea of some things to register for:)

Swaddles

I got two different swaddles and both of them serve their own purpose. The Aden & Anais swaddles are so light a pretty and perfect to use as an all around blanket. The fabric is a bit stretchy and they are very large clothes, so I have a hard time getting the swaddle tight, but they are a staple in my diaper bag. 

A British friend of mine gave me swaddles from her friends company Faye & Lou. The Cozio Muslins are a good size and the fabric is nice and tight, so they work great to make a strong swaddle. Owen loves being swaddled, so both of these have become essential to us.

Carriers

The Ergo Baby Carrier is fabulous. It fits both my husband and I (which helps me out a lot!) and is so comfortable and stable. When I put Owen in, it feels like he is in secure while still sitting high enough for him to have good airways. We forgot to register for it, but you have to use the infant insert for the first 4-6 months. Its like a little taco shell that the baby sits in and it keeps their head up high and supported.

The Sakura Bloom Sling is perfect when I need to make a quick stop and want to get him ready fast. The Irish Linen is so soft and the way it fits is surprisingly comfortable. 

Body Products

A & D ointment is necessary! It goes on and works like a charm. 'Nough said.

I've really like the Aveeno Baby Daily Care Lotion for clearing up Owen's cradle cap. It's not oily at all and feels so nice on his little head.

Aden & Anais Mum and Bub lotion is not only the cutest named product, but it is the best lotion for the much needed foot massage. I really took advantage of the Mum part of the name:) It is so silky smooth and light, it is a great lotion for a hot summer day.

Baby Holders

Owen used his Boppy Pillow almost from day one. Its great for nursing and he loves sitting in it. I do need to get a different cover for it though:)

Baby Bjorn Travel Crib - Oh man oh man. So light. So easy to open. So easy to close. The crib is a great size to take along anywhere. 

Take Along Swing - When I need a minute without Owen, I stick him in the swing and turn on the music and he loves it. The one I have has little dangly toys and he loves reaching for them and watching them move as he swings. So glad for this.

Diapers

My grandmother bought us a couple months of a cloth diaper service, since I had been wanting to try them out. I've loved cloth diapers, and have to say that the common complaint of messiness is really not an issue. As long as you secure them in the diaper covers well, they are as good if not better than the disposable diapers I've tried.

That being said, diaper covers are so varied, I've had quite a time of figuring out which work best for Owen. The Flip Diapers (above) are so cute and colorful and really cover up the cloth well. I've also found the Prorap Classic Diaper Cover to be less expensive and work very well. If only it came in some cuter colors.

The other diaper essential is a wet bag for our diaper bag. We usually bring along some disposables when we go out, but I don't like leaving them in my Mom's trash can:) The Fuzzi Bunz Diaper Tote is great at hiding the odor and manages to hold quite a few diapers.

Things I forgot to register for, bought and now use all the time:

Bottles - just in case you need to supplement

Pacifiers - I put one set on my registry, but have found it good to have a few for home and a few for the diaper bag.

Medela - My sister was kind enough to let me borrow hers and I've definitely put it to good use. I know everyone doesn't end up using these, but in our case Owen wasn't feeding very well, so it helped to show me how much he was eating from a bottle and ultimately helped him to finally start gaining weight. I don't know what I would have done without this!

That's pretty much all of the essential items we use, not to mention all of the adorable clothes and accessories we have (an Orioles baseball hat!). 

Hope this is helpful for filling out that registry:)

Birth Story

While I was pregnant, my mom came across this great birth story (that of course, I cannot find for the life of me) that was really encouraging and helpful for me as I looked towards the frightening unknown of labor. Birth stories tended to freak me out a bit, but this one in particular was really uplifting.

I want to share my birth story with the hope that it will encourage someone who is getting ready for their delivery and needs some idea of what it's going to look like. For me, nothing was normal, which I think might actually be the norm, but hopefully, this will help remind you that no matter how yours turns out, God is in control every step of the way.

After I passed the 40 week mark, I was scheduled to be induced 7 days later at 12 AM. About an hour before we left for the hospital, we got a call that they didn't have any rooms available (apparently it was a very busy weekend) so they would call us when they were ready for us to come in. We went to bed, expecting to be woken by a phone call. Instead, I was calling my doctor because my water broke. Once we got to the hospital, there were still no rooms, so they stuck us in a triage room and hooked me up to all the monitors and watched my contractions come about every 5 or so minutes. And we watched. And slept. Finally, they moved us to a delivery room at about 5 AM as the sun was coming up. My sister joined us and we settled down to some more waiting.

The night before, I had felt relatively strong contractions, but they were never painful and were hardly even uncomfortable. At the hospital, I still was not dilated at all and I had not progressed the entire night. This was going to take a while. At some point in the morning, I got sick and a contraction came on at the same time. No one was in the room except my sister and my husband, but right then a nurse walked in to do a routine check. She was helping me clean up when she noticed the my baby's heart rate was gone. She had me roll over and still couldn't find it. The next thing I know, the room is full of nurses talking, running around and flipping me this way and that. All I kept hearing was "decel" and it started to really scare me. They put an oxygen mask on me when I saw my doctor sit down on the foot of my bed. She was like the eye of a hurricane, so calm while everything else seemed out of control. She told me that we were going to have an emergency c-section and everything will be ok. I could feel God in control of it all. This was the doctor I needed to have in order to feel calm. The normal clinical doctors always put me on edge, so I know that God gave me her for this reason. They threw up the rails on my bed and put Horace in scrubs and ran down the hall to the OR. I'm pretty sure Horace almost got run over, but only because he wouldn't let go of my hand:)

It was still a bit crazy even in the OR. I'm pretty sure I heard someone say, "where's Doctor so and so? aren't they supposed to be here?" Not the best thing to help me relax. But everything slowed down once they found his heart beat. Someone in charge said that it was no longer an emergency, but they still need to get him out. I felt better but still very scared. They did a spinal and went on with the c-section. Horace stood right next to me and watched as Owen appeared, eyes open and curious. He followed Owen into the next room where he cut the cord and watched him get cleaned up. They brought him over to me and I can just remember feeling so overwhelmed and happy to see and hold our baby for the first time. 

God provides in every situation and makes His glory shine through in the biggest and smallest ways. I think its easy while pregnant to get caught up in thinking about the delivery and how its going to go, and how you want it to go, but the truth is, no birth plan stands a chance. The important part isn't how you have the baby, it's that you have the baby. 

Right now, Owen is curled up on my chest, eyes slowly fading closed. He is such a huge part of our lives now and we can hardly remember life before him.

Owen

My little boy came quickly on Tuesday morning June 26. These last two weeks have been so wonderful and sweet, learning all about our baby and spending time just with him. God has really blessed me with a family of beautiful boys:)

Horace Owen Ezra Trovato
June 26 8:27 AM
9 lbs 1/2 oz

(Photo by Horace:)






Linking up with: Bits of Splendor / Lowercase Letters / Simple as That

It's here

Today is the day! It's a bit odd knowing when my labor will begin, but it is so very exciting to know that Owen will be here so soon. God is so faithful and continuously good to us and we cannot wait to begin our family today:)

Due Date

It is my baby's due date today! I am amazed at how quickly the time has gone and just how blessed I am to have had such a simple pregnancy. God really gave me an easy time of it. Of course I had the normal pregnancy issues (heartburn, trouble sleeping, the occasional emotional break-down:), but I could not have planned or expected it to go any better than it did. I'm hoping that he decides to make his appearance soon, but I know that God has a good plan for the delivery as well. I've been feeling pretty consistent contractions, but nothing feeling like labor yet. For now, I'm drinking raspberry leaf tea and getting his little nursery all in place. I cannot believe he'll be in my arms within the next two weeks. 

Photo: by Horace

Linking up with: Simple as That / Bits of Splendor / Lowercase Letters 

39 Weeks

39 weeks and one day! 

Hooray!

My mom thinks I stuffed a basketball up my shirt. I feel like I have a bowling ball tied to my stomach. Kenny said "you look like yourself, just with some big huge thing hanging off the front of you." The top right picture is how I'm standing nowadays. I can't wait to see this baby!

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on Monday and it was just so sweet. We went to dinner in Annapolis and spoiled ourselves with cream of crab soup, salmon, rockfish, and coconut shrimp.Oh it was sooo good and the perfect way to celebrate.

And our baby didn't make his appearance on our anniversary! I was kind of happy about that. I think its nice to keep things on their own special day:)

P.S. I wrote a little post about my favorite ever camera over here at Life Etc. Take a look!


While you're at it, grab a 20% off coupon for my photography shop here:)

Birthday Contest!

Horace and I were speculating about our baby's birth date the other night and of course it turned into a "let's make this interesting" conversation. So my guess is for June 28th and his is for June 23 (my actual due date is June 19). Gifts and praise will be bestowed upon the winner.  

And then we decided to throw some Berger cookies in the mix. So whoever guesses the day and closest time of the birth of our bebe boy will win One Box of Baltimore's own Berger Cookies and the honor of being named godfather/godmother of our child. Yeah, nix that last part. It's just the cookies up for grabs, folks. But seriously, they're pretty much on the same level as the title of godparent.

To enter the contest, just


leave a comment with your guess (day and time!) and your name so we can get in touch.

(and maybe consider following my blog, but that's not necessary to enter, because I'm cool like that:)




Good Luck! 

Baby Space

The nursery corner is coming together! 

Last week we got a great dresser/changing table on craigslist for a steal and I had been dying to clean it up and get some things in place. As of yesterday, its all clean and pretty much ready for my kiddo. Now all that is left to do is hang up some pictures and find a little crib. I was surprised by how little space we actually have for a crib, so I don't think the traditional crib size is going to work for us. But we'll make it work:) 

Once we get everything in place, I'll post the big (or small:) reveal!

Linking up with: Simple as That / Bits of Splendor / Lowercase Letters / Covered in Grace

37 Weeks

37 Weeks today! I feel like I have a lot left to get ready (pack my hospital bag, wash baby clothes, etc) but all of the things on my mind will take 15 minutes to do. I just need to do them. My job ends in two weeks (!) so at that point I will have plenty of time to nest and clean and do all the things that are on my mental list. I've loved my job and was so blessed by being able to work from home, but I'm really excited to start my new career:)

Yes, I am aware that there are strange lines going through my belly in those pictures. My sister always makes fun of me because I still wear my pre-pregnancy undershirts and of course they are too short. Oh well. 

We spent Memorial Day collecting sea glass on the Chesapeake and what a great time we had. I brought my Zenit with me so I'll have to get those developed soon. I decided a few weeks ago to get the stuff to start making some sea glass jewelry and I made my first piece the other night. I  LOVE it. I'm so excited to try a new hobby and have little gifts to send to my friends:)

In other news, I'm finally on Instagram! I got a new phone and am able to pay the same price as my verizon stupid 5 year old flippy phone for a smart phone. So happy to have a phone with a better camera to carry around. If you want to follow along, my username is jmtrovato. 

How was your long weekend?






Linking up with: The Simple Things / Bits of Splendor / Lowercase Letters / The Foley Fam / Covered in Grace / The Weekend File

36 Weeks

Just about one month left! 

We live right next to the light rail line, so every now and then we'll have a little picnic next to it and wait for the squeel of the train to roll around the corner. My mom gave us some delicious little cakes and we made some coffee to finish off the meal. 

I love how summer seems to sneak up on you. I remember feeling like it was never going to be warm enough to sit outside with bare feet and now we already feel the need for some swimming. 

Hopefully, the boats will come out soon and we'll get some time on the water and some sunburn on our shoulders!

P.S.

Sweet Lauren over at Ellie Soo sent me the sweetest little gift last week. She makes these lovely cards and stationery, so she sent me a whole slew of those along with these adorable onesies, a hand-painted tote and a little pack of on-the-go essentials. It was such a kind surprise and I was so blessed by her thoughtfulness:)
Thank you so much Lauren!!

(Check out her cute store here)

Linking up with: Simple as That / Bits of Splendor / Embrace the Camera / Lowercase Letters / The Foley Fam / Monday Meet Up

What is a Boy?

My mother in law gave me this sweet essay at my baby shower a couple of weeks ago, so I thought I'd share it here:     

"What is a boy?"

  Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood we find a delightful creature called a boy. Boys come in assorted sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same creed: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to protest with noise (their only weapon) when their last minute is finished and the adult males pack them off to bed at night.

     Boys are found everywhere—on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them, and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.

     When you are busy, a boy is an inconsiderate, bothersome, intruding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage, sadistic, jungle creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

     A boy is a composite—he has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword-swallower, the energy of a pocket-sized atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of a Paul Bunyan, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a firecracker, and when he makes something, he has five thumbs on each hand. 

     He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, the boy across the street, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines.

He is not much for Sunday School, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.

     Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can cram into one pocket a rusty knife, a half-eaten apple, three feet of string, an empty Bull Durham sack, two gum drops, six cents, a slingshot, a chunk of unknown substance, and a genuine supersonic code ring with a secret compartment.

     A boy is a magical creature—you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can’t get him out of your mind. Might as well give up—he is your captor, your jailer, your boss, and your master—a freckled-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing, bundle of noise. But when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, "Hi Dad!"

Alan Beck

I just LOVE that! Cannot wait for my little "freckled-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing, bundle of noise."

Also, with a cutie like this for a dad, who could not be excited?

A First Mother's Day

On Sunday, we celebrated my first mother's day by taking a little trip to St. Michael's on the Eastern Shore. It was such a perfect day for a drive over the Bay bridge and Ryan Adams in the speakers. When we were dating, Horace and I drove over to a Josh Ritter concert on the shore and this trip reminded us of those fun summery days and adventures. Back then, we were counting down to June 2011 and the beautiful day we would being our lives as husband and wife. This time, we're counting down to June 2012 and the beautiful day we will begin our lives as mother and father!

Oh, did I mention that we got to enjoy our first crabs of the summer?!?! MMMmmm they were so tasty and the old bay smell on my hands for the rest of the day made me so happy.

You can still enter to win a print from our shop Horace and Mae over at Bhrett's Blog:)


Linking up with: Simple as That / Bits of Splendor / Embrace the Camera / Lowercase Letters / The Weekend File

Week 34

Week 34 is upon us. I still don't feel like "I can't wait to be done!" but I'm definitely in the everything is uncomfortable stage (scorched dry throat at night, baby legs in my ribs, hips feeling like they're going to break when I'm laying down). There is so little time left in my pregnancy that I know I can make it through the discomfort. Kenny is such an encouragement to me through this time and it makes me so confident in him for when I'll be in labor. It's weird how this is such a one person thing right now in that its only me that feels the discomfort and will feel it in labor, but I know that I simply can't get through it by myself. 

I'm so blessed to have a Godly husband and wonderful family to help really focus on the right things, rather than on pointless worries or fears. It is such a key thing to keep your mind at ease even if your body isn't. God is the god of peace and freedom through trust and all I can do now is give my worries to Him. Praise Him for blessing me with such wonderful people to encourage me and help me see His power.  

Now that the sun stays up until 8, we can actually go sea glass hunting after work! We went one day last week and had a BLT picnic on a secluded beach and found a couple pretty pieces of glass. My favorite is the teeny tiny little bottle top. It's the first complete bottle top we've found and its cuteness is undeniable:) Also undeniable are my husband's great photo skills (as witnessed above as well):

Currently reading the book Bringing Up Bebe and loving it! Its all about an American writers look into French parenting. Sounds snobby and "teach me how to be Frenchy!" but its really interesting to see the very apparent differences between their culture and our own. I'll do a post about my take on it once I'm done!

Linking up with: Bits of Splendor / Lowercase Letters / Embrace the Camera / The Simple Things

Baby Shower for the Boy

My mom and sister threw me such a lovely baby shower this past Saturday. So many wonderful people came to celebrate our little boy and it just made me so exited for him to be here so soon! 

We were blessed with SO many incredible gifts from a great car seat, to an Ergo carrier, to so many beautiful handmade blankets. Not to mention to insane amount of little boy onesies (complete with crabs on the bottom:) 

Check out the awesome bag my Aunt made on the bottom left. Just perfect:) 

Let it be known that my sister is awesome at making cakes! How adorable is this little guy (and the sailboats up above)?!? She also did all the decorations and just made the shower such a sweet and wonderful time.

My mom made all of the food (delicious chicken skewers and pasta salad and shrimp lettuce wraps) and boy was it good. My husband was happy to scoop up some leftovers when he picked me up:)

Needless to say, it was such a beautiful  and fun way to prepare for the baby and it just amazes me how excited everyone is to meet him. And yes, people were actually at the party. We didn't get many pictures:) It was such a sweet time.






Linking up with: Jenni from the Blog / The Paper Mama / Live and Love Outloud


P.S.


My little love story is featured today over at Iridescent Indigo! Go check out Rebecca's blog to read a bunch of cute stories:)

Week 32

My mother in law took me on a spur of the moment shopping trip last week and I feel so much better with some pretty clothes. What a difference it is to just have more choices! I was also given a whole bag of pretty much brand new Old Navy capris, shorts and jeans from a friend and they fit me perfectly. What a great surprise. 

It's week 32 and everything is going along great! We're still working on a full name, but we're pretty settled on Owen for at least part of his name:) My mom and sister are throwing a baby shower for me this Saturday and I can't wait to hang out and enjoy the excitement of my baby boy. It amazes me how much he is loved already by so many people. I can't wait for him to meet all of the incredible people God has put in my life.

On another note, my mailbox has had quite some excitement lately. As I mentioned last time, we got an adorable little outfit from friends in ID this week, along with a beautiful wedding invite and some cute stationary from the shop Ellie Soo.

Love the little pinwheel card:)

Has your mailbox had any love this week?

Linking up with: Embrace the Camera

Rainy Days

This weather is weird. One day, its 85 degrees, the next its 50. I switched our bed cover over to this nice white blanket and now all we want is our big fluffy duvet back. I do like that my slippers are back in use:) 

On a rainy Monday

I enjoyed: 

writing a letter to my little boy

trying out new maternity clothes

opening a precious little package from even sweeter friends in Idaho

writing some thank-yous

and of course, a nice cup of tea

Linking up with: The Simple Things / Life in an Instant

Week 30

I can't keep it straight anymore. I'm pretty sure I told a couple people I was 32 weeks along recently. Oh well...

These days, I'm feeling more rolls than kicks from the boy. I'll be laying in bed and I can see some part of him move across my belly. It's kind of freaky. The weirdest part for me is being able to fell him right there. He's so close to us physically and so close to being ready for us to see him. Apparently, all of his sense have developed by this point. I find it incredible that he could most likely survive if he was delivered now. God has such an incredible way of creating. This whole process of pregnancy has only shown me more of God's perfect design in everything we do. And how crazy is it that an entire human being is being made right now in my belly!?! No machines, no medicine, no crazy lab experiments. It boggles my mind. I can't wait to hold my son and spend time with this new incredible creation.

The idea of Motherhood can be so overwhelming. I saw a quote the other day from Saint Augustine: "If I am Thy child, O God, it is because Thou gavest me such a mother." This makes me stop and think for quite a while about how motherhood isn't just about keeping the kid safe and sound until he's on his own; it's about raising up a new apologist for God. This person that you love and scold and kiss and discipline and teach is going to be a living example of God's word in your life. What a great burden that could be. What an incredible goal and challenge and lifelong task it actually is. I cannot wait to see how God uses my life to shape my son's and how God non-stop sanctifies me through the process. 

Baby Space

You may know that we live in a teeny little 1 bedroom apartment right now, which we really love. It can, however, pose a space problem when we add a little one to our crew. Our bedroom is good sized, but the lack of storage space in our apartment makes our room a bit of a holding cell for summer clothes boxes and print enlargers and such... While we're looking for a new bigger place, we're just going to have our bambino sleep in our room, which I hear is pretty normal anyways for the first few months. So, I've been trying to gather some inspiration for making a little nursery corner of our room so that it doesn't feel like we just stuck a crib in there.

Speaking of cribs, I'm borrowing a co-sleeper that my sister has for the first few weeks, so that should save on some space initially. I'm hoping to find a small basinette that might work for a while with the small area we have available. I've seen quite a few that are gorgeous and I hope to find one that will work for us.

1 / 2 / 3

I'm looking for a small dresser to fit in there for the babies clothes - I might even be able to sneak a drawer or two from my and my husband's dressers...and then have a changing table on top of the dresser, rather than buying an entire unit. I also love the idea of a changing table on top of the crib (if we end up with a crib).

{via}

For decorating, I'm thinking of a cute mobile and some wall pictures. I'm sorry, but sailboats/nautical stuff just get me, so most likely it will look something like this: 

1/2/3/4

Any tips or tricks for small nursery spaces?