Find me over at Mama and Baby Love today talking about our journey toward seasonal eating... Ever wonder how to take your enjoyment of food to a new level? The answer might be a major shift in your food lifestyle to embrace seasonal eating. Until college, a tomato was a tomato to me. It certainly wasn’t a food I would ever want to bite into all by itself. You pick them up any ol’ time of … [Read more...]
Gwen’s Birth Story: Part III
Catch up on Part I and II before diving into Part III :) It was almost 4am and it didn’t feel like we were anywhere close to meeting our baby... After 9 hours of active labor I was exhausted and discouraged. Since I had to get back in bed for my penicillin dose and to be monitored for a few minutes, I asked the nurse to examine me to see what kind of progress I’d made since I was 4.5 cm in … [Read more...]
Gwen’s Birth Story: Part II
As I shared in Part I, I was dilated 4.5 cm in triage, so they got us set up in a labor and delivery room with our wonderful nurse Christine just after 7pm. My mom (my unofficial doula) arrived and started heating up socks filled with rice to place against my lower back to relieve some of the pain from the back labor while I got my penicillin drip. Socks with uncooked rice, guys! Helps … [Read more...]
Gwen’s Birth Story: Part I
How Gwen Stellamaris came into the world. If the details of labor and birth gross you out, feel free to stop reading now (I can hear my brother clicking away from this post!). This pregnancy was by far the hardest of my three. The endless weeks of morning sickness, the exhaustion, the acid reflux. I was more than ready to put it behind me and meet my new little daughter. As with Lucy, … [Read more...]
Breastfeeding and a Prayer Request
We are just falling in love with Baby Gwen (who's making things very easy on mama by sleeping in 2-3 hour stretches all night between feedings!). Thank you for all the well-wishes and love for her! Today you can find me over at Mama and Baby Love sharing about my breastfeeding struggles with our firstborn and how everything changed the second time around! And please keep my sweet friend … [Read more...]
Introducing the Hens!
And now, the post you've been waiting for! A chicken virtual meet and greet! You have been waiting for that, right? Ahem. Apparently there's a nesting instinct that takes over pregnant women as they approach their due date. Instead of starting a painting project, organizing, or attacking the dire laundry situation, this phenomenon prompted me to do super unnecessary things like convince my … [Read more...]
10 Newborn Exhaustion Survival Tips
When my first child was born I thought I would go mad from lack of sleep. I would sob from sheer exhaustion during the early morning hours when he would inevitably be awake--night after night after night. The second and third times have been so different. Mostly because my daughters haven't struggled with the colic and reflux that plagued our boy, but also because I think my attitude is … [Read more...]
Welcome, Gwen!
I've got someone pretty special to introduce you to. Meet our precious Gwen Stellamaris Stewart! Born after 13 hours of active labor at 7:41am on May 30, our little lass weighed 7lbs 4oz. She has grey eyes and plenty of jet black hair. She is healthy and sweet and we are so grateful for a safe delivery. Labor was very hard and exhausting and my recovery has been much slower than with Lucy, so … [Read more...]
Ode to My Wedding Ring on Our 7th Anniversary
My wedding ring is just a white gold band, no diamond or precious stones. Daniel and I couldn’t figure out the whole engagement ring AND a wedding band thing. (Why? I still don't get it!) So a sweet thin band is all I have and it’s exactly what I wanted. When we were discussing rings, I was concerned about blood diamonds and worried I would lose a fancy bejeweled ring (I cannot keep track of … [Read more...]
What I Wish I Knew Before I Got Married
Happy Memorial Day! We're celebrating by not giving a stomach bug Benjamin picked up to all the friends we made plans with and are just taking it easy instead. Today you can find me over at Little House in Chicago where the lovely Tess blogs. She's running a "What I Wish I Knew Before I Got Married" series of guest posts while she enjoys her honeymoon (congrats Tess and Frank!). "None of us … [Read more...]
