Welcoming Willow Blue Mooney

Here I am finally getting around to sharing about our sweet baby girls arrival if anyone cares to know about it. Since her due date was July 10th, and Cody’s mom wanted to be sure not to miss the delivery, her and the girls got here on the 8th to wait with me. We relaxed and played as day after day slipped away with no sign of Willow. It was great that they were here and while I fully wanted Willow to come when she was ready I did feel bad everyone was sitting around waiting on us.
We went in for our 40 week appointment and I was at 2cm and 75% effaced. So we thought ok good something is happening… we were wrong it was another 5 days before my water finally broke. Well at least they say that’s what happened, it’s hard to be sure when it just feels like you keep peeing your pants without warning; Add that to the list of fun things you get to experience as a mom, a flash back to your own child hood and having to walk home in pee soaked jeans, classy!
Anyways we went to the Dr and she confirmed that it was my water and not pee (deep sigh of relief because how embarrassing would that have been?). They sent us over to the hospital to get checked in, knowing it could be a while before this whole show was over we stopped and got some food first and I’m super glad we did.
Now from the start I knew I wanted a natural birth, I could say it’s because I believe it’s what’s best for the baby or that I know and believe my body was made to do this and I want to experience the birth of my child in its natural beautiful form and it would be true. However I have to admit that the little competitive voice in the back of my head telling me that my mother gave birth to 4 children, my sister AnnaMae gave birth to 2 and my sister Erin 1 all without any pain meds might have been a big factor! I wasn’t planning on being the weak link ;-)
After all the paper work was finished, the IV was finally in after the nurse admitted she was really bad at it and there was blood all over and I had been poked and prodded once again, they told us we had until 9pm to get some good contractions going and some more cm under our belt. So we started walking, and walking, and bouncing on yoga balls, and walking, and eating ice chips, and walking, and stopping for baby monitoring, and yep some more walking. Being stuck on the baby floor and not aloud to leave your walking locations are limited and we started feeling like we were creeping on other peoples babies!

When 9 rolled around and I was once again lucky enough to be checked I was at 3cm, a whole whopping one more then five days before! The contractions that I could now at least feel felt something more akin to wanting a quaso burrito from qudoba then a body getting ready to crank out a baby, so needless to say they were not impressed and started me on pitocin. I have to admit at this point in the game I cried for the first time (but not for the last) I was disappointed that my body wasn’t doing it on its own and I knew the meds were about to make it a whole lot more painful, they didn’t disappoint and soon I was in hard labor.
The labor itself was not fun and Cody says I have forgotten how bad it was by the way I talk about it, whether he is right or not I do know that during it all knowing the outcome made me willing and able to push through. I made it all the way to 7cm when after asking me for the 100th time I finally gave into the nurses dose of Fentinal she had been offering. I had never had any narcotics before so I wasn’t ready for the new “happy” me that soon took over. Lets just say I was entertainment for Cody and Rita, and while this is embarrassing I wouldn’t want to disappoint so I have included a photo… 7cm, or peace5

Back to the good stuff, it was finally time to start pushing. I know it doesn’t seem like a hard concept but it took me a while to catch on to what it was I was supposed to be doing. Rita would very kindly explain that I needed to hold my breath and push with my stomach, which I would respond to with an “I am!” when clearly I was taking a deep breath then just huffing it right back out while tensing my whole body… we will blame this on the narcotics as well.
Well thankfully I finally caught on and weirdly enough it was amazing. I finally was able to do something, I was working towards bringing our baby girl into the world. It didn’t feel good but I was so glad to be at this point. I didn’t even have to push an hour (which only felt like 15 minutes to me) before they called the Dr and a few more nurses in.
I don’t know if Rita is known for calling the Dr in to early, or if he really was just enjoying his little stroll down the hall but he took his time getting there which earned me the fun job of waiting through 2 contractions without pushing. Thankfully it was all worth it because in spite of his fashionably late appearance to our little shindig, he was a great Dr. He was all for Cody doing the delivery, he talked him through it and only stepped in to remove the cord from around her neck. I think its so special and sweet that her daddy got to be the first person to hold her!
When daddy did finally hold her he held her up for me to see and said “Emma look at her she’s beautiful look at her!” His excitement and pride was so evident and he wanted to share the specialness of those first few moments with me, with my head flopped back on the pillow in complete relief and my eyes rolling back in my head I sobbed “I am looking.” Even as the words left my mouth I knew how stupid they sounded, everyone knew I was not looking. But when they lifted that sweet little squirming baby onto my chest I sure was looking, looking right at perfection.

We honestly can’t thank God enough for our whole experience, the people involved, how smooth everything went, and of course for our sweet Willow Blue who joined our world at 3:26 on July 16th weighing in at just 6lbs 8oz and measuring 19 inch long, the smallest most stunning little person to have graced this earth. God is good and childbirth was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, I thank Him daily for his awesome creation of our baby girl and for the amazing man he gave me to hold my hand and couch me through the whole thing. I am blessed!

(I don't have the pictures of Cody with her right after birth I still need to get them :-P)


(Our Dr :-) and a nice fat face shot of me!)

and of course one more of the star of the show, Willow Blue Mooney ladies and gentlemen!

Ready or not...

It's hard to explain the emotions and thoughts running through my mind these days. With only four days until our little Willow Blue is due to arrive I honestly cant pin point what it is Im feeling (maybe this is pretty common for new mamas but it's weird for me!) I couldn't be more excited and thrilled to finally hold and kiss my sweet baby and Cody can hardly contain his excitement and nerves as he waits to finally be involved in his daughters life. We are also physically ready for her to show up with everything we can think of (besides a rocking chair... the right one seems to be hiding from us lol). And while I am still totally comfortable in my pregnant body I also feel ready and rested for labor and her arrival.

So what's hard to explain? The crazy part of my brain that doesn't believe that we have finally reached this time! When you first find out you are expecting you freak out a little about everything that is going to change, but it's ok because you have time to figure everything out. But I don't know where all that time went and I cant get myself to believe that she is going to come any time now! Eeeeee how can this be!?! And are we ready!?!?! Haha I know we are and will be because we have to be when it does happen but it's funny to not be feeling that readiness that most people have told us would come. I don't feel so uncomfortable or desperate to get her out, and we are excited but don't feel like we have been waiting for endless time for this day to come. I guess we just aren't like everyone else :-)

No matter how we feel about it, it is about to happen and about that I am sure! And excited :-)
I know the next few weeks are going to be so packed with amazing memories and special moments with our sweet little family. I feel so blessed to have had such an easy healthy pregnancy and baby and am praying it continues through labor and delivery. We have such an awesome support group of friends and family as well who have made this whole process a joy in spite of any stress that comes with this new chapter of our lives. I'm so excited to start sharing our little girl with everyone of you here on the blog. Stay tuned for her first REAL photo! I just know it's going to be the most beautiful thing you have ever seen ;-P

Slowing Down, Or Speeding Up!?!?

Me and Willow at seven months

Well Willow is due to arrive in six weeks! I don't know where all the time has gone from when we found out that she had been growing for six weeks! The past months have been busy and filled with all kinds of new life happenings for us, and little down time for me (note the lack in blogging). And while I'm still not sure when my time to be a stay at home mommy will actually be here, we all know it's very very soon! I am so excited for the chance to enjoy every moment of this new stage of life, but I'm also grateful we still have some time left....

Cody is busy moving towards going to medic school in the fall, either here or maybe in California (I'll give you the details if and when that happens) this has suddenly dropped a huge list of to dos on our plate what with figuring out financial aid and part time work ect. Willows room still needs a new window, light fixture and her furniture needs to be painted. My own list of things extends way beyond this, but when I really stop and think only a few HAVE to be done before she arrives :-) So while we are getting more and more excited with every day, I know that we will need every moment to make things fall into place.

So in ways I feel like things are going to be slowing down to the arrival of the baby, but is it only so they can speed up when she gets here? Who is to say what kind of mom I will be, in two months I might be a crazy person, or you might be seeing a lot more of us on here :-) Either way we are feeling blessed and excited for this next new stage of life!

Baby Girls Room

I got to go this weekend and pick out fabrics for baby Willows room!
I was so happy with what we founds and cant wait to see it all come together.



I LOVE it!!!!!

Test

Well Cody flew to California this morning for a short visit, if you can call it that. He is there to take the entrance exam for UCLAs Daniel Freeman Paramedic Program! And he just loves taking tests so he was really excited to go... not. Anyways you might be thinking well that schools in California and you live in Colorado, how does that work? We are asking ourselves the same thing :-D

Kidding, in reality we have been thinking through, praying through and planning through what getting excepted into this school would mean. For us it would mean moving back to Cali for around nine months. We would live with Cody's parents and than come back home when he graduates! Whew makes me tired just thinking about it :-) But we really have felt lead to pursue this opportunity. There is still the test that needs to be passed, and an interview to get in that stand in front of the ultimate choice being made but we are moving towards that goal.

We still are praying about all of it and even if he does get in we will have to make the final call to pick up our lives and our first year with baby girl and move it to Cali, but we are excited to see Gods plan and what he is teaching us through this.

All of that to say Cody will be taking his test at 8 tomorrow morning (Yep thats Thursday) And we would love all your prayers. It's a five hour test and no one likes those :-P Thanks ahead of time and I'll let you know if we are moving to the west coast again!

My Pregnancy Facts!

I thought I would share what being pregnant has been like for me, and for us :-) So here are some facts!
(I stole some of these from Jimaie... shah don't tell)

How We Found Out:
I took a test I was so sure was negative that I took a shower without even looking, man did I get a surprise when I leaned over with my mascara in hand and so the word "Pregnant" on that little screen!
Cody was laying in the ER hooked up to all kinds of heart machines when I blurted the news! He took it very well :-)

How I Have Been Feeling:
I did get the joy of morning sickness from week 6-12. But it wasn't so bad :-) And this past week I have found out that I get car sick... yep out of the blue! Other than that I feel amazing! I love being pregnant and am so thankful to be missing out on all the other pregnancy symptoms I have been reading about.

How I Am Looking:
No stretch marks yet! Trying to keep the bump nice and moisturized but it's just so gal darn dry around here these days :-/ I itch lol. Im still in all my regular clothes (A few of them call for the hair band trick these days) I honestly feel like Im the same except for that darling bump of a baby :-) This could be my pregnant brain just forgetting what I looked like before though

How The Baby Is Doing:
She is amazing! Little thing is on a schedule already :-) Like clock work she wakes up around 11 and wiggles until 12 or 12:30 every night! I love it right now but I'm pretty sure it's going to have to change when she makes an appearance. She is a foot long and weighs about 2 pounds! So far everything looks great from what the doctors say and we are just loving her to pieces. She can be a bit stubborn and likes to stop moving when Cody touches her :-P I think its sweet.

How We Are Feeling About Delivery:
I know thats kinda a funny one but it's our first time! It's weird but Im kinda excited. We are shooting for an all natural birthing plan, ok Im shooting for one, Cody told me he wouldn't do it and would insist on a c-section... oh the support of a husband :-) I'm also looking forward to everyone delivering me orange julius' from the new one that just opened next to the hospital, they are one of my favorite things and I'll take a good excuse to have more than my share!

What I'm Missing:
Beer, and thats so dumb because I didn't have beer all that often when I could have it but oh man does it sound soooo good these days :-)

What I'm Craving:
Nothing weird I just get stuck on things, orange juice, chocolate milk, cheese and mustard sandwiches, avocados, organ blackberry shakes, peanut butter,citrus fruits and meat... they have all had their times so far in my pregnancy :-)

What I Don't Want:
McDonalds :-/ yack and now panda express...

and for now thats it :-)
Just some random facts about whats going on in this belly, my head and our home!

Husbands & Hefty Cups

Sometimes I allow all the distractions of life take over my mind and heart and I focus on all the things that "matter so much but mean so little. I have decided that my biggest fault is thinking that I have a right to vent my feelings to those closest to me. Rather than clear my mind and heart of the frustration that I am feeling it feeds my emotions and keeps my focus on things un true and pure. So instead of sharing the little things in life that aren't going "my way" today I thought I'd share some of the amazing things that are happening in my life. I have an amazing God of grace and love who has showered me with so many blessings I don't deserve. Let me share just a few...



This man is by far the most amazing part of my life <3 He makes me laugh daily and fills my heart with so much joy. He understands me and the ways that I need him, and gives so freely of himself to see me happy. He is my best friend and the greatest man I know. He makes me proud to be his wife and puts his whole heart into everything. I couldn't ask for a more devoted and considerate man to give my life to.



How can something so close to me still feel so far away? She is teaching me new things all the time about life and God and she hasn't even made an appearance yet! I am so excited to have this new unexpected cutie in our lives. I know she has so much more to teach me through both the joyful and the trying times of being a parent. I never expected to enjoy being pregnant half as much as I have. Ever day I feel a new kind of joy and thankfulness for this amazing opportunity. Im so glad that God knows what we need and when we need it because I never would have taken this on of my own accord and yet I wouldn't give it up for anything :-) What an unexpected blessing.





I know dogs really??? These boys bring me so much laughter and joy on a daily basis. They also love to cuddle and love on me which is amazingly priceless when your an emotional pregnant woman who's husband occasionally works 130 hour work weeks! If everyone could love as unconditionally as dogs the world would be a much better place. Even when my pregnant brain forgets to feed them (woops!) they still climb into my lap, lay their heads on my belly and shake their heads confused when baby girl gives them a decent kick :-) They are always happy to see me and have so much fun personality. I love my boys <3



Chocolate Milk! Hahaha such a great one :-) I haven't had any weird cravings, just consistent ones. I cant ever get enough milk, but since I don't like milk the chocolate saves me ;-P I am grateful that we not only have everything we need but also enough for silly things like chocolate milk cravings. I'm thankful for a tasy beverage that makes me feel better every time I dink a giant glass <3



Spring time... I have never thought of spring as my favorite season, but this year its such a welcome blessing. We have had a mellow winter around these parts and I wasn't even feeling done with it. However, these sunny days and warm weather have been like healing for my heart that I have allowed to get so heavy with the little things that don't matter. Im enjoying the promise of a new day that spring seems to whisper to us. There is something so great just around the corner and it isn't just summer :-)



Yellow Hefty Cups teehee. This goes back to the amazing man in my life and spring time I think. I love that I have a husband who knows that picking the yellow over the red will bring me extra joy because I love everything seasonal and am enjoying spring more than normal and all the brightness and yep you guessed it... JOY that it seems to bring. These yellow hefty cups are even making my milk cravings more enjoyable ;-P And no this isn't a stretch for something else to be thankful for. these darn cups really do make me happy every time I reach for one in the cabinet.

Lastly I am so thankful and excited to be looking forward to three days of with Cody <3 Although he has some tests to study for its going to be so nice to be abl to enjoy being together, and celebrating his wonderful life since its his birthday this week! Im so grateful for another amazing year with this amazing man.

Life is good <3

The Bathroom...

Well its official, the nesting is here to stay! Since cleaning the garage a couple weeks back I have been rolling forward full steam on getting the rest of our house in order. Since we only lived in our home for a month before getting pregnant with sweetness the first couple months didn't see much in the way of progress around here seeing as I was much more content to sit on the couch than clean or unpack. So for starters heres our bathroom...

I have better before pictures some place but cant find them so here are a few I snapped when the project was just getting started.

Note the lovely paint all over the cabinets and yep that was our light fixture leaning against the counter, the light bulbs used to just hang out of it because the insides was broke :-) Classy!


See its just eww and blah! Their was paint all over the shower tiles, the cocking around the tub was, well not nice and when patching holes in the walls they had actually created mountains with putty. It took talent to do this kind of work!

Naturally we started by sanding, re texturing the crazy walls...

Ok well maybe husband did all that :-) I took a razor blade to the tiles, the mirror, the window and even the cabinets to get the remaining pink and teal paint off of everything! Than it was on to the painting! I had the hardest time deciding on a color for some reason, and in the end its even more blue than I expected


See our new light fixture! The cabinets are not staying either we just haven't found the right ones at the right price yet and for now these do the job. The mirror as you can see is fine except for along the edges so we decided to just frame it ourselves... but before we could get to that project the darn thing decided to fall off the wall when Edward was taking a shower and shatter into a million pieces! We wont be reframing it any more :-/


New cabinet :-) The new vanity will be black as well and Cody has been working on taking some beautiful nature photos that we are going to print in black and whites to hang on the walls <3


And organization!!!! This makes me almost as excited as the new paint, clean tiles and evenly textured walls :-) I love that I know right where everything in my house is, its pure bliss!

Anyways.... thats the bathroom for now but stay tuned for the new vanity and mirror (you should see the lovely one from our bedroom thats leaning on the counter right now)

The Garage - Phase 1

Well as promised here are some pictures of our garage project!
We woke up later than I had planned on, took longer to get ready and to get started than I would have liked. However, we still managed to finish phase 1 :-) This first part of the project consisted of cleaning, organizing and trashing a ton of stuff that has been thrown in there since we moved here in September. But before I go into the details here are some rather scary pictures of the before...
Deep breaths everyone....




So yeah it was pretty bad. We started by pulling everything out into our yard and organizing it into categories, hunting, fishing, tools, camping, seasonal decoration, ect. Going through all the random boxes and trashing a ton of stuff that should have never moved with is in the first place. Heres another picture of our progress at this point.




At this point it started to snow on us! We were freezing but determined not to give up, so the work went on :-) as everything got organized outside, we started moving it back inside. All the seasonal stuff went up above on some shelfs that have been empty until now. Tools and the like to the right, hunting to the left and all codys garage door junk on the back wall. here are some after pictures...



Ok so it doesn't look that clean but it's only phase 1 remember? The boxes on the right up to the fridge are Erins and Dustins and will be moving with them on Tuesday. The stuff on the left from the ladder back is all codes hunting and fishing stuff, we have the shelfs to hang on the wall to get everything up off the floor and more organized but they go up in phase 2! The back wall is all stuff thats ebing taken away (except the tool box for his truck, we still have to find the right spot for that) Oh and those very ugly yellow crooked cabinets are empty and just need to be trashed as well. We waited to pull them down until we are taking a trip to the dump. But really all in all its sooooo much better don't you think!?!? We have three days off and phase 2 will at least be started along with some more interesting projects ;-) Since I know how much you all loved seeing our garage get clean!

Nesting...

It's not just hitting at 20 weeks, but it sure is getting more intense! I lay awake in bed thinking about all the things I could do to the nursery, my bedroom, the bathroom, the front yard, the laundry room and yes even the garage! Im inspired by the simplest things and just bursting with ideas... and I love it <3

Tomorrow me and Cody get another day off together, (I know I'm spoiled rotten!) our plans are to organize and clean our garage -gasp- are we crazy??? Probably its rather beastly out there right now. But he is itching for a clean man space, and I have my own selfish motives of wanting a nice work space for all the DIY projects I have up my sleeves for the next couple months. So we are jumping in and getting that place cleaned up! I'll post before and afters for ya so you can be proud of us ;-P

I'm also putting together an idea board for the baby room and need to pick up some paint samples for the bathroom, man does that room need some personality! So other than my grown belly I don't have anything to exciting to post for you....
BUT I promise there is some fun stuff coming :-)

Baby Mooney is a GIRL!!!

So we are just 3 days from being half way through our pregnancy! I cant believe we are already this far along. We went this morning to our ultrasound appointment and got to find out what sweet little thing we have been growing and its... a girl! I know your shocked seeing as I already blurted it in the title to this post ;-P I just couldnt contain my excitment I suppose.

Well we decided a couple weeks back to dish out the extra to see the paronatologist who could tell us everything she was seeing as she was seeing it. Not just the gender... I went back and forth on if it was worth it or not but after today I have no doubts it was the best choice :-) Our Dr was such a fun lady who talked us through every little thing she was looking for and at, explaining every measurement and picture she took. She was also extra persistent to get a 3d picture of babies face when she wouldn't stop holding her hands in her face! She sent us home with about 20 pictures and such a joy and peace about how wonderful our baby girl is doing! The whole experience was such a blessing to us!

Just had to share the news!

Fresh Start...

Alright.... I am back for reals this time!!!!

I know we posted about our new home but I thought I would share just a little bit more with you ;-) Here is our ranch style home in the fall when we moved in! Now it may not look like much to you now, but to me it looks like a ton of potential... You should see the before pictures of the trees, no joke you couldn't even see our house hiding behind it until Cody and Hunter went to work around MIDNIGHT with spotlights and all :-)



It feels huge to us with its five bedrooms, two baths and two livingrooms! But the space has already been put to good use as stated in my earlier post, both my sister and her family and my brother have been living with us. The projects that have been done are already a long list and I will be posting more with before and after pictures of what we have done as the weeks go on. We are so excited about all the projects that will happen in this house over the years making it ours. It's so much house for us but we know the space will always be put to good use.



We are already getting ready to move the guest bedroom to the basement to make room upstairs for this little thing! Yep yet another change in our lives, this year has been full of BIG ones!!! For being something so un planned and un expected we couldn't be more thrilled about this new turn in our lives. After we freaked out a little bit of course :-) I actually blurted the news to Cody when he was lying in the ER! very smooth on my part... Now we are four months into a great pregnancy with healthy baby and just praying for more of the same <3>

So for the year 2010 we picked up and moved to another state all by ourselves and LOVE it. Had family move in with us. Bought our first home, and started our family! Through it all we have been so blessed to have a God who knows better than us, and has more than once shut a door we were more than ready to leap through so that he could carry us through an even better one.
One of the many blessings was our amazing families and all there wonderful love and support through this year. If there is anything I miss about life before Colorado its being closer to family and old friends <3>



Lastly I am actually back to blogging because over the past few months I have been gifted all the amazing tools needed to do so! #1 - mom and dad mooney bought us a macbook pro as a congrats on the baby! #2 - Christmas money and birthday money from both sets of parents and grandparents bought us a Canon Rebel T1I! #3 - I have a new house filled with projects to blog about #4 - I'm growing a baby thats going to be too cute for words so I'll have to post lots of pictures! #5 - Because I'm inspired and want to share!