Pumpkin Patch

Two weeks before Halloween we headed out to the Pumpkin Patch to let Will pick out his first little Pumpkin. And ya'll, pumpkins are where it's at for Mr Will. He absolutely LOVES them. He points out every single pumpkin he sees while we are driving in the car so when we brought home his very own Pumpkin he wanted to carry it everywhere. He even asked if "pumpin" could sleep with him. 

Pregnancy.... (The first trimester perspective)

***Let me first start by saying, this is going to be brutally honest so if you are looking for the rose colored glass version of pregnancy then this is definitely not your post!

Ahhh pregnancy.... if there was any feasible way to avoid your luxuries I would be the first in line. I will preface by saying that while my first pregnancy was certainly brutal at times this one takes the cake! After finding out at the end of June that we were expecting #2 I was elated and nervous all at the same time. So excited to meet this new little life and add a playmate to our sweet little family, but nervous because pregnancy and the early months of infancy were anything but kind to us the last go round. But none the less we were thrilled.

By 5 1/2 weeks pregnant though, I began to feel the unwelcome all day nausea accompanied by extreme fatigue. The kind of fatigue that comes with running a marathon (well who am I kidding, I've never done that but you catch my drift).

Just three days later I found myself vomiting morning, noon and night and praying that I could just survive the day. The weeks that followed we did not leave the house AT ALL and I cried for the better part of most of those days truly wishing I could just die. By the end of the 8th week I had dropped 8 pounds in one week and found myself severely dehydrated. One call to the OB and I was told to head on to the ER to receive fluids. I prayed that relief would come from the additional fluids but even after IV fluids and IV Zofran and Phenergren still NO RELIEF. I was so deflated I told Zak that if I survived this we would not be having any more biological children. I just could not do this again. It literally felt like being dropped in hell.

There truly is nothing else quite like it. And to make matters worse, trying to care for a toddler while you are vomiting is near to impossible. Many days Will would come put his arms around me while I was throwing up and say, "all done Momma all done." As if to say, please make it stop. If only son, if only.

Almost like a miracle though my symptoms began to subside after about a month and a half. I had fully anticipated the sickness to last til 14-16 weeks but the Lord in all his graciousness poured out his mercy and made the misery taper off at about 12 weeks! I believe the Lord knew that if He desired for us to add any more kiddos to this household the crazy train had better stop and fast!

I am so so thankful to be 18 weeks and feeling as good as could be expected for pregnancy. With the exception of afternoon heartburn and a bit more tired than usual I am as good as new! Those early weeks we were blessed beyond measure with all the support of family and friends bringing meals, watching Will and just loving on us as a family. We couldn't be more grateful! We find out tomorrow whether this little peanut is a boy or girl and I can hardly wait. I am quite confident it's a little Misses but we'll just have to wait and see! Here's to hoping the 2nd half of this pregnancy is uneventful!

Happy Birthday Zak!!! (The forgotten post)

*I came across this birthday post for Zak (His birthday was September 16th yikes!!!) that I thought I had posted but it never made it past the draft file. Sorry hubby, better late than never!

It seems unfitting that there is only one day of the year designated to celebrate the life of my wonderful husband and very best friend! We have shared so much life these past 6 years; two pregnancies, one toddler, first apartment, first house, first cat, first dog, several jobs and a slew of life experiences. I can confidently say that I can't imagine walking through life with a better man. We are truly blessed to have him as husband and daddy. Thanks for loving us so well and always providing the strength, security and stability to our home. We love you so much Zak! Happy Birthday!

Will's 2nd Birthday Party!

My sweet little man just celebrated his 2nd birthday a week and a half ago at Pullen Park. After Will's first birthday party I learned that my child prefers his family and just a couple of his best buddies. So this year, we had the grandparents, aunts and uncle and cousins and two of his best buddies. I have to say, it was so nice to have some milder weather (especially pregnant) but the morning was still filled with off and on drizzle (hence the TERRIBLE hair day I was having).

I did a Choo Choo train theme for his party since he is absolutely over the moon for trains these days. Side note- we also got Will a train table set as our birthday/Christmas gift which he is obsessed with!

We were soo thrilled that Bampa was able to make it to the birthday party even though he's working out of town for several months. It clearly made Will's day. And of course, Pop (My Dad) and Will are always thick as thieves.

Sweet Jack and Gerry were kind enough to come and celebrate as two of Will's closest buddies and Miss Kennedy was best dressed as always!

My beautiful niece Lucy who Will is absolutely in love with.

Such a sweet picture of the boys paired with their Daddy's who have been buddies since kindergarten.

Seems not even worth saying, but Will LOVED the cupcake! Last year he was not wild about his first go at birthday cake but oh how a year changes things!

All in all, what a fun day we had! Pizza. Cake. Rides. Presents. What more could a sweet little boy want. Happy Birthday sweet Will, your Momma and Daddy could not possibly love you any more! Stay tuned- Will's Two Year post coming next week after we have his two year check up. Our doctor is in high demand but very soon I'll be posting pictures and stats of my growing little monkey!

Coming in April....

I am super late on posting this as its old news now, but we are thrilled to announce that we are expecting baby Shipman #2 to arrive April 2nd!!! Definitely a pregnancy post coming later this week. I'm 12 weeks today and finally coming out of the terrible first trimester of sickness Praise Jesus! I can't wait to meet this sassy little thing!

Life Lately...

I fully recognize that I have been a fair weather/ MIA blogger. The truth is...lately I have felt a huge lack of motivation with just about everything. Will got a terrible cold...then Zak and I got his terrible cold (on our kid-less vacation)...then both the Grandma's got it and Mrs. Shipman's has now turned into Pneumonia! All in all we just aren't operating on all cylinders at our house. Last week I led worship for Kid Week (aka VBS) for our church. BTW- When did VBS turn into a night time thing?!?! It's the craziest thing! I know I know, year round schools conflict with morning VBS but those kiddos were about to pass out by 8:00pm and so was I! As a result, I ate out EVERY night last week as though I had the metabolism of a 16 year old boy without a care in the world... and then Monday morning hit and I weighed in.

It wasn't pretty. Not terrible, but certainly up a couple pounds. That is not the direction I was hoping for. We are hoping to get pregnant with baby number two this summer/early fall and I still am fighting the last 10 pounds I gained with Will with an additional 25 to lose! Isn't it amazing how time flies when you set a weight loss goal. The weeks fly by without the smallest budge to the scale and panic sets in. Sorry for the level of honestly but quite frankly, it's where I'm at.

But I digress... after last week I am trying to jump-start my lack luster enthusiasm for exercising, cooking healthy, doing 8 million loads of laundry. blogging, taking pictures of my Tasmanian devil toddler and keeping some order to this household. I find myself getting motivated for a few days and then just diving off the wagon to eat yet another meal at Chick fil a simply because it's easy. Zak's garden is producing boat loads so I am setting out to try and plan our meals around what is ready.

The other battle of my life is that Will has over night turned into the pickiest eater. He will NOT try new things and is boycotting all vegetables which makes me feel like the worlds worst mom. I haven't decided yet what my plan of action will be. Do I starve the kid until he decides that we really mean business or do I disguise vegetables in things he already likes. At this point, I am open to someone moving in and handling this for me. My sweet Will has the willpower of his Daddy and is not very easy to break! Pray for me!

Time to go move laundry.... I'll try to do better and post some sort of a life update soon!

Summertime at its finest!

My little gardener! I could just eat him up!

Running

Me and Dad post-race!

This post is long overdo...Just over 2 months ago, one of my Mom friends at the Y invited me to join this 5k training program that was meeting twice a week at Womble Park in Holly Springs. I was super excited and jumped right in. I had actually downloaded the C25K (couch to 5k) free app a few weeks prior and was well in to week 3 of training.

To say I am NOT a runner is the understatement of the year. I have never been very athletic and certainly had never run any substantial amount at any given time in my life. But, this was one goal I really wanted to check off the bucket list- training and completing a 5k.

That first week I could barely do the short 60 second of running with 90 seconds of walking in between. It seemed so very hard, my lungs were screaming out for air while my legs were begging me to stop. The next few weeks we gradually increased in difficulty and I felt myself improving by leaps and bounds. I found that the challenge would alternate from lunge capacity to my legs feeling like I was dragging bricks. None the less, I kept showing up each week faithfully completing the two group runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then I would make sure to get in my 3rd independent run on the weekend.

By week 5 we had worked up to 8 minutes of running with 5 minutes of walking. AT the end of that 5th week we were suppose to complete a final run of 20 minutes of consecutive running with no walking built in. When I realized that I was thinking, "there is absolutely NO WAY that I can do that! I will have to walk." The kind women that were leading our group told us to hold off on the 20 minute run that weekend. They understood the mental challenges of completing this first long run and wanted us to have the support of the group. The plan was to run together on Tuesday and then head out to celebrate over frozen yogurt.

I have to confess, the night before I was so nervous about the following days run and so much self doubt as to whether I would be able to complete it or not. The next day I prayed on the way to the park and the Lord showed up! It was by the grace of God but I completed the 20 minutes feeling stronger than I ever had. I could not possibly begin to explain the excitement I had knowing that this was the first day of my entire 29 years that I could EVER recall being able to run for 20 minutes straight!

From there things got soo much easier and each week leading up to our race I was able to run further and further without getting winded and continuing to push myself. I should have mentioned in the beginning though that I was and still am the worlds slowest runner. But even with that truth I was ok. My goal was to simply complete the upcoming race without walking even if that meant coming in last place!

Me and my buddy Melissa post-race!

We all signed up and got registered for "Run the Quay" an annual 5k run put on by the Fuquay Chamber of Commerce. The course took us through the historic old neighborhoods in the downtown area. The night before the race I could not sleep. I literally stayed awake until 4am!!! I was so nervous battling the discouraging thoughts that I would not be able to complete the race even though in my heart I new I was ready. I had been disciplined about the training and was as prepared as I could be. The next morning I woke up with only a few hours a sleep and headed out with the plan of meeting Zak and Will there once the race began.

We took off about 8:00am and Praise the Lord I completed the whole thing. And it was HARD!!! Lots of big hills and the last half mile of the race was completely up hill. But once I saw Zak and Will and the rest of my family cheering me on I just kept pushing harder. My Dad finished wayy ahead of me and came back and ran the last 1/8 of a mile with me encouraging me that I could do it. When I crossed that finish line I just felt like crying. It was such a rush of emotions! I was exhausted, excited, thrilled and so very very proud of myself! I completed the race in just over 42 minutes.

Needless to say, I've caught the running bug! I love it now. I even started training for a 10k! Nothing makes me feel as strong as completing a hard run. And while I haven't noticed major changes in the scale I have noticed significant changes in inches lost from both my legs and mid-section which has been very encouraging. If you've always thought you could never complete a 5k or grow to love running I would challenge you that you can! If I can do it you DEFINITELY can!

*** Side note- Some of you may have read on the blog back in September my Dad had a silent stroke followed by a seizure. It scared us all pretty bad because to look at my Dad he looks healthy as a horse. I asked Dad even before I started training with these women if he would want to train for a race to do together as he had previously been a pretty good runner. He eagerly agreed

and I think was looking forward to having the motivation to get out and exercise. Dad did soo great in the race and I was so proud. He ran just over a 10 minute mile which was awesome for having only trained for a month!

*** Second side note- Hilarious me, did not think to ask until about a month into our running schedule why all these women we were running with had their school aged kids running along side. Little did I know, but Melissa, Linda and I had joined a homeschooling running group! Dingy me. Hahah I still laugh about it. That's why these kids weren't in school! No I am not planning on homeschooling as that is the obvious next question! Definitely don't think I'm cut out for that, but I so appreciated them letting us train with their group!

Yes Please!

I read this post today on facebook and loved it! I would have worded a few things differently but LOVED the message! Here's to a lot more encouragement and a lot less criticism. We put enough of that on ourselves!


To the mom who's breastfeeding: Way to go! It really is an amazing gift to give your baby, for any amount of time that you can manage! You're a good mom. 

To the mom who's formula feeding: Isn't science amazing? To think there was a time when a baby with a mother who couldn't produce enough would suffer, but now? Better living through chemistry! You're a good mom. 

To the cloth diapering mom: Fluffy bums are the cutest, and so friendly on the bank account. You're a good mom. 

To the disposable diapering mom: Darn those things hold a lot, and it's excellent to not worry about leakage and laundry! You're a good mom. 

To the mom who stays home: I can imagine it isn't easy doing what you do, but to spend those precious years with your babies must be amazing. You're a good mom. 

To the mom who works: It's wonderful that you're sticking to your career, you're a positive role model for your children in so many ways, it's fantastic. You're a good mom. 

To the mom who had to feed her kids from the drive thru all week because you're too worn out to cook or go grocery shopping: You're feeding your kids, and hey, I bet they aren't complaining! Sometimes sanity can indeed be found in a red box with a big yellow M on it. You're a good mom. 

To the mom who gave her kids a homecooked breakfast lunch and dinner for the past week: Excellent! Good nutrition is important, and they're learning to enjoy healthy foods at an early age, a boon for the rest of their lives. You're a good mom. 

To the mom with the kids who are sitting quietly and using their manners in the fancy restaurant: Kudos, it takes a lot to maintain order with children in a place where they can't run around. You're a good mom. 

To the mom with the toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle: they always seem to pick the most embarrassing places to lose their minds don't they? We've all been through it. You're a good mom.

To the moms who judge other moms for ANY of the above? Glass houses, friend. Glass houses.

written by some random lady on facebook that I'm not even friends with! (Jill Smith)

I could just eat him up!

Starting off Mother's Day weekend right with my handsome little man. ... who is currently obsessed with wearing sunglasses. We'll let it slide for now, but something tells me his Daddy is not going to be ok with Will sporting women's sunglasses for very much longer!

Behind the Wheel

Just a little Driver's Ed with Pop!

Will: 18 Months!!!

How is it that my sweet baby boy is a year and a half old!!!! No!!!! Stop the clocks people! I am not ready for him to get any bigger....but bigger he gets! Will is handsome, funny, smart, determined and very very active!

We had Will's 18 month appointment on Monday and he did great! Praise Jesus, no shots at this one. The moment the doctor arrived he started talking up a storm. Pointing at everything and starting each sentence with "Oh!!....." Sentence is a lose term because the rest of what he said was only certain to him and certainly not English! But, none the less, the doctor was very impressed by how conversational he was. She said we may be in trouble if he truly has that much to say haha... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  I only wish I had videoed it! But getting back to business...

The Skinny on Will:

Weight: 27 lbs, 6.4 oz (79%) The nurse we had was in training and documented his weight wrong (26 lbs) so I think this percentile may be higher, but let's be honest he's big enough either way!

Height: 33.5 in (84%)

Head: 48 cm (67%)

Eating: Well...at our house this has become the most dreaded part of parenting. The battle of the wills that comes at mealtimes. But after a long discussion with the pediatrician about how Will is slinging food and refusing to try things I think we have a better game plan. Cut back on the amount of milk and cut out snacks. The doctor said that any time she sees a toddler slinging food it's usually because they aren't hungry enough at meal times. In the last day or so I have noticed a remarkable improvement by limited his milk intake to 18 oz per day and cutting out the snacks before lunch and dinner. Peas continue to be the vegetable of choice, he eats ALL fruits, loves chicken, fish sticks, hot dogs, pizza and pork, but is not a fan of the lunch meats. He refuses to eat cheese unless its in a dish or on pizza and in general his mood towards meal times is as unpredictable as the weather, but we press on! We still give him a sippy cup of milk at bedtime and he drains it every night. Not sure when we will give that up??? Unfortunately we were so traumatized by sleep deprivation in the early part of Will's life that if he didn't eat, he didn't sleep. But that's our issue not his. My goal for the next month is to make sure that meal times are pleasant and NOT child centered. We can no longer try offering him everything in the refrigerator just to get him to eat! Lord help me!

Sleeping: Can't complain in this area. Will goes to bed between 7:30 and 7:45 and has been consistently waking up around 7:30. I do think some developmental growth has made it difficult for him to fall asleep as most nights he talks for 30 minutes before falling asleep and that is definitely a new thing. Naps have been pretty straight forward. Will goes down at 1:00 pm and if he doesn't wake up on his own then I go in and wake him up by 4:00 pm. What a treasured time of my day!

Development: Honestly, I don't even know where to start. He is talking up a storm and his vocabulary seems to grow by a handful of new words every day. It truly is an amazing thing to watch. He loves loves loves to play outside, blow bubbles and dancing has become a nightly occurrence in our house. He loves for me to play music and his favorite show is Curious George. Some days, Curious George is the only way I am able to get a shower. He has an amazing attention span as he will sit through long books patiently enjoying the pictures and the story. He also loves to grab a stack of books, hop up into one of our living room chairs and read books to himself which I absolutely love to watch as he expressively describes what he is seeing. He also loves to play this game that Cee Cee and Pop taught him where he counts "One...Two...Three.. Go!" and runs to the other side of the room! I can't believe how soon he will be counting to 10!

Currently, we are hard at work on manners and sharing. He says "Thank you" every time he hands someone something or receives something and has started saying "Sorry" when he disobeys, doesn't share, or has attempted to hurt one of the cats by chasing them with his golf clubs. He recently started saying "I love you, Dada" or Mamma and blows kisses to everyone! He is a huge snuggler and loves for me to hold him at night and sing to him. That has definitely become a cherished time for me. I can already see what a helpful big brother he will be! He tells me when that cats have jumped on the counters or table and firmly scolds them "No, No Charee!" (No, No Charlie).

On the flip side we are also in the thick of discipline as we are hearing a lot of "Nooooo!!!" and several tantrums or trying to hit us out of frustration. I hope this child does not follow in my footsteps for the amount of spankings I got, but he certainly gets plenty of pops on the hand for either telling momma no or disobeying. We are trying to bathe every day in prayer. Prayer that I would be gracious towards my sweet little boy, but also to love him enough to "train him up in the way that he should go" (Proverbs 22: 6). Such a weighty task!

Definitely time to get the camera out and capture the many faces of Will! But that's all we've got for now!

The beauty of CHURCH!

How blessed we are with our awesome church, The Summit! Praise God for what he is doing!

The cost of our insecurities

I read this blog post, and it nearly brought me to tears. How completely true, and convicting! For those of us with kids who may always have a few extra pounds to lose, this is worth reading!!!

http://myfriendteresablog.com/so-youre-feeling-too-fat-to-be-photographed/

Date Night

Zak and I decided we were well overdo for a date night so we called the grandparents to see if they were available. Originally, we had planned to go have a nice dinner and walk around Chapel Hill for a change of scenery but because the weather was going to be terrible, we quickly moved to plan B.

We called one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Luna and made reservations for 6:00pm. We were dropping Will off at Mom and Dad's at 3:30 so we definitely had some time to kill. The convention center just happened to be having some home show expo so we thought, hey that can't be so bad. Oh were we wrong. It was the equivalent of meeting all the vendors of Home Depot: roofers, siding guys, hot tubs and decks. Booooring! We were in and out within 10 minutes and decided to venture around the Marriott that connects to the new convention center.

We picked up some Starbucks (peppermint hot chocolate and caramel apple sider seeing as we are NOT coffee drinkers) and sat and talked and laughed....uninterrupted by a toddler!

It. Was. Heaven.

We took some goofy pictures with our phones and then headed to a delicious dinner with no interruptions! It was that night we decided we would make date night once a month a priority and we would alternate planning what we would do.

In the hustle and bustle of parenthood it is so easy to lose sight of the importance of connecting with nights like these. So from me to you, go ahead, pick up the phone and get a date night on the calendar! You'll be so thankful you did!

...and then there was Ellie!

Ellie Anne Stokes, 7lbs 11oz

Yesterday morning, I woke up to Will and Zak overhead with Zak saying "I've got some news." I shot out of bed and said "No! I missed it?" and he said, "well I thought I would let you sleep in since its been a rough few nights with Will" (because of his painful double ear infection). I couldn't be too mad, because the night before I had left my phone downstairs thinking we had all the time in the world. But no sir ree, Ellie had arrived.

I quickly took a shower and headed to the hospital to meet my beautiful new niece  Ellie Anne Stokes! Ellie was born without the need for a C-section. Kelley and I both had had prior C-section that we felt could have been avoided and both wanted to try with our seconds for successful VBAC's! (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean  As soon as I got there I found out that Kelley had arrived at the hospital 9.5 cm dilated and ready to push. They actually thought she was going to deliver in the car!!! Yikes! The whole process only took 2 1/2 hours and she was out! No time for epidurals or pain meds. They injected morphine in her leg and within minutes Ellie had arrived. As silly as it sounds not only was my whole family praying that Kelley would be able to have a VBAC but so was our small group and my parents small group as well! It meant so much to Kelley so we were all thrilled!

Miss Lucy finally got to meet her baby sister yesterday afternoon after her nap. She was a little unsure about seeing Mommy in a hospital bed holding another child! Totally understandable!

We couldn't be any happier that you have arrived Miss Ellie, welcome to the family!

Saying Pop!

Well we are three down and one to go for calling the grandparents their name. Will has been saying Nana and Cee Cee for a long time now, still no Grandpa but this week he just started saying Pop!

Will's 1st Haircut...

To say my little monkey was past due for a haircut is the understatement of the month. (much to the disagreement of both sets of grandparents) See exhibit A. After planning a day, Zak and I decided to take Will several Saturday mornings back to the Holly Springs Barbour shop (after strong recommendations of our friends) for Will's first haircut. As silly as it is, I was really excited! Excited to document one of a thousand firsts in our little boys life. 

Ever since I was a little girl, I LOVED going to get my hair cut. I would always sit really still and feel just like a little princess. All to say, I had high hopes for my little man. I knew we would have to hold him down and I knew he might be slightly uncomfortable, but I had NO idea the disaster of an experience we were about to live out.

After arriving, we saw there was only one hair stylist working. We waited for probably 15-20 minutes for it to be our turn and Will enjoyed playing in the nicely laid out kids room. The Asian woman finally called us up and I promptly let her know that this was Will's very first haircut and asked her what we should do. She frowned a bit and said " hmm You sit here and hold him!" (to Zak) Much of this story is very difficult to tell without hearing it but I'll do my best....

...from there, everything went down hill. After draping both Will and Zak she immediately took out the scissors and demanded that Zak pin Will's chest and head down. Will was TERRIFIED! He immediately started sweating and screaming. The woman DID NOT CARE. While he was screaming she kept saying "Oh boo hoo hoo, boo hoo hoo, poor baby poor baby" in this mocking voice. It was then that I felt my blood pressure rising and I promptly put the camera down. Hind sight I should have snatched Will up and marched all of us right out of there. It was unbelievable. Both Zak and I felt like it was border line abusive as she had both of us firmly pinning his head down as he was screaming helplessly....

That was the first of what I am sure will be many occasions where I felt like the worst mom in all the world. We left with Will in tears, followed by me in tears. Never again. Did we leave with special clippings of his first hair cut or fond memories? NO! We left with great resolve that we would never ever let that happen again!

Just last night Zak and I decided that we would tackle the hair cutting on our own and I have to say I did a darn good job. We put on some Elmo, strapped him in his portable high chair, gave him a sucker and Viola success with NO TEARS!!! Praise Jesus. 

I snapped a few quick pictures this morning after cutting his hair last night!