First Photo Shoot

Hopefully you’ve all received our announcement in the mail by now. Did you notice there were photos on the back of the card, too? I hope so! (It’s little details like that that I adore!). And did you notice that we included words to wish you a Happy New Year instead of a Merry Christmas?? Yup, those adorable cards were just not getting out by Christmas, that’s for sure! But we hope you had a very Merry Christmas, too!

Our great photographer, Jenna, captured the beautiful pictures below when our love was 8 days old. All the pictures were done at our home – we loved the personal and intimate touch that gave them. And there are some adorable ones in her room.

She was awake most of the 4 hour shoot – a rarity for newborns. In fact, Jenna couldn’t believe how alert she was and said she is the most active newborn she’s photographed! (We’ve since learned that our little girl does more than just LOOK like her daddy, she has Daddy’s extroverted, active personality, too. Anytime we go somewhere, the new sights and sounds keep her entertained for hours. Literally. She rarely falls asleep when we’re out because it seems she just doesn’t want to miss a thing. And for those of you that know Jared well, you know he is the exact same way – doesn’t want to miss a thing. He will be the first one to the party and the last one to leave… and I have a feeling our little girl is going to be the same way!). So, all that to say that we got some great pictures of her while she is awake. I’ll post more (non-professional/do it yourself with your iPhone) photos in my “free” time (i.e. with my love decides to take a looong nap and Mommy is caught up on enough sleep that I don’t have to take a nap, too!). For now, enjoy!

 

“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.” (Mark 9:37 NLT)

Welcome to Daddy-hood!

This week I really wanted to do something silly and sweet for Jared, so I decided to make him a “Daddy Survival Kit.” I’d seen the idea online and  loved it, so I decided to make him one. I couldn’t believe some of the great stuff I found in the dollar section at Target – it was like it was there just waiting for me to include it!

I personalized each item in the kit with a special note. Here’s what was included:

• A rubber band – “Because parenting requires us to be flexible”
• Gatorade – “For the days after a sleepness night when you’ll just need some energy!”
• Mamba candies, one of Jared’s favorites – “Because you’re going to be the sweetest dad”
• Dice – “Because sometimes parenting is going to be a roll of the dice!”
• Mini first aid kit – “Use this kit and your kisses to heal her when she’s hurt”
• Wet wipes – “For when life gets sticky”
• The movie Horrible Bosses – “For when life gets stressful and you need a good laugh”
• A bottle opener that looks like a baby (crazy, I know!! Love Target!) – “Because sometimes you’ll just want a beer!”
• Playing cards with a mustache and the words “The Gambler” on them (this was so fitting for several reasons!) – “We took a gamble that day back in “Mustache March” when you had a mustache…and we got her ;)”
• Goldfish, also one of his favorites – “The saying goes, ‘There are plenty of fish in the sea’ but I’m so thankful God made you Daddy to her and husband to me”

Update alert! Had I been using essential oils at the time I made this for him, I would’ve included the following:

• Stress Away Essential Oil – “To help ease the stress in our crazy, new life!”

Any new daddy to be that says he isn’t stressed out in the delivery room is lying to you! And of course it works beyond the delivery room. Bringing home baby, baby turned into teething, fussy baby, turned into toddler = stressful! This can help both mama and dada.

• Lavender Essential Oil and Peace & Calming Essential Oil – “Get a good night’s rest because you’re going to need it!”

To help with sleeping, because after all, the itty bitty couch he had to crunch up on for two nights really messed with his sleep. And these can help the new mommy, or second, third or sixth time mommy, too!

• Thieves Essential Oil – “Use this to steal all those yucky hospital germs away!” Thieves oil has been proven to kill 99.6% of airborne microorganisms (ok, this one actually benefits everyone, too, not just him, so it’s another win win!).

Did he think I was crazy when I first starting using my oils? Absolutely. Fast forward to a year later and he is asking for them. Yes, ASKING. Why is he asking now? Because they work! Simple as pie. He asks when…

• his tummy hurts
• he can’t sleep
• he starts to get a sore throat
• he gets a cut
• his back hurts
• he’s getting a pimple I mean a manly, red, spot on his face
• Even when he knows he’s going to snore after a long day…he asks me for the oil so he won’t snore, therefore he won’t get kicked to the couch 🙂

If you’re making a Daddy Survival Kit and want to throw these in there, or if you just want more info, I would love to tell you how to get them and how you can get them for 24% off like I did! Email me at heidfamilylove@gmail.com.

It was fun watching Jared open his Daddy Survival Kit that night. He loved everything in it and loved the personalized touch on each thing even more. Now we’re just waiting on our little girl’s arrival so he can put his Survival Kit to use!

Maternity Photos

This gallery contains 16 photos.

We took Maternity Photos when I was 34 weeks. It was the day after my baby shower and thankfully one of the first cool days of Fall. Those of you in California know that it was 100+ degrees even throughout October this year. Not fun when you’re 8 months pregnant! To my best friend who …

Baby’s Birthday Bets

I’m pretty sure you all know Jared well enough to know he is a betting man – he’ll bet on nearly anything, right down to betting on the ingredients in Grenadine syrup (seriously, him and I just bet on this last week. Did you think it was cherries? If you did, you would’ve lost, too!). And don’t even get me started on his fantasy sports teams – baseball, football, even golf. No joke. But, typically when he bets, he wins. Jared really enjoys competition (I have to admit, so do I. It is SO much fun to beat him… when I do anyway!). And he really enjoys the camaraderie and fun betting can bring. So, it should not surprise you that he, and even me!, wanted to do a fun little betting pool for our Baby Girl’s birthday.

Each entry was $5. Whoever guessed her birthday correctly will win, winner takes all! If more than one person chose the same day, the weight will be the tie-breaker (whoever guessed closest to her actual weight, over or under). In the event our little girl’s birthday was not selected by anyone, Mama takes all!! So, here we go!

Total: 28 entries at $5 each. Winner takes home $140. Not too bad for a $5 bet! Thanks for playing everyone!

Where have we been?!?

That’s what you may have been asking… and the answer is here, there, and everywhere! When we’ve been “here” (at home), we’ve been busy preparing for our little girl – finishing up home projects, preparing her room, and putting together more baby furniture and gear than we even knew existed! When we’ve been “there” (at Babies R Us, Carters, and nearly any other baby store you can think of!), we’ve been busy buying baby things for our little girl – swaddlers, sleepsacks, mattress covers, and more. And when we’ve been “everywhere,” we’ve been busy enjoying every moment of this journey God has taken us on. So, sorry for the delay in updates and posts… as you can see, we have been busy!

In the midst of being busy, I was hit with back pain around month #5. Not just the normal pregnancy back pain, this was sometimes excruciating, bring me to tears pain. My little torso couldn’t quite accommodate all the room this little girl needed, so when she started getting bigger and everything started moving up, it began pushing on my rib cage, which pushed vertebrates in my back together, which pinched nerves on the right side of my spine. If you’ve ever had a pinched nerve, you know the pain can be unbearable at times. The only thing that relieved the pain was standing up or laying flat on my side with a heating pad against the aching nerves. And needless to say, it made it difficult to do much. After having a sit/stand workstation installed at work (doing a desk job and sitting all day was beyond painful!), I got some relief but not much. So in September, my doctor reduced my work schedule from 8 hours a day down to 6 so I could rest while laying down at home a little more during the day. That helped and I made it to the end of my 35th week at work and called it quits! It’s standard for doctors to take you off work at 36 weeks now (unless of course you wanted to continue working). I, however, took advantage of my 36 week mark and am now off work until March. Woo hoo!!

So in the next couple weeks, I plan to update our blog with the things we’ve done over the past few months…that is, if our little girl doesn’t decide to come before I get a chance to! I’m 37 weeks now and considered “full term” so it’s game on now! I am secretly hoping she stays in there until her due date, 12.3.12. Only 10% or so of babies are born on their actual due date and I know that she will come whenever she decides she’s ready, but I really love her due date. More realistically, I think she will make her entrance earlier than that. Here’s why:

1. She measured around 6lbs when I was 35 weeks and she gains about 1/2 lb. a week. That puts her at about 7 lbs already… ultrasounds can be off, but Jared and I were both in the high 7’s when we were born, giving her another two weeks or so to reach that weight. And I can’t even imagine having an 8 lb plus baby, so if she decides to wait until her due date (or later), she just better stick to less than 8 lbs!

2. She dropped near the end of my 35th week, beginning of my 36th, and I started having Braxton Hicks contractions a few days later. Based on this, her birthday could be a couple weeks away, maybe in my 38th week. Sometimes labor is still a month away from this point, but sometimes these are indicators that it is only a couple weeks away (our birth teacher guessed she’d arrive in my 38th week based on this).

3. I was born on Valentines Day and my mom was born on the 4th of July… making the possibility of her being born on Thanksgiving very realistic! Which also happens to land in my 38th week.

So we’ll see! Ultimately, she will make her entrance into this world when her and God decide it’s time. Whether that’s early or late according to my due date doesn’t matter, it will be the perfect date. And we are so looking forward to meeting her on her birthday.

20 weeks – Halfway there!

♥ Our gorgeous girl at 19 weeks ♥

7.10.12 – 19 weeks

This ultrasound was done on July 10th. They measured all of her anatomy and took lots of pictures of her organs. Everything is PERFECT and she’s right on track.

Monday, July 16th marked the halfway point of my pregnancy. I can’t believe it! I have been so blessed with an easy pregnancy and am still loving every minute – granted, I’m still comfortable, am not huge yet, and am getting some excellent second trimester sleep, so I really don’t have many complaints! I love feeling her dance around in my belly and Jared got to feel her move for the first time on July 19th. He thought it was me making my belly move, but it was actually his little girl greeting her daddy for the first time. It was so special. (She’s bouncing around as I write this, so she must agree!).

At the end of my pregnancy, I’m going to create a collage of my belly photos. I found this adorable idea to do a chalkboard on Pinterest (I just wish I had found it at the very beginning!):

20 weeks!

Time for some Mommy Q&A!
Feeling tired? Only a tiny bit. I thankfully have all of my energy back now that I’m well into Trimester #2. Woo hoo!
Feeling sick? Not at all. I really only had slight morning sickness for about 5 – 6 weeks.
Cravings? Milk, spicy food (lots of spicy food!), and sweets.
Mood swings? Occasionally, but for the most part, I am just more emotional and cry easier these days. I’m not crying over commercials or anything, but anything that involves dogs or kids I am a wreck over now!
Weight gain? 12 pounds and on track.
Showing? Absolutely, she is making herself known. My belly seems to be going out more than up, but then again, I am only 5’3″ with a short torso, so there’s not much room for it to go up anyway.

Psalm 127:3 – Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Wiggle, Wiggle, Wiggle!

The day after our reveal BBQ was 6/24 and Jared and I had been running around all day. Church, cleaning, errands, and weekend chores. It was an exhausting day. I finally laid down around 10:30pm and began playing on our iPad (which Jared and I share, although he believes I hog it all the time and it’s more mine than his… he might be right!). Within 10 minutes or so, I felt a wiggle in my tummy. I wasn’t sure if it was the baby or not, particularly because my dr. said my placenta is “on top” on the baby, so any movement had to be strong enough to make it through the placenta to me before I’d feel it. Combine that with being a first time mommy and her guesstimate was that I wouldn’t feel the baby move until closer to 20 – 22 weeks. I was sad about this news, by the way. I wanted to feel her move sooner than half way through my pregnancy.  I was only 16 weeks 6 days (still 3 whole weeks away from my dr.’s 20 week guess), so I was second guessing the little wiggle I had just felt… until it happened again. And the second time was even bigger! I knew without a doubt it was my baby girl wiggling around in there. I was so excited! Jared was in the office at the time, so I yelled, “Babe! I just felt the baby move!” He came running in (clearly, he was also very excited) and asked if she was still moving. She wasn’t, or least I couldn’t feel it anymore, it was only those two wiggles. But I’m so glad we were together to share the exciting moment together. And I loved that it happened the day after we found out she was a girl – so special!

She has been wiggling up a storm in there since then. People have asked me to describe what it feels like, but it’s not easy. Some women say it feels like butterflies, some say it’s like popcorn popping, but for me, it’s more like a goldfish swimming around in there. Not a little goldfish, I mean one of those big bubble type goldfish. The ones that move their whole body when they swim. Like this one!

Anyway, Baby Girl Heid has been “swimming” up a storm in my belly since then. Her movements are getting stronger and more frequent and she moves the most when I’ve had a busy day and finally rest or after my daily walks. Many say (and studies have shown) that your daily movements rock the baby to sleep and when you finally lay/sit down, the rocking stops and the baby wakes up and moves around. I have to admit, I like to busy myself up during the day so she moves a lot at night 🙂  I absolutely love it!

♥ ♥ ♥

It’s a…

After two different ultrasounds, one very shy baby (the baby just did not want to uncross its legs!), the tech was finally able to determine if Baby Heid was a boy or girl.  We didn’t want to know right away – ok, we totally wanted to know right away! But we had other plans – so we had the tech write it in a blank note card and seal the envelope so we couldn’t peek.

We wanted to share the big moment with our family and best friends, so we jumped on the latest craze and did a “Gender Reveal Party.” On the big day (June 23rd), everyone gathered at our house for a BBQ and to see the answer to the exciting question of Boy or Girl. No one knew (including me and Jared) what was in the envelope except my niece, Maeghen. She was the the envy of the party when everyone found out she got to know first!

We chose her for several reasons (we’re close, we love her, but most importantly, she can keep a secret) and because we needed someone to arrange the reveal set-up for us. She was perfect and did a phenomenal job at keeping a straight face at the party when people were trying to get her to spill the beans!

Needless to say, we were very anxious to get to the reveal part of the party! Everyone wore their guess – Pink bows if they thought it was a girl and blue mustaches if they thought it was a boy. My instinct had been preparing me for a pink bow for weeks before the party, so I not only wore a pink bow, I wore a pink dress too! Jared proudly sported a blue mustache pinned to his blue shirt (clearly opposite of my thoughts!). This is a picture from the beginning of the party; by the time everyone arrived and selected “Boy” or “Girl,” Baby Girl Heid was far out numbered! About 3/4 of the party guessed Baby BOY Heid.

When it was finally time for the big reveal, we all gathered in the backyard. Everyone watched as Jared and I opened a box filled with helium balloons (they would be pink for a girl or blue for a boy)….

♥ We are so excited for Baby GIRL Heid!! ♥

We are so blessed and thankful for this amazing journey God has planned for us. It’s been an incredible experience and gets more exciting each day. Check back soon for more updates, ultrasound pictures, and photos of my belly as SHE grows!

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

Our family is growing by two feet!

Oh, Baby!

Since we have family across the states, and even around the world right now, I decided to start a blog to keep everyone posted on the latest updates and pictures. Thanks for stopping by! So, to start at the beginning… Around February of this year, Jared and I talked about starting a family. We touched on what that would mean for us, where we’d want to be financially, and where we would want to travel to before expanding our family beyond two adults + three doggies. We decided we would re-visit the topic after we celebrated our 3 year anniversary this October, and in the meantime we would pray about it.

Oh, did God have other plans for us! On March 26th (only a month or so after our initial talk/wait decision), we were surprised to see these two little pink lines!

Two little pink lines

Okay, I have to admit – as a woman, I wasn’t completely shocked. I had a suspicion because I was late and I’m always on time… in this sense, at least! But I was surprised because we’d been able to “delay” starting a family on our own, thanks to my ability to know what time of the month it is and my slight OCD to track everything. But our plans to wait until the end of the year to talk about starting a family weren’t exactly what God had in mind for us. And His plans always win!

Needless to say, these two little pink lines brought up a flood of buried emotions in me and I immediately starting crying. Jared assumed I was crying because I was unhappy. As he hugged me, he said, “Don’t worry babe, it’s going to be okay. Are you sad?”  In fact, I felt just the opposite. I was crying for two reasons:

1. These two little pink lines were all part of God’s plan. He has moved so profoundly in our lives recently, in ways which we couldn’t understand or comprehend, and all of our blessings and difficult times made sense now… He was preparing us to begin this new journey.

2. After 10 years of not knowing if I could have children or not (due to the chemotherapy I received when I was 18), these two little pink lines said I can! And I was overwhelmed with joy.

Over the years, we had talked about possibly not having children, but it was this moment when I realized that deep down I’ve always wanted children. I’d been telling myself I may not want kids simply to ease the rejection I thought I may face one day – rejection of wanting children so much only to find out I couldn’t have them on my own. So words can’t truly describe the happiness I felt when I saw these two little pink lines; it melted my heart in a way I didn’t know possible.

Once I explained all of this to Jared, he completely understood why I was crying and he even got teary-eyed. He was happy too, and almost as giddy as a kid in a candy store about becoming a dad! It was, without a doubt, an incredible moment between us that will certainly be cherished.

***

One more thing I should mention – March is “Mustache March” in the Heid homes (his brothers, along with friends, participate in this hideous event). March is the only month of the year I dread, for this reason alone: Jared grows a mustache. All. Month. Long. The expression “eewww” says it all.

So, what does this have to do with the baby??  Five words: The Power of the Mustache (as Jared says) – Jared is convinced we are having a boy because of his special mustache “power.”  ha! We’ll just have to wait and see. Below is a picture of us the night we saw those two little pink lines, complete with the infamous mustache. Keep in mind Jared and I joke around all the time as a couple. If you recall, he wrote “Just Kidding” in my engagement ring box and our wedding vows included everything from stray dogs to fantasy football, so even the very significant events in our life are no exception! That being said, he is being silly with his facial expression, not serious:

The infamous mustache

Baby Heid is due 12.3.12! We are both elated to become parents, to begin this new chapter in our lives together, and to walk hand in hand with God as we fulfill His plan for us.

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