She's Here!

Eden Dorothy

(named after my sweet grandma)

made it safe into our arms

Monday, July 26th at 10:57 am.
weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz.

and 19 inches long.

Needless to say, we are completely smitten...

. . . .

Where 3 becomes 4

Tomorrow's the day I will officially become a mom of 4.
It's the day I will finally get to meet this little baby girl that's been cooking in my stomach for 39 long weeks.
It's the day where emotions collide...
excited,
anxious,
nervous,
overjoyed.
It's the day where the doctor will lay her on my stomach and the scent of newness will fill the room.
It's the day that her perfection will fill my arms and each little part of her from head to toe with be inspected and kissed.
It's the day that I feel so blessed to have...

. . . . .

It will also be the day where I can bend over and tie my shoes.

And that in and of itself is pretty exciting.


. . . . .

I feel a little embarrassed for putting these pictures on. So be kind.
My brother and I had a little impromptu photo session.
Why? I don't know.
For posterity purposes I guess.
And so my kids 20 years down the road can have something to laugh at
and say things like,
"Mom, remember that time you were hugely pregnant and you tried to model for the camera?"

Reminiscent of the Karate Kid...

Can't wait to be posting pictures of the new little babe.
Wish me luck!

Randomosity

(of the labor & delivery variety)

• Apparently labor is not like riding a bike.
• I think my body has forgotten how to actually do it.
• Why is it that everything you can do to induce labor is almost as bad as labor itself.
• I drank castor oil when I was pregnant with Abrie.
• It was like drinking a box of melted crayons.
• This is just speculation as to what crayons might taste like.
• As far as I'm aware, I don't have history of eating crayons.
• I did gasp in horror the first time someone brought to my attention that some women poop themselves during delivery.
• Perhaps the castor oil is not all that bad.
• Just for the record, I try not to make it a habit of talking about poop... especially the subject of people pooping themselves.
• I think some ways to induce labor were most definitely invented by men.
• Example 1 : Nippage stimuli?
• Really? The only stimulation coming from the nips is the intense urge to reach up and smack someone.
• Example 2: Coitus, relations, hanky-panky, lovin'
• I'm 39 weeks pregnant.
• My body is serving one purpose and one purpose only at this time and that is being an incubator for carrying my spawn.
• Next week it will serve a whole new purpose, which will be a walking dairy.
• I'm currently in the process of planning a girls craft night where will be crocheting T-shirts and making matching bracelets and earrings that read, "Currently out of commission until further notice".
• Everyone is invited.
• Please RSVP.
• I do appreciate the efforts though, of the men in our lives who are so willing to "take one for the team" and "help out for the greater good of the baby".
• I'm trying to convince Nate that the truest form of labor induction is a nightly massage lasting at least one hour.
• He's not fully convinced.
• This is the part where all the women who have had babies step in and testify of how nightly massages put them into labor.
• And all the women who have yet to bare children (just by pure womanly instinct) know that massages will put them into labor when their times comes.
• Dear Nate,
• I know this to be true
• and I love you.
• With love,
• Your wife who wants to birth this child before it grows to be the size of a toddler.
• I do know for sure that there is an end in sight.
• I will be induced this Monday at 7:00 am.
• Which means I have two more nights of semi-uninterrupted sleep.
• Which also means in two more days I will have a whole new list of randomosity (of the post-birth variety).

. . . .

Recipe Love :: Fruit Salsa

I, my friends, shall tell how to make this little taste o' heaven in 5 simple steps...

Step 1. Sample the goods at your mother-in-laws house and decide it's something you can't live without.

Step 2. Have your husband call his mother and steal the recipe for the goods.

Step 3. Go to Macey's at 10:30 at night to buy all the goods for the stolen recipe.
Question: is it just me or does Macey's grocery store always seem to be the happening place, especially at night. I know I live in a small town, but it's not that small.

Step 4. Convince your husband to chop up all the fruit into itty-bitty pieces...

He was a slicin'-dicin' fool.

Check out the concentration and the furrowed brow. Only a well seasoned professional could execute such culinary chopping skills. I think I shall call him my little domestic divo.

(insert picture of the finished product here)

Now normally there would be a picture of our/Nate's end result, which would be a beautiful image of a bowl full of mouth-watering exotic fruit salsa. Unfortunately, there isn't one. I just consider that a testament of how good this fruit salsa is- it was gone before I had a chance to even take a picture. Yes, my friends, it is that good and very addicting.

Although you might be tempted to just eat this fruit salsa up with a spoon, don't. I assure you it is best eaten with homemade cinnamon & *sugar tortilla chips.

*Note to readers: Make sure when cooking this recipe with your spouse that you also practice the skill of communication. It is important AT ALL TIMES to know which unmarked bowl contains the salt and which one contains the sugar. I found this one out the hard way. And no, adding several extra spoonfuls of sugar to your homemade chips does not cover up the distinct taste of salt & cinnamon. Those two items were never meant to go together.

El recipe for Fruit Salsa

- 2 kiwis (or 1 mango)
- 2 apples (or pears)
- 1 cup raspberries
- 2 cups strawberries
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp any flavor of jam

Dice all the fruit and place in a medium bowl. Add sugar, brown sugar & jam. Mix together and let it chill in the fridge.

El recipe for cinnamon & sugar tortilla chips

- 10 10 inch flour tortillas
- Butter flavor non-stick spray
- Cinamon & sugar (not salt)

Slice the tortillas into wedges. Spray both sides with your butter flavored non-stick spray. Place the sprayed tortilla chips on a cookie sheet and sprinkle just one side with the cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

And for my last any final step....
ENJOY!

. . . . .

PS- Today (which will actually be yesterday in about 15 minutes) I did a little guest post on Martawrites.com for her HOW-TO Series. If you feel so inclined you can check it out HERE.

Much peace, love, happiness, and fruit salsa...
Ginnie

Recover & Prepare

(Enjoying a lazy morning and a little guitar hero)

I'm taking full advantage of this week to,
1. Relax & recover from last weeks events
and
2. Finally prepare for this baby to come.

I just started to mark items off my prebaby to-do list.
I'm happy to report that...

• I finished up editing my last photo session
• the crib has been set up
• the car seat is ready go
• and I finally finished sewing her car seat cover

• the hospital bag is packed
• her clothes are washed and folded
• my toe nails are freshly painted (thanks to my cute 12 year old little neighbor)

(Important note: the toes must be painted before child birth, because nothing else looks attractive when your feet are up in those stirrups)

• the camera's are all charged
• and two days ago I picked out the material to make for her baby quilt.

Who decides to make a baby quilt a week before their baby is due?
Apparently, I do.
I work well under pressure.

It's the procrastinator in me.

. . .

Beautiful...

It was a beautiful day,
just the way it should be.

A sincere thank you
for all the cards, comments, calls, and emails.
I really am surrounded by the most amazing people.

.....

Raw

This past week has brought a bitter sweet.

After a long battle of cancer and multiple strokes my Grandma who I so lovingly refer to as "my sexy grandma" has passed away.

The bitter of course is feeling the sting of her absence in our lives and missing her dearly, but the sweet far out weighs the bitter...

Sweet knowing that she is free from her body that has kept her prisoner for the past 4 years.
Sweet knowing that she will no longer feel pain.
Sweet knowing that families are eternal.
Sweet knowing that she will be reunited with her parents and 8 siblings that preceded her in death.
Sweet knowing that she'll be partying it up in heaven (but I can't imagine it would be much of a party without a Wendy's chocolate frosty, a sour kraut dog from Wiener schnitzel & a diet Coke.)
Sweet knowing that she has left a rich legacy behind with her 2 children, 14 grandchildren, and 43 great grandchildren (with 4 more on the way).
Sweet knowing that I will see her again someday.

I was able to spend the day with her along side her bed the day before she passed away. I hugged her & loved her as she laid there quietly; unable to speak because she was too weak, so I did the talking for the both of us.

I reminded her how of how much I loved her and I assured that I knew that I was her favorite grandchild and I promised not to tell the others.

I told her that she would always be "my sexy grandma".

I told her that this sweet child we would be having would be her namesake. And if she had the energy she would have reached up and smacked me upside the head and said something along the lines of, "Oh no you don't!". (She's never liked her name.)

I asked her if she would take care of my baby, just for a little bit, until she reaches my arms. And then I leaned down and gently kissed her head and asked her if she wanted me to go grab her a sour kraut dog from Wienerschnitzel and then I laughed and cried both at the same time. (My grandma never liked it when things got too serious.)

I left that evening with the intentions of going home, but something kept drawing me back to her. So I returned later that evening and slowly, one by one, I was joined by 5 other of my siblings with those same exact feelings.

We all gathered around her bed side and sang hymns to her. We sat by her and held her hands and rubbed her legs and assured her that it was okay to close her eyes. She fought to keep her eyes open the whole day and refused to close them until my mom came late that night. We all stood back quietly observing while my Mom held her hand and said, "It's okay Mom, I'm here... you can go to sleep now." And slowly my sweet grandma closed her eyes for the last time and let her body relax.

She decided it was finally okay to let go.

She was an amazing woman, a woman after my own heart.
I'm grateful that I was able to call her my Grandma,
but mostly I'm thankful for all the fond, wonderful, and funny memories she's left behind for me.

I will love her forever and for always.



It's not good bye,
just good bye for now...

...

The 3 days of the 4th of July

BBQ's
picnics
sprinklers
sparklers
food
food
& more food
family
late nights
sleeping in
fireworks
fun & lots of it.

Really, one of the best 4th of July's I can remember.
I'm all for a whole weekend of celebration!

A few of my nieces and nephews...

Macie dressed herself. She thinks she looks like Hannah Montana...

I'm in full support of my nephew who's trying to grow a mustache. I think you're looking at a months worth of growth...

Two of my sisters, their girls, and my Mom...

Self portrait and another sister...

Yes, we're related. He's my brother...

He's oh, so photogenic...

And very distinguished might I add...

We're trying to decide who's belly is bigger. I'm due in three weeks, my sister-in-law is due in two, and my Dad's due any day- I'm hoping for a sister...