Circumventing the States

What a wild and fun summer it was for us.  We managed to make our way across the United States seeing all of our favorite people all while moving and attempting to get a certain someone sleeping through the night.  Putting him in 6 beds in 6 different 'homes' in about 2 weeks didn't help our cause... one bit!

A long while back we made the trip to Prattville to visit Grammie and Pop (as well as a brigade of some fabulous aunts, uncles and cousins).  Hewes is so blessed to have such a huge and loving family who not only loves him but who passionately loves the Lord.  He is part of an incredible legacy thanks to Grammie and Pop.  

Next stop... Forida!  We managed to cram 3 different locations into one week of vacationing in Florida.  It was a whirlwind trip and we had the best time.  We got to stay with Grammie and Pop, which was such  blessing!  They were always so willing to play with their grand baby while Stephen and I got to spend some wonderful time with his brother and sisters.  Thank you Grammie and Pop!

 

  

After our trip with the Bell family, we headed down the road to Seaside for the most spectacular wedding.  We spend a few nights with Nana and Grandpa and was again spoiled by all of the love and attention.  Can we all pause for a moment and marvel at how photogenic this child is?  Okay, thanks for humoring me.

     

                                   My wonderful family.  Can you say CHRISTMAS CARD!

post-wedding family selfie

You may think it is time for the 'last but not least' part of our tour de US... but not yet!  Next we jetted off to Vail, Colorado.  We LOVE the mountains!  Lazy morning walks along the creek, breakfast at the foot of the mountains, jackets at night, fresh air and the desire to constantly be outside.  We are always so excited when our mountain trip pops up in the calendar.  This trip was no exception.  I will add that this little monster decided to have all four of his top teeth come in this week.  He was a CHAMP but sleeping was a little tricky.  Thankfully we had extra helping hands and we all left well rested and VACATIONED OUT.

LAST STOP... Houston!  My husband travels enough for work that Hewesman and I get to go for free.  Awesome.  14 years ago I met a special lady during my first semester at Arizona State.  Somehow we both ended up as Thetas and our friendship has been such a joy.  We have been through the good the bad and the ugly (really the ugly... purple and green hair ugly!).  She has always been such a wonderful friend to me and I couldn't wait for her to get to meet my Hewes.  Sometimes God plants incredible people in my life that I couldn't imagine not having in my world.  At a time when I was absolutely out of control, God lovingly gave me someone who I could grow up and change all while having her by my side.  Lindsey - you are still the best!

Let me mention, in between that chaos (actually the day after we got back from Colorado) WE MOVED!  Hewes is loving his new home and we are having the most wonderful time exploring our new neighborhood, playing on the playground, swimming in the neighborhood pool and taking wild naps!  

A week in pictures

My little Goose turned 6 months this week. Half!  He's one half.  I never thought one half would seem like such a monstrous number.  My little baby is no more.  No more snuggling in my arms. No more little squeaks and tiny stretches.  He's making it known he's a big boy these days. Always sitting straight up, eating his food, rolling in circles and laughing up a storm.  He is tickled by anticipation and erupts in the most delicious squealing fits when his stuffed animals emerge from hidden spaces.  Somehow just a half seems like a whole lot more. 

It's officially porch season at Grandpas and Nana's house

Monday, Tuedday and Wednesday mornings are spent waiting for Matt (our trash man) to make his rounds. 

Early morning walks to start our days 

This guy LOVES the water... Wherever he can find it

Quick snack from Nana

And a few from our 6 month chair pictures...

Last but hardly least - Happy Father's Day to a man who has blown away any expectation I had for him as a daddy. He comes home for lunch every day possible to get some time with his main man, whines when we skip a dream feed because he can't hold him one last time, always volunteers to rock his baby boy to sleep (despite mom's efforts to get him away from rocking!), and finds nothing on earth more delightful than his son just hanging out.  Hewes, you and your daddy are each others' number one fans. You BOTH squeal with delight when the other enters the room.  Both of your faces light up when he peeks over your crib in the morning and asks you, 'WHAT are you dooooing?'.   

You two are going to cause me every kind of headache in the years to come... Bring it on.  

We love you daddy!

A bird in the house

Hewes and I had a bird in the house.  It crapped on the crib.  The neighbor got it out.  Beyond gross.

The Accidental House

On the morning of April 29th I flipped through my Zillow app (like I always do) while Hewes was sawing logs upstairs.  I came across the worlds most darling house and shot a text to a friend that read, "Just found this house... I kinda love it! Tiny upstairs but big basement (link to house).  And I love a ranch"

Like me, she is always scrolling through homes without the intent to buy.  We are both waiting for the perfect homes for our families to fall out of the sky.  I got a response back, "OMG love it!!!  We need to go see it!!!! We - you like that (emoji)?"

I called my husband and told him I found a house that had an open house that morning.  Since we weren't even in the business for looking for a house he told me to go ahead and he was going to lunch with his buddies.  Something inside of me knew this home was special.  I called my mom and she said she wanted to come along.  Although I have looked at hundreds of houses online... I hadn't LOOKED at a house in person since we moved into our current home 5 1/2 years ago.

We pulled up to the open house 10 minutes after it opened.  Not joking, there were probably 75 people there.  Everyone was ooohing and aaahing over the beautiful house.  I walked in the front door and knew this is where I wanted to live.  I looked at my friend across the main living space and she just looked at me with eyes that said, 'YES!'.  With every room I walked into I fell more in love.  The bedrooms are smaller, the closets are smaller and the house is perfect.  I don't think I would have cared if the fourth bedroom was a chicken coop.  This was our home.

After seeing the response and talking to the sellers realtor, it was certain the house would sell THAT day.  It was a Tuesday mind you.  Not even a Saturday!

I went back to my mom's house and talked to her about the house.  She picked out a few 'non-ideal' things about the house (she is the practical one you know).  I told her none of that mattered and I just wanted her to get excited about the house.  She kind of whipped her head around and said, "Are you really serious about buying a house?!  I just thought this was for fun!".

Fast forward to a second visit to the house with a realtor.  He green lighted the home and let us know we had to come in over asking.  I called Stephen and he told me to put in an offer.  WHAT?!  He was on board.  All he wanted was a two car garage and three prong outlets.  Check, check.  I, however, have learned a few things in my first 7 years of marriage.  The first time something in that house broke I was going to hear, "I hate this house.  I never liked it in the first place!".  So we scheduled a time to come back.

At 5 pm that same day I arrived with Stephen and our realtor for our showing appointment.  Appointment Schmapointment.  There were ELEVEN other cars there when we pulled in.  Unfortunately I wasn't the only one who saw a gorgeous house in the perfect location in the perfect neighborhood.  My heart sank and I didn't think we had a chance to get the house.

Stephen was on board.  We put in an offer.  13 hours after I sent the first text message about the house it was ours!  It as a whirlwind and as of 3 days ago the house I scoured for officially became ours.  My heart is beyond bursting with excitement.  I can't wait to see Hewes running back and forth between the pool and our house with a trail of dirty boys with him.  I can't wait to sit in the front yard and drink coffee and watch the neighbors walking up and down the street.  I can't wait to open the doors and have people in and out of our home all day long.

Thank you to the Strauss' who have already invited us over to what will soon be our home.  We can't begin to imagine all of the memories that our family will create in the beautiful home you built.  It's more than I dreamed our family would have.

SH*T happens

Could he be any cuter as he sits naked and reads quietly to himself on the airplane (with his gut hanging over the tray table)?  The answer from his mom is an emphatic 'NO'!  However, if you were to see and smell his mama... you may have not even noticed the cherub on her lap.

You just can't make this stuff up.  8 hours into a 10 hour travel day... 100% full flight... turbulence to the point of NO ability to get up out of your seat... and a child who has pooped exactly one time in the past 6 days.  I look down at my pants (spandex I might add) and see a smear of poop.  "Oh shit".  I look at my grey shirt.  More of the same.  We are talking up the back, up the front, blowout of all blowouts.  I look at Stephen and we realize we have only one option.  Get the kid naked and change him on my lap (in the window seat).  I look to the aisle and apologize to the guy who is about to endure some foul business.  He isn't overly accommodating and half smiles and puts his earphone deep into his ear.  If he were smart he would have pulled the oxygen mask out of the overhead compartment.  

We bust out the wipes and the extra Ziploc bag and make matters worse before they get better.  Somehow Hewes steps in the diaper and poop foot ends up everywhere.  My shirt takes an extra beating from poop foot until we can wipe that down.  We looked like magicians pulling endless wipes out of the travel size package.  It reeks!  When I say it smells I do no justice.  It SMELLS.  Diaper, trashed.  Wipes, trashed.  Outfit, trashed.  Blanket, trashed.  Mom's pants, trashed.  Mom's shirt, trashed.  Unfortunately mom doesn't have the option of sitting naked quietly reading her Vanity Fair without someone taking notice.  

I laughed.  I couldn't help it.  I kept looking at my husband next to me and burying my head in the back of my delightfully naked boy laughing up a storm.  We talked about "what is the worst thing that could happen?"  We kept saying to ourselves, "If he cries, he cries.  People will be annoyed and mom's will look at us with compassion in their eyes and we will never see those people again!".  Boy were we wrong.  The worst thing that can happen is that he SCREAMS *in sheer delight as he literally blows up the cabin.  Let that be a warning... THAT is the worst thing that can happen.  

To the elderly couple in the seats in front of us - I would have apologized had you looked within 90 degrees of my face when the flight landed.  I guess not everyone could laugh with us.  

Hewes' First Christmas

FLASHBACK

After coming home from the hospital on December 14th, we were pretty much homebound for the next two weeks.  St. Louis was FREEEEEZING this winter and we all happily hunkered down and slept our lives away.  Christmas Eve we finally headed off to church and then to the Van Slyke's for the annual Christmas Eve feast.

10 days old at the Van Slyke's on Christas Eve

Christmas Morning jammers

We spent Christmas morning at our house as a family of three.  Presents weren't really exchanged because... well because we had a baby who took up all of my time and energy *AND MONEY.  Heaven forbid I bring a child into the world without the perfect neutral rug for the nursery.  Survival in such conditions would be questionable at best!

Mid morning we headed to grandma and grandpa's house to hang out with Ben and Molly and exchange some gifts.  Again, I used my child not only as an excuse for no gifts, but actually as the gift.  It worked like a charm.

snuggles with Aunt Molly

Then Christmas night rolled around and the whole Holley family came over for dessert and hangout time.  Hewes was a delight (a sleepy delight) and got to meet the rest of the cousins.  Although it looks like I have my act together, in fact my furry sweater is buttoned incorrectly and in every other shot I look like a dissheveled mess.  Busted.  

It was by far our most Merry Christmas of all.  Very few gifts other than our precious guy.  It put the true meaning of Christmas in perspective.  As I was worried about when to get my epidural and how I would withstand between my cheeseburger and my post-delivery meal, I thought about Mary.  Teenage Mary - sitting on a donkey - bent over with contractions; ready to not only give birth, but to be mommy to Jesus Christ.  How confusing would it be amidst the pain to wonder why God wouldn't even open the door for a comfortable place to deliver his Son into the world?  And what pure joy she must have felt, like every mother, to see the face of her little boy.  What a gift.

Merry first Christmas Hewes

A new start

Starting a blog... and backtracking to meeting Hewes

It's a weird thing to start a blog.  Do I want other people to read it?  Do I want this to be a keepsake for my family?  Am I going to feel affirmed if suddenly it becomes a huge success and I end up with my own cooking show on Food Network?  I'm not sure the entire reason for starting down this path, but I know I want a place where my growing family can look back not just at pictures, but at a tiny snapshot of what life was like growing up with two loving, broken and crazy parents.

I am already wowing the crowd by starting this blog 5 months later than planned.  Standard.

I'm wearing my spandex uniform, sipping my first coffee of the day and watching my squishy and delicious son give me a giant gummy grin because he just rolled onto his tummy.  (In 1 minute he will be screaming because he isn't quite sure how to get back to his back).

But first I will backtrack.  There are a few stories I want to have documented before getting to 'now' life.  On December 11th, 2013 I was headed into my OBGYN's office for a check up one day before my actual due date.  The week before my doctor had told me there was a very small chance I would actually make it through the weekend.  I had my hopes up... only to meet Monday, Tuesday and now Wednesday of the following week head on.  I left the appointment defeated.  No way this baby was coming and an induction date was set.  Stephen and I had met at the office since he was coming from work so I called my mom on the way home nearly in tears.  No baby.  No chance.

We got home and I sulked my way into the bathroom.  I noticed something was different (was that my water?!) but I kept my mouth shut.  I had spent the entire previous week getting excited with every new feeling and I wasn't going to spend my week that way.  I was too sad to go to the stair stepper at the gym and so I crawled in bed.  Immediately there was a gush of water.  "Honey!  Did my water just break?"  Stephen looks down and says, "Either that or you just REALLY wet the bed!".

It was time.  We looked at each other with shock and joy and decided we now had NO idea how to act!  What do we do!?  We called and texted our family and friends (everyone who we had just told to hold off for another week) and let them know the baby was coming one way or another.  Our doctor had JUST told us there was no need to rush to the hospital in case of water breaking, so we planned on hunkering down.  What I wasn't prepared for was my water 'breaking'... over and over again.  Was I just going to sit in the bathtub for the next 10 hours?!  I ordered myself a cheeseburger and fries, and started to feel some small contractions.

So when do we leave?  One friend told us to go sooner rather than later (she had her baby pretty quickly after her water broke) and another friend told us we were in no hurry (she had her baby in the CAR!).  We took the advice of a friend who delivered under the care of doctors and nurses and not the highway patrol.

Around 9:30 pm I arrived to the hospital with a towel between my legs (yes... my water was unrelenting) and they immediately checked me into L&D.  They said the towel stuffed in my pants was enough evidence for them.  Excited doesn't do justice to the way Stephen and I were feeling!

Have I mentioned that right now my husband knows we are having a boy but I don't!?  True.

I got confused about the epidural.  My contractions weren't regular and I wasn't sure if I should wait for them to regulate or get the epidural and float away into happy land.  I waited.  I walked around, sat on a bouncy ball and tried to get my contractions closer together.  They would... and as soon as I laid back down they would be 20 minutes apart.  Around 5 am... I wised up and took the drugs.

My parents came to the hospital around 9 or 9:30 to check in.  I thought they wanted to give me a hug, pray for us and come back later.  NOPE!  They were parking it in the waiting room for the long haul.  The morning carried on and my contractions didn't regulate.  I was, however, progressing.  They gave me some pitocin and we inched closer to baby time.

My doctor arrived at the hospital to be a part of my entire delivery.  Awesome, huh?!  She was there start to finish and it was wonderful.  What my doctor and the nurses finally realized is that I was never going to have regular contractions and I was just going to have to push without the help of my body.  So I started.  About 45 minutes later I got to meet the love of my life.  The nurse held up our little guy and Stephen was in a heap in the corner crying tears of joy.  We debate about who finally told me it was a boy!  I thought it was him but he demands he was incapable of speaking and couldn't even watch the final push because he was too overwhelmed and curled up sobbing in the chair.  We will give credit to the nurse.

"It's a boy!"  Jacob Hewes Bell was finally here.  9 lb 6 oz and 21 inches long.  Need I mention his head was off the charts HUGE?!  15 inches.  Thanks for nothing Hewesie.

Daddy FINALLY getting to hold you.  Boy was he amazing through all of this.  He couldn't love his guy an ounce more.  

And then there were the visitors and the precious moments we had in the hospital

Grandbaby #1.  They came back every day (for most of the day!)

Meeting the cousins and Aunt Su

There are the details of a botched epidural, brutal headaches and a nurse who scared me into thinking Hewes was dying by screaming at him to "JUST BREATHE" when she rolled him into my room at 3 am.  Those things happened but for some reason I only have the most incredible and peaceful memories of being in that hospital.  There was something sacred about those few days.

Headed home!  It was snowing and freezing!  We bundled up and hit the road.. crying with joy on the 5 mile drive.

Jacob Hewes Bell, you have been the sheer delight of both of our lives since the day you were born.  The truth is you can probably add a few grandparents and aunts and uncles to that list too.  Life has been monumentally more delightful every minute you have been involved.  I tell you every day, "I love being your mama" and it couldn't be more true.  It's a privilege and I am honored God chose me.