7th Anniversary

I was up early this morning to feed our baby boy and it struck me how much has changed in 7 years.  On this day, 7 years ago, I was up early because the butterflies in my stomach wouldn't allow me to sleep.  I was headed to Kaki's house for breakfast, a day of primping and then on to be a bride.  I had no idea what was in store and couldn't have dreamed of a more beautiful life.  5 moves, 2 kids and several jobs later I wouldn't change a thing.  The highs and lows have deepened our faith, grown us together and shaped who we are as a couple.  Blandford, I love you like crazy and look forward to all the years ahead!


And because I have no pictures from our wedding on our computer, here's one from the night we got engaged.  Oh how I love this man!

Induction Day!

Bennett decided he didn't want to come before the induction so we picked my dad up from the airport Thursday night.  We had our last meal as 3 at Portillos.  I could barely sleep Thursday night knowing that Friday would truly be a life altering day.  We were at the hospital by 6:45 am and greeted by a sweet friend that is a nurse here.  Tracy is a friend of one of my family's closest friends.  She was there when Blythe was born and we were thrilled she got to be with us again!  We ended up having the same doctor that delivered Blythe and another nurse who was with us with Blythe as well. 

The entire experience was different.  When we got to the hospital, since I wasn't in active labor, everything was much more laid back.  With Blythe, I immediately got an epidural so I was bed bound all day.  This time I was able to be more mobile which I loved!  Once the medicine started, I began having more contractions.  Currey and I got to watch tv, walk the unit and talk for several hours.  It was almost relaxing!  Around 3, I got my epidural and they broke my water.  We had been warned that since this was our second baby, everything could happen very fast.  Currey and I didn't take these words very seriously as my labor with Blythe had been challenging and I had pushed for 3 hours.

Around 5 pm, my nurse came to check on me.  I told her I was feeling strong pressure so she checked me.  We were surprised and skeptical when she told us we'd have a baby 5:30!  My doctor immediately came to the room and we started pushing.  To our surprise, after 4 pushes we had our little man.







It took him several seconds to cry and I'm convinced those are some of the longest moments of my life. His cord was around his neck  but not causing harm (Our doctor told us this happens in 30% of deliveries).  We were relieved when we heard his first cry and thrilled that he was indeed a boy! 

We got to spend a couple of hours with him in labor and delivery and it was fantastic to have that quiet time alone, just the 3 of us.  It's safe to say that we were instantly in love!  There is no more special moment than being handed your little bundle for the first time.




My Last Doctor's Appointment

As I sit to write this post, it's hard for me to imagine back to when we were just a family of 3!  Before I forget all the details, I wanted to write out Bennett's birth story.  Here's the first part of the story!

I went to my doctor's appointment on March 19th hoping for news that I was progressing towards a baby.    I also had a phone that was at 10% battery but I figured I would be in and out and back home.  I was SHOCKED when my doctor talked to me about being induced.  I was a week until my due date on Friday the 23rd and with my gestational diabetes, they wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be delivering a huge baby!  Currey had wanted to come to the appointment but Blythe needed a nap and I had continued to assure him that it would be a quick visit.  So with limited battery on my phone I was trying to figure out the logistics, get Currey's thoughts and process this news all while chatting with my doctor.  Although the thought of induction scared me a little, my dad had a planned trip to Chicago and would be with us until Monday.  Being induced on Friday meant Blythe could stay at our house with my dad all weekend which seemed like the best plan.  I then anxiously sat through a 30 minute stress test (just to make sure baby and I were doing fine) before I could get to my car phone charger and talk to Currey.  Now clearly at 38 weeks you know that your baby can be born at any time but the fact that I now knew for sure I'd be holding my little man on the 23rd was CRAZY!!!


We spent the rest of the week loving on Blythe and spending precious time as a family of 3.  I spent extra time holding her, reading with her and going on special outings.  We talked and talked about baby but we knew that Blythe did not really understand how her little world was about to be rocked!  We enjoyed our time as a family and joyously anticipated becoming a family of 4. 




Just a little behind...

Has it really been 3 1/2 months since my last post?  Wow!!!

Hoping to catch up with a few things this week.  So here we go....

Valentine's Day And An Update on 29 Before 29

2/17/12


We had a great Valentine's Day! Our small group had dinner together (we meet on Tuesday evenings) and it was a great evening of fellowship. We enjoyed a taco bar and dark chocolate fondue.

Currey gave me a mani/pedi for Valentines which is always a sweet treat for a pregnant momma! Looking forward to being pampered very soon. Currey and I enjoyed an evening out on Wednesday. We had a fantastic dinner of tapas at Meson Sabika. Such a great evening together! Great food, relaxing evening and several hours of uninterrupted conversation with Currey. We are trying to squeeze in as many dates as we can before Little Man's arrival!

But it got me thinking...when Currey suggested Meson Sabika for dinner he didn't realize that it was on my list of 29 before 29. And it made me realize that I have not updated my list since July. So, here's a little update:


1. Take a sewing class

2. Read a book a month (I've read Bossy Pants and Pioneer Woman's Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. I've got several others on my Kindle and I'm always open for suggestions!)

3. Write a recipe a month (I've written a couple. Hopefully I'll post them soon!)

4. Host a swap party

5. Have a new friend or a family over once a month for dinner (We've been doing well with this. Hopefully we will keep it up!)

6. Send one piece of “snail mail” a month (This may be one of my favorite tasks. Oh how I love stationary!!!)

7. Plant a garden

8. Make a bow board for all of Blythe’s hair bows

9. Take Blythe to the Zoo - Check!

10. Go away for an entire weekend with just Currey (and Youth Retreats Don’t Count!)

11. Take a cooking class with Currey

12. Update my blog weekly (Hummmm...not so much!)

13. Have dinner at Meson Sebeka - Check thanks to a thoughtful husband!

14. Take cookies to a neighbor - I'm going to say Check! We delivered hot chocolate and marshmallows to most of our neighbors at Christmas

15. Purge my cookbook collection

16. Put pictures in the frame that I got for all of Blythe’s first year photo sessions

17. Cook a recipe out of every cookbook I own (Moving in the right direction on this one! Hopefully once it's purged I'll have less to cook from. :)

18. Take Blythe to pick fruit/vegetables at a farm

19. See a concert in Chicago - Check! Matisyahu in July

20. Make cloth napkins

21. Cook a meal for friend just because

22. Go to the Kane County Flea Market

23. Make Tiramisu

24. Take Blythe to the Children’s Museum

25. Spend a Girls afternoon in Downtown Geneva

26. Learn to Grill

27. Use my ice cream maker at least 6 times (We've made 1 great batch and 1 one horrible, inedible batch.)

28. Spend intentional time with 1 life giving friend monthly (OK...this is actually my favorite one. I have been so blessed with fantastic friends!)

29. Upload all of our pictures to a storage site/organize our pictures



Clearly, I've got lots to do! I am again inspired to work on this list. Only 4 months to get this list tackled and I'm sure having a new baby soon will make it an easier task! :)


Hope you had a great Valentine's Day with the one you love!!!



Happy 2nd Birthday Blythe!!!

2/24/12

It's really hard to believe that Blythe is 2! Where oh where has the time gone?!?!? Here's what our precious little one is up to these days:

She has recently started ballet. To say that she loves it is an understatement! We thought it would be a goofy little adventure but we have been amazed at the teaching. She is actually learning skills and loves interacting with other kids.


Blythe is my "mini-me" and I love it! It's amazing to me how she's all girl. She loves shoes, purses and necklaces. When I get ready in the morning, she sits in the bathroom with me. She has her own make up brush that she uses to put on "make-up". She asks for "lips" every morning. That's what she calls chap stick. She pulls it out of the bathroom drawer and has me put it on.


She also loves shoes!!! We've stopped making a big deal about her clothing choices (she's been wearing rain boots for 3 weeks) and she is developing her own sense of style. Blythe loves wearing Currey and I's shoes around the house and has an opinion about her clothing most days.


Blythe loves to read and sing. She loves Elmo and coloring. Blythe is very meticulous and loves to clean up while singing the "Clean-up" Song. We are seeing her desire for independence. She loves to do everything for herself and gets very irritated if anyone tries to assist her.


She loves to talk and her vocabulary has exploded since Christmas. She loves to use her manners! She says Please (peas) and thank you (tu-tu) without being prompted. She has lots of funny sayings too.


She's still a good eater. Currently, she loves to eat everything with a spoon. EVERYTHING. She has a funny sign for spoon where she rolls her hands together and she does it repeatedly until a spoon is provided. She also prefers to eat out of a bowl. We love her little personality quirks. She keeps us entertained to say the least!

When she gets up from nap she goes looking for Daddy. She always says "daddy, where are you?" and runs around looking for him. She's a Daddy's girl to the core and loves for Currey to chase her.



Precious Peanut,
We love you more than you will ever know. You bring us much joy!!! We love spending our days watching you grow and learn. You have taught us lots about life and love. Our lives will never be the same. We look forward to celebrating all your milestones big and small! You are a bigger blessing than we could have ever imagined. We love being your Mommy and Daddy!

What Will Baby Bee?

12/31/11

Since we live several states away we have never been able to tell our families in person that we are expecting. My sister-in-law Caley suggested that we have a gender reveal party when we were in Texas and we decided it would be a great way to include our family in this exciting season.

Caley and John visited a couple of weeks before we went to Amarillo for Thanksgiving. I am not crafty but I was so inspired by pinterest! We decided on the theme, What Will Baby Bee?, based on lots of cute pictures of other gender reveal parties. Caley and I created most of the decor for the party. I was impressed with our work and it was a fun adventure for us to work on together.



We actually had our sonogram the day Caley and John came into town, so we knew we couldn't find out baby's gender and not spill the beans while they were there. The tech wrote the gender on a card that we tucked away once we got home. (We did end up peaking before the party. We wanted to celebrate together before we celebrated with everyone else. We were very impressed that we never let baby's gender slip, even while spending the entire weekend with my family for Jeffrey's wedding.)

Now on to the pictures...

The Banner that we made. LOVED it!!!






Our table.

The theme was pregnancy cravings so we had sweet, salty, sour and crunchy treats.

Our drink station.



The adorable cake!


The Big Sister to Be! She's so cute!


The Boy Votes


The Girl Votes



The votes. We had everyone write their name suggestion under their vote.
Very Entertaining!



We wanted Caley to cut the cake since she was so instrumental in helping me plan and execute all the party details.


The cake is BLUE!!!!!


We are thrilled to announce that Bennett Edwin Blandford will be joining our little family in March. We are so excited to be having a little boy and can not wait to meet him! Only three months from today! The time is flying by!

More thoughts on the season

Precious Friends,


Thank you so much for so many words of encouragement about my thoughts on Christmas post. It always feels good to know that you aren't alone and I was amazed at how many other Mommas are struggling with finding balance when celebrating the holidays.

Since I got so much feedback, I thought that I would share my thoughts thus far...
  • I don't remember where I first heard the idea but we are keeping all of our Christmas cards this year. We are going to keep them in a small bucket in Blythe's room and use them to pray with Blythe. She LOVES pictures and we thought it would be a great way to introduce praying for others.
  • My sister-in-law, Megan, shared this post. I love this idea! Blythe may need to be a little bigger but I love the concept.
  • I have seen this Advent Book idea on several sites. I'll be collecting books this year to do with Blythe next year.
  • Ashley posted this idea which I also plan on using. (Her blog is worth reading in general. You always leave being encouraged and challenged!)
I realize that we will probably take pieces of all of these ideas to fit our families needs. I'm already looking forward to next year as we celebrate the season with 2 little ones! We are making great memories this season and hope that you too are enjoying time spent with your families!


Ramblings


12/7/11

If I ever figure out how to telepathically send blogs you will be blown away but how many times I post a day! :) I write what feels like millions of blog posts in my head but getting them written out seems to happen less frequently.

Here are a few of the crazy things rolling around in my head....

Are you currently involved in a Bible Study? If the answer is no, please look into BSF. I've just finished my lesson from this week and I love it. A hot cup of coffee, God's word and a sleeping Peanut! I really should begin every day like this.

I started BSF 5 years ago and took a year off when I was working foster care. My mom has done BSF most of my life and I totally understand why she loves it. I am challenged, I grow, I meet new friends and get to spend every week with other women studying God's word. It's such a blessing! And Peanut gets to come too. She hears scripture, spends time with other kids and learns songs about God. It brings joy to my heart to hear her sweet voice singing!

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I can not believe that Amarillo has now had snow TWICE!!! We've yet to have any and I'm ready to experience snow. Please remind me of this when it's mid February and the snow has been around for a month! I'm hoping that we have snow by Christmas. Always makes the holidays feel more festive.

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Since we are all friends here, I'm going to admit that I'm really struggling with how to celebrate Christmas well with Blythe. She still doesn't really "get" Christmas but I know that next year will be here before I know it. I was really encouraged and challenged by this post. I found some ideas to keep and others that weren't a fit for us. I know that what we decide for our family won't be for all families and I love that.

We are spending a lot of time in prayer and just talking through how we want to celebrate as a family. It's a new season of life. I long for Blythe to know and understand the true meaning of Christmas but I also grew up with great celebrations and traditions that I want to continue as well. I know that we will find a way to incorporate it all and I look forward to growing as a parent.

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I loaded tons of pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Texas onto Facebook. We are trying to be much more intentional with our picture taking while with family. Already, we are so glad that we challenged ourselves! We have loved looking back at our most recent trips and Peanut loves to look at pictures of herself. :) The child has very healthy self esteem!

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Because no post is complete without a picture...


Blythe was an adorable flower girl. We were thrilled that she walked down the isle! My brillant mom had an Amarillo girl who is at Baylor watch Blythe during the actual ceremony so we could enjoy the wedding. Blythe stayed at the reception dancing until the Bride and Groom Left at 10. She enjoyed herself! And all the cupcakes that she snagged my flashing that smile.

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Blythe and I went to the doctor today and got to hear Baby's heartbeat. I hope to do a post soon about our gender reveal party! Baby is growing and is healthy with a storng heartbeat. We are so grateful for a healthy baby!

Hope that you are all doing well on this Wednesday! Enjoy the rest of your week and the joy of this holiday season!

Hello Blog land!

11/7/11

Greetings Blog land! Clearly we've been missing from the blogoshpere but hope to get back on track. Here's some random snippets of life lately!

Lots has been going on but first off, I'd like to introduce you to Blandford Baby #2!


This is at 18 weeks. It was taken after a wedding rehearsal and I was tired! :) But we had yet to get a belly shot and felt it was necessary. I was horrible at taking regular pictures with Blythe and believe I'll be even worse this time around!

It's been a very different pregnancy than I had with Blythe. I've been much sicker and my sickness lasted several weeks longer. We are thankful that everything is going smoothly at this point and thrilled that we will soon be finding out the gender of this baby. We are at the half way point with this pregnancy and can't believe how fast the time is flying by! Baby is due at the end of March and we could not be more thrilled to be expanding our little family!

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Blythe is a BLAST! She's at such a fun age. She talks all the time, loves to sing and enjoys spending time with other kids (as long as Mommy isn't holding another kid!) She often points to my belly and her belly and says "Baby!" She is in for quite the shock when there's actually a baby at home! Initially she would say that the new baby was a girl not a boy. Now when asked she says that Mommy is not having a baby. :)

Here's a picture of her from Halloween.


She was so adorable as Elmo!

She didn't really understand the whole concept of Halloween. We enjoyed being in Amarillo to celebrate this year and our families enjoyed showing off their little Elmo as well.

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We are loving our new house and are finally starting to feel settled. We are slowly working on the house and if we ever get a room finished I'll get some pictures up. We had no idea how slow of a process it would be but we are really enjoying this new journey!

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I have started another job working at a local hospital in the ER. It's only a couple of shifts a month but it keeps the social work part of my brain engaged. It's a great place to work and I'm thrilled with the opportunity to use my social work skills. And it doesn't take me way from my family to do it. It's a win win situation!



29 by 29 Update

As with most lists that I make, I'm always great at checking things off the list in the beginning. That's already the case with my 29 by 29 list. This month we had a new friend over for dinner (check one) and made homemade ice-cream for dessert (check 2). The ice cream was HORRIBLE, as in, I didn't even eat it, bad. I'm reworking the recipe and if I get a good solution I'll pass it on to you. It has SO much potential so I'm hoping i can salvage it.

The biggest thing checked off my list was a concert in Chicago. Currey is a great gift giver! He listens to random things I say and always gives me thoughtful and fun gifts. I knew that my parents were coming to town so I just got on Ticketmaster to see what might be happening when they were here. I was thrilled when I saw Matisyahu would be in town. Matisyahu is one of Currey's favorites so I gave him tickets for Father's Day.



I am not as big of him as Currey is but it was a fantastic show! Since my parents were here we got to stay the night in the city. It was a great get away as we were celebrating our anniversary a couple of days later. I'll leave you with a little Matisyahu....


Dancing Queen

7/18/11

My parents were here this weekend. Their trip was planned so that they could come and help us get settled in our new house. None of us ever dreamed we wouldn't be in a house yet!

Thankfully, we were able to get a showing so they got to see our house. I don't think that they minded getting extra time with Miss Blythe. Unfortunately I had to work on Saturday but Currey, Blythe and my parents made a trip to the pool. Blythe loves music and dancing. Apparently she was entertaining the masses with her moves at the pool. I can't stop watching this video as it makes me giggle every time! She's one funny Peanut.


Dressing Up

7-9-11

Blythe loves to wear our clothes. Most mornings while I get ready she follows me around putting anything around her neck that she can find. Shorts, t-shirts, jewelry and shoes she loves to put on all our things!

These are some pictures I snapped of her when she had put on one of my camisoles. She kept putting this necklace around her neck so I tied it on for her.

Yes...she is that cute!!
Love her sweet smiles!

She is always so proud of herself when she "gets dressed"


29 by 29

7-2-11


I recently celebrated a birthday and I have been waiting to do this for several months! Several of the blogs I read have a these lists and I love the idea. So I made my own list. 29 things to do before my 29th birthday. I hope to update you all along the way. It should be fun!

So...here's my list.

1. Take a sewing class

2. Read a book a month

3. Write a recipe a month

4. Host a swap party

5. Have a new friend or a family over once a month for dinner

6. Send one piece of “snail mail” a month

7. Plant a garden

8. Make a bow board for all of Blythe’s hair bows

9. Take Blythe to the Zoo

10. Go away for an entire weekend with just Currey (and Youth Retreats Don’t Count!)

11. Take a cooking class with Currey

12. Update my blog weekly

13. Have dinner at Meson Sebeka

14. Take cookies to a neighbor

15. Purge my cookbook collection

16. Put pictures in the frame that I got for all of Blythe’s first year photo sessions

17. Cook a recipe out of every cookbook I own

18. Take Blythe to pick fruit/vegetables at a farm

19. See a concert in Chicago

20. Make cloth napkins

21. Cook a meal for friend just because

22. Go to the Kane County Flea Market

23. Make Tiramisu

24. Take Blythe to the Children’s Museum

25. Spend a Girls afternoon in Downtown Geneva

26. Learn to Grill

27. Use my ice cream maker at least 6 times

28. Spend intentional time with 1 life giving friend monthly

29. Upload all of our pictures to a storage site/organize our pictures


Happy Long Weekend!

Our New Hobby

6-24-11

As always, there's lots going on at the Blandford House! Currey and I have a new hobby. Some couples play sports. Others work out or go antiquing. Still others enjoy concerts or maybe even gardening. But not us! Our new hobby is putting offers on houses.

Many of you know that we had an offer on a house but unfortunately that deal feel through after 6 weeks of negotiation. At first we were very disappointed but as always, we have been amazed by the goodness of God. Two weeks ago we found another house and put in an offer. We weren't the only ones putting in an offer and our realtor encouraged us to keep looking as we would not hear about the house for awhile. (It's a bank owned property.) A week later, much to our surprise, we saw another even better house. At this point in time we are cautiously optimistic about this home purchase. The whole process has been an major learning experience. We are ready to feel settled (our house has been half packed for over a month as our first deal was supposed to close 5 weeks ago. It's getting a little old!)

We are thrilled that we have been provided this opportunity and feel so blessed that God has been protecting and guiding us each step of the way. We can't wait to report that something has finalized. We are looking forward to having our own place that we can do anything with. So excited about what our future holds!

Happy Weekend!

Mini Me

6/13/11

It's amazing to me how much Blythe picks up on these days! Although she still does not make many audible words she mimics so many things that we do. She overheard me scolding moose and giving him a swat. The next time he walked by her she swatted him too. Not a behavior we want to encourage!

She holds my or Currey's phone all the time and jabbers away. It's hilarious! And she always curls it under like that.

Apparently I must talk on the phone while at the grocery store!
Blythe has a cart from her Aunt Caley and Uncle John. She loves to push it around. She likes to push it around, put books on it and talk on the phone.

She's one cute Peanut!


Miss Priss

6/5/11

My mom, Blythe's Lulu, has a love of all things Mudpie. And you can see why!!






They make absolutely adorable children's clothing. But this over the top outfit was picture perfect this morning. Before we headed out the door to church Blythe was in a great mood so I snapped some pictures. She was being a little ham but I LOVE the shots that I got.





Oh how we love our little Peanut!

Blythe Walking

6/5/2011

If you've followed my blog long at all, you've realzied it's not much to follow! :)

Blogging is not my passion. (I know, I know! This revelation SHOCKS you all!) But I've been thinking. Initally, I started this blog as a place to share recipes. There aren't words that express my love of cooking. And feeding people. I do hope to share some really amazing recipes soon. (And yes, I realize I always say that.)

Once Blythe was born, I thought this could be a place where we could share pictures and stories so that our friends and family could watch our Peanut grow. Texas is just too far away! I feel as though Currey and I have spent the last few weeks marveling at Blythe. She's walking, talking (mostly babbling) and just changing before our eyes. I've been inspired to work at blogging. I know that our families especially will enjoy seeing more pictures and stories. And I love looking back at old posts and stories. We are living a very full life but the memories we are making are memories I want to hang on to. To look back and read and remember this season. It's a precious season that is flying by faster than I would like!

We'll see how I do. I'm not promising daily posts or anything but maybe you'll here from me once a week. We'll see how it goes.

Now, what you are all really here for. Sweet Peanut showing off her newest skill. Yes, she's adorable. And Oh.So.Proud. It's a joy to watch. You might just hear a little excitement in my voice too!




Worth Reading

2-21-11


When we were at Moody, I met my friend Kelly. We often joke that she was my only friend at Moody. She's a pretty precious soul and we loved when we were living in the city at the same time she and Ray were.

She is a person of depth and wisdom. Shortly after Currey started Wheaton they moved to Portland and now live in Wisconsin. I got to spend several hours with her last spring when they were in town to shoot a wedding. (Ray is a phenomenal Photographer!) We picked right up where we left off. I think any friend you can do that with is a very special friend. We are facebook friends and she often has pearls of wisdom to share that she finds all sorts of places. (I still regularly make a granola bar recipe I got off her blog several years ago. They've become famous among the youth group kids!)

She posted a post from another blog on facebook and I thought this post was worth passing along. It takes 2 minutes to read. And if you are a mother, I promise it's worth 2 minutes of your time.

Happy Monday!

Valentines Day

2-14-11

I just wanted to share a picture of the 2 people that I love the most on this Valentines Day.


I know. They are absolutely precious!
Can you tell that she loves her Daddy?

To my two Lovies,
Happy Valentines Day!
I love you both like crazy!