Life in the Big D

Ok, not really life. More like a weekend - but that just doesn't have quite as good of a ring to it. :) Ricky and I set off on our first "big" roadtrip with the Bug on Friday and I have to say it was a success! She got a little fussy, but I'm thinking it was from being in that dreaded carseat for 4+ hours. Poor thing gets so hot in it!

Let's hit the road!

Hello little bug! (The man in the car behind us totally thought I was taking snapshots of him ha!)

We got to stay with our friends, the Capeharts, while we were there and we had THE BEST TIME! Was so nice putting our little ones to bed and just getting to chat and catch up for hours on end. (Although our little alarm clocks were pretty tough to face in the morning...no snooze button for those babies!) Chris and Ricky were friends in college and then lived together down in Dallas before Ricky moved back to T-town and we all got married. I remember Chris meeting Amy and giving her the infamous high-five, and we all remembered each other's ridiculous break-ups. (Hey, the best couples break up once or twice I am CONVINCED ;-) ) Needless to say, we are truly a little family and despite not seeing them often, I am so excited for our babies to grow up together.

These two are such good daddies to their little girls! Reppin' their team's gear during Game Day

For the first time in my LIFE, I didn't feel like doing much shopping while we were there. What?! I blame the rain - who wants to navigate through the parking lot of a big mall with a baby, stroller, diaper bag, etc etc etc in the rain?! Not me. We hit up some of our fave spots that Tulsa has yet to acquire (Homegoods...Dunkin Donuts-maybe more than once...) and then headed back to watch football and get ready for the cookout we had with more friends that night.

The boys - Chris, Johan, Ricky, & Ethan... They don't fit quite as nicely on the couch as the girls do :)

The girls! Amy, Hannah, Me, & Elaine

 

A little backstory - when Ricky lived in Dallas, he lived with 3 other guys. 4 big, smelly guys all in the same house. Amy and I have nightmares great memories of that place and our times with the guys. Well - 3 out of the 4 all have baby GIRLS and lo and behold, they are all exactly 2 months apart. Miss Avery Capehart started us off on April 5, followed by Hadley on June 5, then Addelynne Fisher pulled up the ranks on August 5. What are the odds?? All these girls are absolutely precious and we had so much fun watching/holding them all.

Avery, Bram, Hadley, & Addelynne

Look at that little man loving him some Avery!!

The big man of the bunch, Bram Etsebeth, is the son of a girl that Ricky used to work with (with those 3 other guys). Also a wonderful part of our little family. I actually knew Hannah looooong before Ricky worked with her, since we went to the same church as kiddos. She is an AMAZING person and I love her to pieces! Needless to say, Bram has his pick of ladies when the time comes :) We were cracking up at the moves he was putting on Avery!

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and definitely needs to happen more often. Big thanks to the Capeharts for hosting us for the weekend and for the amazing time we had!

The past month...

What a month this has been! I'd like to say I've had absolute no downtime to blog, but that would be a lie. It's just honestly not the first thing I think of when I DO get "downtime". So let's catch up and then hope I can do a little bit better of a job from here on out :)

First thing's first - my little girl is 3 (and a HALF!) months. How is that possible?! She is SO. MUCH. FUN! Honestly, while I was on maternity leave I wondered how stay at home moms did it. I loved my sweet infant, but it was such hard work taking care of her and left me feeling pretty drained and longing for some adult interaction at the end of the day. But OH MY GOODNESS, I absolutely LOVE my days home with her now!! I started back to work 2 days a week in the office and 1 from home and it's been such a great balance for us. Gigi gets some quality Haddie time, and Momma gets to carry a real purse instead of a diaper bag masking as a purse. My girl is such a sweet baby, sleeping around 11 hours each night, smiley more than anything, and moving like a champ! Ricky jokes that she runs 5 miles a day but never goes anywhere. The girl's legs are ALWAYS moving! She has just started rolling over (both ways!) and loves to stand on her legs. What can I say, she is extremely advanced. ;-) Oh the things we celebrate now as parents.



Just try to tell me she's not the cutest thing ever. Not. Even. Possible.

Hadley turned 3 months on September 5th and a few days later became a big cousin when my sister's little Hudson finallyyy made his appearance on Sept. 9th. What can we say, we like to grow those babies as long as possible in our family. After spending most of the day in the hospital where H-bug was born (and reminiscing like crazy about how it wasn't all that long ago we were welcoming her into our hearts), we got to meet the cutest little guy who made me an auntie. I really thought after being a parent that becoming an aunt would just be "cool" but nothing all that special; boy was I wrong. I felt like I was experiencing all the emotions of when Hadley was born, but didn't have to deal with all the aftermath! I can have all the fun and none of the responsibility. Not a bad gig. Welcome to our crazy family Hudson Joel Shirley!

The perks of being an L&D Nurse - my sis's room was DECKED OUT for the party soon that ensued once Hudson arrived.

Hudson Joel - or "HoJo" as Auntie Lindsay shall call him...much to my sister's dismay :)

We love our Hudson!

Hadley's still not sure about this little kid she's been hearing so much about.

Love my sis and my little nephew! Oh the fun we will have!

Hadley also got dedicated at my parents' church (and my home church for 22 years of my life), Spirit Life, this month. She was dressed to the nines in my mom's wedding dress that she had refashioned into a christening gown for the grandbabies. She was totally ready for her invite to the next Royal Wedding. Prince George, eat your heart out.

The bigger the bow the better!

She did so great and fell asleep almost the moment we got on stage.

It's been a busy month for the Broughton fam, and it's sure to only get busier as we welcome in the fall and all the fun things that go with it. Adventure awaits...
Until next time -

Save the drama for the baby mama?!

I've got to go ahead and preface this post with the fact that I am about to get VERY real and VERY honest. So honest, in fact, that I've literally left this post in my draft file for almost 2 weeks now, debating whether I should even open this can of worms. However, with recent conversations I've had with other moms, I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger... So bear with me. :) In the few short weeks that I have been a mom, I have experienced a wide variety of emotions. Extreme love for my sweet girl. Extreme frustration with my sweet girl (hey, like I said - honesty is important!). Extreme tiredness, pride, happiness, guilt... pretty much name it and I've felt it. On top of all that, I've found the pressure put on a mom, let alone a new mom, is absolutely ridiculous. Not only are we vulnerable due to our lack of sleep, our out-of-whack hormones, and our changing bodies, we also are faced with criticism from our peers. Wait, what? Yep, I said it. More often than not, I think a mom's worst enemy is none other than other moms.

We all want good things for our babies. We want them to grow and develop, and to experience a better world than we know it often to be. We all have the same ultimate goal in mind - to raise loving, moral adults who are productive members of society. And there are hundreds of different ways to get these precious babies there. Do I think that is dependent upon whether we co-sleep or put them in a crib from day one? Not one bit. Is it dependent on whether they are breastfed or formula fed, on a schedule or just let go with the flow? Doubtful. Yet so often we see another mom who is choosing to get her beautiful baby to that ultimate goal in a different way than we ourselves choose and we think "oh wow, I would never do that to my child." (Are you getting my tone here??) Let's be honest (again - theme for this post I think :) ), we've all thought that at one point or another. I'm guilty of it, I can tell you that for sure. One of my biggest soapboxes since welcoming my sweet girl into the world is being supportive of other moms. Out of everybody in this world, don't we understand each other's joys and frustrations best? Since becoming a mom, here are my top 4 things that have made me want to slap someone in the face - hey, a little humor people!

• "Don't you just love being a mom? It's the best job in the world!" - When your baby is screaming at the top of her lungs in Target or blowing out of her clothes all onto the bright green carpet in the Dillards dressing room, no it is not the best job in the world. How much guilt have I felt for feeling like I have to plaster on a smile and say "of course it is!" when all I want to do is cry, drink a route 44 strawberry dr. pepper, and get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Don't get me wrong, motherhood is one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced, but it's also by far the most challenging. Hadley teaches me each day what it truly means to be selfless and love somebody more than I ever thought possible. I find myself being more and more amazed, and more and more in love with her every single day. But no, at 1 am when she has been fighting sleep for the past 4 hours, I wish I could hire a nanny and roll over and go to sleep.

• "My (enter age of child younger than your child) week old just slept through the night! She/he is the best!" - Well pin a rose on your nose. Enough said.

• "When are you due?" - This was said to me 1 week after my sweet Hadley was born. My mom had come over to take a shift so I could get out and stretch my legs a little while grocery shopping, I must admit, I was feeling pretty good. Look at me - 1 week old baby, starting to fit into my old shorts again, looking/feeling good, I thought. Well, what fun to be asked in Sprouts halfway through my shopping trip, "Oh when are you due?". I wanted to cry. No one should EVER. EVER ask a woman that, even if she is 42 weeks pregnant and about to pop. If she's not offering up the info, don't go looking for it! The pressure for a new mom to look good on top of healing from a pretty intense experience and caring for another human being is ridiculous! Anybody notice the crazyness surrounding Duchess Kate's "mummy tummy" leaving the hospital? What do you expect!! She just pushed an almost 9 pound child out of her body.

• "You are breastfeeding, right??" This is honestly the hardest one for me to be completely honest about. I went into motherhood with the full intention of exclusively breastfeeding until she was a year old. However, things change when your baby loses a lot of weight coming out of the hospital and can't seem to gain it back. Despite feeding her as often as she needed, pumping, etc... I just couldn't seem to do it on my own. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was decide to supplement with some formula on top of breastfeeding. I made Ricky give her bottles at first because I felt like I was failing her. And you know what doesn't help? When people ask that question or look at you judgmentally when you are feeding your child out of a bottle or getting some formula ready when in public. I really had to convince myself that a little breastmilk was better than none at all, and that the primary goal of Hadley gaining weight and being nourished was being accomplished. Another mom posted on facebook the other day that she overheard a new mom talking to her mom on the phone saying "I just don't know why he is up half the night and won't sleep!" My facebook friend said she wanted to tell her "well, maybe it has something to do with that 44 ounce coke you are drinking right there!". Why are we always so quick to judge what others are doing? Maybe that girl was using formula. Maybe that was the first ounce of caffeine she had had since her baby had been born. Moral is, we just don't know what other moms are dealing with!

A friend posted this article on Facebook last week during national breastfeeding week and I thought it was such a breath of fresh air from all of the negativity that is associated with formula feeding babies. A brief bit from the article:

"We are standing together, and we’re asking you to stand up with us. You, at the La Leche League meeting. You, in the lactation consultant’s office, perfecting your newborn’s latch. You, in the Nordstrom’s dressing room, nursing quietly on the couch. You, at your older son’s baseball game, nursing openly in the bleachers. You, who have cried rivers of tears over your feeding choices, and you, who chose without fear. I support you.

You, in your hospital gown, asking the nurses for formula. You, shaking a bottle with one arm while your baby snuggles close in the other. You, who have researched the healthiest, most tummy-friendly formulas. You, who pump and mix and combo-feed. You, who have cried rivers of tears over your feeding choices, and you, who chose without fear. I support you.

You, with your husband, as you feed the baby that you are hoping to adopt. You, who had a mastectomy and are locking eyes with new life. You, who chose your mental health, or your physical health, or your freedom, or your lack of freedom, so that you could feed your baby in a way that protected both of you. You, the Daddy who is finger-feeding your infant. You, the Mommy who lovingly pours formula into a G-Tube. You, at the NICU, pumping your breasts by the light of the machines that are keeping your baby alive. You, with the foster child who you are loving back to health. We see you. You are a part of this conversation too. We support you."

So moms, lets get out there and be each others' biggest cheerleaders. Let's put our differences aside and start supporting each other, since sometimes a little support is all that will get us through a sleepless night, a child continuously latched onto our boobs, and those pesky growth spurts (can I get an amen?!)

Hadley Paige is here!

This post is way overdue...5 weeks to be exact :) Our little Hadley Paige - "Haddie Bug" - is here and has completely changed our world for the better. Even though we are severely lacking sleep, energy, and pretty much running on fumes, we are absolutely smitten with our little monkey.

I love you all and because of that - I'm going to spare you the in-depth details of her delivery. :) I will just let you know - she showed up just shy of 1pm on Wednesday, June 5th (2 days fashionably late... of course!) after a short 8 hours in labor. Thankfully only 2 of those were done without the epidural - which by the way, I stand by being the best $$$ I've ever spent before in my LIFE. God bless pain meds!

I think it may just be easier to tell the story in photos...

Last prego pic before leaving for the hospital. 40 weeks 1 day (and counting)!

Obviously feelin REAL good after my epidural. No reason not to look your best! :) If I was going to be in that horrible hospital gown, you had best bet I was going to at LEAST do my hair and makeup!

She's here! And check out that mohawk! The first thing the dr said was "whoa - she's got some hair on her." Good thing, because the girl has got some bows to wear.

Case in point :)

Our first photo as a family of 3! She's obv already over having her picture taken.

This picture still makes me melt. Haddie and Daddy time :)

My best girl

 

Crazy that our little bit is now over a month old and getting so big already. She is so much fun and getting more and more of a personality every day! She loves kicking her legs, loving on any and everyone who holds her, and trying to hold her head up during tummy time... our girl is very advanced already :) We love you Haddie bug!

 

 

Getting close...

36+ weeks. Seriously? Now this is seeming very very real. We are now going to the dr every week and I am definitely feeling that exhaustion set in where I can tell she is running out of room. Will we make it another 3+ weeks?? We shall see! Quick update...

How far along? 36 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain: Um... I'd prefer to keep that to myself thank you :)

Maternity clothes? Broke down and bought another pair of jeans. I haven't bought a whole lot - trying to make do with the tunic-y shirts I already had, but I'm definitely starting to run out of options. Time to be creative!

Stretch marks? None! Yay!

Sleep: Sleep's getting a little more uncomfortable - like most everything else. Just can't get comfy/wake up a few times a night/etc... But I guess I should get used to that!

Best moment this week: Dr visits are always fun - she is still doing perfectly so that is a praise report! We also...(drum roll please)... FINISHED HER NURSERY!!!!!

Miss Anything? My wardrobe a little bit... and not feeling like I waddle everywhere!

Movement: Oh yes.

Food cravings: Nothing too exciting to report. Still love me some root beer floats! Also have started eating my weight in corn on the cob - delish.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nada... I take that back - thinking about how I'm going to go into labor makes me a little queasy haha. I'm not nervous for the actual labor or her being here - just the fact that I have no control whatsoever on when she will decide to come is tough on this planner!

Labor Signs: Hard to tell when you haven't experienced labor before... Possibly some slight Braxton Hicks, but nothing all that exciting.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Looking forward to: HER GETTING HERE!!!!!

We had our last 2 showers last weekend and they were amazing! I am truly blessed by my amazing work and City Church families. Priority #1 before my last showers? Uhhh getting my hair done! As a "blonde", it was definitely time for a little touch up! Have to be ready to look good for when my girl gets here!


There is no greater feeling than freshly done hair. I stand by that.

My TPG (work) shower was during lunch on Friday and my coworkers did an awesome job! I was seriously blown away. They blessed us with so many goodies, including one of my favorite gift ideas so far - each person was encouraged to bring a book for Hadley's collection instead of a card. I had just been telling Ricky about how I didn't have any books for her and, well, he didn't seem to think that was his priority to take care of in between, ya know, putting the crib together and all that. ;-)


A rousing game of baby pictionary

The rest of the crew (including the *ahem* winning team on the right)

My sweet amazing hostesses Dianne and Damaris with the YUMMY cake Damaris made. Um, I think she knows the way to a pregnant lady's heart :)

Really - these people are amazing and I can't wait to introduce Miss Haddie to them so very soon!

Shower pt. 3... City Church Shower! I love all these girls so much and was once again, so blessed to have so many wonderful friends come celebrate our girl with me. Lindsay and Kara did a wonderful job and we had seriously some of the most yummy shower food ever. (Once again - prego loves her snacks!) I am so excited to bring another little one into this church family where she already has so many people to love on her - and so many new friends to meet! (Young couples = LOTS OF BABIES!)


Yummy cupcakes!

Yes, got to get a pic with the food spread!



Hostesses Lindsay and Kara - love these girls so much! So excited Lindsay's having a new friend for Hadley so soon!!

So now the last load of laundry is done and everything (ah - give or take a few things ;-) ) is in its place. How about a little peak into our princess' abode??

Now the only thing missing is our little miss! We are within a month - we will see you soon baby girl!

Our Rory Leigh

Two posts in one week?! Is that even possible?!

Well, as I was flipping through some of my favorite blogs, I became inspired to do a post solely dedicated to our first "baby" - our pup Rory...since I'm sure her appearance in this blog will become less and less once baby girl arrives :)

Rory is a mess. She is very much puppy, while also convincing us she very much thinks of herself as a little person. I grew up with little fluffy dogs and always knew I wanted one of my own after I got married. Ricky promised me though that as soon as I got my first "big girl job" (reminder people: we got married right after I graduated ORU!) we could get a dog. Well, that lit the fire under me - in 2 months I nailed the perfect job for me and started hunting for the perfect pup. Somehow-someway - we came across Cavachons. They are PRECIOUS! I was sold! We found a breeder in Missouri and one Friday evening made the drive to go pick up our girl. The whole time, I was sooo nervous that she wouldn't be as cute as she was in the pictures the breeder originally sent us. Crazy I know since it had only been a couple weeks since we were sent the pictures, but honestly - look at these pictures. Could she GET any cuter?! I mean, the only way to go was down, right?! (What an optimist I am).

Lucky for me - she was just as cute as we hoped. Our sweet girl made the 5 hour drive home with us in her bed (in my lap) and proceeded to her crate once we got home. Lo and behold, as many puppy owners know, that first (or first few) night(s) can be a little rough. What did my sweet husband do? He laid out in front of her crate in the living room so she could see him while she fell asleep. (Which only makes me wonder how in the world he is going to handle having a little girl?!)

All that to say - we love our Leigh. (Full name: Loralei Leigh Gilmore Broughton. Yes, I LOVE the Gilmore Girls). And here are just some of the things we love about her:

1. She will NEVER not be excited to see us. Even if we just left the house for 5 minutes, she will greet us when we return like she hadn't seen us in years.
2. She has irrational fears of just about any inanimate object. Santa (including figurines, pictures, carvings...) - Yep. Baskets that her toys are in - Yep. Cardboard Boxes - Yep.
3. The highlight of her LIFE is when she hears her collar being dug out of the drawer. If you say "Rory, you want to go?" and put her collar on her, you better be ready to walk out the door because that girl will go CRAZY trying to wait for a car ride!
4. She doesn't let her disability get her down. Haha yep, you read that right. Soon after we got her, we realized one of her back feet only has 2 toes and an under-developed pad. Sometimes she will limp around a bit if she has pushed herself too hard on it, but she never lets it stop her from playing.
5. She is the best cuddler - she knows how to be the little spoon so well :)
6. She doesn't shed. Can I get an amen?!
7. I am her favorite person ever. I always joke to Ricky that I'm her bff - not sure why she prefers me so much more over him, but I enjoy it ;)
8. Her toy budget is minimum. That girl will play with a toy lizard that we got at Petsmart for $1 until it is literally a piece of fabric. And it will still be her favorite toy.
9. She squawks like a chicken instead of barks when she is excited and she snorts like a pig when she goes on walks with her leash because she strains herself from excitement. Seriously - it sounds like we live with a farm animal.
10. She will always be our first "baby" and helped turn two young newlyweds into a family.

We love you Rory!

Baby Shower Pt. 1

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted... Honestly, there hasn't been a whole lot of exciting things to report over the past month or so, and I hate to blog just to blog. But we'll get a catch up because there are a lot of exciting things ahead!!

Baby is 33 weeks along and doing great. At the last appointment, she was a little under 4lbs and still as active as ever! I am getting soooo anxious to meet her, but also appreciate the 7 or so weeks I have left with just me and hub. Work on the nursery is in full swing, but I feel like we still have so much to do! My wonderful hubs is putting in new baseboards, crown molding, and new doors along with painting, putting together the crib,  etc etc etc so it's taking a bit longer than expected. Once we have something to work with, I will definitely post some pictures! Guarantee - she will probably have the best room in the house. Little princess deserves it!

Hadley and I had our first baby shower last weekend and it was AMAZING! She definitely has a lot of people who love her already! It was crazy to think that many of the same people who were at my mom's baby shower for me were also at my baby shower. I am so glad our baby girl has such a wonderful family and support system in the same people who have supported me my entire life!

A few snapshots of the shower...

Just some of the yumminess that ensued...

A bow station for guests to make bows for Haddie girl. SUCH a cute idea. I love it because that girl will be rockin' her some bows!

Sister/co-hostess threw a gorgeous shower. We love our chevron, can you tell??

Notes on diapers for those fun midnight changings



Bestie with some of the many (pink!) gifts. Erin came all the way from St. Louis to help co-host and I am soooo glad I got to see her!! 

Other hostess Kara and me. This girl is a shower queen!! It may be awhile before we are throwing any baby showers for her, which is good because it gives us time to think of new ideas that she hasn't done before!!

Other hostess Steph and her awesome gift - this girl swears by this thing to help baby sleep!

One of the coolest things - probably ever. My mom had her wedding dress turned into a christening/dedication gown for all the grandkids to wear. All of their names and birthdays will eventually be embroidered on the inside. I've never heard of that before! This dress is BEAUTIFUL and I'm excited that Hadley will get to be the first to wear it!

Another week ahead, but you can't get to Friday without going through Monday first :) Thank goodness little one's growth week are based off Mondays so I have SOMETHING to look forward to. Have a happy Monday!!