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!!

25(ish) weeks!

I must admit - I haven't been the best at documenting my pregnancy. From the beginning I meant to take the weekly belly shot and journal, but I think my tiredness has gotten the best of me because all I want to do when I get home from work is put on some sweats, pull my hair back and take a nap! Needless to say by the time hubs gets home I do NOT feel picture perfect. I figure journaling it all on here may be the best way to keep me accountable through these last few weeks!

24+ weeks

 

 

How far along? 25 Weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain: Doctor yesterday showed a 13lb gain... Seeing that number on a scale is a little shocking still, but I'm totally ok with it as long as little miss is good! Haha and this question is ONLY appropriate during pregnancy :)

Maternity clothes? Uh oh...How did you know?! I just happened to buy the most uh-mazing pair of maternity jeans the other day - seriously, they are like a little piece of heaven wrapped in denim. They just happened to be a teeeeeensy little bit outside the price point I was hoping to spend. Oops...Worth it though, right?! Seriously, moms to be - AG jeans from Pea in the Pod are a must have!

Stretch marks? None. Good genes, I guess. Thanks, Mom.

Sleep: Sleep has never been a problem for me and I don't see it turning into one! I do wake up at least once a night to go to the bathroom, and with that normally comes a little restlessness. But I don't have too much trouble falling back to sleep quickly! Plus I'm still loving my daily after-work naps :)

Best moment this week: Getting to see her at the doctor yesterday! I was supposed to go last week, but my doc tore his achilles tendon (Eeeks!!), so we had to wait another week. Which felt like an ETERNITY! I love just getting to see her and see how she's grown! I go back in 3 weeks for my glucose test (fingers crossed).

Miss Anything? This week I am reallyyyy wanting a hot dog!! So random. There is a coney place right downstairs from my office and it always smells absolutely delish when I walk past it. I know an occassional hot dog isn't a big deal, but I'm really trying to stay away from nitrates as much as possible, and I would much rather have them in bacon or pepperoni form, so hot dogs just aren't making the cut. Soon enough :)

Movement: Yes! She is such a mover and a shaker :) One of my favorite things is just sitting still and watching my belly move. Such an amazing feeling. 

Food cravings: Not really. I am finally able to stomach the thought of chicken, but I'm not really craving anything. Although I did see a huge jar of those pickles they sell at concession stands and stuff at the grocery store a couple days ago and thought I was gonna break open the jar right then and start devouring. You will be happy to know - I held back. I am also loving sweet stuff, which is so different from the start of my pregnancy. I could've cared LESS for sweets during the first trimester and most of the 2nd. The love for sweets came back just in time for girl scout cookie season :)

Symptoms: Growing belly count?

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nada.

Labor Signs: Nope!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: So excited, I/we can be nothing but happy!!! I am slightly more emotional than usual (which Ricky can attest to...)

Looking forward to: 3rd trimester - starting doctor visits every 2 weeks - all signs that we are getting closer to meeting her!...Which also means I REALLY need to get on the nursery!!

2013 starts with a look back

2012 - what a year! As I think back on this past year, I'm amazed at how quickly it passed and how incredibly EVENTFUL it was! Taking a look back seemed like the perfect way to start this year and, well, this blog. Because of course they always say, you can't really know where you are going until you know where you've been. (Warning - this post may be longer than usual - lots to recap :) )

January...
Pretty uneventful. I don't think I even took a single picture during the entire month of January! It's definitely my least favorite month of the year, so apparently I really could care less about anything that we did during that month. :)

February...

Happy birthday Rory! Our fur-baby turned 2 and of course we had to acknowledge her special day! Ha - this was probably around the same time that we thought, "hmm, maybe it's time we start thinking about REAL babies" :)

But seriously... how cute is she?!
 

We also went to check out my brother-in-law's band who came into town at the Mabee Center. Tenth Avenue North is an awesome Christian Band and we had a ton of fun watching Trevor's (my B.I.L) brother Brendan playing keyboard.

 

Brendan, Trevor, my sis Alyssa and me at the concert. Woot Woot! ha :)

 

March...

Apparently wasn't very important to me either because I have absolutely no documentation of that month. Oh well. Moving on...

 

Fabulous April

Definitely time for a vacation. Sister, B.I.L, hubs and I went on a CRUISE - probably our favorite thing in the world to do. There's a very good chance you will see many more a'post about family cruises :) Let me tell you, if you have any doubts about how amazing cruises are - stop right now. They are uhhhmazing.

Hubs and me in St. Thomas by Magen's Bay Beach. BEAUTIFUL

Seestar and I took a cupcake making class and made cheesburger and fries cupcakes. Super fun!

 May...

 

Hubs and I hamming it up in the photobooth

I had the honor of being in my good friend and coworker, Kelley's, GORGEOUS wedding! We had so much fun celebrating her and her new hubby Greg! Bonus - got to see some sweet friends from college and catch up on the past 3 years. Such great girls and a fantastic weekend of festivities :)

With the beautiful bride!

June and July...

Ahhh summer. Love it. We had a summer full of time at the lake, hanging out at the pool, and lots and lots of snow cones. What I wouldn't GIVE for a snow cone right now. Some highlights - visiting my bff Erin and her husband Mike in St Louis...also the home to my beloved Cardinals! I am a HUGE cards fan, thanks to my dad, and I had fun showing Ricky around Busch Stadium (Ok, Red Sox have their history and all that jazz, blah blah... You really can't beat a night at Busch in my book). Or a night with the bestie! Erin and I have been best friends since pretty much middle school when she moved to OK from CA. We have been each other's support through our prime awkward stages, many a crush and broken heart, and been the biggest prayer warriors to each other through it all. I do NOT know what I would do without this girl. And even though I'm still holding a *slight* grudge that her husband moved her away from me (joking...mostly.), I'm glad she's not tooooo far that we can't have crazy reunion weekends every now and then. :)

Weekend FILLED with my favorite people and things. This is what Summer is all about people!

4th of July with Ricky. By far one of my FAVE holidays!

August...

Wrapping up summer with a sister trip to Denver. My sister's bff Elisa who is a family friend that I have known my ENTIRE life is a traveling nurse who lives a glamorous life traveling between every city imaginable working at different hospitals. Seriously, this girl is EVERYWHERE! She's currently in South Sudan (I know, right?) doing things I don't think I could ever do. Thank goodness for people like her :) Well anyways, she was in Denver at that time so Aly, me, and E's sister Jill all flew out for a long weekend of beautiful weather, white water rafting, hiking (who, me?!), shopping (that's more like it...), and lots and lots of ice cream. The weekend may or may not have also included a self-made music video tribute to "Call Me, Maybe." We'll never tell :)

E, me, Jill and Aly before white water rafting.



At the gorgeous Hanging Lake after hiking all the way up this mountain (ok, more like a really big hill. But still.) to get there. So worth it. Colorado me is sooo outdoorsy. :)
 

September...

Wow, this was a BIG month. Not only did one of my best friends, Stephanie, give birth to the most adorable little girl ever, we also got some BIG news of our own. If you haven't heard the story yet, ask me sometime about how GOOD and FAITHFUL God is.

Happy Birthday Chloe Lynn. We love you already!

Uhhhhh... Let's get ready for one of our own!

October

As you can imagine, we were letting the big news sink in at this point. And also hiding it from just about everyone. We kept the pregnancy a secret for awhile, so pretty much had this whole month to give each other knowing glances and giggles. Which was TOUGH because this month also included the most fun runway show of the year with some fun modeling friends and our annual trip to Eureka Springs, Ark. with my entire family.

All the girls with Carmen after the show

Carmen Marc Valvo is an amazingly talented designer from New York who has come to Tulsa for the past 10 years to bring basically his whole runway show from Fashion Week and help put on a fundraiser for Tulsa Project Women, which helps women with breast cancer. I've been lucky enough to be a part of this show for the past 6-7 years and it's always the most fun of the year. I think I was about 8 weeks pregnant at this point and I definitely noticed the clothes not fitting quite like usual. Hopefully nobody else noticed!

Our family has done trips to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for as long as I can remember. We used to go with both sets of grandparents and my parents and just have a long weekend full of golf, craft shopping, and fun little country shows. We stopped doing the trips for awhile when my grandma got sick, but started them back up in 2011 after she passed away. It's now been a fun time to be together and reminisce on the fun we used to have with her and how much she loved those trips. Let me tell you, keeping a BIG secret from your family is tough enough, then add living in a big house with them for 5 days! Thank goodness I had Ricky there to gab with at night about our exciting news.

November...
By this point, our family was in on the secret and we were gradually letting our closest friends know also. November always flies by with all the holiday prep, so we spent the month both working hard at work to get things wrapped up before Thanksgiving/Christmas. We also celebrated one of my besties, Kara's, birthday. She is super crafty and creative and threw a murder mystery style birthday bash this year. We had lots of fun getting into character and trying to figure out 'who dun it'. :)

Gamblin' Jack and AnnaBelle. No, the mustache is not real, and yes, it is disgusting.

December...
The most wonderful time of the year! This December was especially fun because not only do I start out the month with my birthday (I LOVE birthdays), but we also spilled the news to all our friends and family.

Coming Soon! Baby Broughton - due June 3, 2013!

We alsooo found out the big news of BOY or GIRL! We found out on the Monday before Christmas and of course, kept the news a secret until we could have a gender reveal that Wednesday. I got all the goodies ready for the party and waited in anticipation to share the news!

 

 

Just some of the yummy snacks at the party. I tried to keep it as "blue and pink/red" as possible. :)

Since it was right before Christmas, I wanted to incorporate that into our reveal. We started the night by everyone picking either a blue or red candy cane at the door to mark their pick for what they thought Baby B would be. Then, we had bought a little christmas tree that was lit in pink/blue and wrapped a huge golf bag box and topped it with a bow. We turned down the lights and BAM - the secret was out!

She's a GIRL! We are absolutely elated :)

Ricky laughs because I had this big plan to find pink/red or blue lights and completely wrap our tree (ha - or house) in them and then turn off the lights and have this big magical moment for the reveal. My brilliant plan was cut short when we realized everyone buys their lights like, the day after Thanksgiving, and we couldn't find ANY solid colored lights! Sad day. :( I just had this huge moment in my head and told him disappointingly, "It was going to be so cool! Like, the 'lighting of the Rockefeller Tree' type feeling!" Ok, so maybe not quite that dramatic. But I had worked it up to that! Our little pink tree ended up being perfect though (and on sale- bonus! Love a good deal.), and we can put it in her room at Christmas time and tell her all about how much we loved her even back then.

Christmas and New Years passed in a flash and now here we are - Feb. 5th and the year is flying by. 2012 was great, but we are so looking forward to 2013!