:)

Since I last blogged...

Carter and I went to Decorah...

to meet up with his grandparents from Oregon, and I got to go to Christmas at Luther in the meantime! Beautiful music, definitely better on the receiving end(I've been in it twice).

I have evil eyebrows and nappy hair in this picture #sorrynotsorry

With Grandpa Rich-such a festive picture :)

Carter met Santa Clause.

Santa at the mall is way cute, and he made an appearance at Lutheran Church of Hope tonight for the(1 of their 8) Christmas Eve service!

And Carter has become QUITE the eater!

He's tried green beans, carrots, bananas, and pears. He can eat an entire package in one sitting, although I usually only give him half the serving. I think he gets his appetite from his dad ;).

And in case you don't know what the day after tomorrow is...

Thanksgiving and family.

Sorry I've been a bit scarce lately. Jack came in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, so I was more focused on him and the celebrations than blogging. My apologies! To make it up to you I do have some pics from our time with Jack :)

Carter snoozin on thanksgiving day


Father-son picture(typical jack)


Watching some football


Food coma on my leg!


I escaped and he got a little more comfortable...


The little family!


Oh! And I got myself some Ray Ban's!! You like?


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4 months and growing up.

Carter is four months old! I used to be so much more on top of making sure you all knew how old he is... Because its really exciting for me. But I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to not always be glued to my phone and my computer. Which has meant less blogging lately.

But here are some adorable pictures of my little bundle of 4-month-old joy for you to love :)






In other news. I have been obsessed with two things lately. Those are:

Pinterest

and

House Hunting

First off. Pinterest(if you haven't heard already) is one of the coolest and most popular websites on the Internet. It's basically a pin board for different things that catch your interest. I have a board with things that are 'My Style' that are fashion trends, hair styles and jewelry that are(or that I wish were) my style. I have another board titled 'Yum' that is for delicious things... This includes food, and yummy men ;). Possibly my favorite board though, is called 'Someday'. It has things that I look forward to having/doing someday. This includes wedding ideas, and house ideas. I'm so excited for both of those steps in my life because I can make them however I want. Which brings my to my other obsession.

House Hunting

I am on Iowa realty's website sometimes multiple times a day looking at houses that(I assume) are probably in my price range and I always get so excited when I find something that I like in a cute neighborhood where carter would be able to run around(once he learns to walk that is...) and that gives both of us room to grow and learn together. I know it's a little unrealistic right now to think about home ownership since I don't even have a degree or a job that gives me enough money for a house payment *sigh*... But a girl can dream right?

And at least I'm getting ideas in my head for what I want in a house someday, so that when it comes the time to actually buy a house... I will know what me, and my family need.

Here's hoping.

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sleeves.

Alright kids... I need some advice.

I am pretty tall. And the longest parts of me are my legs and my arms... I think I'm actually pretty disproportional because my torso is pretty dang short in comparison to the rest of me(although... I'm not asking for it to be any longer cause I don't need to be 6'0"). Anyways... I've figured out what to do in regards to pants, but I swear that every jacket I try on has sleeves that meet my wrists. And if I happen to want to raise my arms above my head they become 3/4 length. So WHERE do I get a cute jacket(that's not too expensive) with long sleeves? Any advice? Anyone else have this problem? Or do I just have ape arms?

Sleeping and teething.

Carter is 3 and a half months old and is such a big boy! He hasn't had an appointment to check his growth since his 2 month appointment, but he has a check up on the 1st to see how he's doing. Last time we checked he was 50th percentile for everything(height, weight, and head circumference) but lately everyone has been saying that he looks big for a three-month-old(of course I'm thinking 'Nuh uh! He's tiny!'), so I'm excited to see what the doctors have to say!

As for developments I have noticed and that don't need to be told to me by the doctor... Carter is finally getting to the stage where he fights sleep. I expected this because his cousin, Parker, has been fighting sleep since she was about his age. This just means that he knows he's tired an gets fussy, but when it gets to the time that he should close his eyes and drift of he just doesn't let it happen. To fix this I am beginning to realize he just needs distraction, so I just sang him to sleep(worked wonders!).

Also, I think I might see a little tooth underneath his gums(which might explain a little of his fussiness). He's getting upper drool-y so I wouldn't be at all surprised if that happened soon! I'll definitely keep you updated on if that happens soon!

As for the vlog that I mentioned in my last post... I think I have an idea to kick things off! We'll see how it goes... Or if it happens at all ;) again... I'll keep ya updated!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!



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Vlogs.

Hello lovely followers of mine!

I have a question for you. So after I deleted Facebook and twitter from my phone the other week(that was short lived...) I made myself a YouTube account. I'm thinking I want to start a vlog, but I'm not quite sure how to start it or what to talk about! So I need your advice. What do you like to see in a vlog? What would you like to see from me specifically? I need feedback!- cause I think this could be fun, but I want it to be fun for more than just me!

Let me know! :D

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formal and news.

So remember this post?

There are a couple things that MUST be said to follow up on that one.

First of all. Formal was this weekend! I was so excited to attend, I'm pretty sure I started looking for a dress immediately and bought it the day after I found out I was going. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of me and my date(more on that in a minute) because I always forget to USE my camera when I bring it places -sigh-, but luckily I have lots of friends that are camera happy, so I did get a couple of myself ;).

Formal was great! Although it could definitely have been a lot more fun if I wasn't breastfeeding(if you know what I mean), but it was really nice to catch up with people. And I don't think I've ever been complimented more by so many drunk people in my life. A mix of "You look so good!" "Your baby is so cute!" and "I'm soooo proud of you!" made it a good night. Although I think drunk people don't realize that babies aren't allowed in bars because I got plenty of "Where's Carter?!"'s too. haha.

Anyway... back to my date! You might remember that I visited Jack in Laramie a few weeks back so he could see Carter. Before I went he told me that he still had feelings for me, and I told him I still cared for him but was confused because my hormones make me all about Carter(it's true! Breastfeeding takes the cake again!). Towards the end of my time in Laramie, Jack and I ended up getting back together! It was expected, but not expected at the same time. Either way, him and I are happy and it will be great in the long run(sucks right now considering he lives 10 hours away), especially for Carter!

So in the spirit of this new development. Here's some old school Jack and Chelsea photos.

If you can't tell... Jack doesn't exactly take pictures seriously.

chows and cheer.

Since starting my training at Chow's I have come to realize how very little I know about gymnastics. I'm pretty competent when it comes to floor exercises and vault seems to be pretty basic as well, but beam and bars are way over my head. I can honestly say that I know little to nothing about both exercises. I just got an email from my boss telling me about the basic exercises in each event are for the week(mind you this is preschool and kindergarten level stuff) and there was a good chunk of it that I have no idea what it is. I'm seriously tempted to call up my gymnastics friend Rachenda and ask her what it all is so that I won't look stupid tomorrow when I go in to train!

I know I'll eventually get the hang of all this stuff, but until I do I'm really looking forward to starting my training with Jena and the cheerleading part of my job!


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Things that are wrong with my current wardrobe:

1. Too tight.
Before Carter I had no boobs and no fat... That's not really the case anymore(especially in the boob department...) so half of the shirts I have just don't fit right... They show off any little imperfection and I don't dig it.



See what I mean by no fat and no boobs?

2. Too short.
This goes for everything. Shirts, shorts, skirts, dresses-all of them are a bit too short to be acceptable in most settings. I tried to put together an outfit for a wedding I'm attending this weekend, and it turns out that I have nothing appropriate because if I bent over in half the dresses I have, I'd put on a show for everyone! I think this is partially because a lot of the clothes I have were used as 'club' clothes just last year. I have a bunch of high waisted skirts that I thought were very classy last year... But are apparently too short... and again.. too tight(didn't leave much to the imagination if you know what I mean).

3. Not dressy enough.
I have a couple of items that are very professional(I had to work in a school last January and had to have appropriate clothes for the job). But I don't have anything that works for a black tie event. I have a couple homecoming dresses from high school... But most of them scream 'high school homecoming dress'. For instance, one is purple, one is way short, one is orange...they're all just my quite right for say... a wedding(which is why I'm really wanting a nice dress). I also have some really casual dresses that I could probably try to dress up, but again, wouldn't be appropriate for the occasion.

So my goal on my next shopping trip (which might be today considering that the wedding that I'm attending is tomorrow) is to buy some nice, not too tight-not too short clothing, including an LBD that can be worn whenever!

If I find one, I promise I'll report back! :)

nails and retainer

My favorite way to do my nails recently is Sally Hansen nail stickers. If you have a child, like your nails painted, but don't want to worry about messing up your nails right after painting them... I seriously recommend these. There's no waiting for your nails to dry! You just stick them on and file off the extras.

My favorite sticker(polish?) at the moment is this super sparkly glitter. Something about it... Maybe just because its so fun.

I did my nails last night, and forgot until today that I ordered a glitter retainer last week at the orthodontist. So go figure... My nails and my retainer match! HA!



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Location:Buena Vista Dr,Urbandale,United States

tau delts.

Did you believe me when I said I'd be updating more often?

Cause I planned on making sure I kept that promise!

I think it's going to be a lot easier to do than I anticipated tho!

As you should ALL know, I am part of a sorority called Tau Delta Gamma at Luther.

Remember this?

Obviously, I can't participate now that I live 4 hours away from the school, but I am still very aware about what is going on. It happens to be pledge month this month, and would have marked my chance to be a Tau Delt mommy. Seeing all the statuses and pictures of the excited mommy's and pledges has really got me down because it was something I really looked forward to. So to keep myself from really getting in a funk I decided to avoid Facebook and Twitter. I decided to do this by deleting both of those applications from my phone. I spend way too much time on my phone, so I'm hoping that by deleting these apps it'll make me a little more social(God knows that my Grandma will be happy), and at the same time keeping me happy!

Luckily for me, I'm not completely out of the Tau Delt action! I get to attend the semi-formal which is the weekend after next. My dress is on it's way to my house as we speak, and I've had my eye on a couple pairs of shoes at DSW. Needless to say I'm WAY excited to attend! I'll definitely blog about it along with other news that I'm not announcing until after (I promise I'm not pregnant ;) )

In other news, I may or may not be leading my first class at Chow's tomorrow! Depending on the age group of the class I get to lead a couple parts of the class. I honestly don't know enough about gymnastics to teach older classes at the moment, but either way it'll be fun! I'll report more on that once it happens! (Could you believe it if I started posting every day? I don't think I could!)

Apology and chows

I am very aware that I've been a little scarce around here lately, and for that I apologize. I have been traveling a ton since Carter was born, and between traveling and settling down after said traveling, blogging has been the last thing on my mind. But I am finally back home and getting back into blog mode again, and have lots to report!

I think I might have mentioned at one point that I planned on taking an online class this semester just to keep myself busy. Unfortunately, the community college in Des Moines didn't get back to me in time to register for classes before the semester started, so that ended up not happening. Luckily, my high school cheerleading coach, Jena, is now in charge of the cheerleading program at Chow's gymnastics, and is pregnant! Pregnancy and cheerleading don't mix... people falling on top of people, flipping... it's just not good with a baby on board. So obviously she needed someone to cover for her while she prepares for the baby. She asked me if I was interested (Luke that's even a question?), I wrote up a cheer resume, got an interview, aaaaand I got the job!

I started training today! Basically what I will be doing is helping out with beginner gymnastics classes(maybe eventually having my own class), and helping head the cheer program with Jena! I think I might be helping out with birthday parties too! The job is easy enough from what I have gathered from the training, and seems like it'll be a lot of fun!

I'll get you some more updates as I train some more! And I promise to blog lots more now that I'm home :)


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I cannot believe that Carter is 3 months old. It seems like every time Carter hits any milestone on age it throws me for a loop. But every week really is special. He's changing and learning, and being a mother is the best job in the world. Babies are just so precious and depend on you so much, it's be hard not to love them! Here's some pics of Carter at 3 months :)




In his new hoodie! My favorite!


Standing in his Husker onesie. Such a strong boy!


Always moving!

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wyoming.

Things I have learned about Wyoming while visiting the state.

-The University of Wyoming's school colors are Brown and Gold. Unfortunately that results in the town of Laramie being decked out in those colors... #uglytown *

-'Poke' in Laramie really means 'Cowboys'.

-You can get an assault charge if you get in a snowball fight due to the high amounts of ice in the snow.

-WyoTech and U of W students do NOT get along. In fact, most people don't care for WyoTech students because of their loud diesel engines that go roaring through town at all hours.

-If you want to have a good time in Laramie, you better be outdoorsy.

-Cold Creek Coffee might be my new favorite coffee shop. They're mochas are delicious!

-The America's Best Value Inn is super shady.

-The AmericInn is way nice.

-*On this trip I became a twitter-aholic.

-Wyoming has the lowest population of any state.

In other news. Carter is now 12 weeks old. He's a pro during tummy time, rolled over the first time the other day and has the sweetest little personality!


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Location:Laramie, WY

growing up.

Carter and I have done lots of growing up lately.

I have obviously had to be lots more responsible considering I'm a mom now. But I have always been such a busy person, that just sitting at home taking care of Carter isn't cutting it for me. My coach from high school is now a cheerleading coach at Chow's gymnastics(for those that didn't watch the Olympics, that's Shawn Johnson's gym), but she recently found out she is due to have a baby! Obviously, being a cheer coach while pregnant isn't the safest. Catching falling girls doesn't go so well when you have a huge belly with a baby in it... so she's going on maternity leave. And because of that she asked if I would take over her position while she's away! I had to fill out a resume(my first one EVER), and I should be hearing back from them soon! Then I have lots of stuff to do with interviews and stuff like that, but I'm super excited! I've always wanted to be a cheer coach, and while I've led a couple camps, I've never had a paid position!

I'll keep ya updated.

As for Carter. He is now 10 weeks old, and is so big! He just had his 2 month check up a couple weeks ago and he's 50th percentile for everything! He's also starting to smile and coo all the time, which is so sweet I just can't get over it. His little dimples pop up and I just melt. Other than that we're gonna go visit his Daddy in Wyoming this weekend! I'll be sure to update you on that trip when I get back!

Oh, and did I mention I'm brunette again?

:)

south dakota.

South Dakota is by far my favorite vacation destination.

I'd almost go as far as to say I'd like to live there... but I have a feeling I'd run out of things to do reeeally quickly if I did.

Either way, I love taking people up there with us to share my love of the Black Hills. This year it was the perfect opportunity for us to meet up with Jack's family so that they could finally meet Carter! They were already planning a trip to the midwest to help Jack's sister, Maggie, move into Luther, so we decided to rendezvous with them at our cabin. It was so nice to have most of both of our families finally meet each other, plus we got to have some quality bonding time between all of us!

Carter's grandparents, Rich and Mary, and his aunt, Lilly, meeting him for the first time

Jack sporting Carter in the Baby Bjorn in front of Mt. Rushmore

Baby Bjorn pals!

My Mom and Haven at Rushmore slides

Campfire in the back yard!

Delish s'mores!

Daddy and Baby snoozin!

Updates and sunshine.

I really should start being a better blogger. God knows I pine for things to do all day when I'm sitting in my room and Carter is sleeping... But I promise I'm going to try and post at least once a week(after my vacation, of course) from now on! I know I have lots to update you guys on!

Carter is currently six weeks old as of Friday, and I'm thrilled because that means I can swim again! If you didn't know, a woman's body bleeds for about 6 weeks(sometimes longer) after giving birth to get rid of all the stuff that housed the baby. It's a great excuse to sit around and do nothing, but kinda sucks in the summer when all I wanna do is go outside, swim and soak up the sun! Yesterday was my first opportunity to take advantage of this new found freedom and I have the burn to prove it! It was well worth it though to finally get my summer weather fix-and Carter slept almost the entire time! It was so nice!

I'm so excited for some of my future blog posts! Carter is meeting his grandparents on Jack's side for the first time this week! I promise lots of pictures(and hopefully lots of blog posts) to tell you all about it!


Carter sleeping in his bouncer under the shade :)
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four weeks.

I know I've already said it... but time flies when you have a baby. Carter is already 4 weeks old! He hasn't changed much other than gaining a few ounces and having his eyes open more often, but I find more to love about him every day. I can't get enough of this whole Mommy gig, I don't think I believed my Mom and sister when they said you can't love anyone as much as you love your baby... but it's so true. I could cry just thinking about him. He is such a blessing!

shopping and opinions.

So I don't know if you've noticed, but my posts haven't been formatted how they were originally... for some reason blogger decided to not let me change the font size, center my paragraphs, or do pretty much anything interesting with my blog. Go figure all I had to do was click the "Compose" button and every thing's back to normal after months of pretty much no formatting.

Anyways...(now that I've ranted) I'll get to what I wanted to talk about. :)

I have made a few purchases lately that I'm pretty excited about, a few of which I need opinions about!

First, these super cute Steve Madden wedges!* Earlier this month I was reading a Cosmo and saw an article all about some super cute tan strappy wedges that Jennifer Aniston wears all the time! I loved how they looked on her, and loved how casually she wore them. I figured it was about time that I embrace my height and make myself a skyscraper at 6' 1 1/2" with these babies. I wear lots of neutrals so this goes perfectly with most of my clothes, although I do want some slouchy boyfriend jeans to wear them with.

Second, the Fossil Grayson crossbody. I. Love. It. I've been wearing a tiny little crossbody that falls at an awkward spot on my hip and isn't big enough to hold my wallet and phone(kind of a sad excuse for a purse...), so I needed an upgrade. I found this and it works perfectly for what I need to carry(plus a couple diapers for Carter), aaaaand it's super cute. :)

Last, a skirt similar to this! OK, so this is the one I need advice on. What do I wear it with?! It can be worn high wasted or as a longer skirt. It's jersey-ish fabric and is super comfy, so I feel like I should be able to dress it down, but I can't figure out what goes well. A colorful v-neck? Or should I tuck in a flowy white tank? Or is there something else that I'm not thinking of?

Ideas please! :)

Well that's about it! Other than that, be expecting Carter updates soon! He's almost a month already!

*Those are not my feet... I desperately need a pedicure.

update.

WOW.

I cannot believe that Carter is already 3 weeks old! I feel like just yesterday I was in the hospital super pregnant and waiting for him to arrive. I'm still so thrilled to have him here, although I do miss some of the perks of not having a baby... like being able to go outside in the heat(it's been KILLER lately) without having to worry about anyone but myself-babies overheat SO FAST!!

I've been really lucky as far as getting back to pre-pregnancy weight... or at least pre-pregnancy body(I haven't stepped on a scale yet). My stomach flattened out pretty quickly-although it still feels like a bunch of loose skin. I'll have to do some work before I get back in shape like I was, and I have three more weeks until I'm technically allowed to work out! But I plan on taking full advantage of my Y membership once the time comes!

Other than that not much to report! Carter's a healthy, sweet boy, and I can't wait to watch him grow more!

*sigh*

I never realized how rare it is to have two hands when you have a baby. So I'm taking this opportunity while Carter is napping to fill y'all in on my birthing experience! I'll try to keep it short!! :)

June 29th:

Jack flew in town, and I started feeling contractions. I walked thirty minutes on the treadmill, and later made myself a smoothie with a tablespoon of Castor Oil to try and induce labor.

June 30th:

I woke up at about 4 am because I was having some intense abdominal pain. I told my Mom, and we decided to get ready and head over to my grandma's house(where Jack was staying) to start timing contractions. They started getting less intense and less regular, so I took some more Castor OIl to try to boost them up again. Lots of family had come over because we were all excited about my early morning contraction pain, so we decided to go swimming and then have dinner. The contractions started kicking in again halfway through swimming, so we went back to my grandma's and started timing my contractions again while we ate dinner. They were consistent enough that we decided that we were going to head to the hospital after dinner.

When we got there they hooked me up to machines to monitor contractions and babies heart rate and found out that I was 3 centimeters dilated. Then, a couple minutes after I checked in my water broke! So things started happening very quickly from there. We got into our room, I got my epidural, and a few hours later I was 9 centimeters!

July 1st:

After that things started getting kind of scary. I was in a lot of pain, because once the baby drops into the birth canal the epidural is less effective. Also, Ping-Pong's heart rate kept on dropping as delivery approached. At one point they had me on my hands and knees with an oxygen mask trying to regulate it! My Mom was in the corner of the room praying because she was so worried!

Next thing I knew I was pushing, and they had me in some weird positions! First I was on one side pushing... then they flipped me over and tried the other way... and then they had me on my back! After probably 30 minutes of pushing my doctor told me that every time I pushed, the baby's heart rate was dropping. So they decided to do an assisted birth using forceps, and if that didn't work they were going to rush me in for a C-section. Luckily, after one contraction and the assistance of forceps, Carter Richard came out! He arrived at 2:51 am, was 19 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 13.8 ounces.

I can't believe how tired I was after the delivery. I felt like I had been hit by a freight train, and I'm pretty sure Jack and my Mom were as mentally tired as I was physically. It was so worth it though. I am already so in love with this little boy. He is such a blessing and a joy. I'm so excited to watch him grow and help him along the way, and I am so excited to keep you all updated as he grows and develops.


Skin Time with Daddy


Me and Carter sleeping

Carter Richard.

Carter Richard arrived Friday July 1, 2011 at 2:51 am. He weighed 7 pounds 13.8 ounces, and was 19 inches long.

We are so thrilled that he's here and that he arrived right on time!

I have lots to say, but I have a crying baby that needs some love from Momma. I'll fill you in on more details later!

weeks and jack.

39 weeks and 2 days.

Ya know what that means? Less than a week until Ping-Pong is due to arrive! I am getting so anxious for this kid to finally pop his head out and say hello(or at least scream a little bit). We had a lovely surprise this week because we found out that Jack(Ping-Pong's dad) is coming in town for the week around my due date! We are hoping that Ping-Pong gets here while he's in town so that he can be there for the birth. We're even talking to the doctor to see if we can induce if I don't go into labor before the due date. If not, and Ping-Pong shows up after Jack leaves, at least him and I will be able to talk some serious baby stuff(not that we haven't), and he'll be able to see this tummy!

So here's hoping that Ping-Pong comes soon (but preferably sometime between Wednesday and Friday!)