Easter Weekend Recap

Well I had plans to post my Easter weekend recap on time, but then yesterday morning I went in to get Hadley up and noticed that she had blood pooling in her right ear. If you want to know what will freak a mother out first thing in the morning, seeing your child with blood leaking out of their ear will do it. Hadley didn't seem to notice, and was her normal happy self, but I freaked out, threw her in the bike and pedaled as fast as I could to the doctors.

We spent a long time at the doctors just to find out that Hadley's ear canal was so swollen and inflamed that the doctor couldn't even visualize her eardrum. They gave us drops and told us to come back tomorrow to see if the swelling had gone down. So we are headed back to the doctors today to see what's wrong with Hadley's ear. I'm guessing a ruptured ear drum, but I suppose we'll find out soon enough. I'm just glad that Hadley doesn't seem to notice or care, apart from when I put the ear drops in, which she is not a fan of.

The morning spent at the doctors really took it out of us, so by the time last night rolled around, we were all in bed by 9pm and I had no intention of blogging. It was glorious. Our Easter weekend was so much fun though, so I wanted to recap it, however late it may be! So here we go...our Easter weekend!

  

Hadley's basket had some fuzzy bunny slippers, the Jesus Storybook Bible, bubbles, and bath toys

Our Easter Sunday was jam packed, but lots of fun! I woke up early to make sure Hadley's Easter basket was ready to go, and to get our Easter breakfast prepped. Our friends were baptizing their son, Kellen, after the sunrise service, and even though we were going to the service later in the morning, I still wanted to be there for the baptism. So I biked down to the beach about 10 minutes after the service was supposed to end, but when I got there all the baptisms were over!!!! I couldn't believe I missed it! Fortunately some of our other friends were there to snap pictures, and it looked beautiful.

After I got back from the Easter service, we skyped with Johnathon's family for his dad's birthday/Easter, Hadster played with her Easter basket goodies, then chowed down on some amazing breakfast pizza!

Hadley checking out her Easter basket

Someone was a big fan of the bubbles...

...and the bunny shoes

After we demolished the breakfast pizza, we hustled to get ready for church, then biked down to the Easter service at the island chapel. Three things to note about the Easter service:

1) Biking in heels to get there was awkward, and difficult.

2) There was no church nursery on Easter so we had to keep Hadley with us for the service. We spent the entire service escorting Hadley while she walked up and down the side aisles smiling at people and inspecting rocks (the chapel is open air, so there are rock ready and available for toddlers to inspect and attempt to eat).

3) My chambray shirt I was wearing was a poor choice for an open air service that took place at 11am. Holy hot. 

But we made it, and I hope God gives bonus points for out attempt at being present and focused at Easter service!

After church we biked home and took some much needed naps. Well, Hadley napped, Johnathon played some video games, and I got to work on the chocolate chip pecan pie and stuffed mushrooms that we were bringing to our potluck Easter dinner that evening. 

We biked (in heels again!) down to the Country Club that evening, and met up with our Kwaj family for what looks to be becoming our annual Easter dinner. It was such a great time among friends, and it was fun to see all the babies running around everywhere. This time last year we were all bringing our newborns with us, and Amy was newly pregnant with Kellen, so it was fun to see what a difference a year makes!

Our Easter dinner spread

The ladies + Kellen

I loved having dinner out at the Country Club because it meant dinner would be indoors and Hadley had a little more freedom to run around since we were the only group there. Hadley especially loved getting to hang with her "big girl friend" Molli...

We crashed hard Sunday night, and had a nice lazy day at home on Monday complete with a Skype session with my family. We haven't had rain in FOREVER, and Monday afternoon some rain finally came our way! We were out on a bike ride when the rain hit, but Hadley didn't mind one bit! She kept trying to lick the raindrops! We snapped some pictures as we came home, but Hadley turned her smiles into her serious model face the second she saw the camera...

I look like a drowned cat, but Hadley's face in this made me laugh!

Even Sadie got in on the rainy day fun!

And that was our Easter weekend recap! Hope everyone had a great Easter with their friends and families! 
 

Hadley says HAPPY EASTER!!!

 

What's Up Wednesday: March Edition

Happy Wednesday! Is it just me, or does the week after a holiday always seem to last forever?! Boo! That's okay though because we had a great Easter weekend, and I'm really excited for April to get here!

Since it's the last Wednesday of the month, I am linking up with Mel, Sheaffer, and Shay for What's Up Wednesday!

What We're Eating This Week

My version of the breakfast pizza

I wanted to try something new for our breakfast Easter morning, and I saw on Amber's blog that she was making this breakfast pizza. It looked delicious, and I thought it would be something that Johnathon would love! I added one more egg than the recipe called for so that every piece would have an egg, and it was a huge hit! Even Hadley got in on the pizza action, and she wasn't complaining! 

What I'm Reminiscing About

Spring Break Musicfest 2014

This week is Spring Break on Kwaj, and that has me reminiscing about the Kwaj Spring Break Music Fest! Last year we had just gotten back on island with Hadley so we didn't end up going, but we went the first year we were on island, and it was so much fun! It's an island wide party at the beach with music, games, and a big tent where people enter their home brew beers for a taste testing competition! Hopefully we get to make an appearance there this year!

What I'm Loving

I'm honestly surprised it's taken me this long to talk about my favorite perfume ever!!! I have the hardest time finding perfumes that smell good on me. The fruity ones always change smells once they are on me, and floral smells make me sneeze! I was on a quest several years ago to find a warm, fruity, spicy kind of smell when I came across Versace Crystal Noir. I have the hardest time describing what it smells like, but the website says it has plum, amber, cedar, and gardenia in it. All I know is that I've never smelled another perfume like it, and I get complements on it a lot! Try it out...it smells delicious!

 

What We've Been Up To

We celebrated Easter this past weekend with our Kwaj family! We had a potluck at the Country Club and it was delicious! There were babies running around everywhere, delicious food and drinks, and it was a perfect Easter spent among friends! I'll blog about our Easter weekend tomorrow, but it was a great weekend, and I feel like we redeemed ourselves from our Easter last year! :)

 

What I'm Dreading

Johnathon is going to have to go off island in a month or two to have another surgery on his knee. He is still having some pain from when he tore his ACL almost two years ago, so they want to do an exploratory surgery to see if they can find the cause of the pain. Surgery is bad enough, but Johnathon has to fly all the way to Honolulu to have it done, which means at least a week of him being gone. It also means he has to recover from surgery in a hotel room, which isn't as fun as it may sound. We are both read for his knee to be fixed!
 

What I'm Working On

Becoming a morning person. This is not a skill I come by naturally, but I've come to realize what a crucial thing waking up early can be. Specifically, going to the gym in the mornings. I've been in denial for awhile now about the fact that the only free time I have to workout is in the mornings. I tried working out in the evenings, but I usually end up being too tired, and it's also the time I get to spend with Johnathon. I'm with Hadley during the day, SO...morning gym time it is. I'm not going to say that I love it, but one week in, and it hasn't been as terrible as I thought it would be.  

 

What I'm Excited About

If anyone else watches Game of Thrones, then you understand my feelings of excitement and dread for Game of Thrones Season 6! I love Game of Thrones, but the show has a knack for killing off some of my favorite characters! Thus, each season I watch with my eyes covered because I'm scared of which character won't live to see season 7! With that said I'm so excited, and I hate that I have to wait a whole year between seasons!

What I'm Watching/Reading

Johnathon has only seen the Harry Potter movies, but he's never read the books!! I couldn't believe it either! Call it nerdy, but we read them together every night before bed, and it's been such a fun end to our days. We are just finishing up the fifth book, so we only have two more to go! In addition to Harry Potter, I've been considering reading this book, but it looks ridiculously depressing, and I don't do depressing...

Has anyone read it, yet?! Is it worth the emotional roller coaster?! 

What I'm Listening To

Johnathon and I were getting our 90's jams on this weekend, and it turns out Hadley is a big fan! She was getting her groove on to everything from Hootie and the Blowfish, to Everclear, to Blackstreet! It was awesome, and I'm glad Hadley enjoys the tunes of her parents youth!

 

What I'm Wearing

Easter marked the first occasion I've had to get "dressed up" in a long while!  My chambray top is an Anthropologie find from several years ago, the skirt is from Francesca's (also several years ago), and the shoes are Steve Madden. I got them at Nordstroms last Fall for my brother in law's wedding, and I've been looking for a chance to wear them since!

 

What I'm Doing This Weekend

Spring Break Music Fest!!! Other than that, just hanging out with our little family!

 

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month 

My birthday is next month! Several of my girlfriends and I have birthdays about a week apart, so for the second year in a row we have decided to have a joint party! This year we are going rogue and hosting a murder mystery dinner party! I have seen pictures of these kind of parties and always thought they looked like fun! Hopefully everyone else attending thinks it's fun too because we are forcing them to play along! ;)

 

What Else is New? 

Hadley is officially a walking machine! She started taking steps at the beginning of the month, and now she's walking about 70% of the time. She still cheats and crawls when she wants to get somewhere fast, but I can't believe how much she has taken off in the last month! I'm determined to catch it on video soon!

  

Let's Talk: Moms, Mother Figures, & Your Story of Motherhood

Happy Monday everyone! I hope y'all had a wonderful Easter weekend! We had a great Easter out here on Kwaj. We went to Church, had dinner with friends, and got to Skype both families this weekend, so I'd say our Easter was a success! Today I'm linking up with Andrea over at Momfessionals to talk about our moms, and our story of motherhood!

I couldn't even begin to talk about my story of motherhood without first talking about this lady right here...

My mom! I'm sure I'm slightly partial, but I'm inclined to say she's the best mom in the whole world! Everything I know about being a mama comes from her! When I think of my childhood growing up, I always thing about how much fun it was, and my mom had a lot to do with that! Some of my earliest memories are of my mom, sister, and I dancing around the living room to my moms old records of Broadway show tunes! My mom has a lovely singing voice, and I can hear her now singing along to all the old Rogers & Hammerstein musical numbers while we sang and danced next to her!

My mom always encouraged us to get out and play, and use our imaginations, and was so great about helping us think up games to play on those long summer days! 

When I think of my mom I also think of the sounding board and wisdom giver in our family. Many a problem was solved at our kitchen counter over rice krispy treats and milk. A philosophy that I think should be applied to most problem solving scenarios! I think in another life my mom should've been a therapist! She is the best listener, and is always the best person to talk out your problems with! I'm pretty sure most of my girlfriends from childhood to now would agree with that statement! Mama Horton is a wise woman!

When Hadley was born we spent the first six weeks at my parents house before heading home to Kwaj, and my mom was the greatest helper ever! She cooked for me, watched Hadley so Johnathon and I could go out to dinner, did laundry, and helped me navigate the tricky waters of raising a newborn, and for that I am forever grateful! There is also something about becoming a mom that makes you see your own mother in such a new and different light. I guess you finally understand what a mother's love feels like, and it just makes you love your own mom that much more! My mom was and is a huge source of comfort, joy, laughter, and love in my life and I hope that I can be half the mom to Hadley that she is to me! It should also be stated that my mom gives the best back rubs ever. No contest.

Hadley loves her Gigi!

Another mother figure in my life is this lady right here:

My mother is law is such a blessing and is another woman who was taught me so much about being a mom! She is a mom to FOUR boys, awesome Grandma to four grandkids, and is ALWAYS game to get pedicures with you! :) She is the most loving and encouraging mother in law, and was a great resource in getting to know Johnathon and his many lovable quirks! 

My mother in law came to stay with us for a week after Hadley was born, and as a mom four times over, she was so helpful with caring for Hadley and in making my hormonal, overwhelmed self feel much more confident in my new mom role!

She is a champ Scrabble player, and will take you on anytime, anywhere!!! She also shares my love for Hobby Lobby and Marshalls, and will wander the aisles with me, even when we aren't shopping for anything in particular! She is an amazing Grandma to Hadley and all her grandkids, and makes the best pierogi and apple pie. Fact. 

As for my story of motherhood....I guess I should take you back to May 2014. I had been wanting to start a family pretty much since the day Johnathon and I said 'I do,' but we just weren't ever in the right place to commit to expanding our family. We had been out on Kwaj for almost a year, and neither of us wanted to wait until we moved back home to start trying for a baby. So I got off my birth control in April, got the green light from my doctor, and we were officially trying to get pregnant. I had had several friends who had struggled to get pregnant, and it took my mom awhile to get pregnant with my sister and I, so I just didn't think getting pregnant right away was in the cards for me. We had some friends coming to stay with us toward the end of May, and through their whole stay I just felt really tired. I thought it was just because we had so many activities planned for their visit, but when I was still EXHAUSTED after they left, I knew something was up. I took two pregnancy tests that were negative, but I just felt like I was pregnant, so I took one more just to be sure. There it was clear as day...two pink lines. Pregnant.

I told Johnathon when he got home from work that day, and we proceeded to buy all the different types of pregnancy tests that the store had to offer just to be sure. Yep, sure enough...all of them were positive!

We were so excited!

It was the greatest news we've ever gotten, and I still remember how excited/scared/nervous I was that day, and for weeks after! To read all about how I found out I was pregnant, and my first trimester click here.

 8 week old Hadster!

My pregnancy was thankfully uneventful except for the first 14 weeks where I was nauseous 24/7, and the 40lb weight gain I put on while pregnant with Hadley. Woof. 

Kwajalein doesn't allow mothers to deliver on island if they can help it, so at 35 weeks I flew back to Austin to have Hadley. Johnathon flew back when I was 38 weeks, which was lucky because three days after he landed in Texas my water broke! Talk about cutting in close!

Please excuse my super fat/puffy/pregnant face in this picture!

You can read my super detailed birth story here, but the highlights were that my water didn't "break" like it did in the movies. Instead my water preferred to do a sexier and much less dramatic "leaking" which proved to be not as obvious to this first time mama. I really didn't know that my water had broken earlier in the day until I laid down to go to bed, and couldn't fall asleep because I was having too painful of contractions. I didn't want to be that new mama that showed up at the hospital not really in labor and got sent home, so I tried to tough it out threw the night. By the next morning I was throwing up because I was in so much pain, so we decided it was time to go. We went to the hospital where they thankfully admitted me, gave me an epidural (yay!), and 14 hours later Hadley Kate made her debut a week early, weighing in at a small but feisty 6lbs 2oz! 

My recovery was fairly easy, although the first couple of months with Hadley are kind of a blur. She really was a good baby, but had some pretty intense acid reflux that made getting her to sleep at night a bit of a challenge. Also we had to fly halfway around the world with a six week old to get back to Kwaj so that was no picnic either. Thankfully once we got Hadley on reflux medication, her life and ours got much better, and she became the easiest baby after that! 

I can't even begin to describe how being a mother has changed my life. Hadley Kate has brought Johnathon and I more joy than either of us can even put into words. She is the light of our lives, and I am so thankful everyday that God chose me to be her mother.

I was really trying hard to come up with what motherhood means to me, but I keep coming back to this one quote...

My heart has never loved anything more, and I'm forever humbled and blessed that God called me to be a mother!