Halloween and Last Hoorah

Today is a bittersweet day. On one hand it's my fave holiday, Halloween, and on the other it's my last full day of playing Stay at Home Momma with Boo. I'm so excited to get back in the classroom to teach my firsties, but I have treasured this time with Scotland. Can you tell I'm having mixed feelings? Plus, I haven't been in the classroom for five months! I hope I'm not too rusty! My days have been filled with normalcy - laundry, cooking, cleaning... All the things a teacher struggles to do on a daily basis (at least for me!), but all intermittent with long cuddles. I will miss everything about the days of just us two. I'm not going to say all good things must come to an end because there are so many more good things to come. I'm not discounting that this transition will be difficult, but I love my job and know baby is in wonderful hands. I will cherish my moments with Scotland even more now.

Now, on a lighter note- here are some pics from our Halloween/October adventures!

My mom got her this darling candycorn outfit. I put her in it all the time, because I know she won't have another chance to wear it again :( 

 Another Halloween outfit!

 So, Eric was originally going to dress as Walter White, but his bald cap and hat were a complete fail, so he decided to go as a crayon box! (I wore this to school a few years back).

 ...but then he changed his mind when he saw that picture. Now we're a bit more Great Gatsbyish.

 Scotland and I dressed as minions for our school parade! SO much fun.

 Since it was my last full time mommy day, I decided it was perfectly acceptable to lounge around and watch movies with baby all afternoon. Totally justified, right?? (Please excuse my grunge attire, but I had just worked out. I may post my 60 day Insanity before and after pics. Gotta get a few more in ;) )

 Her final Halloween outfit. Oh, well she was a strawberry, too but I forgot to take a pic! She looked cute enough to eat.

 Our day at the Pumpkin Patch!

 Cute hubby!!

 Okay, this pic makes me laugh so hard. Eric and I have a serious problem asking strangers to take our picture, so we were crouching down in the hay maze, trying to get a family portrait ourselves. Eric looks pretty decent, but it was such an awkward position for me and Scotland! HAHA! Not the best look for any of us, but a fun memory!

Yummy pumpkin spice frappe.

Awaiting Trick-or-Treaters now. Our neighborhood boasts some pretty cute ghosts and ghouls!!

A month full of firsts..

The First Month


After Baby Boo was born we got sucked into a vortex of all things baby! Right after she made her grand entrance, Eric and I had our 'golden time' with Scotland. No family, no nurses, just us. It was the most special moment of my life, and I highly recommend doing this after you give birth, as it's so important to bond as a family. *Ladies, if you think you love your hubby or partner, wait until you see him hold your baby for the first time... WOW!!!*

The hospital stay was wonderful (I'm not sure other mommies would say the same?). I loved it. The nurses were fantastic, they took such good care of me and Scotland - I have a newfound appreciation for the field of nursing. Another reason I enjoyed it was because I just got to lay in bed, cuddle with Boo, and watch all the love that happened around me. We had visits from our close family, and I loved seeing everyone's reaction our new addition.

There's no real differentiation between night and day. It's her world, and we just live in it! Nursing was a challenge... It's not instinctual for both baby and mom and was something I definitely had to learn how to do. She ate every three hours, but it took an hour to feed and it just seemed like I was topless all day :) TMI! Every nurse had a different strategy - but ultimately Scotland and I just had to find that click where it worked for both of us. And P.S. however that whole colostrum stage came to be was a HUGE mistake on nature's part... just sayin. I'd like to say that by the time we left the hospital I had nursing down, but that would be a total lie.

Here are some pics from the hospital including her first snapshot after being born.

 SO much hair! Don't know where it came from.

I was sad to leave the hospital. A little bit because I was terrified of taking this little person home. I just kept looking at the nurses like you're going to let me just have her? I liked them taking her vitals every two hours and checking to make sure she's okay. It was our little home for two days, and I loved every minute.

On our way home! She's so tiny!!

The first month was all about this little cutie. Milk finally arrived, which made nursing so much better! (We're pros now btw hehe!). Eric and I did not sleep all month, I swear. We couldn't be away from her, so we'd take turns sleeping on the couch while she slept in her Mamaroo. This is probably a first time parent thing, because not getting sleep didn't really help... But, as time progressed Eric and I found ways to use each other so that we could get some rest. As tired as you are, it really is the most special time. When we were up at 3:00 A.M., I'd always remind myself of that. I cherished that time together.

We had many visitors and so much help from family. I don't know what we would have done without the grandma's. The laundry was always done, our dishes were clean, and our house was straight. We also never went without a meal, which was beyond amazing. Preparing food is the last thing you want to do. It was so nice to have the help, especially when our house became a revolving door. Thank you, everyone! Sometimes we'd instate family time, so we could be together just us three to re-group from all the craziness. We appreciate all the love and gifts. This little one is so spoiled. We have fabulous family and friends.

Here are just a few pics (we took about a bagillion) from the first month:

Gus fighting for attention.

Uncle Shin! (I don't have any pics of Turnbow family! They are on Eric's phone! But all the uncles and aunts came for a visit)

Great Uncle Jim

Never stop kissing this babe!

Late nights. Daddy snoring, baby sleeping.. kind of.

hehe! One of Scotland's famous funny faces. As beautiful as she is, she can make one mean silly face...

Aunty Melissa was in town the week she was born! Perfect timing!

Some shots from our newborn shoot (Simplicity Photography)

Visits from my firsties!

Baby feet!

Lots of Daddy time

Papa Ed!

Mommy time - Love the days of just us two... She's about to sneeze hehe!

This is how I cleaned the house!

And in a blink of an eye, she was 1 month old!

Nursery Tour

I have been working on this post for an hour, and then I accidentally deleted it! Don't ya hate when that happens? Sheesh. Okay here it goes again...

Here's a peek of our little nursery. I say little because it is teeny tiny! When we bought our Sugarhouse abode, we knew this would be a baby's room since it was the closest to our bedroom. We also knew we'd be taking out the door that led to the backyard if it was to be a nursery. Having a door there made me a little nervous, and it made the room super hot in the summer and super cold in the winter. Not really conducive for a new babe. Therefore, before we could take out the door, we needed to build a fence and gate so that the kitchen would become the access to the backyard. While I say this pretty nonchalantly, it was actually a HUGE job! Kudos to Eric for doing it without complaining. It looks amazing!

The list of projects kept on growing. While taking out the door, Eric discovered that the plaster (yes, PLASTER) was placed directly onto the brick, leaving the room without any insulation. Well, I shouldn't say ANY because the builders did stick some newspaper in there (WHAA?). So, poor hubby had to take off all the plaster to start over (SO messy!!). This was a perfect time to take a girls trip to Newport Beach. Yucky plaster disaster is no place for a pregnant woman. By the time I came home, the room was nothing but exposed brick, a look I actually love, but I digress. Here's a pic of the room at the beginning of the project:

Eric finally got the new window in, installed insulation, put up new drywall, and just to make things a little interesting learning how to install wainscoting. After five months and many MANY trips to Home Depot, we were painting just in time for Boo to arrive.

I chose gray, white, and pink. I may not have a chance to use pink again, so I thought why not? And since you can't just have a color scheme, I chose owls for her animal theme. My darling colleague turned me on to them and I've been picking up anything owly (? not a word) ever since. Here's a pic of the majority of the nursery. Like I said, teeny tiny!

I love white cribs. They are timeless.

My mom refused to let me hang anything over the crib for fear of an earthquake, or sonic boom, so I found this darling decal on Etsy. They even put her initials in the trunk! Such a fun, easy way to add a lil something to a room.

Light from IKEA

The same colleague who got me hooked on owls, sewed these little cuties for the shower my team from school threw me. So darling! They are truly the best team and teachers out there! The owls now live on the window seal, as lil Boo has become a mover and a shaker! Crib sheets are Aden and Anais.

I love anything Chevron! This bed skirt is from Babinski's.

This mobile is Lolli Living, also from Babinski's. Scotland LOVES this!

My sweet sweet firsties gave me an elephant painting I had registered for from Babinski's. When I put it against the wall, it had too much brown, and the other colors didn't quite fit the nursery, so I exchanged it for this. I love the artist's work, and they're local!

Little owl in the window. You can also see Eric's fence out the window! My mother-in-law sewed the cute window covering. We still need to get blinds...

This is actually where our fabulous rocker should go. It's in our living room at the moment; a must for those late night feedings in order to watch some T.V. On a side note - our rocker is from Babinski's (can you see a pattern here? hehe..). It's uh-ma-zing, and definitely worth the investment. I know we'll have it forever! There are certain items that are worth the splurge, and your rocker is one of them. This is the Mamaroo. It's hit or miss with Scotland. She likes to sleep in it sometimes, but mostly she won't stay in it for long. A bouncy chair would have been just fine! We'll see if it's high tech functionality will come into use as she gets older.

This painting was my great grandma's. It found it's way back to our family after our grandma gave it to a bed and breakfast. So special and it sort of looks like Scotland!

Another gift from my firsties. They loved being with Scotland for seven months. I told them no other class got to be with her every day. They took care of my growing belly all year, and for that they'll always be special!

This is her dresser and changing station. The name plate was from The Turnbow's neighbors. So cute. Her baby book is up top. It works perfectly for us. (Although Eric and I have hit our heads several times changing her :D)

Other window where I keep her bows and head bands. A girl's gotta have her accessories!

There it is. Her little world. I still want to add more. I love our maternity pics shot by Simplicity Photography, and want to incorporate them some how. This one's my fave:

If you know Eric, you know he's a history buff. This is his fave. He thinks it looks like a scene from 300. Gotta love him!

ANYWAYS.. there's more work to be done, but I'm super proud of my hubby. He's made that room so cozy for our babe. So much love in so little space!