Serendipity is Spontaneity

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Round 2!

We decided it's time for Harper to be a big sister!

We wanted to start trying September/October so that we'd have a late Spring, Summer or Fall baby since Adam travels for work from November to April and we wouldn't want him to be out of town if I were to go into labor.

So! Baby #2 is due May 26th! I will officially announce this after we take some family pictures together late October or November because really, I just wanted an excuse for some fun Fall pictures as a Family.

Update:

Postpartum

I was inspired to write about my own experience with "Post-partum Depression" after a sweet friend of mine shared hers unexpectedly. And man oh man, does it feel rejuvenating to not feel like I was the only one in this after what social media can depict of others in your mind.

I never thought it would happen to me, but then again I could also say that once it hit me, I could actually look back and relate some previous (pre-baby) experiences to it. For example, anytime my doctor had me try birth control pills, the intense hormonal changes it created for me made me a completely different person and that was even after giving it the 3 months to get used to! I've always been the kind of person who knows when something is all in my head and when something really is truly affecting me and clouding my judgement. And these feelings 10 months after having a baby were definitely not made up or imagined. I felt like I was almost completely overtaken by these invasive thoughts and anxiety that I had never experienced before.

Harper was born on a Tuesday. My first run in with baby blues (not PPD) was that Friday (1 day after we got home from the hospital) when we realized we didn't have nearly enough newborn sized clothes for her so we decided to venture out for the first time to Babies R Us. I completely broke down in the car and was embarrassed to tell Adam how intimidated I was with breastfeeding because it really was SO hard for something that was depicted as so natural. I understand now that, that was baby blues and that it was also standard for most new mamas to go through within the first 2 weeks.

After those first 2 weeks of randomly crying at anything and everything but never over something serious, I was fine! I was blissful and happy, albeit tired and overwhelmed - but who isn't when you're given a life to care for without an instruction manual?

I have never felt more blessed than I am now with an incredible, supportive, not to mention ridiculously handsome husband and a beautiful, hilarious, smart baby girl that I would give up the world for!

When she hit 10 months old though, for whatever reason, my hormones shifted and my mood was completely unbalanced and I felt like I was spiraling somewhat. I can't say I had PPD to an extreme, however, the touch I did have with it for a few months was enough for me to know it wasn't right and it wasn't me. I've never been one to like medication of any kind, really, so I didn't quite want to talk to doctors about it just yet. I did as much online research as I could and met up with all my momma friends and asked to talk about their experiences. It is soo much more common than you'd think! From depression to anxiety, one or the other or both, almost every woman I know has had some sort of run in with it after having a baby. Plenty of my friends are on medication or were on medication to treat it and others, along with myself, wanted to try a more natural route since it wasn't as severe. Neither option is unacceptable. Every mama should do what they think is best for them and their family.

The treatment I found that totally and 100% helped me was a vitamin ritual and exercise at least twice a week. I found this video on youtube that explains the vitamins I started taking every morning and why/how they work: https://youtu.be/JLfQPV54_2A?list=FLAJgfORlh1jlH4Nzu9kLwwg

Now I swear by them to anyone who's also having issues with mood imbalance. I can say I am absolutely back to my normal self and started feeling that way when Harper was about a year and a half or so.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Oh, The Places She'll Go

We travel a lot for work. Like, a lot a lot. Harper has had so many adventures already and she's not even a year old yet! I wish I would have gotten a picture with her at city/state signs but I didn't even think about that until it was too late - hellloooo mom brain. Soo I'm just going to put pictures on here that were taken in each new place just off my phone and maybe later add more from other family members' phones.

Airplanes: Harper has been on 20 airplanes.

Road trips:9 times traveling in the car.

States: 10 states so far! (11 if you count landing in Boston, MA then driving to Maine) 2 countries - United States & Mexico.

First stop: Rapid City, South Dakota September 27, 2014

Harper was only 18 days old when we road tripped to South Dakota to visit family! She literally slept the whole way to the point where I had to wake her up to eat. While we were there we bought her this onesie that says Mommy's BFF.

Las Vegas, Nevada. October 31, 2014.

This was Harper's first time meeting her Uncle Josh and Aunt Rheanne along with cousins Audrey and Jonah! This was also her first plane ride - not even 2 months old yet!

We stayed in this huge, amazing suite with the biggest jacuzzi tub we've ever been in. We got to overlook everything while we took our baths :)

This restaurant was definitely one of my favorite places ever! They had so many kinds of coffees/lattes. I ordered the s'mores one. Adam and I shared this huge platter of chicken and waffles - I've never felt like more of a fat kid. Harper - you slept almost the entire time.

I babywore her everywhere.

St. Louis, Missouri. November 27, 2014.

We spent Harper's first Thanksgiving here and had an unforgettable celebratory dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel. It was so fancy! Then we wandered the casinos and went back to our hotel.

Rockland, California (Northern California). Decemver 3, 2014.

This was my first time ever in California. It was pretty rainy weather since it's Northern, a lot like Seattle while we were there. When we got done working the tournament, we toured a winery before going home and it may be some of the best wine I've ever tasted - and I'm a sucker for Sonoma County wines so it can be hard to give me a wine that I'm head over heels for like that ;) After the winery, we visited Harper's great uncle Toby and aunt Sean Orner.

I love how she smiles at me!

Keystone, Colorado. December 12, 2014.

Unfortunately, this was our first family vacation/non-work related trip and all 3 of us caught a nasty cold! Harper started sneezing and coughing and was really fussy the night before we left so I put the humidifier on and had her sleep in our room only for all of us to wake up horribly sick even though Adam and I had felt fine the day before so I'm convinced we breathed in mildewy vapor from the humidifier or something. Yuck! We peeled ourselves up and made it on the road though. We were so excited for this trip. We stayed in a gorgeous condo with Julie (Grammy), Eddy (Grampa), Gramma Sue, Uncle John & Aunt Leslie, Aunt Megan, Uncle Jordon, Uncle Morgan & Tabor. There was a warm fireplace and another big bathtub that Harper and I took advantage of to soothe her sickness. We all bundled up - Harper in an adorable fluffy bear suit, and jumped on a bus that took us up to a sleigh ride. The sleigh ride was beautiful and so special for us because Eddy & Julie had first taken it when she was pregnant with Adam! The sleigh ride led us to a quaint little cabin where they served us a home cooked stew and delicious dinner.

Pueblo, Colorado. December 26, 2014.

There's not too much to say about Pueblo. We drove there and it was a 2 hour snowy drive from home, Harper slept most of the way but when we were super close to the hotel I got her out of the carseat to sit on my lap.

El Paso, Texas. January 10, 2015.

We could literally see the border to Mexico while we were here. Every year that we go here we fall more in love with Kiki's mexican food. After all, the most memorable and best times out of town on these company trips is usually the dinners we all spend together.

Just being silly with Grammy at the airport

Daddy's girl

Fell asleep - the impossible task - with Troy haha

One of my favorite parts of traveling with Harper before she realized she could crawl and move all over the place: the night time snuggles.

Albuquerque/Rio Rancho, New Mexico. January 15, 2015.

She loves her uncle Jordon!

Gillette, Wyoming. February 5, 2015.

5 hour drive. She's a little trooper.

Reno, Nevada. February 26, 2015.

We ate at Famous Dave's - Harper loved the corn on the cob ;)

But apparently she isn't a huge fan of bananas.

Prescott Valley, Arizona. March 12, 2015.

We were ready for Spring already!

Loves her cousin Audrey!

Farmington, New Mexico. April 23, 2015.

6 hour road trip!

Cabo San Lucas. April 30 - May 7, 2015.

Family Vacation!!!!!!!

Grand Junction, Colorado. June 5-7, 2015.

We drove 4 hours for the Gutierrez family reunion. While there we had amazing Italian food and wine with Uncle Robert & Aunt Laureen, met tons of family and had a fun time at the park with them. Harper was very popular with all the girls! She fits right in ;) She was so good in the car again and we didn't even have to play her Baby Einstein show that she goes crazy over haha. The day after the reunion, we stopped at 2 sister wineries and tried some fudge and got a couple bottles of tasty reds. Harper fell in love with a little bee that her cousin, Brittinie got her and she held it the whole way home.