Two Weeks (plus 1 day!)

A day late on this one! My mom and Nick left today so I was trying to soak up as much time as possible with them yesterday and made peace with my lack of posting on time.


Week two has been much better than week one...and week one wasn't even bad! Cassidy and I are more confident in our skills and don't worry as much about accidentally killing the baby. I am not yet totally comfortable leaving her to sleep in a room on her own for naps (bedtime in her own room is at least a month away). I like to periodically look at her to make sure she is breathing and that is hard to do when she is all the way upstairs. I have heard this gets better, but until then Noelle is pretty much stuck with me.

Noelle also had her first real bath and she seemed to like it. If she is anything like her mother, she will soon love bath time! She also had a perfect two week checkup - she has grown an inch since birth and is up to 8 pounds, 2 ounces! The weight gain was not a shock. Noelle is quite the eater and at times she goes from sleeping to "FEED ME NOW!" in about 2 seconds flat. Other times she has a 5 minute stretching/yawning routine that is absolutely hysterical. She has mastered following things with her eyes and really loves to look at the Christmas tree lights, TV, and people's faces (especially mama's!).


As for me, I am doing really well. I am back to feeling 100% and actually have a lot of energy sans napping. As for the baby weight - I gained 45 pounds total and have lost 25 so far. I am pretty happy with progress and know that things will happen quicker once the goodies that my mom has stashed in the house are gone! I was lucky not to have suffered from the "baby blues" but as of today am a bit down because my mom has left. It's not only the help I will miss, but just her company. Something about having "mom" around always makes things better and brighter and it is hard with her living so far away and not knowing when we will next see her.

Can't wait to see what week three has in store for us!

One Week

One week ago, on December 1st at 3:50 am, Ms. Noelle Elizabeth made her entrance into this world. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. She was (and is) perfect.

To answer some of my own questions from my last blog - she does have lots of dark hair, she seems to have my nose and my eyes (but it's hard to tell so early on), her cry is more of a high pitched screech that goes as quickly as it comes, I only shed a few happy tears when she was placed on my chest, and Cassidy stayed dry-eyed but the joy he felt was a beautiful thing to witness.

I am going to do a separate blog about labor & delivery (not too detailed, promise). But here are pics of us holding our bundle after she was cleaned up. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of when I first saw and held her because we were so caught up in the moment that the camera didn't even come out.




Noelle has been an absolute dream for us first time parents. She rarely cries or fusses and when she does, she typically just wants to be held. No problem for me considering I am adverse to sleeping at night because I miss her. No joke...I actually miss her when she is sleeping an arms length away. So many memories are forever ingrained in my mind already and I will treasure them always. One of my favorites is waking up in the hospital in my recovery room and seeing her being wheeled into the room, eyes wide open, with a little hat on, and my feeling of "I can't believe this perfect little person is mine." However, the best part is the love I feel for her. I've heard it said by others, but "love" doesn't really explain it. My heart leaps out of my chest with each new facial expression, coo, kick of her leg, and grasp of my finger. Breastfeeding, while exhausting, is such a special bond and I am so happy I made the decision to do it and that the two of us (Noelle & I) caught on within a few days.

I have to say that Cassidy has been the best support I could have asked for. He is up with me every time she is up - whether it is to get me water or chat with me to keep me awake, he runs errands, cooks, cleans, took the brunt of diaper duty, and tells me I am beautiful every day. It's so wonderful to watch him with her and see how much he loves her and cares for her. He is a protective papa bear and I'm nervous for the boys that come around in her teens :)

As for her 1 week birthday, we took some pictures today and as you will see, I captured a few of the many faces of Noelle...and they are all cute, if I do say so myself!

38 Weeks

Two more weeks. Two weeks until my life changes forever in ways I can't begin to imagine. I can't pretend to know what I will feel nor do I want to guess. I just know it is coming soon and that I will be forever changed and that my life will have a new purpose, meaning, and focus. My feelings now are difficult to put into words...but I'll try.

Mostly, I'm excited beyond comprehension. I'm excited to see her for the first time and to have some answers to questions we have been happily discussing - will she have hair (I think yes, and lots!), will she have my nose, Cassidy's eyes? Will she be big, small? What will her cry sound like? Will Cassidy cry when he sees his daughter? Will I stop crying? You get the idea...

There are also, as is expected, a lot of nerves about caring for her and wondering if we will do it "right". We've never cared for a baby before and until we took a parenting class, neither of us had ever changed a diaper! People say it will come to us, but I'm grateful that we will have both grandmas taking turns staying with us and helping out.

And the surprising emotion is one of sadness. And I'm not sure "sad" is the right word. The past couple weeks I have had moments of looking at Cassidy and our home and our life together so far. We have been so blessed to have seen so much together and to have been able to live and travel to such amazing places. We have had the luxury of being selfish with each other and our time and part of me is sad that we are going to lose that. I don't want this to sound like this feeling outweighs my happy feelings, b/c it doesn't come close. However, it sometimes pops up and it takes me by surprise every time.

Anyway, just wanted to get these thoughts down now. My next post may be my first as a mother :)

There's a baby room in our house!

Last weekend we finished Noelle's room and, if I do say so myself, it couldn't be any cuter! I had been holding off on finishing her room until the rest of our home was in good order - mainly that the guest room was finished in anticipation of the house guests we will have for the next few months. But finally last weekend I kicked it into gear and finished up.

I keep the door closed so the cats can't spend too much time in there. However, nearly every time I pass the room I go in the room and smile. While the room makes things more real, part of me still feels like we are playing house.







Everyone keeps asking - "Are you ready?". My response is always "as ready as we can be". I don't think there is any way that we can be totally ready for something that is so unknown to us. Are we ready to meet her and love her? - absolutely! Are we ready to be parents and all that comes with that? - we'll figure it out as we go along. We've taken the classes and read the books, but I don't think that can get us 100% there. My mom arrives on the 18th so she will help fill the gaps in our knowledge and preparedness.

I had my 36 week appt today and all is well. Noelle is head down, but I am not showing any signs of labor yet (aside from a few Braxton Hicks contractions). I think she will come within a few days of her due date so I think I have another 3-4 weeks to go! I need to get another picture in of the belly before then...

Santa Fe, A Wedding, & 30 Weeks

Two weekends ago Cassidy and I traveled to Santa Fe, NM for his sister's wedding. Neither of us had been to NW that we were aware of (possibly a drive through when we were young) and so we were looking forward to spending time in a new place. We also were very aware of the fact that it was our last trip together as a family of two and so took the time to really enjoy each other's company without distraction.

The wedding was a beautiful event on a hillside with the sunset as a backdrop followed by a lovely reception. Cass & I enjoyed spending time with his family and getting so many words of wisdom and advice about our newest addition. The love and attention from all the family was overwhelming at times, but much appreciated. Noelle is one loved little girl and she has so many people excited for her arrival. It's further amplified that she is the first of the next generation on both of our sides of the family.

Below are pictures of us from the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. I will have to get permission from the bride before I post her pictures here...but she looked absolutely stunning...I can tell you that much!

Moving, traveling, showering , etc.

That has been my past month and hence, my lack of blogs. Let's see...since the last post we have packed an apartment, moved to a bigger house (still in the city), traveled to CA for a little mini-vacation along with a baby shower thrown by my mother's wonderful friends, researched and purchased baby and guest room furniture, and looked for a new car (unsuccessfully, so far).

I know, not very exciting for a blog post. However, I do this blog mostly for me and I wanted to remember why I am such a slacker when it comes to posting when there is so much great stuff going on!

On the 9th I felt Noelle's hiccups for the first time. I was in the middle of a meeting and when I realized what was happening, it was very hard to contain my excitement and not ask my client's CFO to feel my belly! I refrained, it would have been akward for all parties involved :) We had our 28 week check up and I got in a sneak ultrasound b/c I happened to be the last appt of the day and my Dr. was in a fabulous mood and did it just for fun! She looked great and was doing her "practice breathing" while we watched her. Today Cass was home when the hiccups started and he could actually hear them when he had his ear on my belly!

Noelle's room is a disaster right now due to our sanding and refinishing of a dresser that Cass's grandfather made. After that is finished and aired out I will post pictures of the progress we are making.

Pictures to come of the belly and other stuff once I find my cord to load them. However, I can show this print, which I bought today for Noelle's room at the handmade fair in Wicker Park. I had been eyeing it on etsy for a while and when I saw it today I snatched it up!

Bliss

Warning: warm and fuzzy post coming up!

World, I am the happiest I have been in my entire life. It's due to a combination of several things, all of which revolve around my daughter, who is due in 16 short weeks!

Tonight, it hit me hard...in Target of all places...just how happy I really am. I was just wandering around with a fountain soda (yes, I still drink a Coke a few times a week) and aimlessly browsing the home aisles, storage, and the baby aisles and I literally got teary eyed. It is so strange, but I was just so happy in that moment and really allowed myself to revel in it. Revel in the fact that I have a wonderful family, amazing friends, a great job, a loving husband, and a daughter who likes to move around and kick at all hours of the day and remind me that she is there and she is thriving. (On a side note, as per usual, I walked out spending $100 on who knows what.)

Also, my happiness can be attributed to a re-prioritizing in my life. I am focused on the positive and all the little stuff that used to get to me, suddenly doesn't have a place. If I start getting stressed, it's easy to focus my attention on the more important things happening right now and realize that the other things are not worth my energy. It's wonderful to stop my churning mind and say "wait, does this really matter? Is it really worth upsetting yourself over?" It rarely is.

I laugh louder, hug longer, and love stronger now than I ever have, and I hope this is something that I can maintain for a long, long time.

So that's what that was!

For about 2-3 weeks now I have been feeling "something" in my belly. At my 20 week appointment the Dr. asked if I was feeling movement yet and my answer was "maybe??". Seeing that I haven't felt it before, I really didn't know what it would feel like.

Well, now Noelle (yes, that's her name and no, we aren't looking for opinions) has been moving a lot and a few days ago I actualy saw a big kick! Now we have a little game where she starts kicking and I'll lightly poke and she'll keep it going. In my world this is a fun game. I'm sure in her world, it is thoroughly annoying. But hey, I'm mom, and I'm bound to annoy her one way or another :)

I have to say that this is a whole new level of joy to actually feel her and to know I have a tiny little human growing inside of me. The ultrasounds are great because I can see her, but this is just something different that I can't describe...but I know all that have been pregnant understand what I am saying.

Only 18 more weeks and we get to meet her! Last night I had a dream that she was born at 2 AM (no date in my dream)...we'll see how that goes!

A long time coming

Hello-

It has been a long, long time. 5 months...and here I said I was going to take a picture every day. The break was partially due to work and a very busy schedule, but it is mostly due to my pregnancy. You see, I've known I was pregnant since March 23rd and since then, the only things I wanted to write about were 100% baby related. However, I have been so terrified of losing the baby that I didn't want to put anything out there which would later pain me if the worst case scenario were to play out. Now that I am 20 weeks and at the halfway point, I'm feeling more safe and really letting it sink in that I have a daughter on the way.

Just a quick background - it wasn't an easy path for us to get pregnant. I won't go into details, but due to a condition I have, a "natural" pregnancy is next to impossible for us to achieve. I went through the highs and lows of treatment, with the ultimate high being the day I got the call to tell me my blood test showed I was pregnant! I had taken a test the previous day, which was negative, so this call was totally unexpected. The happiness, while always present, was quickly overshadowed by my fears of all that could go wrong as a result of the condition I have which made it difficult to conceive in the first place.

Seeing a heartbeat on April 16th helped me to relax a little and when I passed that first trimester mark with another ultrasound showing a healthy baby, I finally shared the news with everyone.

So now here we are at 20 weeks and we just saw our baby girl yesterday and she was bouncing around, kicking her feet, and had an arm up over head...which, oddly enough, was the exact position I was in at the time. I think about her all the time and find that my happiest moments are those when I see her or hear her heartbeat and know that she is doing ok. She is growing and developing as expected and I can't wait to meet her.

Now that I have finally put this out there, I promise to write more often! Lots of happy moments to document in the next few months, and really, for the rest of our lives with our daughter :)

Here I am at 20 weeks!

Practically Perfect

This past weekend was a keeper. It all started Friday with a lovely dinner with a dear friend and a shared bottle of wine. The stories she shared were hysterical, albeit a bit disturbing. I can't share her stories here, but let's just say she has a way of attracting unwanted attention, and the results are pretty funny.

Saturday I woke up with something stirring next to me. Seeing as Cassidy was not here, in a panic I opened my eyes, only to find a cute little kitten sitting on my pillow and staring at me. Now, I'm not certain, but I don't think there is a better wake up call that I have heard of. A sweet little face with a rumbling purr is about the nicest thing to help me ease into my day. Saturday afternoon I met with four other ladies to go see 101 Dalmatians...if you have a kid, you should go. Otherwise, save your money. (Sorry Kimber!) However, the company was great and the rest of the night with cocktails, food, and girl talk was just what the doctor ordered.

Sunday started out on the wrong foot with a call from PAWS asking me where the kittens are. Seems that Cassidy is trying to get me blacklisted (again). He made an appointment to take them back and failed to mention that to me. Well, if you were aware of the kitten amber alert of February 2009, you can see how this is a problem for me. Fortunately they were fairly understanding when I told them my husband was to blame...and lucky me gets to hold on to the girls for one last week. Sunday afternoon I had a quick lunch with another friend and then spent the rest of the day relaxing, working, cleaning, etc.

If Cassidy were here, it would have been the most perfect weekend.

Sorry, no pictures...Note to self: I have to go buy a new digital camera (or get one of my 3 broken ones fixed) next weekend. Carrying my 'big camera' around is just too heavy and I end up missing out on a lot of great pics.

Valentine's Day in Chicago

I'm not a big fan of Valentine's day or the onslaught of heart-shaped chocolate boxes that line the aisles of seemingly everywhere this time of year. So when Cassidy said that he would like to go do something fun during the day followed by him making me a dinner at home, I was thrilled!

So Saturday we headed to Adler Planetarium. I'm a super dork because I love all things related to space, stars, black holes, etc. Since I have a membership (again, super dork) we decided to watch two shows and take a quick spin through the exhibits. However, as much as I enjoy the planetarium itself, the view from out there is second to none in Chicago.


And then I was that girl hanging out the car window and taking pictures. It's fun to play tourist in your own city sometimes!


Afterwards we headed home so he could get to making some good eats. He tried out something new...and I LOVED it, I don't think he was a fan though. Black bean & pineapple enchiladas anyone? Super good with both sweet & salty in one fabulous dish!

All in all, it was a perfect weekend of quality time and relaxation after a couple of weeks which weren't all that great. I'm hoping it's a precursor to the week ahead.

That didn't take long

Sorry all 2 readers, I just can't live up to my 1 post a day/picture promise. Things around the house have been absolutely crazy and although I can't post about it yet, I promise to share at some point in the future. It doesn't help that it is also busy season so work is always on my mind in any spare time that I have.

I did have a nice weekend though. Spent Saturday with some of my girls and had a great night. However, the best part of my night was coming home to this:


In case you can't tell...that's Cassidy passed out at the table. And no, it wasn't from a late night of working. Turns out multiple margaritas were involved.

My new BFF

Being a crappy, rainy day in Chicago today, I decided to try and whittle down my list of "to-do's" which seems to be passing a full page at this point. One item on my list was to have an eye exam...and so today, I went.

My optometrist was an attractive woman in her early 30's and was very nice and conversational during the exam. After the exam was over as I was gathering my coat, etc, she started a conversation that went something like the following:

Her: "What are you up to today?"
Me: "Just running errands, checking things off my list."
Her: "Right. So where are you heading after this?"
Me: "Target"
Her: "Which one? Elston or down on Roosevelt?"
Me: "Umm.. Elston"
Her: "And then what? Are you going somewhere else?"
Me (at this point I'm not sure what is happening): "Prob the grocery store.."
Her: "That's terrible on Sundays. Are you doing anything else? Something fun?"

So this went on for a bit and then she seemed to run out of questions and I paid and left. Now, she wasn't odd or anything and part of me wonders if maybe she is new in town and looking for some friends? I would have gladly been her friend if that is the case. Otherwise, I'm not sure what was happening. I'm waiting for my facebook friend invite.

Happy Friday!

Cheers! Here's to the weekend ahead.

In theory, it sounds like a good idea?

No picture tonight. I have a pounding headache and I'm certain it is from my lack of caffeine today. When I made my coffee this morning I realized we are out of sugar. Considering I like my coffee at a point where it can hardly be considered coffee anymore (read: LOTS of cream & sugar), I was distraught. After confirming we had absolutely no random sugar packets in the house, I became creative. I found a vanilla flavored powder and thought it would be an excellent alternative...turns out pudding mix will try its hardest to form pudding, even in a mug of coffee.

Goodbyes & Hellos

Yesterday was the day that the girls were going back to get ready for their surgery and then adoption. So I got up early and said my goodbyes and Cassidy took them to drop them off.

However, the vet decided the needed to gain a little more weight and asked if it would be ok if we kept them for 7-10 more days. Exclamation points were involved in my email response.

So here they are, enjoying another week in La Casa Shield:

Loser

Tonight, that's me. I lost twice to Quiddler virgin, Brett. It's upsetting, but I shall prevail at some point in time. And then I'll post a picture of his tears.

Daddy needs a new pair of shoes

I know it's destructive, but she is so stinkin' cute that I had to take pictures before taking the shoes away.

Devastation

So for the past 4-5 months Cassidy has had a "cold" and has gone to the doctor a few times, tried a few prescriptions, and nothing seems to shake it. Well, yesterday he had another appointment, this time with an allergist. Turns out, he's allergic to CATS. You can imagine the pain I feel about having to help my husband pack up his stuff to move out.

In all seriousness though, we won't be dropping off our cats at a shelter because they are family and I can't imagine life without them (ok, well without Lucky, considering Pierre spends 90% of his day under the bed). We will just have to change some sleeping arrangements. The biggest tragedy is that scenes like the one below may be a thing of the past in the Schumacher/Shield household.

Not thrilled

The little ones were out running around tonight and making a bit of noise. Old man Lucky wasn't thrilled with this turn of events and the interruption of his 18 hour nap.

Catching up

After a long, busy Monday I had time to have a wonderful dinner with a good friend. We haven't been able to get together in quite a while so it was really nice to spend a good amount of time together. I thought it would be creepy to bring my camera to the restaurant so no pictures. However, to said friend - thank you for being such a great listener :) It's always a great time when we get together and hopefully the next time won't be very long off!

Alternate

Well, I had planned on taking a picture of Kacy today when we met up, but plans changed and I had to make do with what I had floating around in my computer.

It's a picture of Kacy after a rough night of wrestling around with Kimber. Enjoy, I know I do.

Celebration

Tonight Cassidy & I celebrated a special occasion by going to see Avatar in 3D and then heading to Coco Pazzo for a yummy Italian dinner. When we got home I heard Cass run out the back door and although I thought that was odd... I didn't think too much about it. When he returned, he said he had a gift for me. It's the perfect gift for a girl like me who spends every night curled up on the couch in a blanket trying to work/play on the internets - a Snuggie! Thanks dear!

One of those nights

"Wine?"

"Yes please..."

"Dinner?"

"No thanks, straight to the chocolate."

Toola & Trendee

First, I didn't name them, these are the PAWS given names to my newest foster girls.

Second, they are feral kittens. So they aren't accustomed to people, being inside, or any of the strange noises in our house. However, Toola (pictured below) is in LOVE with Pierre. Today she saw a peek of him and immediately came out of hiding to see him and was purring the whole time. Pierre is frightened, of course.

Here is little Toola exploring the apt...and finding a window to her old world, where she clearly wants to return.

A chair?

Why a chair? Because I tried to get several pictures of my latest pair of kittens I am fostering...and they are hiding under a chair. So after many, many pictures of a chair with no kittens to be found, I gave up. So this picture here? I figure if you have to look at a picture of a chair, better this one than the one I bought on an impulse from a person on Craig's List which, in retrospect, wasn't a good idea.

Happy day, nonetheless. They just need a bit of TLC to come around!

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Easter!

I love the first day that I spy these guys in the stores and today was that day! Over the course of the next few months, I will be buying and stowing these bad boys. If you need to find me the day after Easter, I'm at Walgreens buying all the 1/2 off eggs.

Why I'll be earing a back brace in the near future...

Today is the official start of "busy season" at work. It's not my favorite time of year, but every year it seems I blink and it is already spring so I'm happy for the quick passage of winter. One of the downsides of busy season - reviewing work - this is what I carried home from work today and what I have to carry with me to the office tomorrow. Apologies to the trees.

Home Cookin'

Nothing beats Cass's homemade chili on a cold, cold night. And tonight was a cold, cold night. Thanks Cass for the good eats!

Quiddler

After spending two weeks straight with family, tonight Cass & I enjoyed a night alone wearing comfortable clothes and playing Quiddler. For the record, I won the first round. Round two starts in just a moment. Thank you Kimber for the introduction...and yes world, this is my idea of a perfect Saturday night.

Resolving to Remember

I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions - mainly because I'm not really a person that follows through with many projects, but also because I've never really been inspired to change or improve something. However, this last week I have been relfecting on the past and I have come up with a project for 2010. You see, I was trying to think about all the major events, both good and bad, that occurred in 2009. I can come up with a few:

• My 30th birthday


• Trips to San Fran, Seattle, CA, IA, MI, NY to visit family and friends


• Trip to Greece & Turkey with Cass, followed by a week in Greece with some girlfriends


• The passing of Cassidy's grandmother


• Moving from Lakeview to Bucktown


• Our wedding anniversary


• Cass completing a triathlon


• A work promotion for Cass & I


• My uncle's diagnosis of brain cancer, and his passing just a few days ago

While the above events did shape a bulk of our 2009, I know there are so many things that happened that I just cannot remember. The little things, the "in-between" moments, that ultimately bring the most joy to me on a daily basis. I want to remember these little things. I want to look back at them and laugh, cry, feel the feeling I had when the little thing happened. With the passing of my uncle and while listening to the amazing words spoken about him at his memorial which occurred on the date of his 60th birthday, I realized that life is short and memories, both good and bad, are precious. I wish I had more pictures of him, and us as a family. However at most gatherings, I find myself thinking that I don't want to get out my camera and that there will be time "later" to take a picture. Well, you never know when "later" will become impossible.

So, for the new year I am going to try to post one picture every day that represents something about that day. This is my resolution. Enjoy and Happy New Year.

Today's pictures is of the three remaining Christmas cookies I have that were baked by my Grandma (Grams). As far back as I can remember, these exact cookes have been made by her. This year she kept them in the garage and I'm not kidding, any time someone came in or out, there was a cookie in their hand. We even went so far as to hide the tins from others to keep more for ourselves...and in the spirit of being honest, there were actually four cookies when I started my little photo shoot...