Cuddles and Train Rides

It's a busy season in which cuddles and laughter are oh so often and oh so precious and bring me back to the precious moments of this blessed life. When there seems to be more work, more laundry, more cleaning then I have time for and the unending feeling of being behind it is too easy for me to begin to feel overwhelmed and anxious.

Thankfully it seems that at my breaking point unexpected interruptions happen where I am forced to take a break from the to-do list. Such a time as now. After traveling to Arkansas to visit my Grandpa who is battling cancer and then on to Oklahoma to see Addi's Meme and Poppi. It has been lots of time sitting in a train and a car with 2 people I love so dearly. Perhaps the 2 people I wholeheartedly believe God placed in my life to help deepen my faith, strengthen my love and perhaps at times expose my impatience. I'm a work in progress!

Oh so thankful for this week!!

-JJJ

Our "new to us" home

So many reasons I did not like this house the first time I saw it...ugly tile, ugly curtains, hideous light fixtures, wallpaper galore. I could go on and on but thankfully the hubby knew that together we could make this house our home. Before and afters of our little "new to us" home.

 Living room and dining room before...

 

 Living room and dining room after...

  

Kitchen before...

  Kitchen after...

mindless distractions

Here I sit lounging on the couch in my too small sweatshirt, yoga pants and bare feet thinking about distractions that will keep my mind off the big questions in our home lately, such as, "When is it going to happen? When will this sweet baby girl grace us with her presence?" I have become very thankful for mindless distractions like Pinterest (when it’s not being the world’s slowest website and Iphone application on the planet but that’s a rant for another day). Through Pinterest I have been able to visualize myself as a stylish mom who is decked to the nines, cooks and bakes the most amazing food, is 100% tidy and organized 24/7, and the craftiest person ever. It will be fun to try and live up to this when I am sleep deprived and attending to a newborn’s every whim. Ahh but I can dream!

my style

my lemon-blackberry cheesecake

my overly organized kitchen

my daughter's crafty tutu

and my reality!

My dear sweet baby A,

As I write this you are tumbling around in my belly and shoving those sweet little feet under my ribs. Your newest movement in there happens whenever I have to bend over, you stretch your long legs out to let me know you need your space. Something tells me having two strong willed parents has already rubbed off on you.

Even though this nine month journey has not been the easiest it has with out a doubt been the most amazing experience of my life. You have been a little fighter from the beginning. Doctors told us that we might not be able to conceive you and then they told us you might not make it to full term...well here we are 1 week past full term and you are healthy and growing like a weed.

You are one very special girl who has an entire fan club filled with a mommy, daddy, grandparents, aunts and uncles that cannot wait to meet you. Perhaps one of your biggest fans is your daddy. He could not be more excited to meet his little girl. He talks about swaddling you in blankets and holding you tight. He's also hoping you like baseball because he dreams of taking you to wrigley field one day very soon.

So much love for one little girl is waiting for you. I pray for you often. I pray that you would be happy, healthy and always know that you are loved beyond words.

Now I must wait for you to make your entrance into this world and dream of teaching you through my actions to be kind, patient and loving. I'm not perfect and I'm sure I'll make mistakes along the way but you will never have to doubt how loved and cared for you are.

I love you already baby girl!

Love,
Mommy

37 weeks and counting

Against all odds I've made it to 37 weeks which is considered full term. I am so proud of this growing girl and so looking forward to seeing her.

Baby A's room is all ready for her, the bags are packed and now we WAIT...

getting ready for our little girl

One of my absolute favorite hobbies is decorating. Perhaps if social work had not called my name I would have pursued interior decorating. So when we moved into our condo the guest room desperately needed a fresh coat of paint but I decided to wait because I knew eventually we would want to have kids and I would want to paint again. As soon as we found out that we were having a girl the wheels started turning and I started searching the web for inspiration. I wanted the room to be modern and feminine without being too baby and overly girly...a room that would grow with her.

I saw a beautiful nursery picture on pinterest and completely fell in love with the wall color so I tracked down the source and found that it belonged to a really cute blog called Cape27. I discovered that it was a Benjamin Moore paint color so I headed to the store to pick up a sample of the Stonington Gray (HC-170) paint and found it to be perfect.

I know it looks a little plain but once I figure out wall accents I think it will look amazing. Since living in the city means surviving in small spaces the plan is to leave the guest bed in the babies room. Of course the guest bed needed to coordinate with the rest of the room so I found this really pretty green duvet on Overstock. Also once my littlest nephew and my sister outgrow their crib, our little girl will also have a place to lay her head...hint hint! Don't you just love that cute little rocking horse? Mr. Jordan "aka Matty Buck" used it when he was little.

I also wanted our little girl to have a creative place in her room where she could one day draw or color. I decided to paint the entrance wall with black chalkboard paint. I want to get a little stool that she can sit at and do her art but we've still got plenty of time for that!

The first item I bought for the room was the framed tree above. There are little circle cutouts that you can put family photos in. Since all of our family is out of town I thought that would be a great way for our little girl to still see their faces everyday. 

I found the perfect fabric by Monaluna but unfortunately when I went to the website they were completely sold out so I decided to call Monaluna. Thankfully the designer happened to answer the phone and told me that although they were out of stock she would sell me what I needed from her personal stash. Yay!! So my plan is to try to make a crib skirt using the fabric and also frame some of the cute birds to hang on the wall. I found DIY design instructions on the honey and fitz blog. How hard could it be?   

Now the fun stuff! So we have known that we are having a girl for less than a month and somehow she already has a closet full of clothes, toys and bouncers.

and don't forget booties!!

Did I mention this is the only outfit I have bought for her? Actually, about 2 weeks before we found out we were having a girl I had such a strong feeling that it was a girl I ordered this outfit. Glad I was right! I didn't buy the booties but thought they looked cute with her coming home from the hospital outfit.  

And just a few more unfinished nursery pictures...

every nursery needs a monkey!

and every girl needs a Michigan cheer leading outfit!!

Can't wait to see our little girl!

Have you ever had a BIG secret?

Have you ever had a BIG secret? The kind that would change the rest of your life forever. Well my blogging absence has been the result of my BIG secret.

You see I am a terrible secret keeper!! I absolutely love buying people gifts and surprising them but I have this uncontrollable urge to tell the person what it is...drives Mr. Jordan crazy! I just get so excited for the other person I can't help myself. But I think I am well on my way to recovery I was able to keep this BIG secret for 6 whole weeks...definitely a record for me:-)

So here it is...

A few years ago I was told that I have elevated levels of the hormone prolactin. At the time doctors were concerned that I may have a non-cancerous tumor growing in my pituitary gland. After it was confirmed that I did not have such a growth the endocrinologist wanted to put me on medication because she thought that I may not be able to get pregnant when the time came. I started on the medication and then stopped. I could not find any medical proof that someone in my situation would definitely have difficulty getting pregnant plus I really wasn't thinking about babies at that time. A year later due to moving and changing doctors my new doctor was also concerned about these levels and wanted me to see a second endocrinologist. This endocrinologist said that she wasn't concerned and that when I wanted to have kids if I had difficulty I could be put on medication. I'm a big fan of not treating something when you don't know if it's broke. She also said that there have been some studies where athletes, especially runners, were shown to have increased prolactin for an unknown reason. So here it was another year later and I had to change doctors again (darn insurance companies!) This time I did want to talk babies but as soon as I mentioned the elevated prolactin she wanted me to see a third endocrinologist because she was unsure if I could get pregnant with these levels. So I went to the third endocrinologist and he said the medication is promising but may take a few months to work so I should start right away.

Now that's the medical side. Here's what I kept thinking. I've never tried to get pregnant so how do these doctors know I can't. I'm pretty stubborn and a firm believer that if you pray and work hard in life things will happen the way they are suppose to...even though it may not always be exactly what you had in mind. That being said I told the 3rd endocrinologist that I wanted to try for a  month without the medication. He concluded by saying that I should come in when I'm ready to take the meds, clearly thinking it was impossible. Although Mr. Jordan and I had plans to wait a little longer before trying to bring a baby into this world we decided we would try without meds to see what happens.

Well let's just say God must have a very special plan for this natural babe and boy were those doctors wrong. We are due February 6, 2011 (also my mom's birthday).

Our little visitor

The first time my little nephew came to visit me in Chicago was when he was 2 years old. Now he’s 6 and heading to first grade. It’s amazing how time changes things.  When he was 2 years old I was pretty exhausted after his visit but this visit was much easier being that he is much more independent and doesn’t require being held or strolled around.

The 2 year old

His recent visit to Chicago, as a 6 year old, included a trip to Millennium Park, the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier, Ed Debevics and of course Starbucks. Although, his favorite activity was riding the bus and train everywhere we went. I was a little worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle all the walking that comes with navigating the city but he was such a trooper. He never complained once, even when we were out and about in the rain. Each day I packed us a lunch and we headed out to tour the city. I miss him already!!

My journey to the city I love...

My first visit to Chicago was exactly six years ago. I instantly fell in love with this city and when I finished graduate school a few months later Chicago was where I wanted to be. Prior to graduation I began applying for jobs in Chicago. I got a few great job leads but none that went anywhere. Feeling that Chicago was where I was meant to be I sold my car, found an apartment, loaded up a moving truck and was headed to Chicago.

I will never forget the morning of the move. I checked my email one last time before heading to Chicago and to my amazement I was offered a job interview. I honestly could not even recall applying for the job but when I looked at the job description it was a job that fit my "ideal job" to a tee. After moving to Chicago I went to the interview, got a second interview and was hired within a month of moving to Chicago. Throughout this experience I felt God's guiding hand asking me to simply trust in him. I did just that and have not looked back since.

I added a new tab to the blog called, "Chicago Favorites." I thought I would keep a running tab of some of my favorite places to go in the city (i.e. restaurants, shopping etc.). What's your favorite thing to do in Chicago?

Happy Mother's Day!

The reality that our families live so far away, and here we are in this big city without them, has definitely been on my heart lately. Right now we have family in Oklahoma, Michigan, Spain, Kentucky, and Arkansas. Needless to say living so far away takes a lot of planning on where to go for holidays, birthdays and vacations…and yet there is still never enough time.

What we are quickly realizing is that what is more important than being around one particular family during any given holiday is the quality time we are able to spend when we can get together. In February we went to Spain to visit Mr. Jordan's father, Judy and siblings (check out Judy’s amazing blog here). We had so much fun enjoying cava, paella, and great conversation. Last month when I went on a cruise with my parents, sister and nephews it was so good to connect with them as I had not seen them for a few months (which is rare). Mr. Jordan’s mother and step father were in town last weekend and we enjoyed a concert, some really great Chicago food, and even celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday at every restaurant we went to (you are welcome Carol).



We also had miniature visitors all the way from Spain stay at our house last night…my little brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Aren’t they cute? Even our cat Sandy likes when they visit. I really love family and all the fun-craziness that goes with it…I just wish there was more time to spend with everyone.

In honor of our two really great moms(Tammy & Carol)and in loving memory of a really classy and beautiful woman (Grandma Maroney) we miss you, happy mother’s day!