On June 6th I had a complete meltdown. Ryan and I had been running errands after church. We stopped by IHOP to eat a late lunch. I started to feel so bad that I had to leave my uneaten plate and go lie down in the car. Later that afternoon I took my blood pressure, and it was very high (according to the crappy wrist monitor we had). I was scared of preeclampsia.

The next day I called my doctor and he suggested that I came to the hospital so they could monitor my blood pressure. I stayed in the labor and delivery area for a few hours. All was well, so they sent my home on bed rest. Doctor ordered rest that I greatly needed after finishing the school year the week before.

Then Wednesday, June 9th came around. It all began at 5:00am. I was coughing in my sleep, and I thought that I had a pee accident. It was not much, so I changed my clothes and went back to bed. Little did in know that was when my water had broken. No gush. No huge pool of liquid, just enough to make me think that I had peed myself.

So I went back to bed until 6:00am. I woke up with the worst back pain. It was constant. I thought I had slept funny so I pulled out the heating pad. I told Ryan to go ahead to work since my back was just hurting. That constant pain continued and got worse. I probably would have realized I was in labor if it wasn’t for my mom.

She was sure that I was not in labor. And since we had just been at the hospital a few days before, she did not want me making another trip. She kept telling me that I was not in labor. The whole time I was not mad at her, just really irritated. I felt like I was losing my mind.

Finally I called Ryan at 10:30 and told him to come home. I had already called the doctor once and this point, but he had not called me back. So much of that time is a blur now, and other parts I remember vividly. I remember rocking in the glider in Liam’s room. I was able to get calm there, but the pain was still really bad.

Ryan got home and tried to get a hold of the doctor again. He then started to pack our bags. We left for the hospital at 12:00pm (note: Liam was born at 2:07pm). I walked in and told the nurses at the labor and delivery desk that I thought I was in labor. They took me back to a room and examined me. I was 6 centimeters dilated. It felt so good to finally have a reason for all this pain. I wasn’t sure that I was in labor because I was not really having contractions, just the constant back pain. I remember telling my mom that this was so much worse than labor because there were no breaks in the pain.

At that time they came in to offer me an epidural. I declined, but said that I would take some pain meds in my IV. The nurse went to get the orders for the meds. My doctor finally came in at that point. I was 9 centimeters dilated, and pain meds were no longer and option. They were still offering an epidural though which I thought was crazy. I decided at that point that I had made it this far without anything that I would just have a natural birth.

It was a good thing I didn’t try to get an epidural because I was pushing 30 minutes later. I bet it would have taken that long to get an anesthesiologist down to my room. My mom and brother made it to the hospital right before I started to push.

I pushed through 6 contractions, and then my little man was born.  The doctor almost didn’t even make it to the room in time to deliver Liam. He came out with the biggest cone head.

He weighed 5 pounds 12 oz and was 19 inches long. The NICU team spent a lot of time making sure he was okay. He was absolutely perfect. The laid him on my chest to regulate his breathing and temperature.

We were so fortunate that Liam was healthy and did not have to spend any time in the NICU. When I look back at my labor and birth, I realize it was perfect and exactly what I wanted. I had hoped to have a natural birth and spend as much time laboring at home as possible. That is exactly what happened. God is so Good!

(I originally wrote this post on June 1st, but I needed to download and organize the pictures. I decided to go ahead and pre-date this post even though I finished it after your unexpected early arrival.)

Liam,

The last six weeks have been so busy. You were celebrated at FOUR showers in May! So this is going to be a long letter. The first shower was given by my awesome team at work! Rosana is due to have a little girl the same time as you will make your arrival, so they threw us a shower together.

Daddy even got off work early to come meet the ladies I work with.

Jenn and Caitlyn stopped by too.

The brains behind the shower is my good friend Penny. You might be in kindergarten with her little boy one day. She has made mommy’s first year at this school great!

Then Aunt Jen threw us a shower including the White family and lots of other friends.

You got so many nice things from everyone at the shower.

One of my favorite gifts you got was this set of bibs. Aunt Jen had them mongrammed with your name, initials, and other fun statements. How perfect is this bib?

Here are some of the great ladies that came.

Aunt Brittany

The gals from our church LifeGroup. Kim, Mandy (Trinity in her belly), and Robyn.

My friend Jennifer threw the third shower at our house. Daddy’s family, Aunt Terri, and friends came to this shower. Everyone loved seeing your room.  I’ll post a video tour soon. I’m waiting on one more thing I have ordered to arrive.

The girls enjoyed visiting with each other.

Your Grandma is so crazy. It’s hard to find a picture of her without her making a funny face.We had a good laugh when I opened a breast milk storage container. Faith was not very impressed with the gift.

Aunt Terri picked out the best things for you! I can’t wait to read the book she got for you. It was cousin Liz’s favorite when she was a little girl.

At the end of the month my kindergarten class had a shower for us. They were so sweet, and they are so excited about you. Many of the kids said it was the best day ever (and the shower was the day after Field Day).

I celebrated my first Mother’s Day. Even though you are not here yet, I very much feel like your mother already. You have changed my life in so many ways. I celebrated the day by chilling out in my new recliner and eating a Sprinkles cupcake (the best cupcakes ever).

Here’s a belly shot of 34 weeks.

It’s so hard to believe that you will be here before we know it. Thanks to all of our family and friends we have everything we need for you to arrive.

Love,

Mama

One of the parts of our house that I honestly hate is the master bedroom closet. It is so tiny. It also had only one large rod for both of us to put all of our clothes on.  There was one smaller rod, but it only held a few things. It was not a pretty sight.

I was on the phone with Ryan before he went to London, and I had a DUH! moment. Liam’s closet turned out so good. I don’t know why I never thought to do that to our closet.  When Ryan got back from London, I sent him up to Home Depot to get the supplies. (again no before picture with clothes in there because Ryan is speedy quick….sometimes)

This however is how our room looked with all of the clothes everywhere.

Now take a look at my awesome closet!

Behold the glory!

It isn’t any bigger, but it sure feels like it is. It is also really easy to see everything. It went so well that Ryan tackled the garage with the same kind of shelving. It looks even more amazing than the closet. Pictures of that coming soon!

Liam,

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the third trimester. The countdown in on! I just can’t wait to meet you! After several months of liking the same name I am glad to officially say that your name will be Liam James O’Toole. We chose Liam because it is just an awesome name! It also is Irish for William (your grandpa’s name). James is a household name (insert Forrest Gump voice). James is your great-grandfather’s name. You will know him by Papa.  You are going to learn so much from him like I have. So get ready to listen up when he speaks!

Your crib bedding and crib have finally arrived! Your new room looks amazing. I have a lady coming over to make you some cool wood cut outs. Other than that your room is ready.

You finally decided to claim your space a little and give me a bigger bump. Which is cool to  have, but I do not care for your butt in my diaphragm. I noticed that I finally looked pregnant when I watched the videos from Easter. This picture was taken today.

I also have had a few uninvited rubs of my belly! You have been pretty easy on me during this pregnancy up until the last few weeks. My feet have also started to really swell. Sometimes it takes hours for them to just go down a little bit. This swelling is kinda painful and hard to manage since I’m on my feet a lot at work. I went to the doctor last Friday to make sure everything was okay. I passed by blood glucose test, and everything else looks good. During the sonogram I was able to see you take practice breaths. It was so neat to see your little lungs move as you get ready for life outside of my belly. We’re almost there little Liam!

Your dad and I started childbirth classes a few weeks ago. Luckily they have not been completely lame. Daddy even learned something really cool about heartburn from the teacher. Now he doesn’t have to take his stomach medicine everyday. This Thursday we get to tour the hospital and see the place where you will enter this world. It is almost more excitement than I can stand!

The upcoming months are going to be full of fun events. Baby showers….oh, the baby showers. We are going to have three events to honor you! I cannot wait to see all of the fun and thoughtful things people will bring you. Get ready to give them lots of kisses and snuggles after you are born. I’m also looking forward to the end of the school year. It will be so nice to stay in pajama pants all day and have the energy to work on things for you!

Counting the days!

Love,

Mama

Hey, it’s Ryan and this is my first guest post on Brooke’s blog! She asked me to write about our fancy new video camera so listen up.

We recently decided to purchase a new video camera and after a lot of careful consideration and research, we got the new Kodak PlaySport. I wanted something small that would capture excellent quality HD video without sacrificing too much functionality. For the price, it really doesn’t get any better. They’ve managed to cram a ton of great features into a very small package.

I originally looked at the “Flip” cameras because they seem to be really popular lately but I didn’t like that none of them had expandable memory. I didn’t want to be stuck with 4GB or 8GB before I had to offload the video to a computer. Expandable memory means I can put a 16GB or 32GB card in and when it fills up, I can just swap it for an empty one and keep going. Most of the models also don’t have a removable battery. This is a deal-breaker for me. Batteries wear out and battery size only allows 2-3 hours of record time. I like having the freedom to replace the battery or charge 2 or 3 batteries and quickly swap them out when needed instead of waiting for the battery to recharge. There are a lot of other portable HD cameras out there with a variety of features but the PlaySport (small comparison chart below) was the only one that had everything I was looking for.

A lot of these cameras are about the same size (roughly the size of a cell phone. Pictured below with a standard business card and a pen on standard ruled notebook for perspective. Better yet, it’s solid as a rock. This thing is tough! I attempted to squeeze and twist and bend this thing and it doesn’t give at all. It actually listed “crush proof” in it’s features and I believe it. I have no doubt this thing could survive a pretty good drop (kid-proof).

While we’re talking about kid-proof, it’s worth noting that this camera is water-proof up to 10m. That was the key selling point for me second to the video quality. The idea of taking this camera with my kid(s) to the pool or water park and still being able to capture every moment is pretty awesome if you ask me. I can see myself recording a journey down a water slide or two. At the very least, it’s nice to know that if/when my future 3-yr-old decides the camera wants to swim in the toilet or bath tub, it won’t be completely destroyed.

Finally, the quality is simply amazing. It seems to do well in varying lighting conditions too. I’ve used it indoor and outdoor with artificial and natural light but I haven’t done and night shooting with it yet. Compared to previous camera’s I’ve owned in the past, nothing compares to the crispness and detail this camera captures. It’s certainly not professional grade, not that I’d expect that out of a portable camera like this, but it’s better than expected and more than enough for typical family videos. The camera comes with USB, HDMI, and Composite video cables, which I thought was nice. We used the camera over the Easter holiday and after the party was over I connected the camera to my TV with the HDMI cable and we were all shocked at how good the video looked.

Here’s a sample for you. Be sure to turn on HD!

Just Dance! from Ryan on Vimeo.

If you are in the market for an awesome video camera, buy this thing. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Well. One Pretty Thing has struck again. I saw a tutorial to make the cutest Peep banner for Easter a few weeks ago. I knew that this would be one project that I would tackle immediately.

The original idea comes from a guest blogger over at V and Co. This project was so easy and cheap! I was able to get the felt for 1.25 and I splurged on the large rick rack since I had a 40% coupon. The total cost was less than $5. Not bad for a project that I absolutely LOVE! I think it looks pretty cute on the mantel. What do you think?

Now if I can only find the time to get these done before Sunday, I will be a happy camper (I guess happy crafter would fit better)!

Update: I was able to get the Peeps done, but guess what? People don’t like Peeps! Oh well. Lesson learned.

I found  a new blog the other day while I was voting for the bloggies. Confessions of  a Young Married Couple is so funny. I love reading about their daily adventures. When I find a blog that I like, I will often go back and read all of the archived posts (maybe this is why I cannot get things done).

Anyhoo. So I was reading, reading, and reading when I came across this post (insert link to post that I somehow CANNOT FIND, urgh). Katie’s husband installed a double row of closet rails for their little guy’s room to increase storage. What an awesome idea! So Ryan set out to Home Depot with a plan that ended up with this.

Sorry the picture is blurry. I obviously was not paying attention. I also didn’t get a chance to take a before pic because Ryan had the closet emptied before I could get in there.

What a mess! After I got everything cleaned up and put away, the closet looks amazing.

Is it just me that gets excited about things like this? I sleep better at night with an organized closet.

I have a favorite craft site: One Pretty Thing. What I love about this site is that she finds clips of different craft projects and displays them for you to look over kinda like a craft index. Since my cold has put a halt to some of my spring break plans I sat down earlier this week for some good internet surfing. Turns out that I had not gone to this site since January. Oh the crafting ideas I found.

This colors quiet book it way too cute over at everyday celebrations. I probably even have enough scraps, and her tutorial makes the whole process look like a breeze.

I saw this and immediately thought of my nursery. My cover isn’t dirty….YET, but I thought that I could make a cover to match the nursery and keep it from ever getting dirty. Lil Blue Boo is amazing!

I also love the name artwork she made for her niece’s nursery.

Anyone looking for an awesome gift for a new baby boy on his way…this would be it….. I’m just sayin’.

Small-Bottom Enterprises posted this cool tutorial for a family memory game. I have seen this idea before, but I love the way she put it together. I’m definitely planning on making this down the road for some kiddos in my family.

I’m currently working on an I Spy quilt for the baby, but if I can find the time I’m going to make this. So simple and so cute. Moda Bake Shop posts all kind of ideas to use with or without their fabrics.

This could have been my favorite find of the day, and I have already found other cool ideas visiting At Second Street. With a little boy on the way, I was instantly excited about this. All that fun in a suitcase that can be stored under the bed or in a closet. Oh the possibilities for other play worlds.

Does anyone have any hard suitcases they could donate?

All this inspiration. All I need now is more time to work on all these projects!

Little Guy,

Today marked 22 weeks! We are over half way there. This month has been so busy. We found out that you were a little boy, and we immediately jumped into boy mode.

Here’s the first outfit I bought for you.

I though you would look so handsome in the green (especially if you have red hair). Your daddy picked this awesome little outfit out.

You are going to be the coolest! I think Daddy wants an outfit like that for himself. We also picked out your name and ordered the bedding for your room. Your car seat and stroller came in last week. It’s so neat. You’re going to be stylin’. Oh and once we found out that you were a boy everyone started giving us presents for you faster than I could put them away. Everyone is just so excited to meet you.

I felt you move for the first time on Valentine’s day. You like to roll around and seem to be the most active in the evening. One night I was having a hard time getting comfortable to go to sleep. I decided to lay on my tummy. It felt so good and comfortable, but you were not having it. You started kicking and hitting me repeatedly, so I reluctantly turned onto my side.

I still do not really have a baby bump. Daddy took this picture of me on my birthday.

You can kinda see it a little bit, but you still are not sticking out yet (which is so funny to me because you are the size of a banana now) I look more like I ate too much at Thanksgiving than pregnant. Last week was the first time that my regular pants didn’t fit, so I know that you are growing. Maybe it could also be all the cream cheese I am eating. I have always liked cream cheese, but since I have been pregnant it is my go to snack of choice. Before now we never kept cream cheese and bagels in the house.

I went to the doctor last Monday. You look perfect, and everything is just as it should be. This was the big 21 weeks appointment to look at all of your organs. It was so incredible to look at your heart. I was able to see all four chambers pulse with every beat.  And just look at that face!

Gran (my mom) says that your lower lip looks like your daddy’s. We’ll see! And no there isn’t a crack in your head. That’s just an error in the scan.

The funniest part of the sonogram was that you kept….ummm…..playing with yourself. You kept putting your hands between your legs. The sweet lady doing the sonogram said that in her 20 years of giving sonograms that she has never seen a baby girl with her hands between her legs. Let me just go ahead and give you your first set of advice. Stop playing with it or it’s going to fall off!

Love,

Mama

Me: Guess what Little One (LO)?

LO: What mama?

Me: You’re a boy!

LO: Duh mom. I’ve know that for over 18 weeks now.

Last Monday I went ahead and made a doctor’s appointment because I was feeling so bad. When I went in they started talking about rescheduling my next appointment for another 4 weeks. This would have meant that I would miss my sonogram that had been previously scheduled for today (the 8th).

So I started to get a little upset. When my wonderful doctor entered the room I told him about how I was feeling, and then I proceeded to beg him for a sonogram. After one minute of my irrational babbling he said, “Come on girl.”

That’s when we found out that you are a boy. Not only are you a boy, but you already have a big head. Like father like son. I have already gone through all of the clothes we have been given and packed up the pink stuff. Ryan is going to build out the closet with two rods instead of one so I can pack it full of twice the amount of clothing! We also have almost completely nailed down the name (for this moment at least)!

I wonder who the baby is going to look like.