How it all started

Yesterday marked a big day for me, but more importantly, us as a family.  Yesterday was the one year anniversary of getting out big, fat positive.  That's right, one year ago yesterday I was officially one day late and peed on that all mighty stick (Tmi?  In this last year I learned there is no such thing).

Kyle and I very much enjoyed our childless days of staying up late and watching TV and playing video games (Kyle) until all hours and then making up for it with copious amounts of coffee the next day (Me).  I. Love. My. Coffee.  That's why it struck us as odd when one morning I brewed a fresh pot of coffee, popped open my liquid crack, I mean coffee creamer, and after I took my first sip felt completely ill.  I was petrified.  In that moment the thought of pregnancy never crossed my mind.  My only thought was, "My coffee, my coffee, why have you forsaken me?!"  Kyle took one look at me and told me I should take a pregnancy test.  Is it sad to say I was almost relieved to know that this might be the logical reason why my coffee was making me want to run in the other direction? (Noooo.  Right?)

The problem here was I was no yet late, so that first test came back negative.  We both had all this anticipation for it that we were truly disappointed when it said not pregnant.  I knew it could change in a week, but I was not holding out hope, my weird nausea was just a fluke.  So one week later I got up early and made my coffee (which was no longer making me ill, thank GOODNESS), turned on the news and took the test.  After you take them they have to sit for a few minutes so while I was waiting I went and poured my coffee, checked facebook and proceeded to forget all about it.  It wasn't until about an hour later that I went back into our room and remembered about it.  Lo and behold, when I turned the little sucker over it said pregnant.

WHAT THE WHAT?! I read the thing like eight times before my brain caught up with the situation.  I then had to call Kyle (who was at work for all of this, perks of never having a Friday class).  When he answered the phone I was dying to blurt out "I'M PREGNANT," but thank goodness I waited the extra two seconds because out of nowhere I hear an extra voice over the bluetooth in his car.  "HI KATIE," says my sister in law.   Cue awakard, "ummmm," from me.  "Kyle, I need you to call me back when you're back at work, BYE!" Real smooth there Katie, real smooth.

Twenty minutes later he called me back outside, away from everyone, including my sister in law who at this point probably thought I was a total wack job.  He was so excited when I told him the news and overwhelmed at the thought of becoming parents.  We managed to keep the secret from our parents for about 5 weeks after that, and at 9 weeks we started to share the news with close friends and family.  When I made it to 13 weeks all bets were off and shared the good news with the world.  It didn't take long for some people to figure it out though, between morning sickness which set in with full force around 6 weeks (and yes a coffee aversion was part of that, sadly) and cravings for flaming hot cheetos with lime and a dark blue gatorade (which lasted until the end of my second trimester).  It's crazy to think about my little man and how up until a year ago he didn't even exist.  Now I cannot imagine my life without him, being him momma is the best gift I've ever been given.

Okay enough with the sappy, let's see some pics!

9 weeks

17 weeks

20 Weeks

Born 40 weeks 1 day

Crafty moms know how to party!

So anyone who knows me knows that when I got pregnant I became OBSESSED with thebump.com.  Seriously though, it was a great resource for me when I was pregnant. When I had a question the first place I went was there. While I was on there I discovered the Birth Month message boards (again, thanks to Miss Megan! I am now sporting her button, go check out her blog!) As odd as it sounds, I became very close with this group of ladies who were all expecting in the month of October.  Over time a large group of us decided to split off thebump, and started a facebook group.  I won't lie to you all, most days I check the Patch Page (pumpkin patch as we call ourselves) before I check my actual news feed.

Now here's the craft part. Our group loves gift exchanges! We did a baby shower exchange while we were pregnant, baby's first ornament exchange for Christmas, a book exchange, and nowwww a craft exchange!

When I told Kyle about this he literally laughed at me! "What are you going to do! I've never seen you make ANYTHING!". Cue shocked and straight up offended wife! I AM CRAFTY!  I have always been crafty! I have a closet full of craft supplies at my parents house! And then I thought about it, I haven't made a single craft since I lived on campus in Northridge. And before that? Probably my sophomore year of high school? So sad!

So not only am I making a craft for the exchange, but I am making a vow to make more of my own things. Gifts, housewares, decorations. One, it feels good, and two, you can save so much money, and really, that's what my life is all about now. ;-)

So I start here, with my craft exchange gift.  Here's what I started with:

And here's the finished product:

Fashioned after the letters that can be purchased at Anthropologie, for a FRACTION of the price. And even though wrapping the yarn around that J was a pain in my arse,  it only took about an hour and a half to make. Damn, it feels good to be me ;-)

Going Green, to save some green! Step One

Okay so I am all for going green and being environmentally friendly, I recycle  I reuse, but any one who knows me knows I have never gone too far beyond that.  Just not my lifestyle.  Call it a change of heart, call it growing up, or just chalk it up to being more educated, but I have come to realize that going green can have way more benefits than just the environment.  And being the secretly selfish person that I am (lets be real, we're all a little selfish, right?  RIGHT?  Oh...), I have also realized that there are some serious monetary benefits for me and my family.  And in this economy an accidental stay at home mom can use all the extra cash she can get.

Step One:

Cloth Diapers.  That's right everyone, I said it, cloth dipes.  Raise your hand if you think I am nuts (oh look, I raised mine too!).  What you need to know is, these days, these are not your momma's (or grandmomma's) cloth diapers.  I say cloth diapers and most people think those little gerber cloths we use for burp rags, diaper pins, and plastic pants.  These have gone the way of Ferbies, Doug, and Hostess, all once beloved, but alas, have been replaced.  Thanks to my beautiful friend Megan (hey when  you're done here go check our her blog!) I have been shown the error of my ways.  Yes there are still prefolds (those burp rags) and covers (sans pins though, Hallelujah), but now there more options.  Pockets, Fitteds, All in Ones (or Twos), Snaps, Aplix, the list goes on!

So here I sit, I have officially purchased 20 cloth diapers, enough to start my rotation. I am just waiting for the last few to come in the mail. Fluff mail is the best, I get so giddy, when my diapers show up! Once they are all here the adventure can begin! Wish us luck, and say a prayer!

Staying at home

Ladies and gents (let's be real, it's probably only my close girlfriends that will read this) I started a blog!

My name is Katie, I've been married to my husband Kyle for 1 year and 3 months and on October 31, 2012 we welcomed out first born, Mister Elias Ryan to our lives.

How is one an accidental stay at home mom you may ask? Well its quite the story. I never intended to stay home, I always assumed I would get too bored and be in dire need of adult interaction other than my husband.

That's why it came as a total shock to me when one week before I was to return to my office job, I started to panic.  I can't leave my baby, he's too little, he needs me, he's not ready, I'M NOT READY! However, I was not ready to admit these thoughts out loud, so I kept busy with prep work thinking once I was at work I'd be fine. WRONG! I was not fine, and to make it worse, I had the baby with me. I spent my entire first day back completely high strung feeling like I was failing because I wasn't doing either of my jobs 100%. Being at work with my baby I could neither give my all to my job nor my son, it was a balancing act I was definitely losing.

Well, it would seem God had a different plan for my working situation. At the end of my work day a few things about my scheduling drastically changed, all unforseen, and after looking at my finances I realized maybe I really wasn't ready, maybe my baby does need me, and MAYBE my husband and I don't  need me to work as bad as I thought? After accounting for all the expenses that go with being a working mom (gas, childcare, car maintenance, etc.) we decided that for the time being it would be better for me to take this time to be with our son.

I could not have felt happier or more relieved (this from the women who thought she'd be BORED at home) to know that, at least for now, I get to be home and spend my days with this GAWGEOUS face ;-)