Mamma Needs Some Quiet Time Too!

Last night I was given the best gift my sweet husband could ever give me, some quiet time ALONE!

Ryan has been working like a MANIAC since we moved to Texas. It is not at all unreasonable for him to be in the operating room until midnight a couple times a week. If he makes it home before 9:00pm I get really excited. This was a really hard adjustment for me when we moved here but now I'm used to it. Usually once or twice a week he will go a day or two without seeing Owen at all, but usually we try to stop by the hospital to see him if it looks like the day is going to end this way. Because of this crazy life we lead Owen often stays up late in order to see Ryan. That's just how we roll.

Yesterday started with Owen crawling in my bed at 7:20 (early for me because I went to bed after midnight in order to say "HI" to my husband before I collapsed in bed) and started crying because I wouldn't immediately turn the TV on for him. I knew at that point it was going to be a long day. Owen was a complete hyper chatter box ALL DAY and by 9:00pm when Ryan made it home I was exhausted! So after our initial greetings and getting Ryan something to eat I asked in my sweetest pleading voice, "Babe, can you please be Dad for a little bit and let me go take a bath and read for a while by my self?!?!" He was so sweet and said, "Of course" and after that he wouldn't let Owen even talk to me.

I wish I had a picture to show you what happened next but it would be pretty inappropriate but I did end up in a big bubble bath with a book in one hand and a mug of super yummy mint hot chocolate in the other. Ryan and Owen came in to check on me (aka: give me an update on the Cardinals game, as if I that was of real concern to me while in the bath) and I just giggled with delight.  On the way out Owen said to Ryan "what's she doing?" and Ryan explained, "Sometimes Mamma needs some quiet time too. Let's go." It was a great hour long bath, totally relaxing! It truly was a gift! Thank you Ryan!

Ryan + Ann + Owen + ???

So I know I'm a little behind in sharing our family's amazing news and most of the people in our lives already know, but for recording purposes I figured I might as well "post the news".

We are having a baby!!! 

We are thrilled beyond belief. It has been a long 14 month process, which we did not expect. Owen came quickly and without much effort at all (sorry if that is TMI). We always had this picture of what our family would be like and it never included our first two kids being 3 years a part, more like 2. 

I have the personal goal to run a 1/2 Marathon between each kid, #1- to keep myself fit and #2- to keep my weight loss between each kid in check. So I ran my second one at the beginning of May 2010, with my amazing friend Jessica who I must say is a trooper and a half because she ran 5 miles on her own at 6am before the race because she was training for her own full marathon then she ran my whole 1/2 marathon just a few steps ahead of me the whole time to keep me moving--it was the first time I'd run it without a group of girls running together. So shout out to Jess. You're the best! (sorry for the tangent) Anyway, the plan was to get pregnant right after the race and have a baby in February-ish of 2011. Well that obviously didn't happen and we were super sad month after month. We couldn't figure out what God's greater plan was for us. The timing would have been perfect as I was surrounded by friends and had a great support system in place in St. Louis. But for whatever reason, we were left babyless and sad. 

So after may months of no luck, and another 1/2 marathon behind me (I might as well keep running I thought), we consulted my OB who eventually put us on Clomid. After 3 cycles we are now pregnant and due on March 2nd, three days before Owen's third birthday. We are thrilled and relieved. Owen is super excited and has declared to the world that is is a girl. We are hopeful but would be equally happy to welcome a little brother. But in my gut I feel it's a girl. We find out on October 12th, if all parties cooperate. 

Side note: I know my mother is going to die when she reads this, she is much more private than I and will probably think sharing these details is wildly inappropriate in such a public setting, but the truth is the more we struggled to get pregnant the more I came to realize that there are A LOT of people in this world who struggle to get pregnant when they want. I firmly believe you have to find your own comfort level with talking about such private details but it was such a comfort to me to discover so many people, even some of my closest friends and a random flight attendant I sat next to, were going through the same thing I was. For so long I thought I was broken, or thought maybe we weren't going to be able to have any more kids. But the truth is.....I don't know! I have NO IDEA why some people can get pregnant when there husbands just look at them like my dear sister in law, mother of 7 kids, or two irresponsible teens wind up preggers. (Uhhh...don't get me started on that injustice!) Another sister-in-law of mine who is in her mid 30's and knows LOTS of people with kidos told me that she only knows 2 people in her whole life who have never struggled at anytime to get pregnant when they want. That is amazing. So for anyone else out there who is still playing the waiting game.......have comfort that there are many many many more people on your side of the court playing the same game. 

I told my family when we were 7.5 weeks along because I was home for a bit of a family reunion. My sis-in-law had made these awesome shirts for all the grand kids to wear during a family picture. 

The night before the pictures we were all sitting in the same room celebrating birthdays and graduations and talking about the pending photo shoot and admiring the shirts. I told Jennie, who made the shirts, "Now I wished I would have gotten you to make a t-shirt like this for me to wear," and I held up a paper sign to my belly with the same icon but that read "- 7.5 mo." It took most other people a few seconds to figure out what that meant but she jumped up with tears in her eyes and hugged me. She knew we had been struggling for a while and was so happy for us. Then my other sis-in-law Arwen did the same. My dad sat on the fireplace stunned....so happy but didn't know what to say. By the time everyone understood what was going on there were lots of happy tears and excitement. It was such a cool moment. (Thanks Jordan for the idea.) 

Ok, that's enough baby talk for now. Thanks for all the well wishes. We are so happy. 

Famous!

Owen and I made a little trip to the public library last Thursday just before close. While we were searching for books the art director asked if he could use Owen in a new campaign they are doing to promote library card sign ups this fall. Of course I said they could and they shot a few pictures of Owen by himself and a few of him with another little girl. These are the two the photographer sent me. Not the best, but they are still cute. I love the little gap between his front two teeth. Hopefully the ones they use will be better and of both kids. If it all works out he will be on a sign just outside of the library and on a big banner during one of their campaigns outside of the big fancy grocery store here in town. Owen could be famous! (We'll see....)

It's been a long time.....

Friends, family and anyone else who cares to read about the lives of our little family,

It has officially been over 10 months since I last posted anything. I know that is sad, I was doing so well. I told my friend Sarah, who convinced me to start a blog, that I felt too overwhelmed by all that had happened between last December and now to want to start again. She sweetly said, "Yeah, well you got to start somewhere." So...here we go. I'll do my best to catch you up on the fun things that have gone on in our family in the last 10 months another time, but for now the biggest thing that has happened is Owen started preschool. My little boy is so big!!! 

Our little boy has gotten so big! Doesn't he look like he's 5?

 Owen loves taking his lunch to school. He wants me to make him a quesadilla every time. 

 Rockin' the Elmo backpack. 

In front of his cubby.

He loves his teacher, Ms. Myra, and the 5 other boys in his class. I feel for his teacher sometimes with 6 2 year old boys for 3 hours. That is a lot to handle, but they all seem really sweet. He loves to paint, and play on the playground, and play with all the trucks and cars they have there. But his favorite feature in the classroom is the small sink. There is a small section of the countertop that is sunken lower and has a little sink and mirror so he can see himself wash his hands. He can do it mostly by himself. When I was checking out the schools in town they all looked much the same to me. But when we visited this school and he saw the small sinks and said "Mom look, it's just my size!" He said the same thing in all 4 classrooms we visited. Ryan tells everyone that I picked Owen's school because it has little sinks.  

I LOVE to pick Owen up from school. He is so excited to see me! He screams "Mommy"and runs to arms. I can finally feel a little of what it is like when Ryan comes home at night. He's been greeting Ryan like this since he could talk, but not to me because he's with me all day. Now those few moments around picking him up are so sweet and filled with enthusiasm that they have become some of my favorite moments of my day. 

Need your help!

Who Wants FREE Earrings?

Hello, friends!  Thank you to all of your for your support and kind words regarding our jewelry!  We are stressed but excited about our sale THIS COMING WEEKEND, and we hope to see many of you there!  We have been busy making many more pieces than are shown in the pictures, so come discover more treasures at our sales!  Several people have asked if they can buy from afar, and the answer is absolutely yes!  But it will have to wait until after the sale when our lives calm down a bit.  If you want to request prices of anything you see simply email me.  This process will be dramatically simplified when I open an Etsy store, probably in January.  I was hoping to have my Etsy store open by the time of our sale, but that is clearly not going to happen.  However, I would like to at least have a name picked and reserved on Etsy so that I can include "coming soon...." cards in the bags that we send home with customers.  Here's where YOU come in.  I can't think of a single one.  So I'm having a little contest!

I need your ideas for my Etsy store name!

You have from now until Thursday, November 11th at noon to come up with a rockin' name for me.  Leave your idea as a comment on this blog or on Facebook.  If you don't use either service then feel free to email me your idea.

The winner will receive a FREE PAIR OF EARRINGS CREATED BY MOI!

So get thinking, because I need your help!!!

Jewlery Sale 2010!

My dear friend Sarah McKenna and I work hard all year to make beautiful, unique handmade jewelry so that we can do two big sales at the start of the holiday season.  Well, my friends, that time is now! 

 We are excited to announce our 2nd annual jewelry sale! 

We have a variety of jewelry in various styles that will appeal to every female on your gift-giving list!  We work very hard to keep prices affordable since we are the wives of men in medical school and residency, so our prices start at only $5!  Cash and checks will both be accepted.  Please see the details below for the details of how you can attend this exciting event.  The best selection will be at the first sale, because we do not make new pieces in between the two sales.  Feel free to contact Sarah or myself with any questions.

Our sales are earlier this year so that you can get a head start on your holiday shopping!

Saturday, November 13th from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m
Located in the beautiful lobby of my apartment building, The Hawthorne
4475 West Pine Boulevard
Saint Louis, MO 63108

Thursday, November 18th from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Located at the home of Jane and Matt Thomas
34 Portland Drive
Frontenac, MO 63131

We hope to see you there!

Our Maine Adventure

2 weeks ago Ryan, Owen and I had quite an adventure as we vacationed in Maine! Neither one of us had ever been to New England and I have always wanted to see the leaves in the fall. People like are us affectionately called "Leaf Peepers" by the locals. The weather was spectacular, the leaves were vibrant, and the sounds of nature were alive and well as we hiked, biked and lounged all over the great state. We stopped in many small coastal towns as we drove from Boston to the north eastern tip of the state, westward to central Maine and back to Boston. We suspect we will take our family back to Maine every couple of years as we had such a great time. Maine is HIGHLY underrated!!!

Kennebunkport

 Boats in the harbor. We had lunch just to the left of this dock.

Ryan's lobster dinner. 

Owen was fascinated with the claw. 

Crabbing is a huge industry in this part of the country. Here are empty crab pots. This pier smelled SOOO foul, like fish guts. But it was neat to see all the fishing and crabbing boats in the water. 

Cape Elizabeth (just north of Portland)

Portland Head Light is the most recognizable lighthouse of the several in Maine. It is fully automatic now and the last "lighthouse keeper" to live in the house moved out in 1986. It is still a fully functioning lighthouse.

Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park 

Bubble Pond

Strapped in and ready to go. Props to the Ergo Carrier.

I felt so "hard core" in this picture. Look around, we were in the middle of the woods climbing over rocks uphill with my kid on my back. It was awesome.

At the top of our first afternoon hike. 

Bubble Pond at dusk. We started down the mountain a little late, once the sun was going down, and in the trees it got really dark very quickly. Luckily we could always see this lake at through the trees, we just couldn't see the trail markers anymore. So with our eyes on the lake and really cautious steps we made our way down the mountain. We ended up about 200 yards away from the trail head when we made it down to the starting path. Phew! I'm sure there is a great analogy in this experience.

Champlain Mountain all day hike.

At the top of Champlain Mountain. We hiked down to and had lunch at the lake just behind us. On this hike we could see the Ocean the whole time in the distance.  

Owen and I sharing oranges and PB&J by the lake.

Ahhh....I LOVE this tree!

Amazing! We often just stopped in our tracks to look around. We were in the middle of these gorgeous trees and all by our selves for most of the day. It was so wonderful to appreciate nature and all the God has blessed us with.

After lunch by the lake we hiked down to the small sand beach and I took a 20 minute nap in the sand. It was fabulous! There's not much better after hiking hard all day.

Family pic!!!

The Ocean playing peek-a-boo with us as we hiked through the trees.

Cadillac Mountain sunrise--6:30am

Took this picture as we were running to the lookout spot. Amazing! We almost missed it. Should have been up there at 6:00am to see the whole show.

A surprisingly happy boy for being up early and in the cold. He later threw up all over this cute outfit and car seat! YUCK!!! I ended up washing all the padding of his car seat and this outfit in the hotel tub using Ryan's Old Spice body wash, then sweet talked the hotel into drying it for me in their industrial dryer so we could check out and leave. No one wants to drive 3 hours with puke smell on the car seat. (Still gives me the willies to think about.)

Where we were standing is the first place in the Western Hemisphere to see the sun during the 2 weeks surround the time we were there. It's pretty cool to say we saw the sun that day before the rest of this side of the world.

On our way to Moosehead Lake

We originally planned to detour our trip to Vermont to see the covered bridges and leaves but it was just too much driving for such a short vacation. So when we saw this covered bridge in a tiny little town I was TRILLED and almost drove off the road to make the turn to drive on it. Mission accomplished!

Moosehead Lake

Our cabin at The Birches.

The view from our front porch.

Inside our log cabin. I made a fire one night as we hung out as a family. It was so great.

Biking in the freezing cold, but it was beautiful. I LOVED this road. The leaves were much brighter yellow than they appear here. And the road was much steeper than it appears too.

The swampland near our place. 

We veered off the main dirt road on our bike ride to investigate the advertised available plots for sale (no we are not thinking about moving to rural Maine, just interested in who would). And lo and behold we found this cute little neighborhood of roughly 10-12 house on this dirt path along the lake. It was beautiful and those we ran into were very friendly. 

The trees around our cabin. 

This is how you get major work done on lake front property. That is a Mac truck on the barge. It operates from the barge just up the lake from the Birches. 

The hunter predicted he was about 900 lbs. The next morning we had to leave about 5:30am to drive to Boston and we saw 7 on the side of the road on our own! We shouldn't have wasted our money with the hunter....but the first was saw was huge and very majestic! 

Moose on the side of the road. The fog at the bottom of the picture is the exhaust from the car. 

Boston

We flew in and out of Boston and I had never been so we ate lunch "where everyone knows your name" and spent the afternoon doing the "Freedom Trail". We saw a good portion of the city and I'm in LOVE with Boston. If we ever consider moving to another condo (which I hope we don't) I'd want to move to Boston. 

Owen has a thing for ducks, and he got a huge kick out of riding the golden ducks in the Public Garden, just next to Boston Common.

We ended our trip in D.C. for a wedding of two of our dear friends from St. Louis, Jenn and Brian Wessman. He works at the hospital with Ryan and we've become very close to them as they have dated long distance over the last few years. 

After the wedding we spent the rest of our weekend with my brother Jordan and his wife Kristy in Georgetown. My parents drove up to see us and it was a great and relaxing time with all of them. 

Phew.....THE END!