Baby Cuteness

I was looking back at some baby photos of Benjamin and I this evening.  And the cuteness that spews from the both of us back at that young age is just too adorable to not share...

This is one of my all time favorite photos of me.  And here's why:

1.  Who doesn't love an adorable dress with ruffled socks and black Patton leather shoes?  My momma dressed me well folks.  

2.  The Gerber curl on the top of my head.  It was my signature look for years.  

3.  The excited face and massive smile.  Almost every photo that I have looked at, I have that same expression.  The parents say I was always a happy kid... here's proof.

4.  The grip I have on my poor doll's head... combined with the crazy* (*see excited in the comment above!) eyes!

Plus I have some really great memories of Noah making me laugh so hard until I was crying with his commentary about this photo.  It was stellar...wish y'all could have been there.

This is one of my favorites of Benjamin and here is why:

1.  Again with the snazzy socks and adorable shoes... and a BOW TIE!  With Benjamin's sense of style, we were destined to be together!  No it's true, when we get ready to go out on the town, he chooses his outfits so that we won't clash!

2.  How sweet is she precious expression?  I just want to pinch his little cheeks!

3.  The way he sweetly is loving on Toby Rabbit just melts my heart.  The cool thing is Toby still makes an appearance every Easter.

I won't overshare, but here are two that I hope just make you smile a little, if not laugh a little.  Go ahead, we give you permission.

Here's to hoping that Winston turns out the perfect blend of classy and crazy!

Tuesday Happies!

So far today, there have been four things that have made this Tuesday great!

1.  Finding out that Which Wich is having $3 wiches tomorrow, August 1st for those of us that live in the Houston area!  Proceeds go to a backpack drive for back to school.  Who doesn't love good food at a great price for a great cause?

2.  This video popped into my life today and I felt inclined to share it with you.  Be sure to click on the link and listen to the entire interview!  My laughter was heard echoing through the halls of the 9th floor...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/28/sister-haircut_n_1635143.html

3.  The Dining Hall had white cake with funfetti sprinkles.  It's really good, trust me.  If you ever want to try it for yourself, just come for a visit!

4.  I am planning when to use my Sprinkles Cupcake offer from Facebook.  Buy one cupcake, get one free... HELLO, yes please.  

Hope you've had some joys in your Tuesday!

Hugs,

Sara

Documenting Life

Update: So...it's been more than a week, but I have been working on the things below!!

Over the next week or so, I will be working on catching up on documenting our lives.  This will include the following:

• Hosting an 80's Party
• Hawaii
• Crafty Projects
• The Orange Show
• San Antonio
• Crossing a cool item off our bucket list
• Galveston
• Lulu's Birthday

You are more than welcome to check back here for the updates as I'm going to retro-post them as to keep The Timeline of Our Life in order...at least on the internet!  :)  I will more than likely repost this piece each time there is an update so bear with me.

Loves,

Sara

Bump It: 26 Weeks

Where has the past 7 weeks gone?!  Time seems to fly when you're growing a human!  In the past seven weeks we have had Andrew come to live with us for 6 weeks, we travelled to San Antonio, we spent time in Galveston with Benjamin's family and tried to keep up with the every day routine of patients and work.

The time has gone relatively quickly, however we feel fairly relaxed and on top of things for the most part.  We feel like we have the big things covered:

• Name: Check
• Room Theme: Check
• Hospital Toured: Check
• Lamaze started: Check
• Crib purchased: Check
• Stroller/car seat: Check
• Day care for when I return to work: Check

Everything else seems to be ticking along nicely as each day comes.  One of our most out of our comfort zone experiences so far was registering at Target.  It was a lot of me setting my purse down on one end of the aisle and moving up each section saying, "Oh, I don't know...this one?  Or maybe this one?  There's too many choices.  Surely they're all okay, right?  (sigh)  Let's go with this one"  Insert the sound of me scanning an item.  All of this happening while Benjamin was doing price comparisons on Amazon.  Another favorite conversation was this:

Benjamin: I scanned us the starter bottle pack.

Me: How many are in there?

Benjamin: 8

Me: 8?!  We need more than 8 bottles!  How many times a day do you think he'll eat?

Benjamin: Like 4-5.

Me: Nope.  Like 8 or more.  Do you want to wash bottles every day?

{Sound of Benjamin scanning three more sets of bottles}

We have totally enjoyed the experience of registering and have found ourselves laughing along the way.  Although we don't consider ourselves hippies, most of the the baby items that we like just happens to be eco-friendly and made of out of sustainable, recyclable items.  Maybe those items will help offset the fact that we are going to be using disposable diapers!  

Onto week 27 and beyond!!!

5 years down, 70 more to go

Five years ago on this day, July 6th, Benjamin and I got married.  FIVE.  Where has time gone??  It has certainly flown by.  I can honestly say that in the five years of our married life we have enjoyed everything from being goofy together...




















to soaking up the moments when we are both so full of emotion from how blessed we are to have one another.

We chose to do feet washing at our wedding: I washed Benjamin's and he washed mine.  I cannot put into words how precious that was for us.  I can say without hesitation that Benjamin has been the leading man of our household with a quiet confidence that draws me to him.  He has loves and cherishes me more each time we take on a new adventure, a new challenge.  It overwhelms my heart.  For me, I cannot fathom what life would be life without him - where or who I would be.  The more time goes on, the more I am abundantly thankful that God orchestrated for the two of us to be tied together.  Each day I have with Benjamin is a true gift.

Here are the highlights of Year 5:

• Moved to Houston, started residency and started work at Hess
• Hosted themed parties
• Took trips to San Antonio (x2), Missouri, PA, and Hawaii
• Hit up some amazing concerts
• Hung out with a Penguin
• Found out we were pregnant with Winston Ace!

Thank you, Sweet Lovie for an amazing five years.

Winston Ace

That is correct!  At week 20, Benjamin and I were told that we were having a little boy!  After our doctor's appointment we celebrated with a dinner out where we started more seriously talking about names.  We had thrown some out there in the past, things like Gnarles Winston and Graeme and my always go to favorite: Hamish.  It has been a running joke in our relationship that if we ever had a boy, his name was going to be Hamish much to Benjamin's chagrin and adamant refusal.  

When I found out I was pregnant, we started praying that we would have the wisdom and guidance to name the baby what God desired as a name is so important - it sticks with you for your entire life! A few days before our appointment we looked up the meaning of Winston and it is "joyful stone." We both immediately loved this because I used to do a conference on joy and at the end I would hand out happy rocks (joyful stones!) as a reminder that Jesus' joy is abundant and that we are called to be joyful in all things. And from the start of our marriage I have called Benjamin my solid rock - he the constant amidst my crazy!  A little bit of both of us! Benjamin also was given this verse: Luke 19:40: "I tell you," he replied, "If they keep quiet, the rocks will cry out." This is Jesus' response to the Pharisees when the people are praising Jesus as Messiah as he rides into town on the donkey. It is our heart's desire that Winston be a joyful stone in the circles that he is placed in.

We had mostly thought Winston would be a middle name, but at dinner we agreed that it would be his first name.  Onto the middle name where Benjamin wanted it to either start with an "a" or an "e" that way his initials could be WEC or WAC.  We headed over to the local Barnes & Noble, grabbed a few baby name books and plopped ourselves down on the chairs.

We threw out names and none of them seemed to stick.  After about 20 minutes or so jokingly, I said "How about Ace?"

Benjamin: "That is AWESOME!!"

Me: "Seriously?  You really like that?"

Benjamin: "Yeah!  Winston Ace Cozad.  He'll be a little WAC!"

Me: "Yup, Winston Ace it is!"

Then Benjamin tried to make it meaningful by saying that the meaning of Ace is first and he will be our first child and the first grandchild on both sides of the family.   Mmmhmmm, while that is true, I think he really likes the fact that our kid's middle name is Ace.  

So, in time, sweet Winston Ace will make his debut into this world!  We are realizing more and more the realness of how he is growing and developing, praising the Lord for a healthy baby so far!!

Bring on the astronauts, dinosaurs and super heroes!

Hang Out with a Penguin

When Benjamin and I first started putting together our Bucket List, we said to include anything that you'd think you would ever enjoy doing.  On mine was "hang out with a penguin."

We knew that we were going to be spending a long weekend in San Antonio for the AP Westfall Conference that UT Ortho hosts every year.  It just so happened that very same weekend was Baylor Day at Sea World!  Discounted Sea World tickets?  Yes, please!  Luke and Kala were also in for joining us for an afternoon adventure.

Benjamin kept telling me that during this weekend at some point, I would get a surprise.  And just him telling me that, I was going crazy trying to figure out what it would be!  I LOVE surprises, but then once you tell me I have a surprise... I want to know immediately what it is!  I was asking family members to coerce Benjamin into telling them so that they would tell me.  Nothing worked.  He was locked down.

So the afternoon for Sea World arrived and it literally had to be one of the hottest days we had up until that time.  After getting into the park, Luke and Kala went their separate way while Benjamin and I booked it to the very back of the park for this...

A PENGUIN ENCOUNTER!!  Benjamin surprised me with an Up-Close Penguin Tour!  I was ecstatic!

We stood with our guide and watched the Penguin feedings and to participate in the question & answer time with one of the guides.  After that was complete, our guide took us to the back of the exhibit and into the kitchen where they store and prepare all of the fishes for the penguins.  She told us all about what they eat, how they feed the penguins, and what they do special for the baby King penguins that they currently had in the habitat.

We were then allowed to step inside of the habitat for a few minutes to hear the different calls of the penguins.  It was a chill 35 degrees inside with snow falling from the ceiling, but none of that mattered because I was an arms length away from a Rock Hopper penguin named Doozo!  It was fascinating to be standing so near to them as they waddled around calling to one another in their distinctive ways.

Then they brought out Kermit.  First, what a precious name!  Who doesn't just instantly love a Kermit?!  Kermit is a Magellanic penguin, a warm weather penguin.  He is one of the penguins who travels to places like Jay Leno and the Oprah show... a famous penguin!

Magellanic penguins are also called jack-ass penguins because their call sounds exactly like that of a donkey.  And I can attest to that!  

Then for the fun part: we all got to give Kermit a little bit of love!

 I cannot hide the excitement from my face!  {Looks a lot like the photos of when I was little...}.  It was such a thrill to be able to be that close to a penguin!  Kermit was amazingly more soft than I had expected.  Soft like Lulu soft but a little more cold to the touch.

 His wings felt more scaly, more hard as I would have expected his entire body to feel.   

Then for Benjamin's turn:

Note Kermit's posture here.  Kermit is getting ready to poop.  Penguins poo almost every three to five minutes.  Benjamin just happened to catch him at one of those increments in time!  Luckily, Benjamin's cat like reflexes allowed him to jump out of the way, clear from harm!

 I just have to take a minute to say, my man is a handsome one!

We weren't allowed to take Kermit home with us, unfortunately he wasn't the souvenir that came with the package!  We did however get two 5x7 photos, totes and a water bottle.  

{This is a picture of a picture - we aren't normally this orange...}

Hanging out with a penguin was a great way to continue the celebration of our 5 years of wedded bliss!  I had such a blast marking "hang out with a penguin" off my list.  Now "walk around with a penguin" has been added!  There is another penguin encounter that Sea World offers where you dress up in a parka and walk around with the penguins, feeding them in their habitat!  They also have encounters with dolphins, sting rays, and belugas.  Those have also been added to the bucket list!   

The Orange Show

When doing my research to visit the Art Car Museum and Beer Can House I learned that there was yet another artsy gem to be explored in Houston: The Orange Show.  It was created by a man named Jeff McKissack.  In Jeff's mind, The Orange Show, when he was complete with it, was going to be the next Disney World.  Unfortunately for him, those aspirations were never seen.  

On a Saturday afternoon Benjamin and I ventured out to see what The Orange Show had to offer and we were highly amused by what we witnessed.  I would like to go on the record saying that I'm fairly sure Jeff had major delusions of grandeur.  However, those delusions made for an entertaining stop to an eclectic place in Houston for us!

 {Yes, Benjamin did decide to wear his orange shorts in honor of visiting The Orange Show!}

 For some reason, Jeff was a little too keen on clowns for my liking...

Well, that in a nut shell of a few pictures is The Orange Show my friends.  I did refrain from taking pictures in what I will refer to as the Strange Room of Random Stuff.  I wouldn't want to spoil everything for you in the case that you'd like to pay the $1 per person, head down off of 45 South and experience the greatness of The Orange Show for yourself!

Bump It: 19 Weeks

So we've made it to week 19!  Wee Cozad and I are both doing well.  We enjoyed accompanying Benjamin to Oahu for his AAO Conference and are gearing up for our next doctor's appointment in a few weeks.  Lulu-puppy has been an absolute sweet love and still enjoys swimming as much as she has in the years previous.  She is also a sweet cuddle muffin.  My love for lemonade continues and I have not yet had any aversions to food.  Benjamin has been absolutely fantastic {as if he would be any other way} and continues to convert the garage into a full wood working shop.  He and I are cherishing every evening and every weekend we have together with each other, with Lulu, with family and with friends - taking mental pictures of the moments as time continues to march on.  

Pregnancy continues to be a miraculous and strange phenomenon to me.  It's amazing how a tiny human is growing inside.  From time to time I forget that there's a little being inside...and then I feel bubbles or a unfamiliar twinge and it's a reminder of "Hey, I'm still growing in here!"  I often find myself in amazement, giving props to God on how fantastic this all is.  It's a truly humbling feeling to know that we were designed and chosen to create life.

Wee Cozad is now the size of a mango {side note: I love mangos and just received the neatest mango peeler!} and working on honing the five senses.  My sweet mother bought me a Baby Einstein Lullaby CD in the hopes that I will start listening to more soothing sounds than the music that Wee Cozad and I jam to when driving to and from work in the evenings! 

We made a doctor change to someone that was a little closer to us than Kingwood and are happy with our decision.  Kimberly Bobo  is a part of the Women's Specialists of Houston who partner and deliver with the new Texas Children's Pavilion for Women.  Benjamin and I did our tour at The Pavilion and were very happy with the facilities and their emphasis on the importance of keeping baby with mom and dad.  We continue to pray for wisdom as we prepare to make our birth plan.

I have quite enjoyed this time of preparation, I will call it - the time before knowing if Wee Cozad is a girl or a boy.  I appreciate that there isn't too much to go do or buy.  I appreciate that Benjamin and I can enjoy knowing that we are going to be parents soon and talk about what we need to do the next few months and even the months and years after.  Sure I have been looking online at things like strollers, high chairs, beds, etc... but until we find out boy or girl, I don't want to commit to a color!  Plus I know that once we do find out, it will be like opening a floodgate of fun!!

It is a little overwhelming to think that it's half over, however we celebrate each week that Wee Cozad grows!

Oh, and my nifty shirt - I first saw the idea here and just loved it!  I did a few modifications.  Using iron on transfer material, we picked a font and then cut out the numbers with my Silhouette machine {which I absolutely LOVE!}.  Then we ironed on the numbers and outlined them with neon orange puff paint to make them pop!