Give a Penny, Take a Penny: Hospital Bag

After some consideration, I'm trying out a new segment that I will call Give a Penny, Take a Penny.  GAP TAP for short.  Based off of the phrase, "A penny for your thoughts..." I'll throw out a topic where I would like you to offer up advice or comments on your experience or the experience of others you know.  Feel free to give a penny or even perhaps learn something new and take a penny! 

Here we go:

When it comes to the hospital bag, what was the most useful item that you took along with you that you thought, "Man!  I am so thankful I have this!"  And in saying that, was there something that your significant other was thankful to have?

..aaand go.

Much love,

Sara

Bump It: 31 Weeks

9 weeks left.  NINE.  That is the equivalent of 63 days.  1512 hours.  Gulp.  Nervousness and then excitement!  So much excitement and a full heart of anticipation on the day when we'll get to meet our wonderful Winston Ace!  It's kinda funny to me - I remember what I felt like when I was 9 weeks pregnant with 31 to go: nervous, excited, hopeful, nauseous.  Now that it's 31 weeks pregnant and 9 to go I feel: nervous, excited, hopeful, nauseous!  A complete circle of emotions!

We head to the doctor tomorrow to get a more exact guess on the due date.  We continue to mark actions off of our to do list.  Things such as:

• Find a pediatrician
• Sell our spare bedroom set
• Start setting up the room to be ready for Winston
• Take glucose test

I am happy to report that my glucose test came back normal!  And that it wasn't as horrible as I had built it up in my mind to be.  I was under the impression that I was going to have to suck down a Route 44 sized orange slush mixture that was going to make me gag.  Quite the contrary - I had 5 minutes to drink what looked like a small bottle of orange Fanta.  I cracked open the top, took a deep breath and started chugging the liquid.  And I'm glad I did - I got most of it down in one go!  When I returned less than a minute later to throw the bottle away, the nurse looked at me with large eyes and said, "You're done drinking it already?!"  Yup, empty bottle is proof of that.

As mentioned above we started getting the room ready for Winston.  Here's a little teaser.

Our theme for the room is Whimsy Woodsy for Winston!  Surprised we didn't go with a monkey theme?  And wondering why a monkey is in this picture?  Well, Jacques the sock monkey matches the colors!

In the next few weeks Benjamin, Lulu and I are planning on making every effort to continue enjoying life as we know it.  We are still very relaxed about the upcoming life changing event even though we are in the single digit week countdown.  I have been sleeping really well at night, thank the Lord and am not taking that for granted in the slightest!  I am still mesmerized by how miraculous it is that a tiny human is being knit together in my womb.  I don't really have to do much - eat well, sleep well and God takes care of the rest.  

Getting' ready!!

Travel: Vegas in the Fall

In the fall, Benjamin and I will be venturing to Las Vegas.

Yes, it will be for a conference.  You know how we roll.  We are excited about this trip because neither of us have ever been to Las Vegas!

Things that I know I visit while I am there include:

The Neon Museum

How whimsically wonderful does this place look?

This organization collects and displays neon signs from the Vegas Strip as a way of preserving history and appreciating the art of neon signs.

The Arts Factory

While perusing through Not Martha, one of her travel links boasted this post by everywhereist and after reading it, I have put The Arts Factory as a place to visit and eat.  

Besides the staples of the Bellagio Fountains and trying out a slot machine or two, what would you suggest putting on our list of to-do's?

Ready for vacation,

Sara

vegas sign  neon museum arts factory

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!