Changes...

"Babies change everything."
"Life is going to be different after baby."
"Enjoy it now, it won't be the same after she arrives."

Yes, I heard those sayings (and many other versions) a million times when we first found out we were pregnant with sweet Nora. There are LOTS of things that have changed: we are a family of 3 now...we have another human and all her tiny human daily things to throw into the mix. There are definitely things that I miss about life before her - I don't deny that - but there are some amazing things I've gained in my life as well. I wanted to take a few minutes to actually record the things I miss (and new things to love) in this moment...for I'm sure in a few years, I will forget I even missed those things. And the list of things I love will only continue to grow as Nora becomes more mobile and active in our lives.

I miss...
Sleeping in. No matter what day of the week.
Sleeping through the night.
Intramural sports.
Sitting at a coffee shop for hours working on my blog or just reading.
Running into the gas station "real quick".
Doing ANYTHING "real quick".
Carrying a tiny clutch purse.
Making dinner plans with friends after 7pm.
Eating all of my meals at the temperature they were supposed to be eaten.
Having a regular workout routine.
Escalators.
Adult conversations that aren't about baby's schedule/poop/sleeping/toys/etc.
Running errands at any time of the day, not working around nap time.
Running more than 2 errands in one day.
Date night all the time.

New things to love...
Having a "Mary Poppins" mom bag that is capable of carrying EVERYTHING.
Early morning smiles and and snuggles.
Never doing my errands alone.
Always having a walking/running buddy.
People letting you cut them in line because you have a stroller.
People offering to hold the door for you.
Watching cartoons and kid movies.
Smiles from strangers.
Mommy groups with "mom" talk with others that can relate to the craziness of babies.
Tiny clothes making laundry easier.
Tiny everything.
An excuse to go to Target AT LEAST once a week!
Taking a selfie isn't as creepy.
Talking with Chaz about family trips for the future.
An excuse to wear workout clothes every day.

Life (so far) As A Balto Girl...

I've blinked and 7 weeks have passed since moving to Baltimore. What's happened in the last 7 weeks? Instead of typing out all the stories, I'll just bullet point the major happenings:

• UNPACKED!
• Unpacking only took a few days, it took weeks to get things on the wall
• Broke down a MILLION boxes for recycling
• Sold our kitchen table because it was too big for our place
• Almost got scammed by a loser on Craigslist
• Reported said loser to Pay Pal
• FINALLY ordered a new table - wont arrive until August 9th...so we eat in the living room in our arm chairs every meal.
• Got super creative with closets and storage spaces - thanks Pinterest.
• Still trying to figure out what to do with our patio furniture...it's too big for our patio! :(
• Got organized
• Changed address with every major credit card, bank, insurance, etc.
• Transferred/set up all utilities
• Attempted to file a report about my horrible movers with the BBB
• If you haven't read the story of my horrible moving experience, head over to my Facebook page and read the craziness. I was never reimbursed for ANY damages.
• STILL dealing with Comcast being a crazy, stupid company and attempting to bill us $400+ for our first month
• Wedding, graduation, baby presents for friends in all stages of life
• Joined Crossfit Harbor East
• First week at CFHE, I was running to the gym, tripped on the horrible sidewalks of Baltimore and fell - still have a scar.
• Matched my pre-baby power clean PR - 165#
• First workout with deadlifts since hurting my back right before we moved
• Did Eva for the first time ever
• 5# away from pre-baby body weight! :) Almost ALL of my clothes fit!
• New Friends!
• Mom and Jeff came to visit
• Went to Fort McHenry for a very touristy tour
• Explored Fells Point
• Took a ride on the water taxi
• Walked WAY too much
• Celebrated Father's Day with blue crabs
• Celebrated Chaz's FIRST Father's Day!! 
• Drank Resurrection at Annabell Lee
• Learned where the Greyhound station is...and got lost.
• Kelsey came to visit
• Ate at Holy Crepe!! :)
• Ate at Mama's
• Worked out at Crossfit Harbor East (twice!)
• Went to the Fell's Farmers Market
• Had quality best friend chats on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
• Celebrated July 4th
• Holiday WOD at Crossfit Harbor East
• Took my first and ONLY nap since moving here
• Nora's first experience of a pool!
• First fireworks in Baltimore
• Went to Florida to visit my brother, sister-in-law and niece
• Nora played in the sand for the first time ever
• First trip to the beach where I didn't get burned
• 4 plane rides later, I'll never have a layover with a baby again! 
• Walked multiple miles in the train area of ATL airport to keep Nora sleeping
• Missed Baltimore and realized it was starting to feel like "home"
• Got home and realized I needed a vacation from my vacation
• Joined a Facebook group for 2014 Baltimore new mom's
• Walks by the water
• Play dates in the park
• Lunches to explore new restaurants
• Nora's first Mother Goose story time
• New Friends!
• Enjoyed being a Stay at Home Mom:
• Watched Nora roll over for the first time
• Nora outgrew her swaddle sack and is a tummy sleeper
• She LOVES to go on walks
• She now HATES to ride in the car
• She's knows the ring of a FaceTime call with Grammy daily
• Morning smiles and snuggles are the BEST
• Bath time is her favorite part of the day
• What's a sleep routine?!?!
• And the random things...
• Explored lots of new restaurants
• Walked LOTS of miles
• Gotten 2 parking tickets - you have to move your car atleast once a week...street cleaning
• Ran with the BOB for the first time
• Been through a LOT of sunscreen
• My first attempt at Paleo Crab Cakes - definitely needs work to be Baltimore worthy
• Cooked at home atleast 3x a week!
• Read a book: The 4:8 Principle
• Pop into random Open House's in the area just to be nosey
• Play with our cousins - Mikey, AvaMae and Scarlett.
• Hang with Tillman/Jozefiaks - enjoying having aunts/uncles close!
• Watched North Point Online weekly
• Watched 4 seasons of Sister Wives and 2 seasons of Sherlock Holmes
• Weekly phone dates with friends to catch up on life
• Spent quality time with my husband and best friend!! :)
• Learned to LOVE our new city!

The Journey Continues...

Close your eyes and conjure up the image of the most creative person you know. Now, think about the beautiful things this artist has created. What do artists create? Music, paintings, pottery, sculpture, plays, clothing, etc. Now...do you KNOW this artist? Have they ever created a piece of art for you?

In my opinion, God is the most creative artist in the universe. God's beautiful plan for each person is so unique - speckled with wonder and the unknown yet is engaging and colorful. Each of God's creations is a blank canvas of which He crafts and molds according the detailed plan in His head for each new work of art.

What's different about God's masterpieces compared to that of any other artist? His pieces are never finished. He works on certain pieces longer than others, sometimes even taking a break from the workings of his tools. Yet, when He is ready, where he feels the piece can be made even more beautiful, He begins his work yet again.

Chaz and I often laugh at the craziness of our lives since we've met...and all the changes that we've endured. In less that a two year span: we met, got engaged, moved in together, got married, moved to Atlanta, opened Iron Tribe, found out we were pregnant, had sweet Nora...and now we are anxious to announce: another move and another career change.

I like to think that the past two years God has been at work. He is not finished with us yet.

When we made the move to Atlanta we were excited for the opportunity of a career change, of working together day in and day out, of exploring a new city together, of impacting so many other peoples lives, and of spreading the love of fitness. We've done all of that and more. The past year in Atlanta has been so wonderful - we've met some great friends through Iron Tribe, joined the most amazing small group through church, shared with other new parents the joys and craziness of being first time parents, grown closer together as a couple and dove deep into what it means to be a child of God.

Speaking of children, our precious Nora has changed our lives. I had no clue a 5 lb 10 oz tiny human being could steal my heart as quickly as she did. Nora is a ray of sunshine at the beginning of every day as she smiles up at me. She is blissfully ignorant to anything negative in the world - unless she's hungry or needs to be changed. Having Nora in my life has challenged me to be selfless, a characteristic that not natural for most - think of her needs first before my own...which is why sometimes you may see me in day old clothes, but she's looking spiffy in her new dress. Adding another soul to our family has changed the dynamics of home and work life...so much so that I've realized I can't have it all - at least not at the same time.

We have decided the best solution for our family is for Chaz to continue to work and for me to enter into a new career - a career of diapers, sing-a-longs, carpool and snuggles with my little angel. With this decision, God has painted a new picture of where this opportunity lies. And it's not with Iron Tribe and it's not in Georgia. We will quickly be wrapping up this chapter in our lives. I don't see this as starting over, but of making what God has created even better. I am being given s the opportunity to pour what we've learned into the next generation.

What is another skill of great artists? Creating emotion...lots of emotion. With all the changes in our lives, I don't pretend to understand the plan. I don't pretend to think I have my life figured out. And I don't pretend to act like all this change is easy. Change is very difficult for the emotional basket case God created me to be. But I do know this...emotion is often the driving force behind motivation, both positive and negative. I'm using the brush strokes God is painting as motivation to be positive and to take on my new role with enthusiasm - to see the beauty in the life ahead and know that it will be the most captivating and creative thing I've ever seen. I absolutely love my colorful life.

The artist is not finished with me yet...

Nora's Photo Sessions

Time passes so quickly that Chaz and I knew we wanted to take newborn photos to capture the first few weeks of Nora's life. Yes - we both take a million pictures with our iPhone's everyday, but I wanted some pictures I could blow up into canvases for her wall.

We were lucky enough to have two different friends reach out to us to photograph Nora.

Rebecca Orton - a sorority sister of mine took pictures when Nora was 8 days old. Nora practically slept through the entire 3 hour session. Being so young and so sleepy, it was easy for Rebecca to move her arms and legs into different positions. About 3/4 of the way through the session when I was holding a naked Nora on my stomach, she decided THEN was the time to go #2. :) Rebecca had tons of knowledge about newborn photography and came prepared with LOTS of different backdrops and headbands/accessories for our little girl. I practically wanted to cry the entire time because of how preciously calm and relaxed Nora looked while being photographed.

Rebecca's website: http://rebeccaortonphotography.com.

Some of the photo's from Rebecca's photo session. Enjoy!

Melissa Hayes - a friend of a good friend of mine took pictures when Nora was 15 days old. Nora was awake almost the entire session with Melissa but she did an amazing job capturing Nora's spunky personality. Melissa specializes in natural lighting photography, so when she turned off all the lights in the room, I was anxious to see how the pictures would turn out. She did an amazing job helping both Chaz and I feel involved in the session and capturing all the elements of Nora's room too. Nora couldn't out-do her first performance, so she went #1 twice while I was holding her without a diaper.

Melissa's website: http://www.melissahayesphotoatl.com

Some of the photo's from Melissa's photo session. Enjoy!

Both Rebecca and Melissa are extremely talented and I love ALL of the photographs they each took!! I cannot choose a favorite picture...that would be impossible. Not to mention that the subject was my favorite little girl in the entire world - she's extremely photogenic and adorable in everything she does.

Thank you Rebecca and Melissa!!!!

Nora's Story

Our sweet baby joined us a week and a half ago...I've told the story WAY too many times about her birth - but I'll tell it again once more for you. :)

On Wednesday, February 26th due to odd numbers in classes, I did the workout twice - a partner workout that had 1500m worth of rowing each. By the end of the second go around of that WOD, I joked that was definitely my last workout before Nora arrived since I was SO tired. Below is a picture from that day - my last picture while being pregnant.

Thursday morning I woke up around 3:30am to get ready for work and realized I was bleeding. I told Chaz I needed to stay home, sleep in and call the doctor. As the morning progressed, so did my bleeding. We already had a regularly scheduled appointment with out doctor at 2:30 that afternoon, but I was able to get my appointment moved to 11:30 because I was so nervous about the bleeding that was now coupled with contractions. My contractions were about 30 minutes apart. The doctor assured me this was perfectly normal...and to go home and just relax. We were so disappointed...we had hoped she would send us over to the hospital to deliver her that day.

Friday morning was very similar to Thursday...I was still bleeding and my contractions were pretty far apart. I decided to take a hot bath around 10am. Around that time, my contractions starting picking up to around 13-17 minutes apart. I laid in the bed pretty much all afternoon...I was feeling very nauseous and had NO energy. That evening I was craving Panera, so Chaz went and got me a Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich. :) Yum. After we ate, I decided we needed to speed things up...so we went for an hour long walk around the neighborhood. During the walk, my contractions sped up to 8-10 minutes apart. After the walk we were watching tv and I decided to do air squats and lunges during commercial breaks for almost an hour. We laid down around 11pm to try and get some sleep. Contractions sped up to 5-6 minutes apart...so we decided to head to the hospital. I can definitely thank the walk and my mini livingroom WOD for helping speed things up.

We were admitted to Northside around 12:45pm. I felt like the boy who cried wolf...my contractions slowed down to almost 15 minutes apart once they got me into a room and hooked up to the baby heart rate monitor and the contractions monitor. The nurse came into the room to give me my IV. I absolutely HATE needles and IV's so after  they taped it down to my arm, my heart rate dropped and they immediately turned me on my side and gave me the oxygen mask. I had to work really hard to relax and take my mind off of the needle in my forearm.

I was determined to go as long as possible without the epidural. I fought the contractions from 1am - 11am the next morning. They doctors gave me pitocin around 6am to speed up the process. The last 2 hours of that was absolutely miserable!! Contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart and I felt like my insides were going to explode - and I was still only about 2cm. Chaz could see how much pain I was in and begged me to get the epidural...I caved and said ok. Again, because I am scared to death of needles, started freaking out. My entire body was shaking uncontrollably and I started crying. It was the only time during the labor that I felt truly out of control. As I let my legs hang off the bed and lean forward into Chaz's arms, he was my comfort and reminded me that we get a really great reward when this is all over. He told me constantly how proud of me he was and how strong I was. Love him.

About 30 minutes after getting the epidural, my body relaxed and I was actually able to take a nap! Chaz and I were the only ones in the room and we probably napped for about an hour and a half. When I woke up, the nurses checked me and I was 8cm. The flipped me on my side and put one leg up into a stirrup - less than an hour later, they checked me again and I was 10cm! It was time!!

We had a different doctor than our regular doctor since we came in on a Saturday. He was super calm and very conversational - he and Chaz literally had conversations about football during pushes. I pushed for 22 minutes...the doctor told me I was a great pusher and he could tell I was an athlete - that I didn't just push with my face. The doctor put Nora on my stomach as soon as she came into the world at 4:25pm on March 1st - I think I cried...I was mostly in shock. Our little girl was so TINY!! Chaz was over the moon excited and he got to cut the cord. She was taken to the warmer, cleaned up a little and weighed. She was 5 lbs 10 oz and 18.5" long. I literally had to do a double take to the scale because I didn't believe it! The entire family was invited into the room to watch Nora receive her first bath. She cried almost the entire time, but loved getting her hair combed. It was so precious. While the rest of the family ooed and ahhed over Nora, Chaz came over to me and gave me a blue Tiffany bag. He had gotten me a "push present". It is a silver necklace with a silhouette of little girls head. We are going to get the back engraved with Nora's initials.

 

After an hour in the room snuggling with Nora and attempting to breastfeed, we were moved to our room upstairs. By this time, it was almost 8pm and I hadn't eaten ANYTHING since my Panera sandwich on Friday night. We ordered Cheesecake Factory. I ate a salad and a piece of chocolate cheesecake...it was SO yummy!! I tried to breastfeed a few more times without much success. I couldn't find a position that was comfortable. We decided to let the nursery take Nora for the night so we could get a FEW hours of sleep. They brought her back to me 2 hours later because she was screaming.

The next day (Sunday) was spent relaxing and passing Nora around from person to person. She was always calm and only cried when she wanted food. I was still attempting to breastfeed without as much success as I had liked. That night I asked the nurses if they would have a lactation consultant come give me some tips and pointers. She changed the position of how I was holding Nora and that seemed to help with her latch. BUT I was still in SO much pain. It literally felt like Nora was pulling my nipples off of my body. That night around 11pm we asked the nurse if they would take Nora to the nursery again...I broke down to the nurse and told her I felt like a bad parent since I was shipping her off because I couldn't deal with the pain and her crying. She gave me a "mom" speech and told me that once night of giving her formula so she's relax and sleep wouldn't derail her from her breastfeeding train. So, that's what we did...we let the nursery feed her and I was able to sleep for almost 4 hours. (Ironically...I haven't slept that many consecutive hours since that night!!)

Monday morning Chaz got up early and went to Iron Tribe to work since we have a new 101 going on, he needed to be there. That meant I was all alone for a few hours. That morning my doctor came for a visit, a tech came in twice to get my vitals and to get Noras, the nurses swapped shifts - so I saw both of them in my room, the housekeeping lady came in to clean, the roomservice person came in to bring my breakfast, and then another lactation consultant popped in for a visit. By the time she came, I was on people overload and just broke down to her. I felt like I couldn't continue with breastfeeding. She worked with me for almost an hour and even brought in a pump so I could practice pumping to help supplement what I couldn't provide for Nora. I will say this, the lactation consultants make you feel (in my opinion) like a bad person if you even hint at the fact that you aren't enjoying the process. Hello - there is a tiny human sucking on my nipple, and my entire body is in pain from pushing a baby out of a tiny hole...give me a break. She finally could tell I had maxed out on the information about breastfeeding I could consume. I was SO glad to have Chaz back when he walked in as she was wrapping up. We left the hospital that afternoon around 4pm. Nora had a super cute sack dress with matching booties and hat for her outfit to leave the hospital. She had her blanket my mom got made to wrap around her - it was FREEZING that day and I was so nervous about her getting sick.

We came home that night and all I could think about doing was sleeping in my OWN bed on my stomach!! Woo Hoo!! Well, not much sleeping occurred that night - as Nora was still confused on what was day time and what was night time. Chaz's parents were at the house and so was my mom - I was grateful to have all the support and help. Mom stuck around for a few days to help me do laundry, clean the house, get all of Nora's things organized in her room and closet, and get some meals stocked and prepared in the fridge.

 The day she left was Chaz's first full day back at work and I was so nervous to be alone with Nora. I was still exclusively breastfeeding and the child wouldn't latch. She also wouldn't stop crying. I mean, she was screaming bloody murder. I was in a panic and called the doctor. They said to bring her in, so I did. Chaz left Iron Tribe and met me there. The doctor asked me to breastfeed in front of her - talk about stress. So, I stripped off my shirt and bra and tried feeding her, crying the whole time because I was in so much pain. BUT...Nora finally ate and stopped HER crying. Basically once it was all said and done, I called the doctor to be told that my child was just hungry and I needed to relax when I fed her. After that, Chaz and I came home and had a long discussion about what will make Nora, myself, and our family happy. I really wanted to breastfeed because I felt like that was one thing God created me to do. But Chaz hated seeing me in pain and so sleep deprived. So, we compromised. I got a pump and now I pump 4x a day. Nora eats about 7x a day - this way at least half of her feedings will be breast milk. The other half will be formula. Nora is crying less and I'm sleeping a little more. Plus the amount of pain killers that I'm taking has dropped off significantly.

Every day will continue to bring it's new challenges. Some days Nora loves to sleep, some days she's fussy all day, some days she needs her diaper changed every hour, some days I have more energy and want to go for a walk with her, some days it takes an act of God to get me out of my pj's by the time Chaz comes home from work, some days I'm ready to throw in the towel on pumping, and some days I cry for no reason. But at the end of the day, I am SO smitten on my little girl.

She loves to snuggle and be close to mommy and daddy - she's the best at laying on my chest and putting her head right into the crook of my neck. She smells like lotion and formula, has the softest skin in the world, and will always win a staring contest. She sometimes makes noises that makes me thing a cat is living in our house. She is so tiny that all of her newborn outfits will fit her way longer than the average baby, which means she will continue to fit perfectly into the crook of my elbow for bottle feedings. My life is completely different now that Miss Nora Lynn has arrived, but I wouldn't change ANY of this...she has changed our family for the better. Nora has reminded Chaz and I to slow down, enjoy all of the little moments life has to offer and not wish time away. She helps to keep things in perspective and not to sweat the small stuff. Nora was brought into our lives at a divine time to help continue making our marriage stronger each day and she will forever challenge us to grow closer to God and learn something new about his grace and abundant love for His children.

We look forward to the next few weeks and months as we hit the baby milestones. Can't wait to share with everyone and share in the miracle of life with this little princess. Love you Nora Lynn!