Thompson Life Update.

We're officially residing in Cincinnati, OH. This last month has been a whirlwind, for lack of a better descriptor. We moved across country, unloaded, went to Young Life camp, unpacked, went to Phoenix, AZ, unpacked, Jeff started his new job, had visitors from Hilton Head... and now here we are.

All the while I've been maintaining my Etsy Shop, Our Baby Thompson Love, AND officially become a stay at home mom. It's been so crazy and we're ready to start fresh as a family of three and "relearn" how to live in Cincinnati.

We are temporarily living in Jeff's grandpa's house for FREE, so we can't complain at all. But we are beginning to explore different areas within the city and decide where we want to buy our first home. We are both excited about this, and are hoping to find a house that needs some substantial renovations/updates. I'm sure that seems crazy, but there will never be another time that we are living for free with no strings attached, allowing us an unlimited timeline and extra resources to renovate and make a house our first home! I cannot even begin to describe how eager I am to start this process, but I am also practicing patience and know it will be in God's timing. Our plan is that our house hunt will officially begin in early November, and realistically will continue well into the spring.

In other news, I'm training for a marathon. Perfect timing, right? It's been going well so far, although it's hard to carve out the time, we {Jeff and I} are making it a priority and he's supporting me as much as he can. He is also LOVING the time he's getting with Sullivan one-on-one while I go running, especially since he's adjusting to only seeing her for 2 hours a day, before bedtime {and weekends of course}.

I have lots of projects in the working: painting a lot of furniture, reupholstering our new Craigslist dining room chairs, some general decorating, and my favorite- planning for Sullivan's FIRST birthday party. I don't want to start a habit of doing over the top parties EVERY year, but how could we not for her very first?

Here's a couple pictures from the past month or so:

Life Update

We've been busy! My mom came to visit, Jeff went to LA, we spent a day in Charleston with my mom {they overlapped each other one day}, Sullivan turned 6 months old, we spent the weekend at another Young Life camp, had Sullivan's 6 month pictures taken, celebrated my first official Mother's Day, and Jeff and I have been on this "21 Day Fix" with daily workouts and a meal plan to follow.

I won't go into depth about anything. What I will say is that WE MOVE IN 40 days!!!!! Whaaaaaat?

My mom came to visiting while Jeff was away in LA. She hadn't seen Sullie since Christmas. 

The baby rocking chair. Had to snap another picture in it!

Charleston day. 

Happiest girl. 

SIX MONTHS! Can't believe it. 

Young Life Family Camp Weekend @ Carolina Point

My mothers day present was her 6 month photo shoot!

Pretty Mother's Day flowers. 

My favorite thing right now, during out cleanse. 

All Things Green.

headband// Gymboree pants// designer tutu 

This is definitely overdue, but we had a pretty fun weekend {LAST WEEKEND} over here. Friday and Saturday were very chill. Sunday Jeff and I served at church, then went straight to friends' house {my only friend down here with a baby}. We had cabbage and brisket then headed out for the St. Patrick's Day parade. We'd never been before during out 3 years living here, so it was a fun experience. Here is something I learned... parades are really an excuse for adults to get wild. My mistake, I thought they were for kids and families.

A year ago, life changed.

So exactly a year ago from today we discovered we were pregnant {and by we I mean I}. About a week earlier, I finally went to the store and bought an at home test- a box of three. Of course it was the kind with the pink lines... The first test I THINK said "no you're not pregnant" but those blurred lines {Robin Thicker anyone} are pretty tricky. So a week later, on Wednesday {3/6/13}, I took a second test. This time that second blurry pink line was definitely making an appearance. When I told Jeff he said "you probably did it wrong" and started googling about false positives. So later that night I too the last of my three tests, and that third test DEFINITELY confirmed that indeed, I was pregnant. But Mr. Skeptic wasn't so positive. The next day he was out of town all day, so I went and bought a DIFFERENT brand, the kind that literally says "pregnant" or "not pregnant", pretty cut and dry.  Sure enough my screen said "pregnant". I took a picture of that and text Jeff saying "I'm calling the Doctor".

It's funny thinking back because at this point I was working out a lot and was running a 10 mile race on that Saturay {3/9/13} the day after my birthday! But I had eaten an entire LARGE jar of whole pickles from Sams Club in two days. I mentioned that to friends at school and of course their reaction was "uhhh sounds like you're prego". To which I responded "no my body must just need extra sodium from running so much"- WHAT? I ran a full marathon a couple years ago and NEVER needed a extra large family sized jar of pickles {and juice}. 

So all of it came together to mean only one thing- WE WERE MOST CERTAINLY PREGNANT. I kid you not, after all of this Jeff was STILL not convinced. That's Friday we had a 2.5 hour drive to Jacksonville to celebrate my birthday and for the race. The whole way Jeff kept saying "well IF we're pregnant" "if we really are...." Finally I couldn't take anymore denial and let him have it. ha. 

Little did I know a year Iater our baby girl would be 4 months old and the sweetest, happiest, and BEST thing that would ever happen to us.  Life has changed drastically. We can't stay out past 7:30pm, we have to plan out our weeks down to the littlest details, and we would have a new purpose in life. Nothing we do can be without thoughtful consideration of Sullivan and what would be best for HER. It's wild to think that for the rest of our life we will put her {and all other children} best interest ahead of our own. WHOA. 

Funny story- after I ran that race last year, we got back to the hotel and the concierge asked how I did. At that exact moment I had the sudden urge to puke... And the only option was a bush right there. So I throw up in the bush, look back at the concierge, and run away crying. All while Jeff is standing there witnessing this hugely embarrassing moment. His response is "she's pregnant" and comes to find me hiding in the lobby. That was one of three times I puked during my pregnancy. 

Charleston Trip.

We went to my favorite place EVER Charleston, South Carolina. One of the many perks of living in Hilton Head is how conveniently close we are to so many neat places. This trip was sort of a birthday/Valentine's Day/relax after the banquet kind of trip. We have some great friends who are super generous and let us stay in their AMAZING house for the night! Look how beautiful it is, I just can't get over it! The house is right in the heart of the city, perfectly located between King St. and the Battery. Sunday we walked around and visited with a friend in college there. It was cool to see the College of Charleston "campus".  Monday morning Sullivan and I walked to King St. for Starbucks and did some browsing. Jeff met up with us later and we just walked around the city all day and met up with friends for lunch, before heading back to our island. I love the city life of being able to walk almost everywhere you need to go. This weekend i decided that one day, in the very far off future, that Jeff and I will retire to Charleston. i should have taken more pictures, there is SO much to see and explore. If you haven't been to Charleston PLEASE do yourself a favor and go, go, go!  

Baby Gap Dress//Gymboree Leggings
They have baby sized rocking chairs on the porch for their grandbabies... I die! 

She get her expressions from me

But she looks JUST like him

Trowback to our FIRST time in Charleston, March 2012

Valentine's Day, gone wrong.

So this Valentine's Day.. I actually cared. Jeff and I are not the most sentimental people around, and aren't particularly into holidays. But this year, I was excited, I guess having a baby makes things more fun to celebrate. I woke up early and made a special breakfast, I felt super good! The heart shaped Dove chocolates melted too quickly but it was super cute. I am investing in this for the future and other holidays. Jeff, Sullivan, and I had plans to head to Charleston in the afternoon. Once breakfast was cleaned up, I went to go finish packing. As I'm in my bedroom, Jeff starts yelling at me from the kitchen. See the pineapple in the purple bowl? Well I threw away what we didn't eat... I know it's a little wasteful {sorry}. It's also important to mention that it was canned {50 cent} pineapple, not fresh.

Well, as I was being yelled at for throwing away the fruit, I got super angry too. Obviously our issues and argument were not JUST about pineapple... it's never really just about pineapple, riiiight? I refused to go on our trip {despite REALLLLY wanting to go}. The day was fairly miserable, and at about 6pm we finally talked. Jeff went out and came back with all the fixins' for fondue and flowers for me AND Sullivan. After that, I got the nerve to ask if it'd be possible for us to still go up to Charleston the next day...

HAPPY {late} VALENTINE'S DAY. XOXO

Carter's Sweater//Converse Crib Shoes

Circo Sleep n' Play {similar here}

Baby Gap Love One PIece//DIY headband 

Birthdays all around.

Today was a big day in the Thompson household. Jeff turned 27  and Walter turned 10! Woo hoo for both of them being born! They are the best guys I know, for real. 

I'll tell you what though... today was absolutely anticlimactic. Tomorrow we have our Young Life banquet, which is our largest fundraiser of the year, and it kind of stole the birthdays' thunder. Our church hosts the banquet, so after right after our church service ended this morning our Young Life committee showed up and we got to work. They did buy a nice {and delicious} birthday cake to at least acknowledge Jeff's birth, in the middle of all the frenzy.

Sounds super fun right? Here's a fun fact though {get ready for a lot of numbers}... last year our Young Life banquet was March 4th {four days before my birthday}. We found out we were pregnant with Sullivan just TWO days after the banquet, and TWO days before my birthday. We also adopted Walter on March 11th- so this is our first time celebrating his birthday {with him at least}.

Jeff has been super stressed with the banquet, and we obviously couldn't do anything extraordinary to celebrate. I feel kind of bad about not really making a big deal about BOTH of my boys' birthdays. We didn't get home from setting up until after 6pm... so tonight for dinner we got take-out from a really great restaurant, Frankie Bones. We enjoyed our steaks, and Walter enjoyed the little pieces we gave him {ONLY because it's a special occasion, poor guy lives on only dog food}.

Next year I WILL plan something great to honor and love Jeff {and Walter}. But this year the rock star gift I got Jeff will have to be enough. He's going to LA in April to visit one of his best friends. He's nearly impossible to buy for because he can always find a better deal or just buys things as he needs them {which isn't often}. He always says "I'm about experiences, not gifts" so this year I listened and I delivered.

I also reeeeally want to buy a doggy birthday hat {like this} for Walter, how great will that be?

Random Issues We've Had.

It's so easy to make life seem perfect and have my baby appear to be the best thing ever {which, hello, she is...ha}. The reality is that it's not always a walk in the park and fields of flowers. But posting cute pictures is so deceiving because obviously I'm not going to post pictures of her screaming and I'm not really into airing dirty laundry as my Facebook status. 

Some of the problems and issues that have arose with both mama and baby...

**My first month postpartum, I struggled with baby blues. All the warnings I got seemed silly and I thought it was a joke. No joke people, the "baby blues" are a real thing. I couldn't believe they {the awesome nurses and hospital staff} just sent me home with a helpless baby. I was still recovering from a somewhat intense delivery {3 hr pushing session}, and thought "they" should send an in-home nurse or something to help with the transition. I had no previous experience with babies, especially newborns, so it was foreign territory for me and the husband. After 2 weeks I was feeling more stable {emotionally} but still very overwhelmed. By 4 weeks out I seriously told Jeff I as ready to have another baby- whaaaat? Now being 3 months out I know that I was created to be a mama, and I have so much confidence in myself and my decisions in regards to to our baby girl.

**I got terrible stretch marks at 31 weeks pregnant {yes, I cried when they showed up}. After the delivery my marks got real red and puffy and SO freakin itchy. I thought it was normal because my skin was "shrinking". Within a day or two a rash developed all over my upper thighs, waist, and even my arms! I finally called my doctor and apparently I had a unique case of postpartum PUPPP. I had to take some allergy medicine and it took a whole week to clear up.

**A hemangioma showed up on Sullivan's nose at 2 weeks old. These are reaaaally common in babies but not always in super noticeable places. It started swelling and getting bigger, which happens through the first year THEN it begins to reduce and eventually disappear. The doctors {and us} were concerned by the location of Sullivan's, near the corner of her eye and it was starting to swell/grow into her tear duct, so we decided to treat it. The first level of treatment is, get ready for this...  a blood pressure medicine! I was so nervous but it's been almost a month and she's had no negative side effects and the hemangioma has reduced in size, but it's definitely not going away anytime soon, which we're fine with- it's unique!

**Sullivan hasn't been a big weight gainer. She eats great {we breastfeed} but isn't gaining like other babies we know. Doctors say she's totally fine! People just kept making comments {FYI don't do that} and got me nervous about it. At her 2 month well visit she was in the 25th percentile for weight but 75th for height. So she's tall and skinny. Within the last month she's definitely put on weight though. I will be weighing her today actually at my breastfeeding support group {everyone should find one of these}.

**Her poop was green for 2 weeks! As a breastfed baby the poop is supposed to be mustard yellow, and was for the first 6 weeks then randomly turned all different shades of green and different textures. Guess what- the doctor said he doesn't worry about green, yellow, or orange poop! Hooray. Never in my life did I think I'd be talking about or CARE about poop.

**She has a herniated belly button- AKA an outie.

**She had an umbilical granuloma, which she had to have "burned" off 3 different times with silver nitrate. It causes her zero pain but stains her belly button blackish for forever. Good news, it's officially healed, which is reeeally great because the doctors were talking surgery if it didn't. 

We are blessed that all of these things have been/are minor and cause no concern or worry, especially since our little nugget wasn't breathing when she was born! Praise the Lord she is so healthy!

Chambray Baby Gap One-Piece//Hobby Lobby Bow

Please feel free to ask any specific questions you might have! 

Happy Baby, Happy Life.

Since October 30th our life has NOT been the same... duh. We felt like we were prepared for life with baby, but no amount of preparation could have truly got us ready for what was coming. I always heard people talk about the sacrificial life of a parent, especially moms, but man was I naive. I didn't think about the everyday things that I can never just hop up and do. Simple things... going pee, taking a shower, cleaning, cooking, WORKING OUT. I am officially canceling my gym membership because let's be honest, when will I ever be able to go? The selflessness it takes to be a parent is unreal, until you experience it. I have to place someone else's needs above my own at all times. And as the selfish person I naturally am, this definitely doesn't come easy. But luckily the Lord has equipped and prepare me {everyone} to raise up a new generation and be parents, even if, like Jeff and I, you aren't necessarily planning or trying to become parents right this moment.

#Ourbabysullivan has been the sweetest, most incredible gift we've ever received. I still look at her and think how blessed we are to have been chosen as her parents. Obviously, we think she's perfect... but I genuinely believe that she is! She's such a fun and happy baby, she literally just smiles and squeals for hours every day. 

Sullivan's first captured smile at 5 weeks! 

Sullivan began sleeping through the night at 6ish weeks. Before that she only woke up once or twice in the night, so it was manageable. I read a book, Babywise, which I totally recommend to ANY soon-to-be parents. I honestly believe the principles we applied from this book largely get the credit for her being the way she is. I know every baby is going to be different, and I'm positive our next baby will be way more challenging {I like to use the word hellion} but I think this book is AMAZING. Obviously, take it with a grain of salt, and realize every baby won't fit perfectly into the examples in the book. For the first 3 weeks I wanted to know why my baby wasn't a mini clone of the examples given. Then I loosened up and realized it was a process. We worked {are continue to work} toward the goal of helping our baby be happy, predictable, content, and well rested.  

My shirt Jcrew Factory {similar here}//Baby's shirt from Carter {similar here}

Mudpie Leggings

H&M onesie

     

Dress: Island Child//Georgia&Jane Headband

Peplum Baby Gap Onesie 

     

She's just so happy, I can't help myself! 

My Birth Story... 3 Months Late.

I want to write down and share my birth story. It all started Tuesday, October 29th. Well really it started 2 weeks before when I had a false alarm that landed me in the hospital for a day, because the night before I had labor like symptoms- complete with throwing up from cramps in front of all my cheerleaders on the sidelines of a high school football game. Perfect. 

But the party really started on October 29th at 6:45pm. I had just gotten home from cheer practice, and we had to be at small group with friends from church at 7. Someone had made us a breakfast casserole a few days before, so given our timeframe that night, we had it for dinner. Jeff text the friend that made it for us and said how perfect it was. I looked at his phone and saw he said "damn group" instead of small group... Honest mistake. Which I found hilarious and started laughing hard, so hard I peed... But actually I've never been one of those girls to pee myself while laughing so then I realized it could be my water breaking. After I changed three different times because I kept "peeing" we assumed it was the water breaking. My first reaction was to start cleaning and doing all the things I had been wanting to do before the baby arrived, and we made it to the hospital around 8pm. I literally had one bite of the breakfast casserole, and we never made it to small group. 

When we got to the hospital they needed to know how certain I was that my water broke- I was 90% sure. So I was admitted, but feeling great so everyone was skeptical. I would have been SO mortified had it been pee. They had to run some test on the "water" to be certain it was amniotic fluid.. And results would be back in an hour. They checked my cervix.. I was 1cm dilated 75% effaced, which is what I had been for over a month now. It wasn't looking good the nurse and my doula (EVERYONE NEEDS A DOULA, just saying) said it would be a loooong night and process. We talked to my doctor at 11pm and she wanted to start me on pitocin at 1am if I hadn't made any progress. 

Also important- at 30 weeks pregnant I switched doctors. Bold move, I know. A lot of thought and prayer went into the decision. Now, we fully believe it was the right decision. I had marginal placenta previa, which means the placenta could potentially block the baby's exit. So there was talk of a possible C-section. I had to have so many ultrasounds and my doctors seemed to be settling on the idea of a C-section, despite the possibility of the placenta moving. I wasn't searching for a different answer, and have nothing against C-sections, but I wanted the opportunity to at least try a vaginal delivery. I didn't exactly trust that the doctors had my best interest in mind, so I got a second opinion. Sure enough, my placenta was fine and I was totally in the clear to have a vaginal birth. Later, I learned a lot of horrible things about the practice I was originally at. 

I wanted to attempt to have an all natural birth experience. When the possibility of pitocin came up, I was nervous because it can make the laboring so much more intense, and it's less likely to manage the pain without drugs. We (husband, doula, and I) walked, walked, and walked around that hospital- so much so that nurses kept calling the women's center to let them know I was roaming around, and making sure it was ok. Ha! At 1am the nurses checked me and I had dilated to a 4! So I was good to keep letting my body naturally progress. The rest is a blur... I wish I remembered the whole process, but I was in a deep state of meditation. I barely said any words or made any noises. Apparently I was the most quiet and composed laboring women the nurses and my doula had ever seen! At 4am my doctor arrived and it was time to push. Everything I read said when you get to the pushing- it's over. Well, go figure, it was the opposite for me. I pushed for over 2.5 hours and nothing I did could get the baby out! Finally, my doctor called for the "small vacuum". Before I knew what was going on, I had the biggest relief of my life and was told I had a BABY GIRL! At 6:51am my baby girl was in the world! 

Jeff was weeping and I was being tended to. All I kept asking was "How much does she weigh?" I was in such a strange state of mind, I didn't even realize she wasn't crying. Within seconds they were able to resuscitate her and I was able to hold her, but I had to keep hitting her back to help loosen up fluids. The trauma in the birth canal made her heart rate drop and the umbilical cord got wrapped around her neck, so she wasn't breathing at birth. The pediatrician said there would be no lasting/long term effects of her birth trauma. 

Sullivan Carolina Thompson as born October 30, 2013 at 6:51am. She weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 21.25 inches. She has forever changed our life and has been the best, most perfect gift from God!