Back to School!

(a picture to brighten your morning!)

Yep. It's back to school for me! I couldn't be happier. I wish that January 19th was already here! I have decided to go back for a few reasons:

1. I am 3 classes away from applying to a nursing program! It seems like if I don't, it would just be wasted time...and that would stink!
2. I am all about natural childbirth. I know that it can be so challenging to do that in the hospital setting, and I'd love to be of assistance to women who want to do that & be supportive...as well as others who don't :) Having a child is so incredible, and I just want to be there for those special moments.
3. Adam already has his degree and I want to have mine too. I really want to set an example for Ellie. I think that would be really encouraging to know that her parents both did what they hope she will do too :)
4. I just want to! I think it would be a huge accomplishment!

So, there you have it. Starting January 19th, I will be a part-time student, part-time babysitter, part-time catering server, & full time momma! Busy life here I come!!!....but I couldn't be more excited!

Love, Krystle

Dinner & a Video Game?

Yep. That's right. I'm making dinner, and my husband is playing a video game with my little brother. We are also listening to Primus per request of the husband. I give in because he has to work with what he calls "Mervyn's Music" (He use to work there).... ya know like Savage Garden, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion...you get the point. Not my ideal night, but hey, I embrace what I'm given to work with :)

If I could have it my way, it would probably be light Christmas music, candles lit, tree lights on, & a hot cup of tea while I make dinner.....mmmmmm....if only......

For now, I will be happy with Medal of Honor in the background & the sound of happy boys and a happy baby! Not to mention I'm making Creamy Mashed Potatoes I found from this blog and I can't wait to try them! Thanks Vanessa! By the way, if you ever want a good recipe or are stuck on what to make for dinner, hop over to her blog and she will definitely make your mouth water :)

Just wanted to kill some time while my broccoli is steaming....Hope everyone is having a simply spectacular Thursday night!

P.S. I just found out today that my local grocery store Sunflower Market (Love it!) gives out FREE back massages on Thursdays between 10 & 2 pm! That definitely made my Thursday fantastic!

Love, Krystle

My Heart is Pure Mush

For this little girl.

I can't even handle it...
Can you?! :)

Happy 1st day of December to all of you!

Love, Krystle

Not Me Monday!

Ok. So I'm trying this out. I got the idea from this blog, and it's so fun! I however will have an extremely SHORT one, but here goes!.....be nice to me.....it's my first time!

....(you post about things you aren't too proud of).......

It was definitely NOT ME that cleaned a nasty NASTY toilet COVERED in pee and who knows what yesterday! I swear, the people that lived in the place we just bought DID NOT clean for even 1 second....I'm absolutely convinced. I wore clothes over that I could just cut off of my body...yep, it was definitely NOT ME cleaning other people's bodily excretions....not me!

It was also definitley NOT ME who put down a teenager's imprisoned father....this is how it went down....I was taking one of my brother's friends home from school, and I was asking what his parents do (you know, one of those conversation starters), he proceeds to tell me that his mom worked for intel or something like that, and that his dad didn't live with them. I then asked what he did, and he said that he was in prison.......and it was DEFINITELY NOT ME who said this.......

"Oh, well I guess he doesn't do anything then." - GASP!!!! Slap my mouth , hit my hand, & shame on me! I felt really terrible. Actually, no I didn't....because it was NOT ME who did that ;)

Last night after I cooked my husband chicken noodle soup (and might I add, Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!) it was definitley NOT ME who decided to not do ANY dishes and leave my kitchen a bloody mess! My husband did not call me today and make fun of me by saying that I would still be working on those dishes by the time he came home 6 hours later.....Nope, NOT ME!

P.S. Ever wonder why God made men to not be able to handle sickness??? So weird. I mean, put em' out in the woods and they'll shoot something, chop down a tree, want to stay over night with just a blanket, but let them have a little stuffy nose, and you would think the world was crashing down! ha ha! Okay okay, ....I exhaggerate.....but you get the point!

Alright! There it is. Any of you have a NOT ME monday post I should check out? Do it!

Love, Krystle

Ahhhhh.....It's Christmas Time!

I love this time of year. I wish it were colder, and maybe snowing, but I'll take it! I am going to put up our tree today, listen to christmas music while doing it, and maybe drink some hot chocolate. I'm also skipping church this morning so that I can keep Ellie on a good sleeping schedule :)

Now that I'm back, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that prayed for little Jacob. We really appreciate it. I know that I have felt all of those prayers carrying me through this hard time.

Well, here is an update on Ellie!

• She is 6 months and about a week! I can't believe it.
• She has slept through the night for a long long time now- about 4 months! Woo hoo!
• She doesn't like any food- not even cereal. I'm gonna try and break that by buying every kind of baby food I can and tying them out on her...we'll see!
• About a week before she turned 6 months, she started crawling AND sitting up! Ever since then she goes everywhere. It's so awesome.
• About a week ago, she also started pulling herself up onto things...Adam walked at 10 months, and I think Ellie is well on her way!

I am making a lot of presents again this year! And I will be posting my makings along the way...it feels so much more meaningful to do that. I just love it.

Speaking of "making", the best christmas present for me this year would be for me to be pregnant again! Keepin' my fingers crossed :)

Love, Krystle

Happy Thanksgiving!

Recap of our life lately in pictures! I hope everyone is having a wonderful thanksgiving morning!! Adam is currently in the kitchen making us a HUGE thanksgiving breakfast...Yummmmmm!!! So happy to be back on the blogging scene :)

Checking out the awesome golf club doorbell we inherited when we bought our first home!
Adam and Ellie on a hike :)

Ellie and Mommy right before I left for work at my new job as an on-call catering server!

The 3 of us at the Ravi Zacharias Event....Awesome!

Adam's birthday dinner at The Keg

Vacationing in San Diego

Camping Trip with our friends

Ellie making a hilarious face!

Heeeeellllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooo!!!!

I miss blogging. Like, REALLY miss it. Currently, we are unable to "steal" internet from innocent, unsuspecting neighbors, and to keep budget costs low, we have decided to not have the internet. Consider this a formal apology to all of my friends for using the internet at their house instead of hanging out...

AND, Can you BELIEVE I missed Nie's appearance on Oprah?!?!?! Come on! Talk about being really irritated. If I could have followed her online more closely, this tragedy would have never happened...did anyone out there watch it? How was it?? Please fill me in!

Currently, Adam and I are vacationing in California. So far today we have slept in, I called my moms to tell them we got in okay, fed Ellie some rice cereal, and watched a car chase in Dallas, Texas for about an hour...and liked it! Ha! It cracks me up that they call that "Breaking News" here in California. What in the world does that have anything to do with us? It is really funny though to hear the newscasters struggling to find something to talk about that whole time!

We are headed to the beach soon. Lots of pictures to be taken. Ellie is pretty stinking cute these days...I wish I had pictures to post now, but I'm not at my home . Soon my friends, very soon.

Hopefully our internet will be up and running next month (cross my fingers), then my posts will be more regular. Until then, enjoy the randomness :)

Jacob William Porter

Jacob went home to be with the Lord Friday night, September 11, 2009 around 10:30pm. Praise God for our hope of heaven. Praise God for the resoration & healing that heaven brings. Praise God for loving Jacob more than any of us could ever imagine. Praise God for 8 years of being around one of the sweetest, most unique little boys I have even been blessed to have such a close relationship with. Praise God for so many precious memories his life has left behind. Praise God that one day, we will see him again.

Thank you for your prayers. All of them were answered. Jacob is happy & healed as I write this.
Our God is good.

Late Night Thoughts

(I was looking for a picture of us to post...I stole this from a friends computer. They are both asleep and don't know that I stole it...Ha! Thanks Alexa!)

I'm back.

The me that gets all deep sometimes.

My mind is racing tonight, so I thought I might share some thoughts with you.

As I sit here and type this, Ellie and Adam are sleeping next to me. I'm typing on a friends computer, which feels weird since I just opened up a word document and wrote a few pages of some of my deepest, most secretive & real thoughts on just a minute ago. Something in my spirit was just in need of some good writers therapy.

I miss normal life.

I am so jealous of the people who don't have a little brother with a brain tumor. Who get to go to sleep at night knowing that things are safe & sound...not waiting around for a call to say that someone needs you to come just in case things take a turn for the worst.

I won't tell you all of my thoughts that I wrote down, as some are too selfish for the world to see, but this I will share...

When I was younger, I would ask the Lord to test me. I wanted to know how strong my faith really was. I wanted to know that in my darkest moments I would turn to Him. Well, some of them have come. I'm happy to say that I have still clung (is that the right tense? Ha!) to Him through this situation (definitely not all of them). If there is no hope of Heaven and restoration, then there is no hope at all. But man. Why ask for such tests? It's silly really. We live in such a broken world. We should expect heartache around every corner. But for some reason, when it comes, we act surprised.

Tonight, I'm praying, thinking, & meditating about hope for Jacob. I want restoration . As I type these next words, know that my fingers hurt & my stomach aches for how badly I want this...I want to see Jacob run again. I want to walk in the door & have him greet me himself with his big smile, I want to see him play his legos, and beg us to play games with him-and this time, I never want to refuse. I want him to give me a hug voluntarily, and kiss my hand like he use to. I want to see him watch himself in the tv while it's off (we called it "The Jacob Show"). I want to see what kind of uncle he will be to little Ellie. I want him to meet our other children when they come. Most of all, I want him to be really alive again. Happy.Well.

Tonight I'm still praying for our miracle. Would you please pray with me?

I could keep writing forever, since I'm not tired, but I won't.

Love, Krystle

P.S. We are headed off to go camping tomorrow! We need this time to sort of re-coop and get some much needed energy to come back and be able to be the best help we can. If I could ask for another prayer request, it would be that Jacob would be okay while we are gone. Thanks everone :)

Pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ellie Grace Porter

3 Months & 1 Day.

Happy.

Beautiful.

Lovely.

Sweet.

Precious.

I love you baby girl.

- Mommy

Hello Out There!

Sorry to leave you with the last post and then NEVER update! Things included/not-included in this post:

1) Jacob
2) Ellie
3) Breastfeeding
4) Lack of new pictures! Ugh...I haven't been home too much and my mom doesn't have any good ones! Dangit!

Jacob

Since we found out a little over a month ago, Jacob has been doing fairly well. Adam's parents decided to do a naturopathic treatment on Jacob and it seems to be taking. Most of his days are spent in bed since he isn't up to running around, so most days Adam and I are over there just hanging out, playing games, and watching re-runs of Gilligans Island! I forgot how funny that show was :) We are hoping to get another MRI done sometime in the near future to see if the tumor has shrunk any. Supposidly (spelling?) the stuff that he is on should be able to reduce the tumor after 6 weeks of using it...so please pray that his body will respond to this treatment! We have people asking all the time about ways that they can help. Adam and I have decided to be very frank about that. It feels weird to do, but right now it seems totally necessary. Adam and I have opened an account for his family to recieve anonymous donations. We are basically trying to raise enough money so that his parents can get by for a few months and solely focus on getting Jacob in a better state and develop and solid routine. If anyone is interested, feel free to send me an email :) Other than that, we feel encouraged. The Lord is definitely among us, guiding us through, keeping us sane (to the best of our abilities anyways) and has been so gracious by showing us small signs of healing already. Praise God. But WAY MORE than money, we would be so thankful for your prayers. We know we have the great Healer on our side, and that he can make miracles. And since He can do that, we are asking for it.

Ellie

Oh my sweet precious girl. Words can't even describe the joy she brings to my life. I am glad to report that little miss is sleeping through the night! Well, she has been for a while now...about 4 weeks! People always come up to me and say "You must be SO tired" ( do I look it or something?!) and it's so cool to say that I'm actually really well rested! She isn't a crier...only if she is hungry or tired, and those things are easy to fix. All in all, we have a awesome little girl! And as soon as I possibly can I will upload some pictures!

P.S. Since Ellie is such a good baby, Adam and I are ready for our next one...I mean REALLY ready...as in we are not preventing it from happening......Whoo-hoo!!!!!

Breastfeeding

Bloody breastfeeding. You were NOT my friend- in fact my enemy for a long while. You cost me 2 ENTIRE months of 7 breast infections...but I was determined and SO glad to say that I won the war!!! About a month ago Ellie started breastfeeding like she'd been doing it her whole life. Little stinker. But boy is life a million times easier now! No feeding , then pumping, then feeding, then pumping....half of my day has been given back to me. It's awesome. Now I'm just hoping that my milk stays in...

So there you have it friends, my life, in a TINY nutshell. I haven't been able to even touch on emotion...you know I like to that...but it will come. Thank you for your prayers and hopefully I will be blogging MUCH MORE frequently in days to come!

By the way, did anyone see Julie & Julia and think it was as AMAZING as I did?! I was inspired to go through a cookbook myself after that!

Love, Krystle

Bring the Rain

It's been a while again. There is so much to say, but today I'm going to keep it short & sweet in light of the circumstances. Adam and I have been through a really rough & terrible week. On Tuesday night we found out that his 8 year old brother has an in-operable brain tumor. I don't think it has all settled in yet, but we know that our hearts are heavy and burdened. We still remain completely hopeful though. We have a great Healer on our side. Jesus. And I am confident that He is completely in control and will guide us through this storm.

All this to say, we humbly ask for prayer. Prayers for healing for little Jacob, comfort for all of us, patience to get through the good days and bad days, and most of all that our God would be glorified through this situation. This is not the world He intended for us- it is broken & sick- and right now we are longing for the restoration and hope that heaven brings.

Adam and I are also moving to be closer to the family this upcoming weekend. It's a REALLY hard transition for us. We're moving away from our church family and the part of Phoenix that we love and have lived in since we've been married. It's all happening so fast, so I won't be around too often in the next few days. But these are the times I need my blogging family! So, I will be sharing my thoughts and updates often.

Thanks for your prayers.
Love, Krystle

P.S. The title of my post is "Bring the Rain". It's a song my MercyMe that is really comforting to me right now. Check it out :)

WHEW!!------1 Month Already?!

I have been a total blog-slacker. I give myself all the grace in the world though :) This past month has been FULL of ups & downs. More ups than downs, so that's good news! It's been a rough but awesome transition into mommy-hood. Ellie is nothing short of AMAZING. So cute, so fun, & already developing a little personality. Breastfeeding is nowhere to be found...I am pumping and doing the bottle...she will have NOTHING to do with my twins unfortunately. But that's ok...she's getting the good stuff, and that's all that counts :)

Right now I'm having a much needed break. Listening to some John Mayer, catching up on other blogs, and I may, I repeat, I MAY even be able to take a shower! Cross your fingers...my poor husband has to deal with stinky me all the time! Ha ha! Crazy how priorities change.

Here is our past month in pictures...ENJOY!

Our first day out...sorry for the blurry picture!
Week 2

Mommy, Daddy, & Ellie out for dinner & shopping!

Mom & Dad still feeling the LOVE....Lots of it!!

Daddy & Ellie sharing some smooches :)

1 Month Old! Family Pic

Ellie-1 Month Old- Rockin' her Birthday Suit!!

How cute is that face?! Seriously...she kills me.

Little Sleeper...

All washed and relaxed...

Love, Krystle

Nothing Compares

Nothing compares to the Greatness of knowing Jesus.

I have blogged about this statement before, but it is something that runs deep in my blood. Jesus saved me from a distructive life, and gave me a hope in Him and in life. I am so thankful. I have reflected on my past few blogs. I will say that I know that I am very open & honest. I like it that way. Life isn't always peachy, and we can't pretend. It doesn't help anyone...and most of all, it makes us loose ourselves. With that being said...

I can't let my circumstances dictate how I will be from one day to the next. God put me on this earth for a purpose. Right now, my purpose & mission is to raise up my child in the way she should go. It's also to maintain a steadfast love for my Savior that doesn't waiver. All the things below in my last post still stand, but today I have decided that I need a new perspective.

It's ok to be down. It's ok to throw pitty parties for yourself every once in a while. It's ok to wish that your circumstances were different. But it's NOT ok to forget to depend on the Lord for strength to get through the day...and to do it with JOY. Not forgetting that we live here on this earth not to be satisfied & content. We are to feel like aliens. Never comfortable.

For me, being a parent has not been "comfortable" so far. So, according to my God, I'm in the right place. Feelings of inadequacy and insecurities are to be expected. I can't let it overtake me though. I don't believe that it's honoring to the Lord to wallow in my circumstances for too long. So, right now, today, I'm changing paths. This is not to say that each day won't be hard still. It's not to say that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and feel great. But I am saying that I am going to CHOOSE to live each day for Lord. Whatever that looks like each day- on my knees, with my hands raised in worship, with tears of joy overflowing, with small prayers throughout my entire day, or one long-whole hearted prayer at night spilling myself out to Him.

Because at the end of the day, all that matters is that I remembered that NOTHING compares to Him. A perfect day, a perfect baby, no breastfeeding problems, no mastitis, or a full nights sleep won't make me satisfied (well, maybe for a little while!). It's only HIM that will fill me up.

Need to get out much?

Ya. I do. Definitely need some fresh air these days. I can't believe how overwhelmed I am. I'm actually pretty sad about it. Baby Blues you say? I don't think so. Just too many things on top of too many things in too short of a time period:

Laboring for hours & hours being 8 cm dilated
Pushing and giving birth to my baby
Hearing my midwife say I needed a lactation consultant right after she was born
Pains when I pee
Pains when I poop
Pains when I breastfeed
Pains when I pump
Feeling pain when I put diaper rash cream on my screaming baby & feeling like a bad mom for her having the rash in the first place
Lack of sleep
Lack of putting on make-up, doing my hair, and taking a shower
Lots & Lots of stretch marks
Family over, friends over, more family, more friends
Adam going back to work
Getting a breast infection
Worrying if my baby will get an infection too
Wishing I could just sit & stare at my baby instead of pumping
Having nightmares of huge waves that suck me in (I have had this dream the whole time I've been pregnant, but now I'm holding Ellie)
Watching my dogs, Adam, and Ellie sleeping soundly for a while now, while I sit & cry because I have to pump

Gosh. I sound so negative. Not trying to be. But I figure that I have this blog to be perfectly honest, and to be perfectly honest:

I Need to Get Out!

Mastitis...Are you kidding me?!

I wanted to update on how my first day "alone" went yesterday.................TERRIBLE! I was going strong up until about noon, when all of a sudden I got a massive headache, body pains, a high fever, and one of my "twins" was swollen and rock hard!

I immediately called my mom (because even though I'm a mom, I still need my momma!), and she told me she thought I had mastitis. Basically I have a clogged milk duct which leaves you in severe chest pain and flu-like symptoms. Adam had to come home from work (his FIRST day back) early to take me to the urgent care. Bleh!

So, these past couple days have been pretty rough. I was so mad that I got this...not only am I having a REALLY hard time breastfeeding, but to get an infection too?!?!?!

This too shall pass, this too shall pass...

Add this to the list of "things-people-don't-tell-you-when-you're-pregnant".

On a positive note, I'm feeling better today :) I have missed being able to be Ellie's mom yesterday & today as I have had to tend to my ailments. Thanks goodness for moms & husbands!

Adjusting

Boy how I'm learning what that means in these early weeks of being a new parent! Today is my first day of being home all by myself with Ellie. I have been so nervous for this day to come. I feel like I have been so spoiled having Adam home these past few weeks, and since we don't ever get tired of each other- seriously, we don't- it has been tough! I miss him like crazy. And I know he misses us too...

I think I had an image in my head of what it would be like to be a mom, and so far, it's not exactly what I thought. The toughest part so far has been the continual trouble with breastfeeding. I'm so determined and not giving up- at least for a while- and it starts to take a toll at times. I know that it's only for a short period of time in the grand scheme of things, so that gets me by most days. Also, no one really talks about all the pain AFTER giving birth! That was so rough!!! I wondered why people didn't say that you wouldn't even want to drink water in fear of having to get up to go to the bathroom later! Or how you would be absolutely TERRIFIED of going #2 in fear of something else falling out too! Or how you would rather chop off your boobs than TRY to attempt breastfeeding one more time... Sorry if that was too much information, but it needed to be said....Ha ha! Hopefully no men read my blog!

Another thing that I didn't expect were the fears that come with parenting! Before I had her, I thought that since I always wanted to be a mom, that I would just naturally do a good job and be really confident. Lately though, I find myself praying for EVERYTHING! I get serious too, laying hands on her and all! I am so terrified of something bad happening to her. When some people hold her, it totally freaks me out and I want to snatch her back. I get this feeling that if I knew that at the time I could have prevented something from happening and didn't, that I would never forgive myself. So, to all you parents out there, how do you balance that out? I don't want to be a crazy, over-protective momma, but it's so difficult since I am the one responsible for her. Whew! So much to think about!

Most of all, I know that fear is NOT something instilled in us from our amazing God. He is pretty clear in that we can NOT add a single day to our lives by worrying or being anxious. I think I need to cling to that truth more often. I'm pretty sure I will lose my sanity if not.

Even though this has been a total adjustment period, I wouldn't take it back for the world. Having a baby is one of the most miraculous things in the world. To know that you and the person that you love most in this world, created a life together, is nothing short of amazing. And then to see the one you love, love someone else just as much as you, just in a different way, is pretty amazing too. And when such a little person can make you sob just by thinking of how much you love them, when moments before you were crying because you felt like you were at your end and giving all you had to give, is rather remarkable.

Today

This little woman has been my life lately. Taking all of my energy, thoughts, prayers, & everything else that has to do with me! I can't even describe how having a baby can be one of the most amazing things, and one of the most difficult things all at the same time. Unfortunately, breastfeeding has not really improved much. I'm still really struggling & crying a lot! BUT, I'm not giving up. She's gonna get it eventually. But keep those prayers coming friends!! I know they help :)

Ellie has changed a lot already. Adam and I are SO in love with her. We are the typical "stare-at-your-baby's-every-move" parents. So proud. AND NOT TO MENTION- I have lost 20 lbs already!!! Yay!!!! :) Amidst the tough things, that is something that I am SO grateful for! I'll gladly accept that gift from above!

Today I was having the "woe-is-me's". Feeling so sorry for myself about having little SUCK-cess with breastfeeding. I felt like I was at my end. Then I read this blog, and it reminded me how truly blessed I am. Thank the Lord for transparent people who put life back into perspective. I'm not demeaning my hardships, but it's easier to see the BAD in your situation over the GOOD.

Til next time...

Birth Story

Whew! It has been a while since I have been able to update...turns out that being a momma is hard work and VERY time consuming! I thought I would let you all in on my birth story with Ellie as lots of people have been asking.

On 9am, on Saturday the 16th of May, I started having little contractions. They were pretty consistent- about 5-7 minutes apart, and they were lasting hours. I was actually in a wedding that day and didn't really know if it was the "real deal" or not, so I just went ahead and went on with my day as though nothing was happening. They weren't really that painful...early labor stuff, so the contractions were really managable. By about 3pm my contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart and getting a little stronger. I read in a book called "Birthing From Within" that this lady had cleaned- I mean DEEP cleaned her whole entire home, painted a rocking chair, and did all this other stuff during labor, and when the midwife came, she was 9 cm dilated! I was SO determined to have the same heart as this lady... I knew that I wasn't dying- Just having a baby. So, I just decided to go along with my day. I survived through the ceremony at 5pm while having contractions consistently throughout.

Once we got to the reception, that's when I started really feeling them. They started to get a lot closer and stronger! I didn't want to go home because I knew that if I did, I wasn't gonna be able to leave, so we stayed there. I danced and ate in between contractions! It was actually a lot of fun- I was so glad that I stayed and kept myself distracted. Once things started getting a little tougher- around 9pm- we went home. I had to start breathing through my contractions a little more and doing some of the coping techniques that we learned. My midwife suggested that I drink a little wine and take a bath just to make sure that I wasn't in false labor. I did that and the contractions kept coming, so my midwife came and checked me. By that time I was about 5cm dilated! It was so awesome. I felt like I didn't even have to work that hard to get to that point. I had really been using all the things that I planned- the distractions during early labor, using my breathing, and the pain coping techniques.

It seems like immediately after that, things started to progress really fast. My contractions were REALLY strong. My midwife checked me at about 12:00am and I was about 8cm dilated. And this is when it got TOUGH!!! I stayed at 8cm for pretty much the rest of the time. My contractions were so strong- the most pain I had ever been in in my entire life- and it felt like I had no time in between them to rest. I kept telling Adam and my doula that I just wanted it to be over! They were so supportive and just told me that I was doing a great job and filled me up with encouraging words...it was great. I couldn't handle anyone touching me AT ALL, so those words of affirmation were so needed.

It wasn't until 6am that I could FINALLY start pushing! My water actually never broke, but I was fully dilated. I started pushing, and ready for the gross part??!?! I actually pushed out my bag of water! It was fully intact...so CRAZY! My midwife had to break it because it didn't break on it's own............Ellie was born at 6:37am. She was absolutely perfect.

Everyone asked me if I gave birth in the water since I had the tub, but I didn't. Her heart rate was going down and I actually just had to go into a position that helped my pelvis give her some room. That ended up being a sort of lunge. I never thought that is how I would get her out!

Our home-birth was everything that we imagined it would be. My labor was WAY harder than I thought, but I did it! And you know how people say " The only thing that people get from doing it naturally is a gold star saying they did it".......well, I am VERY happy and satisfied with MY gold star! It was totally liberating and amazing to know that I felt EVERYTHING, and that I was the one who was able to manage my pain and birth my baby with my own strength.

So, there you have it! As of right now, I'm TOTALLY sruggling with breastfeeding...BIG TIME! I would LOVE your prayers to have as we call it- SUCK-cess!!! :)

Suprise, Suprise! She's Here!!!

Hey everyone!

Just a quick update to let you know that our little girl, Ellie Grace is here! Almost 2 weeks early!
She was born Sunday, May 17th @ 6:37am. She is absolutely perfect. PERFECT. Adam and I feel so overwhelmed with love for her....amongst being overwhelmed with LOTS of other "new" things to learn :) But it's so worth every tear I have shed so far.

My birth story will be following as soon as I have a little more energy to write.

Love, Krystle

Ellie Grace Porter
First Car ride to the Doctor for 1st Check-Up

Mommy & Ellie a few hours after the delivery :)

Pregnancy Photos Round 2!

Last Saturday we went out with our family friend Jennifer and took our last set of pregnancy pictures. It was so much fun! There was a nice breeze and it was a beautiful day in the mid 80's. Perfect for the beginning of an Arizona summer :) I am SO PLEASED with the way these turned out...we even went when the sun was at the worst point for taking outdoor pictures...But Jennifer is so awesome and took some GREAT shots. Hope you enjoy! We did!!! And if you are interested in getting YOUR pictures done, you should TOTALLY use Jennifer. She is amazing, and so fun to work with...(P.S. She didn't ask me to advertise for her, but we just had such a great experience, that I feel like I CAN'T NOT to it!)

The "16" is Adam's Number. We HAD to take a picture by it!

We were walking by a little boutique, and saw this chair..it was amazing! We hurried and snuck a few shots in!...We're so bad!

Thanks Jennifer!

Oops...Forgot Something!

I forgot to write in the last post that a couple from our church generously gave us a sweet rocking chair! Well, they actually gave us 2 of them, but I wanted to show you the one that we decided to use for Ellie's room. I really wanted just a simple, classic rocking chair, and this one is just perfect!

Also, I have a very TINY theme going throughout her room with one pattern. This morning I made a little cushion/pillow for the rocking chair to fit the theme...Here is what I have so far!

The Crib Skirt up-close and personal
Cushion/Pillow for the Rocking Chair

Emroidery Hoop on Wall

The Rocking Chair! Also, Adam and I are going to sand-down and repaint the chair white to match the rest of the room. What do you guys think? Leave it or paint it?????

Love, Krystle

It's called Getting it Done!

Oh yes. Feelings of victory surround me. I have been doing a pretty darn good job of knocking things off my list. I'm still not nesting...don't care about the dirty baseboards, cleaning out the cabinets, and I'm pretty sure that Adam was the one to point out that our refrigerator needed to be cleaned...then he proceeded to clean it himself....maybe HE is nesting...is that possible? Ha ha!

So, here is the list o' victory thus far:

1) Made birthing plans (yes, you read that right, plans is plural). One for the hospital, just in case, and one for here at home. Although I'm pretty sure that my midwife & doula will do a rockin' job of doing what I ask..

2) I completed the crib skirt border! I'm a terrible sewer (spelling?), but it was pretty fool-proof.

3) Made my condensed version of baby-wise through the first month. :) It's about 3 pages long full of quick pointers to help me out.

4) Took my last set of maternity photos! Thanks Jennifer. You are awesome.

Here are some pictures to prove that they are Done!

These aren't in order (After)
Before (and I'd like to thank Steve & Sophie for being my reluctant models!)

This is the park where we took our photos..isn't the fountain awesome?! And we took these with our camera by the way...note the unprofessionalism :)

9 months pregnant, and still loving it! (Did you notice the beard??Not mine, silly...Adams!)

And lastly, the computer stuff.

Thanks for keeping me accountable everyone :-)

Love, Krystle

Birth Month....Hopefully!

It's here! THE month. I feel like I have waited SO long for May to come. I'm weeks away from meeting my little girl, and I can't wait. And if you are all wondering about my little projects I promised to post all in 1 week...well...I did finish 3 of them...I just haven't posted yet :( Bad me. I will do one massive post with it all on there sometime in the next few days.

I had an inkling that Ellie was posterior (meaning she is basically laying on my back, which causes LOTS of pain in labor). And I was right. My midwife confirmed it on Saturday...bummer! So it's totally game time. I am doing a ton of different things to try to move her around. And it better work dang-it! I don't want a labor that lasts for days, which can totally end up happening if she doesn't decide to move. But, I'm not gonna stress about it. I will just take it as it comes, and work with my circumstances as they arrive (insert positive-optimistic thinking here!).

One thing that has NOT FAILED to amaze me during this pregnancy are other people's opinions. Sometimes I think I wish that people would just let me make mistakes (lots of them) instead of offer their friendly "suggestions". Bringing a life into this world is a lot to take in all by itself. Add other people's opinions about how you should parent, breastfeed, discipline, etc, and you've got one crammed mind full of self-doubt and confusion- constantly questioning your own decisions that you have already made and felt COMPLETELY comfortable & excited about. It's so unfortunate when you would rather sit back and not say what you are "planning" to do, in fear of having to be on the immediate defense after you say it. This is no bueno people. No bueno. I hope no one takes this as me not being open to suggestions, because I am, but sometimes people are just too overpowering and dictating with their opinions, not allowing YOU to figure it out for yourself...does that make sense?

Anyways! All of that to say, I am so happy & excited... Of course very apprehensive & nervous at the same time. Adam has still been absolutely amazing. I have no complaints in the marriage area...just feeling truly truly blessed. Did I mention Adam is growing his beard out again? I'm pretty sure his level of awesomeness increases 100% each time he does this.... my manly lumberjack :)

Wish me luck in my baby-turning adventures!

Wanna Come Along???

It has been a little harder to blog lately. My mind is so flooded with "stuff" that things are just not coming out clear. Thankfully the "Doula" post was pretty consistent so that you all could actually follow some of my thoughts (thanks for all of your sweet comments by the way!).

So, I have decided to invite you all along. I have lots of mini-projects to do before Ellie arrives. LOTS! I am going to try to get maybe 1 a day accomplished...we'll see! I'm sorry if some of them just aren't that exciting, but I feel like it would give me some good accountability to do it if I include you all :) Here is my first list to get through- We will try this for ONE week to see how good I am. I don't like making empty promises!

1. Make a Birth Plan just in case I have to go to the hospital.
Ok, don't pee your pants or anything, I KNOW how exciting this one is! I bet you all can't wait! ha!!!

2. Complete Ellie's room.
Find white rocking chair for under $100, sew final step for crib skirt, and organize a little more.

3. Condense Baby Wise Info for Weeks 1 & 2 after she is born.
Baby Wise is a book all about scheduling feeding/sleeping times. Another post that I'm sure will knock your socks off!

4. Complete last set of Maternity Photos.
Our awesome friend Jennifer is taking another round of photos for us this Saturday. I can't wait!

That would be 4 posts in a week! Wow. Can I do it????