Another Name Sake.

This weekend Hunter had the chance to meet his Great Grandma and Grandpa Ford.

It was such a neat experience for Kevin and I to spend some time with his grandparents. 

Grandma Ford was completely enamored with little Hunter.

Hunter is the 19th great-grand baby on the Ford side.

Grandma Ford is such a lovely lady.

She has all of the grandchildren and great grand children's full names and birthdays written down in a little book of hers. She absolutely loves her family and you can tell how proud she is of her THREE children and their spouses, her FOURTEEN grandchildren and almost TWENTY great grandchildren.

I love to visit with them and listen to her go on about her posterity. She has wonderful stories and you can see on her face the love she has for each member of her family.

Hunter also got to meet the namesake for his middle name. 

Grandpa Ford's middle name is Edward. Kevin was given that middle name when he was born and when we found out we were having a boy, we just knew we wanted to honor Grandpa Ford and continue the name. 

Kevin is very close to his grandfather and it is so special that our son can share a part of Grandpa Ford and Kevin's special relationship.

We are so blessed to have incredible family on both the Ford and Goold sides.

We are so excited for Hunter's blessing day when we will be surrounded by so many people who have made Kevin and I the people we are today which in turn led to this beautiful little baby and special child of God.

Guest Post. The first from Daddy Kevin.

Hello Readers.

On Saturday, I got to spend my first half-day with Hunter all by myself. 

Kyla went to a wedding for one friend and a bridal shower for another. Hunter got an upset stomach and threw up all over me and the couch. 

Is this what Kyla does everyday?

I thought Hunter just slept in his crib all day and Kyla sunbathed in the backyard. 

Now I know truth. I got a "I told you it wasn't easy" from Kyla when she got home. 

I really enjoyed it though. One of our first father/son hangouts.

We will have many over the years - golfing, hiking, camping, baseball, etc. 

Hunter is very alert and getting more and more stubborn already. I can picture him in no time walking - then will come our second son. I told Kyla I would go for another boy, then we can go for a girl. It's fun having a little man to be on my side. 

We can both hold mama's hand:)

 

Cousin Annalee Visited. Hunter Ate. I did some multitasking. Hunter Napped.

Thanks for Reading.

K.E.F.

Making Mom Proud - Introducing Fabulous Eats.

I'm making MY mom proud.

Remember when I said I was going to start adding weekly features to my blog? 

Well this will be my first post in my weekly Fabulous Eats feature. 

In this feature I will be posting my recipes, favorite recipes from my mom, favorite restaurant eats, healthy eating, grocery shopping tips, hopefully featuring some of YOU and your favorite dishes as well as so much more about food and cooking!

Hope this weekly features makes your mouth water and encourages a little more home cooking and a lot less eating out.

My mom is an incredible cook.

Growing up there was one place I could ALWAYS find my mother. 

The Kitchen.

We were spoiled rotten with amazing, delicious dinners that my mom made for our family. She also catered weddings (including my wedding with help from her fabulous lady friends), corporate events as well as having tons of parties at our home that always drew crowds, for the food of course!

As the children grew, mom always let us be involved with cooking and we were all able to pick up a little of her talent.

When I got married, I wanted to make sure I showed Kevin what a good wife I was. 

This included doing ALL the laundry, keeping the house clean and of course cooking.

I had always heard a way to a man's heart is through a full belly.

Lucky for me, I knew I had this wife responsibility in the BAG (thanks mom).

With some of my mom's recipes I have been able to cook some awesome dinners for Kev. Just ask him, he'll tell you what a great cook I am.

This week I made my mom proud with a recipe I whipped up all on my own.

(I actually searched Pinterest and made my own recipe from ideas of a few others I saw)

I have had a jar of unopened artichoke hearts in my fridge for a few months and I have been dying to use them.

We are big CHICKEN eaters in the Ford household and so I figured I could make some type of chicken/artichoke dinner and that is just what I did. 

Lemon Chicken and Artichoke Hearts

1 1/2 tbs of Olive Oil.

1/2 cup White Onion.

2 tbs of Chopped Garlic.

1/2 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. (bite sized)

3/4 cups of artichokes hearts (halved or quartered) (use canned or jarred).

1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice.

1/3 cup water.

1 tsp lemon zest.

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Let it shimmer, add onion and garlic, season with salt and black pepper, and let it cook until golden. (Aprox: 4 minutes.)

Add chicken and cook until well browned on all sides. (Aprox: 5 minutes.)

Add artichoke hearts and cook until slightly broken down. (Aprox: 3 minutes.)

Add water, and juice and scrape the bottom of the pan to incorporate any browned bits. 

Cook until sauce is slightly reduced (Aprox: 5 minutes.)

Remove from heat, stir in lemon zest, and serve.

(I served mine over brown rice and added a dash of Soy Sauce)

When I cooked this dinner I only had a few small chicken tenderloins and it made just enough for Kevin and I.

Double this recipe and use more chicken depending on your liking of chicken ratio to the meal and number of people at the table.

If you give this recipe a try let me know! 

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as Kevin and I did.

Bon Appetit.

Our week, according to my Iphone photos.

Baby Hunter is growing so fast and everyday we are seeing more and more of his adorable little personality.

Baby and momma hang out during the day and anxiously wait for dad to come home and play. 

Little Hunter has started lying on his play mat and is moving his hands all around trying to swing at the toys.

His little neck is getting stronger everyday and he is starting to focus more on all of his surroundings.

It is so fun to watch our little one grow. 

The first few weeks of his life were very slow and sometimes overwhelming as he tried to catch up from being per-mature. 

Both momma and dad think he is doing amazing now and we are soaking in all of these precious baby moments.

Hope our readers are having a fabulous week. 

Can you believe its almost AUGUST? 

I'm One Month Old Today.

One month ago today daddy and I headed to the doctor's office for our 36 week checkup. 

Hours later, we held you in our arms and we fall more in love with you every day.

Happy One Month Hunter Edward. 

(One Month Photo Shoot Bloopers)

At One Month Old...

I am 7 lbs 1 oz.

I eat every 3-4 hours.

I sleep in my own crib in my room (for half the night)

I finally am breathing without OXYGEN! 

I love my baths.

I still have Strawberry Blonde hair.

It looks like my eyes might be blue.

I am a pretty happy and calm baby.

I only cry when I am hungry or have a poopy diaper.

I am VERY gassy! 

I make lots of funny faces at mommy and daddy that they think are just adorable!

Operation Hot Mom

Yesterday marked DAY 1 of Operation Hot Mom, my 30 day challenge to get my body back in shape after baby.

It's been 4 weeks, and I figured that is long enough for me to "recover".

During the last 4 weeks, with no physical activity, I made it almost back to my post baby weight (4lbs over)

My goal for the first 30 days is to hit a specific weight and body fat percentage. 

I have mapped out an exact workout plan for each day and will track and watch my food intake. 

I am hoping that I can hit these goals and that after the 30 days I can continue to work on my health and stay in shape.

It has always been important to me to make sure I am healthy and in shape so I can have energy to keep up with my children and every day life.

I also want to make sure my husband still finds me SEXY.

I am very excited for the next 30 days to see my progress.

Here I am, 4 weeks POST baby, Day 1 of 30 day challenge. 

This is PURE motivation. Yuck. Get rid of that Gut.

 What tips do you readers have on eating healthy? Meal ideas, snack ideas?? I have a "plan" in place but always interested to hear what has worked for others.

(Especially for yummy healthy meals. I LOVE a good meal)

Wish me Luck everyone.

Watch for weekly updates on my progress and more. 

Also Enjoy Some picture of the week :)

Bye Bye Oxygen.

Baby Hunter is off of the oxygen.

We got the news today and we could not be happier.

We are so proud of our little guy for his continued growth and development over the last three weeks since his early arrival.

We are so excited to be able to FINALLY enjoy this ADORABLE face without all of the silly wires attached.

We had a little family removal party when dad got home last night to strip Hunter of his apnea monitor strap and the oxygen mask. 

Last photo with all his wires.

Daddy takes off heart monitor

Mommy takes off the nasty sticky's from my face.

 

 

That was so exhausting. Feed me!

 

So long wires and beeping machines.

You will not be missed.

Thanks for all the prayers everyone.

They TOTALLY worked!

 

Due Date.

My Dear Sweet Baby Hunter.

Today is your due date.

We have been waiting for this day for nine months. 

A day that would change our lives forever. A day that we would talk about for a lifetime to come and a day that will be all about YOU each year.

Well, on your due date you are twenty-two days old and it has been the most amazing three weeks of mine and your fathers life.
We love you so much Hunter.

We are so grateful you have chosen to come to this earth and have allowed us to teach you and love you along your journey.

We hope we tell you every day how much we love you.

You are our first child and will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Happy Due Date Baby Hunter.

Love, 

Mom & Dad

Thursday Sweats and Pampers Blowouts.

It's a Thursday kinda SWEATS day (for Mamma) and a Poop all over day (for Baby H).

No doctors appointment and no visitors so baby Hunter and I are taking it easy.

This of course really means that Hunter does this...

 And mommy cleans the house, does some laundry, puts together a grocery list and thinks about all of the things she WANTS to do; like put together a post pregnancy work out plan, re-upholster the rocking chair with the ADORABLE fabric that has been sitting on my craft table for three weeks and window shop online. (I cant wait for some new clothes for my HOT post pregnancy BOD I am gonna be rocking here sooner then later)

Last night we had a family BBQ with the Goold and Roberts (my grandfathers sister and her family) and it was a blast!

 

 

I absolutely love my family and adore our extended relatives.

We have another overnight Oxemitry test scheduled for tonight to see how Hunter's oxygen levels are doing and to see if he can be taken off the tank.

At yesterdays appointment Dr. M said that his levels dipped 17% of the time mostly while he is in a deep sleep.

Its a bittersweet feeling to think he may need to be on the oxygen a while longer. I just want to carry my little baby around from room to room and kiss those sweet little cheeks. I also want him to be able to breath well and not have to worry about him while he is sleeping.

EVENTUALLY he will be in his nursery and I will NOT be sleeping on the floor next to him and I don't want to be worried he's struggling to get the air he needs. 

Its amazing how much in just the last week he has changed. Babies really do grow so quickly. In the last week he gained a whole pound (which is AWESOME) but I can totally see it. I probably take a million pictures a day to capture how tiny he is because I know this little stage wont last long.

Keep us in your prayers tonight readers!

PS. New Blog features coming soon. 

Daily features on all things babies, wardrobe, crafting, thrifting, food, music and MORE.

Still working on how I am going to cram EVERYTHING I want to blog about into 7 days (or less since I wont blog everyday) and also keep it all about THE FORDS. 

Keep your eyes out for fun new additions soon! 

x0x0

Hunters First Bath!

Tonight Daddy and Mommy gave little Hunter his first bath.

It was so fun.

We were a little worried at first... 

Is the water too hot? Will he pee all over? How long do we have before he starts shivering?

Well, we pulled it off.

Hunter did great and didn't cry at all. 

I think he liked the warm water.

We know he loved getting that nasty strap around his chest off and those icky sticky's off his face. 

He looks so different without a million wires attached to him and tubing on his face.

So stinking ADORABLE and PERFECT!

It was so AMAZING for me to be able to carry my baby around for a few minutes. He is usually so stationary with all of the machines.

Our little man cleans up very well. With a fresh diaper and new outfit, lotioned skin and a nice comb-over hair do, this little man is hopefully ready for bed! 

(At least for the next three hours that is)

Goodnight Readers.

PS. We have a picture of Daddy and Hunter during this first bath experience.

However, Daddy isn't wearing a shirt. Er-go.. Not posted :(

Another Week.

I personally think this handsome little boy ROCKS the oxygen mask.

 Our favorite nurse from Dr. Mumford's office, Brenda, called yesterday to let us know Hunter's oxygen levels were still low while he was in deep sleep and therefore needs to stay on the oxygen another week.

Darn.

We have another overnight test set for this Thursday and should have the results Monday.

I cannot wait for the oxygen tank and APNEA machine to be gone, however I have tried to stay positive about it realizing we still haven't reached his due date (coming this Saturday) and so I am grateful for modern medicine/technology to help him continue to develop and grow. 

Thanks again for all the continued prayers! We are definitely aware of the Lord's hand in little Hunter's early arrival and know he is watching over him, and us as he continues to grow stronger.

On Sunday we said goodbye to some of our best friends. Colin and Jessica headed off to Texas Monday morning. We are going to miss them so much but are so excited for  their new adventure.

 Can't wait to read the blog Jess :)

Hunter also met his Great-Grandma Goold on Sunday. He is the first great-grandchild for my grandparents on my fathers side.

He pretty much loves her to death.

I think its safe to say she loves him too! 

Yesterday, Hunter had his first public outing (besides the Doctors office) as we celebrated Grandpa's 51st birthday. The doctor told us to keep him out of crowded areas so we enjoyed a lovely lunch on the patio at The Foundry Grill at Sundance Resort.

Hunter loved spending and celebrating the day with his Grandpa.

Looks like Grandpa loved it too. 

 

So glad we could spend the day with my dad on his Birthday! 

Love you Dad.

Can you believe we are already ten days into July? 

Summer is going by so fast. I haven't really even been outside at all. With Hunter being on oxygen its really hard to get around with all the machines attached.

Kev and I however have been taking little Hunter on nightly walks (once it cools down).

He seems to like that. Pretty much the extent or our summer fun.

What fun things are you doing or do you have planned this summer readers?

We'd love to hear!

Happy Tuesday Readers.

Baby Hunter's Birthday Story

What a great way to remember the arrival day of my little man then by blogging about it and sharing my experience with all of my readers (since I know you are all just DYING to hear the story!)

I have read so many birth stories in the last few months as I prepared for my own experience, that I figured I'd share just to prove that EVERY birth experience is different.

As I prepared for my first childbearing experience, I read books and talked to friends and even watched videos on YouTube to try and get SOME idea of what to expect. My results were that EVERY experience is different and that trying to plan a "perfect" labor would only set myself up for disappointment, fear and more stress.

I think this actually helped me when the big day finally arrived because I had the "I'm here to have this baby and whatever happens, happens" attitude. I knew that I was in a place where things would be taken care of if something went wrong and knew the LORD was the only one who controlled how and when this baby was coming! 

Thursday morning, June 21st about 2am, I woke up with severe "menstrual like" cramps. After just a few minutes they went away and I was able to go back to sleep. 

(This was my first sign I was in labor but OBVIOUSLY I had no clue).

Around 5am, the same cramping woke me up and this time they stayed. About every 20 minutes or so the cramping would return and the pain seemed to be getting a little worse.

I was able to get going for the day and headed down to my weekly doctor's appointment.

On my way to my Doctors Apt on 06/21 @9am

Everything looked good as normal. When I met with Dr. Judd I explained the severe pains I was having and how often they were coming. I asked if he could see if I had dilated at all but because I was 36 weeks and 5 days, he told me he wanted to wait until my next appointment to check my cervix since I wasn't quiet full term. 

I left the office (still VERY uncomfortable) and headed to work for the day.

About 11am  I mentioned to my supervisor how MISERABLE I was. She finally suggested that she drive me home since I was having such a hard time at work.

At home I figured I would try a warm bath and lie down for a bit to see if the pain would go away. By 2pm the pains were getting much worse. I had been texting Kevin and keeping him up to date and he suggested that I call the doctors office to see what they say. At this point the pains (contractions) were coming every 4 minutes and leaving me on the verge of tears each time.

I called the doctors office and after explaining I was having contractions every 4 minutes was told to head down to Labor and Delivery.

OH MY HECK.

I called Kevin to tell him we needed to head to the hospital.

He came right home and as I sat on the couch for just a few minutes (it felt like a whole day) watching him run around trying to grab last minute items, it finally hit me that this baby might actually be on his way.

We arrived at the hospital at 3pm. The nurse took us to a room and examined me. I was dilated 2cm and 85% effaced. The nurse explained that Dr. Judd wanted them to watch me for one hour to see if I progressed. If I did they would admit me to have a baby, If I didn't they would send me home. I thought, there is NO WAY in heck I am going home with these pains. 

At 4pm, the nurse came back in to check on me. I hadn't dilated any further but had effaced to about 95%. I explained how much pain I was feeling and that I didn't feel comfortable going home. The nurse said she would call the doctor, get me some pain medications and watch me for a bit longer. By the time another nurse came back into our room with some morphine, my pains were getting much worse and I let her know! She decided to check my progress again before giving me the drugs. To her surprise I had dilated to 4cm and was 100% effaced.
She looked up at Kevin and I.
The words still ring in my ears, "Looks like your having a baby today!"

I couldn't believe it. 

Before I knew it they were putting hospital bands on Kevin and I, letting the doctor know I was being admitted, calling the anesthesiologist down to my room and having Kevin call my mom to let her know it was GO TIME.

Contractions.

 

Thumbs Up for EPIDURALS.

By 6pm, after I got my epidural (BEST INVENTION EVER), I was happy in labor heaven. I was totally calm and very excited for the next few hours.

My nurse, Little Debbie, was amazing. She was so sweet and helpful during the whole evening. She explained each step as we progressed and what the plan was. She also kept it very real by explaining what would happen if things didn't go as planned. 

She checked in on us every two hours which gave Kevin and I some time to just relax and hang out together in the room (our last few hours as a family of two).

Debbie checked on me a few times over the next few hours. At one point my water broke (which I heard) and when she came in to check I was now at 6cm. By 10pm I was still dilated 6cm and so Debbie decided she was going to call Dr. Judd to see if she should give me Pitocin to speed up the process (especially since I had an epidural and those usually slow things down). When Debbie came back in some time later she checked my progress again. To all of our surprise I had jumped to 10cm and she could feel the baby's head.

Another announcement that rings in my head, "You're at a ten and its time to push"

OH MY HECK AGAIN! 

This baby was ready to make his debut.

This was the part of labor that I was the most worried about. After hearing stories about the pushing process I was nervous. With the epidural, I wasn't able to feel anything (which I loved) but it did make it difficult when I was told to push. At first I had a very hard time concentrating on where exactly I was pushing. Debbie brought in a mirror so I could visualize where I was pushing. It really helped and it was so cool to see his head make his way to the exit. I only threw up 3 times while pushing, something I didn't even knew happened until my cousin Jessica told me about it.
Just over an hour of pushing, the doctor and nurses were called in. I watched as our room began to fill with nurses and medical supplies. A NICU team was called in since Hunter was coming early so our room instantly felt crowded. 

At 1:33am the doctor told me to look at my son. I looked down and saw this little person take his first breath in this world. 

Incredible! 

He was taken by the nurses right away to be cleaned off and monitored.
He scored an 8/9 on his APGAR test and looked great.

He weighed 5 pounds 12 oz at birth and was 18 inches short.
He was born with red hair like his momma and the cutest little face ever.

 

 Within a few minutes of observation after birth, the nurses noticed Hunter's breathing was quicker then it should be. They wrapped him up so I could hold him for just a minute and took him away to the NICU to be monitored. 

(NICU stay experience in a future blog post)

It was an incredible 10 hours from when we arrived at the hospital to the birth of our son. My labor was fairly easy and I was so blessed not to have any complications.

I am so grateful for the incredible nurses who took care of me during my 2 day recovery stay at the hospital. I was surrounded by wonderful women who each made me feel comfortable and relaxed even though my son was in the NICU. 

My Amazing Labor nurse Little Debbie.

Dr. Judd and Baby H.

I feel so blessed that my amazing husband was such a great support during the birth. He coached me on the breathing, fed me ice chips, adjusted my legs (since I couldn't move them due to the epidural) and rocked at taking pictures (usually my job) to be sure we captured every moment.

 

 

Overall, child birth was way better then I ever imagined it and the best part....

A super cute little baby boy I get to call my son.

 Welcome to our family Hunter Edward Ford.