Meet Harrison

I can't believe it has been over a year since I updated the blog.  A lot has happened in this last year.

The biggest thing being that we found out we were going to be having another baby boy and he arrived on February 27th! (2 days before my birthday!)

His name is Harrison Thomas and he was born at 4:59 in the morning, 9lbs 1oz, 22inches long. 

I felt compelled to come back to this here blog place and share a little about our new boy.  It was a year ago Father's Day weekend that I found out I was pregnant.

Finding Out

We had plans to go to the zoo and I took a pregnancy test right before I left.  Like RIGHT before we left... like I didn't really have enough time to wait the 3 minutes to see what the result was.  I had about 1 minute (because hand hygiene) in which time I could see a very faint blue positive line.  I thought: maybe I was but maybe I wasn't. And we left for the zoo. 

We had a great time at the zoo (mostly) and Abe LOVED all the rocks.
Animals?-eh.
The train ride? -we weren't so sure.
But have you seen these rocks?! :-)

2 year olds.  What do you expect!

So we got home and I found a more clearly-positive pregnancy test in the trash.

Another pregnancy test later, I was sure this was the real deal.  Michael didn't know I was taking these tests (I kinda like keeping him in the dark about these things) so I had an opportunity to surprise him.  The next day was Fathers Day so I wished him a Happy Father's Day by holding up the positive pregnancy test.  Big hugs, lots of excitement.

As the pregnancy progressed I was just so sure we were having a girl based on how different I felt compared to last time. Wrong.  Another boy!

We were so excited that Abe would be getting a little brother!

As the due date approached there was discussion about his size.  With the tearing I had with my last delivery (3rd degree) and the estimated size of this baby (he was measuring 2 weeks ahead for head circumference and about 9lbs when I was 38 weeks), my doctor offered to induce me.  I wasn't super excited about being induce (again) but knowing that I would likely be overdue like I was with Abe and possibly tear again, we agreed to go ahead with the induction.

Labor & Delivery

Induction with Pitocin started at 8am and went very slowly.  Harrison was still pretty high so my contractions were not really painful until after the Doctor broke my water around 8pm when I was 4cm dilated.  So Michael and I had a very boring day of walking, TV, podcasts, repeat.  Then once my water was broken, contractions really started to progress and intensify.  Epidural was in around 1am.  Boy was I was ready for it! One hour later I was nearly 9cm.  And another hour later I was 10 cm.  The doctor wanted me to "labor down" which just meant that, since I had an epidural, I could just rest and allow my contractions to bring Harrison down further into the birth canal. When the nurse came in to do some "test pushes," she quickly stopped me or else she was going to be delivering him right then and there.  Once the doctor came, 1.5 pushes later and he was born!

1st time vs 2nd time

I debated on whether or not I was going to share his birth story, but the reason I wanted to share was to say that even if you have a tough first labor, it doesn't mean that your second will be that way.    With Abe I pushed for 2.5 hours only to deliver with vacuum assistance and a 3rd degree tear.  This time I pushed for maybe a minute and would not have torn at all except that Harrison's hand was up by his face when he was delivered and his elbow cost me a 2nd degree tear.  But let me tell you from experience, there is a HUGE difference between a 2nd and 3rd degree tear.  I was feeling better *down there* in a matter of a few weeks instead of a few months.

So I'm incredibly grateful for how this labor went in comparison to the last one.

As far as comparing postpartum periods, overall, the 2nd time around was so much easier.

I have enjoyed the confidence that comes with having done this before.  I initially planned on breastfeeding for 3 months before switching to pumping but plans changed.  About a week after Harrison was born, I was rushed to the ER with postpartum hemorrhaging.  I lost so much blood that my blood pressure was bottoming out and I was unable to sit up without getting pretty faint and nearly passing out.  The severe lightheadedness only lasted about 8 hrs and then got better as they pumped me full of fluids, but it was long enough to have to give Harrison a bottle and he struggled latching after that.  I didn't fight it, I just switched to pumping exclusively and we haven't looked back since.

And that's what I mean about confidence.  I didn't even hesitate.  I just did what needed to be done for both me and Harrison. I didn't guilt myself into forcing breastfeeding when I didn't really need to.  ...When I knew that pumping would work for me.  I'm so thankful that I could switch to pumping with no problem and could still provide Harrison with breast milk.

About Harrison

Before Harrison was even a twinkle in his daddy's eye ;-), we were praying for him.  We would nightly ask Abe what he would like to pray for and every time he would say "Baby!"  So every night we prayed for "all the babies", including any that would come into our family.  Once we found out I was pregnant, we started to pray more specifically for our baby.  I prayed that God would give us EXACTLY who we needed in our family.  And it's so fun to see how he is already answering that prayer, and will continue to do so. 

Harrison is a dream baby.  He sleeps through the night, takes great naps and is all around sweet and happy when he is awake! He loves his car seat and his thumb.  Both put him quickly to sleep.  He loves cooing and laughing, especially when you sing to him and clap his hands together.  We just couldn't love him more.

Harrison's Name

We chose his name as a nod to Purdue University, our Alma Mater and a very special place for Michael and I.  At Purdue, there is Harrison Street and Harrison Hall and Harrison High School.  These are all named after Benjamin Harrison who was on the Board of Trustees and the 23rd President of the United States. We loved that we could name him something that signified a place that means so much to us.  Purdue is where we started our careers, grew in our faith, made life long friends, got married, and started our adult lives together.  His middle name , Thomas, is after my dad.  (If you remember, Abe's middle name is Mark, after Michael's dad.)

Abe's Big Brother Role

After people ask how Harrison is doing, they always ask about Abe and how he's handling his new role as big brother.  My answer is always: Great! We really couldn't expect any more from him.  He LOVES his baby brother.  He'll come up to him and put his hand on Harrison's cheek and smile.  "Hi baby Hairless."  That's how he says Harrison.  So sweet!  I'm sure it will change as Harrison gets older and starts to get into Abe's toys but for now, they couldn't be any sweeter together.

Thanks so much for all you well-wishers and for sharing in our excitement.  We couldn't feel more blessed to have these two boys in our lives. 

A Couples Shower

I love planning showers.  It is such a fun way to love on people and provide a way for others to love on them too.

So when my sister-in-law got engaged over the summer, I jumped at the opportunity to throw them a shower.

They requested a couple's shower - something I have never done before.  I was surprised at how challenging it was to find a way to make it appealing for both men and women.  Plus it was for both sides of the family - being that Jenelle and Jr were only in town for a short time and won't be back until the wedding.  The shower then became a very efficient way to shower them with gifts and congratulations and for them to catch up with extended family and friends.

To keep the food fun and appealing to everyone, I decided to create a food table full of Jenelle and Jr's favorite foods. 

It then made sense to make it into a fun little game that would be quick and easy.  Plus, although there are many shower games out there, not all of them are good options for a couples shower.  I was worried about finding a game that the men would be willing to participate in, this turned out to be a good one though. 

For a prize that appealed to the masses, and as a nod to the couple's current city of residence - Las Vegas, we gave away a handful of scratch-off lottery tickets to the winner.  

Except, really, everybody wins when you get to indulge in these goodies...

Jenelle had also mentioned that another one of her favorites foods was apples ( I've got a pretty sweet connection to getting my hands on some apples).  So I decided to give away apples as the favors... Something everybody could enjoy.

And for the tables we decorated them with burlap table runners, mason jars, baby's breath, and lace bows.

$$ Saving Tip: Save money on lace by going to Goodwill and purchasing a lace tablecloth or curtain and then cut it into strips.  Super easy way to score lots of lace for a couple dollars.  Also, I bought the burlap at Hobby Lobby and used the weekly 40% off coupon.  I got 12 yards for less than $30. 

One of my favorite parts of the day was having Jenelle and Jr play The Shoe Game.  Have you heard of it?  I think it is gaining popularity and people are even playing it at their receptions.  Here's a bunch of YouTube video clips if you are interested to see how its played. 

It ended up being a really fun game that was entertaining to everybody and kept the focus on the couple.  A perfect game for a couples shower, in my opinion.

So I couldn't have done it without the help of my mother-in-law, Bette, and cousin Ashlee! They were huge helps!  I hope Jenelle and Jr felt loved and encouraged and were able to get all their gifts safely back to Vegas!

So that concludes my three week party marathon! It was fun while it lasted but now I'm glad I have a couple weeks break before the holidays start rolling in. 

Don't miss a beat.  

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Las Vegas Light

When Michael's sister moved out to Las Vegas last August, we were sad to send her off to such a far away place but we also thought... Score! An awesome excuse to go on a Vegas Vacation!

But here's a fact that probably won't surprise you: Vegas has never been high on our list of places we have wanted to go.   But, guess what?  We loved it! So let me tell you about how we did Vegas, Blough Style...We'll call it Las Vegas Light. 

We are super thankful for having Jenelle and Junior host us for the week.  They were gracious hosts for allowing us to stay at their apartment and show us around their new stompin' grounds.

The nicest part about this vacation was it was was super chill.  We only had about three things that we absolutely wanted to do and see: See Jenelle's classroom, go to the Hoover Dam, and see the Las Vegas Strip.  So it was really great to spend 5 days doing those things and then casually deciding how else we were going to spend our time in Vegas.

The first full day of the trip we went to the Hoover Dam. Guess whose idea that was?  Yep! The other half of this blog's name: the nerd.

But it's not like I was against it! We had heard so many people say good things about the Hoover Dam, we just had to check it out.

It's only about an hour from Vegas so it is an easy day trip to make.  We highly recommend the extended tour.  You get to go deep inside the dam and the tour guide we had was fantastic! Well worth the $30 per person - especially if you are someone interested in engineering or American history.  Or if you are just a person. You'd probably like it too.  It was really good.

Although, I don't know if we can give quite the same blanket rave reviews about the museum that they have before you go on the tour.  It was hit or miss.

 Nerd Approved. 

 

Non-nerd not-so-approved. 

 

On Monday we went to Jenelle's classroom.  She teaches the 4th grade.  She won most creative for her "magic tree house" door decorations! Congrat's girl! I'm sure Ball State will be calling soon to film you and your door for one of those Education Redefined commercials.  Better keep the line open.

But seriously.  I love the ladder.  

It was really fun to see her classroom and hear about her kids.  It sounded like she has learned a lot this first year as a teacher.  The picture on the right is Jenelle and some of her reading buddies that she has for the kids to use during reading time.  Have you guys ever heard of Skippyjon Jones?  Neither had we but there may or may not have been an impromptu reading time in the classroom where we were introduced to him (the actual 4th graders were on spring break, it was just us).  I like him....for being a cat, or was he a chihuahua?  I'm still a little confused about that. 

Another thing we did was hit up some thrift stores in Vegas.  You know me, I love a good thrift store but it was a bit frustrating when the only thing feasible for me to buy needed to be able to fit in my suitcase.

But boundaries are probably a good thing to be added to my life so... I bought this scarf.  Because, you know, I have only, like, a couple (or 10) scarves.  Boundaries.  And wouldn't you know we just didn't have room in the suitcase for Michael to buy this shirt he found.  Darn suitcase weight restrictions! 

Ain't no boundary high enough or far enough to keep me from a ReStore! And look at this one we found in Las Vegas! And oh the things I would have purchased if I could have fit them on the plane!...

So. Much. Good. Stuff. SO MUCH! If you live in Las Vegas, would you do me a favor and go buy all the photo'd items.  The varying shades of sea glass tiles, the adorable coffee mugs, the lockers, the coolest headboards, this mirror, a $150 west elm pebble rug, this storage ottoman, and these tufted stools.  *Sigh* I have to move on now because I'm getting sad...

One night we went to Old Downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street.  The cool thing about Fremont Street is that several blocks of the street are covered in a canopy of light bulbs that produce a dazzling light show.

The bad part about Fremont Street was that there were a lot of other "shows" going on (not pictured), if you know what I mean.  Was Downtown Las Vegas cool to see? Yes.  Would I go back next time I'm in Las Vegas?  No.  Not really our scene.

The next place we went was much more up our alley.  It was my favorite part of the trip.

Jenelle casually mentioned, "oh yeah.  There is this place called Red Rock Canyon that some people recommended.  They said there is a scenic drive that is really pretty.  I think it will only take about an hour once we get there.  Then we'll head to The Strip for the rest of the day."

"Ok!" we all agreed. 

Well none of us were expecting this.

This beautiful mountainous, desert-ous park! Oh if only we had packed our hiking shoes!!
Nevertheless, we made the most of what we were able to do!

 Can you tell we were blissfully unprepared for our surroundings.  

Red Rock Canyon?... We WILL be back WITH our hiking shoes.

Five hours later,on our last night in Vegas, we finally ended up on the Las Vegas Strip.   The first thing we did was hit up Madam Tussauds's Wax Museum.
Wax Museums = taking ridiculous pictures= our idea of a good time.
There were just too many so I had to pick my favorites. Because this blog post is getting out of hand.

After we were all cheesed out, we hit the strip.  We saw the volcano show at the Mirage.  We ate gelato at the Venetian.  We stood in awe of the beautiful hotels and their gleaming chandeliers.
I had to pull my one dollar bill out of a kiwi that some street magician had magically placed there. Wish we had gotten a picture of that! We saw Caesar's palace and all the anatomically correct statues. 

And we finally ended up at the Bellagio's fountain show.  We did not see all of the strip because we were exhausted, thirsty, and frankly, getting a little h-angry.

So we stopped at the stand-out restaurant from the whole week. Lola's - A Louisiana Restaurant.  We sat outside and we did what I always love to do when a vacation is coming to an end.  We played the favorites game.  Favorite activity, favorite thing you saw, favorite food, favorite hilarious moment. It helps to seal the memories, I think. 

Have you ever been to Vegas?  To the Hoover Dam? Red Rock Canyon?  How do you seal up your memories at the end of a trip? 

Don't miss a beat.  

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Established, Free, Preparing - What 26 Feels Like

"So, do you feel 26?"  - A common question a girl might get if she just had a birthday where she turned 26.  And I am one such girl. 

 

The answer?: I guess, yes, I do feel 26.  And here are the things that 26 feels like. 

Birthday Meal at El Maguey

Established

26 is a great age. One reason I feel that way is that I am far enough past my early twenties (say 23) to feel established.  23 was a challenging age, I had just graduated, was newly married, was learning to be a real nurse.  It was quite a transition year.  But now I am three years past that, meaning, three years of experience that has gained me confidence in my new life as a non-student, wife, and nurse.  We are getting into the rhythm of our lives and we really like it!

 

Free

Feeling established in who I am in life allows me to experience a great sense of freedom.  Michael and I have really been enjoying being free.  Free to go, free to do, free to spend, free. My friend Linsday introduced me to a description for our stage of life.  We are referred to as DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids).  I love it! It is such a joy to have this time with each other to freely make decisions that will be unique to this stage of life.  So we are living it up while we can!

 

Michael making my birthday meal

Preparing

Along with enjoying our freedom, I think Michael and I are progressively in a state of preparation.  Because we only want this DINK phase to be temporary (i.e. we would love to be parents some day---Cheers all around ;-) but note: this is not an invitation to ask us when... because we don't know).  So although we want to get as much packed into this free time as we can - trips, home renovations, and other indulgences, we also see that this is a very important time for us to be preparing for our next stage in life.  Parenthood is hard (side note: it is also a very good TV show).  Correct me if you disagree - parents out there.  Michael and I want to not only enjoy this time for ourselves but to be preparing ourselves for those future littles that will come into our lives, Lord willing.  I want my faith to be central.  I want my marriage to be concrete (or cement?).  I want my body to be healthy.  I want our house to be functional.  All these things are staring at me saying, "you better look out! Everything is going to change!" 

So that is how 26 feels to me. 

 

Thanks to all who have helped to make this a great birthday! It has truely been one of the best ever! And the celebrations are not even over! I am celebrating with my family on Monday night and then have a couple other celebrations with some good good friends.  I have felt so much love. You are some good people. 

  

And I do want to apologize that I have not posted any more before and after pictures of the house lately.  We are in limbo right now in a lot of rooms and I am kind of holding off.  But just to keep things interesting, Here is a picture of the dining room with the new curtains! Thanks to all those that chimed in with opinions about the patterned curtains! I love the bold pattern and I'm excited to start painting!

 

 

 

What has been your favorite age?  Do you have your own words to describe your stage of life?

Don't miss a beat.  

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Christmas: a week in review

Its been one busy week.  Did you all have yourselves a Merry little Christmas?

The Friday before Christmas I got to hang out with my beautiful friend Beth in Chicago for a day.  

We braved the yucky cold and drizzly weather and made our way around downtown Chicago.  We ate at the Walnut Room, shopped at some pretty great stores (you know who you are Crate and Barrel), and ran for our lives so we would not miss our train.  Picture me - arms full of shopping bags, booking it 0.6 miles through downtown Chicago.  But we made it and we laughed for a good while after that.

Oh and I finally got to see The Bean! 

 

I had never been there before, which is pretty surprising. So we had our obligatory Bean photo shoot.

The next day I made my way back home and my mom and I made Sea Foam candy.  Have you ever had it? It is a Christmas tradition around the Kercher household.  We always used to buy it from South Bend Chocolate Company until the price got pretty ridiculous.  $18.99 for one pound.  And our family needs a lot of pounds.  So a couple years ago I decided to find a recipe and see if we could make it ourselves.  We could and we did!  It was every bit as good as the stuff we were used to getting from SBCC. We made about 8 pounds this year.  And we spent maybe $30 on chocolate.  Are you calculating the savings?... they are pretty significant!  Here is the link for the recipe we used. It takes several hours - mainly because we double dip them in chocolate.  But you can use that as an opportunity to watch your favorite christmas movie. Or instead you can watch a war movie like we did, Red Dawn.  :-|

That is what happens when the men have control of the remote.  We asked for a Christmas movie and instead we got a North Korean invasion.  And the boys got a lot of  "What just happened?" and "Well, why did he do that?"  

There's an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back.  Oh well, at least I've got some Sea Foam!

Moving on.  Michael and I enjoyed Christmas services at our own church and with my family.  We had the Christmas service for our church the Sunday before Christmas.  I love how they do a time for family communion.  It is such a sweet tradition and one that has become special to me.  Then on Christmas Eve we went with my family to Midnight mass (at 10:30).  I always love this service.  The music is beautiful and they do a wonderful job decorating the church. 

 

Then it was Christmas and that meant presents in the morning with my family and with Michael's mom in the afternoon.  It was really good to be able to FaceTime with Michael's sister Jenelle and her boyfriend Jr who are living in Las Vegas and were not able to make it home for Christmas.  We missed having them here but are super thankful for technology that can shorten the distance a little.  Christmas night I made the first real meal in our home.  What a special way to spend our christmas evening - pork chops and Elf.  I can't think of anything better!  It was special to have Michael's mom there with us to share in such a milestone.

The next day we had our annual get together with some of our college friends that live in the area.  This has been the 5th year that we have congregated together for Christmas festivities.  Each year it has looked a little different but the constant aspect of it is that we gather at our friend's Grant's family's home.  It is a beautiful 3-story Victorian home.  Its so idyllic to spend time there around Christmas.  But this year we decided to do a progressive dinner. Drinks at Kara's, Appetizers at the Blough's, Salad at Lindsey's, and Soup and Dessert at Grant's.

It was a fun excuse to get our house put together since we had only been living there for about 5 days at that point.

During our party we had a "gift" exchange.  Instead of buy each other physical gifts, Lindsey suggested we should donate to a organization in each other's name.  We all were randomly assigned a name and we chose an organization/cause to donate to in that person's name.  Something that reflected the person's own heart and interests.  I loved this idea! Kara had our names and put money toward a housing project at an orphanage in Tanzania, knowing our heart for anything home.  She also donated toward Compassion International and leadership development, knowing of our love for discipleship.  Thanks Kara! You sure do get us!  It was a really sweet way to honor our friends and refocus during the busy holiday season.  

Michael and I did not exchange gifts this year.  We have already been given so much in 2013 with our home.  We are so thankful. I can't believe we are finally here! Living in our year long project! You've got a lot of living up to 2014!

How was your Christmas?  Receive any extra special meaningful gifts? I'd love to hear about it.

 

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Last Christmas, we received a gift. The gift was from Grandma.  Grandma Dorrie was a spry, independent, beautiful mother of 5, grandmother of 9, and great grandmother of 11.  But she also had breast cancer and had been fighting and winning for years now.  But the cancer had begun to become much more stubborn, just like my grandma.  So last Christmas my grandma gave us all a gift, individually enveloped and signed with a "This is between you and me, love gram"  - So we wouldn't post about it on "that facebook".

Michael and I discussed what we were to do with such a gift: we could have put it into retirement, we could have put it toward a trip, but I knew I had to do something with it that was physical.  Something I could look at and touch and use and remember my grandma.  And I knew she would like that too.  So when I knew Michael and I were buying our home and that we were going to renovate it, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to find a place for the gift to always remind us of grandma.  But it couldn't be something replaceable like a light fixture or sofa.  It couldn't be something easily overlooked like a piece of impersonal art.  Or even something hyper-practical wouldn't do.  It had to be something central, used daily, beautiful, and something I have always dreamed of having.  There was really just one thing that fit the bill.  The Kitchen Sink. 

 

So, in my post-Christmas thank you letter to her, I sent her back this picture and told her proudly that we would be using her gift to purchase this sink for our new home.  She was so happy to know that we purchased something that we would have a use for in our daily lives.   

And the last time my grandma ever came for a visit, she got to see the sink - I made sure of it.  Covered with a dropcloth, and plastic still covering it protectively, she saw it.  

Then, only a month and a half later, the cancer took her.  My grandma passed away. 

I know she is in heaven now, praying for us even more diligently than she ever had before.  We always said "she has a direct line to Heaven" and now we know she is up there with The Father, celebrating a life lived in obedience to Him. 

So now, I have a kitchen sink that reminds me of her.  The cast iron material reminds me of her strength, fighting strongly against cancer.  The white color reminds me of her beautiful silver and white hair, it always looked prestine.  The large basin reminds me of her deep love for her family and God.

Simply put, I see everything but the kitchen sink.

We morned the loss of my grandma today- as we will in the days ahead- but we celebrate her life also, and the new life she has with The Father above - absent of pain and cancer.

I love you grandma!  And thanks again for the gift.