For you are "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"

Hello friends! I took a hiatus and have the best excuse in the world. Henry Norton Maddox made his appearance into the world at 12:59 pm on Sunday, February 23rd, after a quick labor.

The name of this blog post is a quote from psalms and I tell it to Henry every night before we start his bedtime story ("On the night you were born").

Birth story with superfluous detail, plus several other posts, coming soon!

"Sons are a heritage from the lord. The fruit of the womb is his reward." (Psalm 127:3)

Hi, remember me? Let's backtrack to October

Hi blogosphere, Remember me - the girl who used to blog?

Well, I don't even know what I've been busy doing, but I have been! And let's be honest, cell phones just make turning the computer on and using that so darn inconvenient. And my awesome canon rebel, ummmm let's say I still have pictures from Italy almost a year ago on that. Whoopsies.

So here are things I need to catch up on, in no particular order. I'll begin with a very special trip a few months ago.

In October I visited my bff Eden, aka Essy, in Philadelphia.

The night I got in, "ma" took us out for dinner.

We had some fun times.



Ummmm what? I didn't eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerrys. Eden totally helped.



Judge away, the lentil soup needed some Israeli pickles sprinkled on.  I bet Jaren understands. Those pickles make everything better. Pregnant or not.

I also left with a new scar:


Falling while walking to meet her after work. And at the end of January, that scar is there to stay. Since I am about 35 weeks pregnant today and have not shaved my legs due to that, I will spare you a pic of the scar.

Essy's birthday was that weekend so we went out a couple of times. Her good friend Rachel couldn't come to her main celebration so we went out the night before.








Okay I totally just screen shotted those from instagram and didn't crop them. Sue me.

We got to see our other sorority sister Katie (no pics, boo), and also got to see my cousin and her baby - Bridget and Ryan. I have pictures. Look how cuteeeeeee!





Ess was in Heaven - she loves babies, and would ya look at that head of hair?






Eeeeeh I can't wait til she visits and she can do that with our baby boy! (And until baby Maddox meets Ryan, who will have 23947394 times more hair on his head at that point).

Me and Bridget:


And the baby!


And now both babies!


Essy and I made some awesome recipes. I doubt I'll post those, so loose instructions are below...until maybe I make those again when I'm back in a routine. Then I can blog real recipes.

We made a "mexican lentil stew" - I cheated and bought pre-cooked lentils from trader jo's.




It didn't thicken up like I wanted (probably because the lentils were precooked, duh) so added quinoa and it thickened it right up. It was super spicy, but yummmmm.


We also made turkey chili,


 and a white bean/tomato/spinach stew:


Typical us:


The night we went to celebrate her birthday with her friends was very fun - it was a dueling piano bar which I hadn't been to in a while! Those are always fun. She did some weird type shot thing for her birthday.


But I wouldn't let her go on stage, 28 is different than 21. Even though we're both 24 still.....
Here are some more pics - make sure to check out the shoes we saw on some lady!

See ya next time Ess!

25 week bumpdate

Oh my gosh, I actually forgot how many weeks I was yesterday. I could NOT figure out if I was 25 or 26. I seriously am losing it.
But, I'm 25 - 15 weeks til D-day!

How far along: 25 weeks 2 days *I think! Lol*

How big is baby: according to babycenter, 13.5" and 1.5 pounds

Weight gained: 10 pounds, give or take a pound or two (give more than take this week!)

Maternity clothes: I just bought two low rise maternity jeans yesterday. For some reason I just hate the panels, even the low ones. Well these have side/sretch panels and go under my bump and are so much more comfy in my opinion. Everyone has a different body so I am glad I found what works for me. Also, thanks to the lady at motherhood maternity for asking how far along I was, and when I said 25 weeks, she said, "Since it's your first..." (um, who told you it was my first? I sure didnt), "...you won't show until you're 4 or 5 months and then you'll get huge." First of all, I'm 6 months, and second...thanks? I'll be sure to buy bigger pants from you when that happens. Good thing I am not overly sensitive but I thought it was a weird approach for a sales lady.

Yup that's my bloated belly. #notembarassed. (Omg, I just hash tagged my blog. #sorryimnotsorry).

Stretch marks: No, and I hope it stays this way.

Miss anything?: The warmer weather. In the last two days it has been rainy and dreary and cold, yuck!

Movement: Yup! Jaren has officially felt it too :-) Clara wanted to feel it but I knew a 3.5 year old wouldn't know to be patient, so I whispered to Jaren "should I just make it move" and she nodded so I just sort of lifted my stomach. Clara was SO EXCITED! Speaking of an excited Clara, she is obsessed with this Disney princess make up box that I have that I got in college. Um yeah, college. Have you ever seen such pure joy?

Cravings: Fruit, candy, and peanut butter. Especially fruit and peanut butter. And then when I finish the apple or banana, I may or may not be eating pb out of the jar.... I am just super hungry and it's so filling! Also yesterday I had a sip of Stacy's Toffee Nut latte from Coffee Bean so I got one today. It was decaf, although I do let myself have caffeine - I try to save it for my true love, diet coke. If you're near a coffee bean, go get one of these, so yummy!

Aversions:  None this week! I had a burger for lunch and fish the other day :-)

Other symptoms: Gas pain! Holy sh** (literally). A couple of days ago Jaren came over and wanted to feel the baby. I laid down because that's kind of a guaranteed way to get him to move about, and she put her hand on my lower belly. She barely put pressure down, and I yelled out in pain. She was like "What? I barely touched you?!" (sorry for scaring you Jaren). Then she was trying on dresses and pointed out that I was just not being myself, and I realized how much pain I was actually in! It's crazy because I knew it was just benign silly stuff, but wow, I literally couldn't even stand up straight. I've also still had heartburn every day but it's really not that bad, totally manageable, thank god!

Best moment this week: I got to spend sufficient time with Jaren and the girls, which is always such a treat, and I got to see a dear friend Leslie today that I don't get to see often enough because life gets in the way. It was SO SO NICE to finally catch up with her.

Most looking forward to: I'm really sad that my favorite 3d ultrasound place is closing, so I scheduled an appointment for next week so I can see the tech, Whitnie, before they close. So sad, but excited to see little man and experience it with Whitnie before they close. I'm also excited to plan the baby shower and plan the move. I had a mini panic attack because both houses (ours and my parents) have a European kitchen and there isn't enough cabinet space right now for everything I have, but we will build a pantry right next to it to take care of it. Problem solved, blood pressure lowered. Now I'm excited again. And look, baby boy has his first item moved into the house, courtesy of my mommy, his Savta:

She got him baby hangers for his adorable clothes! Based on my addiction to baby boy clothes, I suspect I will need more of those....

And just because these are fun, here are some belly pics from this week:
(that was holding my stomach tight)

versus:

Sucking out! Lol

I'll try to post some updates from my Philly trip nearly a month ago and some recipes soon. Shabbat Shalom, y'all!

Quantity vs Quality

I have posted about my friend Dana that I met a few months ago, and her new baby girl Leah. Dana writes a blog that you can find here.

Yesterday Dana wrote such an incredible post that I asked if I could re-post it. So glad she said yes. But before we get to the nitty gritty, here are some very important pictures:

And now onto Dana's brilliant words:

Brian told me a story the other day, one that he heard during one of his many trips this past month. I believe it's an actual study done at some school, somewhere:

There were two groups of college students who were asked to make pots that would be judged at the end of the competition. One group was told the judging criteria would be based on quantity of pots, the other group on quality (at this point in the story I had Brian clarify what they were making... not pot as in weed, pots as in pottery, duh. Although I'm sure that would have made for an interesting competition).

The quantity group got started right away. They made short pots and tall pots and small pots and big pots. They just kept turning them out, one by one. The quality group, however, started by researching pots. They checked out pottery made by ancient Greeks and other cultures that withstood the test of time and beauty. They took months to complete their research and finally, days before the end of the competition, they made their pot. They placed it carefully in the kiln and waited for their perfect piece. Meanwhile, the quantity group just kept making pots.  They made wide pots and narrow pots and deep pots and shallow pots. They made lots and lots of pots. 

When the time came to judge the pots, both groups were told they would be judged not on quantity as one was originally told, but on quality. And wouldn't you know, the quantity group made the better, higher quality pots. You see, in the time the quality group was researching, the quantity group was doing. They were practicing. They were perfecting. 

Now, this story isn't exactly surprising. At some point while Brian was talking, I actually figured out what was going to happen.  While he had to finish telling the story before relating it back to our lives, my mind started doing that somewhere in the middle.

I can read all the books and ask all the questions I want, but I'm not going to learn what works for me or for Leah if I don't start doing (don't get me wrong- I will still read and ask because it's what I do, but I cannot take it as gospel).  Sitting at home in my beloved Kansas sweatpants because I am exhausted, overwhelmed, stressed, and frustrated is not going to help me become acclimated to our new normal nor will it allow me to learn from my experiences at home or in the community (except for maybe what show is on what channel at what time).

I need quantity.  I need to remember that it's not going to be perfect every time (or maybe at all) because it's all new for both of us and I need to practice.  I need the opportunity to struggle and fail and troubleshoot.  It's the only way I'm going to learn, and it's the only way Leah is going to learn.  And you know what quantity leads to?  Quality.  I will be a better mom raising a better daughter to have a better life.

So here's to screwing up, not being on schedule, and disastrous trips to Target because we will learn and we will get better.

Welcome to the world, baby Leah!

My friend Sadie who is the Rabbi/Educator at my synagogue introduced me to a girl named Dana about 2 months ago. Dana was pregnant and is our age, and Sadie knows I'm always up for new friends. Well, turns out that not only is Dana from the same town as my one of my bridesmaid's Caroline and knows her family, but she is also an ABA therapist - my first love career! We instantly hit it off.

Last Thursday, October 10th, Leah Francine Aronson was born. Dana was "team green" - aka, no pink or blue til baby was born! I don't know how she did it!!! What an amazing text message to get welcome a baby GIRL!

I quickly programmed this into my sewing machine and got out some pink thread! I couldn't go for a first visit empty handed:

My mom and I went to visit in the hospital last Friday for Leah's 1 day birthday and first Shabbat. Well, I walked into the hospital room and saw Dana laying in the bed with tiny Leah on her chest, and I instantly burst into tears. Ummm, can we say hormonal? But seriously, I guess it's just the first newborn I've seen since I really knew I was going to be bringing one home in March, and it just got to me. So beautiful.

I went to visit on Wednesday to drop off some more goodies and hang out a bit more. I had gone over on Sunday after Sunday School (Dana lives in Henderson, or what we Summerlin-ers like to call the other side of the world). Well, when I came over baby girl was sleeping. Dana told me she was wearing the shirt I made her though! So of course I had to sneak in and get some pictures. Can I just say that going into that room and NOT picking up the baby was probably my best accomplishment this week. Ugh, I just wanted to snuggle wuggle cuddle her.

Little Leah - you are precious! Baby M can't wait to meet you in 20 weeks!