Two Thousand Sixteen

This year has flown. by.

Not sure how every year keeps getting faster, but it does and I can't stop it although many times I wish I could freeze frame time *starts singing "its a beautifuuull morrrnin'..." *

So this weekend as we embark upon 2017, I just wanted to reflect and not miss all the incredible things that happened for our family in 2016.

We kicked off the year by celebrating Casey's best friends wedding while hanging out with family and sweet friends in Houston. It wasn't but shortly after that we found out that we were pregnant with sweet baby Deacon.

That spring we had some fun adventures which included:
free tickets to a Cowboys game given to us randomly by a guy at Einsteins | photography classes | going to Vegas with the family | getting to announce we were pregnant with a little baby boy!

During this time we also got plugged into our church and were starting to form awesome new relationships with couples in our community. What a sweet blessing they are.

From Spring to Summer I finished my fourth year teaching and we moved into our new home. And of course LOTS of celebrating.

3rd Anniversary with my amazing hubby | sister graduating from OU | new home | sweet baby schaefer

The summer was of course SO HOT but held all kinds of wonderful things:

decorating and nesting in our new home | getting together with all 4 roomies for the first time in 3.5 years | celebrating 4th of July with baby bump friends | more celebrating the coming of baby schaefer

Then came September!!

My sweet baby made his appearance into the world and we have all fallen head over heels in love with him. As you can imagine taking care of this little fella has taken up the rest of this year. Here are the highlights:

We are so grateful for 2016 and all the new it has brought our family. We have learned a ton, slept less, and loved more than we ever have before. 

There is still a lot to learn in 2017 and we are excited for what it holds for our family. Even if this year hasn't been your favorite I challenge you to find the good. Take a moment and reflect on the blessings that have been brought to you this year, even if it has been disguised in something hard. 

Love you all! Have an amazing new year! 

Labor + Delivery

Labor and Delivery.

This is what makes up the nightmares of all of us first time preggers out there. We are excited to see our sweet little baby...

yet, at the same time terrified by how that is going to happen.

Of course, what makes it so much better are all the wonderful people out there who tell you their own horrible labor and delivery stories, or furthermore, the horror stories of their friends-sisters-friend, right?

Wrong.

Or maybe its the birthing class where you find out ALL THE THINGS that makes you feel prepared?

Nope.

To be honest, nothing can prepare you for that moment and to be honest as much as I tried not to be, I was scared, nervous, and anxious about what was ahead of me. But, it was in this precious moment of fear that the Lord painted me a beautiful picture of what I was about to do.

He showed me that pregnancy is choosing to endure pain to bring forth life. We know it is going to be painful and hard, but we do so willingly so that we can give life to our sweet babies.

Realizing this painted the most beautiful picture in my mind of the cross. Jesus willingly and joyfully walked into pain and suffering far beyond what I can possibly imagine, so that He might give his children (us) life again. So that we might be His forever.

Sometimes my mind cannot even comprehend this. That Christ, after having suffered such pain and death, conquered death so that we might have LIFE in Him.

That I, as broken as I am, have been delivered out of sin and into freedom.

That I am a daughter of the highest King.

And what is better still is that you can be too. I don't know where you are or what you have in your past, but I know that Jesus calls us to come to Him, broken and all, so that He can mend your soul and give you life forever with Him. All you have to do friend is ask and believe. Nothing else is necessary, wherever you are...

Come. I pray you are delivered into freedom with me.


"... but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, "Abba Father"." 
Romans 8:15

Hospital Bag

If you are anything like me, those last few weeks of being pregnant consisted of a ton of research. Basically, I sat and googled all kinds of things. 

Postpartum just say no- do as I say not as I do... you'll find out soon enough

How to take care of a baby?! which you will continue to google in the weeks after

How to change a diaper? do people still use baby powder? do I put butt cream on every time? how do they get diaper rash?

Breastfeeding tips? natural means easy, right?... wrong.

and most importantly What goes in the Hospital Bag?? 

So here I am to let you know what I put in mine.. what I used, what I didn't use and all my thoughts on the matter. Please remember though, every labor and delivery is different. Some people are in the hospital waiting to deliver for fifty million hours and some people it only takes a few- keep that in mind as you read. I might not have used some things, but you might want to. It's all about what you want!

Our delivery wasn't super long. I labored most of the day at home and went in when I was 7cm (whoops) which ended up being at about 4:30ish when we got checked into the hospital. I didn't end up having my sweet precious until 11:00 pm that night. And yes, that night counted as our first night there, so we were in and out fairly quickly. I always like to say that you'd rather be safe than sorry and am always a proponent of being extra prepared so even though I didn't use everything on this list, I might have if we had been there longer or had a longer labor. Also, don't freak out if you forget something.. chances are someone from your family or a close friend can go back home and grab whatever you need. 

Hospital Bag Checklist:

FOR MOM 

• Nursing nightgown (2) or a 2 pairs of pj's that are easy to nurse in. I say 2 because the first night I got peed on and had to wear a non nursing nightgown which was quite complicated
• Nursing Bra  if you are going to be in non-nursing pjs
• Going home outfit
• Make-Up because it makes you feel more normal when you have visitors
• Robe 
• Socks my hospital gave me some pretty legit socks when I got there... it's nice to be prepared
• Toiletries
• Shower Shoes I didn't really use because we had someone come and sanitize our shower every day
• Straightener/Curling Iron again to make you feel more like a normal person
• Hairbrush
• Toilet Paper if you are picky about the thin hospital toilet paper
• Miralax just do it. Start drinking it ASAP when you get to the hospital I promise you won't regret it. You can drink it during pregnancy too if you'd like
• Spark because my hubby needed caffeine especially after sleeping on that couch all night
• Chargers for the electronics
• Bluetooth Speaker if you want to play music during labor. I didn't because I was so distracted by everything else I forgot
• Extension Cord or something that you can plug multiple things into
• Bible
• Baby Book
• Birthing Ball basically an exercise ball if you want to use during labor - I used this at home before I went to the hospital. Had an epidural at the hospital, so no need for it there
• Cell Phone
• Purse
• Camera 
• Boppy Pillow or something for breastfeeding
• Snacks for the hubby

FOR BABY

• Couple of cute onesies bring multiple sizes because you don't know how big your baby will actually be - grab some newborn and some 0-3 month stuff just in case
• Hat
• Halo Sleepsack our hospital provided one for him to use while we were there, but good to have anyways plus yours might be cuter :) 
• Going home outfit
• Blanket
• Carseat installed, checked, and make sure you know how to insert baby safely

Everything else that you need the hospital probably has... like:

• Amazing mesh panties all the praise hands
• Massive Diaper Pads 
• Icepacks 
• Peri Bottle
• Nipple Cream
• Numbing Spray
• Witch Hazel wipes
• Any medicine you normally take I found out that they have to administer this, they don't allow you to take the ones you brought with you

and then you come home with a little squish like this. 

Did I forget anything? Please feel free to leave extra things that helped you when you were in the hospital too! The more input the better! 

Welcoming Our Sweet Little Man

HE'S HERE!

Our sweet Deacon made his appearance on September 13th at a whopping 8 lbs 1 oz with the sweetest face I have ever seen.

Yes, I realize it is October, but I've been doing things.

Feeding.

Changing poopy diapers.

Rocking and bouncing and rocking and bouncing. 

Watching him sleep when you should be sleeping yourself. 

and Googling EVERYTHING because who even knows what they are doing, right? We are all figuring it out together. And once you think you have it down - they get older and something changes so you are back to googling again. 

But I mean look at this face:

Thanks to Andrea Bradshaw Photography for capturing these sweet newborn pictures! If you are interested the link to her website is HERE. 

Now, the list mentioned about might not seem like a lot, but believe me, it keeps me plenty busy during the day. If I am honest, before having a newborn I thought staying at home with an infant had some work to it, yes, but I really thought there would be more time during the day to get stuff done. 

False.

I am currently still sitting in the pajamas I woke up in because our sweet little handsome decided he wanted to eat, poop, but not sleep. ALL DAY LONG. Which means this momma was either feeding, changing a diaper, or holding his highness all day long resulting in well...

pajamas. 

And I'm not even sorry about it. 

Taking care of a newborn is hard work and I am grateful to have an amazing husband and sweet family to help me out. For all of you single moms out there: BLESS YOU. The strength you have amazes me. 

The days might seem long, but the weeks are flying by so fast that we now have a ONE MONTH old on our hands! What?! 

I am doing my best to cherish these sweet moments as I have them. Things might be hard and I might not be sleeping at all, but Deacon will never be one month old again. I want to make sure I am living in each moment and treasuring the time the Lord has given me with this sweet child. 

Deacon, buddy, you are so loved. 

Oh, and in case you are wondering... Piper Bear is only feeling slightly neglected since D arrived on the scene and only slightly terrified of him. 

I find it quite hilarious. 

This picture basically sums it up. 

Poor thing. She has such a hard life. 

HA. 

Ooh Baby It's Hot Outside

Not sure if this has been made super clear, but...

IT IS HOT IN TEXAS. 

So as a someone who is very pregnant and only becoming more pregnant as the summer progresses, I had to ask myself "What does one who is getting increasingly large wear during these summer months?". Many people I have talked to about being pregnant in the summer had mentioned all kinds of awesome wardrobe choices: maxi dresses for the win and of course you have your maternity blue jean shorts and shirts. 

Now I don't know how other people like to shop maternity clothes, but my goal has been to purchase as many things as I can that can also be worn AFTER I deliver this sweet child. I just couldn't bring myself to drop so much money on maternity wear that you might not be able to wear again (only if you have a 2nd child around the same time that you were pregnant with the first one).

Here are the things in the "normal clothes" category that I have LOVED wearing. 

• Maxi Dresses/Any comfortable "flow-y" dress - really stretchy ones. Not just stretchy around the belly, but around the upper area as well if you get where I'm going with this. 
• Maternity Blue Jean Shorts - here are ones I bought at Target that I love. Pro: it doesn't have the belly band that can get super hot in the summer. Con: You have to wear longer shirts/tanks or you'll have some nice baby midriff showing. 
• Stretchy shirts - this side split tee from Target has been awesome to wear (with a tank top under it of course) because it stretches with you but is super cute on people who aren't preggers. They have the same thing (with a little less split) at Walmart too. 

However, what I had not anticipated was not really being able to find workout gear to go on walks in (which also doubles as my everyday outfit for summer). Fortunately, my Lululemon running shorts have been able to fit me the whole pregnancy (praise hands), but I only have one pair. When you are walking and sweating in the Texas heat, you are definitely going to need more than 1 pair of shorts so I thought to myself, "no biggie, I'll just go buy a pair of maternity running shorts". 

Wrong. 

I don't know what people high up in the maternity clothing business are thinking, but they LOVE to sell some maternity yoga pants. I mean they. are. everywhere. And in every color. but NEWSFLASH... I don't know of any pregnant women that want to be walking around in tight fitted, long, yoga pants during the SUMMER. It's HOT people. I need some breezy shorts with some breezy tops to keep me all nice and cool before I completely melt away. 

I was so excited because this was the part where I was going to post the link to the amazing, breezy, loose, awesome, maternity workout shorts that I found at Target a little over a month ago. BUT, of course I just went to look for them and...

Gone. 

Nowhere to be found. 

I mean seriously?!?

They have some nice tight fitted ones, but those things just look like a sauna for my butt. Sheesh.

Hopefully, they come out next summer again for those of you who might be preggers in the summer time, but I guess for all those winter babes its fine because well.. yoga pants are awesome..

in the winter. 

As for workout tops I found that these Lululemon tanks worked fabulous for most of my pregnancy (up to about 7 ish months). And in case you are wondering about all of this expensive Lululemon gear- I am a gift card hoarder and ended up splurging at lulu earlier this spring.  These tanks were long enough on the front and the back to grow with me and they were super stretchy! They had more colors at the beginning of summer, but this is what they have now.

The other tanks I have loved are the men's tanks from Walmart. Yes. Walmart. They are loose and soft which is great for getting sweaty. And who doesn't love a nice big tank even when you are not preggers? They come in all colors and are FOUR DOLLARS. 

Amen. 

Check it out here.

Target shorts and Lululemon top at 30ish weeks pregnant! 

I will have to say though...  this week has been INCREDIBLE. I have thrown my hands in the air multiple times this week praising God for this amazing cool front we have had in Dallas. The A/C has hardly had to run, my grass is getting some good natural watering, and I am currently sitting on my couch in JEANS and not sweating. UNREAL. 

I think there's only one person dog who has not been thrilled about this week. Cool front = rain = shorter walks, not as much play time and the most dreaded of all... 

Thunder. 

Her current position is: 

Meanwhile, I am getting larger and slower by the day but only have about 4ish weeks left! Can't wait to meet this little man! Just praying he waits at least until his nursery is done - haha! Still a work in progress... but more on that later! 

Updated pic for those who are wondering. :) 

Walking the Summer Away to Baby Schaefer

I love to exercise, but I've never been much of a walker. If I had to choose my method of exercise it would be running or some sort of cardio that got my heart rate racing. I usually feel like my workout is most productive when I am breathing hard and sweating a lot.

And then. I started growing a human.

Maybe it was the timing of this pregnancy (after having a hurt foot for 6 weeks) or maybe it is the way this little man is positioned, but running while pregnant has NOT been easy. I have given it many good attempts - the most successful being during 2nd trimester aka the awesome trimester. I was on fire. No more nausea, feeling strong, and active - woo!

But then... he grew. And started adjusting. On my bladder.

From then on, walking became my new form of exercise and believe me it is FOR SURE exercise.

For those of you from Texas, you know. Texas is HOT and Dallas has been particularly hot this summer so my walks have produced lots of sweat. Plus the added belly also gets that heart rate pumping. I also have a sweet little buddy (besides the one in my belly) that joins my walks.

Piper Bear.

Duh.

She loves our walks (most days), especially since I have let her start jumping in the lake at the halfway mark. She drags the whole way there, but once you get this puppy wet, she's a happy camper. Normally, she just wades in and gets her whole belly wet ...

but occasionally you get this.

So now I have a wet rat following me the rest of the walk and end up with Einstein afterwards.

Awesome.

These sweet walks have been good time for me though. It obviously takes much longer to walk 3 miles than to run 3 miles so it has given me a lot of good thinking time. Time to just be with my thoughts, talk to God, and pray for so many things. I'm doing my best to treasure this peaceful, restful time.

But then we arrive back home. Wet dog who has now felt the cool breeze of air conditioning, is cold and ready to play.

The toy of choice is the soccer ball. Of course.

Soccer in the morning.
Soccer at lunch.
Soccer in the evening.
All. The. Time.

You think she'd get tired of it, but nope. Its her FAVORITE. I figure.. you've got to wear her out somehow right? Wet, cold dog = crazy toddler who was just given a whole pixie stick. So we play.

It normally wears her out for a total of 20 minutes? Then she begs again. More soccer ball.

HOWEVER

In other news... we have 5 weeks left people!! WHA? UNREAL.

Next post, I'll talk about favorite pregnant walking attire and what I've found most comfortable. :)

Until then - have a blessed day!

A Whole Semester In One Post.

Hello again dear friend!

It has been way too long since I last posted and A LOT has been happening over here in the Schaefer household.

For many teachers Spring is just a mad dash. You come back semi-refreshed from Christmas, ready to take on the spring and feeling like you have all the time in the world and then BAM. it's April/May. Testing is upon you and final exams are right around the corner. There is a ton that happens in between but boy does it happen in a flash - hence the lack of attention my blog has gotten over the course of the spring. Sorry folks.

Here are the highlights of the Spring Semester and into the SUMMER (praise hands)!!

January/February

We found out we were PREGNANT with sweet baby Schaefer! We are due in September and couldn't be more excited for this addition to our family. Piper is also excited, she just doesn't know it yet!

March (SPRING BREAK) 

Finally made it to Spring Break (all the Amens to that) and so the Schaefer family went on a little vacay to Las Vegas. Yes - Las Vegas + Pregnant. HAH. It was seriously so. much. fun. You can find SO MANY things to do in Vegas. They have snow, desert, hiking, bright lights, shows, everything! We got to hang out in the mountains, see some amazing shows, go hiking, and see Hoover Dam.

Someone, who will remain nameless and is wearing the maroon hat, was not a fan of the selfie stick at the beginning of the trip. However, you can obviously see that things changed over the course of about.... a day.

April/May

Celebrated our risen Savior Jesus for Easter with the help of some family! Thankful that my Redeemer Lives and that I get to (and you can too) spend eternity with Him.

We also found out our little baby was a BOY! What an adventure we are about to have!


And then got to celebrate my little sister graduating from the University of Oklahoma! It is crazy to me that now we are BOTH out of college. Time flies and it is blowing my mind. And of course because she is the coolest, after she graduated she rode a bike (yes a bicycle) down the coast of California to raise money for Love Does which supports schooling for children in Uganda.

She rocks.

and she's my sister.

#winning.

At the end of May, my hubby and I celebrated 3 years of marriage! I cannot believe how fast time has gone. I am daily so honored and thankful to be his wife. I have the most incredible man and I cannot wait to adventure with him through this next year. We got to spend the weekend away at a sweet B&B in Grandbury and had so much fun relaxing that we forgot pics...whoops.

June/July 4th

Started the year with the moving truck coming on the first day of school and ended it with it coming 2 days after we let out! Needless to say.. I MADE IT TO SUMMER. There were times... in April/May where I questioned whether I would actually make it, but I did! Wahoo!

We had some MAJOR help but have finally settled into our new home in Dallas! It has been a process, but I am so thankful and excited to make many memories in this home with my sweet hubby, family, friends, and of course whoever the Lord wants to bring us.

Next up: 606 Fairview Roomie Reunion in Waco! We hit up some cute local spots and of course went to go see Magnolia Market. Duh. What a sweet time it was to be all together again - these women bless me with some of the most life giving of friendships. They are loyal and love me well. I am so thankful for them. 

AND

on the way back - Rebe informed me that SHAKES existed close to Dallas. For all you College Station folk that remember Shakes know that I had to have one. 

So I did. 

And it was amazing. 

Of course after having unpacked everything most everything (because its a process people), I have had some excellent quality time with this sweet face.

She's obviously taken full advantage of the Snoogle when it is not in use. I'm convinced the more I am home the more needy she becomes. But she's so cute I JUST CANT HELP MYSELF.


We've made it to the present-  4th of July! This year we hit up a parade in the morning and then had some friends over to just hang out and grill some hamburgers! One of those was my sweet friend Lauren and her husband who have a baby girl due just a couple of weeks before Baby Boy Schaefer! It has been so fun being able to walk through pregnancy and share the strangest things your body is going through with a friend. We are so excited to meet these little faces coming SOON.

And of course Piper Bear was WORN OUT after this fun weekend and wanted to snuggle with brother. Best Friends.

More adventures coming soon!