Pretty in Pink

Well our baby is ONE! Don't worry I didn't cry too hard. Everyone tells you to enjoy it and you think I've got 18 years to enjoy it, but they were right, the first year really does fly by! But while I'm in the same breath, I must say I'm glad that first year is over. The tiny baby stage is hard and it seems that every month got easier and easier. I love this age, Harper is getting to be more fun every day. She laughs at us, claps her hands, runs all over the house and has a little bit of an attitude. I know this next year is going to present its own challenges, but our kid is so fun and I know it's only going to get better.

I promised to tell you about Harper's birthday party and boy was it a PAR-TAAY! The theme of the party was Pretty in Pink. I actually saw the idea on Pinterest and started planning this party when she was about 5 months old. Hoping that I would be working by her first birthday (thank goodness I am) I thought I would get something’s started while I was staying at home. I still felt extremely stressed to get everything done, so I'm glad I started when I did :)

So basically everything was pink...Harper wore pink, all of her guests wore pink, the cake was pink, the drinks were pink and the favors (candy) were pink! PINK, PINK, PINK!!

Harper loved her cupcake! She couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough. We may have created a sweets monster. She had so much fun (and sugar) on her big day that she crashed pretty hard after the party, but she was a trooper.

We're looking forward to birthday #2!! (on a smaller scale of course)

As you can see even her daddy wore pink!

 

Pink!

 

363 Days later...

I am so ashamed that the last time I blogged was on January 11, 2012 and it was 8 days until my due date. As most of you know Harper came 7 days later, but not on her own accord. It was a wild 31 hours before our bundle of joy was placed in my arms and life has never been the same since and we wouldn't have it any other way!

My resolution for 2013 is to try and be better at blogging about the happenings in our lives and our little Missy.  It was, however, fun for me to read through all of the posts that I wrote during my pregnancy. The anticipation of Harper's arrival was almost too much to bear. So here we are almost a year later and our baby girl is about to be ONE!! We are the luckiest parents in the world. Harper is the most laid back, easy going baby I think I have ever met. Sometimes we ask ourselves how did we get so lucky? Actually we say...maybe we shouldn't have anymore, because our next one is sure to give us fits :) Don't panic yet, we will most likely have another child but for now we're just going to enjoy Harper!

2012 Samson update:
Since it's been awhile I thought I'd take this a minute to update you all on our 2012. We've had a very busy year with lots of exciting changes. One week after Harper was born Aaron flew to Austin, TX for an interview with CPL labs. About a week later we were making the biggest decision of our married life thus far. To pack up our lives in Lexington and our small baby and move 1,100 miles to Austin. We made the move in March with the help of my mom and Terry. We had 4 adults, two dogs and a 2 month old baby. It took us three days to get to Austin and many, many stops along the way to feed the baby. We were fortunate enough to get a contract on our house the day before we moved and closed on the house at the end of April. It was a true blessing to have that taken care of. Aaron started his new job just a few days after we got here so it was just me and Harper. I started looking for work almost immediately after we got here, but as we all know the economy is tough and it took a little long than we expected. It was hard to be turned down for 3 jobs, but the silver lining was that I had 7 months with my baby girl. I will always cherish the time I had with her because that is time I will mostly likely never have again. The right job finally came along in October with Austin Habitat for Humanity as the Community Outreach Manager and it has been a perfect fit for me. This is truly the first job that I've had where I can see myself long term! So those are the major highlights of our 2012 and we are extremely excited for 2013. We have decided to build a house in Pflugerville, TX (north of Austin) and expect to be in it by June! Wish us luck during the build process, I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Of course our next major milestone is Harper's birthday on the 18th and we are really excited that both sets of her grandparents, her great grandmother Nonie, her aunt Jordan and uncle Ryan will be here with us to celebrate her big day! We already know that Harper loves sweets! We had the opportunity to have her pictures taken with a small cake, she dug in and LOVED it!! So I'm thinking she will enjoy her cake on her actually birthday as well. I'll be sure to post some pictures after her party.

I hope you all feel up to date on the Samson's. I promise to not go 363 days before the next post :)

Erin

The Final Touches

If you know me then you know I love a good count down. I am always looking forward to the next big event! Whether it is counting down the days until I get to see a good friend, counting down the days until our big work Conference or counting down the days until we get to visit Texas again, I love to have a countdown! So it should be no surprise to anyone that I have had a countdown with the number of days until Harper’s due date. Using the white board in my cube for roughly the last 70 days I diligently change the number everyday to reflect the number of days until Harper is due. As you can see we are finally almost there…8 days folks!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! We were fortunate enough to have Mom, Terry and Shawn at our house for Christmas. We all had a great time together before Shawn had to leave to head back to Norfolk the day after Christmas. After Shawn left it was time to get down to business. With a little help from everyone we were able to finally finish up Harper’s room. Meaning we hung things on the wall, hung the curtains, washed some clothes, made 13 casseroles, oh and just tied a million (maybe an exaggeration, but not really) tiny 4 inch strips to a rug to make a rag rug for her room, no big deal! We were busy people between Christmas and New Years. There were several days where we didn’t even leave the house we were working so hard! But I am so grateful to Aaron, Mom and Terry for helping get everything ready for the arrival of Miss Harper. I couldn’t have done it with you!

Here are some pictures of the finished product…

So now poor Aaron just has to deal with my nesting, because I cannot stop cleaning!! I say poor Aaron because it usually involves him doing most of the cleaning since my big belly tends to make it hard for me to clean. Every time I think the house is clean and we’re ready for the baby I find something else to do. I’m sure all you moms out there understand, I just want to make sure the house is perfect when we bring her home…because I’m sure it won’t stay like that for very long :)!

It is so hard to believe that we will be parents in just a few days. We are so excited and scared all at the same time! I have really enjoyed blogging about my pregnancy and hope that you all have felt informed with the all Harper happenings. I promise to continue to blog about Harper as she grows so stay tuned…

Until next time…
Erin

36 WEEKS!!!

Well folks it’s finally here…I can now say I am in the home stretch! And let me tell you I could not be happier to only have 4 weeks (maybe more, maybe less) left before the arrival of Miss Harper. As far as my overall pregnancy goes I must say I don’t have too much to complain about. Everything with her heart checked out perfectly, my blood pressure has been good every visit and they have never once told me that I am going to have a big baby :)! Sounds like it’s just a walk in the park right? Well, except for the constant trips to the bathroom, the inability to roll from your left side to your right side in the middle of the night, or the highs and lows your emotions play on you. I can go from being so extremely overjoyed about Harper’s arrival to extremely overwhelmed that we’re not ready to be parents and we just can’t do it!! Luckily for me I have a very level headed husband who can always talk me down from the ledge, bless him!

In all seriousness though, I have been very blessed with a healthy pregnancy thus far and I just ask for prayers these last few weeks. Prayers that Harper will continue to grow so that she is healthy when she enters this world, prayers for a safe delivery both for me and Harper and finally prayers for me and Aaron, that God will guide us as we begin to care for this new life that has been entrusted to us. We know it won’t be easy and we know there will be difficult days, but with God’s help and our love for each other we can accomplish anything.

Aaron and Erin update: Things have been rather busy for us in the month of December. The first weekend in December was my baby shower. We are so very blessed to have friends and family that care so much about us. On top of all the wonderful gifts we received my mom was able to be there for the shower thanks to my awesome step-dad, Terry!! Thank you Terry you’re the best! It was a great weekend!

The second weekend in December we went up to Cincinnati to see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law’s new house they just built. Aaron and I are so happy for them, their new house is beautiful! This was also our opportunity to celebrate Christmas with Ryan, Jordan, Bob and Gail…oh and don’t forget 5 dogs!! Nothing like breaking in a new house with 5 dogs and 6 adults, right Ryan and Jordan :)?!? It was a fun weekend that I am glad we were able to share together!

This past weekend we celebrated Aaron’s graduation from Morehead State University where he received his MBA. I could not be more proud of my husband who has worked extremely hard for the last several years to complete this program while working a full time job! We celebrated with a delicious meal at Malone’s after the ceremony with Ryan, Jordan, Bob, Gail, MaMa Bea, Stephanie and Abby. It was a great day celebrating Aaron and we thank everyone who came to help us celebrate!! Here is a picture of me and Aaron right before the ceremony started. Doesn't he look so handsome?!

Well that leaves us with Christmas which is just a few days away. Shawn got to Lexington last night and Mom and Terry will be here tonight. We are going to go to the Christmas Eve service on Saturday and then eating our big meal together on Christmas day! Shawn has to leave the day after Christmas, but Mom and Terry are able to stay for the week. Aaron and I are both off all week and we plan to finish up the last minute things we still have to do before Harper arrives. And hopefully we’ll find some time to rest as this will be our last opportunity before she makes her debut!!

With no further a due here is our 36 week picture. Pregnancy looks like it’s starting to take its toll on me. Hopefully the next picture is with Harper :)!

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. May we all take a few moments during this Christmas season to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.

Until next time,
Erin

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!

Sorry I'm a few days late on my 32 week post, but with the holiday weekend just wrapping up I was unable to spend any time in front of the computer to write this post. Now it's back to the daily grind and Christmas will be here before we know it!!

I hope you all had a very nice Thanksgiving and were able to reflect on all that you have to be thankful for. I am thankful for my health and the health of my family members. I am thankful for my wonderful husband and this sweet baby girl growing inside of me. It's so hard to believe that we will be meeting her in less than 8 weeks!

Our Thanksgiving Day consisted of us sleeping in, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, cleaning house (which it desperately needed) and then eating our Thanksgiving meal at the Cracker Barrel. While the food was very tasty I hope that Aaron and I do not have to eat our Thanksgiving meal there very often. Don't get me wrong, it was nice not having to cook and clean up, but there is just something about having your own food with your family that makes Thanksgiving seem more like...well, Thanksgiving. At least Aaron and I were together and that's all that matters. We finished the day by getting down the Christmas decorations and watching the Dallas Cowboys pull out a win over the Miami Dolphins...way to be Boys!!

Aaron had to work on Friday so I took care of getting the tree decorated and doing a little Christmas shopping. No, I didn't not get up early for the Black Friday deals. I think I went around lunch time and it was much more enjoyable :)

So that is what our Thanksgiving Holiday looked like. I hope yours was just as pleasant!!

Harper Update: We had our last sonogram on Wednesday with the specialist. Everything with her heart looks great and there are no concerns! YAY!! She weighs 4 lbs. 6 oz. and has long legs. The tech said her legs already measures above average so she's going to be tall like her daddy!! We tried really hard to get a 3D image of her, but she was nice and cozy with her face pressed up against the uterus wall and would not move. We actually saw her put her hand by her face and push back!! Stubborn little thing :) So now we wait...we wait with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning to meet our little girl! We know that God has so much in store for this beautiful child and we pray that God will give me and Aaron the wisdom, guidance and knowledge to lead her in the right direction.

Here we are at 32 weeks!
One last thing. I have to give a shout out to my dear friend Staci as she heads to the hospital this afternoon to begin the process of being induced. I am so excited for she and Danny as they will be meeting their sweet baby girl Lyla Kathryn in the next day or two!! Good luck, we love you guys and we'll be praying for a safe delivery!

Until next time,
Erin

The Home Strectch

28 weeks down...12 to go! That's right folks I am in my final trimester. I'd like to say that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but that's not true since I imagine these last 12 weeks will the be the toughest of them all.

I don't have any major complaints at this point. It's getting hard to turn from side to side in bed and I have to get up at least 3 (or more) times a night to use the bathroom. But luckily Harper is sleeping when I'm sleeping and not waking me up in the middle of the night. She moves all day long which is great, let's hope she keeps it this way!! The only other thing that has been a pain is my heartburn. The doctor told me to take Prevacid and it worked for about two weeks, but lately it's been sneaking back up on me throughout the day. She said if Prevacid didn't work then we would try Nexium, so hopefully we can get that taken care of at my appointment tomorrow.

Speaking of appointment tomorrow is our Gestational Diabetes screening. I hear mixed reviews on the liquid you have to drink, some women really liked it and some really hated it. I'll have to let you all know my verdict next time. She also said that tomorrow we will begin discussing my labor plan (already, YIKES?!?!) and talking about finding a pediatrician. Did you know you can't leave the hospital unless you have a pediatrician? That was news to me! Basically tomorrow will probably be the longest appointment of them all, but at least we know that going in.

We have signed up for all of our baby classes at the hospital. We're taking 4 different classes! Birthing class, Breathing & Relaxation, Infant CPR and Breastfeeding. If we're not ready for a baby after all of those I'd don't know that we'll ever be ready. I'll be sure and report back after we've finished up.

A week from tomorrow I leave for Las Vegas for the ISPA Conference. Say a little prayer for me and Harper that we make through with no problems. It will be 5 long days on my feet all day. I'm sure everything will be fine and trust me I will not be hitting the Vegas strip at night, this momma will be going to bed as soon as I am able!

Well with no further a due, here is my 28 weeks picture. Getting bigger and bigger...

Oh! I almost forgot to mention the amazing Texas Rangers. Tonight's their night and they're going to win it all!! GO RANGERS!!

Until next time,
Erin

Home Sweet Home

First things first. I have to mention the amazing game between the Texas Rangers and Detorit Tigers this past Saturday. The Rangers brought their big bats and whooped up on the Tigers 15-5 to secure their place in the World Series for a second year in a row. This year they are going to win it all!! Let's Go Rangers!!!

I actually got to be in Dallas this weekend which made the Rangers win even sweeter. I flew to Dallas on Friday after work where Mom and Terry picked me up at the airport. We then went to meet Staci and Danny for dinner at the delicious Pappasito's so I could get my fix of Tex-Mex while I was there. It was delicious!

Saturday was Staci's baby shower. We had a fun time taking pictures of our pregnant bellies as you can tell below...

Harper and Lyla will be best friends!!!

Our good friend and Gamma Sigma sister, Amanda Vasquez (A-Vas) came to the shower too and it was so good to catch up with her.
Here's me and mom at the shower...
After the shower we did some shopping for Miss Harper. Terry made sure to get her a fair share of Cowboys and Rangers gear. Along with lots of other great stuff from Gymboree, Macy's and Buy Buy Baby! Harper hit the baby jackpot this weekend and she doesn't even know it yet :)
Another great thing was that Mom finished all of Harper's bedding for her nursery and I was able to bring it home with me. I couldn't resist putting it all together when I got home last night. It looks so good! I love it!! Thanks Grandma Nan!!
Isn't the blanket/bed spread awesome?!?!

This is the view of her room standing in the door way!

It was a great weekend in the Big D and it was so good to see my parents and be there for Staci's shower. Stay tuned next week for the 28 week picture.
Until next time...
Erin