our baby is here!

i have a two week old baby girl? WHAT?!?

so life has changed quite a bit lately. baby cook finally arrived in the package of a 7 lbs 11 oz. baby girl. caroline elizabeth. she is little and squirmy and soft. she pretty much just cries, poops, sleeps and looks around, but she's still perfect. our perfect little girl that i've been waiting to arrive for 9 long months. sometimes i still can't believe she's here. i still can't believe that i am a mommy and shaun is a daddy. and that we are now responsible for raising a daughter.


there have been quite a few adjustments around the cook house. our living room now looks like a daycare. pacis and blankets laying around. a pack n play and swing have been squeezed into one corner. and baby clothes like socks and pants are in the strangest places. but it all seems very normal for some reason. it's seems like this is the way things have always been.

kona has adjusted perfectly. i couldn't been happier about the way he has welcomes and adjusted to the new little cries and squawks that come out of caroline. i can tell that when she gets really upset he worries about her. he'll come and give me a look like "is she ok?" but mostly he just lays around her pack n play or at my feet when i'm holding her. we have made an effort to still love on him so he doesn't feel left out. and he has been great on the few walks we have been about to go on.

and shaun and i are adjusting together. it hasn't been easy, but because we are working together, it really hasn't been that hard. it's been really nice having him at home. he is being as helpful as possible and i'm so thankful for all he has done. we are learning more about each other and what we are capable of as couple. i knew he would be amazing, and i'm so thankful that we are doing this together. it's would be near impossible without him.




so now what? i kind of think that each morning when i wake up. what will today bring, because so far almost every day has been different. i guess we'll just wait and see...

gone green

i love green. i can't help it. every where i go i'm always drawn to green things. green books, green towels, green jewelry. you name it and i pretty much like it in green. (except green clothes - i don't really wear green) so, last night i was looking around my house and realized all the wonderful green things i had accumulated or created over the past years. everyday things that i can't live without. i've always thought to myself, "i don't want to go overboard with green" but i think i've realized that's not possible! =) green is such a WONDERFUL color. it's soothing and calming and comes in so many different shades. i have one favorite shade of green and lucky for me IKEA loves it too! many of my favorite green things have been purchased there.

so, last night i decided to capture some of my green favs and share them with you. i've never had this many pictures on my blog before, and i'm totally excited that all of them are green! green....how can you go wrong?!?

some great green storage boxes from IKEA. right now holding all the wonderful cards and keepsakes i wanted to save regarding baby cook.

my wallet. i decided to buy this a few years ago when i realized it was time for a "big girl wallet". i was skeptical about this "big girl wallet" purchase because most that i had seen where black or brown. very "adult" like. but then this green one walked into my life. perfect!

my iPhone case. the case is a necessity. the green is a given.

a tiny green vase for tiny bouquets of flowers. given to me by my good friend kate. she knows me so well.

the nursery. one of the reasons why not finding out the sex of our baby has been so perfect for me. this baby has a lot of green. including a green room with a green polka dot diaper hanger and green and blue fish on the wall. duh.

my bible. a gift from my sweet husband this past valentine's day.

one of our bathrooms. probably my favorite room in the house because of the color scheme.

a collection of green vases i have purchased at thrift stores over the years.

my glasses. it might be hard to tell, but the entire inside is a fun shade of green.

the hubs. wearing a green shirt i no doubt picked out or purchased for him. i couldn't resist putting him in my green blog. he as wearing the perfect color.

a lovely necklace i am buying today. i can't resist it. candysart.etsy.com

so there you go. i hope you enjoyed this display of my obsession.

and yes, i realize my name is jade, and jade is a green stone or color. this name i was given may or may not be the reason for my love of this color. but maybe by having the name jade, i don't look quite as crazy...

came and went

i knew it would. i knew that aug. 29th would come and pass just like any other day. but i was still REALLY hopeful that it would be a day of new beginnings. but alas, it wasn't. in fact, the whole weekend came and went. and now i'm sitting at work, pretending to work. (although i think everyone around me knows i'm really not.)

it's a weird feeling knowing that the day our baby was suppose to arrive has passed. for so long, aug. 29th seemed sooooo far away. now, it kind of feels like i did something wrong. like i missed some kind of deadline for a project or overslept for an exam. i keep thinking, "what do i do now?" i know that it's totally normal for a baby to be overdue, it's still just a weird feeling.

and plus, i can't focus on anything but the baby coming. every pain, every movement the baby makes has me thinking, "this could be it!" but it's just little bc getting cozy again. i guess in a way i'm not really surprised. staying in bed when i'm warm and cozy is one of my favorite things to do. i hate that feeling when the alarm clock goes off and i can't snooze any longer. if this child is anything like its mother, i could be pregnant for another 2 weeks!

i read this morning that "a watched pot never boils" so i need to keep myself busy and try not to focus on the baby being late. how the HECK am i suppose to do that? i'm expecting my first baby! and i don't know if it's a boy or a girl! and i don't know exactly when it's coming! and i've been playing this waiting game for 9 months! and i'm excited and scared and ready and nervous! i keep thinking, "i'm not ready to be a mom" while simultaneously thinking "if i'm not a mom by the end of the week, i'm going to loose it!!!" uuhhh....breathe jade, breathe. =)

i'm thankful for the wonderful pregnancy i've had so far. i'm thankful for shauny and how great and caring and sweet he continues to be. he is so ready to be a dad and i'm thankful that god brought us together almost 4 years ago, and now we are about to be parents together. he told me the other day that i'm one of the most even tempered persons he knows. i'm trying to maintain that these days. i'm trying to focus on everything good around me and not focus on my tardy baby. i know that bc will come out when they're ready.

just take your time little one. mommy doesn't like to be rushed or pressured either....

does he know something i don't?

kona. he's our pre-kid. he's the one that we show pictures of and talk about when others talk about how funny or cute or bad their kids are. we share stories about kony.

but lately kona has been acting a little different. not necessarily bad, just different. basically, this is what he does when just he and i are together.

he just lays there. and stares at me. and whines at me. and it's not the "i need to go out" whine or the "pay attention to me" whine. it's kind of like an "are you OK?" whine. does my hairy four-legged pre-kid know something i don't?

since i've been pregnant, kona and i have formed a bit of a routine. he's been closer to me when he's not distracted by a walk or going to the park. but it's been more intense lately. every morning he sits right under my feet while i eat breakfast. and most mornings he lays right outside the bathroom door while i shower. and then moves to outside the other bathroom door while i put on make-up. always near by and always just staring at me. i've recently nicknamed him the "corner creeper" because he just pokes his head around corners and stares at me. as if to make sure i'm OK. is this weird? am i imagining this? maybe. but maybe my aussie is smarter than i think. i'm interested to see how he reacts when labor comes. maybe he'll be the calmest one there, because he already knew....

my new best friend

pregnancy is one of those things that you think about and plan for, but are never quite 100% ready for. i guess that's most things in life. that is most likely going to be parenthood. but right now i'm in pregnancy-hood and one thing i was not ready for was fatigue! it hit me like a TON of bricks in the beginning. i was sleeping all the time, anywhere i could. in the very beginning when we weren't ready for the general public to know i was pregnant, i slept in my car on lunch breaks. that's right, it was january. but i parked in the sun, used my wool jacket as a warm blankie and snoozed for about 40 min. everyday! i had to. it was for survival!

then came tri-mester 2. so easy. so nice. sometimes i honestly forgot i was pregnant. my belly was growing but i was fine. sleeping well and the tiredness was gone.

then came tri-mester 3. and my heavy eyelids returned. not only am i carrying around a 7 lb child, but i've gained weight. yes, i've gained weight. too much weight. so....i'm not sleeping well at night. i'm getting up to pee 3 and 4 times a night. and i'm tired. really tired.

and then came along my new best friend. i got sucked in by a free coupon and have never looked back. i visit my best friend in moderation, but everytime i do i am blissfully reminded of how wonderful our relationship is. it lifts my mood and opens my eyes. i love my new best friend, and i can tell it loves me too.

not today...

you know that feeling you get when you're about to take a long awaited vacation? you have been planning and preparing and you know that a week away from work is soooo close. it's just about the only thing you can think about. or, that feeling you got the week before your wedding? back in 2006, it was july 21st. and almost every thought of every day revolved around that day. i knew it was going to be the most amazing day of my life and i was going to start an amazing adventure with the man i loved.

the thing about vacations and weddings is that you know the day the adventure will begin. you have it marked on your calendar and when that day circled in red is here, you wake up ready to hit the road! now, imagine preparing and planning for that day, but not knowing exactly when it's coming. every morning you wake up and think, "is today the day?" or "crap! i thought for sure we would have left sometime in the night!" well, I'M THERE!! i'm here! just waiting. getting up every morning and going to work like usual, but sitting at my desk wondering, "will i be here tomorrow?" and you would think that this thought would motivate me to get as much done as possible in preparation for my departure. but it doesn't. i can't focus. i'm constantly thinking about being off FOR 2 MONTHS!! i'm constantly reading stuff online, looking at baby announcements options, and blogging!

and you know how right before you leave for vacation you think, "i can't eat that! i've got to put on a bathing suit in 4 days!" or how you can easily pass on that donut right before you get married because you think "i'm about to have a million pictures taken of my on the most important day of my life! passing up that donut is TOTALLY worth it!" well, here's what's going on in my crazy head! "when this baby comes, i am back on the weight watchers train! but until bc gets here, i'm going to live it up! and bc might be here tomorrow, so i might as well have a donut for breakfast and a blizzard after dinner because soon i won't be eating either!" and you might be thinking, that's not so bad. but what if that has been your frame of mind for the past 2 weeks?!? i'm going to have a 12 pound baby at this rate!!

ok, ok. i sound like a crazy person. a crazy pregnant lady who will forget about all this nonsense soon because i will be a different kind of crazy. but right now, i have a problem. an impatiently-waiting-can't-stop-eating-sweets kind of problem. this is normal, right?

the one

i live with my best friend. i live with a person that i want to spend almost every free moment i have. i live with a wonderful man. yes, i've lived with him for the past three years, but i've been thinking more and more about "us" lately. we are about to embark on a new journey and a new chapter of our life together. i sometimes do think of our life together as a book. and i know that there was A LOT that happened before our book started, but right now our book is the main one i'm thinking about. and the first part of our book was all about us. no one else. yes, we got a dog and bought a house, so those were interesting aspects of our book, but we were still the main characters. but soon, someone new will be entering our story. and like every good book, our book is only going to get better with time. but, these upcoming chapters wouldn't be possible without the beginning of the book. and that's what i've been thinking about.

we are at such a wonderful time in our life and i look at shaun and appreciate him more and more these days. i see how excited he is about having a baby and i can't wait to witness him as a dad. i've realized more than ever over these past 9 months how shaun really does love me no matter what. i've had a great pregnancy, but i have still had the typical "pregnancy moments". bursting into tears VERY unexpectedly, flying off the handle about nothing at all and changing my outfit just as we are walking out the door. and every time he patiently waits, consoles my unexplained tears, and forgets my crazy rants.

we have laughed so much lately. we have spent a lot of time together and we have grown in our marriage. we have learned more about each other and i have realized that there is no one else in the world i would want to do this with. i don't think he's the one, i know he's the one! and i can't wait to see what our next chapter will bring.