Slice of Life: January 4th, 2019

Well hello there! Happy New Year!

I almost feel led to reintroduce myself in this space because the Erica you’ve been getting on this blog the last seven-ish weeks didn’t quite feel like myself!

The hormones from the first trimester sent me into a tizzy in a way that felt very unfamiliar and uncontrollable, but I continued to pray that everything I was feeling was related to first trimester changes within my body and that it would soon pass. “Women do not give themselves enough credit for what massive changes your body is enduring right now in the early stages of pregnancy,” my doctor said.

Sure enough, the hormonal rollercoaster lifted almost overnight in a way in which I could physically feel that it was “over” and that I was better. Like, I woke up one Sunday morning and told Jamie as I laid in bed that I felt physically and mentally different, like I had a legitimate shot at having a “normal” day. Isn’t that nuts? This would have all sounded crazy to me a couple of months ago. If this doesn’t sound bizarre to you, than surely you’ve dealt with similar uncontrollable pregnancy hormones. I didn’t deal with first trimester symptoms like this with Hadley or Sadie, so I joke that this must be a boy. 😉 (We find out in two weeks, BTW!)

I had close family and friends say things like “It really is okay if you’re not happy about this baby”, but that wasn’t it at all. We have been so happy and excited about the baby from almost the very beginning. This was clinical, and it was a first for me. It was very empathy building regarding the unreal struggle of mental health, and for that I am grateful to have learned what I did. Whew!

So now that I’ve word vomited all over you about my personal life, let’s dive into some pictures that’ll likely do a mediocre job at best at summing up life the last three weeks or so. 😉

Hadley and Sadie’s school had a little Christmas program where they each sang a few songs on stage, and we loved it!

We spent about 24 hours in Nashville with great new friends we met at church and had a blast. A day/night away came at the perfect time for Jamie and me. We celebrated beautiful Crystal’s birthday with the “premier experience” at Arrington Vineyard (the wine samples went out the window for me though – lol), then relaxed at the hotel before enjoying an amazing dinner at the Red Pony in downtown Franklin.

Such a fun group of women + their spouses. Jamie and I really had the best time. Their friendship is easy and so comfortable.

Jamie’s birthday is on December 23rd, which is always a nice day to take a break from Christmas chaos and focus on celebrating Jamie. Hadley always picks his birthday themes, and this year she declared it was going to be all about dinosaurs (is she implying Jamie’s old?) 😉 Thank goodness for Target and their ample stock of themed party decor!

Jamie’s high school best friend Chris and cousin Madeline (who are married actually!) drove up for the day with their daughter Gloria to enjoy lunch and some hang time with us. It was such a treat!

By the 24th, we were back in Christmas mode!

We had a wonderful couple of days. Christmas Eve morning was nice. The girls lounged in pjs watching Home Alone, and Jamie and I listened to Christmas music and cooked.

We hosted my parents and grandmother for Christmas Eve lunch and gift exchanging before all going together to our church for their beautiful 4 p.m. Christmas Eve service.

 

After the service, we came home to slip on pjs and eat leftovers. We planned to make cookies for Santa like we usually do, but we were smoked. We decided that Santa would probably really, really enjoy some of Daddy’s leftover German Chocolate birthday cake with milk, and Hadley agreed that he would surely really like that. #WIN

We sprinkled reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) on the front lawn, and then everybody crashed by 8:30 I think!

Christmas morning was blissful. Two hours of opening presents, Facetiming with Jamie’s family, and eating homemade cinnamon rolls I’d prepped a couple of days prior. I remember sitting on the couch sipping coffee while watching Jamie play with the girls, and I almost felt desperate to freeze time. I knew I was living in a moment that was very special.

Around lunchtime on Christmas Day, we got dressed and headed over to my parent’s house. They hosted about 15 of us, including my brother who drove up from Birmingham. The girls are obsessed with him, so it’s always fun to watch their growing relationship.

I got to spend a few days with my cousins over the holidays, who I rarely get to see. The last time we were all together like this was five years ago, so we recreated a picture from Thanksgiving 2013, when Hadley was just nine days old.

Jamie finally (!) got his smoker/grill that he’s been eyeing for a year or two, except the only difference is that he went for Cabela’s version instead of an actual Traeger. So far, so good! He is the king of the grill and loves to feed people, so we know he’ll get a ton of use out of this thing. I think he used it three times in the first week he had it! For a reference, this is the 24″.

New Years Eve was fun! We usually don’t have plans for New Years since most of our military friends were always away traveling during the holidays, but this year we had a good ole’ time. We started the evening with dinner and hang time at Jenna and Cody’s home, and then we headed to grab the girls and hang with our neighbors.

We had no intentions of staying until midnight since I cannot stay up late to save my life, but the kids and adults were all having so much fun, and I hated to be the party pooper. LOL. I decided to be a big girl and do my best to stay up, and I’m really glad we did! The kids are counted down and cheered with sparkling cider, and in general it was just a really sweet way to ring in the new year.

I’m obsessed with this picture because they both like look train wrecks after partying hard with their friends for six+ hours. 😉

I’m looking forward to a few subtle changes to my content and site in general this year, so keep an eye out! I think 2019 is going to be a pretty stellar year. 🙂

See you back here Monday! Have a beautiful weekend. xo

More: Jamie’s 2016 cow party and 2017 dog party (haha!)

Let’s chat!

Did you experience any prenatal depression/hormonal issues that threw you for a loop?