Baby Shoe is growing and so is my belly

Vaccines to do or not , disposable or cloth diapers, breast feeding vs. formula, a home birth or hospital, the blood in the cord.. to, when to cut the cord, eating all natural foods NO PRESERVATIVES (except salt) vs. eating whatever you want, Parenting books, putting child on a schedule or letting the child choose its schedule, SO many questions so many options. So many things to research.. What is best for my child?

Just because our culture is big on doing things doesn't mean that its right or the best option.. Here in America we tend to go for the pain free.. fix the problem now.. convience... BUT  doing things the way our culture tells us too is it being wise with our resources, money and the future of our children? I want the best for this child.. and I want to be wise with the money God has blessed us with and most importantly I want to KNOW!  I don't want to be left in the dark..

So I do thank God for everyday he has given me.. its a good thing babies don't grow in 9 days! I would not know what to do!.. 9 months of preparing!

I have been doing lots of research on diapers.. The cheapest, healthiest, easiest and of course wanting to know my options.. For those who know me I am not one to follow the crowd..  I don't do things because everyone else does it.. I want to know why I am doing it and go full on in whatever I am doing and believe is the best option..  I love looking at blogs from Mom's who do research things out..

 Wool diapers.. Now before I got pregnant I would not have known that these guys exist BUT the more I look into these diapers the more I am realizing I am most likely going to do some type of cloth diaper.. Cheaper.. healthier and the diaper is actually really cute! BUT the wool.. WOW.. it blows my mind on all the benefits to these buckaroos

I have decided way before getting pregnant that is if I can have my baby out of the hospital then I am staying out of the hospital!

 I have found some wonderful midwives down here in Greenville who have a birthing center in Spartanburg, S.C., called Labors of Love..

When I visited the birth center I thought for sure thats where I want to have the baby..

But the past few days I have been thinking about having my baby at home..

The only reason I want to have the baby at the birthing center is because the midwives know the doctors up in Spartanburg incase anything goes wrong!

BUT.. if I don't need to go to the hospital it would be so nice to have little Shoe here at home..

20 weeks

20 weeks

So I am 1/2 way through my pregnancy! Time sure goes by fast! In 1 week I put on 5 lbs.! INSANE~! No more having bad eating days or you will truly pack on the pounds!

BABY SHOE

Baby Shoe at 19 weeks old!.. Yes, here is our first baby picture.. its a picture of the profile you can see the face on the right..! the cute lil' nose..

 This little buckaroo was very very active! When we first saw our child he waved to us.. his hand up all five little fingers saying hello to Mommy and Daddy and then pulled a "Paquette" and was showing us all the tricks he knows and has been practicing the flips and the  kicks and punches.. and when we went to find out if he was a boy or a girl.. This  Shoe made it very clear that was one thing he or she wanted to keep a secret!..

My cute lil' munchkin head!

white bench and the seeder/plow

This white bench has been sitting at shinola.. and everyday when I would drive home from work I thought to myself.. Hmm.. that white bench would sure look good next to our shed.. 

So the story behind this bench..  It lived in Georgia.. next to a church in a cemetery..

Well hopefully it doesn't rub off any death at the shoe home.. =)

 

THE SEEDER

Can you picture it all fixed up to be a piece of lawn decoration.. 

can you smell the flowers I am going to plant in the bucket..

I do love this old seeder/plow thingy.. It is quite heavy but still works..  I can see my muscles now if I lived back in the day..

I do love the things we have been finding.. To support the Shoe's collection of collecting old things who are lonely please buy a piece of art work from my husband.. THANK YOU.!

My Tricycle.. vista

 

 I have been watching this tricycle for over 6 months.. everytime I see it I would try to talk my husband into buying it for me.. and he would ask me questions like, " Are you really going to ride this thing around with ALL the hills?" Or " where will you put the baby?"

So we would leave this treasure behind..

IT would sit in the back of Shinola next to a pile of wood for many months.. lonely as ever..

You see this bike had a purpose once.. It was made for a hotel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for the delivery man to bring the guest food, the paper, or whatever they needed.. It was a very useful  bike and had many wonderful days seeing so many new faces and then the era of bikes slowed down and it was sold to a man who place it in the yard where is sat for a long long time..

I finally talked my husband into letting me purchase this sweet tricycle.. VISTA.. 

She has become part of the Shoe home.. over the next few weeks we will find her a good doctor to fix her up and get her running as if she were brand new.. and add a baby sit to the back and off we go.. going to work and to the store...

This bike will never be lonely again..

My treasure findings

My snack bowl.. It makes you wonder who was the first person to buy this bowl and did they really use it for snacks..

Our first baby chair.. it is perfect for a 2 to 4 year old.. instead of a booster seat or the child having to sit on their knees here is a chair perfect height for them to sit at the table..

My owls.. These were for sure one of the best findings.. I do love owls.. My husband's grandmother collected owls so I have many owl things around and have grown quite fond of them.. So when we found these it was one of the treasures that POP!

Since my last name is shoe, I can't pass up things that relate to shoes.. Our house is full or wooden shoes and a BIG shoe and  a shoe maker.. so when we saw this we knew it  was ours.. it had our name on it!

And the last piece.. Of my my favorite... Ross and I decided this will be a baby room piece.. !

a treasure that is just right!

Antique/JuNK shopping

 One thing I love to do when I have some free time is to go to antique stores and look for a treasure.. 

You got to search hard to find that one thing that pops and catches your eye and says.. "hey look at me, take me home I promise you that at one time in my life I was brand new and very  useful or popular.. Just because I am old doesn't mean that I am no good.."

 and I smile knowing knowing.. "ahh yes, this thing is going to be perfect.." it comes with a history and the character is unlike anything you can find in a store that sells "new" things..

I found many wonderful things this past shopping trip..  From old books by Noel Straetfield, to a "snack" bowl,  some amazing owls to go on my fire place, and  a tricycle which will be purchased VERY soon..   

Aprons

 I have been collecting aprons for about 4 years now.. vintage ones.. the ones with character knowing

that it served a purpose at one time... I love watching old movies and to see the women in their aprons and all they did in their aprons..  they went out to garden in the apron and they did all their household chores including sowing in their aprons..  I love aprons.. when I look at an apron I think of strength and I see a hardworker.. someone with integrity and patience and one  who enjoyed life and the simple things like picking apples so she can go in to make a apple pie or sitting on a rocking chair in the hot sun drinking lemonade watching the children play in the yard.. 

 My mother in law emailed me this forward about aprons and I just love the many uses of an apron and wanted to share...

"The principle use of Grandma's apron, was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a holder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.  From the chicken-coop the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy children. And, when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.  Chips and kindlling wood were brought into the kitchen with that apron.. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.  When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old-time apron," that served so many different purposes."

14 Weeks in the evening

What the books call my 2nd trimester.. So here I go into the part of my pregnancy when my belly is starting to grow and I am suppose to get my energy back.. I find it interesting that my belly likes to grow quite a bit in the evening.. I feel like I can look 6 months pregnant by the time I got to bed and I start to think well maybe I am starting to show only to wake up the next morning to find that my stomach looks like it did 14 weeks ago but just a lil' bit bloated.. YUP.. So I might be 14 weeks but have not been sick, don't have to pee all the time and have had no problems like the first trimester warns and I haven't put on any weight.. well i always put on 5lbs a day pregnant or not only to be back at my normal weight in the morning.. I am telling you you put on lots of weight drinking water.. =) but by morning its gone.. and my energy well didn't have much of that anyway so i am looking forward to this trimester hoping I will be able to keep up with hiking and running and making sure I stay fit through out my pregnancy...