Baby Shower Bliss

I really did not think I would get a baby shower.  I don't know anyone here in Albuquerque really - except my coworkers.  They had mentioned throwing me a shower but I assumed it wouldn't actually happen.  Good intentions usually stay as just that, intentions.  But, their follow through surprised and touched my heart so much.  I went to work that day having no idea that they had planned a whole big event for me.  A baby shower in the county jail!  Who would have thought!  My boss, Dr. Harrington, even came and stayed for the entirety of it.  What a trooper.  I was so blessed by all the love I received from all of them.  Not only did they show up but they all came bearing gifts which will go to good use.  I couldn't even tell you the last name of half of the people at the baby shower.  I think part of why it was so touching is because these are not people that I have an deep connection with that I've known forever.  They are great coworkers that went out of their way to do something special for someone they barely know. It's easy to "pony up" for people you have a long standing vested relationship with but to put forth that effort for someone not of that caliber shows a lot about the hearts of these people.

 What a great group of coworkers and new found friends!  It still just astonishes me that they did this for someone they barely know.  Talk about making a girl feel special!

 They even had a special cake made for me!

 One of my coworkers hand painted these letters for Quincey's nursery.  

 

 Check out the inmate in the background.  What a fun story to tell my daughter - that she spent her time inutaro hanging out with hard criminals every day.  Thank God for keeping us both safe.

Creating A Crib

After searching and searching and searching, I finally picked out a crib.  I was so indecisive and in the end, I settled on something simple.  But, putting it together was NOT that simple.  Joe put the legs on wrong numerous times before I finally convinced him to try it my way. 😏

 Just getting started

Almost done

And... DONE!

The Logan's Finally Landed!

So, I have been waiting for my sister Grace and her kiddos to come to Albuquerque, well, since I moved here but when I got pregnant Grace was determined to make a trip here once she could feel Quincey moving in my belly. 

Joe and I barely moved into our new home a few days before they arrived.  I was so excited to share my first home with them and, it was extremely important to me that they help me get ready for Baby Schroeder.  Being so far away from family hasn't been easy on me and living in a city has likely exacerbated this so having a slice of family and home at the same time with so many life changing events was just what the doctor ordered. 

In addition, as I've said, my nieces and nephews have been my life for a long time now and I really thought it would be cool to have them help in the transitional process from auntie to mommy by decorating the nursery and shopping for Quinn with me. 

So, the morning of their arrival, like I said, I was super excited.  My deadline for moving into a new house was to be in it before Grace and the kids came.  I don't know why but it was really important for me to, after all these years, actually host them like they have for me time after time, in a real home - not a cramped apartment, with a real husband, and real cooked meals for them, and real beds for them to sleep in, and and real driveway for them to pull into with a real door bell for them to ring.   But then...the morning of the day they were finally supposed to arrive, it was freezing and snowing outside, which wasn't a huge deal but, the heat quit working in the house and the hot water heater was barely producing hot water.  I wanted everything to be perfect and of course the house was in disarray as we had literally just moved in days earlier and now it was freezing inside.  May not seem like a big deal but I had been planning their arrival for months so I was really bummed when it wasn't going to be perfect.  Thank goodness for a perfect husband though, because when he got home from work he fixed the heater in a jiffy and the hot water heater started producing more hot water so, I was able to put those things aside and just enjoy my time with family.

Grace bought one of my favorite books from when I was a little girl (A Fly Went By) and gave it to Quinny as a present.  This was such a special moment.

We had a great time fellowshipping, and laughing, and playing boggle, and shopping, and decorating the nursery.  Not only that but I had also been stressing excessively about cleaning our old apartment out so we could get our security deposit back.  Holy smokes was it a blessing when Grace volunteered to clean the apartment to take the burden off my shoulders.  What a relief.  It was literally such a blessing to not have to worry about getting that done.  Pregnancy is no joke and the dread of trying to muster up the energy to clean that whole apartment was daunting.  Thank God for Grace's giving heart!

Here is a before picture of Quincey's nursery. 

Afton and I decorating together.  She was such a big help and loves interior design so it was really great to have her ideas and input.  Couldn't ask for a better helper to put together my baby's nursery.

This is as far as we could get.  We didn't have any furniture for the room yet, but, I already felt so much better knowing that we were moving in the right direction.

My sweet and handsome nephew getting put to work in the new house.

On the sabbath we went to the National Park to see the petroglyphs.  Was so nice to be in the sun with my family on such a beautiful day.  My back was killing me though!

All in all, it was a much needed trip from such a special family.  We were just missing two of them that couldn't come.  I has been so special for me to see how excited they are for my little girl to arrive.  Again, I can't believe that it's finally my turn to have the cute baby everyone wants to hold.  She is going to be so loved... especially by the Logans.  What a lucky girl she is already!

Ultrasounds on crack!

WOW!

I don't think my sisters got 3D ultrasounds let alone videos of their little peanuts movin' and agrovin'.

I think things have come a long ways!  Here are some videos from our November ultrasound.

I have watched these videos so many times!  I love how she sucks her thumb in the second one.  So excited to meet this little one rumbling around in my tummy!

He or She... What will it be?

October 1, 2019:

With my family being so far away from me, I was thrilled when everyone made time to congregate in Newcastle for a gender reveal party.  Being so far away meant not getting to share my pregnancy with my family as much as I would have liked to and, being new to New Mexico meant that I really didn't have many people here to share my pregnancy with so, I was super uber excited to have a gender reveal party with the family.

The Reimer's were already in town for hunting season and the Logan's made a special trip just to be there.

Because I'm so close to my nieces and nephews, I really wanted to include them in the big reveal.  I wanted them to feel like they were included in this new journey I was embarking on. So, I developed a scavenger hunt with clues hidden all over the house for them to find.  The final clue would direct them to 5 big black balloons filled with confetti that they would pop to reveal boy or girl.  It was fun watching all the kids dart from one side of the house to the other looking for their next clue. 

The time had come.  With balloons and needles in hand, the kids lined up to pop their balloon.  Within seconds, the sky was littered with pink.  IT'S A GIRL!

Both Grace and Dessa were convinced that I was having a boy.  They were so shocked when they saw pink go flying high.  They had said that I had "given it away" to them beforehand. Little did they know, I actually had given it away to both of them on two separate occasions by slipping a "she" into the conversation and then doing my darndest to back peddle and rationalize why I said she.  Apparently I did such a good job that they were convinced I was having a boy.

While they were surprised there was one little guy that was devastated.  Asher went running off bawling because he didn't want another girl cousin.  He wanted a boy cousin to play with and, I think he was super tired.  But, it didn't take long for him to warm up to the idea that he would again have a girl cousin. 

One of the most special parts of the day was opening my lovie from Grace.  You see, she has been making these rabbit lovies for kids for years now and most all the kids just love them.  They become their security blankets.  I always wished I would have a baby and get a lovie from Grace but, like I've said, had chalked this up to a hope that was drifting further and further away that it seemed no longer within reach.  To have that dream become reality was very moving for me.  It made things start to finally feel real.

 My very own lovie for my daughter.

All in all, that was one of the best days of my pregnancy.  Being at my mom and dad's house and being with my family has always been my favorite place to be.  Especially since having nieces and nephews.  Nothing is sweeter than having all my family and all these little people I love so much running around the one place I feel safest.  Take all that and then add the man of my dreams by my side and then on top of that, add the celebration of my very own baby girl with that man, well nothing could have filled my heart more.

 This was an extremely special moment.  Grandma spending her first moments with her grand baby.

Look at all the "Boy" stickers Grace has on her.  She was so convinced

Ultrasound Uno

August 8, 2019:

I was so nervous!  I didn't think I would be nervous.  Everything still felt so unreal that I was surprised at how nervous I was for that first glimpse of our baby.  Joe and I walked into that dark room together and poof!  There was our baby.  More like this weird looking tiny blob but our baby nonetheless.  And right in the center of that blob was a heartbeat.  A real legit heartbeat going super duper fast.  

There's our little blob.  

You would think this would make things finally feel real but it seemed even more unreal now.  As I sit here writing this and remember that abstract feeling of disbelief on that day... little feet are pushing into my ribs, elbows pass across my stomach, and hiccups are ever present. My, how things have changed. Now, it feels real! Really real.  

The Line that Changed Our Lives

So what does one do when two lines instead of just one pop up on a pregnancy test unexpectedly?  Well, this is what we did....

Sunday, July 14, 2019: I stood in the bathroom with a very wide open mouth.  I stood there in complete shock. There was no questioning such as, "maybe the results are wrong."  I mean, that thing showed two lines the second I peed on it.  So, I finally made my way out of the bathroom to find Joe.  He walked into the kitchen where I was standing and said, "you're pregnant aren't you?"  All I could do was shake my head yes.  Instantly he swarmed me with a big hug.  Then, he ushered me over to the couch and told me I needed to sit down and put my feet up.  I let him lead the way as I was still in blind shock.  I sat there trying to comprehend the biggest moment of my life.  How does one wrap their head around creating a human being?  As I sat there trying to comprehend, Joe began to clean like a mad man.  Like he instantly went into "nesting mode" for a minute there.  He told me to just sit there and while I did, I watched him run around sweeping and starting one task after another.  I'll always think back on that reaction with a smile. Instantly he shifted to, take care of my wife and my baby, then make sure everything is clean. 

As for me, when it finally sunk in that I was pregnant, the first thing on my mind was telling my family.  I could NOT wait to tell my mom, dad, and sisters.  Well, I did wait.  I waited 36 years to be able to make this announcement and finally the time had come. 

I was determined that my mother would be the first person to know.  She has dementia and I didn't know how much she would be able to comprehend what I was telling her but, the week before, we were on the phone and out of the blue she said, "Tara, you're pregnant."  I chalked the comment up to just another crazy thing she says but, dementia or not, my mom knew before me that I was carrying a baby. 

Waiting for her to get home from church to call her felt like an eternity.  When I finally told her, she was thrilled.  She comprehended exactly what I was telling her and was so happy for me.  I promptly got off the phone with the parents and called my sisters.  Telling them was the funnest part.  Dessa started screaming and Grace started crying.   

Later that day, still in a complete haze of shock, I went swimming like I did every day.  I look back on that day and it's as if I was having this out of body experience.  Going through the motions of a typical Sunday; however, seeing nothing but a blinking sign in front me saying, "baby, baby, you're going to have a baby." 

Us on our way to Texas Road House to celebrate 

That morning, in just one moment and with just one extra line on that test, our whole lives changed instantly.  We were going to become parents.