Moving

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for following my blog. As my pregnancy draws to a close and I realize my life will soon become more hectic than usual...I'm aiming to simplify by keeping to only two blogs.

My family/personal blog will now be @ With Both Feet - so please continue to follow me here as I'll be posting personal items and articles about our family and my little man as he grows up.

And my photography blog will remain @ L'Emotion Du Jour- this is where I will post photos from my hobby and photos I take of other people and their families...or just photos I like and want to share.

I will leave this blog open, but don't plan to post here. I have one other blog...a book I started about my life as a caregiver....and I may pick that back up again one day....but for now, its family time :)

Thanks-
Rachel

A day through my eyes

When I first saw a mother of two young girls chronicle a day of their life through photography on Pinterest, I thought it was so cool and made a note that I'll need to do that one day. Then, a few weeks ago I saw a friend do the same on her blog and I thought it was about time I did it!!! So, I picked up my camera on a typical Tuesday in February and chronicled a day in my life.

Working in Detroit at Wayne State University I always think there are so many pretty and interesting things I see each day that those in the suburbs never get to see. I often find suburbanites have a very negative and hostile view of the city- when they never even go to the city or really know what it is like. Sure, there is danger (there is danger everywhere) and like any major city, Detroit has its fair share of crime. But, I don't go to work day in and day out living in a constant state of fear...I actually really enjoy my time in the city. It is eye-opening, diverse and quite educational.

So, here is it- a day through my eyes. Enjoy!

Chicken turns....TWO!!!

I can not believe it has been two years already since I sat in the hospital room waiting for my aunt to give birth to this little guy. He didn't make it into the world easy-- months of hospital stays and scares and two full days (yes, two days) of labor and finally Mr. Chicken (Lorenzo) was ready to make his appearance. And our lives have been blessed by him ever since.

Last weekend was his Mickey Mouse birthday party...and as usual he had a great time!

Munching on some jelly beans...

The face he made when he was told to lay off the jelly beans...

Eating birthday cake...

and getting nailed with silly string by all his guests!!! He just stood there for a second...then started laughing and went to get the broom and dustpan to clean up lol!!

Happy Birthday my adorable little man...and many, many more to come!!!

Christmas 2011

I am woefully behind in updating this blog. I know at some point I will combine my baby blog and my life blog...but in the meantime the baby blog has been taking the majority of my attention.

This past Christmas the hubby and I spent time with many sides of our family. First was a gathering of his family at his niece's house. It was great getting to see all the little kids run around and have fun playing with each other. His family is so much bigger than mine- there are so many siblings and kids. In a way it is a lot busier and nosier than the family get togethers I am used to, but its also very nice to be surrounded by so much love. And they really all get along so well and love each other so much, it is really nice to be a part of.

Next up was a get together at our home for my mom's side of the family. Unfortunately many of our family on this side currently live out of town, so our get togethers are difficult to plan and are rather small. However, once we all get together we have a great time and love sitting and eating and talking. This year my cousins A & A drove in from New York to spend the holiday with the family and they had some big news- they are expecting their first child 12 days before us!!! How fun it that?!?

Finally, on Christmas Day we spent the day with my father's side of the family and got to see some of my favorite people- my aunt, grandmother and of course Mr. Chicken! He had the most adorable outfit on this day and I just wanted to eat him up!

It is so hard to believe at this time next year we'll have a 5 month old to spend the holiday with. I'm so excited!

Birthday time!!!

My dear friend and I have birthdays only two weeks apart. But this year she turned the big 30!!! Damn, I know. So, as a good bestie I arranged for a night of food, friends, drinks and a good gag gift or two. We started the evening by having pedicures at a local salon and then heading to dinner with our mutual friend Lori.




We had a great time!


Next up was my 29th birthday that I celebrated with my husband parents and some other friends. This 29th birthday was particularly special for a few reasons...and I felt special as friends showered me with love, hugs and gifts. Life is good.

Chicken visits the Cider Mill!

About two weekends ago, hubby and I tried our hand at watching Mr. Chicken for an entire weekend. We've baby-sat lots of babies and kids before....but never for that long. And it went really, really well. I know I am bias when it comes to this little guy but he was seriously so good for us. One tiny 10 minute tantrum when he woke up and realized he wasn't at home (poor guy) and that was it. He napped two hours a day, slept 12 hours, ate good and listened. What more can you ask for?!?!

On Saturday we decided to take him to the Cider Mill- I don't think he's ever been...

Here he is checking out a pony and this weird dancing pumpkin-head band thing---I don't think he really knew what to make of it...he kept looking back at me and Fred like "seriously, what IS that?!?" lol!

Next, it was time to explore the apple orchard. He loved it! He found a trusty stick (and a trusty side-kick as you can see) and enjoyed whacking the apples (that were already on the ground) with his stick!! such a boy!!

And Sunday morning, when our weekend was almost over we awoke to a very happy little guy- so I decided to get some pictures of him in is Halloween costume. Is he not the cutest, happiest little man?!?! L.O.V.E. !!!

When his mommy and daddy came to pick him up we were a little tired but honestly, we missed him and didn't want him to leave (we wouldn't miss the poopy diapers) but we sure miss him!

I mean, look at that face, how can you not!?!?!

Chicken goes camping!

At the end of September we decided to go on our last camping trip of the year. And what better way to end the season then to invite Mr. Chicken, and of course my aunt- his mommy, to go camping with us. We planned the trip a few months in advance to be sure we had everything as we wanted it. We camped at Proud Lake Recreation Area, one of our new favorite spots.

The hubby and I arrived a few days in advance and spent some QT together, then my adorable aunt arrived with Mr. Chicken!

He had many firsts while out on this camping trip- like his first time on a boat!

Morning hair and donuts!

He enjoyed exploring the campground and saying "hi" to the other campers...as you can see there were not many lol!
Mr.Chicken also explored the woods for the first time.

I love my hubby. He is such an amazing man- he made sure all of us had so much fun and he took care of most everything. He is so good with Chicken, I hope one day I get to see him with his own little man...or little lady. He would be such an amazing father.

Clearly, Chicken had a blast- and this pic was taken during marshmallow time! The best time of all.
Look at that smile and those dimples. I love this little boy so much and I'm so glad I get to be a special part of his life.

A very difficult June

The last two months have been quite the rollarcoaster. On Mother's Day I found out that I was pregnant for the second time with, what we hoped to be, our first child. We were overjoyed. The pregnancy was textbook and everything was going very well up until my 8th week. Then, as suddenly as it could have happened, things started to go wrong. On June 6th Fred and went to the doctors office and saw our baby in an ultrasound- heart beating and looking beautiful. However, the doctor warned that there were some areas of concern and that he was not sure (50/50) how this pregnancy was going to go. And on June 8th after a night of a lot of pain we returned for a second ultrasound where we again saw our beautiful baby, only this time with no heartbeat. It was devastating.

There is nothing like having your entire life and future turned upside down in an instant. I remember this feeling all too well from last fall when I had the first miscarriage and lost my father within 6 weeks of each other. It feels as if someone has reached inside your body and squeezed your heart- it is the true definition of what heart-break feels like. Your chest aches and you are overcome with a feeling of loss and hopelessness.

After talking to the doctor I chose not to have a D & C and let things happen naturally.

So, after a very rough week my husband and I decided to continue on our vacation that we planned two months prior to the west and northern parts of Michigan. We desperately needed the time away and the time together. We started out the trek by going to Silver Lake and visiting the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. Silver Lake was beautiful and had a wonderful state park where we also stopped and had a picnic lunch.

After lunch we decided it was Dune time!
I was pooped after climbing up the dune!!! Going from three days of bed-rest and pregnant to climbing a huge sand dune is...interesting...

Then it was on to our first "official" destination, Ludington. The major draw to this area was the small town feel and the Ludington State Park- voted the Best State Park in the mid-west....and I can totally see why!

Below is the adorable and comfortable little motel in downtown Ludington. This motel will forever be remembered by us as it was the place where we said our final goodbyes to our baby...

The lighthouse in Ludinton- a 1/2 mile down the pier off of Ludington Beach.

Ludington State Park- where we hiked and fished and enjoyed the outdoors. It was a very, very foggy day and a bit colder than we would have liked- but we made the most of it and had a good time.
Fred fishing in Hamlin Lake

Then it was off to Traverse City, but we took our time and stopped in Manistee on the way up- here Fred and I are on the Manistee River.

Stopping at another state park on our way up to have another picnic lunch - while we looked out at Lake Michigan.

Our first night in Traverse City we took in the sunset and a hot air balloon show on West Grand Traverse Bay.

The next day we explored the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive which gave us some amazing views of Sleeping Bear Dunes, Lake Michigan and the surrounding forest area.

the most beautiful views of Lake Michigan....

we loved the forest and interesting trees....

We spent the second night in Traverse City on Old Mission Peninsula's Harbor Bay enjoying a beautiful, yet cloudy, sunset.

Our third day in Traverse City we explored more of the Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas- above is Fred getting friendly near a 200 year old tree in Northport, Leelanau

Standing at the 45th parallel (half way between the equator and north pole)...there signs about it everywhere but I was like "yeah, and?!?!" lol!

We ended our trip the next day by taking a route home through the Manistee National Forest area where we spent some time on the various lakes and Fred caught a fish :)
Then it was back home and back to reality. The trip was exactly what we needed- time away, time for quite and spending time together away from all the craziness at home. But, coming home was hard. I cried when we stepped foot in the house remembering all that had happened two weeks prior. I have a hard time entering our spare bedroom, where we already had a few things bought for Baby.

I know time will make everything easier. One thing this has taught us is that we are closer than ever and we want the same things in life, which is wonderful. But, it is still hard and there is still a deep sadness about loosing another baby. But, we have to believe that one day things will work out- whether its having a child and everything being wonderful or finding out that maybe our lives were meant to be different then we thought. But no matter what, with children or childless, we will be happy- I know it.