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| Family picture from our quick little session with my SIL Anie, in her back yard :) |
Monday, January 6, 2014
Christmas Travels
Collin and I were lucky enough to get to travel a lot this holiday season! We left on December 10th and didn't get home until January 4th. Thankfully Michael was able to join up with us on the 18th. We did so many fun things that it's going to take a few posts to cover it all...and beware I took a lot of pictures!!
Thanksgiving 2013
Thanksgiving may have not been spent with family this year, but we still had a great day! At first we were going to do our own little celebration and make a very non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, since Michael and I don't like turkey. But then we got an invitation to spend it with a bunch of people in our ward. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, lots of yummy desserts (I tried out a new donut recipe- pumpkin donuts- they were a hit!), and some fun games. It was great spending it with friends, and getting to know people in our ward a little better. And Michael and I agree that it was a much more exciting day than if we had celebrated Thanksgiving on our own.
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| His cute Thanksgiving onesie. Please note that this is a 6 month onesie. And he was not even 2 months old at Thanksgiving! Granted it was a bit loose, but still!! My baby is growing up way to fast! |
Collin's First Halloween
Collin made the cutest little candy corn for his very first Halloween. We had a ward trunk or treat the day before Halloween and got to show him off. On Halloween we spent a fun evening at home. My mom and I made homemade donuts in the morning. We tried out a new recipe for dinner- stuffed butternut squash pasta shells- delicious! And we finished off the day by watching Hocus Pocus, and enjoyed our donuts with some yummy apple cider.
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| Halloween Day Outfit |
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| Donuts and cider |
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| With our little pumpkin family at the ward party |
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Boppi was here!
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| First time holding Collin 10/19/13 |
Some highlights from Boppi's trip:
- Walking around downtown along the Riverwalk, through La Villita, and the Alamo. Also stopping by Michael's office and introducing Collin to his coworkers.
- Lazy mornings (maybe more of a highlight for me)
- Collin's first Halloween. She was a great help for this beginner sewer with his fun candy corn costume
- Trying some new recipes- stuffed butternut squash and sausage pasta shells and baked potato soup
- lots of shopping! This is always a highlight when Mom's around :)
- making homemade baked donuts with one of our shopping finds
- Some Halloween crafts
- Treating us to Collin's first restaurant outing...yummy Cheesecake Factory!
- Getting to catch up with a good friend who used to live in CA, whose daughter also lives in San Antonio, and happened to be visiting at the same time.
- Painting some adorable canvases for Collin's nautical room.
- exploring a couple of the local missions. Growing up in CA we of course know all about the CA missions, but never really knew that there were missions in other states too.
- And of course, lots of snuggles with Collin!!
Unfortunately I didn't get a really good picture of her and Collin. But I do know she got some :)
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| The Alamo |
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| Halloween Ward Trunk or Treat |
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| After a rough morning for Collin, Boppi had the magic touch to finally get him to sleep. |
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| Boppi's beautiful handiwork above the bed |
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| Bath time with Boppi her last morning here |
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| Me and my mom at one of the missions we visited |
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Introducing...
Collin Michael Coon
Born Wednesday, October 16, 2013
8 lbs 15 oz
21.25 inches
Our little boy is finally here! Its been a month already, yet it feels like he has always been a part of our family. We love him like crazy. We love watching him grow, but can't believe how much he has already grown in such a short time. Slow down sweet boy!
I wanted to be sure to write down the details of his birth before I forgot them all!
He was due on Monday October 14th. I had an appointment that day and an ultrasound, just to make sure that everything looked good. The ultrasound tech predicted that he would weigh about 7 lbs 10 oz (boy was she wrong!). When my doctor checked me I was measuring at a 2 and 75-80% effaced. Since I was at 40 weeks she stripped my membranes and we decided to schedule an induction for that Thursday the 17th.
Moving along to Tuesday, Michael was getting really anxious for our little boy to get here. He insisted that I run up and down the stairs and do some jumping jacks. I felt silly doing them and didn't think that it would do anything, but something must have worked! We went to bed around 11 that night, but I never fell asleep. Around 11:30 I started having some cramping, that just kept getting worse. I started timing them around 12:30, they were about 6 minutes apart, and just kept getting closer. I woke up Michael around 1-1:30, and we got things together for the hospital. We checked in at 2:22 am. When they checked me in triage I was measuring at 3 cm, nearing 4 and was 100% effaced, with contractions about every 2 minutes apart. The nurse could tell that I was pretty uncomfortable so she was kind enough to get the fluids started right away so I could get my epidural ASAP. I just have to add that Michael nearly passed out while I was getting my IV. It was pretty funny! I don't like needles and was nervous for the IV so I was looking the towards Michael and holding his hand. I think I had my eyes closed, but all of a sudden I sensed that Michael was leaning forward, over the bed a little more. Sure enough I open my eyes and he was totally leaning towards me. At first I thought he was just trying to get a better look, but then I noticed he was a bit pale, and swaying. Thankfully he recovered quickly after sitting down. He thinks that he must have locked his knees. I guess I'm not the only queasy one in the family.
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| last belly shot taken 8 days before he was born |
Moving along to Tuesday, Michael was getting really anxious for our little boy to get here. He insisted that I run up and down the stairs and do some jumping jacks. I felt silly doing them and didn't think that it would do anything, but something must have worked! We went to bed around 11 that night, but I never fell asleep. Around 11:30 I started having some cramping, that just kept getting worse. I started timing them around 12:30, they were about 6 minutes apart, and just kept getting closer. I woke up Michael around 1-1:30, and we got things together for the hospital. We checked in at 2:22 am. When they checked me in triage I was measuring at 3 cm, nearing 4 and was 100% effaced, with contractions about every 2 minutes apart. The nurse could tell that I was pretty uncomfortable so she was kind enough to get the fluids started right away so I could get my epidural ASAP. I just have to add that Michael nearly passed out while I was getting my IV. It was pretty funny! I don't like needles and was nervous for the IV so I was looking the towards Michael and holding his hand. I think I had my eyes closed, but all of a sudden I sensed that Michael was leaning forward, over the bed a little more. Sure enough I open my eyes and he was totally leaning towards me. At first I thought he was just trying to get a better look, but then I noticed he was a bit pale, and swaying. Thankfully he recovered quickly after sitting down. He thinks that he must have locked his knees. I guess I'm not the only queasy one in the family.
I got to my room and met my nurses and by 4 am I had my epidural! It was wonderful, instant relief! My nurse Mandy (the best nurse, I was so sad that she was off before the delivery) was so reassuring and calming during the whole process. I was nervous about getting it, but knew that the pain would far out weigh the pain of labor. Turns out the IV hurt more than the epidural! I highly recommend them, but applaud the women who do it natural (like my dear mother!) Oh, and word had gotten around with the nurses that Michael had nearly passed out. So they made sure he was on the other side of the room while I got the epidural :) After that everything progressed pretty consistently and quickly. I will just list those details out:
4:40 am dilated between a 4 and 5
6:45 dilated to a 7
6:49 water broke
7 our favorite nurse Mandy left, and Diana came in.
8:05 dilated to a 10, an at a +1 station (I think that's what it is referred as). They wanted me to get to a +3 before starting to push
9:10 started pushing
9:56 He's Here!!!
Overall labor was a pretty good experience and I won't mind doing it again in the future. Even if I didn't get any sleep the whole night! I was really relaxed, but just too anxious and excited to sleep. Pushing was way more chill than I expected. The epidural let me feel just enough pressure that in between pushing with the nurse we just chatted. It wasn't until those last few minutes when the doctor showed up that the excitement picked up. My doctor was at the practice's other office that day, so another doctor at the practice, Dr. Bryan Cox, delivered Collin. He was awesome, very energetic (great for pushing), and even sang happy birthday when Collin was born. Michael got to help pull Collin out once his shoulders were out and cut his cord. I chose to have the mirror when pushing, which was very motivating for me. And I loved getting to see Collin's full head of hair. I was hoping the whole pregnancy that he would have lots of dark hair like I did when I was born.
As it got closer to him being born I was more excited than emotional and didn't think I would cry at all. But as soon as they put him on my chest there was no stopping the tears. I can't really describe the emotions I was feeling. I was in awe, excited, amazed, exhausted, etc. There was so much going on that I don't remember much from the moment. I just couldn't take my eyes off our beautiful, perfect baby boy. I wish I could more adequately describe how I felt, it was just simply an amazing and miraculous moment!
Since then we have been loving our little boy. Sure there have been some ups and downs. And a lot of "maybe we should try ____" But I couldn't imagine our life without sweet Collin! (And in all honesty it really is hard to remember life before we had him, but maybe that's the result of lack of sleep) As his Aunt Corinne said in a text after he was born, "Welcome to the family Collin!"
Since then we have been loving our little boy. Sure there have been some ups and downs. And a lot of "maybe we should try ____" But I couldn't imagine our life without sweet Collin! (And in all honesty it really is hard to remember life before we had him, but maybe that's the result of lack of sleep) As his Aunt Corinne said in a text after he was born, "Welcome to the family Collin!"
Monday, August 19, 2013
Baby Update
Things are still looking great. I am now going to the doctor every 2 weeks. Which is making time pass really fast- all of a sudden I look at the calender and realize I have another appointment that week! Total weight gain so far is 23 pounds. I am right on track growth wise gaining about 1 lb each week.
The symptoms seem to have kicked it up a notch in these last couple of weeks. But I try not to think about them too much and look at the good side.
- I get tired pretty easily- definitely don't have the energy levels I had the 2nd trimester. So I am extremely grateful our girl's trip feel when I was still energetic!
- My back is pretty achy. I blame our uncomfortable couch. But Michael is so good about rubbing my back.
- Heartburn is getting worse. It always seems to come in spurts, it will be really bad for a couple days, and then go away for a couple, then come back, etc. But I actually don't hate the taste of tums, well except the green ones. And I already slept with a couple pillows so whats 4 or 5 extra :)
- The swelling has started. Thankfully just in my fingers and toes, and mostly just at night. I think I am nearing the end of wearing my wedding ring, but hopefully this means we can take it in for some much needed cleaning and a re-dipping to brighten up the white gold.
- I can't really stand for extended periods of time without my legs getting really achy. Making dinner or doing dishes is getting harder unless I take occasional breaks to sit down.
I love feeling little "Bruno" kick! And he is really strong! One night I jokingly said to Michael that maybe we should just pray that he is "healthy" and not "healthy and strong". Thankfully he doesn't kick my ribs...that often. Although sometimes if feels as if he is pushing against my pelvic bone. Don't really know if that is possible, but sometimes it can be a little annoying. Sometimes my stomach will get lopsided and there will be a little bulge. And other times I can feel a little foot, hand, bum, or whatever part of his body it is, I can't really decipher them. He really loves my right side. I hardly ever feel a kick on my left. We recently saw Star Trek and the musical Ragtime. Bruno was kicking and moving quite a bit during both of them- I like to think he enjoyed the music and noise. The other night Michael and I tried shining a flashlight on my belly to see what Bruno would do and he gave us a couple good kicks. We tried it again a couple days later, but he didn't react. I like to think his head was just turned so he didn't see the light and the first time wasn't just a fluke. One night Michael felt Bruno while he had the hiccups- he thought it was pretty entertaining!
Over the past few weeks we have gotten lots of baby necessities:
We found a beautiful crib at Costco. I convinced Michael to spend a little more money for a nice hard wood one that will hopefully last through all our children. I love it! I still need to make a crib skirt for it. I am thinking a red one.
.JPG)
We got a stroller and car seat on clearance at Target. One day I just happened to see it while shopping. It wasn't the color we had registered for, but I really wasn't picky, just wanted a neutral. And this one was $50 cheaper. Thanks Mom and Dad Coon!
.JPG)
I got a free Bumbo seat from a friend who got it from a random lady as she was leaving another friends house- did that even make sense? It was pink, but that problem was easily solved with a fun cover we ordered.
We got a dresser from Ikea. Read my last post if you want to hear the sad story about it. I am just extremely grateful to finally have one so I can start putting his many, many clothes away! Thanks to his Terry cousins he will be a very well dressed little boy!
.JPG)
Purchased our first box of diapers and wipes. Man they are expensive! But they were on coupon this month at Costco so I went ahead and bought them early. I will admit I can't help but smile when I see them. It just makes me so excited to know there will be a baby in our house soon!
.JPG) |
| Just a day shy of 31 weeks (By the time I am actually posting this I am 32 weeks) |
- I get tired pretty easily- definitely don't have the energy levels I had the 2nd trimester. So I am extremely grateful our girl's trip feel when I was still energetic!
- My back is pretty achy. I blame our uncomfortable couch. But Michael is so good about rubbing my back.
- Heartburn is getting worse. It always seems to come in spurts, it will be really bad for a couple days, and then go away for a couple, then come back, etc. But I actually don't hate the taste of tums, well except the green ones. And I already slept with a couple pillows so whats 4 or 5 extra :)
- The swelling has started. Thankfully just in my fingers and toes, and mostly just at night. I think I am nearing the end of wearing my wedding ring, but hopefully this means we can take it in for some much needed cleaning and a re-dipping to brighten up the white gold.
- I can't really stand for extended periods of time without my legs getting really achy. Making dinner or doing dishes is getting harder unless I take occasional breaks to sit down.
I love feeling little "Bruno" kick! And he is really strong! One night I jokingly said to Michael that maybe we should just pray that he is "healthy" and not "healthy and strong". Thankfully he doesn't kick my ribs...that often. Although sometimes if feels as if he is pushing against my pelvic bone. Don't really know if that is possible, but sometimes it can be a little annoying. Sometimes my stomach will get lopsided and there will be a little bulge. And other times I can feel a little foot, hand, bum, or whatever part of his body it is, I can't really decipher them. He really loves my right side. I hardly ever feel a kick on my left. We recently saw Star Trek and the musical Ragtime. Bruno was kicking and moving quite a bit during both of them- I like to think he enjoyed the music and noise. The other night Michael and I tried shining a flashlight on my belly to see what Bruno would do and he gave us a couple good kicks. We tried it again a couple days later, but he didn't react. I like to think his head was just turned so he didn't see the light and the first time wasn't just a fluke. One night Michael felt Bruno while he had the hiccups- he thought it was pretty entertaining!
Over the past few weeks we have gotten lots of baby necessities:
We found a beautiful crib at Costco. I convinced Michael to spend a little more money for a nice hard wood one that will hopefully last through all our children. I love it! I still need to make a crib skirt for it. I am thinking a red one.
.JPG)
We got a stroller and car seat on clearance at Target. One day I just happened to see it while shopping. It wasn't the color we had registered for, but I really wasn't picky, just wanted a neutral. And this one was $50 cheaper. Thanks Mom and Dad Coon!
.JPG)
I got a free Bumbo seat from a friend who got it from a random lady as she was leaving another friends house- did that even make sense? It was pink, but that problem was easily solved with a fun cover we ordered.
.JPG) |
| It has little elephants on it! |
.JPG)
Purchased our first box of diapers and wipes. Man they are expensive! But they were on coupon this month at Costco so I went ahead and bought them early. I will admit I can't help but smile when I see them. It just makes me so excited to know there will be a baby in our house soon!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Farewell to Budget Season!
Since the end of May/beginning of June Michael has been working SUPER long hours (like 9pm was "early" and he worked all day pretty much every Saturday) in the budget office getting ready for the 2014 budget. And I am happy to report as of last Thursday, the budget has been proposed/presented to the city council and these late nights should be done for another year. There is still the possibility of a few late nights since the city council has until mid-September to make minor changes, but it shouldn't be every night.
In celebration of the completion of the budget Michael got Friday off and came home at 3 on Thursday. Needless to say, I was a very happy wife! I just wanted to document the fun weekend we had.
Thursday-
Michael got home at 3. Since he had worked until 1 am the night before, he took a nap. But when he woke up we headed to Costco to look at dresser options for the baby's room and then enjoyed some yummy pizza, and chicken bake from the food court (I know, so romantic). Oh, and we finally added me to our Costco membership and I got my first Costco card. I know its totally silly, but I feel like such a grown-up now :)
Friday-
While I slumbered away, Michael got up early and went on a bike ride with his new best friend-his bike. (I finally consented and let him get a road bike for his birthday). We did some errands during the day. We went to the DMV and got our Texas drivers license. We are officially Texas residents. Michael picked out a new phone- it was definitely time! And then that night we went downtown for a fun date at the theater. We saw the musical Ragtime. I had never seen it before/didn't know much about the story, but I really enjoyed it. I even got a little teary eyed during the finale. And can I just say that I love that Michael enjoys musicals and going to the theater! (even if I do make him dress up for them). It wasn't over until after 11, and I can't say that downtown San Antonio is my favorite place to be that late at night (a little sketchy, thankfully there are lots of cops out and about on patrol) but I loved walking hand and hand down the street with my handsome husband. We ended the night with rostys from Wendy's. A great way to end a perfect evening!
Saturday-
While I slept in Michael went to play basketball at the church (this is our Saturday morning routine!). Had a lazy morning getting ready, and finally a little after noon started our journey to Austin to go to Ikea! On our way we stopped in San Marcos to check out the Pottery Barn outlet store. Bad idea going to the Outlets on tax free weekend in Texas. And these outlets were HUGE! Much bigger than the Camarillo ones- and those ones are pretty big. There was also a William and Sonoma outlet store connected to PB. I could have spent hours in there, but prices were still pretty high for our budget that day. :( Eventually we found our way to Ikea (it was a little farther away than we realized) Our main reason to go to Ikea was to check out a dresser for the baby's room. And of course pick up a few other Ikea treasures, and eat some yummy meatballs. We found the dresser, liked the price, liked the style, and of course I fell in love with the red one! And of course when we get to the marketplace and the end they were all out of it :( In the end we settled on the black-brown one since we weren't willing to pay $100 to have it shipped to us, and Ikea is too far away to come back again so soon. Total let down, and I will admit that I was really grumpy about it. I blame it on the hormones. The cinnamon rolls with lots of icing that I bought as we were leaving helped a little and finally near the end of our 1+ hour drive home I was finally out of the worst of my rut. But I still can't stop thinking about the beautiful red dresser! Michael keeps reminding me that "Bruno" won't care what color the dresser is.
Sunday-
Nothing too special. Went to church. Taught the sunbeams. Michael got a super long nap that afternoon. And together we made one of our favorite desserts- peach crumb bars! We have been enjoying the leftovers all week. I am actually surprised they have lasted so long.
Despite my sad dresser story it was a really good weekend and I loved all the Michael time I got! And despite the super long hours, we both really love Michael's job, and the people he gets to work with. He has already learned so much in the short time he has been there and I love to hear about the great things Michael's supervisors have to say about him and the work he is doing. Thanks honey for working so hard!
In celebration of the completion of the budget Michael got Friday off and came home at 3 on Thursday. Needless to say, I was a very happy wife! I just wanted to document the fun weekend we had.
Thursday-
Michael got home at 3. Since he had worked until 1 am the night before, he took a nap. But when he woke up we headed to Costco to look at dresser options for the baby's room and then enjoyed some yummy pizza, and chicken bake from the food court (I know, so romantic). Oh, and we finally added me to our Costco membership and I got my first Costco card. I know its totally silly, but I feel like such a grown-up now :)
Friday-
While I slumbered away, Michael got up early and went on a bike ride with his new best friend-his bike. (I finally consented and let him get a road bike for his birthday). We did some errands during the day. We went to the DMV and got our Texas drivers license. We are officially Texas residents. Michael picked out a new phone- it was definitely time! And then that night we went downtown for a fun date at the theater. We saw the musical Ragtime. I had never seen it before/didn't know much about the story, but I really enjoyed it. I even got a little teary eyed during the finale. And can I just say that I love that Michael enjoys musicals and going to the theater! (even if I do make him dress up for them). It wasn't over until after 11, and I can't say that downtown San Antonio is my favorite place to be that late at night (a little sketchy, thankfully there are lots of cops out and about on patrol) but I loved walking hand and hand down the street with my handsome husband. We ended the night with rostys from Wendy's. A great way to end a perfect evening!
Saturday-
While I slept in Michael went to play basketball at the church (this is our Saturday morning routine!). Had a lazy morning getting ready, and finally a little after noon started our journey to Austin to go to Ikea! On our way we stopped in San Marcos to check out the Pottery Barn outlet store. Bad idea going to the Outlets on tax free weekend in Texas. And these outlets were HUGE! Much bigger than the Camarillo ones- and those ones are pretty big. There was also a William and Sonoma outlet store connected to PB. I could have spent hours in there, but prices were still pretty high for our budget that day. :( Eventually we found our way to Ikea (it was a little farther away than we realized) Our main reason to go to Ikea was to check out a dresser for the baby's room. And of course pick up a few other Ikea treasures, and eat some yummy meatballs. We found the dresser, liked the price, liked the style, and of course I fell in love with the red one! And of course when we get to the marketplace and the end they were all out of it :( In the end we settled on the black-brown one since we weren't willing to pay $100 to have it shipped to us, and Ikea is too far away to come back again so soon. Total let down, and I will admit that I was really grumpy about it. I blame it on the hormones. The cinnamon rolls with lots of icing that I bought as we were leaving helped a little and finally near the end of our 1+ hour drive home I was finally out of the worst of my rut. But I still can't stop thinking about the beautiful red dresser! Michael keeps reminding me that "Bruno" won't care what color the dresser is.
Sunday-
Nothing too special. Went to church. Taught the sunbeams. Michael got a super long nap that afternoon. And together we made one of our favorite desserts- peach crumb bars! We have been enjoying the leftovers all week. I am actually surprised they have lasted so long.
Despite my sad dresser story it was a really good weekend and I loved all the Michael time I got! And despite the super long hours, we both really love Michael's job, and the people he gets to work with. He has already learned so much in the short time he has been there and I love to hear about the great things Michael's supervisors have to say about him and the work he is doing. Thanks honey for working so hard!
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