how "IT" happened...

hubby & i decided to quit "not trying" way back in August. we thought it would be easy, i had been on the pill for like 7 years and was blessed with periods i could predict down to the minute. well, when you go off the pill mid-pack, it kind of screws things up. my bod went into freak out mode, and i didn't ovulate that month. when i missed my period, we thought that maybe i was pregnant, just days before my best friend's wedding/me & ross's anniversary. turns out, we weren't. oye.

so, being the high-strung control freak that i am...i did some research and found out that on a normal month, i probably ovulate later than what i thought. it made total sense. however, if i was ever going to get pregnant, i had to fix that. ha, like I have those powers. not.

but, having a degree in health science, i know a thing or two about the human bod-what it's capable of, and how modern science can manipulate it. now, i don't recommend trying this without your doctor's consent...but i decided i wanted to {naturally} balance out my hormones to improve my chances of conceiving. so, for the first week  or so of my next cycle {october}, i took a low dose of the chinese herb dong quai. now, i've used dong quai many times before {my mom has been an herbalife lady for years}, but i usually used it to calm down and balance out after a hectic day. when i read up on it, i realized dong quai also has characteristics that mimick estrogen in the body--which would make me capable to having a stronger/earlier ovulation.  ta daaa! that was the golden ticket for me.  

fast forward to early november when we tested positive for the third time in two weeks. yes, it took that many attempts to convince both myself and my doubting hubby that we indeed were pregnant and that the test was not "lying". {note: all other tests must have been lying, because there's no way i would have used up all my good judgement and went out linedancing with the gal pals if i really was pregnant? or would i?}

anyways...i made a big friggin hint about the {third} BFP here. 

this stunning little discovery was quickly followed by a doctor's appointment and a blood test. however, nobody told me that when you go to these appointments all paranoid that somebody might see you...you will actually run into everyone you know.

all good things confirmed, and they scheduled me an ultrasound for december 2nd. after drinking the required fifty gallons of water for the ultrasound, we were tucked into this dark little room with a tech who looksed no older than myself was wielding a giant lightsaber complete with its own condom. funny, i thought...what's she going to do with that thing? 

once i was enlightened of her intentions, the horror was permanently erased from my memory as i watched our little bean dancing on the screen. "shhh...." the tech said, "hear that?" it was my baby's heartbeat! 7.5 weeks old and our baby's heart was beating all on it's own at a steady 143 bpm. 

we couldn't handle it any longer. it was 8am and we needed to tell the entire world that we really were having a baby! but we waited {ok, I waited. Ross went back to the jobsite and told his workers all about it. that little stinker.}

i knew right away that i wanted to incorporate our big announcement into the holidays. after all, Christmas is all about preparing our hearts for the greatest gift, the One who was sent to us to give His life so that we may have ours. saturday morning, i found the most adorable little ornaments complete with the whole "i love grandma/grandpa" insignia at hobby lobby. i couldn't resist, so i got two sets. our families were putting up their trees this weekend and it was the perfect opportunity to share the news!

that's just what we did. saturday night, we first stopped over at his parents', and then my parents' and handed them the new ornaments for their trees. they were shocked! ok, not completely shocked. they knew we wanted to start a family right away, but they were so excited! you see, baby S is the first grandbaby for both sides. spoiled from the start.

that's IT! luckily, i started this blog just in time so i was able to document all the fun and exciting changes from the beginning. there will be lots more to share in the coming months, and your advice and comments are welcomed and appreciated! i promise not to go 100% cutesy mommyblogger on you...but you already know that.

Elvis can't wait to be a big brother!

 

Some BIG news & a Christmas Recap



So it's the last installment of "Show Me Christmas" over at From Mrs to Mama.

If you want to hear all about what the Schutter household did for Christmas this year, read your merry little way on over here {because it really did go exactly as planned...cue angels singing}.

On a similar note, some highlights from the weekend:

1. I finished shopping on Saturday {by noon!} so I had all kinds of time to wrap gifts & clean the house before we headed out to grandma & grandpa's. It was the most excellent gift I could give myself. There is nothing I love more than relaxing in a clean house.

 

2. It snowed! ...and then melted before Christmas Day. But, alas it did snow here!

 

3. I won some slick BINGO gifts on Christmas Eve. Cousin Missy even wrapped them in Justin Bieber wrapping paper. Love.

4. I fell asleep after lunch on Christmas. My littlest cousins Sam & Madison took every opportunity to use their new cameras Santa brought them on my seemingly lifeless body. Let's just say it was a good thing my aunt doesn't let them use facebook.

 

5. We got some awesome pressies! Some of my favorites--in no particular order...

a luxe new robe & VS jammies

a sweet leather jacket for our motorcycle rides next Summer Fall

gift cards & ca$h

memory foam pillows & sheets for our new bed {the bed was our christmas gift to ourselves}

windshield wipers...seriously, I was so excited about these

tools {Ross}

the basics: socks, underwear, hats/gloves

and....

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

this cute little guy/gal!!!

Yes, our family is growing! We're thrilled to announce that Baby Schutter will be joining us in July 2012!

We had such a fun time announcing this to our friends & families this holiday season!

You can expect all kinds of details a little later. {I did something so not typical of myself and have actually documented this from the very beginning! It really was a lot of fun!}

Merry Christmas lovies, hope your holidays were fabulous!

let me just tell you about Christmas {subtitled the post with no pictures...}

This is the third week I'm linking up with Becky @ From Mrs. to Mama for Show Me Christmas!

Miss it last time? Read about last week's decorations, and the first week's wish list.

This week, I was lazy again and have zero pics to share {sorry...again}

BUT! Allow me to TELL you about all the fun and exciting traditions I love about the holidays!

This year, I decorated the house by myself-about a week and a half after Thanksgiving, and it only took me about a half hour. This goes against everything I've ever believed in [we MUST decorate as a family, immediately after Thanksgiving, whilst blaring Christmassy jams, sipping cocoa in our pjs-followed by a Home Alone marathon and plenty of oohing and ahhing at the pretty lights]. Better luck next year? I hope so!

Then there's always cookie/treat baking with my mom & sister [minus the fact that this year I fell asleep on my parents bed instead of manning the sprinkles and M & Ms].

Every year, we adopt a family. This year, our family included a 29 year old mother of three kids, ages 9, 10 & 11 who is currently being cared for by Hospice as she is losing her battle with lung cancer. Her story just breaks my heart and I pray for her family everyday-for peace and comfort during this difficult time. On the upside, I had a blast shopping for them!

There's always parties with friends. Our pals Josh n' Jen put on a massive feast every year. Jen [bless her heart, she's a way better woman than me] makes all the food for everybody and then we just sit around, eating, drinking & being merry.

One of my favorite things to do is driving around and looking at all the lights. [I will note that I prefer doing this activity in the fluffy white snow, from the comfort of hubby's plow truck...but West Michigan put the big kibash on that this year as it is severely lacking in the snow department]

On Christmas Eve, we go to my husband's paternal grandparents house for dinner & BINGO with the extended family! Bingo turns into a white-elephant sort of gift exchange and it's always a good time.

Then, [usually during the fifth or sixth showing of Home Alone] my hubby and I exchange gifts in the peace & quiet of our own home. We snuggle & enjoy quiet time before tomorrow's chaos.

On Christmas Day we go to church at 9:30, followed by breakfast quiche and opening presents at my parents' house. At noon, the rest of family comes over for lunch and more gifts. I just love hanging out and playing games with my little cousins.

Christmas night, we head over to Ross's parents for dinner with our brother & sister-in-law for....well, more food, booze & gifts.

Finally, the day after Christmas is spent with my hubby's maternal grandparents & extended family for dinner. Aunts/Uncles/Cousins come up from Illinois, Iowa & Kansas and stay with my in-laws for a few days.

So, in a nutshell...I love family, friends, food, and presents.

Basically we still celebrate Christmas like we did as kids, instead of building new traditions as the established family that we are. SO, I'm looking forward to stalking the rest of you to expand my list of holiday activities. Maybe even some that involve kids and warm & fuzzy things like that.

Happy Holidays lovies!

Shizz, another week already? I'm not ready for this!

Luckily, I was trying out my new camera last week (just a $99 Black Friday Nikon steal, nothing fancy) and managed to snap a few (please note: I do not know how to take pictures--of myself, my home, or otherwise) and save them to my work computer...

Here goes nothing...

Fa La La La La, La La La LA!

Pretty craptastic, huh? At least my tree has ornaments this year! (Remember last week?) Listen folks, things are crazy in the Schutter household and according to the calendar, I still got like 12 days left to decorate.

So THERE!

Show Me Christmas *List* Link Up! {week 1}

My Christmas List:

1.  a new boss. mine is out of state at a "conference" (read: disneyland) this week and with the amount of work he's tied me down with, i couldn't think of a better time to jump ship.

*disclaimer: I really do love my job

2. or maybe just jump ship altogether. as in jump off a ship into the crystal clear waters of the caribbean. this girl NEEDS a vacation, and who better to supply good times than the jolly old elf himself, right? THANKS SANTA ;)

 

3. a REAL christmas tree. growing up, real was all my family had. we'd pile everyone and the dog into my dad's pickup and drive around for hours looking for the perfect tree. they were always way too tall for the house, but full of "character". since being married, ours is a fake hand-me-down that was finally adorned with ornaments for the first time in three years. yes, we went three years with a lights-only tree (read: we are lazy and/or cheap).

here she is in all her sparse-plasticy glory. (look at those new shiny red bulbs!)

here's the "look" i was going for.

complete with one night at the Plaza Hotel, please.

4. #4 is easy. I want Santa to fix my kitchen ceiling! we swapped out the fluorescents in favor of can lights this summer, but never got around to finishing it. I would ask Santa for a builder, but seeing as my husband is already that-I'd say I'm doing ok in that department.

5. another easy one:

diamonds, baby. any diamonds will do. this girl ain't picky.

6. I'm a little hesitant about asking for this one:

Last time I did, I ended up with these:

He got the "Uggs" part right...but seriously, who spends $150 on a pair of gloves for man-handed woman!?! I am SO careful not to lose, stretch out, or god forbid-crease these babies.

Now for the more realistic options:

7.

8.

if you're feeling generous, Santa, feel free to replace standard "new robe & slippers" with "robe and slippers at an actual spa and/or resort". your choice. for the record, I've been real good this year!

9. I need a new one of these

So i can look like this:

Everyday. Too much to ask?

10. Lastly...

Mama has been DYING to get a pink Matthews Passion for quite some time now! Santa, don't you want me to get one of these big guys next year?

I'll need to start practicing soon!  

 Thanks Santa!