My Big Girl, Jane Austen, and Diabetes {October 2014 in Pictures}

The air was beginning to cool down and I was in the home stretch of my pregnancy. October was a good month. I just LOVE autumn in St. George. It just starts to cool off and the holiday festivities begin. Here are some sweet everyday moments:

 Emme became obsessed with ABCs, stick-on earrings and purple this month. 

My Aunt Lisa totally made my day when she brought us this house warming gift. Two board books--one Pride and Prejudice inspired and one Sense and Sensibility inspired with these darling chipboard dolls and settings from the former. I'm not sure who loved playing with it more!

 These photos accurately sum up Emme and Mimi's relationship. First of all, the only reason Emme was within two feet of her was because I placed Mimi in her arms. I mean, with that shirt, I just had to get a picture. There's is one of mutual toleration...on a good day.

 I took this picture on a game-changer type of day when Emme learned to climb out of her crib AND open the front door. It's so insane to me how a little one can just be going about her life--and BAM--all the sudden she has a deadly new skill. I was so shocked when Emme began knocking on the inside of her door during her nap time. I thought I must have forgot to put her in her crib. However, I soon watched her crawl out of her crib. I texted Shaye something like, "our lives are over!" because I couldn't imagine her ever staying in her bed at night. Thank goodness I was wrong about that!

We got her a new big girl bed within a few days, and she handled it like a little champ! For a few nights she was a bit scared, but she never got out of bed. Even now, she rarely gets out. In the morning, we'll hear her little feet, usually in dress up shoes, coming across the hardwood, but she stays in bed wonderfully until morning.

 These photos mark our first time using sponge curlers in Emme's hair. This was a major flashback for me because I remember all the Saturday nights that my hair was in curlers. I really hated sleeping in those uncomfortable things, but I sure felt fancy the next day. Emme's hair was just kinky as can be in the morning, and so I put it in pom-poms to try and tame it. I've since learned to calm it down a bit, but Em really hates the curlers and will rip her hair out to get them out.

 Hiding with daddy to avoid bedtime. This is a darling/annoying thing they do!

 We got our tramp hole dug and the tramp put together. I did a bunch of it by myself because I was just feeling sparky and tired of Shaye putting it off. I felt pretty proud of myself when I finished it with Shaye's help..that is, until I started having some serious contractions. So far the tramp has been amazing, and Emme just loves it!

I made these cinnamon rolls for an Activity Days father-daughter activity. They turned out awesome!

No joke, the very next day I got a call from my doctor's office telling me that I had gestational diabetes. It's funny because through this whole pregnancy I felt notably more chill about everything. Since Emme was an IVF baby and this second baby was au natural, I just figured that all would go more smoothly. Things were pretty rough throughout the pregnancy, though.  I mean, people have it much much worse than I, but I just didn't feel well. When I found out about the gestational diabetes, I felt so awful and so guilty. I had waited much too late to test and so I was about 34 weeks when they caught it. I was super emotional about it for days. I was afraid I had hurt my baby--especially after eating all those cinnamon rolls the day before!

Gestational diabetes was definitely a challenge, but such a huge blessing in disguise. I gained 10 fewer lb than I did with Emme and learned to have a healthier relationship with food. I had to count carbs for every meal--30 or under for breakfast, and 45 or under for lunch and dinner. I could also have 2 snacks of 30 carbs throughout the day. I learned to be selective and I ended up not even feeling bad when other people were eating pie or whatever. The fact that I was doing it for my baby made it so easy to stay on track. The finger pricking 4 times a day was rough, but my numbers remained steady, and this really helped me to gain my confidence back. The experience taught me that I could make healthier choices even in what should be the most stressful of times, and it actually didn't add to my stress, but it actually relieved it!

And that's October in a giant nutshell.