and how!

Friday, August 12, 2011

8 weeks!



It's hard to believe that Brady is 8 weeks old today! In just 8 short weeks, he has turned our worlds upside down in the most amazing way. I can't really remember what life was like before he came along and I'm ok with that. His smile lights up the entire room and melts my heart each and every time. I am so in love with this little guy and can't imagine anything better than being his mom.


I love watching him focus and stare at things and imagine what's going through his little head. It's so fun to see him become more and more aware of his surroundings every day. 


Recently, we got to visit Cory at work! This was my first time seeing him "on duty" and I love this picture :)

Will Brady follow in daddy's footsteps?? :)

I know many of you have followed the Taylor family's story of sweet Ruby Jane.  In the midst of their sorrow, I am reminded of how precious life really is. We have so many blessings in which we give thanks to above. Brady is the ultimate blessing and I thank our Father each and every day for him. 

Every good and perfect gift is from above
James 1:17


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Welcome Brady Gene

Cory and I are so pleased to announce the arrival of our beautiful baby boy, Brady Gene Barrow on Friday, June 17 at 8:21 pm. Brady was born a week early and still weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21 inches. 
This picture was taken right before we left for the hospital to have Baby Brady :)

I feel very blessed to have had a pretty standard labor and delivery experience. I had my 39 week check-up on Thursday, June 16 and my doctor checked my cervix for dilation. My OB said that I was already 2 cm dilated and 90 % effaced and said most likely, the baby was coming very soon, probably that weekend. We were excited and nervous at the same time, quickly realizing the reality of what was coming. Cory was scheduled to go back to work that night and he was working graveyards. I was a little scared about going into labor while he was at work but he works pretty close to home so I knew he could be there quick if I needed him. Cory left for work at 7 PM and I stayed home, relaxed and watched TV. Around 10 pm, I felt my first labor contraction but they were not consistent and I was still able to fall asleep around midnight. About 3 AM, I woke up and the contractions were stronger and more consistent. I wasn't able to fall back asleep so I started writing them down so I could track how close they were. They were consistently 10 minutes apart and my doctor said it was time to go to the hospital when they were 5 minutes apart. I watched TV on the couch until Cory got home from work, around 6:30 AM. Since they were still at 10 minutes, I told him to get some sleep and that I would wake him up if anything changed. Meanwhile, I called my mom and mother-in-law to let them know that I was pretty sure Brady was coming that day. Around 8 AM, my contractions slowed down and were only coming about every 20-30 minutes. I thought this was strange so I decided to go for a walk around our neighborhood in hopes that they would speed up. I decided to call my OB to see if they could check my dilation at the office as opposed to going into the hospital and when I went in, I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They told me to go straight to the hospital because I was most definitely in active labor! By the time we checked in, I was already 5 cm and I progressed to 10 cm within the next 3 hours or so. I was only pushing for about 25 minutes and Baby Brady was born! He is such an incredible blessing and it's hard to believe he is already over a week old!

 In labor- with Aunt Katie and Aunt Laurie and Grandma Janie 

 Cory was so excited and so nervous :)

 Right after Brady was born

 In Love <3


 A big boy!


 Proud Daddy 



I was exhausted but he was so worth it :)


Monday, May 9, 2011

This and That

I know it's been a long time since my last post and seeing as I have pretty much doubled in size, I figured it was time to post an update!

I am now officially 33 weeks; which means only 7 weeks until my due date and only 3 weeks left of work before my maternity leave!

Since my last post, we have been very busy settling into our new house and adjusting to Cory's new work schedule. I will be really glad when Cory is off training and his schedule is a little more stable. Right now, it changes every 3-4 weeks and it's really hard to plan anything-- it's very hard for the planner in me to accept :) We LOVE our new house and are so glad that we decided to move when we did. I'm currently working on the baby's room and can't wait to see what it looks like when it's finished! Here's a sneak peak at the wall collage I'm putting together above his crib. Keep in mind, it's still a work in progress :)


Cory's aunt, Renee is making a quilt for the baby's room and my mom is making a crib skirt, bumper and window valences to match. Since I'm not doing an official "theme" in the baby's room, I didn't realize it would be so hard to find crib bedding separates! Thankfully, I have talented family members that know how to sew!

We had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday! I guess it was my "first" Mother's Day and Cory surprised me with some pretty flowers when he got home from working the graveyard shift. I hosted brunch at our house and we had a great time with the wonderful women in our family! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful role models and know that they will have lots of great motherly advice to offer :)

My Mom, Aunt Margie and Grandma (can you believe she is 91 years old?!)

Cory's Aunt Denise, Grandma and Mom 

My Mom, me, Grandma and Sister Laurie (4 Generations including the baby!)

For those of you that don't know, we got a puppy about two months ago. After Lilly got so sick and passed away unexpectedly, we couldn't stand the thought of being without a dog (and when I say dog, I really mean pug :))  With the baby due in 3 months, we decided to take the plunge and welcome little Lucy into the Barrow family. Although she will never quite fill Lilly's shoes, she is a sweet little pup with LOTS of energy. She is definitely getting us ready for parenthood and keeping us on our toes. When people see us out with her and then look at my preggo belly, they often ask "What were you thinking?!"
How precious is this face?! 

Lucy LOVES my belly! I think she will be really sad to see it go! 

As I'm writing this, the baby has the hiccups (he gets them at least 3-4 times a day!) and is moving around in my belly like crazy! Lucy is being her crazy self, trying to chew on everything and I am watching the show "Quints by Surprise"-- boy am I glad there's only one baby in there! It's fun and scary at the same time, imagining what our life is going to be like in just a few short months. We can't wait to welcome little Baby Barrow into the world and we love him so much already! 

Friday, February 25, 2011

Exciting Times Ahead!

This week has been a whirlwind of excitement! I didn’t think it was possible for so many new things to fall into place into such a short amount of time!

Since Cory graduated from the police academy in September, I have been constantly reminded of the importance of patience. The Lord has a good and perfect plan for our lives and although we may not see it at the time, He reveals His plan in His time. The Lord has bestowed so many blessings upon our lives and we are so thankful.

This week:

Cory was officially named Officer Barrow and will start working in a few weeks!

We bought a “family car”: A Honda Pilot SUV.

Cory sold his 1997 Honda Prelude. I know he was sad to see it go but he is so excited to inherit my Civic Hybrid (sarcastic voice, in case you couldn’t tell :) )

We applied to rent a very cute house in Old Towne Orange and were accepted; we move in April 1! This was super cool because another couple applied for the house at the same time with similar income and credit. They had a major plus going for them considering they don’t have a dog and we do…. But turns out, they liked our application better and offered it to us!

We got our 2010 tax refund! Just in the knick of time :)

I hit 23 weeks in my pregnancy on February 23. I’m still feeling great and trying to take advantage of it before I get huge and uncomfortable.

On a not so happy note.... Lilly has been really sick :(  One trip to doggie urgent car and one stay at the hospital later, we still don’t really know what’s wrong. They ran some tests and she had elevated liver enzymes so she has been on an antibiotic and vitamins that should make her feel better soon. She hasn’t been eating and is definitely not her normal “spunky” self. It’s so sad to see her so uncomfortable and we can’t wait to have our Lilly back.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend- TGIF!! Maybe I will start packing a few boxes up :) 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

20 Week Ultrasound!

Today we had our 20 week Ultrasound and it was confirmed that Baby Barrow is, in fact a BOY! :) We had an Ultrasound at 14 weeks and they thought the baby looked like a boy but since it was super early, it wasn't a for sure thing. Even though it wasn't "for sure",  from the moment they told me it looked like a boy, I was convinced we were having a boy!  I was super excited for our Ultrasound today and couldn't wait to see our little bean moving around in there. It was so cool to see the baby's heart beating and all of the body parts that have developed-- such a miracle!


How cute is he already?! :)


His precious little foot :) 

I felt the baby kick for the first time last Friday, with this little foot!  I was sitting at my desk at work and felt a little poke right below my belly button. It was a totally different feeling than I had ever felt before so I knew it had to be little baby saying hello :) It was such a distinct feeling and ever since then, he has been kicking like crazy! It is so amazing to feel him moving around in there and I love it! 


This is.... uh.... his "boy part" :) It's zoomed in, I think! 


Friday, February 4, 2011

Our Colorado Trip

My sister, Katie recently had her 3rd baby, little Allie Jane. We had a great time visiting the Wales Family in Colorado and meeting baby Allie. Although temperatures were in the single digits/ negatives, we still had a great time spending quality time with family. Katie is a great mom to Ava, Adam and Allie and I am so blessed to have such a great example from both of my sisters.

Sweet Allie Jane

Cory got lots of great practice! :)


We were there for Allie's 1st Bath! 





Just hanging out :)


Adam conquered Daddy! 

Proud Big Brother and Sister 


I reached 20 weeks (half way there- ya!) during our trip! 



Miss you kiddos already!! Love you!!