Go Fly a Kite

Had fun flying a kite a few weeks back when Auntie Bakes was here!  She got some great shots of us playing with our new kite!

Sir Elton John

"GET BACK!  HONKY CAT!"  <--- love that song.
"Daniel my brother, you were older than me, do you still feel the pain.... of the scars that won't heal."  <--- that one too.
"I'm still standing, better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid." <--- duh.
Okay, I could just type out the lyrics to my favorite Elton songs, but I guess I'll tell you about the best concert I've ever been to instead.
A few things you should know before we move on:
1. I love Elton.  A lot.  I've been obsessed with him since I was about 6.  I've made numerous best friends simply because we both love EJ.  If you don't love Elton, I'm not sure we can be friends.
2.  In fact, I love Elton John SO much that when my husband said we could NOT name our son Elton, I cried a little.  I also cried a little when he agreed that we could name our son Levon if he was born on Christmas (I was certain that Ellie was a boy, and her due date was actually Christmas).  As the due date got closer, I started second guessing this decision because people kept saying "LaVonne" instead of the proper pronunciation.  Silly people.
3. ELeanor.. ELton... coincidence?  I'll let you figure that one out.
Okay moving on.  For Valentine's Day, my sweet husband surprised me with tickets to see Elton John and at the time, just finding out that I would be going to the concert was the 3rd best day of my life.  You can imagine how stoked I was as the date approached.
Thursday I lost it.  Like seriously.  I was GIDDY all day long and my kids could do no wrong.  They had perfect attendance and I had promised them popcorn, but I was in such a wonderful movie and they had been SO good all week, that I threw in a surprise and rented Wreck It Ralph for them to watch as they ate their popcorn for the last 20 minutes of the day.  As I left work I was literally skipping through the hallways and telling everyone I encountered that I was going to the concert that evening.  "Hey random custodian who I've seen twice and who doesn't speak English - I'm going to see Elton John in concert!  Yes!  Elton Juan!" (okay, maybe I didn't say that, but you get the point).
After getting home from school, I got ready and we headed downtown for the show.  Downtown was PAAAAAAAACCKKKEEEDDD.  It was hard even finding a place to grab a drink.
Finally.  It. Was. Time.
We found our seats and THE MAN came on stage wearing a BEAUTIFUL red suit with a long red jacket that was bedazzled beyond belief.  It also said Captain Fantastic on the back.  EEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee was the noise I made all night.  And yes, I was the obnoxious girl singing at the top of her lungs along with every song and on her feet dancing like a fool even though everyone around me (except for you old man in a red shirt in section 423... you got me) was seated.
Deep breaths.  I'm getting way too excited even talking about it and I have to go to bed soon.  He opened with "The Bitch is Back" (I totally called that about an hour before the show), and played almost everything I wanted to hear.  The only other songs I wish he would have played were:
1. I Want Love.
2. Don't Go Breakin' My Heart

Other than that- perfection.

Baby Page is here!!

Baby Page is FINALLY here! Eleanor Marie Page was born on December 27th, 2011 at 2:50 pm at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in The Woodlands. She was 7lbs 9oz, 20 inches long, and had a head full of beautiful black hair. Now that we are home and settling into our new life- here is the story of our little girl's birth.
Part 1: When am I going to go into labor!??!

On December 22nd I went in for my 39 week appointment and was a little disappointed to find out that I was only 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. For some reason I got it in my head that this baby was going to come early so when my 39 week appointment came and went with no signs of active labor I was super sad, but determined to have this baby before Christmas. I walked as much as possible, stretched, ate TONS of spicy food, and all around did EVERYTHING that anyone told me worked for them. Nothing. Christmas came and went and finally on Monday night (12/26/2011) I decided to go for my "last resort". My friend Kacy had given me a recipe for a "labor cocktail" consisting of champagne, almond butter, and castor oil and swore that she went into labor 4 hours after drinking it. After dinner with Casey's family and mine, I drank the nasty concoction and low and behold, 4 HOURS LATER, after some really painful contractions that were keeping me awake, Casey was driving me to the hospital.

Part 2: Am I in labor??

We arrived at the hospital at 1:30 am and had to enter through the emergency room. The ER staff was really nice and got us up to Labor and Delivery really quick. We went into the Triage room to be monitored and to make sure that I was truly in labor. After my initial examination, it was found that was still only 3cm and 50% effaced. BOO! I was a little upset seeing as these contractions felt like they should be doing a LOT more. The nurse told us that she was probably going to send us home, but wanted to call my doctor first because my blood pressure was a little high. After an hour or so of waiting, Casey went to the nurse's station to ask what was going on and the nurse looked at him and said, "Oh... yeah you're staying.... sorry did I not tell you that?". We were a little irritated but glad to hear that Dr. DenHartog wanted to keep us and that we were FINALLY having this baby! Dr. D to the rescue! Yay! This was great news! The bad news: we were going to have to use Pitocin to get my contractions more regulated and help progress my labor. This was completely contradictory to my very detailed birth plan, but at this point it was worth it to get to meet our baby sooner than later. I cried a little as we went through my birth plan with the nurse and had to scratch several things off of my wish list (being able to walk around, not having an IV, getting to labor in water for a while, etc). I had to keep reminding myself that we trust our doctor COMPLETELY and if she thought this was the best option for us and our baby, we were going to do it. Bring on the Pitocin.

Part 3: Let's get it started!

We were admitted and shown to our beautiful room overlooking the lake at around 4:30am and the nurse started my IV of Pitocin around 5am. As much as I wanted to sleep I couldn't seem to get comfortable so I laid in bed and tried to relax between contractions. At around 7am I started feeling the contractions a lot more intensely. They seemed to be coming back to back and were much stronger than before. I guess that was the Pitocin kicking in. I tried to keep quiet so Casey could sleep but the pain became so strong I needed to whimper a little to get through them. The nurse came in and told me she was upping the Pitocin so I would continue progressing. UPPING the Pitocin? OUCH! Casey got up around 8 and started watching the monitor to see how my contractions looked. Well... they were definitely regulating themselves. They were also SUPER strong and coming back to back without rest in between. I was in a lot of pain, but still wanted to go the no epidural route. I was INTENT on not getting an epidural, but I was starting to worry about how tired I was already. I hadn't slept and I do NOT do well on no sleep. What if I was too tired to push her out and I had to get a C section? I wanted nothing more than to not have a C section. I started to panic and the pain of the super strong, relentless contractions wasn't helping. The next time the nurse came in, she couldn't believe how strong my contractions were and how close together they were. She told us that my contractions were organized fine and turned off the Pitocin around 9am. The contractions kept coming and around 9:45 my water broke on it's own. It was such a cool, but weird feeling. As soon as I felt it, I looked at Casey and said... "Yeah.. my water just broke" in a completely calm voice. At first he didn't believe me but the nurse came in and confirmed that was exactly what had happened. And... GOOD NEWS! The amniotic fluid was completely clear with no signs of meconium. That was a really good thing because it meant no more Pitocin and probably no C section! YAY! The bad news: As soon as my water broke my crazy hard contractions were back. I honestly don't think it would have been as bad but I was SO tired and struggling because I had no time to rest or sleep between contractions. I was in a lot of pain and again, not able to rest between contractions. At around 10am I started throwing up from the pain and the nurse asked if she could give me some Phenergan for the nausea and some Demerol for the pain so I could rest. As I sat in my hospital bed throwing up into a bag I had a mini-meltdown. I needed rest. I would do anything to just get an hour or two of sleep so I would have the strength to push the baby out. After a minute of consideration, I decided to accept the anti-nausea medication and the pain relief. The nurse quickly got the meds and put them in my IV. Almost immediately the nausea went away and my pain from the contractions subsided enough for me to rest. The part I completely forgot about? I get CRAZY loopy on Phenergan. Like can't hold my head up, incoherent loopy. Oops. The next couple of hours I dozed and rested while friends and family began to arrive. My best friends Sara Baker and Leigh Anne arrived and were in the delivery room comforting me while Dr. D was checking me. I was so out of it that I honestly don't have much memory of those few hours. I just remember waking up, Casey being beside me, Sara taking pictures, and Leigh Anne cracking jokes to keep me sane. I remember my mom and dad coming in periodically to check on me. I remember the contractions being super strong for a while and me being in pain and Dr. D asking if I wanted an epidural because if I did, it needed to be soon. I knew I could do it without one so I declined and kept resting between contractions. Finally, after what seemed like two days, Dr. D said I was dilated to an 8 or 9 and getting close to being ready to push. Really?! Wow... that seemed like nothing! I was nervous, but super excited that we were finally going to meet our baby and find out if we had a son or a daughter.

Part 3: Time to Push!

All of a sudden Dr. D stood up calmy and said, "Okay Sarah - are you ready to push??". WHAAAAT??? Really? Like now?? I was ready for anything at this point so I said "Sure" and off she went. Within 5 minutes there were three or four other nurses/hospital staff in the room and the lower part of my bed was removed. It was like a well oiled machine - this person went here and did this, this person went over there and did that. The stirrups were up and it was time. The first time pushing wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but then again - it was the first of about 20 round of pushing. Casey held my hand and my right leg while our nurse Amy held my left leg and they coached me through each push. Casey was an AMAZING birth coach! He knew exactly what to say during and after each push to get me through. During birth class I remember them saying "You'll have the extreme urge to push" and I didn't understand that until the moment came. I couldn't help but push and luckily I could feel when my body wanted to do that. Finally, after about an hour of pushing it was time for my last push. Dr. D told me to make it count and I did. One last push and I could individually feel the head, shoulders, arms, and legs all come out. What an amazing feeling that was.

Part 4: It's a.......

As soon as the baby was out I heard Dr. D ask Casey if he wanted to cut the cord - he said yes and cut the cord while the nurses were wiping the baby off a little. Then the baby was placed on my chest... but nobody had told me if it was a boy or a girl! (I must not have heard them because apparently they did say it out loud) I said "Well what is it?!?!" and Casey leaned down and told me that it was a little girl. I was immediately in shock. A GIRL!? I swore it was a boy this entire pregnancy and now I found out that I had a daughter - amazing!!! I can't tell you how many times I went to Carter's, Babies 'R Us, or Target looking at baby clothes and strolled through the boy's section while longingly looking over at the girl's section. My dad had convinced me my whole life that I was going to have 2 boys. Well apparently the joke was on him - I had two boys! Riley & Zac! And now my first child was a girl! Ahhhh!!! I cannot tell you the elation I felt knowing this! The next few minutes Casey and I spent just staring at our new baby girl, Eleanor Marie Page. We were both in shock that we had created this perfect, beautiful little girl.

The next couple of hours were spent with family coming in to welcome Ellie and congratulate us. We are so thankful for all of the friends and family who were at the hospital to see our little girl being born. So without further ado, here is Eleanor Marie Page!

Eleanor being placed on my chest. Can you see the disbelief on my face? I have a daughter!?!

One day old in the hospital getting newborn photos taken

Our amazing doctor, Dr. D! I could not have had a better doc!

Birdie Themed Baby Shower!

Last weekend my wonderful friend Andi and my amazing Mother in Law, and two Sisters in Law threw me a super cute bird themed baby shower! It was SO great to have all of my friends in town to visit and Aunt Lorie and Uncle Ed even came in from New York! I got tons of great stuff for Baby P and lots of love from all of the most important people in my life. I am truly blessed with an amazing family and friends. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

The girls and I at brunch before the shower. Black Walnut Cafe = yummmmm...

Our guest book :)

The adorable tablescape and diaper cake!
Words of advice for a first time mommy - put in a bird cage. So cute!
Awesome gifts!


Casey walking around with Will


Me + Him

The wonderful hostesses and me

My Best Friend's Wedding

I can't believe this weekend has finally come and gone! My best friend Leigh Anne and her handsome groom James Carver were married in Woodville, Texas yesterday in a beautiful ceremony in the country. Seriously though.. when I say beautiful.. I'm talking Pinterest worthy. EVERYTHING was planned down to the last detail and it turned out amazing. I am going to go ahead and say it... BEST wedding I've ever been to. C & I had SO much fun and everyone there was raving about what a blast it was. The weather was perfect and when it got chilly last night there was an awesome fire pit area for us to gather around. Here are some pictures from this beautiful event. Feel free to be jealous!

1st Anniversary Weekend

This past weekend we spent our 1st anniversary in New Braunfels where we had our first "mini-moon" last year. If you don't know us, we LOVE the Texas Hill Country and New Braunfels is one of our favorite places. We stayed at one of our favorite places, Heidelberg Lodges which is right on the Comal River. Friday night we drove in and got to Heidelberg around 10. We sat out on the balcony for a while listening to the train pass by and some college guys playing guitar across the way and then hit the sack. We woke up early to head to (of course) Naeglin's Bakery for kolaches and donuts.
After Naeglin's we decided to walk around the square and happened upon a pretty awesome little Farmer's Market.

Handsome hubby at the Farmer's Market

We walked around a bit talking to the vendors and bought Casey's mom a beautiful orchid plant as a thank you for watching the pups.
After a Tiger's Blood snow cone and a little more perusing we headed back to Heidelberg for a dip in the river. It was SO. Freaking. COLD. I couldn't get in all the way so I just stood knee deep in the water for a while watching Casey swim around. We got out, showered, and headed up to Austin for my beautiful friend Christy's baby shower (see separate post). While Casey was waiting for me to get finished with the shower, he hung out at Frank - Austin. I didn't get a chance to eat anything (I ate at Maria Maria where Christy's shower was) but according to my BFFITWWW (best friend forever in the whole wide world) Leigh Anne (who happens to be a manager at the new Nacogdoches location) the food there is AMAZING. If you are in Nac - they are having a grand opening in a week so you should check it out! (Shameless plug over)

After Austin we headed back to NB where we ended up taking a glorious 2 hour nap before going out to eat at Huisache. Nom. Of course after a delicious meal you have to go home and pass out and that is exactly what we did.

On Sunday morning we woke up and headed to.... duh. We had to pick up some Apple Strudel for the folks as well as some yummies for us. Then it was back to Heidelberg for another dip in the river before checking out. We snorkeled (yes I got all the way in finally) and it was wonderful having my core body temp drop a little because it kept me cooler in general for several hours afterward. On the way out of town we stopped by the Christmas Shoppe to get a baby ornament (a cute star with a pea in a pod in the middle) and then to the outlets at San Marcos for a few hours to browse around and we ended up at Cracker Barrel for a yummy lunch before heading back to Houston. Ahhh what a nice relaxing weekend.... here are a few more pictures.

My ever expanding pregnant belly and me in the Comal River

Anniversary dinner at our favorite restaurant Huisache. I'm wearing all of the same jewelry I wore on our wedding day. :)

This deer reminded me of our sweet Zac pup, don't they look alike?

After snorkeling in the river.

Girls Week!

Last week was full of fun lunches and dinners with my girls and ended with the perfect bachelorette party weekend for my best friend Leigh Anne. Here's the run down:

Monday: Lunch with my favorite K-team girls!

On Monday Jackie, Megan, Megan's daughter Finley, Liz, and I met up at Cheeburger Cheeburger. I am slightly addicted to that place now. It was so fun to catch up with these girls and although I'm SUPER excited about teaching 3rd grade next year I will definitely miss getting to spend so much time with them. Megan had to leave early to pick up Avery from VBS but here's a picture of the remaining three of us.
Monday night was Girls Night at my house! I made one of my favorite dishes- fish and shrimp tacos! Here are all the girls after a riveting game of Cranium.


Tuesday: Lunch with my old work buddies from Elliott Electric.

Oh how I miss these girls! Megan, Adriane, and I because great friends when we all three worked at Elliott. At first we weren't super close, but I wore them down and we've been close ever since. We try to get together for lunch or dinner every couple of months and they make me laugh so much. I love spending time with them! Bonus: Megan is also pregnant and 2 months ahead of me. In fact, it was at her wedding when I first got the "I think I might really be pregnant" feeling. The next day I had a positive pregnancy test! Sadly, we forgot to get a picture of the three of us! :( Next time...

Wednesday: Sara Baker comes in town!

Somehow we got no pictures of this either. BUT - we did watch some Harry Potter and hang out. I love me some Sara Baker - aka: the other Sara, aka: my imaginary friend, aka: my other personality. :)

Thursday: Preparing for Galveston!

Thursday Sara Baker and I spent the day getting ready for Galveston and finally Leigh Anne and Morgan arrived so we could head downtown to go to Costco with Krystin, Kristyn, and Katie Mayes!

After an eventful trip to Costco we finally headed to the beach house. We hung out and played the Game of Things and went to bed sometime around 3am <--- waaaaaaay past my bedtime as a pregnant lady. Little did I know that this would be a trend for the next 3 days.


Friday: Spa Day!

On Friday morning we got up and headed to the Spa at the Hotel Galvez where we relaxed, got pedicures, massages, and facials. It was so nice to relax with friends and get pampered. No pictures from the spa though because nobody wanted to be seen without makeup lol.

Friday night girls started trickling in from Dallas, Nacogdoches, and Houston and we headed to the Sand Bar, a little restaurant and bar in the neighborhood where the beach house was. I guess I'm not used to the bar scene (especially sober) because it's quite different when you're pregnant. We had a good time none the less and headed back to the house to hang out on the porch until 3am again.

Saturday: Beach Day!

On Saturday a few of us girls got up early and went to get groceries so I could make breakfast tacos for everyone. My friends have been calling me "Mommy Sarah" long before I got pregnant because I'm always the one cooking for everyone. I guess it's my nurturing nature? Breakfast tacos were a hit! After eating we headed to the beach to hang out in the sand. Kristen Keal and I were the only ones who took advantage of the boogie boards and we both caught a wave!

Here are some more pictures from hanging out on the beach:

Why am I wearing lipstick on the beach you might ask? Well I used my favorite Mac lipstain the night before and frankly after scrubbing my lips for 10 minutes I gave up and just applied more so I wouldn't look diseased.

Saturday night we went out in the Strand and had a blast dancing the night away with each other. What a fun group of girls! I am thinking this beach trip thing needs to become a yearly event. So thankful for great friends and good times!

2011: The year of the baby

Holy cow do I have a lot of pregnant friends!

Here is a list of my family and friends (off the top of my head) who are currently pregnant or just gave birth this year:

My favorite cousin Jen (she and I are 2 weeks apart in age): Gave birth to Rylan in April.
Liz Myers Gleason: Twin girls due in July.
Lacy Rieger Akkerman: Baby boy due in August
My cousin Tarah: Baby girl due in September.
Megan Hartwig Williams: Baby girl due in late October/Early November.
Maegan Manning McNeely: Baby boy due in October.
Christy Meyer-Litchfield: Baby ? due in November (Update: BABY BOY!!)
Me: Due in December!

And those are just the girls that I'm close to! It seems like everyone is having babies and what a blessing it is to have so many pregnant friends right now. :)

For the past 5 days I've been in Longview visiting my folks, seeing friends, and I also got the honor of co-hosting my dear friend Lacy's baby shower. Lacy and I have been friends since 3rd grade and I love that we can go months without talking and pick up just like we saw each other yesterday. Luckily we're usually in touch a little more than that. Lacy's baby shower was so cute and she was literally showered with gifts - more presents than I've ever seen at one given time! How wonderful to prepare for the arrival of sweet little Camden Drew Akkerman. :)

Here are some pics from this weekend:

Lacy's cake - it was an "All Star" sports theme - so cute!

Pregnant friends!

Daddy caught me laughing - Abby, Jen, and me after dinner.

Me and Baby Rylan. He was so good, except for right here. He got a little fussy because his bottle wasn't coming fast enough. :)

Me and Ms. Abby, my God daughter. She's so funny!

Babies, Babies, Babies!

They say when you get pregnant it seems like everyone is pregnant, well in my case they are!

Last weekend I went to Fort Worth to Liz's twin baby shower. Yes that's right, Liz is having TWIN girls that are due in July! Along with Liz, there are 4 other pregnant ZTAs, all of which got married last year - crazy huh? Liz is due in July, Megan in October, Christy in November, and me in December! Here we are lined up for our bump shot!

Here's Liz opening the Princess Onesies I got her - gotta love that 5 point crown!

SFA Zetas

After the shower Christy and I decided to stay one more night (we had both originally planned to head home after the shower) and I am so glad we did. We met up with Natalie and Ashley at a cute little part of Fort Worth called West 7th (I think). We ate at a restaurant called Patrizio's that I assumed was going to be expensive because it looked so swanky, but was super reasonable! Yay for time with my girls!

I am so lucky to have such wonderful college friends. I'm not friends with that many of my high school friends because I graduated a year early, but I am so blessed to have these girls. Love my ZTAs!

Goodbye 2010!

Hello 2011!

This past year was the best year of my life. I married my best friend, finished my first year of teaching, and rekindled several wonderful friendships.

For New Year's Eve, Casey and I went to Nacogdoches to spend the weekend with Leigh Anne, James, Christy, Nick, Jennifer, and Carl and I can truly say this was the best NYE to date. It was so relaxed and understated and it was wonderful to end the year with such great friends.

Here are some pictures from our weekend:

The girls and I with our sparklers!

The guys did a great job on the fireworks display!

Handsome Casey and me right before midnight. :)

Me and best friend Baker!

The New Year's hats were repurposed as dog bowls!

New Year's Day Shooting

Now for the resolution(s):

1. I will run my first half marathon. I am already working toward this - I signed up for the Austin Zooma half!

2. I will be more diligent.... in everything! I am a GREAT starter, but I have a hard time keeping up with things after I start them and I'm even worse at finishing things. This blog has been one of the only things I have continued to do after starting... well ever!

3. I will paint more, draw more, take more photos, dress up more, cook more, bake more, read more, and generally DO more with my life. As much as I love to sleep and lay on the couch watching crap television, I deserve better and so does Casey. I want to get out and do more with our lives. I want to take the dogs on more walks. I want to watch more movies than TV shows. I want to read more books than magazines (I LOVE magazines...) and I want to foster my relationships with family and friends more than ever.

4. This year, we WILL travel more. I absolutely love to travel... if I had one thing that was the most important thing that I wanted to do with my life (besides becoming a mother, and other family responsibilities) it would be to travel as much as possible. So far this year Casey and/or myself will be traveling to the following places:

• St. Lucia (maybe) for our honeymoon in March
• New York (again) to visit family
• California (for Casey's work)
• Colorado for a family vacation
• New Mexico to visit Christy and Nick
• On a cruise for Leigh Anne's bachelorette party
• Possibly Indiana or Missouri to check out campuses if Casey decides to go to Seminary.

5. I will get back into shape (did I mention that I have gained 10 lbs since the wedding?) and STAY in shape. I'm so tired of the fluctuating due to my whimsical view on food. Food is for nourishment and overeating constantly is just gluttonous.


So hello 2011 and Happy New Year to everyone!