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So, so true!! Fearfully & amazingly so..
Happy Wednesday everyone!!
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  • Nikala - Good Morning! This is kind of irrelevant to this particular post, however, I want to tell you I LOVE your posts! I follow you on instagram (Nikala_smith) and on pinterest, but hopefully it doesn’t come across in a creepy way! I just really love your feed and I feel like can relate to your lifestyle as it’s quite similar to mine! You are such an inspiration! I am wondering about the few pics on a blog post a while ago…it was a collage of pictures…what program/app did you use for that? I have a blog with blogspot and have a heck of a time trying to put pictures side by side or in any organized fashion! Drives me MAD!
    Thank you! Hope that little boy of your decides soon to come out and meet his mom+dad!ReplyCancel

    • Dawn Cosgrove - Hi Nikala!!
      Haha you are too sweet, thank you so much!! It’s not creepy at all, I find it extremely flattering 😉 one of my goals in 2014 is to refresh this blog and get back into regular posting so hopefully that happens as I’ve quite missed it!
      As for the collages, yes they can be such a pain to try and do but I found an app on my iPhone called PicFrame that I do a lot of my collages on then just import them to my computer. I’ve printed my collages as well and the resolution has been excellent!ReplyCancel

Its here! It’s here!! My sons due date is today, January 7th 2014..oh goodness you guys, however things work out..we get to meet our little bundle of joy in the next 2 weeks! Wow, I can’t believe it!! All this waiting, this anticipating and hoping and dreaming..it’s boiled down to this..the final waiting game til he decides it’s time to meet us.

I will admit, I am very nervous for delivery. I hope it isn’t too traumatic or hard for bun or myself, but, I do know for sure that it’ll all be worth it as soon as I get to hold him in my arms or watch him snuggle with his daddy. Ack, melts my heart just thinking about it!!

I was just thinking yesterday about how beautiful and empowering pregnancy is for women. I have never had a belly this size before but I guarantee you I have also never felt this beautiful before! There is something about being pregnant that is so amazing, so beautiful..I can’t stop staring at this belly and thinking what a miracle this whole experience has been for us. Such a blessing!! And, before I know it, the belly will be gone and this will be a memory, captured and documented forever thanks to my camera and project life album…truly such a blessing!
So keep tuned..pretty soon a smooshy, cuddly baby will be gracing these posts!! And, I’ll warn you now..he’ll be gracing this blog a LOT!!! 😉
Please keep your fingers crossed for his safe and timely arrival!!
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I have been spending the first few days of this new year contemplating everything I want to accomplish in 2014 and, I have to admit, it looks to be a full year!! While there were so many good moments in 2013, it really wasn’t a year that I lived. And by that I mean I don’t feel I actively participated in it. I sat back and watched the world go by without any inclination to be a part of what was going on around me. Sure, I had my reasons but really..isn’t that quite sad? Everyone deals with grief differently and to be honest, I didn’t even realize how I was affected by it til now! But that was 2013. Now I can confidently go forward and know that, even though I’m moving forward in my life, I’m not leaving that part behind. No, I’m taking him with me..I’ll remember him, speak of him often and share his life’s stories with my children. He will live on thru me and my stories.

So, with that..I’m moving forward. I’m making the decision to actively participate in my life again and truly enjoy each moment. When I look back thru my photos of 2012, I see excitement, joy, passion, happiness!! And I want that again, desperately!! And lets be honest…I have been given my dream life in the country..what isn’t there to celebrate??

 
 


 Currently, I am trying to keep my mind busy while playing the waiting game for baby bun to arrive. Let me tell you, this may just be the hardest part about pregnancy!! His due date is tomorrow (Tuesday) but I have a feeling he’s going to make us all wait just a little longer 😉 So, to keep busy I have been thinking about the farm and everything I want to achieve this year. Spring has definitely filled my brain lately as I browse seed catalogs and place my orders for seeds and Spring bulbs. This Summer will be my first year in our farmhouse which means I’ve inherited my mother in laws beautiful garden to play and rebuild to my hearts content! I already have visions of flowers blossoming while my son and I lay on a blanket under the trees and swap stories of all the creatures we’ll come across

So what do I forsee for the coming year? Well, here are a few goals of mine:

-to become the best mommy I can possibly be to our little man. To grow into motherhood one day at a time
-to share more photos. I used to share a lot more but became so busy editing other sessions, mine got left in the dust! I take thousands of photos every year, many never see the light of day (how I miss negatives some days!)
-to enjoy my garden again. Last year, I planted another garden plot like in 2012 but I barely spent the time in there that it required. Between being in my first trimester and really not caring..that poor garden was quite neglected!! Not this year! No, this year I intend to nurture my green thumb once again!
-to revel in my idyllic farm life once again. To really take in the beauty of living in the country again. Its a blessing that I’ve taken forgranted.
-to constantly challenge myself creatively. To continue to chase the light with my camera and always try to learn more about this passion of mine called photography
-to take more time with baking. I find it so relaxing and hubby definitely enjoys the outcome! Instead of baking to bake..I plan to enjoy it like I used to. Play my favorite Parisian cd, put on my frilly apron and challenge myself to a pie!
-to get back in to shape after baby. No specific weight loss goals…just to feel healthy and fit!
-to keep up with my Project Life album this year. I lost the motivation mid way last year and so regret it! Hopefully someday I can play catch up for 2013 but this year..I’m all about documenting, recording and reviewing!

So there are a few of my personal goals for 2014, have you made a list for yourself?

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  • dawn - Hello Dawn, YAY your blogging again and you visited my blog, YAY!! Thanks so much for the visit, it’s been a long time. These posts are beautiful and so you, Dawn, man do I miss them, didn’t realize how much till I saw these. Now my heart is happy and I have tears of joy knowing just how your feeling right now. It’s the best feeling in the world, next to being married and holding that sweet baby the first time. Just watching you all these months have helped me remember my pregnancies and how fun it was.
    I’m so glad your writing all these thoughts down, it will help when writing in the baby books and Project Life. How fun it will be to see his baby pictures here on your blog and in your albums. So happy that PL is here for your baby at least, how lucky for you.

    Glad your staying nearby with your mom and I’m on pins and needles everyday checking my IG to see when he will arrive. Hugs and prayers for you sweet girl and baby boy!!

    This is going to be a good year Dawn, I know it!!ReplyCancel

As I type this, I’m sitting in bed feeling my little baby’s kicks and squirms from within. We are just days away from his estimated due date (Tuesday!!) and I am feeling a little of every single emotion possible. I sent Adam home to the farm today to do a little catch up on farm business and to check on our dogs & chickens. Poor guy is going stir crazy being in the city for 2 weeks already, I figured he could use the break! Thankfully we have everything packed and ready to go to the hospital and he will be back before I know it. If, for any reason, I become concerned..he’ll be back here in under 3 hours tops 😉

The quiet moments of him being away have provided me with time to reflect on this time in my life and trust me, I still haven’t fully wrapped my head around what I’m about to experience! I never thought I’d be here. Growing up, I always said that labor & delivery was going to be too painful and that I would never do it. In fact, up until about 5 years ago..I never thought I’d have kids! Now fast forward to today and I am happily married to my best friend, anxiously awaiting our first child and daydreaming about the family we will build and continue to add to (we’re still thinking 3-4 little ones but, ask me in a month!!)

There are certain things I want to be sure and remember about this pregnancy. So I thought I’d share them here so that they can be recorded and documented forever. So here goes, my list of things I want to remember:

– I want to remember the shock I felt that morning of May 3rd, 2013 when I finally saw those double lines indicating I was indeed pregnant. I didn’t believe it, I couldn’t! I ended up taking 4 pregnancy tests in total and, even then..I still couldn’t trust it!
– I want to remember telling our parents they were going to be grandparents. They all shared tears of joy and celebrated this most amazing news. Their excitement only added to our own and we have felt thoroughly blessed to have them be in our little ones life
– I want to remember my first appointment at the maternity clinic. I was so scared & nervous! I honestly believed they were going to tell me I was in fact *not* pregnant and that maybe a mental evaluation was in order 😉 but then the dr had me lay on the table and, after what felt like hours, I heard the heartbeat. And it was so beautiful. And I cried right then and there, on that very table. Adam still has that video and I remember replaying it over & over again..just so I could hear that magical sound
– I want to remember our first ultrasound and being in utter awe of this magnificent miracle on the screen. A tiny little baby was being formed and I at once started dreaming of who they were..
– I want to remember being sad because I hadn’t felt a kick yet when it seemed like everyone else at my stage of pregnancy had..and that night, here on my moms couch..I felt it. It was a tiny flutter..a little butterfly kiss from within and I knew then & there my life had forever changed
– I want to remember staring at my belly, waiting for the bump. Waiting for the kicks..wondering how much weight I’d gain or how my body would morph..
– I want to remember going to my 21 week ultrasound with my mom (we were harvesting so Adam couldn’t come) and finding out the gender of this little miracle. I had been hoping and praying for a little girl and up until 2 weeks before the ultrasound, I truly believed it was! But then i had a dream that it was a boy and, sure enough! It was! Now, looking back, I couldn’t imagine him not being who he is!!
– I want to remember the first time Adam felt his son kick. It was brief and faint but it was their very first connection in life and it melted my heart
– I want to remember all of these kicks and jabs and especially the squirms and rolls. Spending hours watching him move thru my tummy and seeing the look of awe and wonder on my hubby’s face as he laid and watched beside me
– I want to remember the liver scare I had with this pregnancy. Waking up to a horrific itch that would not go away and I was so scared something was wrong! The drs tested me for choleostasis of pregnancy and I was on a bile reducer for 2 months before it disappeared as quickly as it came
– I want to remember being told I had a low lying placenta and that I would probably have to have a csection. Then getting that phone call to inform me I was being moved to the high risk clinic.
It was so scary to me but, baby & I pulled thru and we are now considered “normal pregnancy” status..whew
– I want to remember the sporadic contractions I’ve been feeling since Dec 20th. Some have been quite mild while others have made me question whether or not labor was beginning. They’ve been scary and somewhat painful but exciting at the same time..baby is coming!!
– I want to remember the super emotional day I had Wednesday when everything was getting to me and I was so tired. Then Adam brought me to bed, helped me change into my pjs in the middle of the day, tucked me into bed, stuffed pillows in all the perfect crevices and he knew what I needed without my saying a word. And in that instant I cried again..cried for pure gratefulness for this amazing man that loves me so and knew exactly what I needed without having to ask for a single thing. It was pure love
– I want to remember the love I have been feeling from those around us. They have proven to is how loved we are as a family by many and it’s truly touched my heart in the most profound of ways
– I want to remember this moment, right here and now. Wondering what day he’ll arrive, how he’ll arrive, how I’ll do bringing him into this world, what he’ll look like, what our life will look like with him in it..so many questions…

To me, pregnancy has been beautiful and very awakening. I feel utterly blessed to be this little mans mommy and I cannot wait to share his story with you all. Please keep our little family in your thoughts these next few days (weeks) as we undertake our greatest accomplishment ever..life!!

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It doesn’t seem like a full term pregnancy could have happened already, but here we are. In our 40th week and anxiously awaiting our little baby boy any day now..

 
 
What can I say about pregnancy…its been utterly breathtaking. From the shock of finally seeing a positive sign on the pregnancy test to the tears shed by family and friends when we were able to share our news. The worry I felt for keeping this baby safe and strong to that most beautiful sound of hearing his heartbeat for the very first time. Watching my body grow and morph into this beautiful little bump has been quite the experience. I will admit it took me quite some time to adjust to this belly, even if I did realize it was for a greater purpose! But my favorite parts, and most memorable, have been seeing him on that ultrasound for the very first time & feeling his kicks for the first time after waiting for what seemed like forever.
 
Since Dec 19th, we have been camped out in the city at my mom’s house, waiting for him to make his arrival. Normally I would be staying in my own home til his birth day came but, due to the placenta issues we were going thru (and this being our first child), we made the decision to stay close to the hospital.
 
I’m very happy to report that this weeks appointments showed us the placenta has now moved into a safe range and we can expect a more “normal” delivery experience (whatever normal may be!) and that, between contractions and other progressions, we can expect baby any day now!
 
I’m so ready to meet him. I’m ready for him to join our family and bring the true meaning of life to our hearts. Our hearts are already filled with love for this precious baby, I can’t even imagine what it will feel like once he is here. Stay tuned everyone…one precious little baby will be gracing this blog very soon!!
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