what's in a name?

A few of you have asked me where our new little bundle of joy's name came from. Since we found out I was pregnant, my husband was in charge of naming the baby. He immediately downloaded a bunch of baby name apps and went to work. Daily he would shout out a random name and I would tell him if I liked it or hated it. If I liked it, it went on a list in the notes section of his iPhone. If I hated it, we just moved on. The list grew and grew and every time someone asked us if we had a name picked out yet (after we found out she was going to be a she) we would say, "We have 18" because we literally did.

I was always rooting for Dylan Heart Van Den Berg for our baby girl and she was going to be that until my husband decided otherwise. That was fine - I said he should name her and I was fine with whatever he wanted if he loved it and I didn't hate it.

We both loved Monroe for a while. Me because I read this: People with the name Monroe have a deep inner desire to lead, organize, supervise and to achieve status, power and wealth. And husband because: Marilyn Monroe (what else?)

I wasn't sold on Monroe as a first name because it is quite masculine so one day at dinner, my husband said that he had decided on a name. He wanted to name her Charlotte Monroe because CHAR (Charlotte) + M (Monroe) = his little lucky Charm. Well - who wouldn't be sold on that?

I still wanted to meet her before we declared the name to the world in case I changed my mind (there were 17 other choices after all) but when she arrived, I honestly was too tired to think or worry or care - Charlotte Monroe it is!

P.S. - I have asked my husband to save that list for future use - or to tell Charlotte one day what she could have been named (I was going to be Christie - weird right?!)

1st time mom review series // coming soon

I will be starting a series called "1st Time Mom Review Series". This has been one heck of a journey so far and I have been all over the cyber world and back on my adventure to find out what might work right for my new little family.

I know I am not the only one who has struggled making the right decisions before the baby is even born. It can be a completely overwhelming, anxiety driven, exciting and exhausting process. The research I have done alone on cloth diapers made me feel like I was back in college!

I am still working on a list of topics and some will be delayed. We aren't planning on using cloth diapers right away because the ones we have don't usually fit newborns but I hope to work through several posts at the end of the year and in the early New Year.

I hope you will join me on this series. Ask questions, share with your friends and pass on to the mommas-to-be in your life because trust me, they are trying to find answers to the same questions I am.

If I can help a 1st time mom in even a little itty bitty way, I will be thrilled. Thank you to all of you out there who helped me navigate these crazy pre and new baby waters. xo

I will work on getting a better logo for this series down the road but for now, this is as good as it gets. And I think it describes my entry into motherhood perfectly - I look exhausted and like I have no f*&%ing clue as to what I have gotten myself into. Both "looks" are right on the money! :)

why don't they seem to get it?

My friend sent me this article a while ago and I filed it away in my "I must get to this and read it one day" file. When I did, it kind of blew my mind: 16 Ways I Blew My Marriage.

My husband does almost all of these things. On a regular basis. And it drives me nuts. Every. Single. Time. But that is why he does it. He gets off on pushing my buttons for some reason.

Maybe it's because he only has brothers and never had a sister to tease. Maybe it's because he comes from a family dominated by strong male figures so he never really learned how to properly express love. Maybe it's because I'm just there and he's bored. Whatever the reason, I have learned (only took me 5 years) that he does it because it's his way of showing me he loves me and that he wants to have a fun and silly life together. Can I really get mad at him for that?

My mom gave me some great advice a long time ago that has always stuck with me, "If your situation is above 50% in the direction of good vs. bad, then you are doing great because nothing is ever going to be 100% good 100% of the time." And she is SO right.

He drives me nuts and I am pretty sure that Pink wrote this song with me specifically in mind but he is all mine and recently, I have fallen in love with him all over again. Hard and for the long run.

 

Read the article and listen to the song ladies - I know you will all be able to relate to them both to some degree. xo

keep calm and enjoy fall

Again - after taking so much time away from blogging, my posts are all over the map and I am making up for last time. This is late but I wanted to make sure I posted it so I had it some place, saved, for next year. I LOVE fall and want to make sure I print this in the New Year.

 

My favourite time of the year starts in September and ends on New Year's Eve. I can't even begin to tell you how happy this time of the year makes me now that we have a baby girl to share it with!

 

Thanks for patience as I get this blog space back in order. xo

 

it truly is the little things that matter most

Before I had Charlotte, I had a bunch of blog posts saved in my drafts folder so I'm going to go back to some of these and finish them. If my posts seem a bit all over the place for the next little why, I apologize. Just want to get back on track and start posting about my new journey with little Ms. Charlotte.

 

On September 25th, my husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Before I got married I said that I would celebrate my wedding anniversaries to the fullest each and every year. I wanted to go away on a trip with my husband every year to celebrate. This has not happened. We didn't even go on a proper honeymoon - just road tripped for a few days to Oregon and back. It was wonderful but I do still need to save for and plan an amazing, tropical trip away for just hubby and I. One day! :)

 

This year I was 8 months pregnant and getting ready to go on maternity leave so I knew we weren't going to do anything extravagant. In fact, we didn't plan anything - we already said no presents and I was going to make Indian for dinner and we were just going to stay home and watch a movie. But while I was coming home for work I thought, "Screw that!" - I am so not cooking so we hopped in the truck and headed to the pub down the street for 1/2 price appies and entrees (we have coupon cards from my soccer team so win/win for us)! No - it wasn't super romantic and yes - husband was still in his work clothes but it was very US and it was nice to have a nice dinner, just the two of us to celebrate just the two of us before we become three.

 

Excuse the horrible photos. I was so pregnant so I was trying not to attract anymore attention to myself by taking too many photos out in the open!

 

We didn't do gifts this year because we knew how tight our budget was going to be once maternity leave hit, and husband never does cards anyways but I woke up to a unique love message in the morning ...

 

 

50% off at the pub down the street ... why the heck not on a Wednesday night?!

 

The waitress was so sweet. Husband asked if they had any non-alcoholic bubbly and she said no, but brought me a complimentary ginger ale in a champagne glass. After taking a big whiff of husbands highball, I enjoyed my pregnancy friendly beverage very much.

Handsome husband first and soon to be daddy. We had no idea at this point what was in store for us!

 

I tried everything to flip this photo but when I viewed it in my photo file, it shows it in the upright position but when I use it, it always switches to this view. Weird. Anywho ... tilt your head to the right and here I am - my last selfie at 8 months pregnant.

 

It truly is the little things that matter in life! How do you celebrate your anniversaries with your loved ones?

and ... i'm back

So this happened 6 weeks ago ...

 

Charlotte Monroe Van Den Berg was born on Friday, October 11, 2013 at 9:23 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and was just under 20 inches long. It was quite the journey getting this little one in to the world but in just over 24 hours from water breaking to delivery, she made her debut!



 

It's been a huge learning curve so far but after 6 weeks, we are really starting to figure it out. And this morning I woke up CRAVING to write in this blog. I miss it - big time. So hoping this will be the start of a good habit in our new schedule. I miss the comments, feedback and love - and the writing. Oh how I miss the writing!

 

Hope to see you all here more regularly from now on! With much more focus on mommy, baby and new parent topics. Talk soon friends! xo