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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Zakiyah is 6 months!

As I mentioned in my H54F yesterday, we had a photo shoot this past week at our friends amazing studio here in Rochester! I have always loved having fun shoots with Andy! It has been such a blast doing it with our girls! I just love how special pictures are as keepsakes. We have decided to do newborn/ 6 month/ and 1 year shoots for our kids. It is perfect for showing the changes! Shawn and Michelle have captured all of our important events so far: engagement, wedding, couple sessions, maternity and now our children. Our house is filled with FS pix! 


Zakiyah Nova at 6 months! I had Zion wore this tutu, headband and pearls for her 6 months. I made the tutu and headband! She looks so beautiful. 


(Zion at 6 months. FS shoot. )

Don't my girls look alike? So presh!


A family shot! I just realized that we are all wearing Gap head to toe. I guess it is my favorite store for my family :) I wanted a lot of color in our clothes to show our personalities. It was fun to pair the clothing together.


Who doesn't love a good feet shot? Especially, chubby baby legs. :) 

my shoes-from TJ Maxx. Andy- Cole Haan, Zion- Uggs, and Kiyah- BabiesRUs
I am excited to frame these bad boys in our Home! Thanks Shawn and Shel for taking such beautiful pictures of our family. 


So with it being Zakiyah Nova's 6 month, I thought it would be fun showing a few of my favorite snap shots of her over the past half year! 














Zakiyah- You truly are a blessing to your mommy and daddy. We love you so much. You are such a joyful little girl! It has been so awesome watching your sister, Zion be a big sister with you. It is amazing how when you have children there are parts in your heart that open up that you didn't even know existed. When I was pregnant with you, it was different than with Zion. I knew what being a mom meant. I anticipated this season differently. Newborn-hood is exhausting, rewarding, sacred, and goes too fast. You have been so laid back since day one. You love cuddles. You light up when your sister comes in the room. We call you Ki-Ki, Kiyah, Sister, Sister Pie, Baby girl, Za-Za, and Nova. You just started waving yesterday when we were watching your daddy and sister sled! You have two bottom teeth. You sleep 11 hours through the night. We still swaddle you every naptime/bedtime! "Your nose drains like a sieve", as daddy says. You love the water! You have a terrible gag reflex. Which means you are not eating any soft foods yet! You love baby oatmeal and green baby food. You love sucking on wet wash cloths and chew toys. You are really close to rolling over. You have a tight grip! You pinch your fingers on mommy all the time. You have just started liking Baby Einstein. Your favorite things are your lovie, balls, and your exersaucer! We love you so much. It is such a blessing having you as my baby! Happy 6 months Sister Pie! 



Friday, February 22, 2013

H54F

Happy Friday everyone! It is a blizzard in Rochester!!!! I am excited to have a snow day in with my family. Every Friday, I link up with Lauren for High Five For Friday! I show you my favorite pix from my week! Here they are:


We had a busy week in our family with birthdays! My daughter-Zion, husband-Andy and my sister-Chelsea all had birthdays! Chelsea and I celebrated by taking my 3 year old for her first pedicure! It was so much fun. She was hilarious at the nail salon. We both got purple nail polish with sparkles, of course! 


I had my 2nd week of Lock Love Wednesday! I started posting weekly pictures off my phone of my daily hair to show you creative new looks. Even being a hairstylist, you can get in a hair rut. I have pictures here and here! Link up with me every Wednesday to show what new things you are doing with your hair! 


My fam got all festive for a photo shoot at our friends amazing studio in Rochester. It is in a building from the turn of the century. Brick walls/ wood floors/ character everywhere. Zakiyah turned 6 months old this week, so we had adorable pictures taken of her! I will post on that later! This picture is from my iPhone- I love feet pictures! Nothing better than chunky baby legs...

 
We have the blessing of having an amazing nanny from our youth group! She spoiled Zion with this hat and mustache cup for her 3rd birthday. The hat has been worn daily ever since! 


I have been busy crafting/painting for fun! I will post next week some of my projects that I have going on. Happy Friday! Have a great weekend! 


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

LOCK LOVE WEDNESDAY


I started Lock Lock Wednesday to get myself motivated to style my hair everyday. It is so easy, for even hair stylists to get in a rut with their hair. I am hoping to inspire you along the way with simple and fun techniques to help you look fabulous! Join me along the way. It will be fun! All you have to do is take snapshots of your hair during the week and link up with me below! 


I used a 1/2" curling iron in this picture. I curled my hair in two sections. The key is to curl your hair away from your face. I always hold the curling iron vertical and I don't curl my ends. Leave them out of the curl wand. I twisted my fringe and put a bobby pin in! I wear a lot of flowers to dress it up. This is a purple flower with from H&M. 


This is one of the easiest way to fancy up your updos. I love this alternative to a pony. I back combed my crown area with a Teasing U brush that Tala carries. I then took 3 sections at the nape of my neck and simply twisted my hair in knots and used bobby pins to hold in place. EASY. I don't have much length to work with yet, so if you have longer hair it is easier. 


Here is another angle of my updo! 


I liked this side better. I went with it. Even if it doesn't work out perfect--Go with it. The best part is that my hair is off my face for the day. Great for work and being a mom.


 In this look, I back combed again and just did a quick twist. I stuck a big clip in and a couple bobby pins. It took literally 3 minutes. The key is having day old hair. I only wash my hair every 3 days. I am a big fan of dry shampoo and baby powder. My hair was 3 days old here-so It worked amazing. If you have never skipped a day of washing your hair, try going a day and a half to start. 


I love this shot for many reasons.
1. attitude from toddler
2. pearls.
3. matching curly hair.
We had a photo shoot this past week for Zakiyah's 6 month. So I curled my hair in 3 sections and roughed it up with texture spray by Awapuhi that I sell at Tala. I always prep my hair with hair spray before curling. (Spray-Comb-Curl) is the trick! I left my hair down! I just back combed the crown after! 


Here I had curls in from the day before! I just pinned up my hair with a couple of bobby pins to give it volume and control. I used my dry shampoo from Eufora and hair spray from Awapuhi. 


I wore my hair down here. My hair was freshly washed. I air dryed it. After it was dry, I curled some random pieces with a curling iron. I had Moroccan Oil in and leave in spray. I used hair spray. I got my hair colored this day, FINALLY! I love the texture my hair has after I color it. Did you know that it actually swells the cuticle making it feel more thick? fun fact! 

How have you been wearing your hair this week? Tweet or join me on Instagram with #lovelovewed
Or link up below!!! Happy Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Happy Birthday Andy and Zion

Just a shout out to my best friend/partner/husband/ Andy-- Happy Birthday babe. And Happy Birthday to our precious Zion. You two are two peas in a pod! Life wouldn't be complete without you. loves. xoxoxo








Monday, February 18, 2013

Zion Leilani Birth Story


Sitting here, in the quietness of the night, with my family all in bed, all I can think about is where I was three years ago. What I was thinking? Where I was? What I didn't know. I was about to have my life change forever. 
I have been wanting to write out Zion's birth story for awhile now. Tonight seems like the perfect night for it, considering it is her Birthday-Eve. (we have to celebrate all week, right?)
My due date was 2/17/10 with my pregnancy. I had a rough pregnancy overall. Lots of throwing up/physical pain/water retention/insomnia etc. I was over it. Over being pregnant. I was impatient. I wanted to meet my little girl. 
I had my 40 week check up on Thursday. I was officially 1 day overdue with the baby. I was ready. At my check up that day, I had expressed my concern with my NP/Mid wife about my fears and anxiety. Andy and I had switched from Mayo Clinic to Wabasha Hospital half way through my pregnancy, after researching and talking with friends. Two sets of our friends had delivered their babies with Sharon in Wabasha and raved about the care and awesomeness of Sharon. We had toured the birthing center and met Sharon and knew it was our fit. 
We were planning to go all natural and have a water birth for labor/delivery. I, however, was very scared. I could not kick my nerves. What if I failed? What if I couldn't do it? I had been hearing so many opinions from people about labor in general. I am a person that can not handle pain well. I never dreamed I would want a natural delivery before I started researching and praying about what was best for Andy and I. 
So that day at my check up, I shared some of my thoughts with Sharon. Tears streaming down my cheeks, she looked into my eyes and said, "You can do this, Christy. Think of all the women that have given birth. You will too." It was so simple, yet it resounded in my spirit. I went home after my check up ready to make it happen. Andy and I went about our day off by cleaning our bedroom. We rearranged our room and vacuumed/dusted the bedroom. It needed it! I picked up raspberry leaf tea to drink and get things rolling. I was up and moving around all day until after dinner. By 7pm, we had both sat down and were watching t.v. for a a couple hours. I had been going to the bathroom every 10 minutes or so and was really annoyed with my small bladder. 
Around 9 or 10 pm i had gotten up to use the bathroom, and had noticed I was bleeding. I screamed for Andy and started to freak out. Oh my word, it was time. It is so crazy when you are in that moment and you know everything is about to change. I called the hospital and talked to Sharon. She told me to lay down for 20 minutes and see if I was still bleeding. I remember her asking me if I had contractions. To be honest, I didn't even know if i was. i always blew them off to be nothing. Being Christy, before laying down, I started cleaning our house and getting the bathrooms ready for company. Andy was quite annoyed with me. ha. So I lied down, and the bleeding subsided. Sharon had said, if I was having contractions, I would not be able to sleep. I thought for sure they were braxton hicks. So we decided to go to bed. We we got into bed at around 11:30 or so, Andy took NightQuill. That was one of the worst decisions of our life. You see, he asked me if he should take it or not. He had been fighting a cold/cough for a while and needed rest. We sure enough, within 45 minutes, I was having contractions 5 minutes apart lasting 30-45 seconds give or take. So we frantically packed up our stuff in our newly organized and clean room to hit the road 60 miles to Wabasha. I will never forget listening to Shane and Shane the whole way there while there was a lot of silence on my behalf. We both were praying, processing, and just trying to get there as fast as we could. I remember the last song on the cd ended when we were parking the car. 
When we got to the hospital, it was around 1:30 in the morning. Sharon greeted us right away and got me in the room. I was at a 4cm and things were moving fast. I got in the tub after about 30 minutes of being hooked up to monitors and such. I was in a lot of pain. My vices were chapstick/wet wash cloths on my forehead, and holding Andy's hand! When I was in the tub, I would have them rub my back in between contractions. After an hour in the tub, I got out to use the bathroom and they had me go to the bed to check me over. I had already dilated to 10cm in an hour. Things were moving really fast. Sharon told me that I needed to get back in the tub, because it was time to push. I told her I wasn't going anywhere. I was too tired. weak. and feisty. So the bed it was! We started to push. I tried multiple positions. By now, I was asking for drugs. Crying and whining, actually. But they knew me...... So they gave me something really light. It was a muscle relaxer.  It was so mild, it was to make me think it was helping. I can't remember what it was called. But it worked, I thought It was helping a bit with the pain. I pushed for 3 hours or so. I was on my back with my feet pushing on Andy and a nurse's hips every time. My water broke when I was pushing. 
In between contractions, I would close my eyes and try and rest. It is hilarious how we can rest that fast. My body kept shaking and I was so tired. Keep in mind, Andy at this point had nightquil in him for well over 6 hours with no sleep. Poor guy. But was he allowed to complain? No. It took me awhile to even figure out how to push. It sounds silly, but you really have to learn. I won't go in to detail, but It is so intense and painful. I literally felt everything.
I always envisioned myself to be really loud or reactive during labor. I thought I would claw Andy's arm and be screaming the whole time. But, I wasn't. I was so calm. I was in the zone. I was really quiet and focused. In preparation to labor, I had read through some books and articles on natural childbirth that really helped me be ready. I remember saying, "Jesus" in my head over and over. I remember saying, "I can do all things thru Jesus" over and over in my head to coach myself. I relied on my Father to get me through it. The normal Christy couldn't do this. But my God carried me through the whole labor and delivery. 
 I remember the head crowning and my mid wife asking if I wanted to feel it. I said, "no." I was too tired to do anything. When I pushed her out,  my eyes were closed that I didn't even realize she was out. She was crying and Sharon said, "Christy, hold her." I couldn't believe it. She had so much hair. She was huge! She was beautiful. I cried and cried. There is something so precious and indescribable meeting your baby for the first time. God is so faithful. I couldn't believe she was mine. I couldn't get over her beauty. 
We named her, Zion Leilani. Zion means, "presence of God" and Leilani means, "heavenly child/ or flower". I have been a fan of Lauren Hill since high school. On her album, "The miseducation of Lauren Hill", she has a track called, "Zion".  She has a son named Zion and it is a tribute to him. It is beautiful! I have been jammin to it since '99. When I was pregnant with Z, Andy and I went to dinner one night and he said, what about Zion for a name? I always thought of it as a boys name, not a girls name. So we discussed how in the bible, Mount Zion is referred to as:  she and her. I thought about it, and was pumped. It was the perfect name. We gave Z, a life verse as well:  Psalms 50:2 Through Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth! Amen! Leilani, is Andy's mom's name! I love it. She goes by Loni, but we thought it would be so meaningful to have her name be Zion's middle name. 
She was born at 7:05 am on Friday, February 19, 2010. She was 8lbs10oz. and 20 3/4" We didn't have a high quality camera for the birth. Here are some pictures from when she was born. 
Did I mention that Zion was born on Andy's 31st birthday? It was the biggest gift he has ever received. When we found out I was pregnant and did the math with my due date, Andy was determined to have a birthday with his child. I feel like it was God's way of showing Andy he was meant to be a father to a daughter. Zion was his precious gift. 


             

             

             

             

            

           

Daddy meeting his birthday girl. It was quite emotional when he held her and was looking out the window at the blanket of snow outside reflecting on God's promises. None of our family or friends knew we were in labor since it was the middle of the night. So after I delivered Zion, Andy called our family to tell them she was here. We had kept the name a surprise too. 

             


             

after the eye drops.


              

After having Zion, they moved us into our room. It had been about 2 hours or so and I was finally all stitched up and resting in the bed. Andy had opened our blinds and put on our iPod. He played, The Glorious Unseen. A band I had heard before but not really noticed. I was holding my swaddled daughter, taking in the sweetness of the moment. Overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Tears of joy. Tears of love. Tears of triumph. Tears of excitement. Tears of exhaustion. I couldn't believe she was mine. My daughter. I had a daughter! I was a mother. It was one of the most overwhelming moments of my life. 


               


               



               

(I have more pictures that I am going to post later. They are backed up on a hard drive)

One of the most powerful and overwhelming moments of my life was giving birth to Zion. I can't even begin to put it into words. The depth that I had instantly for her. My heart was overflowing with love. I was so mesmerized with her beauty. The hours a new mama spends just looking at their blessing is a huge amount. 

Zion has taught me what really matters. 
Zion taught me how to be a mama.
Zion has taught me how to fight for whats right. Hoping that we can give her the best. 
Zion has taught me how to let go. to live. to laugh. to forgive. to be a child again. to color. to just be. 
Zion has taught me that it is ok to have 100 questions in a 30 minute time frame. 
Zion has taught me patience. conflict resolution. 
Zion has taught me how to see things more simple.
Zion has taught me how to be a better daughter to my parents. 
Zion has taught me how to love Andy in new ways.
Zion has taught me how to dance and be crazy.

I love how a child view things so black and white sometimes. 
I love how they ask the tough questions. 
I love how she loves her back rubbed at night. 
I love how she plays lion and runs around our house saying, "roar". I love how she has a belly laugh. 
I love how she is such a nurturer and takes care of her babies and her sister. 
I love how she says, "you're the best." "I love you mom" "mom, you not working today?" 
I love how she says, " mama, I hold you" or "I cuddle you"

Zion Leilani, you are a blessing. You make your mama proud! love you precious girl. 






Entryway Cubby Reveal

I have been wanting to do something with this space since we moved in over 2 years ago. I just couldn't figure out what to do with it. I have had fun putting Christmas trees and lights up for the holidays. But that is all I have done so far. I have been staring at the lights since December and it has been driving me nuts. Everytime, I go down the stairs, I see this spot. naked. boring. and un-used. So I thought I would be resourceful and get some decor up there. 


Before- 



After-


The crate, chest, pottery, moroccan yellow vase, and eiffel tower candle are TJ Maxx. Imagine that? ha. and the blue pot/plant is IKEA. the faux boxwood is from Hobby Lobby. I used things I had in the house, minus the chest. I just picked it up on sale. 



I like the pop of yellow up there! It makes me happy to see it every time I am going up and down the stairs. Do you have a cubby in your home? Or a space in your house that you are wanting to decorate? Do you have any fun ideas of what to do with the space?