You know you're not ready for zumba when...

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1.  you forget a water bottle and have to ask your friends for sips of water off of there's

2. you thank God they keep the lights dim in class  

3. you should have stuck it out in dance class in third grade, it could have really come in handy in the rhythm department

4. you don't have moves like Jagger

5. you've been limping all week because you messed up your knee doing rhythmic squats

6. you have no idea how you made the dance team when you were 15, pity it had to have been pity

7. your hair tie fails you during class and you have to keep putting your hair up while making it look like you're still "dancing"

8. you wished you would have done more kegels, if you had known there were going to be that many hip thrusts and booty shakes

9. you know if your husband saw you doing it he would be on the floor laughing until he cries, I know I would

10. you don't care, and will do it over and over again until you fit into those darn pre-pregnancy jeans that sit mocking you on the top shelf of you're closet

I wanna hold your hand

Her arrival

Zooey Jane McMullin 10-14-11 born at 11:47 a.m. 8lbs. 20 1/2 inches long

My due date came and went on October 11th of this year, it was such a disappointing day mainly because with my first born I was two weeks early. Being late was a very new experience for me, one I did not enjoy all to well. Where was she? When was she coming out? I'm going to be pregnant FOREVER!?! Yes, all these thoughts and more crossed my worried mind as two days slipped by, with no baby in sight.I know two days does not seem very long, but when you're 10 months pregnant and walking around at 5cm dilated and 70% effaced, two days might as well have been two hundred days.

Finally, the day of my doctor's appointment came and the blessed words, "would you like to be induced, tomorrow?" came from my doctor's lips. My mouth said yes, but my brain said NO! I was so scared, even though I really wanted to be done. It was so final, she would be coming out whether I was mentally prepared or not. 

After a restless night of "sleep", we set out for the hospital. It felt so surreal,like checking into a hotel, "Hi, I'm Amber McMullin, I'm here to have a baby today." A little after 8 a.m. I was hooked up to an I.V. with fluids and pitocin. I was petrified of that stuff, I had heard so many horror stories of 7 minute long contractions and putting babies into distress. But my nurse was very reassuring that since I was already so far dilated that I wouldn't need very much of it, and that it would be very gradual.

9ish a.m.-

 Sometime after that my doctor came to check me, I was a solid 6cm by then, he asked me what my birth plan was, again I choose the all natural route.Good bye, chance at a pain free birth since being 6 cm already it was now or never, I chose never. After that he told me he would be back soon to break my water, he needed to run to the office first. The nurse called after him, you better run!

After laboring for awhile (9-10 a.m.) the doctor came in, it felt like he was gone for only a minute! CRAP!!! I knew once he broke my water the contractions would get harder and faster, not fun by any means. At 10:10 a.m. he broke my water and left. 

10:10-11:47 a.m.

Each contraction was bringing me closer and closer to meeting my little girl, literally I could feel her moving down the birth canal. With each one, I kept thinking "I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!!!". And then out of no where I got extremely hot and started tearing off my hospital gown, I had a contraction and my stomach involuntarily spasmed like when you are dry heaving, I said I need to PUSH!The nurse told me to wait so she could check me, gotta love when they tell you to wait, WAIT?!? Are you freaking kidding me? Birth is like a freight train, once it starts there is no stopping it. She checked me, I was "complete" (10cm,100% effaced) she then called in another nurse and the doctor . The next three pushes weren't pretty or graceful, I didn't breath during any of them and felt like my face was going to explode. But hearing my husband and sister in-law say "we see her head" was music to my ears. It's hard to describe the absolute painful relief of birth when its all said and done and that beautiful wet and crying baby is laid on your chest. 

  

Pure bliss.

the cut

Sleep deprivation, postpartum hormone changes,psychotic break, call it what you want but somehow I O.K.'d this:

Before:

After:

Please save the chastising for another day, there gone(for now), I know. But they will grow back and then I can go back to brushing his hair and constantly running my fingers through it. And not having to convince people he isn't a three year old.:)

Mom, I miss my brest friend

currently loving

amazon.com

sometimes a man just feels the urge to wear stretchy pants

Our little luchador: 

Naaaaaaaccccchhhhhooooooo!

Had his first sucker for halloween, he loved it!

A little high flying off the "top rope"  

and one jump with his trucks and motorcycle were a must!

Hope every one had a fun and safe halloween!

   

lamp re-do and fail

Inspired by one of my favorite bloggers  miss mustard seed I found a recent post of her HGTV summer tutorials, this beauty in particular caught my eye: 

I thought hey! I've got an old lamp that I can do this to, here is my old lamp looking quite sad and dated:

And here is what it looks like after:

*the console table is still a work in progress

Handy hubby spray painted the lamp base first, with oil rubbed bronze by Krylon. I then used miss mustard seeds tutorial by hot gluing the twine and wrapping it around my lamp base. 

Half way through the project,

it was looking like a hot mess. Picture me and my lamp tangled in twine, that's not an exaggeration. I'm guessing the shape of my lamp was too detailed to pull it off. I unfortunatley dont have a picture of the ugly twine wrapping dilemma, I ripped off all the twine and then just ended up buying a new lampshade and calling it a day. Sometimes you gotta know when you've been beat when it comes to d.i.y projects, and I'd been beat. So it may not be an amazing transformation but it sure beats the brassy nasty that was residing in my home. And I've got a new lamp that only cost me $15.79, that's a small accomplishment to say the least.

35 weeks

It really only occurred to me a few days ago I haven't taken any photos of myself during this pregnancy. This pregnancy has been a blur, it's gone by SO fast. In my current state of mind I don't care, but I don't want to look back years from now with regret that we didn't snap any photos of my little girl(in utero) and I. 


 So as much as I don't like sharing many photos of myself, here are a few my hubby snapped just the other day with my wonderful sister in-law's new camera.

thoughtful thursday

Don't leave your husband unattended with a pair of scissors; the results might make you cry.

* thankfully I'm taking him to my aunt who is a hairstylist today so she can fix this mess.

Nifty Thrifty

I've started a new blog segment called, Nifty Thrifty. It probably won't be a weekly post since my hubs would probably kill me if I were to bring home new "junk" every single week.


 Just a little something to share every once and a while with ya'll, of my great thrifty finds, or projects. 


Here is my first project-

plate:  .99 cents {from goodwill}

#4 vinyl decal: $4 {from  Leen the Graphics Queen}

plate hanger{from walmart} : $1.97

Total: $6.96! for a great addition to the photo collage wall in our living room.

pregnancy glow

 Many people believe in this thing called a pregnancy "glow". I happen to not be one of them, it's like big foot or the loch ness monster we've all heard about it or seen doctored photos of it, but does it really exist? For some people I bet it really does, but for me, un huh. 

 Not even when people have told ME that I have one, do I believe it and here's why. sssshhhh, I'll let you in on a little secret, shy of getting pregnant yourself here is how I achieve my pregnancy "glow":

mix one part sweat (especially if you've seen me at the end of the day)

    

pinterest.com

+ 

S.p.f. 15 day cream

walmart.com

oh yes that's how I roll, I really splurge on face cream I believe its less than 6 bucks :)


                                                                                          +

maccosmetics.com

      a great foundation covers all the flaws 

+

nordstrom.com

      Bobbi brown all over body shimmer
                       = 
                the pregnancy glow

 Seriously people, write to bobbi brown and demand that this product be put back on the shelves it was only a seasonal product I found 5 years ago! {my sister in-law found an unopened one on e-bay last year} It is amazing!!! No matter your skin type it is always flattering. The best bronzer I have EVER found.

And there you have it, the secret to the "glow" minus the stretch marks and swollen feet. 

  

My rockin' sister in- law

I feel very blessed to have awesome sister in laws, God may not have blessed me with biological sisters but he definitely made up for it when I married into the McMullin clan. I want to focus on one particular sis- in law, today. (don't worry kalynn, if you read this I'll have to designate another post on you another day :)) My amazing sis, Whitney. She is at times like my home decor/design twin, I could walk into a store pick out something and 99% of the time she would love it just as much as I do. {This makes gift giving time a breeze, as well}. So lo and behold when she found an amazing sight called pinterest:  

source found here

It's a really cool site where you can browse thousands of images from around the Internet from shoes to vintage door knobs, whatever people find interesting they can "pin it" onto their personal boards, much like if you were to cut out images from magazines and put them up onto a bulletin board. It's a bit exclusive you  do have to request an invite to become a member {sometimes you can be put on a wait list} or have an existing member give you an invitation, hence why my sister in-law rocks, she invited me! So now I can become addicted enjoy this website anytime. 

source found here

And if it interests you, I have 6 invitations I can give out as part of being an existing member. I would just need your e-mail address to invite you*. BEWARE: it is addicting, your husbands or significant others may come to loathe pinterest, just don't tell them I'm to blame :)  

* totally free website just have to register your email account and come up with a password in order to login.