Day 3 of Blog Challenge

Hope everyone is doing great today!

Day 3: First love

I met my "First Love" on eHarmony.  It was a whirlwind!  I would say for me it was love at first sight.  I saw his profile and thought he is really cute...then I read about him and the things he was passionate about (family & his relationship with the Lord) and thought WOW...I could see myself marrying this guy....little did I know that I would talk to him for a month on the internet, date him for a couple months, be engaged for 5 1/2 months and now I am married to my wonderful husband Nate!  He is everything I wanted in a guy...don't get me wrong...he's not perfect but I also love his inperfections....well most of the time!  Here are a few pictures of us from the night I felt I fell in love, a picture from our wedding and one from St. Patrick's Day last year.

Valentine's Day 2008

 Our Wedding Day 8-8-08

St. Patrick's Day 2010

Well that is all for now...till next time!

Day 2 of blog challenge

Hello everyone...hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Day 2: Meaning behind blog name

The Buchingers is obviously our last name.  Nate is my husband, I'm pregnant still :D and our daughter is Nataleigh.  Nothing too clever here but I like it simple!  So that is the meaning.

Hope you guys have a great night.

That's all for now...till next time!

38 Week Survey

How far along? 38 weeks only 2 more weeks or less...getting closer and closer...woo hoo!
Total weight gain/loss: so far this pregnancy I'm up 34 lbs. 
How big is baby? The baby is around 20 inches long and weighs around 7 lbs.  I'm actually curious to know how big he actually is. 
Maternity clothes? YES!!!! Can't wait to get back to wearing normal clothes again!
Sleep:Not the best lately. Waiting on baby!
Best moment this week:Having a shower with my Mom2Mom group
Movement: yes...they are definitely slowing down now.  I sometimes have to stop and do movement counts to make sure he is still moving....kinda scary at times!
Food cravings: Anything.
Gender:Beautiful Baby BOY!!!
Labor Signs:yes, Yes, YES!!!!  2 days ago I was in the hospital with contractions for 11 hours.  I am dilated to 1cm and am 50% effaced.  That was at 3am when they last checked me.  My contractions have stopped since I got home but I lost my mucus plug yesterday and today I have been having contractions on and off...mainly in my back.
Belly Button in or out? Starting to pop out
Stretchmarks? Just stretching out some of the ones I already have!
How are you feeling?Okay.  Ready to be done with being pregnant!
What I am looking forward to: making the call to everyone that it is really happening....that will be so exciting!
What I miss: sleeping on my back, not having a huge appetite, getting good sleep, being able to put on my shoes/socks all by myself without being out of breath, wearing normal clothes! 
Weekly Wisdom: It's okay to clean but make sure I take breaks...don't clean too hard to make him come either...but at this point he would be fine!
Milestones: Making it another week!

Pictures to come.

Well that is all for now...till next time!

Day 1 of the blog challenge

Well I am going to try and do this challenge so here we go!

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts

Hello everyone...my name is Emileigh...which most of you already know if you read this blog!  I am 27 years old and I am married to my wonderful husband Nate.  We have a beautiful daughter named Nataleigh whom I adore and I am currently 38 weeks pregnant today!  We are having a boy this time and are looking forward to his arrival..hopefully soon!

This was taken when I was 36 weeks pregnant..I'm bigger now...maybe I will post another picture later.

Our most recent family picture!

Now for the fun facts :D

1. I have married for 2 1/2 years....I love being married!
2. I am a stay-at-home mom and I am so happy that I am.  God has given my husband a great job that allows me to do so!
3. I am an on-call x-ray tech.  I have been registered for 5 years now!  I love my job when I do work because it gives me a chance to get away from the everyday stuff and use my training...plus I think it is a lot of fun :D....I'm wierd though :D
4. I drive a Mazda MPV (multi-purpose van...it's a minivan but when we put insurance on it they told us it was a station wagon.....it made me laugh)
5. My family lives in a 2 bedroom apartment which we like for the most part...it is in a good part of town and really close to several things like Meijer and my family!
6. I have 1 brother and 2 half-brothers...I'm the only girl..woo hoo!
7. I am heading up the committee for planning a 15 year family reunion we are having in Frankenmuth, MI this Memorial Day.
8. I love photography, art, making jewelry, making cards, being crafty, being frugal (I make my own cleaning supplies) I love to bake and make new things!
9. I just finished reading a book with my moms group called Growing Grateful Kids and it is a wonderful book.  It was published in 2010 and the author is Susie Larson.
10. I love to use coupons but need to take a class to learn how to save even more money when I use them and learn the tricks of the trade!
11. When I was in 5th grade I almost broke my neck when I slipped on a slide in the middle of winter!  I had 2 subluxed vertebrae which means that they were pushing in on my spinal cord.  I had to wear a neck brace for 12 weeks and couldn't go any physical activities.
12. I love surprises and sharing surprises with everyone.....we always make any big thing happening in our lives a surprise with family...when we announce a pregnancy or a name..it's always a surprise...sometimes I think my family likes it but not all the time....and they always try to guess what the surprise is....its so much fun!
13. I love long hair but since I have had Nataleigh I keep it shorter because it is way easier for me to manage.
14. I met my husband through eHarmony.com...it really does work...you just have to be honest and know what you want.
15. I saved the best fact for last!  I became a Christian when I was a freshmen in high school (1999).  I was at Camp Barakel and there was a speaker by the name of Steve Harmon who came to talk to each small group that was there and he said something so profound it spoke right to my heart.  "God will never divorce himself from you."  For those of you that don't know I come from a broken home so this meant the world to me and I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to come into my heart.  Best decision I ever made!

Well that is all for now...till next time!

Starting a 30-day blog challenge!

Thank you Megan for the challenge!  I look forward to sharing more about myself with my family and friends that may not know these interesting things about me  :D

Here is a breakdown of the topics the challenge will consist of:

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts
Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3-Your first love
Day 4-Your parents
Day 5-Your siblings
Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7-Favorite movies
Day 8-A place you've traveled to
Day 9-A picture of your friends
Day 10-Something you're afraid of
Day 11-Favorite TV shows
Day 12-What you believe
Day 13-Goals
Day 14-A picture you love
Day 15-Bible verse
Day 16-Dream house
Day 17-Something you're looking forward to
Day 18-Something you regret
Day 19-Something you miss
Day 20-Nicknames
Day 21-Picture of yourself
Day 22-Favorite city
Day 23-Favorite vacation
Day 24-Something you've learned
Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26-Picture of your family
Day 27-Pets
Day 28-Something that stresses you out
Day 29-3 Wishes
Day 30-a picture

This should be interesting!  Look forward to doing this with Megan and perhaps other followers if you are up to the challenge...leave me a comment and let me know if you are up to the challenge so I can follow along!

That is all for now..till next time!

37 Week Survey

How far along? 37 weeks only 3 more weeks or less...getting closer and closer...woo hoo!
Total weight gain/loss: so far this pregnancy I'm up 33 lbs. 
How big is baby? The baby is around 20 inches long and weighs around 6.5 lbs.  I'm actually curious to know how big he actually is.  I had Nataleigh at 36 weeks 5 days and she weighed 5lbs 13oz...so we will see how big our little guy is in a little bit!
Maternity clothes? YES!!!! Can't wait to get back to wearing normal clothes again!
Sleep:Not the best lately.  I have a hard time falling back asleep once I wake up and my naps haven't been helping me much!
Best moment this week:I got the car seat base in and cleaned up the car seat material...now it looks brand new!  YAY!!!  I also got a portable swing from a girl at my mom's group. I also got my haircut a few days ago...I love it! 
Movement: yes...they are definitely slowing down now.  I sometimes have to stop and do movement counts to make sure he is still moving....kinda scary at times!
Food cravings: Anything. My friend Melissa brought over some homemade turtle cheesecake and it is hitting the spot!
Gender:Beautiful Baby BOY!!!
Labor Signs: more braxton hicks contractions....all though last night I had a really bad pain in my lower abdomen and back...it felt like a menstrual cramp and had me worried it didn't go away for a while so I took some tylenol and that kicked in 45 mins later...I thought we were going to have him early this morning!
Belly Button in or out? In barely..it's almost flat!
Stretchmarks? Just stretching out some of the ones I already have!
How are you feeling?Okay. I am getting a lot of stuff done...my to do list is getting smaller by the day and I am keeping up on cleaning the house...woo hoo!
What I am looking forward to: making the call to everyone that it is really happening....that will be so exciting!
What I miss: sleeping on my back, not having a huge appetite, getting good sleep, being able to put on my shoes/socks all by myself without being out of breath, wearing normal clothes! 
Weekly Wisdom: It's okay to clean but make sure I take breaks...don't clean too hard to make him come either...but at this point he would be fine!
Milestones: Making it to 37 weeks!!!  I didn't think that would happen....now it's a waiting game to see when he will come!

Pictures to come!

Well that is all for now...till next time...which we could have a separate post on our little guy!

Nataleigh 19 months

Well my little girl is getting so big!  She has so much personality...I just love it!  Here are some updates on her.

Stats: Nataleigh weighs 24 lbs and is about half my height...but when we went to her 18 month checkup I was distracted and didn't see how tall she was...I will figure this out soon!

Diapers:  Well we were doing both but yesterday she complained a lot and it seems she doesn't like how the cloth diapers make her feel anymore so Nate & I talked it over and she is going to be in disposable permanently until we potty train her.  She likes to sit on her potty but doesn't go on it but I fee like we are making progress.  She also tells us when she goes poop...I love it!

Clothes: Nataleigh wears 18 month stuff and is in a size 5 shoe...I can't believe how fast her feet grow...it's crazy!

Teeth:  Nataleigh has a mouth full!  I believe she has 6 teeth on the top and 6 on the bottom.  More to come too!

Food:  Nataleigh loves to eat what we eat.  We used to cut up her food into small pieces but now that she understands the concept of chewing we don't break the food up as much now...she prefers to bite it off little by little.  She still isn't a very picky eater which we are super thankful for!  She loves to eat bananas and yogurt...she will go to the fridge around snack time and open and point and say, "Gurt!  Gurt!"  It is just so stinkin' cute!  She loves to drink milk...we switched from organic 2% to just regular 2%.  She also loves her juice.  I cut it in half so she doesn't get as much sugar.

Sleep:  Nataleigh still sleeps in her crib but we are hoping to transition into her big girl bed soon.  She has already taken a tumble over the side so I need to find some bed rails for it.  She sleeps through the night most nights unless she is teething or isn't feeling very well or if we have been traveling and her schedule is off it takes her a night or two to get back to normal but it's not back.  She usually goes down between 815-845 and will wake up around 700-800.  On average she usually gets 10-11 hours of sleep a night.  She also takes a daily nap.  I usually lay her down around 1230 and she will wake up around 330.  This is super helpful right now especially while I am pregnant because that means I can get a good long nap in too!

Motor Skills: Nataleigh has been using the Your Baby Can Read program since August 2010 and is doing really well.  She can read 10-12 words and can probably say near 50 words.  She is picking up on what people say and will often repeat simple phrases back....the one she loves the most is: "I'll be back!"  She has been saying this more a month or so now.  She also was around when we were watching a movie and it said, "this sucks," and she repeated it so now we have to really be careful what she hears.  She is also learning to do puzzles and is getting better by the day.  She likes to color with crayons which we just started practicing with.  When she eats she likes to use her utensils but is still mastering this skill.

Likes: At nap time she loves to hold her baby in one arm and the seahorse in the other.  She loves to watch her Meet the Colors video and the other series of videos from the Your Baby Can Read collection.  She loves loves loves books.  She also likes to help me vacuum but doesn't know how to push the vacuum yet....she gets pretty excited around it though :D  Her favorite body part is her belly button or eyes...she is always playing with them.  Nataleigh also still sucks her thumb which we are going to break her of this habit after the baby comes...she still needs that security we feel and it helps soothe her when she is upset and tired.  She also loves to play peek-a-boo, she loves to play with Daddy and be chased by him or anyone.

Dislikes: She HATES when I leave her in the nursery at church on Sundays, during Bible Study on Tuesdays and Mom2Mom on Thursdays.  She is forming separation anxiety and there isn't a whole lot I can do about it and I know she is fine after a few moments but when I leave she usually will throw herself on the floor and throw a huge fit....we are working on this one!  She doesn't like when I turn off her video after she has watched it once..she could probably watch it all day long but I want her to play with other things and learn other stuff.

Here are some pictures I recently took of her but I am planning on taking more!

This last one is my favorite!

Well that is all for now!  Till next time!

36 Week Survey

How far along? 36 weeks only 4 more weeks or less...getting closer and closer...woo hoo!
Total weight gain/loss: so far this pregnancy I'm up 32 lbs.  I didn't gain any weight this week..woo hoo!
How big is baby? The baby is around 20 inches long and weighs around 6 lbs.  My little guys is getting big! 
Maternity clothes? YES!!!!  A girl from my Mom's group gave me some pajama pants and they are super comfy! 
Sleep:I've been sleeping okay. I've been getting more sleep but when I sleep longer than 6 hours I toss and turn the rest of the time so then sleep is okay.
Best moment this week: getting a bunch of stuff crossed off my list before the little guy comes.  My mom and I went to Once Upon A Child and Babies R' Us and we did a lot of shopping, I got a lot of great deals and now I feel more ready for when he does come. 
Movement: yes...but they are more moving around than feeling kicks and punches.
Food cravings: Anything.  I still love juice but I need to watch the calories since I know I could pack on the pounds these last few weeks.  I do admit I am doing much better than when I was pregnant with Nataleigh!
Gender:Beautiful Baby BOY!!!
Labor Signs: nothing this week....that's okay though :D
Belly Button in or out? In barely..it's almost flat!
Stretchmarks? No new ones that I see but the ones I have where Nataleigh stretched me out are getting a little longer I think.  Oh well :D
How are you feeling?pretty good. I am getting a lot of stuff done.
What I am looking forward to: making the call to everyone that it is really happening....that will be so exciting!
What I miss: sleeping on my back, not having a huge appetite and getting good sleep. 
Weekly Wisdom: Drink water, eat a lot of protein, rest, take it easy and put your feet up!
Milestones: I sound like a broken record but making it another week...hoping that I will make it till at least 1 more week to 37 weeks this time.

Here are some pictures of what the kids room looks like right now...I did some work on it last night :D

 My view- 36 weeks

 side view

 The bassinet is all ready for him!

 Put up the other two prints- Willow deer prints

 What part of the room looks like.

 I redid Nataleigh's bow holder since she has so many of them now :D

 Night light in the bathroom with new outlet covers.

 Night stand by the glider.

 Some of his clothes.

Baby Boy & Nataleigh's shoes

Well that's all for now....till next time!

35 Week Survey

How far along? 35 weeks 2 days only 5 more weeks or less...getting closer and closer...woo hoo!
Total weight gain/loss: so far this pregnancy I'm up 32 lbs.
How big is baby? The baby is around 20 inches long and weighs around 5.5 lbs.  My little guys is getting big!  I also just read that his testicles are descending this week...woo hoo!  His weight is close to what Nataleigh weighed when she was born at 36.5 weeks!  AHHH!!!
Maternity clothes? YES!!!! I'm actually growing out of some of my pants now...my belly is much different this time around than when I was pregnant with Nataleigh.
Sleep:I've been sleeping okay.  The last couple of days I have had a pain on my left side from the front along the side and in the back and when I sleep on my left side I will wake up and it will be hurting so I'm looking forward to being done being pregnant!
Best moment this week: getting to go down to Ohio to spend some time with Jesse, Marideth and Sam.  It was a lot of fun!
Movement: yes...his movements are getting much more painful.  I feel him all over but still a lot in my right ribs.
Food cravings: Mainly juice...especially grape juice...I can't get enough of it...but boy does it have a lot of calories!  As far as food...Everything.  well mostly everything.  I have to be careful because this is the time when the weight can get out of control...yikes! 
Gender:Beautiful Baby BOY!!!
Labor Signs: well I was in the hospital on Monday.  I had contractions all day long but when we got to the hospital they stopped and I got to go home.  They did a fetal fiber nectin test and it came back negative which means that I will most likely not go into labor for another 2 weeks...so that was a great moment.  Also they checked my cervix and it is very thick and I'm not dilated at all.  They even said the baby is high up so I wouldn't go into labor anytime soon.  We'll see about that :DBelly Button in or out? In barely..it's almost flat!
Stretchmarks? No new ones that I see but the ones I have where Nataleigh stretched me out are getting a little longer I think.  Oh well :D
How are you feeling?pretty good.  I just have to drink plenty of fluids, eat my protein and not overexert myself. 
What I am looking forward to: making the call to everyone that it is really happening....that will be so excited!
What I miss: sleeping on my back, not having a huge appetite and getting good sleep. 
Weekly Wisdom: Drink water, eat a lot of protein, rest, take it easy and put your feet up!
Milestones: Making it another week...hoping that I will make it till at least 37 weeks this time which is only less than 2 weeks away I can hardly believe it!

That's all for now...till next time!