motherhood

i fell upon this lovely description of motherhood today.  it brought tears to my eyes and even more excitement to bring a sweet daughter to this world.  enjoy this beautiful read!

"We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." "We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?""It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. 

"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.

I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her.
That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moments hesitation.
I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.
I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.
However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.
Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself.
That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.
My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks.
I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child.
I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.
I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.
I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike.
I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time.
I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.
My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings."
~Author unknown

The Lion King

last night we took a little break from reality to see The Lion King musical!  it was absolutely FANTASTIC and if you ever have the opportunity to go, i would highly recommend it!

annnnd i'm back!

well hello there, blog.  it's bee quite some time but i'm happy to be back!  i've recently decided that i prefer to blog over journal.  i had been using a new journal app on my laptop but it just wasn't cutting it.  blogging is a great way to share with all of you what's new in our lives rather than keeping these fun experiences, thoughts and photos to ourselves in a little journal.  so that's that.  and boy, do we have a lot of catching up to do!

so far, i am very thankful to have had a pretty breezy pregnancy!  nothing much to complain about so that's great! i can't believe 34 weeks have already passed and the end is in sight!  our daughter is already so loved by so many friends and family and we are humbled by the generosity of everyone!  we've had 3 baby showers thrown by friends and family...

surprise baby shower in Tampa thrown by 

Becky, Brian, Beth and Josh!

baby shower thrown by my beautiful sisters!

Jenna and Julie threw me another fabulous shower!

thankful, thankful, thankful...so very thankful!

my cup runneth over

i am just feeling so blessed these days!  i really don't have anything to complain about in my pregnancy, i have a more-than-supportive husband, so far we have a very healthy-and active-baby girl and God just keeps pouring on the blessings.  please allow me to rave for a quick moment about my amazing husband....  i'm telling you, folks, that this guy works SO hard.  not only does he spend countless hours on conference calls and writing emails, he holds the (volunteer/unpaid) position as president-elect of a business-realted organization out of Texas!  my husband is on a plane at least twice a month attending networking conferences and individual meetings which are a result of touching base with potential clients.  and at home, he is always picking up my slack when he sees i'm getting behind in any way or not feeling the best.  no one is more giving than this man.  and when it comes to our baby-he is always reading up on my pregnancy, how our first few days and weeks will look when she arrives and also how to be the best father he can be!  ok, ok i know-enough of that.  but seriously, sometimes i have a hard time enjoying life when i know that other's are struggling.  i won't deny that we've been through our share of difficult times but when all is going so well, my heart hurts for those who have it less easy-especially on these frigid winter days and nights!  my heart goes out to you if you're hurting.  but rest assured, God has better days in store for you too!

great reminder.

Our Job Is to Obey
by Charles R. Swindoll

Let all who take refuge in You be glad, 
let them ever sing for joy.
Psalm 5:11

As you walk the path of trust, you will experience situations that simply defy explanation. When you look back, after the fact, you could never have figured out a better plan. At the time it seemed strange, mysterious . . . even illogical.

Let me assure you, that's God working. Things will happen that seem to be totally contradictory, but these are God's arrangements.

It was a wonderful day when I finally realized I don't have to explain or defend the will of God. My job is simply to obey it.

It is a waste of time trying to unscrew the inscrutable workings of God. You'll never be able to do it. That's simply the way God works.

He honors faith and obedience. He will honor your faith if you will trust Him in a walk of obedience.

And when you trust Him completely, you will enjoy inner quietness and security. You will have a secure confidence that you are walking in His will.

You will be surrounded by His peace.

my oh my-time to catch up!

so since my last Labor Day post we've had quite the excitement in the Snyder household!  around September 8th-ish we found out we are expecting!!  after a little speculation and several at-home tests (those things are expensive by the way!!) we realized there was no denying it-

we are headed for parenthood!  

over the next several days and weeks we spent some time brainstorming ways to share the news with our families and decided on a last minute "bump ahead" photo shoot.  (ok, let's be honest...that's not ALL that consumed our thoughts and spare time but it was sure fun!)  the idea credits go to Pinterest and the wonderful photos were provided by our creative, picture-taker friend, Sherri Harnisch!  check out just a fraction of her work:

at 9 weeks, we had a (pretty pointless) doctor appointment and then a 12-week appointment where our doctor surprised us with a random ultrasound because she was in a "good mood"!  it is at that moment when you realize that there is actually a human being growing inside of you--not a mass of cells (or something...).  we saw a little hand wave and all!  it was pretty crazy!!  here's our babe at 12 weeks:

 what a miracle!  

i can't even believe that we've been blessed with this little being!  i will not even deny that this small person will turn our world upside down but  i'm thankful for the next several weeks we have to prepare for the arrival!  

in the several hours i have recently spent on Pinterest, i ran across a fun photo strip of belly bump pictures this girl had posted, and that was my inspiration for the next few photos:

 IT'S A......

that's right, folks, we're having a GIRL!  

our 20 week ultrasound (that actually landed on week 19 due to Christmas) was phenomenal!  our tech did several measurements, checked the heart rate, counted fingers and toes, analyzed blood flow to the organs, checked to make sure she had all chambers of her heart, both kidneys, etc.  God is amazing, isn't he?!  i am just astounded that this child is growing and developing right inside of me!  Check her out:

side profile

right arm and hand "hi mom, hi dad"

look at that spine...crazy!

teeny tiny feet

and here is our Christmas card:

we had a fun little gender reveal:

and here are a few photos of us from Christmas:

so yaaaa.....our child made out this Christmas!  

this photo just shows a couple of examples:

we feel so incredibly blessed these days!  i'll be sure to post updates more often but for now, we hope you're looking forward to the new year as much as we are and counting your blessings as well!!

Labor Day

as a hairstylist, i usually have monday's off.  this year, i've been working them since opening the style bar which makes me extremely thankful for labor day!  i have big plans to stay in all day, lounge with my husband and spend some time cooking.  we just returned from a fabulous weekend trip to Chicago with some friends so i'm feeling very blessed.  i'll post a few of our 'touristy' pictures soon.  

ok so i'm headed to Pinterest to find some yummy recipes.  for now, i'll share a recipe i found online a bit ago.  i'm going to make this tomorrow if i can find some fresh tomatoes at the grocery store.  have a wonderful and relaxing labor day!  i'll be sleeping in!  i hope you can do the same!

Heirloom Cherry Tomato Salad

Serves six
Ingredients:
3 pints ripe heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved, from a local farm stand
2 scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3-4 tablespoon good quality extra virgin olive oil
10 leaves of fresh basil, chopped, plus a few extra small leaves for garnish
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
One loaf of great quality crusty Italian bread or French baguette

Directions:
Place the scallions in a small bowl with the vinegar and a few pinches of salt and black pepper.
Allow to sit for 15 minutes. Whisk in the extra virgin olive oil to make a vinaigrette.
Place the tomatoes in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and allow to sit for 10 minutes.


Add the vinaigrette and basil to the tomatoes, and mix. Season to taste.
Spoon the salad into serving bowls, garnish with the small basil leaves.
Slice the bread and serve with the salad.