Dining Room + Coffee Bar

We have a smaller home (just about 1,500 sq feet) that really is the perfect space for us! However there are some challenges, like a smaller kitchen and no laundry room. So we have had to come up with some creative solutions to maximize our small space. Our kitchen has a small little space for a table and 2 chairs, but it always has a open dining room. We don't have a need for both formal and informal dining, so we decided to make the smaller eating area into a mudroom and use the formal dining area as our eating area.

Another challenge that we had is that we don't have a ton of storage or counter space in our kitchen. So we knew we needed some sort of shelving in this space. We also wanted to put a mini fridge in there for drink storage and to make it more of a wet bar area.

My husband build us a custom table that would fit a mini fridge, then build floating shelves to go above to give us extra storage. I styled everything together. What do you think? We love it!

Here is a before to give you and idea of the space before. 

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4 Month Check In

I'm going to speed through the first 4 months, but I promised to share monthly from here on out! 

Our sweet baby Reese is 4 months old today. He is sleeping thru the night, rolling over, trying to sit up and making the cutest noises all day long. He loves his mama and tolerates his dada. Loves putting things in his mouth.

1 Month of Reese

2 Months Of Reese

3 Months of Reese

4 Months of Reese

Welcome Baby

We welcomed our sweet baby boy, Reese Henry Rakoczy on February 25th, 2019 at 8:26pm. He was 6lbs 14ozs and 19.5 inches long. 

The Dirty Details

It was Monday morning, I was 37 weeks and 2 days. I had ZERO contractions or signs of labor. I felt like I was going to be pregnant for a hundred more days. Seriously. I was getting ready for work around 6am. And I went to the potty and when I stood up there was a burst of liquid that came out of me. (I WARNED YOU IT WAS GONNA GET DIRTY, if that freaked you out, just stop reading now) I seriously thought I just peed myself. But I had just gone pee. So I sat back down on the potty. And tried to go again. Nothing. Ok, so I was like maybe it was just an accident and I'm good now. So I stood up again... and BANG another huge gush of water. HOLY CRAP MY WATER BROKE!! I started yelling at my husband. Hmmm I think my water broke. So I grabbed a pad. And I called my doctor. They totally just rolled their eyes.... like yeah right you are way too early but just come on in. BUT I KNEW THIS WAS IT!!! 

We grabbed our bags and called my parents so they could be on watch! It was my aunt's birthday and we had planned to go to dinner with the family. BUT WE WERE GONNA HAVE A BABY THAT DAY!! 

When we arrived at the hospital, they took me back into a room to check to see if my water really had broken. They do this thing was a swab and send it to the lab. Even the nurse was like you are way to early for your water to have broken. Then she went to swab and she got squirted with water.... BAHAHA She jumped back a little and was like OH YOUR WATER BROKE. Hmm yeah lady. Thanks. HAHAHA She sent the swab to the lab but let my doctor know that my water was for sure broken. He came in to check on me and I was just about 2cm dilated. Still NO CONTRACTIONS! So they started me on pitocin. Mother of God, contractions hurrrttttt. I don't understand how women can do this naturally. YALL ARE SUPERHEROS. I got an epidural when I was bout 5cms, around 2pm. 

Once I got the epidural, I was feeling pretty good. So my parents come in to visit a little bit. But right around 6pm, I was feeling really sick. I felt like I was gonna puke. My doctor came in right around that time and said I was round 8cm. My parents left at this time. My husband was rubbing my feet and my shoulders. I needed all the peppermint oil! The labor nurse and I started doing practice pushes. She was SO FREAKING AWESOME. She kept me focused and talked me through every moment. But she also could see when I just needed a break. So about an hour of practice pushing, she checked me and said I was about 9.5 cm and that it was time to call the doctor! IT WAS GO TIME! 

When it's actually time to push with the doctor, its like a freaking pit crew coming through. The doctor, his assistant who notes everything happening, the baby nurse, and the labor nurse are all in the room with us. I pushed for about an hour with the doctor and there was our sweet baby boy! It was seriously the best moment ever. I'm ready to have another!! It's so true what they say.... you totally forget about the pain.



Moments after meeting the love of my life!

Baby Bumping

After almost 3 years of trying, we found out we were pregnant on July 16th. I had missed my cycle that week, which is pretty common for me. After trying for a year, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with PCOS. I want to save our season of waiting and PCOS for another post. It was truly a dark and sad time in our lives and I want to keep this post as happy as possible!

One day you will wake up and all of the waiting will have made sense. You will realize that all of the prayers that seemed to be tangled in worries were actually wrapped tightly in God’s grace. You will begin to realize that after all this time, because of His love for you, you have always been right where you needed to be.

How we found out!

It was Monday Morning and I was going to call my doctor to set up an appointment to look for any cysts since I hadn't had my cycle that month and I was having some strange pressure. This wasn't my first rodeo when it came to dealing with cysts, so I knew they were going to test to see if I was pregnant. I have had SO many negative tests that I just hated taking them at this point. But I also wanted to be prepared to tell the doctor what was going on when setting up my appointment. So that morning, I took a test and set it on the counter and started getting ready for the day. I knew it was going to be negative, so I didn't watch it or anything. Honestly... I forgot it was there. HAHAHA I showered, and started getting ready. I was about to leave for the day and was like OH WAIT, let me go check the test. I was so confused when I saw the two lines. I actually thought maybe I grabbed an ovulation test and not a pregnancy test. So I showed my husband and he was like hmm the test must be old or expired - test again. (We were both so used to negative tests!!) So I grabbed 3 more that were different brands. THEY WERE ALL POSITIVE!! We were just so in shock! We both cried and hugged each other. My husband was like "Well now what do we do?!?" 

First and Second Trimester

I'm lumping these two trimesters in together because they honestly felt like the same. I never got sick but I just always felt nauseous. Thank god for those ginger candies! They really helped! I was F O R E V E R tried. I couldn't get enough sleep!! We finally got to hear baby's heartbeat around 8 weeks and it was just the best feeling ever! I felt him move for the first time around 16 weeks. We waited to tell everyone until we were about 15 weeks because we had a little scare around 12 weeks. I went to the ER because I was having lots of cramping and bleeding. Turns out I had a SubChronic Hemorrhage. Likely due to lifting my two labs into my car the day before. So I was instructed to take it easy and go to my OB when they opened on Monday. The SCH cleared itself in just a few weeks. But I was very careful the rest of my pregnancy! 

Third Trimester

MOTHER OF GOD. Everything hurts. I can't sleep. The heartburn is U N R E A L. I pee every hour. I can't get comfortable. I'm a high risk pregnancy, so I'm at the doctor ALL THE FREAKING TIME. No seriously 2 times a week! We got a lot of pictures of baby, which I now know that a lot of momma's only get to see baby 1 or 2 times during their pregnancy. I feel so blessed to be able to carry our sweet boy. I know so many momma's don't get this opportunity. 

Welcome!

Hey Yall! 

I'm sure you probably have deduced by now that I'm Amanda. Here is what you need to know about me. I am a new momma, wifey to a sweet husband, and lover of a great deal. We are newish home owners in Jacksonville, Florida, where we love taking our pups to the beach! I've never met a ceviche I didn't like. And I always order a spicy margarita - on the rocks. 

I'm working on getting this blog together. So I thank you for your patience!