The Ranchin’ Life

Harper and I went to work with Ryan one afternoon. Unfortunately, Harper slept the ENTIRE time, so she didn’t get to enjoy the cows and horses quite as much as I did. I don’t even think we were out of the driveway before she was sound asleep. I took some pictures to show you how the whole “feeding the cattle” thing works.

Ryan loading hay on the pickup. He had it stacked 5 bails high by the time he was finished.

 

My sexy cowboy working hard in the cold!

 

After loading the pickup, we drove over to the field with the bulls. Ryan put the truck in low gear and jumped on the back of the truck. I, however, stayed in the truck and kept warm! To feed, he cut the twine off the hay bales and then threw the bales off the truck to the bulls. This is the picture I got from the warm truck of the bulls eating the trail of hay Ry was leaving them.

{In case you’re curious, an entire days work consists of loading 270 60lb+ bales of hay and feeding 4 fields of horses and cattle.}

This is what Harper and I did the entire time – she slept and I took pictures (and drove the truck a little).

 

I took these pictures from the stack yard while Ry was loading the truck. Isn’t it so pretty??

Are you jealous yet?!?

The Day It All Happened

I’ve been waking up to this face for the last 2 months….

I can not believe it has been 2 months since Harper entered our world.  It seems like just yesterday it all happened but at the same time it feels like she’s been with us forever. Who knew you could have so much instant love for someone and that the love for your spouse would deepen even more than you could ever imagine?

As promised several weeks ago, here’s a glimpse into our little Harper’s birth day:

November 13, 2010

• My water broke at about 4:30am. I initially thought I was peeing the bed…that was a scary thought. When I got into the light of the bathroom and realized it was my water I was overcome with a lot of emotion. I couldn’t believe I was going to have our baby girl that day – I was still over 3 weeks from my due date and my baby shower was supposed to be that afternoon. AH!
• We got to the hospital around 5:30am and I still hadn’t felt much in the contraction department.  We got situated in the hospital room and I was hooked up to the contraction and baby heart monitors. My favorite part was watching when I was having contractions on the monitor because I wasn’t really feeling them. I was dilated 2cm and 90% effaced at this point.
• Shortly after, I was hooked up to pitocin. They started it low and increased it slowly throughout the day because I’m one of those crazy people that wanted to deliver naturally.
• Ry and I just sat and talked in our quiet room for most of the day. I didn’t want the tv on because I was too busy thinking about what was about to happen. I was excited and nervous and in total shock! We got up a few times to go for walks around the hospital because sitting in the bed was kinda boring and uncomfortable. The day seemed to go by so quickly.
• Around 5:00pm {I was finally dilated to a 7} my contractions actually started to hurt. I really needed to focus and use some relaxation techniques to get through them. I used a rubber exercise ball to rock back & forth on and I also really liked standing up and swaying. I HATED laying in bed for contractions…so ridiculously uncomfortable!
• Around 5:30pm I got cold sweats and hot flashes and started to feel nauseous. After puking a few times {the nurse said I was in the transition phase of labor}, I felt a lot better.
• Around 6:00pm I started to feel a lot of pressure. The nurse checked and I was dilated to an 8. I had to stay laying in bed from then on because there was so much pressure I had to try really hard not to push.
• By 6:40pm I was fully dilated and ready to push. This part was all kind of a blur. Ryan counted to 10 as I pushed with contractions. At first I kept pushing too close together and the baby’s heart rate kept dropping, so they had me push on every other contraction. It was so hard to not push when I wasn’t supposed to. I pushed for about 40 min. It was such a surreal experience. I kept feeling lightheaded and like I was going cross-eyed. Everything in the room seemed fuzzy. I was eventually given a small episiotomy to get baby girl out.
• At 7:21pm, Harper Elizabeth Bedke finally made it into our world! She was immediately placed on my chest. I just held her, feeling so overwhelmed with emotion. It was the most amazing feeling to finally hold my little girl who I had longed for for so long. It truly is indescribable! Ryan and I just sat there and admired her. She is so perfect!

I love to relive that day. It was so full of emotion and love; love that keeps growing deeper and deeper each day for both Harper and Ryan.

Our Happy Girl

We were supposed to go back up to the ranch this morning but the truck needed to go into the shop. Ryan and his dad went up to feed for the day and Harper and I are still in town trying to get my “to do” list done. We’ll head back up tomorrow as long as the truck is fixed. I’m hoping so. I ready to be back in paradise.

 

I took this video this morning while we were snuggling in bed. She is starting to smile a lot more and almost acts like she wants to start giggling. Seriously though, how am I expected to get anything done with this cute smiling munchkin around?

 

Hello. My name is Jacquie and I live in paradise.

We moved up to our new home on Friday. This was the drive as we entered paradise (aka - the ranch in Nevada). Pretty, right?

 

And this, my friends, is what I get to look at every time I look out my front window. It’s even prettier when it’s sunny but I couldn’t get a good picture with the sun out. This picture really doesn’t do it justice. It’s so serene!

 

Let me give you a snapshot of what things are like up here:

-there is no tv, internet, or phone (well, we do have a satellite phone but it only works when the stars align perfectly)

-we are about 20 min away from the next ranch with real people living at it

-we are about 1 hr away from the closest town

-we are surrounded by cows, horses, mountains and each other. {Can it get any better?}

-ryan is feeding the cattle daily and doing other projects for his dad

-I make sure he gets 3 meals/day and hang out with our precious baby girl

-Ryan is done with work for the day anywhere from 12pm – 5pm depending on what he has to do then it’s just the 3 of us to do whatever we want.

-we feel very blessed!

Now for the part I know you’ve all been waiting for…I will be re-entering the world of consistent blogging and documenting our simple life here up at the ranch (and catching up on all of the other things I’ve been slacking on posting). Since we don’t have internet, I will post all of my blog entries from the week on Sunday or Monday when we are in town for church and groceries.

 

And for the other part you’ve been waiting for…a picture of our beautiful Harper.

Isn’t she SOOO cute??

Merry Christmas

Details on Harper’s arrival and such will come soon….I’ve been too busy snuggling her to want to blog! Sorry!

For My Mom:

Messing around with the Bedke’s Halloween costume box. I don’t even know what/who I am…maybe a prego Lady Gaga?

PS I only have 5 weeks left!! AHH!! I’m so not ready. Please be obedient to your mother and stay cookin’ in there as long as you’d like little one!!

 

September Recap: Adventures of Living in Limbo

Here is a recap of our September. We extended our selling season for the month of September in order for Ryan to hit his sales goals {which might I add, he has done a mighty fine job doing. I’m so proud of you babe!!!}. It turned out to be quite the adventure.

 

MOVING

We moved a total of 5 times:

1. Indianapolis, IN to Springfield, MO

 

2. Springfield, MO to Dodge City, KS

     

In Dodge City, we had to move rooms 2x while we were at our hotel which was such a hassle (consider we are hauling our entire life around with us); however for a major portion of the week we scored the presidential jacuzzi suite because that’s all they had! SCORE!

 

3. Dodge City, KS to Garden City, KS

I had been craving chocolate ALL month but kept putting it off. Finally at about 11pm one night in Garden City I couldn’t fight the cravings anymore. So I went to Walmart in my pj’s and grabbed myself a rather excellent selection of chocolatey goodness.

 

4. Garden City, KS to Wellington, KS

In Wellington, we checked into our “motel” and it was absolutely terrible. I mean this place was a dump – smelled like smoke, everything was dirty/grimy, there were slight poop stains on the sheets, and the door had a huge gap when it was shut and bugs were coming in and out. There had to have been bed bugs too. I really wish we took pictures. We all lasted a few hours but nobody could handle the nastiness of it all so we moved to a hotel in Wichita.

 

5. Wellington, KS to Wichita, KS

We are currently in Wichita but will be leaving for Houston, TX tomorrow to visit Ryan’s mission for a week. That means tomorrow is the last day of sales!! WOOHOO!! And just over a week until we’re finally home. Hallelujah!

We drove a total of 1230.5 miles moving from place to place.

FOOD

I cooked 2 full meals on our electric skillet in a hotel {ya, that didn’t last long…such a pain!}

Washed MANY dishes in the bathroom sink.

We ate out 24 times.

We ate at hamburger joints (Wendy’s, McD’s, A&W, etc) 7 times.

We ate at Taco Bell 6 times.

Needless to say, we are SO sick of fast food and SO ready for home cooked meals.

CLOTHES

We are living out of small suitcases, which can only hold so much. So our daily wardrobe selection consists of the same 8 shirts and 3 pairs of shorts/pants. Nice!

I did a total of 6 loads of laundry.

2 of those loads I did by hand in the tub of our hotel room {due to the lack of laundry facilities}.

PREGNANCY

Survived weeks 27 to 30 throughout it all!

ps – Am I seriously 30 weeks already??? I can not believe how fast December is creeping up on us. I have so much to do when I get home. AHHH!!!!!

Baby Bedke Update

It appears as though we have less than 100 days before we meet this lil munchkin! It’s so exciting how fast time is flying yet so scary all in one. I absolutely love being pregnant (minus the massive amounts of rib pain that have existed since week 12)!  Feeling our little girl move is the most amazing feeling in the world. We already love her so much…it’s crazy!

Here are a few pictures of our baby girl at 24 weeks {yes – almost a month ago}. We had a continuation of the 20 week ultrasound because they couldn’t get a good picture of the heart at 20 weeks. Lucky for us we were able to see how much she had grown in 4 weeks and our ultrasound tech even gave us a sneak peek at her face in 3D. AMAZING! {ignore the trashy extended stay hotel room in the background ~ yes, we are currently living out of a hotel!}

And now for the less cute part - what do I look like carrying this munchkin around all day?? Well see for yourself…

 

Dang Gina Gives ALOT

Do you like free stuff? Because I sure do! It’s about time I share with you one of my favorite sites –

(I’ve been keeping it secret way too long – it’s time to share the love!) Gina highlights businesses around the country by reviewing products and hosting giveaways every few days. There is always AWESOME stuff up for grabs! And there are several ways to enter each of the giveaways. It’s so easy! And best of all…since the website is still young and growing your chances of winning are much higher!

Want proof? I’ve won 3 times in the last 7 months!!!!!!

Win #1 – A set of 2 super cute wooden hearts for valentine’s from A Touch of Sunshine.  I may or may not have extended their shelf life past valentine’s day because they are so darn cute!

Win #2 – An adorable amy butler hooded towel {for our little rugrat who is about to grace us with her presence in about 12 weeks – AHHHH!!} from Ahmelie. LOVE that shop. So much cuteness!

Win #3 – A $50 Mary Kay gift certificate from Beth. I love MK and Beth was so sweet and good to work with!

Now head on over to Dang Gina Gives. What are you waiting for??

Mr and Mrs Wilde

We went home for a few days for my lil sister’s wedding. It was an exhausting week to say the least, but it was so fun to see all my family and friends (it had been over a year) and see my sis get married.

Day of Decorating:

being a slacker w/my aunt di. {my belly looks huge here. it’s definitely not!}

 

ry being mighty helpful

 

the end result. beautiful!

 

Day of Wedding:Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Wilde! Isn’t my sister gorgeous? Ya – I did her hair and made the flower :)

 

my family doing what we do best – being goofballs!

 

hanging out at lunch

 

     

Congrats you two! We love you!!

 

Click here to view more pictures of the festivities.