Relatively Reagan

This year I have two valentines...

2012-02-14T07:47:00.000-05:00

Today is Valentines Day! My first valentines day with two sweet boys. (well, three if you count Cole-nugget... man, I am really out numbered here!) I feel so blessed. A caring, loving, supportive, hard working husband, and a healthy, snugly, delicious little baby. Our life is not perfect, but it is ours, and I would not have it any other way.

It is rare that I get overly sappy these days, unfortunately that is a negative side effect of my ppd meds. Not paralyzingly sad, but not overly joyful either.

But, not today.

because today is Valentines Day!

what better way to celebrate tonight than with hamburgers on the grill, sweet potato fries, home made desert, and some snuggles on the couch while I force my valentines to watch two of my favorite shows, dance moms and teen mom! Does not get any better than this people!

Happy Valentines Day!

Ombre Cupcakes

2012-02-12T09:58:00.001-05:00

This is only the 2nd time I've made cupcakes since baby d was born... although I did make LOTS of cookies around the holidays, cupcakes take a little more time because you have to frost them.

I made these last night for my girls at work (gotta sugar them up since I'm about to go back!) to enjoy for valentines day. I like the ombre look... I used 'electric purple' food coloring, and just did four bowls. 1-drop, 2-drops, 4-drops, and 6-drops. I think next time, I'll leave the first bowl white, and not do the 1-drop, that will give it more delineation at the top of the cupcake.

our weekend

2012-02-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

with only two more weeks before I head back to work we decided to take a short weekend away. The hubs, baby durham, cole-nugget and I all headed south to stay at a lake view cabin in Indian Springs. The weather was made to order... sunny and felt like 75' most of the time. We had the entire place to ourselves on Friday, I think we only saw one other couple the whole day. We hiked (we did not go the short way, I can promise you that), went down to Daucet Trails to see the animals, walked around by the lake, grilled out, played with the baby, and snuggled by the fire roasting marshmallows.

I love catching pictures of my boys together... there is something indescribable about the man you love being sweet and loving with your baby. It never gets old. I don't think it ever will.

Traveling with a 2 month old was not as scarey as we anticipated. We DID have to bring a TON more stuff and we are always heavy packers to begin with, so I'm surprised that cole even had room to ride in the car. haha. We used the pack-n-play for the first time, and durham loved it. We brought his sound machine from home and tryed to re-create his environment and routine as best we could. Seemed to work.

I am so glad we had a chance to sneak away... it was a great weekend!!

2 months

2012-02-01T03:15:00.000-05:00

I can not believe our little turtle is already 2 months old.

that phrase that everyone uses "enjoy it now, they grow up so fast" has never been more true.

Durham has started being much more alert on his playmat, will follow daddy with his eyes as he walks around the room, and has gotten in a good routine the past 2 weeks. It is so fun to spend time with him and enjoy all his awake times. We are so lucky to have this little man. my heart is full.

likes:

-daddy snuggles

-mommy's milk

-being swaddled

-sleeping all night in my crib

-playdates with Jackson

-dancing in the kitchen with mommy

dislikes:

-onsies with snaps on the shoulder

-gas bubbles that make my tummy hurt

mommy, no more pictures please!!

a routine...

2012-01-31T19:09:00.000-05:00

a few people have asked about how we got baby D to sleep all night in his crib...

I know that every baby is different, and some stuff does not work for everyone, but I wanted to share our routine in case it could help someone. Life has been so much more relaxed and enjoyable since Durham got into a "routine" and I can better anticipate his needs to make him as comfortable and happy as possible.

I did join this website Moms On Call to get started. A lot of their ideas are great, and just a couple I don't agree with (cry it out is NOT for us) but this gave me the motivation and confidence to put some things into motion.

a couple things that WORK for US:

-make a definite delineation between day time/night time.

for us day time is from 9am-9pm. During this time, all the lights are on, curtains open, tv/music playing, normal daily noise for us. Then at 9pm it's night time, lights off, sound machine on, and he takes his feeding in his room.

-sound machine

get one. period. this is the one we have. they recommend that it is loud enough to hear on the other side of a closed door.

-swaddle

they recommend swaddling for naps and night time till 3 months, then I think only at night time. Durham still has MAJOR startle hands and is like houdini and can get out of a regular swaddle blanket in about 15 minutes, so I went and bought 1.5 yards of jersey fabric and I use that instead. I like it because it stretches and I can tighten it without re-wraping him at night.

-feeding

D is mostly bottle fed now, I prefer being able to see how many ounces he is getting vs. straight from the tap since he is such a lazy eater. From 9am-9pm he eats every 3 hours (9, 12, 3, 6, 9) and at 9pm for his night bottle, he takes one additional ounce and goes straight to bed. Usually sleeps until about 3am, up to eat, back to sleep, and up again between 7-9am. But last night he didn't wake up to eat. Slept for 9 glorious hours straight! We DO wake him for feedings during the day (9am-9pm) but do NOT wake him at night. I think letting him only sleep for about an hour and a half to 2 hours during the day is what helps him sleep longer at night.

so here is what it looks like on an average day... including errands, we get out of the house at least every other day, sometimes everyday.

9am-9:20am: eat, diaper change, get dressed.

9:20-10:20ish: play time (playmat, talking to mommy, bouncey chair, tummy time, ect)

10:30-12pm: put baby in carseat and run errands while he sleeps. usually get back home before 12pm feeding, but sometimes I'm at a playdate and he'll eat while we're there.

12pm: eat, diaper change.

12:20-1:20pm: play time (playmat, talking to mommy, bouncey chair, tummy time, ect)

1:30-3pm: nap. This nap is usually at home. We aim for only one "nap on the run" a day.

3pm: eat, diaper change

3:30-430pm: This is when he is the most happy during the day... and also when the light is best in my house, so a couple times a week I'll try to take pictures during this play time. Also when I start dinner, so we are also dancing in the kitchen to the radio. play time (playmat, talking to mommy, bouncey chair, tummy time, ect)

4:30pm-6pm: nap.

6pm: eat, diaper change. Daddy is home now so he gets some snuggle time and play time with him. love.

8pm: sometimes a small cat-nap in the bouncer, sometimes not.

8:30pm: bath time (every other night) and start bedtime routine. All the lights go out, sound machine on, rocking in his room, reading books and getting snuggles.

9pm: last bottle of the night. and then diaper change, swaddle and right in the crib, awake. he doesn't cry, and is asleep in about 2 minutes.

I can't believe little man is gonna be 2 months old tomorrow... bittersweet.

Winning!!

2012-01-27T14:11:00.001-05:00

with my best charlie sheen voice

:::WINNING:::

that is pretty much how I feel today.

Mommy is Winning!

up until yesterday d-baby has been sleeping pretty much anywhere but his crib.

carseat, bouncey chair, swing, sling, sofa, our bed...ect.

which was fine but I was ready for him to be getting into a routine

to make it easier on all of us for when I go back to work.

I am THRILLED to say that he slept in his crib all night last night, and for his naps today.

This is such a rewarding milestone...

I keep texting pictures to hubs and BFF everytime he goes down for a nap like
"OMG, he's in his crib AGAIN!" haha.
My little turtle is growing up.

random notes...

2012-01-26T08:29:00.000-05:00

I'm having a hard time coming up with titles...

I feel like everypost should be titled "random" for the next couple of weeks. haha

-I am starting to get mentally/physically prepared to head back to work in a few weeks. I'm all over the place on this one. happy/sad/excited/scared/nervous/ect. I'm ready for some adult interaction and routine, but sad to leave my baby all day (even if it is just with gramma's and the hubs).

-I'm starting to get my pre-baby body back. if that is even possible. I saw this idea on pinterest the other day and made my own jars. The one on the left is lbs I've lost and the one on the right is lbs still to loose. (each rock is 1/2 lb. I'm already at my pre-pregnancy weight, this is just to get me to a healthy goal weight).

-My sweet baby is 8 weeks old today. I can't believe how much he has grown in the past few weeks! He is gaining neck controll and wiggling all over the place during tummy time. He smiles at us, recognizes our voices, and has started the cutest coo-ing in the past week or two. Got a cute video of it too... I'll post at the bottom. :)

-Those close to us know we had a hard time trying to find a paci that Durham would take with his tounge being tied... we finally found one two weeks ago. I put all our "I don't like this" pacis in a jar on his dresser. haha

-The hubs and I have been going to a bible study small group on Friday nights. We are doing a series on marriage that has been making me really think and put an effort into the things I say. It has really made me feel like I'm being a better wife, and for that I am thankful.

I know this is mostly for the grandparents (and aunt ra) but it's short and cute.

man I love this kid.

Questions/Answers

2012-01-18T17:02:00.001-05:00

I got a lot of questions this past week...

yall are nosey.

just kidding. not really. but I don't mind sharing...

yes. Cole is still inside.

I was really struggling with this when I was pregnant... the thought of having our baby around our 100lb weim scared me and the thought of him having dog hair on him just disgusted me. we did a few things to change my attitude... bought a new couch that Cole is not allowed on, shampooed the carpet, and we don't allow Cole in the baby's room. He has been awesome with Durham. Mostly he just doesn't care about him but if the baby is crying cole makes the saddest "make it stop" face... hahaha. Afterall, he was our first baby. :)

no. we are not thinking about having another.

give us some time people. gosh.

yes. I am going back to work.

I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to stay home with little man for 12 weeks... I realize that a lot of people don't have that option and I am cherishing my time with him. I'm lucky that I love my job and I do miss my girls and my "adult interaction". Chris and I were joking last night that I was gonna use my baby talk voice with customers "yall findin everything ok?" all high pitched and squeaky. hahaha

no. I suck.

I can't believe someone actually emailed me and asked what kind of camera I have because "your pictures are amazing"... uuuhhh. you must be blind. haha. but thanks. if you like over/under exposed out of focus messes then I am your girl! I have a nikon d3000 and a really cute kid, he makes my pictures worth looking at.

yes. I baby wear.

I totally love it. the wrap I wear most often is a maya wrap and you can buy them here.and bestie just loaned me her mei tais... super comfey too! :) here.

yes. my c-section healed up nicely...thanks for asking.

That is all the details I am willing to publicly share on that topic (um, my dad reads this blog) but if you are having a scheduled c-section and would some support please email me. I'd love to pray for you and share my experience.

real life with a 6 week old...

2012-01-16T15:57:00.002-05:00

I had to laugh today when I got a text from a friend that said

"I am officially calling you the worst text-returner ever"

My cell phone had been dead for 2 days and I didn't even realize it.

Such is life with a 6-week old. I guess.

also, partly because the hubs was home this weekend and we were spending some quality family time... and also partly because he bought me a kendle fire for Christmas and Ive really enjoyed snuggling in bed with my mini-me and stalking facebook and blogs on that instead of my phone.

eitherway, it was humbling. My life is no longer my own. In many ways I have turned into the mother that I swore I wouldn't be. but at the same time I have turned into a better mother than I ever knew I was capable of being. That may only make sense to other mommys, or maybe to no one at all.

my little turtle is such a good baby... eat, sleep, poop, smile, fart, repeat. That is the sum of his life right now. I am spending my maternity leave taking care of him and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to do that... our bond is so special and I LOVE being with him.

It is a little different than I imagined though... bestie always says "I was the best mother before I had kids" or something like that... meaning, you always think you can do it better/have all the answers until you are actually doing it. it has never felt more true. Nothing will bring you to your knees faster than a screaming baby that can't be soothed at 3am, or being told that your breastmilk may not be fatty enough to sustain your baby, or a bout with postpartum depression. I jump at every whimper or coo and I absolutely LIVE for him to smile at me. I always kinda scoffed at the mommy's that said they didn't have time to shower, or would forget to eat because they were so busy. We always said we would never put our baby in bed with us, we would never this or never that. I never understood why their house wouldn't be spotless if their on maternity leave, what else could you possibly be doing? hahaha. I'm on my knees I tell you.

I love my little Durham more than I ever knew was possible... he is such a blessing and we are so thankful to have him in our lives. I now know that being a mommy is different than I anticipated, but it is better. I don't have all the answers, but I know that God will lead me and show us what is best for our little man.

I am taking time to cherish all these moments now, because I know they will not last forever. He is already growing up so fast... I just wanna keep him in this sling a little longer...sweet baby durham.

cell phone photo dump (aka: pictures of my kid)

2012-01-13T13:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!

We are looking forward to extra time with daddy this weekend...

small group with friends tonight, and family movie/snuggle time on Sunday.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

and just to keep it real...

"It's lies! All lies I tell you!" --Durham

6 weeks

2012-01-12T11:41:00.001-05:00

our little fatty.fatty. is 6 weeks old today!

He weighs 13lbs 6oz and is 24 inches long.

I know I haven't been blogging much, but I've been a little pre-occupied.

Hope you understand.

I could just sit here and stare at my beautiful baby all day...

and I do sometimes. :)

smile!

2012-01-09T08:44:00.002-05:00

finally caught a smile on camera!

Happy Monday!

Happy New Year's Eve!

2011-12-29T21:28:00.001-05:00

we are having our first date night tonight...

well not a full "night" per-say.

Durham will spend a couple hours at his grandparents so mommy & daddy can have dinner.

I hope I can even make it out of their driveway... wonder if I can talk the hubs into just having a picnic on my parents front yard. haha

one last year in review before 2012!

Bring it on... I love January!

2011 in Review

2011-12-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

JANUARY

We rang in the new year in Savannah, made some resolutions (some we kept and some not.so.much).

Made a lot of cupcakes, and survived the great snowpocalypse of 2011!

FEBRUARY

I made some super cute cupcakes to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary (yup, they got married on Groundhogs day!) We got some more snow in Atlanta, and I celebrated valentines day with my hubs. <3

MARCH

Our world was rocked with the tragedy in Japan, and I whined about turning 29... it hit me hard that we had not been able to get pregnant... little did I know we would get our positive this month. My mom made a beautiful birthday cake too!

APRIL

This was a rough month... I was super sick from the pregnancy and didn't blog much, but we did manage to re-do our master bathroom with lots of help from my mom. And bestie took me for yogurt tap like 36 times... she wanted to make sure I was feeding the baby. :)

MAY

We quietly celebrated my first "baby in the belly mother's day" and Celebrated Chris's birthday a couple days early with a month-end trip to visit awesome friends in St. Pete.

JUNE

Our hearts were bursting with excitement when we shared the news of our long-awaited pregnancy. Cole spent a week with Uncle Daryl & Aunt Shanna, baby Sawyer was born, and my sweet baby Jackson turned 3!

I can't believe how fast time flys.

JULY

We found out baby bear was a BOY! Celebrated bestie turning 30 with 30 things I love about her, and celebrated the hubs getting accepted into his masters program. My dad built us a kitchen island using some plans from ana white and we completely re-did our office in anticipation of re-doing the baby's room.

AUGUST

We started picking paint colors for the baby's room, and had our back yard fenced in.

I ate 7 boxes of Lucky Charms, and the hubs put the baby's crib together!

SEPTEMBER

Always a special month... the start of college football and we celebrated 2 blissful years of marriage. I love this man more and more everyday. We took a spontaneous trip to Madison for the weekend, announced our baby's name, and we celebrated baby Durham with his first baby shower!

OCTOBER

The hubs and I spent some wonderful one.on.one time together in the north Georgia mountains. We called it our "babymoon" as we celebrated our last few weeks as a family of 2.

We took our maternity photos, and celebrated Halloween!

NOVEMBER

As I waddled through weeks 34-38 of our pregnancy there was not too much going on here but work and the nursery reveal and some Thanksgiving wishes.

DECEMBER

by far our busiest month... Our world was rocked when Durham was born on December 1st. (birth story here) We spend the next 4 weeks celebrating Christmas with friends/family, enjoying our tree, and decorating our annual gingerbread house.

2011 was a year of blessings for us... we know it would be impossible to count every one, but we are so thankful. Thankful for love, for family, for forgiveness, for friends, and our biggest blessing- our sweet baby.

Happy New Year to you & yours...

be safe and we'll see you in 2012!

thumbs up... thumbs down

2011-12-28T17:33:00.000-05:00

urban outfitters

thumbs up: Durham slept almost 5 hours straight last night!

thumbs down: It is painful to go that long between feedings... ouch.

thumbs up: chicken tacos for dinner yesterday!

thumbs down: dropped one of my tacos on the ground... booo.

thumbs up: took 250 pictures over Christmas weekend!

thumbs down: need to sort and edit 250 pictures from Christmas weekend... haha.

thumbs up: I'm back down to my pre-pregnancy weight.

thumbs down: that means I should probably stop wearing maternity/yoga pants everyday. :/

thumbs up: I still have 2 more months of maternity leave!

thumbs down: Pinterest is sucking out all my nap time... haha.

thumbs up: I ordered our Birth announcements!

thumbs down: there is no thumbs down to this... they are so stinkin cute!

the first 4 weeks...

2011-12-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

mommy-hood is hard.

even though I am still a rollercoaster of emotions

when I look at this baby's sweet face I know that

everything we do is so worth it to have this sweet little man.

I never knew it was possible to love someone so much...

I can't believe he will be a month old on New Years Day!

I couldn't think of a more perfect way to ring in the new year than with my boys.

a quick post... Christmas!

2011-12-26T20:23:00.002-05:00

we are still celebrating!

Daddy took today off and we rounded out our Christmas weekend with more family and yummy food. We have had an amazing Christmas and I can't wait to dig through all the pictures and recap.

We have more family visiting tomorrow, even though the hubs will be back at work,

and then I can start thinking about NEW YEARS!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I can't wait to read all your posts!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T18:20:00.000-05:00

This is a very special Christmas for us...

the first with our baby bear.

It has a totally different feeling now...

so much love and joy. I can't even describe it.

We are looking forward to fun and family for the next 3 days.

and of course lots of snuggle time with our little man.

::photo credit: taken by tate::

Merry Christmas

to you and your family

Luke 2:9-14
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Gingerbread House 2011

2011-12-18T18:30:00.001-05:00

One of my very favorite Christmas traditions is building our annual gingerbread house. When we were little, little kids my grandparents started sending us a kit that we would make for the holidays, and now that we are older mom bakes a home made house for us to assemble and decorate. It is more about the family time and less about the house each year, but we do enjoy seeing just how much candy we can get to stick on this house.

This year was special too because my grandparents are visiting from New York and it was their first time to see Durham! Everyone got a little snuggle time in and he was busy taking a good nap while we ate way too much candy in the kitchen! haha

just a few pictures from the past couple years.

Notice how I am wearing gray in every picture.

::sigh::

looks like next year I need to mix it up a bit.

2008

2009

2010

2011: This Year

{brother, I told you this was going up! LOL}

{the person who broke the house and had to rig it with gram crackers will remain nameless}

{my favorite part... powered sugar. let it snow. let it snow. let it snow}

{the hubs adding "people" inside the house...with spaghetti tongs}

{granny trying to get a good angle... dad about had a heart attack with her on the chair.}

Durham looks like he is about to eat it! LOL.

Not quite what he was looking for, haha, but yeah for baby's first ginger bread house picture!

Absolutely a tradition we will continue with our kids.

if you want to take a trip down memory lane... (mom)... here is the link to last years ginger bread house. 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-11T12:47:00.001-05:00

since we already got everything on our Christmas list (duh. baby Durham) we are excited about keeping Christmas kinda low key this year. With a baby that is only a couple weeks old, we wont be trekking all over the city to visit friends/family, but letting them come to us to get snuggles. I'm planning on doing some holiday baking (in between feeding times) and a couple of cute hand made gifts too. It has been awesome getting Christmas cards in the mail everyday... and seeing the glow from our Christmas tree every time I walk through the living room. I am so thankful for all we have been blessed with this Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year.

this photo by bestie ::swoon::

Durham's Birth Story

2011-12-09T13:56:00.001-05:00

the day before: November 30, 2011

the hubs and I went to the holspital to have all our paperwork and blood work out of the way. we had our last OB appointment and got all our questions asked and answered about the c-section that was scheduled for the next day. As we were waiting on some tests, we realized that in less than 18 hours we would be holding our baby boy. I posted this picture on facebook...

that night we could hardly sleep... we had to be up at 4:30am to be at the hospital by 5:45am, but it didn't matter. we were so excited about meeting our son that we just snuggled down and cherished that last sleepless night that it would only be the two of us.

Birth-day: December 1, 2011

we got to the hospital at 5:45am and were taken back to a private room on the labor and delivery floor. I was given a very figure-flattering gown to wear and the hubs had some stylish blue scrubs. the nurse hooked my baby belly up to a monitor so we could hear Durham's heartbeat. it was all I could hear for the next two hours... such a beautiful beat. we waited together in that room until they came to get me...

they took me into the operating room alone. I remember being more nervous about getting the catheter than I was the spinal block. All the dr's in the room were so nice, they kept making sure I was comfortable and reassuring me that everything was going to be ok. I was so relieved when they finally brought Chris in to sit beside me, he could hold my hand even though it was strapped down and was so comforting even though I know he was just as scared as I was.

Durham was born at 8:33am. Came out screaming... it was the most amazing moment of our lives. My heart nearly doubled in size. This is the video of the first time they brought him around the curtain for me to see... I can't watch it without crying and I am so thankful to have it because I have almost no memory from this point on the rest of the day.

Our family and friends were out in the waiting room...
thinking positive thoughts for us and sending up lots and lots of prayers.

After Durham was an ouitside baby, Chris escorted him and the nurse upstairs to the NICU, they just wanted to monitor him and get his temperature regulated. I think he was in there for about an hour... it kills me to see him in this little box, but I am so thankful that he is healthy.

Lucky for our fan club out in the waiting room... once they finished in the NICU they could all watch thru the nursery windows as Chris gave his baby boy a bath. These pictures of my two boys are the most precious things I have ever seen... I was still in the OR getting all stitched up, so I missed out on this, and I am so thankful that aunt ra was able to capture everything so I could live it with them. It is so beautiful to watch Chris take care of our baby boy... I can't even explain the ache in my heart when I look at these pictures.

While all of the above is going on, I am taken down to a recovery room where I have to stay for at least an hour. (or until I was able to wiggle my legs). They had untied my arms from the bed and I laid there throwing up and scratching my itching face and arms for an hour straight. It was the longest hour of my life. From the recovery room, they wheeled my bed into our regular room and people started pouring in! I remember being so relieved that it was 'over' and that everyone who had been supporting us so amazingly from the beginning was now filing into our room to tell me how beautiful our baby was and how proud they were of us.

and then I threw up.

and again, and again. I had a terrible reaction to the spinal and was absolutely sick the rest of the day. boo. absolutley not how I anticipated our first day with Durham to be. They gave me medicine for the nausea, but it made me so sleepy I would just sleep through people coming to see us. Chris changed every diaper that first day, and totally took care of Durham. I really don't even remember holding him, but I know I did, because I have these pictures.

I can't wish for our first day to be different. I can't wish that I didn't have to have a c-section, or wish that I didn't get sick, or wish for anything different than what it was. It is OUR STORY. It gave us our perfect baby and I would do it all again, exactly the same, a million times just to have him.
It was perfect for us at this time.

our very first family photo

our baby Durham

2011-12-05T14:39:00.001-05:00

December 1, 2011 at 8:33am we welcomed our beautiful baby boy into the world.

durhamchristopherreagan

I can not tell you what an amazing experience it has been becoming a mommy (and watching my husband turn into a dad right before my eyes). I never knew I could love someone so much that my heart might burst. Durham is the most amazing gift... and Chris & I are beyond amazed by him every day.

I am working on his birth story, memories that I want to keep forever, and I am excited to share the details with you but it will take some time. Here are a few pictures of our little man to hold you over.

{the very first time mommy got to hold Durham.

The hour that I was in recovery from the c-section was one of the longest in my life.

Daddy was upstairs with Durham getting him all cleaned up}

{daddy snuggling Durham at the hospital, and when we FINALLY got released on Saturday}

{at the hospital}

{gifts from sweet friends}

{sweet sleeping boy}

{my heart could burst at any moment. I love these boys so much}

Thank you for all the love and prayers. And, to our friends and family, you guys have no idea how special it is to us to have you love on our baby boy. Thank you for being at the hospital, thank you for the prayers, hugs, wet washcloths, food, laughs, visits, snuggles, and pictures. You guys are amazing and we will forever be thankful that you were able to share in the most special day of our lives.

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:52:00.001-05:00

We wish you and your family a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving! Full of food, fun, friends and family. This is one of our favorite holidays... we just love everything about it.

There is so much to be thankful for always, but with the arrival of Durham just one week from today we are especially thankful for all that God has blessed us with this year. May your heart be open and ready to receive all the JOY this season will bring.

week 38

2011-11-15T10:38:00.001-05:00

to catch you up: the baby is still inside.

I know you guys were starting to wonder... haha.

Thanks for the emails, but baby Durham is still snug as a bug in my belly.

As we get closer, it feels like every time I call someone they think I'm calling to tell them I'm in labor. nope. not yet.

I do have quite an update for you...

I went today for our weekly (38 weeks to be exact) appointment and my first internal exam. My usual dr. was out on a delivery so I saw another dr. in the practice that I had not met before. Our initial visit went something like this...

dr: wow, how much weight have you gained?

me: about 25 lbs

dr: really? Your belly looks way to big to be 38 weeks.

me: really? It does feel big, but I've only been measuring a week ahead every other week or so...

dr: (feels around on the outside of my belly trying to check for Durhams position and then does the internal check of my uterus... ouch) well, you are closed and very very high. I can hardly reach your uterus it's so high.

me: oh gawd, don't say that! I was really hoping to be progressing!!

dr: I am gonna send you for an ultrasound to measure the baby and check for position.

me: ok. (proceed to throw up in my mouth a little)

So, I head over to the ultrasound wing, and wait, and wait, and wait. The tech was super nice showing me everything. his arms, his legs, his heart, his kidneys. Everything looked great. We couldn't see his face because he was backwards facing my spine, but I'm sure he is just an adorable mini-version of the hubs. He is measuring big, at 9lbs 1oz (however, ultrasound measurements can sometimes be a lb off) and he is in fact BREECH.

When I heard this, I was shocked. We have not had an ultrasound since our 23 week scan, but I have been told all along that he was head down. They feel my belly at every appointment to confirm, and I have had no indication otherwise. At this point, I was sent back down to see the dr. again to discuss our "options".

I'll keep it short, I'm not trying to educate anyone here, just share my experience...

basically he said that we could try the external cephalic version (which has about a 50% success rate in weeks 35-37 and with a normal size baby) but that because Durham is already 38 weeks and much bigger, he thinks the success rate of that would be about 10%... there are also some other more natural ways to get him to turn... music at the pelvis, flashlight, cold at the top of the belly and warm at the bottom, the pelvic tilt (just google and you can find videos of everything) and believe me, we will be trying them all... but for now,

we are scheduled to have our BIG baby boy

on December 1st via c-section.

I spent the day today mourning the medicated vaginal birth I had been imaging for the past 9 months. C-section had never even entered my mind. I am still overwhelmed by how different everything seems now... no "surprise honey, my water broke" phone calls to the hubs, no mothers/bffs in the delivery room, no photos... the recovery will be much different too. Something I am not sure I have even wrapped my mind around yet.

Don't get me wrong... we are THRILLED that he is a healthy baby, and I know that there was a reason that my normal dr. was in delivery today... I was meant to be seen by someone new. I am glad to have this information early and not have everything thrust at me while in active labor.

I posted this verse on my facebook page today... and I am trying to remind myself that MY plans are not always the plans that God has for me. His plans are better. His plans are right. His plans will eventually rock my face off (even if it does not feel like it right now).

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I am sharing this experience because this is why I blog... to remember. To create a path of memories that will take me back to a specific time, that when I read these words again I will feel them. The excitement and joy of the pending arrival of our first baby, the anticipation, the pain, the heartache. But also, today I am sharing because I need support. I need prayers. I would love to hear from other momma's that have been through a similar experience. Advice? Love? I'll take it.

pamela.eaton@gmail.com

Nursery Details

2011-11-07T19:11:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the love on Durham's Nursery Reveal yesterday!

We are so thrilled with how everything came out... the hubs and I are often joking that baby D has the nicest room in our house. haha

Here are the details/sources/links to some of the things in his room...

if you don't see something listed and want to know JUST ASK, we are happy to share.

1. THE BOOK LEDGES: I was inspired by some from IKEA... we have one in our Kitchen and one in our Office already... but, even though they are very affordable at $10 each ($60 for 6) I was not sure I wanted to spend that much. So, my dad made them... and mom sanded and painted them. They are one of my very favorite things in the room. To make your own... this is a great tutorial to follow.

2. THE BOOKS: Durham is one lucky little guy to have such a library! At one of my Baby Showers the invitation included wording like this "we have one request we hope isn't too hard, please sign your name to a book instead of a card. Then mom and dad will be ready when baby arrives, to read to little Durham for the rest of his life!" How stinkin' cute is that! We got so many great books at all of our showers and we can't wait for him to get here so we can start reading!

3. THE CURTAINS: These are Eclipse Black Out (and energy efficient) window panels from WALMART. I love how dark they make the room when they are closed... we got the "dark blue" which is almost black. $22. Also, the hardware came from Walmart (link to the rod here) but I couldn't find the clips. Same section and brand though.

4. BOAT: One of my friends, Hannah, found this at a garage sale for $4. GO HANNAH!

5. GRACO SWING: This was a gift from one of the hubs brothers. (we totally lucked out being the last to have kids on his side... so many awesome hand.me.downs. everyone has been so generous). I believe this is the model on Amazon.

6. CRIB SKIRT: I actually made this myself! White fabric, and two strips of blue ribbon and one strip of yellow (that I didn't even sew on! I just used no sew tape! haha)

7. BLANKETS: Amazing hand knitted/crocheted blankets made with love by some very special people. I joke that I will never let him use them except for pictures. haha

8. BOAT MOBILE: I think this is my very favorite thing in the entire room. I saw it on this blog and I searched and searched and searched to find it. FINALLY, I found it (this was months ago, it's obviously easier to find now... just saw 12 sites online that carry it! haha) and bought it from The Ancient Mariner.

9. THE CRIB: Long story short... the crib also came from WALMART. It is the Graco Lauren 4-1 Convertible Crib in Espresso. We had some issues with the original order (not from walmart) and with the color/finish... but, everything worked out and we I got exactly what we I wanted.

10.THE CHAIR/PILLOWS: Like I mentioned yesterday, we have not settled on a chair/glider/rocker/recliner yet. These are BIG decisions people, so for right now, this is a chair from our living room. Bestie made the pillows for me (like the day after we picked his name). She's sweet like that... I keep encouraging her to open an etsy shop.

1. THE DRESSER: is from IKEA. $300 and really beautiful in person. We love it so much we are thinking about purchasing one for our master bedroom. Dad, doesn't that sound like fun? Putting that together again! HAHA

2. CHANGING PAD: gifted, but the pad and the cover are from Babies R Us.

3. HAMPER: How cute and nautical is this! It was in the basket section of Hobby Lobby. Regualar $30 (but 1/2 off... so I got it for $15) whoot!

4. BLUE GLASS JARS: Thrifted

5. DURHAM SIGN: I bought the wooden letters from Walmart (I liked the more "boyish" font than the ones I had seen at Michaels or HobLob) and mom painted them white and mounted them to the other piece of wood (Home Depot) with wood glue. I love how it turned out.

6.WALL COLOR: BEHR Velvet Sky (it is a cross between blue and gray)

1. GROWTH RULER: I was inspired by Pinterest to do this Pottery Barn knock-off growth chart... (see the bloggers tutorial here) the stain came out a little darker than I had wanted, but it's not as dark in person as it is in this photo. I can't wait to start marking his growth and milestones. :)

2. & 3. OAR & BOUY: Both came from HomeGoods. Bestie and I LOVE that store.

*****

OK, I think that about sums it up. Completing his room has been such a labor of love.... there are some days where I just walk in there and stare at stuff... thinking about when he'll be playing with this or sleeping in that... right now all we can do is day dream.
I can't wait for an outside baby!

Durham's Nursery Reveal

2011-11-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

This is an emotional post to write...

I'm sure partly to blame on these 36 week hormones and partly just because we are so overwhelmed by the love that our friends and family have already shown our sweet baby boy. To have people that genuinely feel as excited about Durham as we are is such a blessing and we know that we are so lucky to be where we are.

Let me paint the picture for you a little... we live in a 3 bedroom house. Before we got pregnant we were using one room as a guest room and one room as an office. BOTH rooms were FULL of stuff we thought we needed/were using but once we got to purging and organizing we were able to combine them both into an organized space that we really enjoy. (although we currently don't have a place for guests to sleep besides a blow up mattress ::sorry josh:: but we are working on that). Check out the office progress posts here and here and the office reveal here.

This was the progression the last time I updated... we went from a guest room to empty when we cleaned out the office and sold the bed. It sat empty while we debated paint colors. Then family came over and helped us knock out the painting and the hubs put up the curtains and built the crib.

Then....

:::dun, dun, dun:::

the baby showers happened.

and as floods of presents came in, his room started filling up.

I'm not going to lie... Durham's room looked like this for a minute... haha. I slowly started taking tags off and washing things and organizing... but this big 'ol belly got in the way sometimes. This weekend (my last weekend off before he comes) the hubs and I hunkered down and finished up. I'm sure his room will always be evolving. Since we are first time parents we don't really know what will work for us so as we make changes I'll be sure to revisit and share. And, we are still shopping for a rocker/glider/recliner... we just put a chair from our living room in there for now.

Durham's Nursery

check back tomorrow for the details/links post.

we are happy to share where we bought/got everything, or how we made it

so if you have a specfic want or need just leave it in the comments. :)

HALLOWEEN (and bump update)

2011-10-31T17:32:00.005-04:00

-someone actually asked me if I was really pregnant or just wearing this shirt Saturday. uh. yeah.

-I have eaten about 3lbs of candy... and blamed every bit of it on Durham.

-It is currently impossible to get a bump picture without a double chin.

(yes, Tate, even with the move you taught me).

-I'll actually be 35 weeks on Wednesday... but, just got around to taking this picture.

-I'm listening to Christmas pandora as I write my Halloween post. :) haha

HAPPY HALLOWEEN BUDDIES!!

Bring on the Holidays!

I also put up a few new bump pictures on the FAMILY tab, if you have not clicked over lately.

(yes, my friends from photography class called me out on it) ::waves HI::

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-10-29T18:18:00.002-04:00

It's Halloween Weekend!

we are not crazy about Halloween here at the Reagan's...

don't get me wrong, we pass out candy, we usually attend a Halloween Party, and we eat LOTS and LOTS of treats! but it does not hold a candle to Thanksgiving and Christmas (or my birthday) haha

I had a great time at work today passing out candy to all the adorable trick or treaters that came by...there were some seriously cute kids today (including Tony & Christines adorable little skunk, and Carolann & Josh's little Superman!)

My favorite part of the day was when Jackson came to trick or treat with nanny.

::melt my heart::

Looking back at all these previous pictures I realize that I've been at work on the past 3/4 Halloween trick or treat nights. I must be a candy hoarder. haha
(and I'm kinda wishing it was 2009 again, nanny is looking rough. haha)

Hope you are enjoying your Halloween weekend,

whatever you may be doing.

I made the cutest Halloween shirt, but I need to take a proper 34 week photo...
look for that to be up later on this weekend.

our weekend!

2011-10-16T19:57:00.000-04:00

We feel like we've just be smothered with love...

It has been a whirlwhind weekend for sure.

Friday we had our maternity pictures taken by the amazing Tate Cathcart.

you can see a few sneak peeks up on her facebook page. I am totally obsessed with them and I can't wait to tell you all about our session.

taken by Tate on Facebook

Saturday we were showered with love (and food and presents) at a baby shower hosted by Chris's counsins. It was such a great time visiting with family and getting the belly rubbed.

I loved getting to spend time with Cami Rose and Ava! :)

Sunday was our last shower, hosted by bestie with help from mom and Shanna.

I laughed so hard my belly hurt at times.

I can't wait for her to share the photos...

ra was calling it "the shower that pinterest built" haha.

Now the hubs and I are just sitting here feeling all kinds of thankful. Our little chicken-nugget is so loved already and he's not even here yet. The grandma's were "play fighting" over who is going to watch him first and Jackson was just telling ra and I last week about all the stuff he is going to teach Durham to do (like play baseball)... our baby is almost here. I can't wait.

guess we better get his room finished up...

here is what it looks like after you've been showered three times. eeeepppp!

Pennant

2011-10-10T22:01:00.001-04:00

I've been swooning over this maternity session for quite some time...

ok, stalking may be more appropriate. I just LOVE everything about it.

The sun-flair, the pennant, her super cute polka-dot top.

the photographer

Elizabeth Blank Photography

the maternity blog post

I decided that Durham needed a pennant with his name on it too...

(and I totally bought that top from the sale rack at Motherhood...I should wear it for my bump pic this week!)

I got everything from Hobby Lobby...

-pennant stiff felt form (2 pack)

-gingham fabric

-dark blue felt page

-Hot glue/glue gun (already had)

I took the fabric to get monogrammed and then basically cut it out and glued it to the pennant form (folded down and glued around to the back). Then I cut a strip of dark blue felt and glued it right on top, and two smaller felt strips made the tags. I really love how it turned out.

Babymoon

2011-10-09T17:24:00.003-04:00

Babymoon: (wikipedia)

Most recently the term has come to be used to describe a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby.

The term babymoon comes from the more traditional term honeymoon, which is a vacation taken by a newlywed couple after their wedding ceremony.

And that's just what we did... 5 glorious days in a beautifully rustic North Georgia mountain cabin.

Just me, the hubs, baby bump, and Cole. We had a fantastic time being unconnected from the outside world, work, cell phones, and very rarely used the internet.

It was a special time for us to connect with each other.

Our little family of almost 4.

We grocery shopped on the way up and cooked all our meals at the cabin (I should say the hubs cooked, he has me spoiled that is for sure). Our cabin was just steps from a creek that feeds into the Toccoa River... Chris and Cole spent lots of time out there fishing, swimming, splashing and collecting "specimens" with the pool skimmer we bought at a local hardware store. haha. Cheep entertainment for my wilderness loving hubs. There was a hammock that I snuggled down in every day reading (although, I always needed help getting back up) and we were able to adjust the temperature way down on the hot tub so we could take advantage of that too. We headed into town only twice... once because I forgot my toothbursh (and we needed a net, of course) and once to visit the local apple festival and antique shops. We played board games and roasted marshmellows in the fire every night as we snuggled up and talked about our future... plans for us, for our baby Durham, and some wishful thinking.

I am so thankful for this place we are at...

this amazing adventure we are about to jump into...

that our relationship is nurtured and strong and beautiful.

I am just so very thankful.

and now for the photo bomb...

:::this one is for the guys... you know how we watch UGA with our sunglasses on:::

Our First Baby Shower

2011-09-28T18:28:00.000-04:00

Let me start by saying...

we are so blessed.

On Sunday night, the girls I work with hosted the first baby shower for baby Durham. As I'm sure you will be able to tell from the pictures, I was so overwhelmed by their love and thoughtfulness. I cried several times during the shower and most of the way home. (this is my newest 3rd trimester symptom, uncontrollable emotion. Please pray for my husband... poor guy gets the brunt of most of it. haha) I do not deserve such amazing women in my life... but I am so thankful that they are here.

Hannah's house was decorated in our nursery theme... nautical. There was fisherman's net, shells, boat garland and sweet little touches everywhere. Everyone pitched in making food, or organizing games, even the amazing cake was hand made by one of my girls! They did a perfect job making me feel special and showering Durham with some amazing gifts.

BIG thanks to Stacey for the pictures... I did manage to bring my camera along, but didn't take a single photo... I was too busy looking at everything! :) I have to admit, I was kind of surprised at how BIG I look in some of these pictures... I'd like to blame it on the way I was sitting... but, this belly is getting big girls! I will be so thankful for these memories later, so I'm posting them anyway.

Thank you to my girls for an amazing night. I love you all.

Thank you, thank you, thank you... from the bottom of our hearts.

love, Chris, Pam & Durham

Durham's Nursery

2011-09-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

This will be a pictures only post...

I will defiantly be sharing where this came from, who gave us/made us that, and how much some things cost but for now... pictures only.

We can not believe that it is only about 11 weeks till we get to hold our little man. One of the momma's on my pregnancy-board (think chat room of +100 women all due in December 2011) had her little girl yesterday. She was due the very same day as me. Baby and momma are doing well, but could use your thoughts and prayers. Thinking about this last night almost threw me into a panic attack... as much as we want to meet baby Durham, and hold him, and smell him, and see his sweet face... WE ARE NOT READY! Bake baby, Bake... stay inside as long as you want. haha

there is obviously still a few things to do... mostly to buy... but with 3 (yes, three, we are so blessed) baby showers in the next 3 weeks we should be showered with enough to get us ready. I can not wait to celebrate with my friends and family.

8 things I just gotta put out there...

2011-09-22T04:04:00.003-04:00

1. Facebook anoys me and gives me great pleasure at the same time. How? Well, it anoyes me when people put all their business out there... like personal business about their finances, their significant others, their rants about their children, ect. Do you not know this is the INTERNET? Keep it clean and keep it somewhat positive. On the other hand, I do love reading other peoples drama. :)

{love:hate relationship}

2. I have been listening to Christmas music for about a week now. The Mariah Carey (Holiday) Station on Pandora is the bomb. I can not wait for the holidays (all of them... Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) I get so excited when Pumpkin spice comes out at Starbucks I start bringing out my cardigans... this is my very favorite time of year. I'm especially excited for Christmas this year because we will have an outside baby.

94 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

3. The hubs and I watch a TON of TV and right now is an awesome time to have DVR because the fall line up is stacked and there are lots of shows we love. I'd love to hear some of your "can't miss" shows... I plan on doing a TV post next week.

{new girl on FOX}

4. My Godson starts soccer this week. I can't believe how fast the past 3 years have gone by. He is getting so BIG and keeps me laughing all.the.time. Very much looking forward to seeing him on the soccer field on Friday.

5. I feel guilty when I comment about a negitive aspect of this pregnancy... we are SO THANKFUL to be pregnant and to have our baby boy. It took us a.very.long.time. to get here and we know that there are other couples that would love to be in our shoes... that being said... I am getting to the "uncomfortable stage" where my skin is tight, my face and hands are swolen, my back hurts, and I can't sleep. It is easy to forget about all these things when Durham starts kicking me. Best feeling ever.

{never before seen photo of the night we got our positive}

6. My cereal obsession with Lucky Charms is over. :::gasp::: I guess I over did it since I ate them everyday for breakfast for over a month. I'm on to Crispix. I love that it stays crunchy in the milk and has than corny-flavor. yum.yum. gotta get ya some.

7. I am so glad that we got our back yard fenced in... Cole has been spending a lot more time out there and although we do not always love the extra bath time that requires, I feel like it is good for him. The hubs and I are still deciding what we will and will not do with Cole-nugget once the baby is here.

8. I am having my first baby shower this weekend... and I am BEYOND EXCITED!!! My girls at work are so thoughtful and giving and I can not wait to celebrate Baby Durham with them. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for each and every one of the special people in our life... just brings me to tears to know how much this baby will be loved on.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend... I hope to post about the current state of the nursery before next week, but I'm working everyday so don't hold me to it.

And, thank you for all your sweet words on our baby's name.

Durham Christopher

Baby's Name!

2011-09-20T18:52:00.000-04:00

There have been several times throughout this pregnancy that we have thought

"no one told me THIS would be such a big deal/so hard to decide"

Like when we were registering... it is so overwhelming with all the choices. or when we were reading reviews and trying to pick the safest car seat. or when we were researching hospitals trying to decide where we wanted to deliver. or when we were trying to pick a name for our baby bear.

We have had a running list of about 20 names that we liked for over a month now... the hubs and I would randomly visit it and cross of ones as we decided they just were not "it". We love unique names, names that you don't hear often, and for our baby boy we wanted something strong.

We are thrilled to announce that we've decided on a name for baby Reagan.

you know we had to write it out 1,000 times... I'm OCD like that.

big thanks to Aunt ra for the pictures.

2 blissfilled years

2011-09-20T07:47:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the hubs and I celebrated 2 years of wedded-bliss.

We've really been celebrating all weekend, and we are headed to the North GA mountains in a couple of weeks to finish off our anniversary celebration/babymoon.

I am so blessed to be living this life...

with the man that God made for me...

our beautiful family and friends supporting us.

I have just been so overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for this life that I do not deserve. Last night as we toasted (with apple juice) in our wedding glasses we talked about where we would be at our 5 year anniversary. It's so fun to speculate and to dream... I'll keep those dreams just between us... But I can tell you that our love will be deeper.

I love a good comparison shot...

at our one year, and now.

Looking forward to many, many, many more anniversary dinners.

catching up...randomly

2011-09-13T16:34:00.000-04:00

my friend Kimberly gave me some closet dividers she had left over from when she did her baby boys closet... I spray painted them with my chalkboard spray paint and added a few sizes. This is a great project for first time moms since it is near impossible to tell the size of the clothes by just looking at them when you are first starting out.

You can buy these blank ones at The Container store if you are in the market. :)

the hubs wanted me to take his picture before he got started putting the baby's crib together...

he thought he was funny because he brought in his hammer. Always a jokester! :)

We have been busy working in the nursery and I will try to get a progress post up next week.

I got a feather.

Be jealous... not only of my feather,

but of my piss-ass facial expression in this picture. haha

This is quite possibly the most dissapointing before and after I have ever posted.

I spent a good 3-4 hours cleaning out/boxing up/washing/folding clothes...

I took out some of my too.small.for.baby.belly. summer stuff and put it up for next year, and brought in all my new maternity clothes. You can HARDLY tell a difference in the photos, but it is much easier to get ready in the morning. :)

Our weekend...

2011-09-12T16:44:00.001-04:00

The hubs surprised me this weekend...

hubs: "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever... how about we get away tonight just us."

me: "for real?"

hubs: "go get your stuff around, I'll make us a hotel reservation."

me: "done! eeeeepppppppp!"

we headed over to Maddison... only about an hour from where we live.

Hubs had gotten a last.minute.discount.rate. at this hotel. gorgeous!!

It was wonderful.

We walked around the beautiful square... shopped in antique stores and thrift shops...

got some game day snacks and watched our dawgs battle their little hearts out (it was such a close game). We got dressed (this is about as fancy as I get with this baby bump!) and went to eat at a place that we both frequented when we were in college. The best part was after dinner we walked by a park and sat on a huge swing and just rocked and talked for hours... it is always so good to connect... even though we are together. sleeping. in the same bed every night. It is so good to really BE TOGETHER.

trying to get a photo of the two of us before our dinner out...

shutter speed had to be so.low. that I had to use the flash. bleh.

what a dirty mirror... we didn't even notice!

and a few of my favorite things at some of the thrift stores...

I'll have to snap some pictures of what we bought too...

Hope you all had an awesome weekend...

Cupcakes for the Maids...

2011-09-02T22:33:00.000-04:00

Brittany Marie is getting married!

she recently started bloging all things wedding... check it out here.

She wanted me to help her ask a very special question

to some very special ladies in her life...

the wedding colors are black and teal so I went with a chocolate brownie cupcake and teal buttercream. There is a little white heart on each one...and a tag for her to write a message to each bridesmaid.

It was so fun doing these... made me think back to my own wedding

(my colors were teal and brown... great minds think alike!)

Enjoy this special time Brittany! It will fly by so fast!

College Football!! (cupcakes)

2011-09-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

The hubs and I are BIG college football fans... SEC football to be exact

He might still talk to you about some other conferences... but I wont. haha.

sorry Texas. I'm over your football.

This weekend everything kicks off and I could not be more excited.

I love to semi-watch the games, gossip with the wives, eat yummy game day food, and just spend quality time with friends that we sadly don't always make time for during the rest of the year.

Are you into SEC Football? Who are your teams? I want to think about you while we are CRUSHING you in our ugly new combat uniforms. grrrr...

mmm... chocolate brownie bite cupcakes with buttercream and shaved chocolate on top.

for my buttercream recipe click here.

Counting Sleeps

2011-09-01T08:07:00.000-04:00

When we were kids... we counted sleeps.

It was my moms way of helping us understand how long it was until we did something...

like "we'll go to sleep 5 more times then we'll leave for vacation" or

"we'll go to sleep 2 more times and then school starts back"

It kinda migrated to sleeps and my brother and I still use them

to count down to exciting stuff. here's what's going on around here...

2 more sleeps until college football starts!

go dawgs. sic'em

3 more sleeps until we hang out with our friends from St. Pete!

we miss you J&C

4 more sleeps until the hubs and I get to spend the day together!

yeah for being off on Labor Day

13 more sleeps until the baby belly is in the 3rd trimester!

grow baby grow

19 sleeps until my new favorite show is on!

Say hello to Zooey Deschanel on Fox

24 sleeps until my first baby shower!

I have the best girls anyone could ask for

September is going to be a very awesome month, I can already tell!

Happy September Ladies! What are you excited about?!

26 weeks (today!)

2011-08-31T14:53:00.001-04:00

How far along: 26 weeks today! (only 98 more days till our due-date!)
Weight gain/loss: +9lbs ... all in my belly and my face. I'm having a face baby! LOL
Maternity clothes: I am still wearing besties hand.me.downs and have purchased a few things here and there. I can still wear MOST of my shirts but I'm thinking in a couple more weeks they'll all be too short.

Stretch marks: None yet.
Sleep: Love it! getting used to sleeping on my side and going pee in the dark so I don't wake up the hubs. haha
Best moment this week: We love to feel him moving at night... Chris lays with his face on my tummy because he says he can feel it more that way. We also got the crib up (pictures and a special post on that later).
Food cravings: Really I'm just craving food in general (read: 9lbs!) But Chinese, cereal, and red hot jolly ranchers top the list this week.
Gender: Baby Boy!!
Belly button in or out? in.
Movement: Yep! He is very active in the morning...might be the lucky charms momma is eating! oops!
What I miss: My sanity! haha Funny story for the week:
I went to the gas station on the way to work. get out of the car. go inside. buy a bottle of water and pre-pay $25 for gas. go back out to the car. get in. and drive off. I FORGOT TO PUMP GAS! Thankfully I remembered about 2 minutes later and went back and got it. hahaha
What I'm looking forward to: working on the nursery and getting things in for his room!
Milestones: Had our Gestational Diabetes test today... I'll let you know when we hear.

I also updated a couple of weeks that I never posted

over on the FAMILY tab. :)

bullet points are lame...

2011-08-24T19:07:00.000-04:00

I know... but I just can't get it together to write a real post.

life is good. I'm good. Hubs is good. Cole-nugget is good. Baby is good.

we have been working in baby bears room a lot latley... some days I feel like we are really getting somewhere. like leaning on the side of prepared. and some days I am totally overwhelmed by how much there is still left to do. The crib will be in the first week of September... once it's up I think I'll be feeling better about it.

Lucky Charms are made by Jesus. Sent straight to my belly from heaven. I've had them every day for breakfast for almost 2 weeks now and if I didn't think it would compromise the nutrition of my belly-buddy I would eat a bowl for lunch too.

My Jack Johnson Pandora station makes cleaning house so much more tolerable. Since I'm working for the next 6 days straight I spent the majority of the day today deep cleaning. It felt awesome. Sometimes the things that you have to FORCE yourself to do give you the most satisfaction.

We had our back yard fenced in about a month ago... LOVING IT! It is so nice to just open the door and let Cole out. He loves the freedom for sure and we love having him spend the day outside sometimes. Every night we all go out and play... we've been grilling out a lot more too. It was hard to spend that money initially but I'm so glad we did.

and a BIG HOWDY to all my new followers... sorry I've been kinda lame at posting. Can't promise it is going to be getting better any time soon. I pretty much pull the pregnancy card whenever I can. haha

23 Weeks

2011-08-10T13:07:00.000-04:00

I know I still have to get weeks 21 & 22 up on the family tab...

slacker, slacker, slacker.

How far along: 23 weeks today! (only 17 more to go!)
Weight gain/loss: +4 lbs
Maternity clothes: I am still wearing besties hand.me.downs. and purchased some second hand things online this week. Mostly some long sleeve shirts and a couple other tops.

Stretch marks: None yet.
Sleep: Love it! getting used to sleeping on my side.
Best moment this week: Feeling Bear move a lot more, and my belly totally popping out!
Food cravings: I'm still on the dirty Chinese food... don't get me started. yumm!!
Gender: Baby Boy!!
Belly button in or out? in.
Movement: Yep! He is very active in the morning...might be the lucky charms momma is eating! oops!
What I miss: maybe my energy, but it is slowly starting to come back.
What I'm looking forward to: working on the nursery and getting things in for his room!
Milestones: a total stranger asked when I was due this week... totally makes me feel more pregnant than fat! :)

My belly has REALLY popped out this week!

I'm a slacker...

2011-08-03T20:48:00.000-04:00

but only in the blog world...

been busy around these parts the past few days...

I've been working (and had inventory)

got caught up on some projects

quality time with the hubs

our fence is finally up

dr.s appointment went well today

and I have some photo challenge pictures to share...

tomorrow is another day...

maybe I'll get you caught up then!

lovies

August

2011-08-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

Thank you God for August...

well, I have a lot of things to thank Him for...

but cooler (hopefully) weather, kids back in school,

and being one month closer to having an outside baby top the list today.

a few random things...

1. I've decided to participate in a photo challenge over at Oh So Lovely

Sherry, who is also due with a boy a few days after us, is hosting this fun little challenge for the month of August... participate if/when you can, I would love to see your photos!

2. I painted a few more paint samples on the wall in bears room... sigh. I started thinking that since we are going with dark brown furniture that the gray/blue was not going to work... that's where 5 came in. It's less pink in person, but we decided not to go the tan route.

Thanks for the feedback the other day... I plan on getting his room cleaned out and painted, and crib and dresser purchased and put together this month. That's a big job! ::cough, cough, mom:: But, since we are planning on going out of town on my weekend off (babymoon) in September, I want to get rolling before work starts picking up for falliday! (ya know, that season right before Holiday!?!) Any additional votes?? I numbered them this time for easy identification. :)

3. We are fencing in our back yard! They actually started on Friday, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be done this week. HOW EXCITING! For those of you that already have a fenced in back yard... go out there and hug that fence. Even if it's untreated, rotting, falling down wood, give it a big hug and be thankful. Fences are expensive.And although I was NOT excited about spending so much money on it, I will be happy for Cole to have a huge space to run and play. Cole will be excited too... he just does not know it yet. haha

s'more cookies

2011-07-31T16:00:00.000-04:00

In this house the belly gets what the belly wants.

and this belly wanted s'mores.

hello. it's 100' here in Atlanta.

not really ideal weather for cranking up the firepit.

While browsing pinterest this weekend, I saw the next best thing.

S'more cookies!

Ingredients
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
for the top:
1/2 bag mini marshmallows
4 graham crackers, chopped

Directions
In a medium bowl cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Pour into creamed mixture, and stir together until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. I used my large cookie scoop, and put rounded scoopfulls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven, and decorate tops with marshmallows, and chopped graham crackers. Turn your oven on broil. Place cookies back in the oven. WATCH CAREFULLY - don't walk away. get a chair if you have to... Broil until marshmallows are light brown. (in my oven this is about 1 minute to 1 minutes and 15 seconds) Cool cookies on cookie rack. then drizzle with melted chocolate. optional: eat half the cookies you made and blame it on baby bear. :)

Office progress... we're getting there.

2011-07-30T17:45:00.001-04:00

Sorry I have not updated you ~~on anything~~ in a while.

things are good.

busy, but good.

I worked in the office this afternoon (after a wonderful breakfast with my parents, and garage sale hopping with ra). I had to get down to business. We are still not finished, but there are really only 2 more things we are going to do.

1. Get the map up on the canvas that is currently hanging between the windows.

2. build a frame from molding to go around the map hanging on the side wall.

that is it.

There is tons of other stuff we could do... like buy new desks, put in hardwood floors, buy a pull out sofa or day bed so that this room will also serve as a guest room. But the reality is... we've got a baby on the way (what? you haven't heard?) and I really ~~need~~ want to get to working on baby bears room.

So here is the current progress... minus the 2 things I listed above, we are pretty happy with how everything came out. What I didn't tell you in our original office post here is that we planned on only spending about $200, and I'm happy to report that we spent just that. Even with the new shelf in the closet, lots and lots of paint, a new office chair for the hubs, maps, canvas, and picture ledge we came in right on budget.

here are a couple of before and afters

(I'm a sucker for these)

and some big pictures too.

Just painting all that brown trim white made the BIGGEST difference.
We could have stopped there! haha

I should have used my tripod since it's so cloudy here...

but I'm fat and lazy... so use your imagination with the pictures! :)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

and now...

I can focus on baby bear. whoot whoot!

These are the paint samples I have painted in his room...

thoughts?

Baby Shower

2011-07-22T07:05:00.000-04:00

It was my pleasure to host a baby shower for my friend Kimberly last weekend.

She is due in 6 weeks with baby Cameron and we could not be more happy for her.

It was a small shower with work friends...

food, lots of laughs, advice, well wishes and gifts.

I was a bad photographer...

took some pictures of the food... then practically put my camera away.

Thanks Carolann for snapping this last one of the pregnant momma's.

Congratulations Kimberly!

We can't wait to meet him

Happy 20 weeks...

2011-07-20T12:18:00.000-04:00

to my baby belly!

We are half way there and could not be more excited about

meeting our little man in another 5 months or so.

I have been taking my weekly bump pictures, but forgetting to post them,

so sometime this weekend I'll get the rest of them up on the family tab.

also... thought I would start filling out the bump survey...

I didn't start this from the beginning because so much of this is irrelevant at like 10 weeks...

besides, all I was doing was barfing and no one really wants to hear me whine about that!

How far along: 20 weeks (1/2 way!!)
Weight gain/loss: +3 lbs (+2 from this week alone. whoopsie!)
Maternity clothes: I am still wearing besties hand.me.downs. and have only purchased 2 things (one shirt, and one pair of jeans) Maternity clothes are EXPENSIVE!!!

Stretch marks: None yet.
Sleep: Love it! getting used to sleeping on my side.
Best moment this week: Feeling Bear move a lot more.
Food cravings: I'm still on the dirty Chinese food... don't get me started. yumm!!
Gender: Baby Boy!!
Belly button in or out? in.
Movement: Yep! I get very excited when I feel him kick!
What I miss: maybe my energy, but it is slowly starting to come back.
What I'm looking forward to: the first time hubs can fill him kick on the outside... I feel certain it will happen this week...
Milestones: Feeling Bear kick a lot more.

Happy Birthday: BFF

2011-07-16T07:35:00.000-04:00

Today my bestie turns 30.

wow. your old.

just kidding.

not really.

hahahaha

I love that for 8 months of the year you are older than me...

I'm a sucker for birthday posts...

see her 29th birthday, and 28th birthday.

This year I thought I would do

30 things I love for your 30th Birthday!

1. I love that I can tell you anything and you wont be shocked. ever.

2. I love that you pray for people and you let people pray for you.

3. I love that you motivate me. I am your lazy counterpart. and I think that sometimes without your ~~not so~~ gentle nudges I would never get anything done. (no, I still have not registered, and no there is no roman shade on the living room window)

4. I love that you don't hesitate to pack up your kid and drive over to check on me when my phone is dead and I over sleep. You get worried and I appreciate it.

5. I really love that you are my free photographer.

6. I love that you made the most amazing baby ever. (besides baby Jesus). and I love you more because my heart is so full of love for him.

7. I love that you give people a million chances. you have such a forgiving heart (and sometimes hold grudges) but I am often in awe of how forgiving you are.

8. I love that you are a yummy, yummy baker. (now, go make me something).

9. I love that you remember everything (actually, I don't love it, it makes me sick!) ... websites, recipes, birthdays, exactly where the boat cup is... it's exhausting. LOL.

10. I love that you do all the cool stuff first. then get me hooked up and in with the cool kids. (blogger, photo-club, pinterest)

11. I love that you seem to make friends easy, even though I know it takes work, you make it look effortless. Yet you keep the old friends (duh, like me) close to your heart.

12. I love that you are so genuinely excited about our pregnancy. so thoughtful. so tolerant. so loving.

13. I love watching the unconditional love you have for your family. It is beautiful. your parents, your brother and sister, their significant others and kids. I think you are the glue that holds everyone together.

14. I love that we share a love for all things thrifty.

15. I love that I'm 1/2 way through the list and I know your crying.

16. I love that you are hot. let's just be honest. effortless. with piled up hair and sunglasses. a toddler pulling on your leg. you rock it.

17. I love that you don't use your fake voice with me. I crack up to hear you on the phone sometimes with other people. sunshine-out-your-butt voice.

18. I love that you make me laugh. even if you are just laughing at me. it still makes me laugh.

19. I love that we talk about blog friends like real life friends.

20. I love that even though you've been away from the brand for over 3 years, you still enjoy work gossip.

21. I love that not being able to get over some things just shows how strong your convictions are.

22. I love that you always answer Jacksons "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy" calls with a patient and loving "yes, my angel" or "yes, my love". every single time.

23. I love that you taught me how to sew.

24. I love that I couldn't sleep without telling you bear was a boy. some secrets don't keep between friends.

25. I love that your favorite color was gray... even before it was cool.

26. I love that you read. not just magazines but books.

27. I love that you would do anything for your buddies... drive 45 minutes to bring you a stick of gum? no problem.

28. I love that you don't hesitate to tell me it's time to get it together. brow wax. pedicure. check. check.

29. I love that you give me crap about putting my Christmas tree up early every year... even though I've been doing it the entire time we've been friends.

30. Most of all... I love that you are you. a beautiful woman, friend and the most amazing momma I know. I am so thankful for you. xoxoxo

Happy Birthday ra!

tell ra happy birthday on her blog

Tonight we are celebrating...

2011-07-13T18:48:00.000-04:00

for the past year and a half the hubs has been taking masters classes.

and waiting.waiting.waiting.

to be accepted into the special masters program he was trying to get into.

We just got word today that he is IN!

WHOO-HOO!!

I am so proud of him... all the hard work, extra effort, the above and beyond things he does everyday to support our growing family. He is my superhero.

He likes the brown chocolate and I like the white,

so I made a little of both.

I may or may not have a few more on my row. haha.

the weekend...

2011-07-10T20:22:00.001-04:00

this post could almost be titled:

what the pregnant-fatty ate over the weekend

because most of these phone pictures have to do with food. haha

I did spend most of the weekend here... at Tanger. This night I was trying to catch the sunset. I love how it is staying light until 9pm here. Makes you feel like you can get so much more done in your day!

It was a HOT one here in Georgia too... we had a quick thunderstorm that cooled things down to a balmy 90 or so, but for the majority of the weekend it was HOT, HOT, HOT!

Just a few of the things the baby made me eat. (haha) Arbys beef and cheddar.
Movie and pizza date night with the hubs, and zaxbys salad.
(ps. I think that Jesus owns Zaxbys... those salads are just heavenly)

My favorite part of the weekend was visiting with baby Sawyer. She is such a sweet doll. I loved catching up with her mommy and daddy and hearing all about new-parent life. The hubs thinks this is the smallest baby he has ever held. (seeing how he has only held like 3 ever, that is probably true). My heart just melts listening to the guys talk about baby stuff. I can't wait for bear to be an outside baby!

Bestie is always looking out for me...

we are thinking "rustic nautical" for baby bears room,
and the boats and such we're on sale this weekend at Hobby Lobby.

ra and Jackson stopped by the store to see me on their way to Old Navy...
I told Jack to give the doggie at ON a high five for me when he got in there.
I love this kid.

The hubs went kayaking on Saturday with some friends from work. He said it was a blast but he was so sore and sunburned (he did put sun block on his face) but guess he thought his legs needed a little tan. whoopsie!

OK, and now for something nasty. So stop reading if you are not feeling so hot today.

I got sick a couple times this week but I didn't really think too much of it (heck, I was throwing up 4-5 times a day for the first 3 mo of this pregnancy... so a little sickness here and there didn't phase me).
It was mostly after breakfast, which this week has been a bowl of cereal and milk. Again, thought nothing of it. Saturday night (pizza and a movie date night) I drink a HUGE glass of milk with my pizza. Like maybe 20oz of milk on the rocks. (I heart ice). I felt so sick the rest of the night. "uuugggg, I'm never eating pizza again".
Once again, I don't really think anything of it. Get up Sunday morning, pour cheerios in a bowl, get out milk, pour in bowl. BARF. It is curdled. Like freekin cottage cheese on my cheerios. WTH? It's not even close to the expiration date. I seriously think I've been drinking spoiled milk all week. poor baby bear.

So, that was my weekend. Hope you had an awesome one.
I have a feeling this week is gonna rock! so Bring.it.on!

DIY Kitchen Island

2011-07-07T11:27:00.001-04:00

or maybe I should say DDIFM?

Dad, do it for me?

I really needed a place to store my cake plates...

other than their current home on top of our fridge.

The rattling and shaking that went on every time we opened the freezer

was about to give me a heart attack.

I found this beautiful table that was constructed DIY

from plans on the anawhite website and fell in love.

If you are not familiar with Ana White, you should check her out here. She is an amazing DIYer that shares detailed plans and features followers building projects all FOR FREE. She rocks.

So my dad got to building, and sanding, and building, and staining. Then he brought me this gorgeous table last weekend. I can't stop staring at it. I am obsessed with the wood grain. The slats. The perfect handmade storage solution. The contrast between the dark wood and my mostly white serving pieces. The height. The endless entertaining possibilities.

I promise the pictures do not do it justice...

THANKS DAD!!

It's a...

2011-07-06T09:05:00.000-04:00

BABY!

oh, you already knew that?

haha.

silly me.

*****

We are beyond thrilled to announce...

Baby Reagan is a BOY!

Last Thursday night we headed to Newnan for our 3D/4D ultrasound. We were so excited to find out if baby bear was a boy or a girl we could hardly wait. I was really feeling like bear was a girl, and hubs was just positive baby bear was a boy.

We go inside. I get all cozy in a big recliner. lay all the way back. warm jelly on my belly. Bear pops up on the big TV and the hubs yells "I see a penis!" I about died laughing, and so did the tech. What he saw was Bear's leg... but there were some boy parts in there too. He was proud to show them off. For about 15 minutes we got to watch our sweet baby kicking, sucking his thumb, twisting, and punching. He even smiled for us. We could not be more in love with this little man.

::the money shot::

::full body::

::face::

It was just us at the ultrasound. Both of our parents we're out of town (mine in Davidson, and Chris's in Panama City) so we called them to give them our news. Chris called a couple friends and I stopped by ra's on my way home and did a little balloon reveal for them. I had planned to wait till the next day, but I was about to BURST. Then I told my girls at work with cake pops. It was so fun to see their reactions... some "I knew it!" and some "awww...boys are the best."

Now it is starting to sink in that we are almost half way there. In 2 weeks, baby Bear will be the size of a small cantaloupe and we'll have a half-baked bun in the oven. Lots of things to do before he arrives, but for right now we are just being giddy-in-love with our little baby boy.

BIG thanks to Aunt ra for taking the announcement photos... uda.uda.best.

A chair for everyone...

2011-07-03T21:40:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share a quick picture from this afternoon...

the hubs and I have been busy in the office today.

trimming, organizing, and finishing things up.

Putting together a new office chair for him

(leaving this old one for Cole to sit in)

hahahahaha

Now, I am sitting here glued to my computer...

watching video from the Casey Anthony trial.

(I am obsessed with it)

If you are not caught up, today was the closing arguments.

You can view videos HERE

video 1 is mostly instructions for the jury, then the state starts on video 2.

I.can't.take.my.eyes.off.of.it.

*************************************

Hope you all have an amazing July 4th.

We are planning a low key day at the house...

cooking out, a little organizing, and movies on the sofa.

sounds amazing.

Baby Reagan

2011-07-01T19:27:00.000-04:00

Thursday night we had our 4-d ultrasound.

It was amazing to see our little baby wiggling, kicking, and sucking their thumb.

The hubs and I were both overwhelmed with love for this little person we have never met. It was absolutely one of the best moments of my life...

sitting there, watching our baby, holding hands with my husband. ::sob::

Of course we also found out the baby's gender.

and no. I'm not gonna tell you. yet. haha

I made some cake pops for my girls at work...

when they bite into their white chocolate ball of goodness tomorrow they will see

PINK or BLUE

I am so excited!

once the cat is out of the bag I'll be sure to let you guys know as well.

I'll leave you with this picture of our little baby bear (the baby's womb name this since we day we found out we were pregnant) smiling for the camera.

a little more office progress...

2011-06-29T10:48:00.000-04:00

I think I did a little too much yesterday...

I woke up this morning feeling like I had just run a marathon.

I am sore, sore, sore!

This will be my last office update until next week sometime...

because I have other things on my to-do list

and the office is not going to get much attention until the weekend.

This is where we last left off...

yesterday/this morning I painted the room, and started painting the trim white (we ran out of painters tape... grrrr). I also got this big map printed out that the hubs made... I'll have to take a close up for you once we get it framed. Those 4 smaller maps on the right are places special to us. I love it!

so not much progress, but it is coming along. :)

The baby is sucking all my energy and he/she just wants me to lay on the sofa.

gotta give the baby what it wants! hahaha

A SUPER 3rd Birthday!

2011-06-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

I know that some of you read my besties blog too...

and if you don't, what are you waiting for?

mommara

Jackson turned 3 on Saturday

I still can not believe that my little chicken-nugget of a baby is a big boy.

just wanted to share a couple of SUPER pictures from his SUPER HERO party.

head over to ra's for the rest of the details!

my favorite part was the photo booth!

you know I had to get in on the action!

SUPER NANNY!

hahahahahahahaha....

Office progress...

2011-06-27T19:09:00.000-04:00

prepare yourself...

it's not much to look at.

but we worked hard, and I know you want an update.

I didn't take a photo before the hubs started pulling everything out of the office closet and preparing "keep" and "trash" piles, so just image it without all that crap on the floor.

my dad came over and helped the hubs build a 2nd shelf in the closet...

(Thanks Dad!)

making room for us to store our printers in there and get rid of a HUGE table that was in the room.

We moved our desks to the wall the table was on previously

(you can see that red table cloth in the picture above, that's the wall)

and now we have space on the window wall for a pull out sofa.

oops. this cluster was my fault. I didn't realize I was making such a rats nest,

but the hubs untangled everything without even getting mad at me. :)

so the next plan of attack

1. paint the walls (tomorrow) with Behr: Skyline Steel paint

2. Paint the trim with Behr: simply white paint

3. purchase new window treatments

4. decide on wall decor

5. shop around for a new pull-out sofa (we may drag this out several months)

I'll keep you updated on progress!

week 16

2011-06-24T11:19:00.001-04:00

But really, 4 months sounds further along, right? haha

Mom went with me to our 16 week doctors appointment this week, and started crying when she got to her the baby's heartbeat for the first time. We got the test results back from the NT scan and all of my blood-work was in so they spent a lot of time going over everything with us.

Momma and Baby are still looking really healthy and we are so thankful for that.

The meeting with the nutritionist was not as bad as I had made it out to be in my head...

for some reason I had this lady pegged to be a green eyed monster that was going to yell at me for gaining/not gaining weight for eating/not eating this or that, but she was really nice and really helpful.

Yea for 16 weeks!

and yea for maybe feeling baby move inside me. maybe.

to see the previous baby bump weeks

click on the FAMILY tap at the top!

cupcake Push-ups!

2011-06-23T20:06:00.000-04:00

mmmmm....

I'm totally on a peach binge right now. I want peach ice cream, peach muffins, and just plain 'ol peaches. So I thought I would add a few to some graduation cupcake push-ups I was making for a friend who is graduating with her masters this weekend!

We are so proud of you Christine!!

I took a few extra pictures, because I don't know that I've posted any push-ups here before.

I think you'll get the idea. The inspiration for the graduation caps came from Celebrations at home

(I found them on pinterest.)

Monday Randoms...

2011-06-20T18:24:00.000-04:00

just a few things that have been on my mind latley...

hope you all are having a wonderful Monday!

I can't stop obsessing about Chinese food.

and not just ANY Chinese food...

dirty.sat.out.all.day.at.the.mall.take.a.sample.off.the.toothpick.Chinese.food.

bestie said we can have it tomorrow. so excited!

via we heart it

the hubs BFF is now daddy to an outside baby!

Tony & Christine welcomed their adorable little nuggett into the world early.

Sweet baby wanted to have a June birthday instead of July. I bet mommy is happy to be un-pregnant in this heat. We are still sending up prayers till baby gets to come home from NICU.

So very excited for them!

via we heart it

this one is double duty.

getting pumped up about my Godson's Superhero 3rd birthday this weekend!

not getting pumped about the baby being 3... let's just get that straight.

Also, can we please be done with the "keep calm" signs. Thanks, Pam

via we heart it

I'm thinking about cutting my bangs...

::sigh::

then I think about all the bobby pins I'll have to use when 2 seconds later I decide to grow them back out. Why do I torture myself like this!?! But really, I think I'm going to. Maybe.

via pinterest

as we start to make some room around here for the baby we realized that we are going to need to do some major purging. We have an office full of old stuff belonging to the hubs, and a guest room full of stuff belonging to me. We gotta merge and turn the guest room into the baby room. I think we are going to start moving some stuff out of the office this weekend. say a little prayer.

via pinterest

Week 15

2011-06-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

I can't believe we are almost 16 weeks pregnant!

Time has been going so quickly and so slowly at the same time...

I've been doing a "bump project" to see how my belly changes as the pregnancy progresses...

these are so popular right now, and I love the idea of being able to have special notes about each week that I may have otherwise forgotten.

So far I have not gained any weight, this is pretty much what I already looked like,

but I know in the next few weeks it is bound to change...

Happy Friday!

Yesterday felt like the weekend....

2011-06-16T09:10:00.000-04:00

working retail means days off during the week.

But, since the hubs works a regular monday-friday job we rarely have days off together.

Yesterday he took the day off to play some golf with his friends

(so jealous of the school teachers that are soaking up summer right now).

I hit the pool with my favorites

Jackson got this new swim float from his bobby and he was swimming like a big boy.

It was my first pool day with them this year, so it was really fun to see how much more confident he was in the water and at the pool this year. He's gonna be a little fish in no time.

After pool time we went back to ra's...

I spent ~~about 3 hours~~ a while admiring the new stripes they painted...

you've got to go see them. It's like straight from a magazine! I am so in love.

mommara

Before dinner we hit up Brian & Brandy's house to shoot our guns.

I love the home-made targets we were shooting at. (one was a hand drawn picture of a pedifile. who wouldn't want to shoot that!) Here's the boys being all manly, Christine and I (8 months, and 15 weeks pregnant respectively) sat mostly patiently and waited. Then we all went to olive garden.

::sigh:: delish.

although it FELT like the weekend yesterday, it sadly was not.

The hubs and I are back at work today. boo.