Parker Reed.

May I introduce our son, Parker Reed! He was born Friday, April 27, 2012 at 6:18am. I have never felt so much love in my entire life. We are so blessed. More to come later :).








Hostess Gifts

Hello, hello!!

Just wanted to share the gifts I put together for the wonderful friends and co-workers who hosted my showers a few weeks ago. I saw an idea very similar to this on Pinterest, but of course I didn't pin it because many of my hostesses follow me and would have seen it and now of course I can't find it! Typical.

We picked up a few flats of pretty petunias at a garden center and wrapped them in some adorable wrapping paper I got a few months ago.

Add some twine and a little note and wa-la! A cute little gift. After an hour of brainstorming, my mother-in-law and I finally came up with "Thank You, May Your Life Bloom With Blessings!" We thought it was fitting :).

Of course, the flowers can't stay in this type of packaging-- they need to be re-potted or planted in a flower bed, but I think they are a sweet, very afforable warm-weather gift if you have a lot of hostesses to think about!

Anyone seen any other good hostess gifts lately? I LOVE to look at this kind of stuff! Have a wonderful day!

38 Weeks

Still here. Still cooking! And almost a week behind in bump posts, whoops!!

How Far Along: 38 Weeks.

Baby Size: I lied last week, the food comparisons continue to grow-- baby is the size of a pumpkin! Our growth  ultrasound on my birthday told us that he is between 8-8.5 pounds. Like, right now. He's his daddy's boy.

Total Weight Gain: Okay, so I've had two doctor appointments since my last post. It's getting a bit ridiculous. Anyway, I gained 2 pounds at the first one (for a grand total of 36 pounds) and then lost 2 at my second one (which apparently happens at the end). So 34 pounds.

Maternity Clothes? Yes. The above dress is my lone maternity dress. Target. $7 on saaaaale.

Stretch Marks? The little guys are still there. And I am still sad. I've gotten kind of obsessive with looking at them. I just hope they go away enough that I can wear a bikini again!

Sleep: Meh. I am over trying to sleep. I get really excited if I find a position that is comfortable for more than an hour. 

Best moment this week: Just trying to soak up time with Bryan. I went out to dinner/lunch with a bunch of my friends for my birthday (3 times!) and had SO much fun. I love love love my friends and hope that I am still good about hanging out once he's here. I got an awesome mommy massage on Friday. OH, and we finally went on a hospital tour. All of the nurses were SO nice and it made me a lot less nervous about staying there! (I have a weird fear of hospitals, nurses, needles...all of that).

Miss Anything? Well, I'm SO done being uncomfortable (I am a fickle pregnant lady), but I know I will miss my bump and him moving around in my belly once he's here.

Movement: Movement has slowed quite a bit this week. He tries to stretch every once in a while (to my dismay), so I have to remind him that stretching would be a lot easier if he would just come OUT and meet us! He still gets the hiccups a few times a day though. I LOVE it!

Food Cravings: Sweets. Powdered donuts. I know, I'm so bad. And Sonic Sweet Tea has been Ah-mazing lately!

Anything making you queasy or sick? No.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: Well, at my 37 week appointment I found out that I was 2-3cm dilated, 70% effaced. At my 38 week appointment I was 4cm dilated, 70% effaced. My doctor says I could go any day, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up....although that's a very hard thing to do. :( Still having Braxton Hicks at night.

Belly button in or out? Flat.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: So happy but SO impatient.  

Looking forward to: Meeting him. That's it. :)

Things to Remember (this is new): Well, sometimes I talk to him when I'm alone. That's a little embarrassing to admit. Just about when he's going to come and what he will look like and what kind of baby he will be. I want to remember waking up in the middle of the night with Braxton Hicks and thinking "This could be real!", even though it's a big let down when it isn't. Still exciting though :). I also need to remember how excited everyone is for us. When you're nine months pregnant you get a lot of attention and it's hard to appreciate it when you're huge and exhausted. :)

Talk to you all later!! Oh, and THANK YOU for all of the sweet comments and birthday wishes! I have been horrible at responding to comments for like, months now, but I do read every single one and really appreciate them SO very much :).

37 Weeks. Full Term!

Alright, I'm almost 38 weeks now, but here are the pictures and post from when I was 37 weeks. Also, it's my birthday today! The big 2-4! Woo-hoo! I'm taking the day off and pampering myself :).

How Far Along: 37 Weeks. Full freaking term. Ahhhh!

Baby Size: The size of a watermelon. That's as big as the fruit comparisons get, friends!

Total Weight Gain: Oh man....34 pounds. I gained 4 pounds in two weeks!

Maternity Clothes? Si.

Stretch Marks? Oh man....it happened. I have 3 stretch mark buddies now that are about 3 inches below my belly button. I can't see them that well at all (they are light pink thank goodness), but I do tend to obsess over them while looking in the mirror. Bryan swears he can't see them, but I think he's just being nice. They are really little though, so I'm hoping they go away quickly!

Sleep: Yuck. We don't sleep anymore. We nap.

Best moment this week: Hmmmm....well we finished the nursery (I took pictures this weekend), and I think we have decided on a name for him! But we are still waiting to officially announce once he's born. I finally feel like I have "nested" enough that if he came today, I would be okay! Also, we met with our doula for almost 3 hours the other night and it got me so excited and motivated for getting him here!

Miss Anything? No, just normal sleep as of right now. But I won't be getting that back for a while!

Movement: Still lots of movement, though he dropped some this week, so I haven't been getting my ribs bruised as much! We are trying to get a video of him moving my belly around, but he always stops right when we hit the record button. Bummer.

Food Cravings: Sweets. Water and lemonade.

Anything making you queasy or sick? No.

Gender: Still a sweet baby boy.

Labor Signs: I'm so excited that I can answer this one! I have had LOTS and lots of pretty intense Braxton Hicks the past few night and some other not so pretty signs that labor is coming....if you know what I mean. ;) The Braxton Hicks have been so intense that they wake me up several times a night. Lots of back pain....but I'm kind of used to that now haha.

Belly button in or out? Pretty flat.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy!!! Cannot wait to meet him.

Looking forward to: Mostly just meeting him. And soaking up pregnancy and time with his daddy while I can. Oh, and we have our last big ultrasound this morning! I can't wait to see his chubby little cheeks :).

Things to Remember (this is new): The way his hiccups feel. I think I will cry the first time he gets them when he's an outside baby :). I have been crying at EVERYTHING. It's getting a little ridiculous. Also, reading "Love You Forever" by myself was a terrible idea. That really got the tears going! I really want to remember my bump. That may sound weird, but I've gotten so used to it, I basically don't remember not having it.

That's it! Let's see if I can get nursery/shower/other baby posts up before he gets here!

36 Weeks. Eeeek!

I think we should all just accept that blogging not a strong point for me at the moment. Moving on..... :)

I have officially reached "huge" pregnant. Oh what fun!!!

How Far Along: 36 Weeks. Only a few more days till this little guy is fully cooked!

Baby Size: Ah I have no clue.....over 6 pounds. A cantaloupe.

Total Weight Gain: 30 pounds!

Maternity Clothes? Yes, yes, and yes.

Stretch Marks? No, although I think they could happen.....my skin is pretty stretched to the max, so we will see :).

Sleep: Bleh. I don't like sleeping anymore. I either don't sleep or am only halfway asleep because I am so uncomfortable. My poor back! And hips! Oh to sleep on my stomach.....

Best moment this week: Well....a lot of good things! I got to see my mom and mom-in-law last weekend which was amazing. We had so much fun! I had 2  absolutely adorable showers and am officially stocked up and ready for him to GET HERE (stilllllll trying to finish all of those thank you cards!). We have somewhat finished his nursery (Holy Moly!), we got maternity pictures back and they are wonderful.... but mostly I've just been soaking up the kicks and hiccups that I know won't always be inside of me :(.

Miss Anything? Well, normal sleep. Not grunting to get off the couch. But in all honesty, I'm sad that I won't be pregnant for much longer. I don't want him to grow up! I will miss it, I think.

Movement: Oh yes. He attacked me in church this morning till I was about to cry. He was all up in my ribs. He LOVES my ribs. Still gets the hiccups and loves to morph my belly into weird shapes. :)

Food Cravings: Nothing in particular.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope.

Gender: Baby boy!

Symptoms: Sore back ALL. the. time. Calf cramps like crazy.

Labor Signs: I don't think so!

Belly button in or out? Hmmmm. Flat.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: I have never been so happy in my life!!!

Looking forward to: Nesting. Pampering myself a little bit before D-Day. Meeting him. Naming him. And spending some quality time with his daddy before he arrives :). 

Things to Remember (this is new): His daddy laying his head on my belly to talk to him (I didn't let him see me get choked up), his daddy FREAKING out when I got a bad calf cramp and bolted out of bed yelling some not so great words (apparently he is on edge that I will go into labor at any minute), going into his nursery right when I wake up just to sit and think about him actually being there. Cheesy yes, but true :).

 

 

I have a LOT to catch up on! Talk to you all later!!!

Guest Bedroom Updates

Since our guest bedroom will be a well-used area of our home in a matter of weeks, Bryan and I have been in a hurry to get it somewhat organized and functional. This room has been known as the "junk room" ever since we moved in. We cleaned it out at this time last year, but alas, it was full of C-R-A-P yet again just a few months later. No more, we say! This room is finally a usable space....but it still has a long way to go before I will call it "done".

I refused to spend a lot of money while updating this room. The whole reason we had a "junk room" to begin with was because I would go out and buy random home decor items....sheets, quilts, frames, fabric, little knick knacks, and then end up not liking or knowing where to use them (this is BAD-- don't do this!). The junk room was where all things home decor went to die, so we ended up giving new life to everything in order to get a decent looking space for our guests to relax. Yes, I would have LOVED to start from scratch and buy all new bedding and decorations....but there's this thing called "being responsible", so I went ahead and stuck with what I already had instead :).


Here is what it looked like in January when I discussed plans to decorate it here: (and yes, the Office in a Closet is in this room as well)

And here is the one-sided "After" (Or "In Progress", I should say):

Much better!! We've had the comforter set, quilt, and sheets for about 2 years now. I bought the throw pillow for the room at TJ Maxx (where else) a few months ago (that was the inspiration for the room), and made the pillow shams with some pretty green linen that I got for "free" at Joann's using this tutorial from Centsational Girl (very easy!).

I originally bought the linen to go in the nursery, but then it didn't end up working out....so when I took it back to return it, I found out that I had never been charged for it in the first place. (That was awkward.) They told me I could just keep it since it was their bad for not charging me (I honestly didn't notice....it was a gigantic order and a gigantic amount of money to spend on fabric). Score!

The only other new purchase for the room was the Martha Stewart sunburst mirror that we got at Home Depot for like $35. I LOVE it. The headboard used to be in our room, but I decided to switch it out (more on that later). Oh, and we (Bryan) repainted. It's Behr Pebble Stone. Kind of green-y gray. Perfect.


I even made the bedskirt with my "free" linen fabric. I took some pictures for a tutorial...we'll see when I get around to posting that :). It was really simple and looks great with the pillow shams.

I think that my next move will be to make curtains or some sort of window treatment for the massive window in the room. We added blackout lining to the bamboo blinds for more privacy (this room is at the front of the house), but I have NO clue how to hang curtains for this type of "half moon" window. Any suggestions???? Oh, and I want to do something fun to that floor lamp.

So, that's just a little peek of the many projects that have been going on around our house! Don't you just love when hard work and things you already own come together to make a room pretty and functional once again?

Have a great day!

34 Weeks

Oh my gosh! I am so terrible. I know. You can always tell how crazy my life is by how often I'm blogging. Anyway....here is the 34 week post!

I forgot to take a belly picture this week....BUT we took our maternity pictures with the awesome Tiffany Harrison on Monday, so I'm using one from that shoot as a replacement. (I hope she doesn't mind me using it!) She is so so so amazing and I can't wait to see the rest :). She actually took me out for two sessions since our first one was really windy. Love her. Check out her website if you live in Lubbock! 

How Far Along: 34 Weeks. Only SIX more to go. Holy crap. 

Baby Size: I'm going to guess that he's around 6 pounds by now, and getting fatter by the minute :).

Total Weight Gain: 28 pounds as of my last appointment.

Maternity Clothes? Yep.

Stretch Marks? Nope.

Sleep: I've been waking up a few times each night. My hips hurt sometimes, and every once in while I'll wake up lying on my back (Whoops!). I don't like to use all those pregancy pillows and wedges though--normally I just hitch my leg up on Bryan's back for support haha. Luckily he doesn't seem to mind :).

Best moment this week: Ah, so much has happened since my last update! I finally felt him have the hiccups on March 16th, and he's had them several times since then :). I loved my shower, getting maternity pictures, finding a wonderful doula to work with (!), getting the nursery more put together, and getting an awesome prenatal massage yesterday for FREE!

Miss Anything? No. Now I'm freaking out about missing pregnancy when he's out. Just trying to soak it up :).

Movement: Of course! Hiccups. So cute! And he LOVES to stretch his whole body out the second I lay down to nap. Not comfortable at all, but I'll take it :).

Food Cravings: I've really wanted sweets lately. I've been baking a lot to satisfy that haha.

Anything making you queasy or sick? No.

Gender: Sweet baby boy.

Labor Signs: No. Just Braxton Hicks. I'm kind of freaking out though that he could really come at any moment now. Our ultrasound tech told us that her little girl decided to come at 34 weeks. I was a little stunned because we are no where close to being ready!

Belly button in or out? The top is out? I don't know. It changes every day.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: I have never been so happy in my life.

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery, getting to see my mom and MIL this weekend, my showers this weekend, getting more prepared to actually have him (!), and of course....meeting him for the first time :).

Have a great week! Oh--my goal is to have the nursery pictures up either the first or second week of April! Yay yay yay!