"After" Nursery Photos

Today my mom and her good friend Pat came to paint a mural in the nursery. It turned out absolutely adorable! Pat is a teacher at my mom's school, but she is also a talented artist. She has painted several murals in my mom's school as well as my parents' old house and the house they currently live in. She wanted to paint in Will's room as a gift to us. How awesome is that!
We had originally decided that we did not want a themed nursery, but because we were both athletes we did want sports to be in the room. When we told her that she was able to incorporate a football, baseball, glove and a golf club into the mural, she was also able to put in other items that reflect Mike and I as well. She included a small UGA flag and a frog for Mike, and a portrait of Gracie and some books for me. We love the mural and feel as though it has helped to complete Will's room. Thank you Pat! You have blessed our home and helped make our nursery so cozy and cute. It is now ready for Will!
My mom decided to put in Will's name into the mural. She then decorated the letters to look like the bedding.

A frog is painted on top of the ball. Mike works at a golf course called the Frog.
Me at 34 weeks enjoying Will's chair and his new room!

I also need to brag on Mike. He spent last weekend painting the room. He did it by himself and did an incredible job. He painted three walls a pale blue and one wall brown.
Our friend Jay is going to come and paint Psalm 127:3, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord", over the crib.

Baby Shower galore!

Over the past weekend, Mike and I went home to Chattanooga for 2 baby showers. My family, two aunts and 3 cousins, decided to host me both of them for me. It was so much fun and an incredible blessing.
The first shower was on Saturday. My cousin Holly and Aunt Sharon hosted it for me. It was my "Eagle" Shower. Growing up I played softball on a competitive team called the Eagles. There was a core group of 9 girls that started playing together at age 9 and finished after our 17 year old summer. We were a close group of girls, in fact many of us went to high school together as well. Our moms were also very close and many are still good friends. We started this tradition of "Eagle" showers when we all started getting married, and now it has carried over with all of us having babies. It is always to good to get together with this group of girls, we don't reminisce about the "good old days", but we do enjoy catching up. The funny thing is, out of all of us girls I think seven of us have or are having boys and only one has a little girl. It sounds like we are getting ready to have a baseball team!

My family! Counterclockwise: me, my sister Linny, cousin Ashley, cousin Holly, cousin Katie.

Aunt Linny practicing with Baby Jake- She's going to be great with Will!

One really cool thing about this shower, was that everyone brought me a children's book instead of a card. Will got some great books this weekend, they are already in a basket by his chair. We have already read several of them together. I thought this part was so cool, but then again I am a librarian!

My mom found this book for Will called "Will, God's Mighty Warrior". We have already read it to Will twice!

My second shower was hosted by my Aunt Karen, but my Aunt Sharon and cousins Holly, Ashley and Katie helped. It was my church shower, in which lots of church family and family friends came. I got to see several people that I had not seen in awhile and catch up. I got to see a really good friend from high school that I have not seen in at least 5 years. I also got some good child birthing and breathing tips from a family friend that teaches child birthing classes at a local hospital. I will definitely use the advice that she gave, especially since we have decided not to take classes from the hospital! Any and all advice is welcome!

Mom, myself and Linny

Will's first polo shirt- He'll look just like his daddy!

This weekend was great and I just want to say thank you to my family for giving me two very special showers! I love you all!

In other news, all of Will's furniture is in his room and assembled. My mom and a teacher from her school are coming next week to paint a mural. I'm really excited about this. I think its going to turn out great. Anyways, here are some before pictures. I'll be sure to post some after pictures once everything is done.

Will's Crib

Will's chair-The mural will be painted on the wall behind the chair.

Gracie in Will's crib- she wasn't so crazy about it, I think she thought she was in doggie jail. She loves Will's room though, especially his chair. There are times when I can look all over the house for her not knowing where she is hiding only to find her sitting in the chair in his room. She must find his room comforting!

32 weeks- We're getting busy

Well, we're ready to have Will! We had our hospital tour today, so we know where to go and what to do once the big day comes. Well, maybe not quite, we still have a Breastfeeding class, a childbirth class and an epidural class to take. But, still going on the tour did give us some comfort. Now we know where to go once we get to the hospital, Mike knows where to park and we know where to have our family wait. It was nice having those simple questions answered along with many others.

I'm getting to the point where I want as much comfort as possible, emotionally and physically. I am a little apprehensive of going through the birth, which everyone says is natural. So I am hoping that the childbirth class and the epidural class will help to ease my mind a little. I just want to be prepared, maybe I'm a dork, but even in school I couldn't stand the thought of not being prepared for a test or a quiz. I'm thinking childbirth is a little bigger deal than a test, so I REALLY want to be prepared.

This week is going to be busy, which for me is a big deal! We have to go pick up Will's chair and ottoman, go to a Dr.'s appt and take our Breast feeding class on Tuesday. I have Bible Study and an Epidural class on Wednesday. Then we head to Chattanooga this weekend where my family has graciously decided to host some showers in our honor. I can't wait, and it will get me up off the couch, for a little while at least. :)


My 32 week belly- Thanks to Aimee for loaning the gaucho pants. They have been a lifesaver!

Dinner with friends

Tonight Mike and I went out to eat with our friends Brad and Brandy Kleeman. Brandy and I go way back. We have played ball against each other in Chattanooga since we were young, we even went to rival high schools. But we got the chance to play together in college, TN Tech, and became good friends. Brad and Mike played ball at Tech together as well. They are expecting their first child, Parker, on September 4th, just 5 days after us. It was fun to get to see them and spend time with them. We can't wait to have Will and Parker play together. Maybe one day they will be playing for the Braves!


Brandy and I


Brad and Mike

Thanks for a fun night out! We enjoyed spending time and reliving the good old days from Tech with you!

A visit from Gran

My grandmother and my great-aunt Pete came to visit yesterday. They were going to see my mom, and decided to spend the night with me to break up the trip. We had a great visit. I haven't seen my grandmother since New Year's Day. She informed me that this was the longest amount of time that the two of us have gone without seeing each other in my lifetime. My Gran, as we call her, lives in Panama City, FL. Since I was born, my parents have driven down to visit her at least 3 times a year. After I was done playing ball in college, I took it upon myself to start driving to visit my grandparents every Spring Break. This year was the first time that I was unable to go. Mike, my Gran and I all decided that it was best for me not to drive the 5 and 1/2 hours by myself being pregnant. So needless to say it was very good to get to hug my gran and talk to her in person instead of over the phone. I just hate that she didn't get to stay longer. She is such an awesome person with an incredible servant's heart. She has an amazing testimony and I don't know a single person who has ever met her that didn't fall in love with her instantly. She is always laughing and makes chocolate chip cookies that melt in your mouth. Mike has grown to love her just as much as I do, he even calls her Gran, and we were so glad to be able to just sit and talk with her and Aunt Pete for the evening. We love you Gran!

July 4th is tomorrow. Where has the summer gone? I have to go back to school in 4 weeks. I don't how I'll be able to find the energy to get out of bed and get dressed. This summer I have truly enjoyed lounging on the couch and resting. I'm still feeling really good, but I have started to experience a few occasional back aches. Some days my stomach feels really heavy and it just feels good to lay with a pillow propped under it.

There's not much to do when laying on the couch, so I watch a lot of TV. My favorite channels are HGTV, Food network and TLC. I have really gotten into a show called Jon and Kate plus 8 on TLC. It is about a couple who had infertility problems early in their marriage. They got help and had a set of twin girls. They wanted to try again for 1 more and wound up with sextuplets. They have a total of 8 kids. Can you imagine? Mike even watches the show with me sometimes. It's hilarious. If you have never seen it, tune in M-F from 11-12. I think the new episodes air Monday night at 9.

A New Look

I have to brag on my mom. She and my dad came to my house this weekend so that my mom could re-decorate my downstairs. It looks amazing! As Mike says, it feels as though we are living in a model house. For those of you that don't know, my mom is a school principal with a passion for interior decorating. She is really good and has an eye for color, fabric and accessories. She liked the color of our walls and started looking for things that would compliment that. She also made curtains, which look professional. She did this for Mike and I so that our house would look nice and clean after Will comes. She really wanted us to be proud to bring friends and family in to our home to show off our son. Thank you mom, we love our new living room and kitchen!


Here is our new love seat. Mom had it at her house and it fits better in our living room. It has already become Gracie's throne. (Notice the curtains, it makes the room look put together)


Our bookshelf from our office got a new home in the living room.


Our sideboard in the kitchen, if you look closely you will see that we no longer have the cluttered baskets. Doesn't it look nice and neat!


The same day that my mom was decorating, our neighborhood hosted a yard sale. While my mom was working inside, my dad and I were haggling with customers outside over our junk. I am proud to say that we made close to $300, all of which has gone to towards elements of the new look in our home.

Last week we went to pick up Will's crib and dresser. We are still waiting for the chair and ottoman, but they should be here any day. If anyone is looking for baby furniture we got ours at Baby Junction in Acworth. It is a small family owned store. They were cheaper than other places we looked and were also willing to make us a deal on really nice furniture. If you are in the market for baby furniture check them out! www.babyjunctionga.com

30 weeks

Wow! We have 10 weeks left! It doesn't seem as though much has happened in the past week, but some excitement happened today. Mike and I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon. I am measuring perfectly and Will's heartbeat sounds great, but I lost weight instead of gaining over the past 3 weeks. It was only 1 pound, but still the doctor asked about it. He didn't seem overly concerned, but did want to make sure that I was eating like I was supposed to. It seems that since I have been out of school, I have not eaten as many snacks as I did while I was working. But I am eating three meals a day. Now that I am home, I am not very active and I am not as hungry. Then there is the whole exhaustion level. I don't know where that came from. Honestly, most days I don't feel tired, but I sleep until 9:30 just about every morning and can still take a few naps during the day. Gracie, our chihuahua, is enjoying my sleeping patterns because it gives her someone to snuggle with all day long!

In other news, our crib and dresser are in! Yeah! Now we can actually start to work on the nursery. My mom has gotten us the bedding and is planning on making curtains. She also bought us a matching rug. We are thinking about using the pattern in the rug and painting that on the wall. A friend of my mom's is also going to paint a picture of Gracie in coordinating colors to hang in the room. We don't want to have a theme, but would like to accessorize with puppy dogs. I think it should turn out cute.


Will's bedding

My new pre-mommy reading:

This is the 2nd time I have started this book. I am more into it now though. I have seen the movie and loved it, but now that I watch HGTV all the time I understand some of the real estate and home renovation terms. They also talk about cooking a lot and it tends to make me want to cook!


I am reading this book for a Bible study that I am in this summer.