1 Month

 Time sure has flown by! B is already one month old! Things are going well at home. B has gotten to meet lots of family and friends. Joe and I are enjoying every second with our little guy. Our first month together we only had a couple of small bumps in the road (diaper rash and getting nursing figured out).

Monday we went to B's one month pediatrician appointment and boy has he grown!! He is 22 inches long, almost 11 pounds and is in the 85th percentile in his overall size. Big boy!! He is sleeping pretty well at night. I usually put him down around 10:30pm, he wakes up around 2:30am, then again at 5:30 or 6am (when Joe is usually waking up for work). Joe and I are feeling pretty well rested. We are hoping that continues.

 

Sneak peek of one of B's first look pictures

 

4th of July

 

Smiling baby

 

He loves his auntie J.R. 

 

Proud daddy

 

First family photo

 

Joe was getting a workout in with B in the bijorn 

 

Temporary changing table. May loves it! haha

 

Poor May

 

This is where May sleeps now lol!!

 

Spending time with Auntie Autumn

 

Wide eyes

 

Ahhh!

 

His blanky made by Grandma Barbara (Nocera). Thanks again Barbara!

 

Joe got me this necklace. It was my "push" present. -I love it!! I have the best husband

 

B's first real bath 

 

Spending time with Auntie Amy

 

Auntie Samantha

 

This is how B likes to sleep sometimes

 

Cousin time! B got to visit with his cousin Mary Michael

 

Happy baby

 

Pouty face

 

First time going to church. Aren't they handsome.

 

First time with a pacifier (car rides are so much easier now!)

 

First dinner out as a family

 

We went for desert at a diner after dinner

We have some travel and visitors in the month of August. Joe has a conference to attend in Gainesville, Fl so we get to go stay in Gainesville from August 11th till the 18th. We are incredibly excited about this trip because we have missed our dear friends down in Florida and they all get to meet B for the first time! After we get back from Gainesville we have the pleasure of having Cindy (Joe's mom) visit us for a week. Can't wait for her to meet B! Then, at the end of the month we get on a plane to go to Nevada to see Art and Barb. Our Southern California family will all come to Art and Barbs to visit with us and meet the newest addition to the family. B is just going to be a social butterfly in August! We are looking forward to the quality time spent with our family and closest friends.

40 Weeks-B is here!!

Monday June 25th I went in for my 40 week appointment. The doctor said I was close...We didn't realize the next day close!! June 26th was my due date and I went into labor at 2:30 a.m. on June 26th. I labored at home until about 8:30 a.m. then we headed to the hospital. Things weren't too bad in the early stages of labor. Unfortunately, I was not progressing that quickly (1 centimeter every 3 hours or so). I opted for no epidural and was completely fine with that. Like I said, the early stages of labor were not that bad. I was able to walk around, do breathing techniques, and use the yoga ball to get through my seemingly mild contractions, I even did a few squats to try and move things along....then, when I was at 8cm around 10 p.m. my water broke. That was when it got tough!! The contractions were much, much more intense and I was struggling. Thank God for my great support team! In the beginning part of labor Joe was solely assisting me in my contractions and towards the end, my mom and Autumn were taking care of me as well. We had Pandora music going, Joe was rubbing my feet, mom was rubbing my shoulders and Autumn was fanning me with a magazine. All were coaching/cheering me on through my breathing during contractions. I did break down and asked for an epidural, but it was too late. I had already made it that far (and the anesthesiologist would not be available for another hour or so due to his involvement in a c-section. By that point I was probably going to be pushing).

 

Getting ready 

So it was now time for the home stretch and even though I was fatigued (and so was my coaching team) I knew the end was near. Around 1:30 a.m, June 27th (which in my Grandma Mary Ruth's birthday) I made it to 10 cm and was ready to push!! 2:28 a.m. B was born (weighing in at 8lbs and 20in long)...and June 27th became the happiest day of mine and Joe's life. It is so amazing how seeing our baby instantly made me forget all the pain I went through to bring him into this world. Words cannot describe how blessed we feel to have our precious baby boy. He is such an angel.

 

 

 

This was Joe's sleeping arrangements for a few nights. He is such  a champ!

 

 

Getting ready to head home. The suit seemed like a good idea, but B did not like it at all!

 

Here we go!

I am incredibly thankful for everyone involved in the delivery of our son. That includes: obviously Joe, my mom, Autumn, the nurses, our doctor, all of our family/friends that kept us in their prayers and wished us well throughout the stages of labor, and we are especially thankful to God for blessing us with a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

We have been at home for 4 days now and things are going well! B and I have the nursing thing down and he is sleepin well at night. We had our first appointment with the pediatrician today and our doctor says that B is a healthy baby! He was very impressed that B is pretty much back at his birth weight. Our next appointment with the pediatrician will be in 3 weeks.

 

Cozy at home

 

 

Sleepy man and sleepy momma!

 

Headed to his first doctor appointment

Joe is off all this week and his sisters Jessie and J.R. will be here this weekend. I am so excited for them to meet their new nephew!!! Looking forward to a fun filled weekend with my sister-in-laws! After Jessie and J.R leave my mom will be coming to stay with me for a few days.

Can't wait for all of you guys to meet little B!!

39 Weeks

Well, I am bored...There really isn't that much for me to do now except wait. I am limited to my workouts due to a bit of discomfort, our pool at our apartment complex is closed (has been since we moved in-but I sneak over to the complex next to ours sometimes to swim), and I am done with all of my projects. Wait...wait...wait...Am I starting to sound more like a pregnant girl in her last month of pregnancy??? HAHAHA! I am so ready for our baby boy to get here. I get so excited about any little pain I have because I know it means labor is close.

Joe and I have had the chance to check out Atlanta some more (parks and such) and I have taken my resume to a few salons. So, now what? I go into labor...SOON!

"Parking only for new and expecting mothers"

We decided to park in this spot in an empty parking lot at the mall-just because we could

Notice the tank top does not completely cover my belly anymore- hehe!

Just a few days till my due date! Maybe we'll get lucky and B will decide to make his debut this weekend!!!

37-38 Weeks

Soooo, I think Joe and I can safely say that we are ready for our little guy to get here! I am getting a bit uncomfortable, our home is decked out with baby gear, the nursery is all set up, I got my pedicure, my hospital bag is packed, the car seat is hooked up in our car, we have taken all of our childbirth/care/parenting classes, read all of our books, have our birth plan ready, and have had the pleasure of visiting with lots of our close family and friends (lots of company at our new place) before our baby boy arrives!

Breathe.........okay, any day now!! We are ready when B is, which is hopefully soon!

Here are some pictures from our fun-filled week and weekend

 

Braves Game. Had fun hanging out with Samantha, Elizabeth, Kevin and Atish

 Fun times!

 

Trip to Zoo Atlanta with Amy and the kids

 

Colby, Zack and Caden

 

Mary Michael McGinnis. Isn't she gorgeous??? I got to be there for her first look photo shoot. I had a great time and learned so much visiting Michael and Shannon!

Here are the pictures of B's finished nursery!!!

 

 

 

I made this out of a wooden "B" Kelly gave me, a frame from a yard sale and scrap book paper

 

We bought this map from Books a Million for $8. Joe made the frame out of trim that he got from Lowes and he stained the wood to match the rest of the furniture. He put cork behind the map so we can put pins in all the places we have been in the USA. 

 

Dad gave us this night stand. The pictures in the frame are of Joe and I when we were babies. Joe has one with his sisters, and there is one of me with Bristy and Grandma Mary Ann.

 

More baby pics, the invitation to our baby shower in the middle, a picture I drew for Bristy when I was really young on the top right, the J+N=B that Kelly made us and a lovely picture of Art and Barb

 

Changing station aaaand my Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag hanging on the door (yay!! it finally came in!)

 

My dad refinished this for me. This is the desk from his childhood bedroom suit. The shelf in the middle was added to store diapers and such. I love it! Thanks again dad!!

 

The yellow blanket at the end of the bed was my Grandma Mary Ruths

 

I downloaded a panoramic photo app on my phone and took this picture. It was hard to keep a steady hand so that's why some of it is fuzzy.

 

 

 Haha! There's Caden!

 HAHAHAHA!!!!! Joe thought it would be funny if I put a flash back picture up. So crazy!!

 

 

 2 Weeks to go!

35-36 Weeks

The past couple of weeks have been great! I was worried I would get bored since I am not working, but I have definitely stayed busy. I've had several projects for our place, we traveled to Charlotte to visit John and Anna, and we've had lots of company. As always, we had a great time visiting the Ennis family! Their new baby boy Hays is such a handsome little guy! And a very good baby as well. Grady (their oldest) is very smart and busy, busy! Joe and I are extremely excited that we live so close to John and Anna now. Only 3.5 hours!! We can visit with each other pretty often. Thanks again for having us guys!

 

Hays Ennis- So stinking cute!!

Memorial day weekend we had the pleasure of having Chris and Kelly come stay with us. It was such a delight to be able to spend time with them so soon after we moved from Gainesville. We had a super fun time and I think they really liked visiting Atlanta!  We can't wait for the next visit from Chris and Kelly! 

 

At the Braves game. Such a fun day!!

We met up with Autumn at the Braves game and she came to stay with us for a week. She and I had so much fun together. Autumn was such a big help  with getting our place ready for baby boy. We went shopping, swimming, walking on trails, and worked on the nursery while she was here. Mom then came up the following weekend to get Autumn and she stayed with us for a couple of nights. We did a lot of shopping with mom. We almost have all the necessities we need for the little man to arrive and mom was a big help with some of the odd and end things we still needed (Thanks again Momma!!  xoxo). The nursery is really starting to come together. All that is left to do is hang up pictures/art work, hang curtains, find some knobs for the chifferobe, and get the changing table from dad.

 

This chair used to have baby blue cushions. Dad had a his friend Fred cover it with navy blue fabric. It turned out really nice!! And the basket next to the rocking chair at the end of the bed has mine, Autumn's and Bristy's baby blankets in it. 

 

My mom and I found this old metal bed frame ($25!) at a garage sale and my dad painted it white for us. The blanket at the end of the bed was Joe's when he was a baby. Our nursery is a guest room/baby nursery so we have plenty of room to have company! Friends and family, please come stay with us anytime!!!!

 

May likes to hide under the guest bed- haha! 

 Joe did a great job refinishing the chifferobe!

The rest of our place is looking more like home!

 

 

 Saturday we had our child birthing class at Emory. It was 8 hours long, but we really enjoyed it! A delivery nurse was our teacher and we learned breathing techniques, ways to ease labor pains, hospital policies, how to take care of our baby, and much, much more. We also went on a tour of the facilities. There were several other couples in the class that were super nice and could potentially be delivering at the same time we are. Monday we did our infant CPR class, Friday we are doing part one of breastfeeding and Sunday we are taking a newborn care class.

Wednesday I am planning to drive down to my home town area to see family. My cousins Shannon and Michael welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world last week (Mary Michael) and I am looking forward to meeting her. Then, this weekend Samantha and Amy will be coming to visit!! We plan to go to the Braves game on Saturday. I can't wait to see my girls!!!

As of Tuesday June 5th I will be 37 weeks pregnant, which is considered full term. I guess I could have little B any day now! I think it will be a few more weeks before he arrives, but who knows?? I could go early! I am hoping my comfort levels will continue to be good in the weeks to come.

Oh and we have recently learned that Joe sisters, Jessika and J.R., have purchased their flights to come out and see us in early July!!!!! Can't wait to see them!!!!!!!!!