Baby Shower #1

My great friends Amanda, Sara, and Megan threw us a "You are my Sunshine" BBQ for dinner Sunday night! It was so much fun! Thank you to everyone who came, helped, sent gifts, and spoiled our baby boy! 



Our BBQ Invites made by
Reigning Parties

My perfect little family at our Baby Shower

Mike and I with our
You are my Sunshine Cake
&
Grey and Yellow Cupcakes
Make by the Amazing Jammie with Think Cake Bakery 

We got lots of incredible gifts from
 our wonderful family and friends

And instead of cards Baby Reece received
lots of books signed with love to build his library!

For Center pieces Amanda made bouquets in mason jars
And for Favors we gave our friends mini mason jars filled with candy!

We asked that our friends leave us their address
to help sending
Thank you Cards and Birth Announcements

Our friends left Baby Reece wishes for his Future
to put in his baby book! 

Our friends made Baby Reece adorable bibs and onesies 

With lots of small ones coming to our shower
we planned something for them to do
other than the bibs and onesies station!

We made a board of ideas,
so that if our guests were feeling uncreative!

And seeing we are at a park in the summer
we brought Sunscreen and Bug spray
just in people forgot 

And the cutest babygirl in the world was at our party :) 

My sweet friend Jessie is due the day after me with her 2nd baby Remy!

My Girls! 



My Boy! 

The Dugans made the trip from
Mt. Home just for us! 

Cate and Kaylee 

Eva and Kaiden 

Dave and Eva with their onesies! 

Uncle Bobby being a Cop
decided to play his onesie off that!

32 weeks

I feel like this is going so fast, and so slow at the same time! I am so ready to meet my little man and not be uncomfortable, but I have so much to do before he comes and can't believe that a year ago this was just a dream!
I am officially 32 weeks this week! There is nothing especially new about pregnancy this week and its a week with no doctors appointments, so no special post. That being said I am going to brag on my other little man, and show you the fun weekend we had!
We were going to go out of town this last weekend, but Thing 1 got a role in the play Hansel and Gretel so we changed plans to be there for his on stage debut! I love theater, so the idea of a child who enjoys it thoroughly excites me!
He was a Rascal... which in the play is a one of the queen's little minions! He did such a good job, and it was such a cute play!
Seeing we were now plans free Saturday I went and had my hair chopped off by Tara with Trey Salon... there is no cutting my own hair when I am pregnant! I love it, and love that I am not just putting it up all the time due to being too long for me to want to style every day! I am definitely a short hair girl!

And I changed our maternity pictures to that evening... I CAN NOT WAIT TO SHOW THEM OFF!! Becky is an amazing photographer, and the kids had tons of fun exploring while we did pictures. She is going to do some of just me in her studio tomorrow... I am so excited to find out what her creativity has in store!
Then Sunday after church we went to a local pool for the kids to play, and me to... well... have a snow cone lol
Then we went home to make homemade pizza & cookies and enjoy the down time as a family!

All in all it was a great down weekend, and not going out of town turned into a blessing in disguise!
Hope everyone has a great week!

Nursery Part 2



The walls are grey thanks to my awesome mother and sister in law :)

My mother in law got us this great end table that matches his furniture to go next to the rocking chair once finished.
For Easter my mom gave him some picture frames.
My sister in law gave him stuffed animals that go with the theme, and my friend Megan got us some books to read while rocking him :)

We finished his mobile, but won't hang it until I settle on where I want the Crib :)
 Here is a link to how we made it! Making a Mobile! 

His closet is full of diapers and wipes from our gender reveal party :)

Most of the gifts we have been given for him so far are toys, so this is the start to his toy box :)
The basket is actually from Jenna's nursery. I took the pink liner out then added leftovers from his mobile, so it would match! 

This is not necessarily where they will stay, but here is his crib, changing table/ dresser, and the grey and yellow chevron laundry basket his Auntie Stevie bought him.

After months of airing out his crib mattress (I will post about that separately) it is now in his crib with his mattress cover and bedding.
The bedding is all grey and yellow with Safari animals on it :)

I will post more as we continue to finish our little man's room :)

Making a Mobile

Supplies needed:

• Fabric: I got a yard of each grey and yellow and had way too much. For the Green and blue I just got fabric sample squares from Joann's, and it was just right for one each.
• Ribbon: I got all white, but you could use one color to wrap the hoop and another color to hang the poof balls.
• Wood Embroidery Hoop: The middle comes out, so there is nothing on the outside
• Styrofoam Balls: I bought 2 inch and 2 1/2 inch, but ended up just using the smaller (they seem bigger once the fabric is on them)
• Glue gun: With lots of hot glue sticks
• Good fabric scissors
• Keyring 
• A small circle: To measure the circles before cutting (I used a glass cup)  
• A pencil: To draw the circles on the back of the fabric
• Small bows: To attach to where the poof balls attach to the Embroidery Hoop
• A lighter
• Friends and a good movie! 

Wrap Embroidery Hoop and Keyring with ribbon, and hot glue the ends.

• Trace about 30 circles for each poof ball you are making 
• Cut the circles out

• Fold each circle in 1/2 (color on the outside)
• Place a dot of glue on the inside at the center of the crease
• Then fold in 1/2 again
• Place another dot of glue in the center of the crease
• They will look like little fortune cookies 

Cover the styrofoam balls with about 30 little folded circles attaching with hot glue

Finished poof balls will look like this

• Once poof balls are finished hot glue them to different lengths of ribbon.
• Hot glue them to the Embroidery Hoop evenly spaced apart.
• Hot glue 4 evenly measured pieces of ribbon  to the Embroidery Hoop between the ribbons to the poof balls going up.
• Tie each of the ribbons going up to the keyring 
• Hot glue bows to where the ribbons for the poof balls attach to the Embroidery Hoop
• Tie a bow on top
• Then with lighter gently burn the ends of all ribbon, so they don't fray 

We haven't hung it yet, because I can't settle on where I want the crib.

 Hanging it from the ceiling is the last step :)

Bump Update - 31 Weeks - Midwife Appointment

How far along: 31 weeks today, and my bump is measuring at 33 weeks (which is the closest it has been to the week I am on since they started measuring at 22 weeks) 

Total weight gain/loss: 17.7lbs 

Maternity clothes:  I am definitely preferring dresses to pants more and more due to the heat, so I have added a few to my wardrobe. I went for ones that I thought would be comfortable post baby, and make nursing possible with only 9 weeks left to wear them pregnant! I was actually wearing a dress for this picture, but threw on pants to show off my bump without showing off my panties ;)

Stretch marks: Same as last time. I am itchy more and more these days, so I am practically bathing in lotion, bump gloss, and vitamin E Oil! 

Sleep: Well I have officially hit the "how the heck do I get comfortable" stage of things! Mike has been great about rubbing my back until I fall asleep, so I can relax despite my odd shape! The good part for me is once I do finally fall asleep I am back to being able to sleep in as long as I want! 

Best moment this week: It has been another great few weeks, and a perfect weekend! Mike and I went out just us Friday night for dinner and a show. Then Saturday we spent the day together working on the nursery! It really is fun day dreaming with my man about what our little guy will be like! I'm so blessed to get to go through this with him! 

Sunday we took the kids to lunch at Big Als, to the park, and then to BBQ with family! All to celebrate the amazing father that the man I love is! I honestly can't put in to words how to grateful I am to get to raise my children with such a strong, honest, Christian man who takes such good care of me and all 3 of his babies! Here are some pictures of our fun relaxing day! 

Now for the BEST Part! Today Mike and I went to see my midwife to get the results to my Gestational Diabetes Test that I had Friday, and her words were "your results are PERFECT you can eat all the snow cones that you want"! Praise God, because as much as I know that things would have worked out I really would have struggled with it. Next we got to hear our boys heartbeat (it was 130) which he didn't like at all, so he kicked like crazy until she stopped :) My iron is still low, but everything else is right on track! 

Miss Anything: There are days I miss not having pregnancy swag, heartburn, and leg cramps... Then I am reminded of how much I wanted this, and how much I will miss it when it is over and I get over it pretty quick! 

Movement: I am actually starting to figure out Baby Boy Reece's sleep schedule! He is so stinking strong lately it can be shocking! And if you watch me closely when he is moving you can see through my clothes...which is kind of weird for me not going to lie :)

Food cravings: The iron supplements have actually helped the ice cravings, and there is nothing new that has replaced it...besides getting heartburn from spicy food I may be able to just eat without pregnancy being in control!! That being said, now that I know that I don't have GD I can have all the snow cones I want which makes me a little more happy than it should :) 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing consistently. I do have times that I will get sick to my stomach for no apparent reason. My midwife says with baby pushing on my stomach as he grows this is normal. Thankfully it is nothing unbearable, and goes away on it's own. 

Labor Signs: Everyday! Whenever I do any sudden movements or am really active. 

Belly Button in or out: ... Neither... it's more like flat with the rest of my bump!

Wedding rings on or off? On and fitting great! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Still a happy girl! I am not going to lie last week I was worried for our baby all week, but felt at peace that things would all work out! I am ecstatic not to have GD!  God is so good to me! 

Looking forward to: Everything! I am at the point where I can see all of my dreams of having a baby with Mike coming true, and I am excited for all that it brings! I can't wait for my baby showers, so I can continue to put together my boy's room! I am excited for Mike and I to start our birth classes! I am excited to have maternity pictures done with my friend and favorite photographer Becky! I am excited for how much closer this is bringing Mike and I and for all that the next 9 weeks holds! And when being in love with this pregnancy isn't enough I have the 2 best kids to love on, and make eat lemons so I can laugh ;)

Gestational Diabetes...maybe?

So last Wednesday Mike and I spent an hour at my midwife's office, so that I could get tested for Gestational Diabetes. A very standard test for being in my 3rd trimester, and the only bad part was the orange "stuff" I had to drink...yuck doesn't begin to cover it. We had looked into other options for the test, but this being such a big deal we wanted to go with the most clear, tested, reliable option to protect our baby.  They also checked my blood for a bunch of other stuff, because of my medical history. Best part was getting to hear little man's heartbeat which never gets less exciting! We left with all looking perfect on the pregnancy front...
Monday morning not so much... I got a call from my midwife saying that she had good and bad news. Good news is my Thyroid (which was my biggest worry) is right where it should be hormone wise. Bad news is that my iron is very low (insert obsession with snow cones and ice here). She said that the want the iron count to be at least 12 and mine is 6.9 :( add to that my glucose levels are on the high side.
I went in that day to have my iron checked again, and to get an Rx for an iron supplement. They also gave me some really lame rules for how to eat for the week, so I could make an appointment to spend a morning having a second test with food not hindering the results in anyway.
Seeing I only work Friday afternoons I made the appointment for today.  I didn't let Mike come despite his constant asking to. I figured 3 hours is a long time to waste out of anyone's day, he could get some quality alone time in with our older kids, and I could bring my laptop and get some work done.
 I have had no food since 8 last night :( I started with getting my blood drawn at 9 am, then I got to drink 10 oz of the nasty glucose "stuff" (I tried lemon lime this time...DON'T DO IT... worse than the orange which is barely possible). Then they took my blood at 10 am and 11 am. Now I just wait one more hour for the last test at noon, and I can go feed me and my boy! The good part in all this is that I am still loving my midwife's office. They have a really comfy room with a recliner, heated blankets, dim lighting, lots of pregnancy books, and WiFi  (so I can watch Netflix on my phone while I play on my computer... I mean work on my computer). I really am relaxed despite the looming concern, and they even pulled out the Doppler so I could hear Thing 3 ;)
I decided despite my need to over research everything that happens in  my life I am not going to until Mike and I come back Monday to meet with my midwife to get the test results. Until then I am going to make the best out of this weekend, and leave it in God's hands....prayers appreciated and I will update everyone once I know more :)

Star Spangled Baby Shower

So I am going to brag a little :) I love being a military wife, and know that I was made to be one. With all the good there is the hard parts too... like my husband missing my 2nd trimester and that he will end up leaving again before our baby boy is a year old. But it is because military wives have to deal with stuff that other wife's don't that there is amazing support out there. One of the great support teams is Operation Homefront. They do fun things for families all year, but this last Sunday they had an event just for pregnant military mommies! I didn't know what to expect, but I had a blast! They had an awesome speaker Janet Jackson (not the singer) who was an RN for the Air force, a military wife, and then a nurse for St. Luke’s Maternity. She is now a speaker for all things pregnancy and new baby related. She is so funny, very knowledgeable, and full good tips. If you ever are taking a class through St. Luke's with her I promise you will love it!
They had lots of food and snacks to keep all the growing mommies happy :) There were games, raffles, and all the moms got a ton of free gifts!
Here are some of the pictures of the event and gifts that I brought home! It was a good day to be a military wifey ;)