The Story of Us

Our Weekend

2012-01-30T11:27:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend! I hope you did as well.

Friday night we had my parents over for pizza and a movie. We needed a new garbage disposal put in, so my dad came over to do that for us. Its nice to have a garbage disposal again after a month of our old one being broken. After he got that done, we ordered pizza and watched The Ides Of March. It was a good movie and very intense. Gotta love any movie with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling. ☺

Saturday, we just hung out at home. I had intended to clean the house, but never really got around to it. My sister, her husband and their 2 boys came over later that afternoon and I helped my sister make a blog. Check it out here. Its still not really finished as she has some more things to add, but its looking pretty cute so far.

At 7, we all went to some friend's of ours house for dinner and a movie. We watched the Help again, since our friends had never seen it before. (Our Blockbuster is closing and they are selling all their movies, so I got a good deal on The Help along with a few other movies.) It was a really fun night and great time together. We don't see these friends as often as we'd like or should, so it was fun to get together with them.

Sunday we went to church and then we went to a bowling tournament with my co-workers. Our team came in 6th place out of more than 20 teams! Not too shabby. After the tournament, we went home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and playing with Jackson. He's such a cutie and is really smiling and talking a lot these days! Heres a picture I took of him before we left for church yesterday. He's getting so big!

Jackson is 14 Weeks Old!

2012-01-30T10:35:00.000-06:00

Jackson turned 14 weeks old this past Thursday. He has had his hands in his mouth constantly these last couple weeks and I couldn't keep them out for his 14 week photo shoot. Not sure if he's beginning the teething stage or what, but he sure does love his hands right now. He's started looking at his hands too. He'll just stare at them, its so cute! He also started grabbing at stuff this passed week, and he still loves blowing raspberries. He'll look at me and blow one just to get me to blow one back at him. Then he'll give me a big smile. Its sooo cute! He's such a happy baby and we just can't give him enough kisses. I said its a wonder he doesn't have chapped cheeks with all the kisses he gets. His chubby little cheeks are just so irresistible. ☺

Fill in the Blank Friday

2012-01-27T10:23:00.002-06:00

Happy Friday Everyone!

I'm linking up with...

1. My favorite place I've ever traveled to is Maui on our honeymoon.

2. Australia is somewhere I'd love to go someday.

3. I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by reading a book/magazine or watching a movie/playing a game on the laptop.

4. My three must-haves when I travel are my ipod, laptop and a book/magazine.

5. My favorite travel companion is my husband Jake.

6. The craziest thing that ever happened to me while traveling is: Nothing too crazy has ever happened that I can think of, but a funny story we talk about all the time is when I was with my friend Carley, her mom and my mother-in-law (before she was my MIL) in California back in 2000. My friends Mom left her wallet in the rental car. She didn't realize this until we were getting off the bus to go to the airport. All of a sudden she yells MY WALLET!!! She did end up managing to get the driver to take her back to the rental car place and thankfully her wallet was still in the car. We still joke around all the time and scream "MY WALLET", when we're all together.

7. The most exotic food I've ever tried while traveling is: Nothing exotic for me. I'm a pretty picky eater and don't usually try crazy foods. We could have tried Poi while we were in Maui, but I was warned before we went that it wasn't very good, so I didn't try it. I kind of wish I would have at least tried it now. Oh well, maybe next time.

8. If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in Maui, Hawaii.

9. I have been to 20 states in the U.S.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

Thoughts for Thursday

2012-01-26T13:11:00.000-06:00

Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday (Super Bowl Edition)

2012-01-25T11:02:00.005-06:00

I'm linking up this week for Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday!

Super Bowl XLVI

With the Super Bowl coming up, I thought I'd devote this post to cute Superbowl party ideas I've found on Pinterest. We have a party every year and I've been pinning some cute ideas for our party this year.

What kind of fun Superbowl Party ideas have you had or come across??

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2012-01-25T09:46:00.000-06:00

I'm linking up here this week for What I'm loving Wednesday.

*Today I'm loving my new blog layout. I think I finally have it the way I want it. I've been playing around with it for the last few weeks, trying to get it just right, and I think I finally LOVE it!

*I'm loving that Jackson has slept til almost 7 a.m. the last 2 nights. My Mom usually gets to our house at around 7 to stay with Jackson for the day and I leave for work at around 7:15, so 7 is a great time for him to sleep til. I'm usually ready for work by 7 and it gives me a little time with him before I have to leave. He had been getting up at around 6 which makes it kind of hard for me to get ready in the morning.

*I'm loving that I got to spend the evening with all these babies last night. My sister and I take care of the babies in the nursery during bible study on Tuesday nights at church. We have four babies in there (her 3 month old, my 3 month old and her 9 month old twin nieces) and we also have one toddler who is almost 2. Babies are so much fun!

*I'm loving that since we've had Jackson, my husband has been doing a majority of the laundry, all the cooking and all the grocery shopping! He's pretty much always done the cooking, but its been a big help that he's taken on a majority of the laundry.

* I'm loving that a friend of mine at church is going to have a little sewing class for those of us who want to learn how to sew. Its next Saturday and she's going to teach us how to sew a bag, using a pillow case. :-) She's very good at sewing and sews a lot of her girls' dresses, among other things. I've been wanting to learn to sew for quite some time now, but just haven't taken the time to sit down and learn. This will be a great opportunity to learn how. Here's a picture of the bag we are making.

* And last, but not least, I'm loving my family! I have the best family ever and love them all dearly.

Jackson is 13 Weeks Old!

2012-01-22T22:47:00.000-06:00

Jackson turned 13 weeks old this past Thursday and his 3 month old birthday was this past Friday. It's going by so fast. He's really starting to get a cute little personality. He's so fun and so sweet! I just want to kiss his sweet chubby cheeks all the time! :-) Here are his 13 week pictures! Enjoy.

TGIF!!

2012-01-20T17:18:00.003-06:00

Yay! Its finally Friday! And its a 3 day weekend for me!! Hooray!

So far we don't have a whole lot planned for this weekend and I'm pretty happy about that! Tonight we are just relaxing at home. I think my husband is planning on grilling steaks, which sounds wonderful to me!

We may go bowling tomorrow night to practice for a tournament we're in with my office next weekend. I haven't bowled since last years tournament in January. I was pregnant a majority of the year so bowling wasn't really an option. Jake thought we should probably practice since its been so long for both of us.

Sunday we have church in the morning. Then we'll probably just hang out at home and watch football that afternoon. Sunday evenings we always go to some friends of ours house. We usually have dinner and sometimes will play a game.

Monday I'll probably meet up with my Mom and Sister for lunch and a little shopping with the kids.

So thats my plan for the weekend. Do you have anything fun planned?

Jackson is 12 Weeks Old!

2012-01-17T09:33:00.003-06:00

Jackson turned 12 weeks old this past Thursday and had his 12 week Dr. appt. this past Saturday. He weighed 14 lbs. 13 ozs. (he's in the 75th to 90th percentile on his weight) and is 24 3/4" long (he's in the 75th percentile on his length). He's such a big boy. Unfortunately he had to get 2 shots and drink the Rotavirus vaccine. He drank the medicine fine but did not care for the shots at all. Of course Mommy and Daddy didn't like that Jackson had to get those mean old shots either. :-( It makes me cry every time and Daddy couldn't even look.

The Dr. said that Jackson is doing great. He said he's holding his head up like a 4 month old and growing and gaining weight like a champ!! He's still doing well with 6 ozs. of formula every 4 hours. The Dr. said he can start having rice cereal at 4 months, so we're looking forward to trying that then.

We also tried putting him in his crib at night for the first time this past weekend. He has done great so far. The first night we tried, he slept from midnight til 6:30. Then last night we tried again, but it kind of got messed up because we had some thunderstorms come through and the tornado sirens went off. He slept from around 9:15 til I guess it was around 2 or 3 when the sirens went off. I got him and put him in his little bed in our room when I heard the sirens, but he slept through the whole storm and even moving him into our room didn't wake him up. He didn't wake up again until 5. I fed him then, and put him back in his crib awake (but tired), where he fell asleep on his own and was still sleeping when I left for work this morning at 7:30. My mom said at close to 9 he was still asleep!! He's such a good sleeper and I'm SO thankful for that.

One other thing I wanted to document for this week is, he has been mimicking me blowing raspberries and its the cutest thing ever. He started this on Saturday and I couldn't believe it at first. He was really watching my mouth when I would blow raspberries at him and then he started trying to blow them back at me. He even makes the same sound as me. Its so cute. I really need to try to video it.

I feel so blessed to have a happy and healthy baby. Here's his 12 week picture...

Fill in the Blank Friday

2012-01-13T11:19:00.006-06:00

Link up here for Fill in the Blank Friday

1. The last thing I ate was: Breakfast egg rolls here at work.

2. The last song I listened to was: "The Living Proof" by Mary J. Blige at the end of the movie The Help that I watched again last night .

3. Using the letters in my name I can spell: {Amy}...yam, may, my and am. I think thats probably it .

4. If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick: I guess I would have to say blue because I could wear jeans and there are so many different shades of blue that it wouldn't get too boring .

5. If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find: My wallet, gum, receipts, check book, sunglasses, chap-stick, keys, my cell phone, camera and coupons.

6. When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to: Get back to work, Haha!

7. My all time favorite song to dance to is: Gosh, I have no idea. I guess I would have to say dancing with my husband to our song, "You're Just too Good to be True" by Frankie Valley.

I'm so glad its Friday! Its been a long week and I'm so ready for the weekend. Tonight I plan on just relaxing at home with my husband, Jackson and our fur-babies. Tomorrow, Jackson has his 12 week Dr. appt. in the morning. I'm looking forward to seeing how much J.T. has grown, but I think he will probably be getting shots at this appt. and I'm really not looking forward to that. Then we are going to an open house at my MIL's workplace in the afternoon. She works for a new company and they're having a open house for family of the employees to come and visit the new location.

Sunday morning we'll go to church and then probably just hang out at home the rest of the day. Then Monday I have a couple appts. and I plan on doing some shopping with my mom, sister and the kids.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Winter, Winter Go AWAY!!!

2012-01-12T11:05:00.001-06:00

We woke up to freezing cold temperatures and about an inch or so of snow this morning. By the end of the day we are expected to have 2-3 inches. Yuck!! Yesterday it was in the 50's and this past Friday it was in the 70's. On my way to work this morning it was 20 degrees and its supposed to get even colder as the day goes on. But thats St. Louis for you. The weather changes constantly. :-/

Even though there's only about an inch or so of snow, the roads are terrible!! After dropping Jackson off at my mom's this morning and making the trek down to the city, it ended up taking me an extra hour to get to work. However, I'm grateful I made it here safely and it does look kinda pretty from my nice warm office. I took a picture from my 24th floor office window so you all could see.

Here's to hoping Spring is just around the corner. I really hate winter!!

Oh How Pinteresting Wednesdays

2012-01-11T11:12:00.005-06:00

I'm linking up with...

This is such a cute bib. I really want to get one made for Jackson.

Such a clever idea.

I really want to do this with Jake and frame it for the family collage wall in the living room that I'm working on.

This is so beautiful and makes me long for summer nights.

Such a cute shirt. I need this for Jackson for Valentines Day!

I'm dying for a DSLR camera! Hoping to get one in April for my birthday!

I love this bag!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

2012-01-11T10:29:00.004-06:00

I thought I'd join in the fun this week with What I'm Loving Wednesday. Here's what I'm loving...

I'm loving that the final season of One Tree Hill starts tonight!! I know I should probably be over this show by now, but I just can't help but love it. I've watched it from the beginning and I'm even a little sad that its the last season.

I'm loving that I have another 3 day weekend coming up this weekend with Monday being Martin Luther King Jr. Day!!

I'm loving the movie "The Help". I finally got to see it last week! I had been wanting to see it and had heard how great it was. It was a very good movie and I definitely recommend it.

I'm loving my new vacuum that I got right before Christmas. It works great, especially with having 3 Labrador Retrievers!!

And I'm loving my sweet baby boy, who's sleeping very well at night and in a great routine now that I'm back to work. He's such a good baby and I love him so much. :-)

So what are you loving??

Goodbye Christmas Decor... Hello Valentines Day Decor

2012-01-10T14:57:00.001-06:00

I finally got all my Christmas decor put away this past weekend. (It feels so good to have the house back to normal again.)

I figured while I had my holiday decorations out, I'd go ahead and decorate my table for Valentines day. My Valentines Day decor is probably my favorite because I just love the colors. I got most of it at Target last year.

I'd really like to get something different for a centerpiece. I've been scoping out Pinterest for some ideas. I found this cute idea that I might try. It seems easy enough, however, finding the time these days with a 2 month old is the challenge.

Do you decorate for Valentines day?? I would love to see some other Valentines decorations.

Jackson Laughing

2012-01-09T12:21:00.002-06:00

My sweet boy is ticklish. I love hearing him laugh, its the cutest thing ever!!

Jackson is 11 Weeks Old!

2012-01-08T19:42:00.000-06:00

Jackson's 11 week photo shoot...

Family Christmas Picture

2012-01-05T12:02:00.000-06:00

Last night we finally got around to taking our annual Family Christmas picture in front of our tree. Nothing like waiting til the last minute. LOL. Its always a chore getting my husband to take a picture. I always tell him he married the wrong girl then because I like to take pictures all the time. You'd think he'd be used to it by now. Hopefully Jackson doesn't take after his dad in that respect.

Everyone did well. Even the dogs were pretty good. Max (the youngest one, laying down in the front) gave us a little trouble, but after only a handful of takes, we got a pretty good picture (considering we were working with three dogs and a baby). Here's our 2011 Family Christmas picture along with a collage of each year prior since we got married in 2007.

I make an ornament out of these pictures each year. Someday I'll need another tree for all the picture ornaments I'll have. :-)

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays

2012-01-04T09:33:00.001-06:00

Here's what I'm loving on Pinterest this week...

I really love this bag. I only wish I was able to make it myself.

This is such a cute way to keep your appointments straight.

A genius idea for keeping your cords straight!! Attach a kitchen basket to the underside of your desk!

I thought this was such a cute idea for an ornament to remember a trip you took earlier that year.

A great idea for the picture Christmas cards you get each year. Just punch a couple holes in them, add rings and make them into a little book to set out at Christmas time each year.

A super cute display board. I thought this would be cute to use for each season or month and just change it out with a different banner.

So these are just a few of the things I'm loving this week on Pinterest. What are you loving??

New Years Eve 2011

2012-01-03T09:22:00.004-06:00

Happy 2012 Everyone!!

Every year on New Years Eve, we have a dinner at church. Anyone that would like to, can decorate a table and we have a nice dinner together. This year the tables were beautiful as always. Its always so fun to see how each table is decorated.

My sister and I decorate a table together every year. Here's a picture of our table this year, plus pictures of all the other tables.

Mine and my sister's table.

A close-up of our centerpiece.

Our Pastor's wife's table.

The table my mom decorated.

The table my mother-in-law decorated.

The kids table.

After the dinner at church, we went to some friends of ours house to ring in the new year. We played a game and watched the ball drop. It was a very fun night. :-) I hope you all had a great New Years Eve and have a wonderful 2012!!

Jackson is 10 Weeks Old!

2011-12-31T11:24:00.000-06:00

Jackson hit double digits this week by turning 10 weeks old. I can't believe how big he is getting. He's talking and smiling a lot more now. On Christmas eve he even gave us a little LOL!!! :-) I had his little puppy dog rattle and was making it kiss his cheeks and he laughed out loud, only once, but it was the best Christmas gift of all! Of course, since then, I've been trying to get him to do it again, but have had no success. He also made my day this past Tuesday when I walked in the door after work and said hi to him and he gave me a big smile! It melted my heart. He goes back to the Dr. in 2 weeks, i'm sure he's gained quite a bit of weight and has grown much longer in length since his last appt. at 6 weeks. He's still eating 6 ozs. every 4 hours and that seems to be working pretty well. He's also sleeping very well through the night, only waking up once and sometimes not waking up until I get up for work at 6!! He's such a sweet and happy baby.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

2011-12-30T09:25:00.002-06:00

When Jake and I had our first married Christmas together, we decided to get a real Christmas tree. We wanted to actually go out to a farm and cut one down ourselves, so we found a farm online that was about an hour away from our house and we drove out there only to find that their trees were shorter than I am (5' 4"). Not exactly what we had in mind.

So we then decided to go to this cute little tree stand, right down the street from our house. This isn't your typical "parking lot" tree stand. They grow their own trees at a farm and even have some trees shipped all the way from Oregon and other parts of the country. Its run by a very sweet family that also have a pumpkin patch in the fall and sell flowers in the spring and summer. Needless to say, we've gone back there every year and we always get a Noble Fir. Its such a beautiful tree with a lovely scent.

I thought it would be fun, since this was our fifth Christmas together, to make a collage of all of our Christmas trees. I wanted to see the difference in them each year. You can tell the first year, we really underestimated the size tree we needed for our living room. Since that first year, we've always gotten a little bit bigger of a tree. Last year I even had to buy another strand of lights to go around it.

So I thought I would share our Christmas tree collage with you. Just something fun to look back on. :-)

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T12:48:00.002-06:00

Here are the rest of the pictures I took this Christmas.

Christmas Eve at our house with my Mom's side of the family.

Landon opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day at my Mother in Law's house. Between my husband and his 2 brothers and their families, there are 3 boys, their wives and then 9 children between all 3 boys. So there's always A LOT of presents.

My nephews Ethan and Jack and my niece Bella.

Our little family of 3 on Christmas day at my MIL's house.

My nieces Kyleigh and Alexis waiting to see whats in their stockings from Grandma.

Bella, Sophia and Ethan waiting to see whats in their stockings from Grandma.

The kids opening their gifts.

Jackson with a bow on his head. :-) He was my best present of all this year.

Jackson with the pillow his Great Great Grandma Smith made for him.

Jackson enjoying his first Christmas.

Jackson trying out his new swing from Grandma.

My nephew Landon opening presents at my parents' house the day after Christmas.

Landon helping Jake open some of Jackson's gifts.

Cousins Mason and Jackson.

My little butter ball taking a Christmas nap.

Cousins Mason, Landon and Jackson in their new Christmas pj's from Maw Maw and Papa.

Jackson is 9 Weeks Old!

2011-12-29T09:54:00.000-06:00

I'm very late posting this, especially since he's actually 10 weeks old today, but I did take the picture last week, just hadn't had time to edit it. Here is my big 9 week old baby boy. I just can't believe how big he is getting. He's already wearing some 6-9 month clothes!!!

A little video of Jackson

2011-12-29T08:54:00.000-06:00

Jackson is really starting to smile and talk more and more each day. Last night I thought I'd try and get a little video of him talking. His favorite place in our house is on his changing table. I hung the comforter/quilt from his crib set on the wall next to his changing table and he just loves to look at and talk to the turtles and fish on it. So after changing his diaper last night, I thought I'd try and get a little video while he was in the "talking mood". Here's what I got.

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays.

2011-12-28T14:39:00.003-06:00

Here's what I'm loving on Pinterest this week.

I really want to make something like this to hang in my home.

I'm thinking about making a collage wall in our living room, with lots of pictures and things that mean something to us as a family. I saw this on Pinterest just yesterday and thought it would be cool to try and make. She typed out the lyrics to the song that was playing during their first dance at their wedding, then she cut it out in the shape of a tree, (which I could do using my cricut). She then added the 2 hearts and in another picture I saw, she added the couples initials to the hearts.

This is an example of a picture wall collage that I'd like to do in my living room. I have a bigger wall, so I'll probably add more to it.

I really love this quote.

I'd like to take all these pictures of Jackson and arrange them in a frame for our collage wall.

This is something else I thought would be cool in a frame for our wall.

Christmas

2011-12-28T08:47:00.001-06:00

I hope you all had a great Christmas. We certainly did. :-) It was a great weekend spent with friends and family.

I took lots of pictures, but I forgot my memory stick at home this morning. So I'll post a few that we took Christmas day at church that I've already uploaded to Facebook. I'll try and post the rest later this week.

The set from our church Christmas musical was still up on Christmas morning, so we took a few pictures sitting on the couch. Landon, Mason and Jackson all had their Christmas red on. They looked so cute.

Jake, Jackson and I at church on Christmas morning.

Jackson, Landon and Mason. (Jackson slept through our little photo shoot.)

Maw Maw an Papa (My parents) with their grand-babies.

Jackson at church on Christmas morning. :-)

Our 2011 Christmas Card

2011-12-23T13:20:00.000-06:00

Christmas Plans

2011-12-22T10:45:00.002-06:00

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year because I received the best present of all...

... this sweet baby boy. :-)

Christmas for us this year, starts on Christmas Eve with my Mom's side of the family. Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my parents, my Mom's parents, my sister and her family and then my Mom's 2 brothers and their families. We all take turns hosting it. I chose to host it this year. :-) It will be a bittersweet Christmas Eve this year without Grammy here with us. This will be our first Christmas without her. It was sad decorating my tree and going through all the ornaments she had gotten for me the last few years. Last year she gave me an angel ornament that lights up. I decided to put it at the top of my tree to symbolize her looking down on us from heaven. I miss her so much and wish she was still here, but I know this will be her best Christmas ever because she gets to spend it with Jesus.

Then at 10:00 Christmas Eve night, we have a candle-light service at church that is always so beautiful. I look forward to it every year.

With Christmas being on a Sunday this year, we have church Christmas morning at 10, and then we are spending the rest of the day at my Mother in Laws house. Jake's 2 brothers and their families will be there as well. We have 8 nieces and nephews on Jake's side of the family, so much of the day is spent opening gifts. We will also have lunch and play a game or two I'm sure.

Then we are all off work Monday, so thats when we are celebrating Christmas with my parents, sister and my sister's husband and kids. We have a tradition where we always fix breakfast food, no matter what time we end up getting together that year. So we'll be having our traditional breakfast at around noon. The kids will open their gifts and we decided the adults would buy $10 gift cards this year and play dirty Santa with them. We also plan to watch Its a Wonderful Life and play a game or two.

So those are our plans for this year. I'm really looking forward to the next few days spent with family. :-)

What are your Christmas plans for this year??

2011 Christmas Decorations

2011-12-22T10:22:00.003-06:00

I'm a little behind in posting my Christmas decorations this year, but I've been sick with a sinus infection and double ear infection for the past 2 weeks and am finally feeling better. I also started back to work this week, so its taken me a couple days to get back into the swing of things here, (another blog post on that later).

We got our tree 2 weeks ago and with being sick and taking care of the baby, it took me about a week to finish my decorating. I just did a little at a time. Here are some pictures of our house all decorated for Christmas. :-)

Our 2011 Smith Family Noble Fir.

The Christmas Tree all decorated.

The living room all decorated for Christmas.

A close-up of the coffee table in the living room.

A close-up of the entertainment center in the living room.

Entry table in the living room.

Our dining room table decorated for Christmas.

The bakers rack in the dining room/kitchen.

The stove, decorated for Christmas.

All Smiles!!

2011-12-17T01:20:00.001-06:00

Jackson has really started to smile more... and I'm loving it. Here are some pictures I took of him yesterday in his little Kansas City Chiefs jersey.

A cute little grin.

A little bit bigger smile.

Then my personal favorite... a great big smile!! :-)

Jackson is 8 Weeks Old!

2011-12-17T01:13:00.002-06:00

Jackson was 8 weeks old this past Thursday. So hard to believe he will be 2 months old on Tuesday. He's growing up too fast. I also go back to work next Tuesday, :-( I'm not looking forward to that at all.

Family Pictures

2011-12-15T00:37:00.001-06:00

We had our first Family Pictures taken as a family of 3 this evening and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Of course we got several of just Jackson as well. They were all so cute it was hard to choose.

Jackson is 7 Weeks Old!

2011-12-10T16:23:00.001-06:00

Jackson was 7 weeks old this past Thursday. Time is really going by way too fast.

Jackson's First Visit with Santa

2011-12-10T16:20:00.001-06:00

We went and had Jackson's picture taken with Santa last night. He did great!!

Baby Shower given to me by the ladies at Church.

2011-12-07T16:20:00.001-06:00

Our church gives every lady a baby shower for their first child, after the baby is born. So this past Saturday was Jackson's baby shower there. It was a nice mid morning brunch. We had waffles, fruit and danishes. Here are a few pictures from the shower.

New Pictures of Jackson and his 6 week Dr. appointment.

2011-12-07T15:59:00.002-06:00

Jackson had his 6 week Dr. appointment yesterday. The Dr. said Jackson is doing great!! He weighed 11 pounds 13 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches long. He said he's in the 90th percentile for his length and 75th percentile for his weight. He's now eating 6 ozs. every 4 hours and gaining weight like a champ. He's wearing 3-6 month clothes already and is very strong. He's holding his head up very well and will stand his legs up on our laps. He's starting to "talk" to us some and smile, which makes mommy smile too. He's getting up about once a night to eat and last night he went 6 1/2 hours between feedings, yay!! Hoping thats a sign of more nights like that to come. I go back to work on Dec. 20th and I'm hoping to get him into a nice routine so that I can get a pretty good nights sleep.

So everythings going great and we feel so very blessed to have him in our lives.

Here are a few recent/random pictures I thought I'd share. Enjoy...

Jackson and I taking a nap. :-)

Best Buds: Mason on the left and Jackson on the right. I love how they have their arms intertwined with one another. So cute.

Binkie Buddies.

The day after Thanksgiving, Jake and I took Jackson to Richmond, MO to meet Jackson's Great Great Grandma Smith. She's in her late 80's and still getting around pretty good. She enjoyed meeting Jackson and we enjoyed spending the day with her.

Jake's mom has an outfit that she had each of her 3 boys pictures made in when they were all around the same age. She still happened to have the outfit so she let me borrow it and I took Jackson's picture in it. I'm going to buy a double 4x6 frame and put the picture of Jake and the picture of Jackson in the same outfit as a Christmas gift to Jake's mom.

Jake Jackson

This outfit Jackson is wearing, was Jake's first Christmas outfit. It barely fit Jackson, so I'm glad I tried it on him when I did. :-)

Jackson wearing his own first Christmas sleeper.

Jake holding Jackson at his family's Thanksgiving dinner, the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Jackson's first Thanksgiving! :-)

Jackson is 6 Weeks Old!

2011-12-02T00:36:00.002-06:00

My nephew Mason's Dedication

2011-11-30T14:38:00.002-06:00

My nephew Mason was dedicated this past Sunday at church. He was born just 12 days before Jackson. I didn't get any pictures during the ceremony, but I got some good ones of our family afterwards.

My sister, her husband, Landon and Mason

My Papa Reg (my Mom's Dad), my parents, my sister and her family and myself and my family.

Cousins: Landon in the middle with his brother Mason on the left and cousin Jackson on the right.

19 years ago, when my Uncle Mark and Aunt Karla had their first son, Travis, they received a dedication outfit as a gift from a woman in our church. They later, had another son, Tyler, who also wore the same outfit to be dedicated. When my sister had Landon, he wore the outfit to be dedicated 4 years ago and then Jackson wore it 2 weeks ago as well. Then last week at Mason's dedication, he wore the same outfit. This is a picture of all the boys who have worn the outfit.

Jackson's Dedication - November 20th, 2011

2011-11-30T14:21:00.002-06:00

Jackson was dedicated exactly one month after the day he was born. Our pastor, who performed my dedication 30 years ago, performed Jackson's dedication as well. :-) It was a special day, and we were blessed to be surrounded by our family and church friends.

Jake, Jackson and I surrounded by our family during the ceremony.

Our pastor praying over us.

Our pastor, praying over Jackson.

Our pastor, holding Jackson.

My mom, looking at Jackson after the dedication.

Jake's Aunt and Uncle, looking at Jackson after the dedication.

Jackson with all of his cousins on Jake's side of the family.

Jackson with all of his cousins on both mine and Jake's side of the family.

19 years ago,when my Aunt Karla and Uncle Mark had their first son, Travis, they received a dedication outfit as a gift from a woman in our church. They later, had another son, Tyler, who also wore the same outfit to be dedicated. When my sister had Landon, he wore the outfit to be dedicated 4 years ago and then Jackson wore it 2 weeks ago as well. This is a picture of all the boys who have worn the outfit.

Jake, Jackson and I after the dedication.

Jake, his mom, Jackson and I.

My Papa Reg (my Mom's dad), my parents, my sister and her family and Jake, Jackson and I.

Jackson after his dedication.

Jackson and I. :-)

A close up of Jackson in the dedication outfit.

Jackson is 5 Weeks Old!

2011-11-30T13:52:00.002-06:00

Jackson was 5 weeks old this past Thursday (Thanksgiving day)! He's getting so big. At his Doctor's appointment last Tuesday, he weighed 10 pounds, 5 ounces and is so strong. The Dr. said he's holding his head up like an 8 week old baby.

Here's his 5 week pictures!!

Jackson's Birth Announcement

2011-11-23T12:31:00.002-06:00

I found these super cute announcements at snapfish.com. They were having a great BOGO sale!! I could't resist. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

Jackson is 4 Weeks Old!

2011-11-21T14:03:00.002-06:00

Jackson turned 4 weeks old this past Thursday and was a month old yesterday. Time needs to really slow down!! Here's his 4 week old pictures. Enjoy!!

Photoshoot with Jackson

2011-11-11T16:41:00.002-06:00

A couple weeks ago my sister and I did a little photo shoot with Jackson. These were some of my favorites.

Jackson is 3 Weeks Old!

2011-11-11T16:32:00.003-06:00

Jackson was 3 weeks old yesterday. Here are a few pictures of my handsome little man.

Jackson is 2 weeks old today!

2011-11-03T22:44:00.002-05:00

Jackson is 2 weeks old today. Time is flying by.

Harvest Fest at Church

2011-11-01T16:40:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday was the annual Harvest Fest/Bonfire at our church. It was a great turn out and everyone had a great time. Here are a few pictures.

The ginormous bonfire.

Everyone having a great time at the Harvest Fest.

My cousin Travis and my Nephew Landon (dressed as Optimus Prime from Transformers)

My nephew Larry dressed up like a Police Man.

My niece Sophia dressed up like a Lady Bug.

My nephew Landon dressed up as Optimus Prime.

My sister and I holding our new babies Mason and Jackson.

Mason and Jackson dressed up in their Halloween outfits.

Jackson and I at the Harvest Fest.

Jackson wearing his Halloween outfit.

Our first picture as a family of 3.

Pictures from Jackson's First Week

2011-11-01T16:15:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures I took of Jackson's first week.

Jackson's first day at home.

Cousins Jackson and Mason. Only 12 days apart.

Cousins Landon, Mason and Jackson.

Big cousin Landon holding Jackson.

Jackson's first bath at home. He didn't like it very much, as you can see.

Jackson and Mommy. :-)

Jackson sleeping.

My boys. :-)

Jackson's Birth Story

2011-11-01T14:54:00.002-05:00

Jackson arrived on his actual due date, October 20th, 2011, however his birth story really started the day before. We went to the hospital, for me to be induced at 7 a.m. on Oct. 19th. due to the PUPPS rash I had gotten a couple weeks before. It was driving me crazy, so my Dr. gave me the option at my appt. that Monday to either give me steroids or go ahead and induce. Since I was so close to my due date, I opted to be induced.

So Jake and I headed to the hospital the morning of the 19th, fully expecting to meet our new baby sometime later that day. Never did I dream it would be 20 hours later and end in a cesarean section.

We arrived at 7 a.m. and the Dr. came in at around 8:30 or so to break my water. It wasn't too long after that, that they started the Pitocin. Once I got the Pitocin, it wasn't long before I was having pretty regular contractions. So at around noon, I got the epidural. The contractions weren't terrible at the time, but I was at about 4 cm and the Dr. said I could have it anytime I wanted it. So I figured I'd go ahead and get it before the contractions got any stronger.

I was under the impression that the epidural wouldn't be that bad... well that was a misconception. It HURT!! And unfortunately, it didn't work very well on me. I was still feeling contractions on one side and after several more hours, they decided to give me a new epidural. This was not at all good news. Thankfully the second epidural didn't hurt quite as bad as the first as I was still a little numb.

After getting the second epidrual at around 3 p.m. I was at around 5 cm and feeling pretty good. This lasted for about 5 or so hours and then I started feeling contractions again!! I had progressed very little and was starting to worry as to why this was taking so long and why the epidural wasn't working again. After several more hours I was only at 8 to 9 cm and still not fully effaced. The epidural had worn off and I was feeling contractions but wasn't progressing any further.

At around midnight, the nursed realized Jackson was face up, which makes delivery much more difficult and usually results in a lot more pushing or a cesarean section. The Dr. came in and tried to turn him, but she was unsuccessful. They had me lay on either side to try to get him to turn over, but that didn't work either. At this point I actually started digressing instead of progressing and Jackson's heartrate started to go down. I was told it would be best for me to have a cesarean section.

Of course I was scared to death and there were many tears shed. This was not at all the way I had hoped labor and delivery would go. Thankfully, my mom was there to comfort both Jake and I. She had to have my sister by cesarean section and was able to calm some of our fears.

So they wheeled me back to the operating room, and since I had already gotten an epidural, they were able to give me a stronger medicine through the epidural so that I could be awake during the operation. Needless to say, one of my biggest fears was that I would feel them cutting me because the epidural hadn't worked the way it was supposed to all day. But the medicine they put in the epidural during a c-section, was a lot stronger and I didn't feel a thing. It did, however, make me sick, which wasn't fun at all. But I was just thankful to not feel any of the operation.

Once they let Jake come back into the operating room I felt a lot better and in no time we were hearing our sweet baby boy crying. I've never been so happy in all of my life. At that moment, none of what I had been through that day even mattered. I was so thankful that we had a healthy baby. It was such an amazing sound to hear my sweet baby's cry.

At that point Jake went over to see him as they stitched me back up. I remember him saying he looked like him and that he had some blonde hair. I asked how much he weighed and to my surprise, he weighed 8lbs. 12 ozs. and was 21 inches long. A much bigger baby than I thought he would be. Jake took some pictures and showed them to me as I still lay there being put back together again, LOL. Then I finally got to see Jackson. Jake brought him over to show me and I was instantly in love.

After they got me all stitched up, they wheeled me to a recovery room where I basically slept for the the next 2 hours. They gave me morphine, which also made me sick, but then made me sleepy. While I slept they gave Jackson a bath and got him all cleaned up. Jake and my mom came in and the nurse brought Jackson in too. I was still too groggy to hold him, but once they got me in a regular room, I was finally able to hold and feed him.

We stayed in the hospital until Sunday, Oct. 23rd and have been doing well ever since. I'm healing very well. The first week was a little tough, but I feel much better now. Of course I still have to take it easy and can't do stairs or drive yet, but I'm feeling pretty good and getting around just fine. Jackson is also doing great. He's sleeping well, eating and gaining weight like he should and is such a sweet baby.

We couldn't be happier about becoming a family of 3 and though the labor and delivery did not go as I had hoped or planned, it was all worth it to have this little baby boy here with us. I am so grateful and thankful to God for bringing Jackson into our lives and for being there with us through all the ups and downs of my pregnancy, labor and delivery. He kept us all safe and gave us a healthy and beautiful baby boy.

Jackson is 1 Week Old Today

2011-10-27T18:47:00.003-05:00

Time is already going by too quickly. Its hard to believe Jackson's already one week old. Hes so precious. Words cant describe how in love I am.

He has his one week visit at the Pediatrician today. The Dr. said hes doing great!!

Needless to say he didn't really like this. Hopefully he grows to like it a little more as the weeks go on.

Jackson is here!!!

2011-10-27T18:33:00.002-05:00

I am so happy to announce that Jackson was born October 20th at 2:59 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 12 ozs.and was 21 inches long. We are so in love with him.

Unfortunately, my labor and delivery didn't go as I had hoped. As you recall, my last post said we were going in to be induced on the 19th at 7 a.m. Well that is what we did, however, he was born 20 hours later by cesarean section. Nevertheless, it was all worth it and we are so thankful and blessed to have a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

I plan on sharing his birth story as soon as I have the time. He's keeping me very busy as I try and type this one handed. LOL. Here are a few pictures from his birthday.

Tomorrow is the BIG Day!!!

2011-10-18T16:29:00.003-05:00

I'm so excited to tell you all that tomorrow we will be meeting our precious Jackson Thomas!!

I had my 39 week Dr. appt. yesterday and we discussed induction due to this PUPPS rash I have that has been driving me crazy. The rash started on my stomach about a week and a half to two weeks ago and has now spread to my hips and feet. The bad thing about it is, it will only go away after giving birth. She gave me two alternatives... we could try steroid shots to help with the itch until the baby is born, or go ahead and induce labor. Being as my due date is Thursday, I chose to go and ahead with an induction. So the Dr. said she was on call Wed. and we could set it up for that day.

So we will check in at the hospital tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., and will meet our sweet baby boy sometime later that day.

Its so hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that Jackson will be here tomorrow. It was starting to feel like he was never going to get here. I have a whole range of emotions going on right now. Of course I'm so excited to be meeting Jackson tomorrow, and I can't wait to hold him in my arms for the first time. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Nervous about the labor and delivery and nervous about becoming a mom for the first time. I would guess that most, if not all, women go through these same emotions when they're about to have a baby. Thankfully, I know God will be there with me through it all, and the prayers and support of my family, friends and church family have been and will continue to be a blessing as Jake and I start this new chapter in our lives.

Thanks to all of you for reading my blog during this journey through pregnancy and I can't wait to share the next step as I journey through motherhood.

39 Weeks

2011-10-13T11:24:00.001-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

I'm really hoping this is the last week I have to take this picture.

How Far Along: 39 Weeks

Size of Baby: He weighs a bit over 7 lbs. now (the size of a mini watermelon) and measures about 20 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain: 38 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes, I'm still feeling him move around in there. Not quite as much as before as I'm pretty sure he's run out of room.

Food Cravings: Not really craving anything in particular.

What I miss: I miss a lot of things, like just feeling normal again. But its all worth it and at least I don't have much longer to go! :-)

Sleep: I've slept a little better the last couple nights, however, I think its because I've been sleeping on the couch and taking a benedryl before bed. The bed was just getting too uncomfortable for me with the dogs and Jake and having to get up so many times in the middle of the night. So I've been sleeping on the couch and that seems to be working out better. I've also been taking benedryl before bed because I have a rash on my stomach called PUPPS and it had been keeping me awake at night because it itches so bad.

Symptoms: This PUPPS rash on my stomach is so itchy and driving me CRAZY! My feet and hands are swelling too. :-( I also, occasionally, have a stabbing pain in my pelvis, which the Dr. said is just the pelvis widening to get ready for childbirth. I'm also having some Braxton Hicks Contractions occasionally and a little bit of cramping.

Best Moment this week: There are a couple... First, my baby nephew Mason was born on Saturday. He's so sweet and cute.

Second, I found out at my Dr. appt. this past Monday that I was 2 c.m. dilated and 50 % effaced. She also said he had moved down and she expected him to be here very soon. She said if he wasn't here by my next appt. on the 17th, that we'd talk about scheduling an induction date for after my due date.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting baby Jackson in just 1 (+/-) more week. I can't believe we're so close to meeting him. Come on Jackson, Mommy can't wait to meet you!!

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

2011-10-12T09:22:00.003-05:00

I thought since Jackson will be here soon and we'll be wanting to take LOTS of pictures of him, I would make this post about super cute baby photos I'd like to try once our little J.T. is here. I found all of these on Pinterest, which is so helpful.

I thought this would be super cute since he'll be born in October.

I just love this picture, with the baby's hands in the shape of a heart.

So sweet!

Love this.

So soft and sweet.

My mom actually bought the pattern for this little turtle photo prop and made it for Jackson. Can't wait to take this picture.

My mom also got a pattern for a football hat similar to this one, only the one she made has red and yellow strings that hang down over the ears. The yellow and red is for the KC Chiefs and I want to take this picture with his little hat and a KC Chiefs football my husband has.

My new baby nephew is here....

2011-10-10T12:54:00.001-05:00

My sweet baby nephew arrived this past Saturday, October 8th, 2011 weighing 7lbs. 13oz. and measuring 18 1/2 inches long. Mason is so sweet and adorable. Here are just a few pictures of him from my sister's facebook page until I have time to unload my camera's memory stick.

Baby Shower at Work

2011-10-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

Last Tuesday, my co-workers through me a fun little baby shower!! It was so cute and so sweet of them. They all pitched in and got me a gift card to Target to spend on the baby. I was able to get a pack n play for him with the gift card. Here are some picture from the shower.

Jackson's Nursery

2011-10-06T13:28:00.002-05:00

Jackson's room is finally finished!!!

But first, the before:

This is what the room looked like when the previous owners lived there. They had a son and daughter and this was their son's room.

When we moved in, we didn't have any children. So we made the room our spare bedroom, which looked like this.

Now I'm so excited to have transformed this room into a sweet and fun nursery for our baby Jackson!

Jackson's crib and changing table.

Jackson's crib. The white blanket was a gift from my aunt Lisa and her 3 girls. Another of my aunt's has an embroidering machine, so she embroidered Jackson's name on it. It turned out super cute and is really soft!

Close up of his name. The letters were sold separately at Hobby Lobby and were already painted white. I just used mod podge, scrapbook paper, some ribbon and my cricut to decorate them.

Inside of the crib.

A close up of his crib/changing table.

The quilt/comforter that came with his bedding set.

I took this picture from the door of his room.

Glider and side table.

Glider. The blanket hanging on the back of it was a gift my mom made for Jackson.

Close up of pom poms I made that hang over the glider.

Wall canvas' hanging over his dresser that match his bedding set.

Turtle night light, frame with his sonogram and one of our maternity pictures in it, my pregnancy album and his binky jar all sitting on top of his dresser.

Clock I bought and decorated to match his room.

38 Weeks

2011-10-06T13:03:00.003-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 38 Weeks

Size of Baby: He weighs around 6.8 lbs. now and measures over 19 1/2 inches long from head to heal, (like a leek).

Total Weight Gain: 38 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! He is still moving quite a bit, even though he's running out of room.

Food Cravings: Not really craving anything in particular.

What I miss: I miss a lot of things, like just feeling normal again. But its all worth it and at least I don't have much longer to go! :-)

Sleep: Not sleeping well at all. I guess I should get used to it though. Its probably my body getting me ready for motherhood.

Symptoms: Feeling REALLY tired lately and just down right uncomfortable. My feet and hands are swelling now too. :-( I also, occasionally, have a stabbing pain in my pelvis, which the Dr. said is just the pelvis widening to get ready for childbirth. I'm also have some Braxton Hicks Contractions occasionally and a little bit of cramping.

Best Moment this week: Finding out my sister is going to be induced to have Mason on Saturday, Oct. 8th. I'm so excited to be an aunt again in just 2 short days!!!

What I am looking forward to: Meeting my new baby nephew on Saturday and getting to meet baby Jackson in just 2 +/- more weeks.

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays

2011-10-05T10:48:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd give this a try this week and link up with The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday. I also thought I'd make it "Fall Themed".

Here's what I'm loving...

Pumpkin shaped rice krispie treats with a tootsie roll for a stem. So cute!!

http://pinterest.com/pin/270733912/

These are so cute and seem fairly easy to make.

http://pinterest.com/pin/179142355/

Pumpkin and cream cheese in wonton wrappers with caramel dip!! Sounds so yummy.

http://pinterest.com/pin/275510190/

These are just too cute!!!

http://pinterest.com/pin/179132365/

Mummy cookie pops. How cute!!

http://pinterest.com/pin/179136617/

This is such a cute idea for a kids craft!

http://pinterest.com/pin/275529576/

Nothing New

2011-10-04T12:21:00.001-05:00

No new news on the baby front. I had my 37 week Dr. appointment yesterday and she said he still hasn't dropped and I'm still at 1 c.m. So he still has some baking to do apparently. She said he could still come at any time, so now I guess we just wait.

In the mean time, I had a pretty productive weekend. I got the house all clean and I did some more shopping for little J.T. As I said last Friday, I had a gift card to use at Target from my baby shower here at work. So I bought him this pack n play.

I plan to keep it downstairs in our family room for when we're down there watching t.v. I also thought it would be handy to have in case we would go out of town while he's young.

I also bought a lamp for the nursery, a bathroom caddy to keep all his baby wash, lotion, powder and bathtime stuff in and I bought a glass jar to keep his binkies in. I plan on using my cricut and some black vinyl to write "binkies" on the glass jar. I got the idea from a picture I saw online. Here's where I got the idea...

via Pinterest

Once I have that project done, his nursery will officially be done!! I will take a few more pictures then, and post them here so you can see the finished product! I'm so happy with his nursery. I just love to sit in there and dream about holding him, feeding him and changing him in there. I also ordered a baby gate for the nursery which should arrive today, according to fed ex.

I've packed some of our bag for the hospital, but still have a few more things to pack. I also still need to clean my car up and get the car seat bases installed in both my car and my husband's truck. Hopefully we can get that done in the next couple days.

Once thats all done, it really will just be a waiting game. My sister, who is pregnant with her second son, is due Oct. 16th (4 days before me) and is dilated to 4 c.m. already and is scheduled to be induced this coming Saturday 10/8. So I'm really excited about that. I can't wait to be an aunt again!!

I will be 38 weeks tomorrow, so really only 2 more weeks til my due date!! I can't believe its only 2 weeks away. I will keep you all posted on mine and my sister's progress and hope to have pictures of baby Mason and baby Jackson very soon!!

To Do List

2011-09-30T13:03:00.002-05:00

TGIF!!! I'm so happy its Friday. I've been sooo tired this week and can't wait to get some rest this evening, and hopefully sleep in a little bit tomorrow!

I have a lot I'd like to get done this weekend, so I'm hoping for a burst of energy when I get up in the morning. I feel like there is still so much I'd like to get done before Jackson's arrival, yet I just don't feel like doing any of it.

My to do list includes:

*Deep cleaning the house.
*Washing my car (or taking it to the car wash to be washed by someone else).
*Getting an oil change in my car.
*Installing the car seat bases in both my car and my husband's truck.
*Buying a few more items for the baby.
*Packing our hospital bag.
*Giving the dogs a much needed bath.

Of course I'm pretty sure I won't get all of these things done this weekend. The top three things are getting the house clean, packing our hospital bag and installing the car seat bases. These are things I for sure want to get done this weekend. So thats what is on my agenda for tomorrow.

I may try and make a stop at Target on Sunday after church. I have a gift card from the shower I was given here at work that I'd like to spend on a few baby items we still need. I'd like to get a pack n play for sure and I still need a lamp for his room. There are a few other smaller items I need to get as well.

So thats what I hope to spend my weekend doing. Either that or spend the weekend at the hospital having my baby. Either one would be fine. ;-)

37 Weeks ~ Full Term!!

2011-09-28T10:44:00.003-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 37 Weeks and finally "Full Term"!

Size of Baby: He weighs around 6 1/3 lbs. now and measures a bit over 19 inches long from head to heal, (like a stalk of swiss chard).

Total Weight Gain: 33 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! He is still moving quite a bit, even though he's running out of room.

Food Cravings: Not really craving anything in particular.

What I miss: I miss a lot of things, like just feeling normal again. But its all worth it and at least I don't have much longer to go! :-)

Sleep: Not sleeping well at all. I guess I should get used to it though. Its probably my body getting me ready for motherhood.

Best Moment this week: My husband got a new 4-door truck this past weekend. Its nice to have a newer, more reliable car for him.

(This isn't his actual truck, but this is what it looks like)

Monday's Dr. appt. where I found out that Jackson is head down and I'm 1 c.m. dilated! I also had a baby shower here at work yesterday and got a gift card to Target that I plan on getting a pack n play with.

What I am looking forward to: Just getting the house ready for Jackson and getting some last minute items that I still need. And, of course, getting to meet baby Jackson in just 3 +/- more weeks.

Dr. Appt. and Maternity Pictures

2011-09-27T11:21:00.006-05:00

I had my 36 week Dr. Appt. yesterday. It was the first time she started checking to see if I had dilated and to see where the baby was laying. It also starts my weekly appointments, so I'll be going every week now. I am happy to say that Jackson is doing great and in the head down position. I am dilated 1 cm so there has been some progress, thankfully. Can't wait to see if there's been any more progress next week.

I also got the picture disk in the mail yesterday from the photographer that took our maternity pictures. She did such a great job and I love all the pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

New Pictures of Jackson's Nursery

2011-09-27T10:56:00.001-05:00

I'm happy to say that I'm pretty much done with Jackson's nursery. The only other thing I need to get is a lamp for the side table next to the glider. Otherwise I think its all ready to go. Here are some pictures I took last night. I'm so happy with the way its turned out.

A Few More Maternity Photos

2011-09-23T08:29:00.001-05:00

The photographer that took our maternity photos, posted a few more of our pictures on Facebook. I thought I'd share them with you until we get the disk of all the pictures.

36 Weeks

2011-09-21T11:16:00.003-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 36 Weeks

Size of Baby: He weighs around 6 lbs. now (the weight of a crenshaw melon) and is a little over 18 1/2 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 32 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! He is moving a lot these days! Much bigger and stronger movements now.

Food Cravings: Ice Cream!! :-)

What I miss: I miss a lot of things, like just feeling normal again. Of course its all worth it and at least I don't have much longer to go! :-)

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. Just can't seem to get comfortable and I am having to get up a lot to use the restroom.

Best Moment this week: Using some of the gift cards that I got from my shower last Saturday to buy a few things for Jackson.

What I am looking forward to: My Dr. appt. on Monday where she'll start checking to see if I've dialated at all and to see if he's head down now, which I think he may be because when I feel him have the hiccups, they are always real low. A shower here at work next Tuesday. And getting to meet baby Jackson in just 4 +/- more weeks.

One More Month

2011-09-20T09:37:00.002-05:00

Its hard to believe, but my due date is just one month away from today!

I can't believe that in one short month I'm going to be a mommy!! Its something I've dreamt about and looked forward to my whole life.

I'm so thankful to God for giving us this little miracle. I can't wait to hold and snuggle this sweet baby boy that I've been carrying for the last 8 months.

I'm praying for a healthy and quick last month of pregnancy and just can't wait to meet my little Jackson!!

Our Weekend

2011-09-19T11:15:00.002-05:00

We had a great weekend and I hope you did too!

Friday night, we didn't do a whole lot. I fixed dinner when I got home from work, then made a quick trip to the mall to try and find some black pants to wear to a wedding we were going to the next day. I ran into Old Navy to see what they might have, but didn't find any black pants in their maternity section. However I did find this cute little onesie that was on sale for only $7. Of course I had to get it. :-)

Then Saturday, some good friends of ours got married, so a majority of the day we spent at the wedding and reception. It was a beautiful wedding. I took several pictures, but forgot my memory card in my camera this morning, so I'll just post a couple pictures from Facebook.

Then yesterday, we went to church in the morning. Then my BIL and husband went back to our house to watch football, while my mom, sister and Landon went to Target and Babies R Us to help me spend some gift cards I got from my shower. I ended up getting these...

Bundle Me for the pumpkin seat.

This Bouncer

Closet Organizer

35 Weeks

2011-09-14T12:16:00.005-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 35 Weeks

Size of Baby: He weighs around 5 1/4 pounds now (the weight of a honeydew melon) and is a little over 18 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 32 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! He is still moving a lot and it even hurts sometimes now. His movements are big and strong now and I can even sometimes see what looks like an elbow or a knee skim across my stomach. :-)

Food Cravings: Ice Cream!! :-)

What I miss: Being able to wear my wedding ring and getting a good nights sleep!! I know I should probably get used to the lack of sleep. I'm sure I'll be sleep deprived for quite a while after he's born.

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. Just can't seem to get comfortable and I am having to get up a lot to use the restroom.

Symptoms: Feeling really tired lately and just down right uncomfortable. My feet and hands are swelling now too. :-( I also, occasionally, have a stabbing pain in my pelvis, which the Dr. said is just the pelvis widening to get ready for birth.

Best Moment this week: Getting our Maternity pictures taken and my baby shower. Also getting all his clothes washed and put away and getting his bedding put on his bed.

What I am looking forward to: A couple more showers and getting to meet baby Jackson in just 5 +/- more weeks. I can't wait to hold him and love on him. Time needs to start going by a little faster now. ;-)

My first Baby Shower for Jackson

2011-09-13T10:25:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday, I had my first shower for Jackson. My Mom, MIL and Sister threw it for me. They went with a Turtle Theme because thats the theme of his nursery. It was such a fun shower and everything was so stinkin cute!!! Here are a few pictures...

Turtle Themed Diaper Cake my Mom made for my shower. So cute!!

Tables set up for the shower.

Centerpiece for the table. These glass bowls were used for the centerpieces at our wedding reception.

The punch my MIL made for the shower. The nets and sea shells on the table were from our wedding!

Cake and cupcakes my sister made for the shower.

Cake Table.

Super cute banner that my mom made for the shower.

Myself with my cake.

Gift Table!!

Up close picture of the nets holding above the gift table, holding some super cute toys.

The food!

Playing a few games.

Myself with all the gifts at the shower.

My husband's great grandma, who is 88 years old, made this beautiful blanket for Jackson.

Cute little Chiefs sleeper that we got from the Stanfields.

Super cute little hat my mom crocheted for Jackson. Chiefs colors!!

Blanket my mom crocheted to match Jackson's nursery.

The bedding set that my parents got for Jackson's nursery. I put it all together Saturday evening, but still need to take some pictures for you all to see.

Super cute bib from my sister.

My MIL got us the Travel System I wanted. Its so cute.

Gift my MIL made for my husband. Its a Daddy Survivor Kit!! Too funny. I believe this will come in handy for sure.

Myself with my sister and my 2 SIL's

My friend Holly and I. She is 27 weeks pregnant with her second child.

My Mom, myself and my MIL.

My mom with her two pregnant girls.

My dad with his two pregnant girls.

Maternity Photo Sneak Peak

2011-09-13T09:12:00.003-05:00

Here is a little sneak peak at our Maternity Photo session this past Saturday. She took tons of pictures, which I'll get a disk of in a few weeks, but here are 4 pictures she posted on Facebook yesterday for us to see. I can't wait to see the rest!!

Loving Pinterest!!

2011-09-09T10:53:00.001-05:00

So I have hopped on the Pinterest bandwagon and can't seem to get enough! I love that website! I thought I'd do a post and show you all one thing from each of my boards, just for fun. Here goes...

This is pinned to my Winter/Christmas Board. I just love it and hope to find time to make it for this Christmas.

This is pinned to my Kids Rooms board. I just love some of the kids rooms on there. They would have been so cool to have as a child.

This is pinned to my Craft Ideas board. I was thinking about making some of these for our annual Christmas store at church this year.

This is pinned to my "Jackson" board. :-) I absolutely love this idea and my mom actually ordered the pattern for the turtle. She has it all made and ready to go for when Jackson gets here. I can't wait to get this picture taken. I'm going to frame it and put it in his sea turtle themed nursery.

This is pinned to my Food board. We have a super bowl party every year and I thought these would be super cute to make for it.

This is pinned to my photography board. I just think this is such a cute idea. Jackson might be a little bit too small to take this picture this year, but maybe next year! :-)

This is pinned to my pets board. I saw this yesterday and just love it. Not sure how my dogs would feel about it, but I think they would love it too.

This is pinned to my Gifts board. I thought it would be a super cute gift to try and make for my Mom and MIL for Christmas.

This is pinned to my Fall/Halloween board. I just love this wreath and wish I had time to make it for halloween. We will see since Jackson should be making his arrival around a week or so before Halloween this year.

This is pinned to my Quotes/Bible Verses/Thoughts board. I love this verse and the colors.

This is pinned to my For the Home board. I absolutely love this and would really like to do something like this on a wall in our living room.

Updated Baby Bump Collage

2011-09-08T09:10:00.001-05:00

I posted a baby bump collage at around 27 weeks, but added the last few weeks to it yesterday. I look like I got quite a bit bigger from last week to this week. Its crazy how fast he's growing.

34 Weeks

2011-09-08T09:03:00.002-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 34 Weeks as of yesterday.

Size of Baby: He weighs around 4 3/4 pounds now (the weight of a cantaloupe) and is 18 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: As of my last appt. I had gained around 27 pounds total. I have another Dr. appt. on Monday, so we'll see if that number has changed at all. Hopefully not!!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Food Cravings: Ice Cream!! :-)

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. Just can't seem to get comfortable and I am having to get up a lot to use the restroom.

Symptoms: Feeling really tired lately and just down right uncomfortable.

Best Moment this week: Getting some things clean and organized around the house, doing a little shopping for Jackson (Carters was having a 50% off sale!!), and just spending time with family on Labor Day.

What I am looking forward to: Getting our maternity pictures taken and my shower this Saturday and meeting our sweet baby boy in just about 6 more weeks!!

33 Weeks

2011-09-01T14:28:00.003-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 33 Weeks.

Size of Baby: He weighs a little over 4 pounds now (the weight of a pineapple) and is a little over 17 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've gained around 27 pounds total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! His movements seem bigger now, like he's actually rolling around in there rather than just a jab or kick.

Food Cravings: Pasta and sweets, not much different from my non pregnancy cravings. :-)

What I miss: Sleep!!

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. Just can't seem to get comfortable and am having to get up a lot to use the restroom.

Symptoms: Feeling really tired lately. I literally feel like I could sleep all day. I've also started to have some BH contractions.

Best Moment this week: Getting some things clean and organized around the house.

What I am looking forward to: Having our maternity pictures taken, my shower on Sept. 10th and meeting our sweet baby boy in just about 7 more weeks!!

My Weekend

2011-08-30T11:06:00.002-05:00

I recently changed my "every other Friday off" to "every other Monday off", since I'm down to seeing the Dr. every two weeks now and needing to actually see the Dr. instead of the Physicians Asst. My Dr. isn't in on Friday's, so I made my appts. for Mondays. I'm really liking having Mondays off!! :-)

I was off yesterday for my 32 week baby Dr. appt. Everything is going great!! His heartbeat sounded good and I was measuring right at 32 weeks. Its so hard to believe that I'll be at 33 weeks tomorrow and only 7 more weeks til my due date. I'm so excited and a little nervous as well.

My sister, also had an appt. at the baby Dr. yesterday, so my mom and I went with her so that we could watch Landon for her while she went in to see the Dr. Her and I go to the same Dr. so I spent a lot of time there yesterday, lol. Her appt. was more serious though, as she has been put on bed rest for some early contractions. She's on medication for the next 3 weeks to keep the contractions away, and at 36 weeks they'll take her off bed rest and the medication and whatever happens, happens! So she's pretty bummed about being on bed rest, but she knows its for the best and we need to keep little Mason baking for just a little longer.

Sunday morning we went to church, then had lunch with my parents and our Pastor and his wife. After lunch, we just went home and I cleaned up the house. I've been so tired lately that I had been putting off cleaning for a while and knew I really should take the time to clean since we didn't have any plans for the rest of the day. I'm glad I did it. I always love a clean house. :-)

Saturday was a busy day. My car had a recall on it, so I dropped it off at the dealership for that to be fixed. After that was fixed, I had a hair cut appt. for that afternoon. Then that evening we took my SIL Amie out for her birthday. We had dinner at The Drunken Fish, which is mostly known for their sushi. I, being pregnant, had chicken instead, ;-) After dinner we went back to my MIL's house for cake! It was a fun girl's night out!

Friday night Jake and I just relaxed at home and watched the Chiefs vs. Rams game. Even though we live in St. Louis, Jake is a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan. Since they are both Missouri teams, its always fun when the Chiefs play the Rams. The Chiefs lost the game, but since its still pre-season, its not anything to get too bummed about. Jake, of course, still had to hear about it from all the Rams fans here in St. Louis. LOL. He loves it though.

So that was my weekend. I had some fun and some downtime, which was GREAT!!

32 Weeks

2011-08-24T10:39:00.001-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 32 Weeks today.

Size of Baby: He weighs around 3.75 pounds now (the size of a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've gained around 27 pounds total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! His movements seem bigger now, like he's actually rolling around in there rather than just a jab or kick.

Food Cravings: Pasta and sweets, not much different from my non pregnancy cravings. :-)

What I miss: Being able to walk from my car to my office (about 2 blocks) without getting winded, wearing my wedding ring and sleeping through the night.

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. Just can't seem to get comfortable and am having to get up a lot to use the restroom.

Symptoms: Feeling really tired lately. I literally feel like I could sleep all day. I'm also having some sciatic nerve pain off and on and some heartburn.

Best Moment this week: My sister's baby shower this past Saturday.

What I am looking forward to: Having our maternity pictures taken on Sept. 3rd, my shower on Sept. 10th and meeting our sweet baby boy in just about 8 more weeks!!

My sister's "Owl Themed" Baby Shower

2011-08-22T11:07:00.003-05:00

As I promised on Friday, here are the pictures from my sister's baby shower this past Saturday. It was a HOOT!!! ;-) It was an owl themed shower and my mom and I made all the decorations!! My sister picked the theme and we ran with it. :-) She got a lot of great stuff and we enjoyed spending time with family and friends. It was a great day!

I only wish Grammy could have been there to enjoy the day with us. I think about her every day but its events like this when I really miss her most. She would have enjoyed the shower so much.

But enough sad talk. Here are some pictures from the shower. :-)

Table set for the shower.

Close up picture of the centerpieces. They were a "Mason" Jar, decorated as an owl in a nest, with little owls hanging from branches.

This was the centerpiece for Ashlee's table. Its a diaper cake that my mom made for her. She even crocheted the hat on top and the owl toy on the front.

The cake table. My mom and I made the pom poms and my sister made the cake and cupcakes.

Cake and cupcakes. We cut all the little owls out using our cricut.

Close up of the cake.

Close up of the cupcakes.

Ashlee with the cake and cupcakes she made for the shower.

Gift table with a clothes line of clothes I got Mason above it.

Close up of the clothes line.

Close up picture of the gifts.

A super cute diaper trike that Ashlee's sister in law made for her! So cute!

The food buffet. Yummy sandwiches, veggies, fruit and chips. My mom and I made the banner and pom poms.

Some of the guests that had already arrived.

Ashlee opening her gifts.

Big brother Landon helping his mommy open the gifts. He had so much fun helping open gifts. :-)

Ashlee and I. :-)

Baby Belly's.

Now its just three more weeks til my shower! I can't wait!!

A Fun Weekend Ahead

2011-08-19T11:28:00.002-05:00

As you may remember from this post, my sister and I are both pregnant, due 4 DAYS apart! We didn't really plan on getting pregnant together. She had been trying for 2 years and I had been trying for a year when we both got positive pregnancy tests a day apart!! It was such an exciting time and its still hard to believe that we are both pregnant with little boys!!

Tomorrow we are having my sister's baby shower for her sweet little Mason!! I can't wait! We've been planning it for a while now and its finally almost here. Its an "Owl Themed" shower and we're using blue and brown colors with a touch of green. I will definately take pictures and post them on Monday! Here is our inspiration board for the shower.

Tonight my mom and I will be finishing up the last minute details and getting everything ready!! I can't wait to see all the fun stuff she gets tomorrow and to visit with family and friends!!

Maternity Photo Inspiration

2011-08-18T12:01:00.001-05:00

Jake and I have an appt. to get maternity photos taken in just 2 short weeks. I've been searching around on google and pinterest for some ideas of what kind of photos I'd like to have taken. I really love some of the photos I've seen taken in an open field. We are definitely taking them outside, but haven't totally narrowed it down to where yet. Here are just a few ideas I've found that I really like. I can't wait to see how our photos turn out and will definitely post them once we get them back!

I really love this picture, of course our bow would be blue instead of pink. ;-)

31 Weeks

2011-08-17T10:50:00.002-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 31 Weeks.

Size of Baby: The baby weighs 3.3 pounds now (about the weight of 4 naval oranges) and is about 16 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've gained around 27 pounds total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! His movements seem bigger now, like he's actually rolling around in there rather than just a jab or kick.

Food Cravings: Pasta and sweets, not much different from my non pregnancy cravings. :-)

What I miss: Being able to walk from my car to my office without getting winded.

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. Just can't seem to get comfortable.

Symptoms: Feeling really tired lately. I literally feel like I could sleep all day.

Best Moment this week: Getting things ready for my sister's baby shower on Saturday.

What I am looking forward to: Our first "Prepared Childbirth Class" tonight and my sister's baby shower on Saturday!! All the details for her shower are coming together, and its going to be so cute and fun! I can't wait!

Pom Poms and Pillows

2011-08-15T21:47:00.002-05:00

I added a couple new things to the nursery in the last couple days. As I said in my previous post I wanted to try making some of the tissue paper pom poms for over the glider in Jackson's room. They are easier than I thought they would be. Here is a tutorial to follow if you ever want to try it. We are going to make some for my sister's baby shower on Saturday too!! :-)

I also thought it would be cool if we could use the valance that came with the bedding set, to make a pillow or two out of. Since I decided to go with different valances for his room that my sister was able to make for much cheaper, we didn't end up using the valance that came with the set. So my sister was able to get two small pillows out of the fabric and they turned out super cute. One I'm using in the glider, the other I'll probably put in his crib. Here are some pictures of the pillows.

This little pillow will sit in the glider.

Here's a picture of it in the glider.

And this is the little pillow I'll probably put in the crib. The valance was tabbed at the top, so she just used the tabs to go around the pillow! So cute!

30 Weeks and Nursery Update

2011-08-12T12:03:00.008-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 30 Weeks. Can't believe its been 30 weeks already!!

Size of Baby: The baby weighs 3 pounds now (like a head of cabbage) and is about 15.7 inches from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: As of this past Monday I had gained 21 lbs. total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! His movements seem bigger now, like he's actually rolling around in there rather than just a jab or kick.

Food Cravings: Pasta and sweets, not much different from my non pregnancy cravings. :-)

What I miss: Not really anything.

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. Just can't seem to get comfortable.

Symptoms: Not really having any symptoms right now, other than my ever expanding belly.

Best Moment this week: Getting some decorations for Jackson's room.

What I am looking forward to: My sister's baby shower next Saturday!! All the details are coming together and its going to be so cute and fun!

*Some updated pictures of Jackson's Nursery:

I bought the letters above his crib at Hobby Lobby while they were 50% off!! They were just painted white. I used scrapbook paper and mod podge to cover them, then cut the excess paper off using an exacto knife. I then used ribbon, scrapbook paper and my cricut to decorate each letter. I'm really happy with the way they turned out!

Here's a close up of his name above his crib.

These are the canvas' that are a part of his bedding set. I hung them over his dresser.

I also bought the decals that go with his bedding set and an inexpensive clock from Walmart. I took the clock apart and decorated it using scrapbook paper and my cricut! I think it turned out so cute!

This is a close-up picture of the clock I decorated for his room.

There are 2 windows in this room and the bedding set only came with one (short) valance. So to do the windows right, I would need to buy 3 more valances, at $19.99 each. I wasn't in love with the valance in the first place so I decided to see if I could find some fabric to match the room and have my sister sew some valances for me to save a little money. I actually was able to find a panel in the perfect shade of green that my sister was able to cut and sew into 2 valances, all for only $12.99!! A much better deal than $59.97, which is what the bedding set valances would have ended up costing me to buy 3 more. Plus I really like these better. The two frames on either side of the window are just white frames from Michaels and I used scrapbook paper in them and a couple of the decals that match his bedding set.

I still want to buy the lamp that goes with the bedding set, to set on the little table next to the glider. I also want to get the mobile, rug, blanket, hamper and stuffed turtle that matches the set. I'm also thinking of making a few matching "tissue paper" pom poms, (as seen here) to go over the glider, in which case I may move around the wall decals some and add some other wall hangings. So these are still just progress pictures. But I really like the way the nursery is turning out so far! Its going to be so cute when its all done. :-)

Jackson's Nursery: Phase 2 - Furniture

2011-08-04T09:41:00.001-05:00

Last night my parents came over to help put together Jackson's crib/changing table and dresser!! I'm so excited to have a majority of the furniture all set up! The only other piece of furniture I'm waiting on is a side table to go next to the glider/rocker. I had ordered one previously and it was delivered last week, but it just didn't match up right with the rest of the furniture. So I took it back and re-ordered a different table, which is supposed to be delivered tomorrow! Here are some pictures of the nursery now with the crib/changer and dresser all put together and in their place. I still need to get a mattress for the crib and a different changing table pad and cover since the one that came with the changing table is really flat and not very cushioned at all. I put a little blanket over the one that came with it, just for the sake of making it look nice for the pictures. ☺
I can't wait to get it all decorated now!!

The crib/changing table still has a few stickers on it, from the manufacturer, that I need to get off, but it was midnight when we finally finished getting everything put together so I figured I'd wait on that project til later this week/weekend. They're those really sticky kind of stickers that I'll probably have to use a hair dryer to get them off. :-(

The blanket hanging over the front of the crib was a gift from my Aunt Lisa. It didn't have his name on it but another Aunt of mine does her own embroidering, so my mom took a couple blankets out to her to have her put Jackson's name on them. They turned out sooo cute! ☺

The dresser and rocker/glider!!

29 Weeks

2011-08-03T16:32:00.001-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 29 Weeks.

Size of Baby: The baby weighs 2 1/2 pounds now (like a butternut squash) and is about 15 inches from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: For the last few months I've gained 6 lbs. a month, July was no different. So now I'm up to 24 lbs. of weight gain since the beginning. I'm hoping the next couple months don't follow that trend.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! His movements seem bigger now, like he's actually rolling around in there rather than just a jab or kick.

Food Cravings: Pasta and sweets.

What I miss: Sleeping well.

Sleep: Still not sleeping very well these days. Just can't seem to get comfortable. I've also been getting a lot of leg cramps in my calves. I talked to my Dr. about it and she suggested eating a banana before bed every night. So I've been doing that for the last week or so. It seems to be helping some.

Symptoms: I'm still having this pain under my right ribs, but thankfully that seems to be feeling a little better. I've also been really tired lately and don't really feel like doing much of anything. I'm thinking this extreme heat might be playing a roll in feeling so tired too.

Best Moment this week: Getting Jackson's room painted.

What I am looking forward to: Putting together Jackson's dresser and crib tonight. My parents are coming over to help!

Jackson's Nursery: Phase 1 - Painting the Walls

2011-08-01T11:03:00.008-05:00

As I mentioned in my post on Thursday, My mom and dad planned to come over this past Saturday and help paint Jackson's room. My dad does home remodeling and electrical work for a living, so needless to say, he's an excellent painter. Which is why I asked if he could come over and help paint Jackson's room. Of course, being the great Paw paw that he is, he didn't mind ~~helping~~ (painting the room) at all. ☺

As I've shown you all before, we're doing a sea turtle theme in Jackson's room. Here is a link to the room I'm modeling Jackson's nursery after and here is the before, during and after pictures of painting his room over the weekend. I only have the rocker/glider assembled as thats the only full piece of furniture I've recieved so far. The dresser is available for pick-up today and I have box 1 of the crib delivered. I'm still waiting on the second box (which is a whole other blog post).

Here's what the room looked like before, while it was our spare bedroom.

Painting the white over the orange. Thankfully it only took 2 coats. ☺

I matched the blue paint color to the valance I have that came with the bedding set. The paint color is called Glistening Sea by Glidden.

My dad, painting the blue waves on the wall.

The newly painted nursery with the glider put together! I love the way it turned out and can't wait to get it all furnished and decorated!

A close-up of the glider.