the little things

Gobble Gobble Waddle Waddle

There was a LOT of waddling going on yesterday! The 3 Preggo's in the family. Thanksgiving 2O1O.

L-R: Steph due February 25th! Tana due February 13th! Me due April 1st!

(Wish I had a cute bump like theirs!)

We had a really, really nice Thanksgiving!  SO much to be thankful for. These pregnancies. Family. Friends. Love. Laughter. Health. Faith. Work. Each other.

Mom and Phil prepared most of the meal for all 12 adults and it was delicious!  Other than a bit of mashed potatoes and corn, I mostly stayed with what I came for- gramcracker's ham and rolls! haha!  SO good!

Yesterday I also hit 22 weeks with Mr. Grayson!  He was moving all over the place and later in the evening, while Nate and I were still at mom and Phil's I was praying Nate could feel him kick. Once I noticed him bouncing around again I called Nate over and within a minute or so sure enough a nice strong kick and daddy got to feel it!!  It was magical! Nate was SO excited!  It melted my heart!

So very thankful for these moments in this life.

How Far Along: 22 weeks! 

Size of baby: he's about the size of a papaya this week!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: ??

Maternity Clothes: same.

Gender: A sweet, handsome BOY!!

Movement: Yes, yes!  I love it!  

Sleep: It was a hit or miss this week. Some good nights. Some not so good nights.  I woke up with bad leg cramps the other night. Not fun!

What I miss: Nothing.

What I'm Looking Forward to: My next doctor's appointment and feeling him more and more!

Cravings: Milk! Frosted Cheerios. Granny Smith apples.

Symptoms: Bits of heartburn and definitely sore, sore, sore!

Best Moment this Week: Feeling Grayson for the first time on the outside during church service and then Nate feeling him from the outside for the first time on Thanksgiving!

I also "had" to pick this bit of cuteness up for the babe today on etsy!  

Love her shop!

Nate and I also ventured out late this morning to check out some Black Friday sales. Thanks to Kohl's, Grayson will have a nice little first Christmas next year! Blessed.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Now, it's time for Christmas!  Bring on the lights, hot cocoa and music!

I also want to give a big shout out to my bestie, Kristina for the adorable banner surprise up there!  I adore it and her work is perfection!  Thank you so much, K! Love you!

So Special

I won't ever be able to mention enough just how much I love and adore my grandparents. I wish everyone could know them. They're just that special.

Gramcracker and grandpa have 3 new great-grand babies coming in 2011...all approximately 6 weeks apart and they are SO, SO excited!

Well, at our little gender reveal shin-dig last week gram handed me a gift bag. I was grateful, but told her she didn't need to bring us a gift.  She said, "Oh, but I had to. The baby needs this and I've had this for you for a little bit."

 

I opened it and just fell in love.

Inside was this perfectly made, filled with lots of love, so, so, so special-to-me afghan made by grandma.

Not a single stitch is out of place. And it's so soft. And the absolute perfect size.  No store bought blanket or even one I might find on etsy will EVER compare.

Why?

Because gramcracker made this one. She's one of most favorite people. And Grayson will have it forever and hopefully he can bundle his kids in it one day. (a long, long, looong time from now!)

But for now, (well, in a couple months, you know what I mean!) I can't wait to wrap him in it and take photos of him on it and lay it on both of us during those late night feedings I keep hearing all about! ;)

Honestly, this afghan is one of the most precious and heartfelt gifts I have ever been given ( and I have been fortunate enough to receive several amazing heartfelt gifts over time), but this one...it just fills me with absolute joy.

There's nothing like the love of a gramcracker. My gramcracker. ;)

21 Weeks!

 

How Far Along: 21 weeks today!!  

 

Size of baby: He was 11 oz. at Monday's appointment.  But food comparison says he's the size of a banana! :)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I was down 2 more pounds!

Maternity Clothes: My dear Motherhood Maternity jeans and khakis.

Gender: A sweet, handsome BOY!!

Movement: Yes, yes!  Lately right at my belly button!

Sleep: Not too awful bad.  Getting up twice per night for the restroom, but thankfully I'm able to get right back to sleep!

What I miss: Not too much!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Slowly putting Grayson's nursery together over the new few months!

Cravings: Still milk. Chocolate. Cheerios. Pizza. A real healthy week this week! bwahaha!

Symptoms: Bits of heartburn and definitely sore, sore, sore!

Best Moment this Week: Finding out God is blessing us with a boy and getting to see him bouncing all around!  

Needless to say, it's been an amazing week!  I just keep counting my blessings and thanking Him.  Still so unreal that we're getting a Grayson! :)

Nate and I ventured out to register Tuesday (we've had people asking us for Christmas, etc. SO sweet!) and shop for a few cute things for Grayson now that we know he's a HE! It was such a fun, exhausting day!  I did enjoy my chicken wings at Quaker Steak & Lube that day tho...and so day Grayson! hehe.

Just so very thankful for this little guy. Praying for his continued strength, growth and health!

Thank you all so very much for the kind words of congratulations and well wishes!  Nate and I enjoyed reading each one both on here, Facebook and emails! I can't wait to read them all to Grayson one day! 

 

The Day We Met You

 

Please meet sweet Baby BOY...Grayson James!!! 

Yep. We saw the goods today. And finally know he's a HE! And we just love him to pieces already!

The anatomy scan went very well and the Tech said I was doing a wonderful job and "to keep up the good work!" He also said Grayson's measuring perfectly, right at 11 oz. and looked great!

We saw his sweet little hands and feet. All 4 chambers of his heart and his tiny tummy and rest of his organs!  He's so handsome already! :)

I cried. Then cried again. Then cried some more. Our son. We are over the moon and are beyond thankful for this amazing gift!

Nate is so super excited for many days spent with Hot Wheels and Ohio State games he simply can't stand it! How did I get so lucky?  God is SO great!

We also found out that Grayson is lying head down and face down! Oy.  Hope this doesn't mean he'll get a little too excited and decide to come early! Haha! His precious feet are right at my belly button and I must say I have felt his little thuds right in that spot for days, not knowing it's been his feet! I LOVE it!

Tonight, before telling anyone else (with the exception of a few who couldn't be with us for the reveal), we invited our parents, grandparents and Megan over for some snacks and for a cupcake-reveal!

It was SO fun! And Nate and I were so grateful to have our closest loved ones there to celebrate!

The "mystery cupcakes!" hehe. Inside was blue filling! Everyone loved it!

My dad even made it! Yeyyy!

Megan was so surprised it was a boy!  She was on the girl side all the way! haha. 

Grandma was also surprised, as she was also on Team Girl! Grandpa said he knew all along! :)

Nate's mom and step dad are super happy and excited grandparents-to-be too! :)

It's been such a fun day, I'm kinda sad it's about over!

So much to be thankful for today and always!

 

We're Half Way There!

 

(Oy. I still feel strange posting these! Some is pudge, some is baby. :) But, I love it just the same! Haha!)

How Far Along: 2O weeks today!!  Yeyyy! 

Size of baby: A cantaloupe! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure yet.

Maternity Clothes: Same Motherhood Maternity jeans and regular tops.

Gender: Hurry up Monday!!

Movement: Oh yes!  Lots of bloops and gurgles still!  I love it!

Sleep: Pretty decent lately. :)

What I miss: Doing more than a few things before I was exhausted!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Our anatomy scan and appointment Monday!

Cravings: Still milk. Still potatoes. Plus now I want frosted cheerios all the time!

Symptoms: Heartburn and soreness.

Best Moment this Week: The 2 dreams I had. One where we had a boy, the other where we had a girl!  :)

Currently, I'm sitting here dealing with a little bit of lower back pain because I decided it was a good idea to clean the entire house for the last 2 hours. Oy.  Not one of my best ideas. ;)

Thankful today for: a great Pioneer Club class last night about sinning. The kids were so well behaved, I almost thought I was in the wrong class!

Also for afternoons with Nate where he watches The Talk with me and we laugh about all kinds of silly things (& usually when I get a foot or leg rub!)

I'm thankful for friends and family and the love we share.

I'm thankful for our Veterans and what they have sacrificed so we could be here and still be FREE.

I'm thankful for an awesome Pastor and his opportunity to travel to Israel this week to preach on Mt. Carmel and for his safety!!

I'm thankful for this gift in my belly. The blessing from God that we prayed so long and hard for. BLESSED.

Here's  to a good rest of this Veteran's Day! 

 

Inspiring

In the next few weeks I'll be attending 4 different baby showers, for 4 different friends/family!  I'm tellin' ya 2011 is a Baby Boom!! :)

One of those will be for Tana, my step sister and it's also the one I'm helping along side my mom to create.  It's been a while since I've thrown a shower, so I've been a bit rusty, but thanks to the world wide web, I have been SO inspired by all kinds of fun shower ideas!

Some people really go all out!  I love it!

Even though Tana's probably won't look much like any of these-creativity or theme wise, I still want to show you what I've come across lately and that I am so inspired by!  Who knows, maybe you have a shower to plan yourself and could use some ideas?! 

How cute is a "bookworm" theme?!  My love for children's books is crazy and I just think these cupcakes are about the cutest things ever!

Love the soda idea. Love the colors. SO neat!

A Cute as a Button theme?  Adorable!  Loving these precious invites and button frames!

The flags. The cupcakes. The baby blocks. Love them all!

Lots of sweets and bright colors provided! YUM!!

A bumblebee theme!  Holy cuteness!  Love that little bee on the mini cake!

Who wouldn't want these little cuties at their shower? I think I might try my hand at these!

Ok. Pinwheels. Cupcakes. Sugar Scrub. annnd the colors?!  Gah. I love! 

Alice in Wonderland!  Genius theme! 

I think the colors are so pretty!  And the cake pops ain't to bad either! ;)

 

We only have one more week to go until our BIG ultrasound!! Boy or girl we are blessed!! :)

Here's to a wonderful week!

19 weeks!

How Far Along: 19 weeks today!

Size of baby: the bean is about the size of a tomato this week!  I love tomatoes! :)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure yet.

Maternity Clothes: I had to break out the preggo jeans today...tired of sweats and tired of regular jeans rubbing my belly!

Gender: Less than 2 weeks to go til we find out!!

Movement: Yes! Yes! Still lots at night and usually on my right side more. And this Sunday at church the baby LOVED the special singing!  He/she was boing'ing around like crazy! 

Sleep: Uhhh. It's a hit or a miss this week.

What I miss: Laying on my back. & getting ultrasounds every 2 weeks. (I was sooo spoiled!)

What I'm Looking Forward to: Having our parents and my grandparents over the night of November 15th for cupcakes that will reveal the baby's gender!

Cravings: Milk. Pickles. Baked potatoes. Mac & Cheese (which I made today for lunch and it was wonnnnderful!)

Symptoms: Heartburn and round ligament pain.

Best Moment this Week: When Nate read the baby some stories from one of the Bible Story books we purchased for him/her. Melted my heart!

In other news..I can't believe how many babies are due for 2011!!  Holy Smokes!  Just this week I received 3 invites for baby showers that will take place in the next month, not including Tana's!  So, that makes 4 showers in the next month! God is good and I am so thankful for His blessings on my friends and family!  It's awesome! (Speaking of baby showers-I have been so inspired by online images from various showers. I plan on sharing ideas I've found in a few days...for those who may need some ideas for showers they're planning as well!)

Bible Study with the girls is tonight and I'm excited! We just started a new study a few weeks ago and I am so pleased with it!  

We really like the Women of Faith Series, so we decided to go with the "Resting In Him" study this time.

It's about slowing down...resting...trusting in the Lord. You can find it here.

I can't believe it's November already!  It's just unreal to me!  I'm ready for quality time with family over Thanksgiving. One of my favorite times of the year!

Oh, and here's the other page I did last week!

Sigh. I am SO blessed!  Love the kind of days where nothing much is planned, so you just hop in the car, take a drive to amish country, have a nice lunch at your favorite diner, then hop over to a beautiful park and go for a long, relaxing walk. Awesome! :)

Hope your week has been great!  Yey for Friday tomorrow, right?!

Thankful

For my baby daddy. ;)

Tis true. Tis true.

I love him and can't wait for him to teach our baby all kinds of neat things, like stories of the Bible. and about cars. and how to be a great husband (shall Baby Dinks be a boy). and how to be respectful to those around you. and about pop culture and american history. and world history (because he's smart like that and knows so much about that kind of stuff!)

What shall be left up to me to teach the babe? Spelling. (daddy's not so good at that! ha. ;)) and crafts. and how to be funny. (ok, actually, it's more clumsy and goofy, but I'll take it!)

Life is grand our way and I am always thankful. :)

oh, and thanks for all the kind words about my first official preggo photo, rolls and all! ;)  I appreciate your sweetness.