Welcome, Baby Olivia!

Our good friends Ryan and Erica welcomed their 2nd child yesterday evening. Olivia Ryan Simmons was born around 5:30 pm and weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces! She was born on the same day as her big brother Carson and was also the exact same weight and length as Carson was! How crazy is that?! I got to hold her for a while and she slept the whole time, then I hand her off to Jarrod and of course she opens her eyes!  We are so happy for Ryan and Erica, Olivia is so sweet. . .and can you see all that hair and that chubby little face?! Just adorable!  Both Mom and baby are doing well and hopefully will get to come home this evening!

Mom's SURPRISE 50th birthday party

[Sorry no pics yet, I will add those when I get them from the photographer]

Months of planning and scheming paid off! I think she was totally surprised! The party was Saturday at the HR church of Christ.  It was a beautiful sunshiny day! We could not have asked for a nicer day!

The story was that we were going to have family pictures taken in Jonesboro. We told Mom that we were all going to meet at my house (in Jonesboro) at 5pm and then head out to the Craighead Forest Park to take pictures. Well, on their way Dad told Mom he needed to run by the church. . .which is not unusual for them. . . when they pulled up and she saw all the cars, she knew something was up.

By the time she walked into the fellowship hall she knew what was going on. She walked in and pointed a finger at me and said "You're in big trouble!". . . . hmmm, like I was the only one planning this party?? After she got over the initial shock she got to visit with lots of family and friends. I think she really enjoyed the day! We had a good time visiting, too.

I ordered the cutest cake from a place in town, bought burgundy tablecloths on closeout from Linen's-N-Things, Rose of Sharon in Wynne made the awesome flower arrangements and the food was a family group project. It all came together really better than I had imagined.  We hired our friend and photographer, Matthew Walton to capture the event on camera. And after the party he took some family pictures for us since that was, after all, what she wanted for her birthday!

It was a long, but really great day. I have to admit it was a lot of work, but it was all worth it!

20 weeks! We're halfway there!

Wow, it's really hard to believe that I am already 20 weeks pregnant?!  In some ways it feels like a long time and in other ways it seems like yesterday. I have been told that once you find out the sex of the baby the time goes by even faster! We have a lot to do still yet and I am getting anxious. There is so much to think about and decide on. 

I have been researching car seats and strollers and that kind of stuff.   Which makes me wonder why they give an indecisive pregnant women so many options and things to think about?! I can't even remember my name at times right now!?! It's just nuts.  I have to print stuff out and take notes just to be able to keep up with what I have looked at. So far from what I have read about and seen safety ratings on I am leaning toward the Graco brand. Does anyone have any personal experience with their stuff?? Of course the pattern/colors I like aren't sold at any stores around here. I guess that will be another online purchase. Boy, what would we do without the internet?! It's my life line these days!! And thanks to Kristen, who keeps me busy with the newest and  coolest baby web sites to shop at, I am not lacking for something to do.

I have yet to buy anything for the baby. I know it's shocking. I just haven't been able to find anything I like. Here's the thing, why is everything for baby boys so "cutesy"?? I am not a fan of clothing with silly looking animals on them.   I know there are nice, modern looking clothing out there for baby boys, I guess you just have to work harder to find them?? I think having a boy may be a blessing, since if we were having a girl I am sure her closet would be full by now! It's just hard to get excited about boy clothes. Those of you that have boys, where do you shop??

I know, you are waiting for a name. But you will just have to keep waiting. We are still undecided. It's such a big deal!! It was really fun to come up with names in the beginning, but now that we know it's a boy it's become really serious and we are not taking it lightly! There are names we both definitely like, but nothing has just jumped out at us and really felt right. Don't worry, we won't make you wait till he is born, that is unless we still don't have a name. . . .

It's a boy!?!?!

What?!!? A total shock, well sort of. . .I just knew it was going to be a girl. That is what my gut told me from the very beginning. I should have known, I don't have great instincts! ha! At least I wasn't alone in my presumption, most everyone from my grandma to my hairdresser thought it was going to be a girl?! Oh, well I guess the good Lord thinks we need a boy, so who am I to complain?! Jarrod seems excited (well, for him. It's rather hard to tell when he gets excited) he says he never cared one way or the other, but I know better. . .

 

it looks like we may have a thumb sucker on our hands!

No doubt, it's a boy. . .

 

he is really going to hate me for this post someday, huh?!

Our appointment went great, the Dr. said everything looked perfect. Which was relief because I haven't been able to feel him moving around yet and I was worried that something might be wrong. But on the monitor he was a shaking and moving all over the place!! The baby's heartbeat was 161, very normal. And my bp was great. I thought I was going to have to have the glucose testing next time but they are going to wait till May, yay! Now things get serious. . . time to pick a Name?!?!

1 day, 23 hours, 7minutes and counting. . .

I am finding it hard to concentrate (more than usual) this week! I have been trying to stay busy but I find myself drifting off to LaLa Land. . . . I am just DYING to know. . . Girl or Boy, What IS it??? Friday can't come soon enough!

I think knowing what we are having will make this all feel more "real". So far I still don't really "feel" any different? I don't feel pregnant. I mean, I am noticing the strange things happening to my body and mind, but as far as really feeling anything different, I still just feel like myself? I am hoping that will change in the next few weeks. . . getting to find out what we are having, picking a name, feeling the baby kick and getting the baby's room set up. . . all things that I hope will make it sink in and become more real to me. 

Jarrod got to come home early from Little Rock. They decided to just give them the tests they usually take at the end of the week early and if they don't pass they will go back to re-take it next week.  So, unless he didn't pass one of the test (which is highly unlikely) he won't have to go back.

I got a mani-pedi for the first time this year yesterday. It was long over due, boy did I need it and it was very relaxing. . .ahhhh. . .  Now, if it would just stay warm enough to wear open toe shoes!

A productive weekend and pricey projects

The bedding I ordered for the baby's room came in on Thursday and the twin bedding that Margie ordered for us came in on Friday! Yay! I am very pleased with the way it all looks.  I can't wait to put it all together.

We decided to paint this old headboard (donated by Brandy, thanks!) white and I think it turned out great.  That took up our time Friday night and Saturday morning.

While we were out in the garage painting, I decided to start cleaning up the crib, I had every intention of painting it white also. But after a good cleaning and a bath in some Old English, it looks like new! At this point I think it would be a shame to paint over it! I bet it would sell for a pretty penny in an antique shop! After it was all cleaned up I wanted to bring it in the house, I mean after my hard work I wasn't going to leave it out in the garage to get dusty again! Well, we had a bit of an issue. . . it wouldn't fit through the bedroom door! ha! So, poor  Jarrod had to take it all apart (probably for the first time in it's 28 years) and put it back together. 

It's sitting in the middle of the room because we are going to have some crown molding put up. I think it will help dress the room up a little.  I just have to find someone to do it for a reasonable price! Jarrod will be in Little Rock Monday-Thursday for the next 2 weeks for some sort of training class for Entergy.  And we have lots of stuff going on for the next couple of weekends, so I don't see us taking on this project ourselves.

We are also in the process of getting a privacy fence put up in the next couple of weeks and an alarm system installed. These are all pricey projects but I think it will be well worth it.  They are "investments" that will add value to our home . . . right?? I will definitely feel better about being home alone so much with an alarm system.  And hopefully, once we have a fence the neighbor's dog will be forced to use their own yard for potty breaks.  I am so looking forward to having a fence.  It will be nice to be able to go sit on the back patio in my jammies and drink my coffee and not worry about the neighbors seeing me! One side will have a regular gate entrance and the other side will have a double gate, so we can put the four-wheeler and things in the back yard and get them out of the garage!

I hope this week goes by fast,  I figure it will be the slowest, longest week ever, since I am so excited about Friday.  It's only 5 days away but that still seems like an eternity! I have lots of projects to work on to keep me busy so I hope it won't be too unbearable!

Baby room decor!

We aren't calling it a nursery, it's just      [insert baby's name here]        's room. I really don't want it to look like a baby room. I want it to a room we enjoy being in and is in our personal style. Maybe I'm being selfish, but the way I see it is Jarrod and I will be spending a lot of time in there and the baby won't know the difference, so why not make it to our taste!?  It will have both a crib (hopefully we can use the crib I had when I was a baby) and a twin bed.

We have decided to go with the Italian paisley bedding in silver sage from Restoration Hardware's, Baby & Child web site!

I absolutely love it! It's clean and modern. It doesn't necessarily look "nursery-ish" and you already know how I feel about this color combo, it's one of my favs! Plus we won't have to paint the room, it's already a nice tan shade, which will work perfectly! And it will work for a boy or girl, which is also what I wanted.

If you haven't checked out this web site you need to. To say it's fabulous would be an understatement. All the bedding collections fall into one of three color categories and they have coordinating furniture, curtains, lamps, accessories, wall hangings, toys and even clothes!!!

{what we picked out is a little different than the picture shows, but it's close enough that you can see what it might look like . . . }

 

crib bedding: Paisley bumper, striped sheet and solid green bed skirt with a little chocolate brown edging. 

twin bed: Paisley duvet, striped sheets and solid green bed skirt with a little chocolate brown edging.

 

Duvet, Bumper, Sheets and Bed skirt  

I set up a registry this morning, which was so fun! It was more or less to keep up with which options I was going to go with, but feel free to take a look. I know it will be several months before I have showers, but you can never be too prepared, right! ha! I am just relieved that I found something that reflects my style and doesn't look babyish. I know I told many of you that my mom had offered to make my bedding, but that was mainly because I couldn't find anything out there that had matching baby bedding and regular bedding, that had the look I wanted. Besides the fact that Mom is so busy already, and it would have been so time consuming, I didn't want to burden her any more. I have no doubt that her bedding would have been even more fabulous that this, but I have a feeling she doesn't mind buying the stuff instead of making it at all! ha!  I am really excited to start putting this room together, it's nice to actually have something decided on. I can mark something off my list, which makes me feel so good!!