So I hear we have a nursery.

So last night we basically put the finishing touches on the little guy's room. It was so exciting to be in there and know that he can come at any time. It's not like he'll even sleep in there for the first few weeks but still...he has a room in our house. He's a part of our home. I think that is so neat!

So here is some of the process of getting that room ready. This was from right after I got back from our first shower in Indiana. The room hadn't been painted yet, the carpet hadn't be replaced yet, and obviously all the guest room furniture was still hanging out. Around this time...I was going a little crazy with the disorganization.

The night we got the crib we were SO excited we wanted to put it together. It didn't happen though..because we realized if we put it together somewhere that wasn't in the nursery we were going to have to tear it all down again to get it into the room. Instead we just decided to pick all the pieces out and make sure they were there.
Then we moved it into the room where it waited for a few months for it's turn for glory.
Whoa. Chaos.
I don't have any before pictures of the dressers. Silly woman. This is one before though as I pulling out the old ugly contact paper and cleaning out the drawers.

After being refinished we found fun contact paper. Brad is AWESOME and helped me line every drawer. The dark and white finish on the dresser was the idea from younghouselove. It turned out exactly how I hoped! Working on the bed skirt...yet another idea from younghouselove. I kinda love their blog. I thin they have awesome ideas. Plus they're funny.
Brad working hard on the dresser. Number two dresser unfortunately did not work out as planned. It wouldn't stain..so we decided to paint it white...but then it was too much in the room because we found another piece for the changing table. Then we decided to put it in the closet as you'll see in the pictures, but then...we couldn't open up the drawers enough to use...so it's been relocated to the office. I'm super bummed. But that's ok because we still have a nursery that was exactly how we were hoping it would be.
Here's the finished bed. With the bed skirt. I know you can kinda see the metal..but I liked it better that way than making it secure under that mattress. Weird.
So here's the finished room! It's simple. I like simple.
Another view of the room. I have to tell you a secret. That chair..I was so determined to never own one of those (but Brad has wanted one for YEARS). So we go to IKEA and sit in the rocker..and it's SO comfortable! But I didn't really like the color. We decided to go for it though because of the awesome comfort and the price. I'm so glad we did! It's so perfect to sit in. Well then as we put it together Brad said..I could paint the frame white. Silly man..never offer to paint ANYTHING. I will take you up on it! So we may still do that. I haven't asked yet officially. But we might.
Another IKEA/Brad find. He's such a little smarty. We like it though! I love that he has a little library already! Mom and Dad got the little piggy bank at the covered bridge festival this year!
Finally finished letters...changed the plan. These were easier and only required cutting straight lines. :) That precious picture was drawn by our friends' daughter Melina! We just had to frame it and put it in his room.
His little closet! The dresser really does have three drawers..but there was a repair being completed on the middle drawer. This is the sweet little dresser that's now relocated to the office. The closet has doors now too. But I wanted to show the organization.
The inside of the dresser! The picture on top was painted by my sweet college roommate Summer. We've had it in our guest room since we've been married, but it fits perfectly in his room now. It's the outline of a girl praying. I think it's a beautiful picture. Plus it's so special from her.

So that's the room. It's been so fun. I love finding unique things, and anything handmade. It's just fun. I'm so excited to just sit in his room the next couple of weeks and just pray over this little man.

Life is awesome here. Now that the room is done...we just get to hang when we're home! :) I still need to work on the kitchen..but I don't feel stressed at all about it. So after a minor panic attack of "HOW ON EARTH CAN I CONTINUE TO WORK IF I DON'T SLEEP UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND GET UP AT 4:30???" last night...I decided it was time to ask to be taken off the schedule. Dr. Garza and Brad had already told me to do this..but I was stubborn and was afraid that it made me a wimp if I didn't work the 40th week, but seriously. I was scheduled Wednesday and Thursday and then he's due Friday. I can't imagine if he actually were to come when he's due..after getting up and working two 12 hour shifts in a row...that would have been silly. My boss rocks and took me off the schedule for that week. So only 5 more shifts and then I'm done for three months! YAY! Awesome!

I have to just say...my coworkers have been AMAZING during the last nine months. They help me turn and lift my patients..they don't let me do anything that's heavy. They don't make me feel bad about it. They're just awesome. It's wonderful. I'll miss them while I'm off.

So anyways...that was long winded! Have a great week. I think three posts in two days might be sufficient for the week (although Sarah I'm so impressed with the 5 you got up today!) Hope you have an amazing week!

2nd post of the day - random thoughts.

So this is how my brain works now.

The speed bumps in Texas are ridiculous. Like seriously. They aren't gentle...they abuse cars..and they place them every 10 feet in parking lots. Crazy.

I try really hard not to buy cookies/chips things like this for snacks when I go to the grocery store. Basically because I'll eat them if they're in the house. (This isn't a pregnancy thing..this is an always thing.) Today though, I bought fig newtons and cookies!

I have rediscovered a love for raw bisquick with water, so basically biscuit dough. Gross? You may think so but I love it.

I went to the gym with Brad last night and had some pain in the bottom of my belly...I REALLY hope this means that the little man is trying to get into place. If he doesn't get there soon we have to talk options other than natural..and I don't want to do that.

I'm not sure I can physically handle 3 more weeks of work. I've had the last week off the floor, and it's been wonderful. I love my job..but I'm exhausted at the end of these 12 hour days. It's also been insane there lately..and last week I worked a 15 hour day.

Truthfully 3 more weeks only means 9 more shifts. You'd think that would be totally possible, but with not sleeping all that well...it makes it a bit difficult.

Speaking of sleeping...it seems that baby boy likes me to stay up until at least midnight every night. I have found that my nesting takes place between 9 and midnight. That's when I feel like I have to finish everything right now. That doesn't necessarily mean I do it..but it's when I feel the most inspired.

I don't know if I mentioned this in a previous blog...at 36 weeks..baby boy was already measuring in at a whopping 6lb 7 oz. Which means he'll most likely be in the 8 1/2lb range. He feels HUGE to me. All of a sudden I feel like he's so very apparent no matter where he is in my belly. There is definitely no extra room in there. That's ok though..we want him to be chunky!

I make fun recipes sometimes...they usually only last for one meal. Even if they're delicious I tend to not make things twice. You can imagine this makes life difficult when you try to plan meals and things like this. Silly right? I do make spaghetti occasionally. Part of the problem..I could totally eat cereal every day of the week for dinner. I am really going to work hard at this when Noah comes so we'll actually have a schedule. Mainly for budget purposes..and then once he is eating real food he'll have some variety to his diet.

People like to give advice..sometimes when it's not asked for. Today the clerk at HEB told me that it's always better not to have kids close together..and then went on to tell me it's better to go back to work. She told me then all you have to do is put them to sleep when you get home. Really? I thought she might be kidding..but I don't think so. I smiled and left a little disturbed.

Brad's on his way home now...so I need to go make dinner. Spaghetti. Surprise. Made with turkey instead of hamburger. That's the twist. Brad likes it better that way. :)

Have a great night!

3 weeks and counting.

That's right..were already at 37 weeks. WHAT?! It's just crazy how fast these weeks and months have passed! WE finished organizing the nursery this weekend...I'm so excited! We hung the cute little mirrors last night, but we are going to finish hanging the last two pieces on the wall and then we're done! Done...that's just crazy! Which is perfect because then we can enjoy just spending time together for the last three weeks. All that's left once the nursery is done is to finish out organizing the kitchen so we have room for baby things, and then we're pretty much set. We have the pack'n'play up and ready in our room, the swing is up in the living room, the little bouncy seat in his room. I mean...seriously...we're ready! I'm so excited!

A blog post will come either tonight or tomorrow depending on what time we finish it out. You know me and my freak organization I can't stand to have pictures up of the room when it's not finished. Ridiculous. I'm aware.

This week sweet Brad turned 28. We had a great time celebrating! He headed to Houston on his actual birthday for work so I just made him dinner here at home that night. Friday we went out for a sushi date at our favorite sushi restaurant, Uchi. Now..let me explain. I don't really like sushi, at all. Raw fish is just disturbing to me. HOWEVER..this place is phenomenal. We went here a few years ago for Brad's birthday and we liked it so much we still talk about it. This time I of course only ate cooked items, but I told Brad I can't wait to go back again and try it when I can eat the raw sushi again just to make sure it's as good as I remember. Either way it was great, Brad loved it, and our waiter gave us our dessert for free. AWESOME. Then Saturday we went out to dinner with friends. Who doesn't love a three day birthday celebration?

So since this always seems to be baby associated...I'm going to switch it up and spend a blog about this husband of mine. 28 reasons why I'm thankful for Brad Allison.


1. He loves Jesus. He grows more and more each day toward becoming like Christ, and it's so encouraging to me to do the same. I love it.

2. He makes me laugh. All the time. He's a big huge goofball and I think that's amazing.

3. He is handy to have around. In the past year he has refinished our floors, painted trim, painted rooms in our house, refinished the landscaping, helped me put together all sorts of crazy things...pretty much anything we need done he tries to find a way to do it.

4. He loves kiddos. I think it's so neat watching him interact with our friends kiddos or our nieces.

5. He's going to be such a good dad! He's so excited for Noah. Watching him get excited gets me even more excited. I love when he tells me how much time we have left..like he has a little countdown going on too!

6. He understands me. He knows when I need to cry, laugh, talk, be quiet, play, be serious. He just knows, and he always responds perfectly.

7. Sometimes in this crazy pregnant brain of mine...I get so jumbled up with my emotions I need to just cry. Like a lot. I've had two episodes of this in almost 9 months...so I consider myself not so crazy...but still. It's happened. And this sweet guy just sat there and held me..until I laughed at my insanity..and then he laughed with me.

8. He has a servant's heart. He wants to help everyone.

9. He has an unbelievable amount of random knowledge. It is amazing. But I sure do learn a lot from him.

10. That guy could talk football for hours. Literally. It's actually kinda fun. I enjoy trying to learn facts so that I can try to keep up with him.

11. He listens to me ramble on and on about nursing. Sometimes I have to process the things my brain goes through..and he really helps me do that.

12. He is a faithful friend. We both struggle at communication. We're not good at emailing or calling people that are on our hearts...but he is a faithful friend. He cares so much for the people in his life.

13. He would give me steak any day. It's almost as if I'm the man in the relationship..you know..like the way to a man is through his stomach. That's me..even when I'm not pregnant.

14. He helped me be crafty for Noah's room. He always has good solutions when I'm frustrated. Last night I was trying to cover letters for his room, it was an epic fail. He sat here with me and tried to come up with a plan.

15. Sometimes he watched girly movies with me. Just because he's sweet like that.

16. He talks about Noah all the time. He puts his hand on my belly and gets this huge smile. It's one of the most special things we've ever shared.

17. He leads me..even when I don't want him to.

18. He likes to play cards. It doesn't matter with who or where..that guy loves to play cards. He would do anything to do so. It cracks me up.

19. He makes jokes that make me uncomfortable. Just because he thinks it's funny.

20. Since I've been pregnant, I've realized that he worries about me more than I think. Like for example...he barely lets me drive his car because he doesn't trust it. That car is fine by the way. No problem there, but it makes him feel better if I don't drive it often. (Except I am today.) Or when we talk about the baby coming..the idea of a c-section is not a comfortable discussion with him. I forget that just because surgery and things like that don't scare me for me...the idea of me in surgery makes him very uncomfortable. If it were the other way around I'd be crazy....but I forget he might feel the same way.

21. He is a family guy. Family is so important to him.

22. He is awesome to go on trips and vacations with. He knows how to make them so fun! Although he's already planned lots of trips in the next year he wants to take..and I keep saying I think we'll have to wait and see. :)

23. We talked the other day about parenting...some of the things we'll come across as Noah or other kiddos get older...things we hadn't talked about before. It was awesome. So exciting to plan and prepare for what our life is going to be like.

24. Every day I wake up and realize how thankful I am for him. I feel like as time goes on our marriage just continues to grow more and more. I LOVE that.

25. He thinks a fist bump is always appropriate. Even in the doctors office. :) Come on that's hilarious.

26. He goes to every doctors appointment with me. He asks questions, and he holds me hand, and he is invested in every part of this.

27. He went to the preparation for childbirth class alone without me for the first hour because I couldn't get out of work on time. He wasn't freaked out, and he even had opinions. I LOVE it!

28. He just rocks. Our life together is better than I ever imagined...I'm so thankful for a God of details who created this man for me.

That's it for now..be prepared..pictures are coming! I'm so excited!

My first DIY for the nursery!

No pictures...still. So if you happen to be reading this Luke..I know that makes this boring but they're coming. :)

But I found material today to make this...
http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/03/nursery-progress-skirting-the-issue/

I'm super excited to try it! The crib skirt that came with the bedding is a little too long for our super low profile crib..it looks a little sloppy. So I think we'll use that for something else fun in the room..though I'm not sure what yet, but I decided to give this little jewel a try. I'm all about the new sewing part even though I love to sew...I'm not exactly awesome at it so anything that is fixable I like. Either way..I'm excited to see how it turns out. Once it does...then there will be pictures!

Also, I have to say I'm super thankful for a low profile crib..because I can't reach babies in the real sized one. I'm just too short. Hahaha. Oh well.

The furniture should get finished this weekend..and if that really happens then by next week we should have it put together! YAY!!!

Had our 35th week appointment this week. When they asked how he was moving, I told our doctor that Noah was pretty mellow today (as in not kicking all that much), which is NOT the thing to say at the 35th week, so we had a non-stress test today, which thankfully he passed with flying colors. I am so thankful for a doctor who is thorough and yet so calm about things. We both were a little worried today when he wasn't kicking me very much, and then his heartbeat was a little slower than normal when we listened to it at the beginning of the appointment. Apparently little man was just sleepy..as soon as the stress test started he was moving all over the place and his little heart sped up just like it was supposed too. Show off. :) It was awesome to listen to his heart for 20 minutes though!

Next week we have an ultrasound and I CAN'T WAIT!! I have been telling everyone I feel like baby boy is going to be big, but I think that maybe I'm measuring small. Brad and I both got the feeling that's what the doctor was saying when he measured me, but we all were talking and he got mid-sentence and then I think we switched topics. I figure though he must not have been that worried, plus we'll find out more at the ultrasound next week. Maybe I'm just too relaxed. Which isn't exactly my style.

I don't think I've mentioned how much we love our new doctor. We are so incredibly thankful that he was available when we had to switch. We both VERY much loved our old doctor and were sad to leave her, but after meeting with this one we just feel so very at peace about the whole thing. He loves the Lord first and foremost, and he is just so open and welcoming. After our first appointment he prayed with us over the pregnancy, the delivery, and that the Lord would call Noah to himself. How AMAZING to pray with your doctor over your unborn child that he will come to know the salvation of Christ. AWESOME. We walked out of there so excited. He also is very relaxed about everything when it comes to the birth. Brad and I both are pretty laid back about it all...our birth plan is the following:
Try to go without an epidural.
If unable...get an epidural.
Get Noah out of me and into the world safely.

That's it. We're very detailed obviously. But Dr. Garza is ok with that. We talked about c-section and likelihood of that and all that jazz..but basically we're all in agreement..if we can stray from that and inducing then we will..if there is any evidence Noah is in distress..then that boy is coming out in whatever way is safest. Game on.

So basically...how amazing is God's provision? We think He is AWESOME.

That's it.

Have a great night!

joy.

Today I moved everything that doesn't belong to the little man out of his room..and organized EVERY single thing in there! I'm so excited. All that's left is to finish the furniture to put the organized things into. It's awesome! I can't post pictures because literally there is not much in the room...it's just organized. :) Once we have something to put pictures up of then there will be plenty to see.

Brad's currently rocking out finishing the furniture..and it's going great! We had a bit of a setback as we realized one of the pieces we have will not allow us to stain it as we would like. So we're painting it white and calling it a day. It'll still look cool. The other piece is going to look perfect when he finishes though. I just know it!

I also went to town on the guest room..so every single dresser drawer in there has a purpose. I have another box to take to Goodwill..and probably more to come!

I made a list today of all the things we have left to do...if you haven't noticed this trend..I am liking the lists...and there really aren't that many things left to do. Most involve things I want to reorganize to make room for baby things like kitchen cabinets and the pantry.

We have a shower this weekend with our friends from down here. I'm so excited!!

I'm just so pumped! We're just over 5 weeks away from him being here and things are really coming together! I feel great just sleepy...but last night I was so tired I slept like a baby. It was wonderful.

I can't wait to be done with all the busy work..because then I have a book that I want to finish before he arrives, and a couple of gifts for sweet friends that are also having babies that I would like to finish. Then it's baby time!

Also..I apologize for my negative post yesterday. One day of no sleep apparently makes me cranky.

And that's all I have for the day. Hope you have a fantastic week!

Rough.

Last night I went to bed...ready to work today..but nearly certain I wouldn't have to because of our low census. I had requested to be canceled so we could go to a preparing for childbirth class.

So I went to bed at 10:30ish.

Still up until sometime around midnight.

Pretty sure I slept a little bit off and on until 2:30. Which was I believe my third time to get up.

Fought so hard to go back to sleep until 3. I think that was a fail.

Decided at 3 that I was over that and moved out to the couch.

Watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy....was certain that it would be ok because they would put me on call.

At 4:30 finally accepted the fact that the call wasn't coming.

5:30am arrived to work..because I mean if you can't sleep you might as well work right?

6:00pm left work went to the preparing for childbirth class.

9:40 Arrived home from class. Exhausted and hungry.

Today was rough.

But tomorrow is a new day!

Tomorrow:
I get to organize Noah's room!
I get to organize closets again.
I'm going to work on his baby book that I haven't started. :)
I'm going to hang out with the Mullin's kiddos for a few in the morning.
I'm going to sleep in.

I'm very thankful each day for new days!

I'm also thankful that I can write this..and yet I can look at it and know how extremely blessed I have been to have made it this far without feeling uncomfortable.

I'm most thankful for that healthy little man that rolls around and makes my stomach look lopsided. I love that. Can't wait to meet him. Makes every single moment of not sleeping totally worth it...like last night when he kicked me around 3 while I was laying on the couch..I thought aww..he's up with mama. I think we just might have a few more of those dates in the coming months. :)

That's it.

Have a great night!