Nursery Reveal

 Well, I must say I have a new favorite room in our house.  

Our sweet little man's nursery is officially ready for his arrival. :)  It's exactly what I imagined in my head- sweet, calming, and happy.  I know it sounds silly for a room to be happy, but it really is.  This room wouldn't be what it is without my amazingly talented mom.

 While working full time, my wonderful mother made these beautiful, gorgeous drapes, and amazingly beautiful crib skirt.  We wouldn't have been able to afford these items if it weren't for my mom's talented and generous self.  She gave so much of her time and energy and I am so, so grateful and thankful for her. :)

 I wish the lighting was a little better but it's more true to life with the flash off so I kept it off.  The changing table and crib are Legacy and were a sweet hand-me-down from my cousin Katie.  Her two sweet kiddos are 7 and 5 and she was ready to part with them so I gladly welcomed them into our nursery.  They are beautiful & extremely well made.  

 

 We ordered the fabric for the bedding from Carousel Designs.  With my mom's help, I was able to design everything and it is even more custom made than I could have ordered on the website. 

 The shelves and frames are from Ikea and I made his little name banner out of burlap and extra fabric from the bedding. 

 The rocker/recliner was ordered from Amazon.  I tested it out at Babies R Us but it was much cheaper online and there was free shipping.  It is The Rockabye Glider and you can find it here.  The prints in the frames were free printables that I found on Pinterest.  The large frame in the middle has ABC cards and the one to the right says "I am a Child of God".  In the small frame I have yet to put a picture from our maternity photo shoot but that's what's going in there. :)  I have had the G for a long time and got it on sale at Pier One.  The lamp base is from Target and the shade is World Market. 

I can't WAIT for my precious man to come home from the hospital so he can come home to this room.  I have been having my quiet times in here and just praying that God would bless our son and his life.  I'm so excited to see his sweet little face and so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with his life. 

Nesting of the Heart

My poor husband....he comes home on his lunch hour and I am asking him to put up shelves in the nursery and install the car seat and put together the stroller and clean out the garage. I tell him, "I'm nesting and I feel like you are at the opposite end of the spectrum because you are so laid back about everything!! Don't you know the baby could come THIS WEEK???"

Oh goodness, when you step back from yourself sometimes you realize how ridiculous you are being. I am realizing I have been so caught up in physically getting everything ready for our son that I have neglected spiritually preparing my heart for this next chapter. I would be naive if I said I can totally prepare my heart and emotions for what is about to take place, but I feel God pricking my heart to slow down and spend time with him. I need to be less worried about shelves hung and more concerned with praying for our little man's heart and that we would shepherd it well, Matt and I's marriage and that we would seek the Lord through the trying, sleepless nights ahead, and that we would create a home where worshiping the King is our focus. I need to immerse myself in scripture so that when in a few weeks I sleeplessly stumble to Grayson's crib to pick his little self up for a middle of the night feeding, I can praise and worship the One who gave us our son.

Of course it's not a bad thing to have shelves hung in the nursery and a clean garage but if those are what my focus is on, I am missing out on what the Lord wants to show me through the birth of my baby boy.

Just some random thoughts for today. :) Happy Monday friends!

Maternity Shoot :)

Photo overload ahead but I just can't help myself! I am so happy with the amazing work of my wonderful friend!! Now that I have posted these, Grayson is free to come at any time (After Sunday when he will officially full term at 37 weeks! :))

All photos were taken by Sarah Morris of 13:13 Photography. 

Almost 37 Weeks & Update on Life

How far along? 36 Weeks 5 Days

Total weight gain: +31

Maternity clothes? Definitely. I can still wear some longer tops thankfully, though.

Stretch marks? None. I have been blessed with great genes because my mom didn't get a single one with any of her pregnancies!

Sleep: Oh, sleep! It's been much more challenging to get comfortable and once I do might have to pee 2-4 times in the middle of the night. Our sweet baby Gray has dropped and his little head is resting on my bladder to make sleeping through the night impossible. I think it is God and my body's way of preparing me for what's to come. :)

Best moment this week (changing it to this past month :)): My amazing husband surprised me with a pretty amazing push present which was flying one of my dearest best friends up, Sarah, who is an extremely talented photographer. She took our maternity photo shoot and I was able to spend the whole weekend with her. It was so wonderful! The week after she came,

I turned 25, had my last day of work in the corporate world, and we made major headway on the nursery. It is 97% complete and just needs the curtains hung, crib skirt put in, and some things hung on the wall. Life has been so full but Matt and I realize how blessed we are with the Lord's faithfulness in this season of life.

Miss Anything? Nope...just getting so excited to see his sweet face soon!

Movement: Yes, Grayson is a little mover and a shaker. I love every second.

Food cravings: Nothing really. I am not as hungry as usual. I don't think there is much room for my stomach anymore. :)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. The past several days I have had some moments of nausea but I can't really attribute it to anything.

Gender: A precious baby boy!

Symptoms: Swelling feet (although since I stopped working last Friday this hasn't happened once!), some hip pain after sleeping, and my hands falling asleep. Other than that, I am feeling good.

Belly Button in or out? It is officially out in all it's glory and has been for a while. :)

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy with some small hormonal moments mixed in.

Looking forward to: Meeting our precious munchkin. There have been some signs that I don't think I am going to make it until my due date. We are anxious, excited, and trying to trust the Lord that he will bring Grayson in the world at the perfect time. :)

So I know that I pretty much suck at blogging and all of my posts are recaps of our life, but I at least just want to write down the big stuff so I can look back on.

A pretty amazing event happened on August 7th- my angel baby nephew Brody James was born! He was two weeks early but such a precious little tiny man who I keep telling not to grow too much because Aunt Audra can't see him until Thanksgiving. Brody, thank you for FaceTiming me so I can see your precious face. Your cousin Grayson can't wait to meet you and wear the matching Christmas pajamas that Nana bought for when we are together. 

Lastly, there are some pictures at the bottom of our two baby showers- we had one thrown by our sweet small group here and another one the very next weekend (back in July) thrown by my husband's aunts in St. Louis.  Our little man was gifted with so many things and has so many people who love him already! 

   

 

I should be getting our maternity photo shoot CD in the mail today and will try to post them on here, but chances are the next time I blog will be to introduce our BABY BOY!!! :)  I can't even handle my excitement/mixed with nerves! :)