Nursery Mood Board

I am so excited about getting the nursery ready.  I know it has so little to do with actually raising the baby but it’s such a fun part of getting ready for their arrival.  Pinterest has so many fun ideas.  Kyle and I both agreed we liked the more gender neutral ones and wanted to go with a whimsical/adventure theme.  Think woodland animals and hot air balloons.  Here is our mood board for the room:

Our New Deck

In other news we took on another big project over the past couple of months and finally replaced our back deck.  It took several months to find the right company/contractor and to get the build scheduled but finally in early June they came out and tore away the old deck to start fresh.  It was such a huge relief to have the liability of the old deck gone which had literally been pulling away from the house, yikes!  It took about 10 days total to build the new deck and we are so thrilled with the outcome and the workmanship of the guys at Deck Pro.  They truly did a fantastic job and have an element of artistry to how they finish their projects.  We will enjoy so much time in our new screened porch and are thrilled to still have some open outdoor space on the deck for grilling and getting some sun.

Precious Moments - First Trimester

Here are a few moments from the first trimester that I wanted to share since I want to always remember them: 

Moment 1: Saturday May 21^st – The day we found out.  I woke up super early and waited 2 hours for Kyle to finally wake up so we could take the test together.  We laid in beds and held hands for the 3 minutes and were both so thrilled when we saw the word “pregnant” on the digital screen. 

Moment 2: Sunday June 12^th - The night we told our parents.  We had all of our parents and Kyle’s grandparents over for dinner to celebrate Kyle’s birthday.  We were lucky that his mom made a last minute trip down to Georgia on her way to Raleigh for a work event.  We made salad and spaghetti and under each pile of spaghetti were the words “you are going to be a grandma/grandpa/great grandma/great grandpa” depending on whose plate it was.  I’ve never been so anxious for people to eat most of their meal as Kyle and I picked at our food waiting to see who would uncover the surprise first.  Bill and Anna were the most suspicious of the group dinner so not surprisingly they noticed first and started dropping hints to everyone else.  As the whole group figured it out everyone was all teary eyed and smiles and I remember thinking that this baby was the luckiest in the world to have such a loving family to be born into.  I sincerely hope we’ll be good parents but even if struggle in certain areas they will have a whole village helping us raise them and for that I’m already thankful. 

Moment 3:  Friday June 17^th – The first ultrasound.  The day we heard the heartbeat and first saw little nugget as a tiny little blob.  When you find out you are pregnant you feel differently almost immediately.  You also have lots of choices you change daily to ensure you are keeping you and the baby as healthy as possible.  All those things aside nothing makes it feel more real and fantastic than hearing the heartbeat for the first time.  After being poked and prodded to check things and take measurements the ultrasound tech turned the volume knob and happy tears came streaming out of my eyes.  While I love that first little picture it pales so much in comparison to that first sound of the heartbeat.

Moment 4: Friday July 15^th – The second ultrasound.  Unlike the tiny blob baby of the first ultrasound this time I was amazed how much little nugget had grown.  This time I could see the profile of the babies face and the movement of its tiny little arms and legs.  At one point it was jumping around like a little jumping bean and it was adorable and fascinating to see how much was really going on inside me.  These ultrasound photos are so fun since little nugget actually looks like a little baby and all the grandparents were already speculating whose features little nugget had and what gender it might be.  This appointment also meant we were leaving the first trimester and entering the lower risk second trimester which is a very comforting and exciting milestone.

Moment 5: Saturday July 16^th – The day we announced little nugget on Facebook and Instagram.  After keeping such big news a secret for so many weeks it was such a giant relief to share the news with all our friends and family.  We were overwhelmed by the love and support shared by our friends and family.  Kyle and I both were fairly glued to our laptops refreshing our feeds to see all the wonderful comments and reactions.  

Times are a Changing

It’s been a long break from blogging.  I’m not sure why this happens where I go long stretches without posting.  This time I blame a very exciting distraction that has been occupying a lot of my attention and energy outside of work.  After 8 wonderful years of marriage with just the two of us we decided to take a leap of faith and begin our adventure towards parenthood.  We found out in May that we are expecting a new addition to our family.  We’re affectionately calling him or her Little Nugget right now since we’re a good month or two away from knowing whether we’ll have a little boy or a little girl arriving in late January. 

My pregnancy so far has been very easy besides feeling overwhelmingly tired.  Thankfully almost no feelings of nausea or other unpleasant side effects but my energy level has plummeted.  I’ve heard by about 13 or 14 weeks that it comes back so fingers crossed that in a week or two I’ll be feeling a bit more like my energetic morning person self.  I intend to make a very honest effort at posting more often since I miss writing and when I take long breaks I miss being able to look back and remember our trips, projects, experiences, etc.