This whole how many weeks are you is getting a little out of hand!
So, I had an appointment today to do the dreaded one hour glucose test. I messed up last time and although I called to verify that I wasn't doing the test, I was supposed to and had eaten. Today was really the last day I could do it so there I was bright and early drinking the nasty orange drink. I was also informed that my scheduled c-section date was for March 21 which was much later than we expected.
Fast forward a couple of hours and the nurse makes a comment when she weighs me that I gained a bunch of weight (hmmm...thanks). I comment that it is Christmas time and I did just eat cookies for two weeks but she didn't buy it! Then when my doctor sees me and measures me she comments how my measurements were much bigger than the 28.5 weeks they have me at. I mention that the last ultrasound put me a week ahead and I should be 29.5 weeks but then she comments that my measurements and weight gain put me at 30.5-31.5 weeks. Confused yet?
Since I am now starting my every two week appointments, she is going to see what my growth looks like the next appointment and see if I am truly further along or if these measurements were a random growth spurt. We also are scheduling another ultrasound in 5-7 weeks (all depends on measurements) to get a better idea of how far along Graham is.
Other than the confusion on gestational age, Graham is healthy and heart beat was strong. He appears to still be breached with his head under my ribs which I knew based off of where he is kicking and pushing. I go back on January 13 and hopefully we will get better idea of when Graham will arrive....hopefully more at the beginning of March!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas 2010
What a wonderful Christmas we had! It was so nice to spend it with family and I loved seeing Peyton's excitement!
We started out meeting at my parent's to head out for Christmas Eve Service and for some pictures. The service was great as always and Peyton actually attended the big church service as opposed to her nursery because she did not want to leave her family (Granny, Papa, Auntie Ashley and Auntie Shannon). Since we all drove to church together and walked in, Peyton was not happy about everyone going into church and her having to leave them and threw a temper tantrum. Instead of trying to force the nursery who I am sure were already pretty full, we let er come with us and she was perfect. She didn't try to talk or do anything and exceeded my expectations and I loved having her there with us. Pretty emotional singing Christmas carols holding your precious toddler, feeling your unborn son kick and having your Godly, loving husband put his arms around you....oh and looking down the row and seeing your family....I didn't loss it but was close!
Following service we all went back to my parents for our Christmas Eve tradition of TONS of snack food (cheese, canapes, meat balls, egg rolls, shrimp, dips etc) and spend the time hanging out and playing games. We finally realized it was getting pretty late and finished up the evening with our other tradition of reading the Christmas Story and then the Night Before Christmas before writing our note to Santa and putting out his cookies and milk.
The next morning (John, Peyton and I....and our dog....oh and my sister and her dog which equaled three dogs in one house....spent the night) we all woke up and put on our matching PJ's which is pretty amusing since growing up we NEVER had matching PJ's on Christmas but this year my mom decided she wanted us to match and get a picture. It was cute and I loved having fun new PJ's to wear on Christmas but I just thought it was funny that this many years later she wanted to do something like this!
We then read the letter back from Santa and checked out the empty plate of cookies. Peyton was not really into the whole morning until she realized all of the cookies were gone. She was a little confused then and I could see her starting to think this whole Santa thing through more.
Then it was stocking and present time and she loved it! Like last year she wanted to play with everything as soon as she opened it and would ask to "open it" constantly. She wouldn't push it much more when I told her she had to finish opening the rest of the presents and she would just head back to the tree and grab anything to open so we had to make sure to keep an eye on her. She did get tired towards the end and couldn't open her remaining four presents so we took a break, played some and then finished up! She had a wonderful morning and was very blessed by all of her gifts from family and Santa.
Probably one of her most favorite toys of the year was her Thomas the Train track. Santa knew she loved them everywhere we went and she was excited to finally have her own. She played with it multiple times during the day and would just sit there for a long time pushing Thomas around the track. I am excited to get her more of the different expansion packs and seeing her build more complex tracks. I was glad it was a hit!
John's favorite present was a gift certificate that my mom got him and my dad for a class at a local shooting range. John has always wanted to own a gun which I am totally against and so he never goes shooting. So, when my mom called and asked if I thought he would like that I knew it would be a hit. I am excited that they get to go do some guy stuff together and John can fulfill his shooting/gun need without owning a gun!
We started out meeting at my parent's to head out for Christmas Eve Service and for some pictures. The service was great as always and Peyton actually attended the big church service as opposed to her nursery because she did not want to leave her family (Granny, Papa, Auntie Ashley and Auntie Shannon). Since we all drove to church together and walked in, Peyton was not happy about everyone going into church and her having to leave them and threw a temper tantrum. Instead of trying to force the nursery who I am sure were already pretty full, we let er come with us and she was perfect. She didn't try to talk or do anything and exceeded my expectations and I loved having her there with us. Pretty emotional singing Christmas carols holding your precious toddler, feeling your unborn son kick and having your Godly, loving husband put his arms around you....oh and looking down the row and seeing your family....I didn't loss it but was close!
Following service we all went back to my parents for our Christmas Eve tradition of TONS of snack food (cheese, canapes, meat balls, egg rolls, shrimp, dips etc) and spend the time hanging out and playing games. We finally realized it was getting pretty late and finished up the evening with our other tradition of reading the Christmas Story and then the Night Before Christmas before writing our note to Santa and putting out his cookies and milk.The next morning (John, Peyton and I....and our dog....oh and my sister and her dog which equaled three dogs in one house....spent the night) we all woke up and put on our matching PJ's which is pretty amusing since growing up we NEVER had matching PJ's on Christmas but this year my mom decided she wanted us to match and get a picture. It was cute and I loved having fun new PJ's to wear on Christmas but I just thought it was funny that this many years later she wanted to do something like this! We then read the letter back from Santa and checked out the empty plate of cookies. Peyton was not really into the whole morning until she realized all of the cookies were gone. She was a little confused then and I could see her starting to think this whole Santa thing through more.Then it was stocking and present time and she loved it! Like last year she wanted to play with everything as soon as she opened it and would ask to "open it" constantly. She wouldn't push it much more when I told her she had to finish opening the rest of the presents and she would just head back to the tree and grab anything to open so we had to make sure to keep an eye on her. She did get tired towards the end and couldn't open her remaining four presents so we took a break, played some and then finished up! She had a wonderful morning and was very blessed by all of her gifts from family and Santa.
Probably one of her most favorite toys of the year was her Thomas the Train track. Santa knew she loved them everywhere we went and she was excited to finally have her own. She played with it multiple times during the day and would just sit there for a long time pushing Thomas around the track. I am excited to get her more of the different expansion packs and seeing her build more complex tracks. I was glad it was a hit!
John's favorite present was a gift certificate that my mom got him and my dad for a class at a local shooting range. John has always wanted to own a gun which I am totally against and so he never goes shooting. So, when my mom called and asked if I thought he would like that I knew it would be a hit. I am excited that they get to go do some guy stuff together and John can fulfill his shooting/gun need without owning a gun!Some of my favorite gifts this year (I didn't get any pictures of me opening presents) was my new Skip Hop diaper bag! It is super cute and I am excited about using it with Graham. I had bought a gender neutral manly looking one with Peyton so John would feel comfortable carrying it but quickly realized especially when I decided to stay home that I am the one using it all the time and I wanted something cute this time. So, this one looks like a big purse and is a pretty charcoal color! I also got some nice cake stands, a really detailed and interesting dessert cookbook, a shoe mount flash for my camera and lots of other goodies! I was very lucky this year!
We ended the day with Christmas dinner at my parents where John's mom and his brother joined us and as always my mom prepared a delicious meal complete with chocolate fondue as the dessert!
It was a great Christmas and we were all very tired from all the business and excitement of the day. I am so very blessed to have the family that I do and love spending the holidays with them....crazy to think that next year we will have another one for Santa to visit!
Christmas Week
We were so lucky to have daddy home all of last week and are pretty sad that he has to return to work tomorrow. We very much could have him home for another week. I have enjoyed the extra set of hands and additional naps I have been able to have and Peyton has loved hanging out with daddy. Besides the excitement of potty training (still doing really well) we managed to have some other fun activities considering most of the time we were restricted to the house.
The nice weather allowed Peyton and daddy to play ball outside a bunch! I love hearing them play together outside because he is so much more wild with her than I am and she loves it!
They worked together to build a Gingerbread Train....Peyton actually kept eating the icing as John would put it on. It was also highly amusing to watch them work together as they are both very opinionated, strong willed and have strong engineering/methodical tendencies. They ended up with an impressive train and a very sugar high toddler!
Since John was off we took the opportunity to drive out to see his mom about a hour away and celebrate Christmas with her on the 23rd. Peyton hasn't been to Grandma Martha's house very much as she always comes to see us and was very excited about going there and just thought it was the best thing ever!
Today Peyton and I used my new doughnut machine that I got for Christmas and made mini doughnuts. She loves to bake and is such a good helper. We had lots of fun and the doughnuts turned out pretty tasty. I do need to work on the icing/glaze a little bit but they turned out fine for our first time and Peyton loved them!
We had lots of fun playing games with my family most nights, watching movies, cuddling as a family and just enjoying the relaxing week. I was so happy I had all of our Christmas shopping done awhile back so we could just enjoy time with Daddy. Tomorrow it will be back to reality.....
The nice weather allowed Peyton and daddy to play ball outside a bunch! I love hearing them play together outside because he is so much more wild with her than I am and she loves it!
They worked together to build a Gingerbread Train....Peyton actually kept eating the icing as John would put it on. It was also highly amusing to watch them work together as they are both very opinionated, strong willed and have strong engineering/methodical tendencies. They ended up with an impressive train and a very sugar high toddler!Since John was off we took the opportunity to drive out to see his mom about a hour away and celebrate Christmas with her on the 23rd. Peyton hasn't been to Grandma Martha's house very much as she always comes to see us and was very excited about going there and just thought it was the best thing ever! Today Peyton and I used my new doughnut machine that I got for Christmas and made mini doughnuts. She loves to bake and is such a good helper. We had lots of fun and the doughnuts turned out pretty tasty. I do need to work on the icing/glaze a little bit but they turned out fine for our first time and Peyton loved them!
We had lots of fun playing games with my family most nights, watching movies, cuddling as a family and just enjoying the relaxing week. I was so happy I had all of our Christmas shopping done awhile back so we could just enjoy time with Daddy. Tomorrow it will be back to reality.....Friday, December 24, 2010
Potty Training
We have been meaning to start potty training because I have felt Peyton was somewhat interested and I figured we needed to do something before Graham arrives but it has been consistently been put off for various reasons. First, I was never really in a rush (minus knowing that it would be best to not have two kids in diapers yet I still didn't feel the urgency) or ready because I didn't want to deal with the whole potty/mess stuff and I was sad about Peyton not being a baby. Second, I was horrible sick for the whole first trimester plus and then in pain for much of my second. Third, Peyton would get sick or be miserable cranky the weekends we planned. So...since John was off all this week, I am not in as much pain, Peyton is healthy and she has no school, gymnastics or other commitments, we decided to jump in and start.
So, if you are interested....I don't blame you if you are not.....here is how our week has gone very briefly with no pictures or gross details!
We did a variation of the 3 day potty boot camp....first, I am not attempting to potty train at night or at naps. She sometimes makes it through a nap but never wakes up dry from night time. I am fine with having diapers at sleep time and in no way want to wake up and deal with sheets etc. I figure she will develop more and more control and we will slowly work on that. Second, when we go to my parents house or other places we do use pull ups. Peyton thinks they are like her swim diapers which she LOVED to wear and I always call them her big girl pants and she tends to keep them drier and more accident free than panties. We wear panties at home but I know that she will have to wear pull ups at school and I don't want to have her have an accident on someone's couch so we do use pull ups. Some people say it is confusing for kids but so far for us it is working and she wants to keep the "princess" big girl pants dry.
Sunday we told Peyton she was going to be a big girl and use the potty and that meant no more diapers. We put a pallet of towels and blankets down in front of the TV and were prepared for a long day of movies and cartoons. Well, as luck would have it, I felt awful after having no sleep the night before and being sick to my stomach multiple times throughout the night and ended up having to sleep for three hours and poor John was left on potty duty. We waited and waited and finally she had to go but she had an accident. Pretty much there were LOTS of accidents on the first day, her not wanting to go even try to the potty and by the end of the day no progress. I was really questioning whether or not she was ready and if we just traumatized her instead. We did end up giving her a candy reward for trying at the end of the day because I wanted to end on a positive note.
Monday I decided to implement more of a schedule/interval and made her try every 15 minutes and worked up to 30 minutes by the end of the day. I made sure to watch only movies or cartoons on Netflix that I could pause so I could show her that she doesn't miss anything by going potty and I also put in a variety of different candies instead of just M&M's including lollipops (something she hardly ever gets) to make the reward jar more appealing. We had much more progress but still lots of accidents, pretty much she would start heading to the potty as she was going, she was figuring out the whole deal. The afternoon went better and we even ventured to Granny and Papa's that night for cookie decorating and made it accident free! Tuesday and Wednesday proved more and more successful (still having an occasional accident...I think one each day) and she even went on the big potty at Starbucks last night!
Today was the biggest test as we drove out to Katy for Christmas celebrations with John's mom. I didn't expect her to be accident free since it was an hour drive but she was and went as soon as we got there! The whole rest of the day was accident free and we even ventured to my parents for the evening and she watched a movie while we played a game and had no accidents! She is still not telling us if she has to pee but she is holding it until we take her (it helps being pregnant and me having to go all the time so she just comes with me). She does tell us if she has to go #2 which is great and is not scared of it like most kids are when learning to go on the potty! I am just so proud of her not having any accidents today at all and she is no longer asking for her candy reward. Many times I offer her the candy and she just says no and is content with the praise and being a big girl!
I will give a huge shout out and praise to John for his tremendous help and support. Although I am feeling much better than the earlier parts of my pregnancy, this is still super hard on my body and it doesn't help that I haven't been sleeping. He has been so amazing in serving me by letting me take lots of naps this week, taking a break from household responsibilities and then taking on the majority of the potty training. I appreciate him so much for using him time off from work to help me in this process and I am so thankful that we will have had a week of potty training before he goes back to work and then still another 10 days until Peyton goes back to school! I am very blessed to have John as my husband and partner in parenting!
Tomorrow we will be hanging out at home most of the day again (potty training has felt like house arrest almost) and then heading to church for Christmas Eve services and then spending the night at my parents so we can wake up there Christmas morning (yes, we live a mile away and we are still spending the night)! The next couple of days will be interesting with all of the excitement and business but hopefully John and I can stay consistent, have lots of potty breaks and continue to make progress!
So, if you are interested....I don't blame you if you are not.....here is how our week has gone very briefly with no pictures or gross details!
We did a variation of the 3 day potty boot camp....first, I am not attempting to potty train at night or at naps. She sometimes makes it through a nap but never wakes up dry from night time. I am fine with having diapers at sleep time and in no way want to wake up and deal with sheets etc. I figure she will develop more and more control and we will slowly work on that. Second, when we go to my parents house or other places we do use pull ups. Peyton thinks they are like her swim diapers which she LOVED to wear and I always call them her big girl pants and she tends to keep them drier and more accident free than panties. We wear panties at home but I know that she will have to wear pull ups at school and I don't want to have her have an accident on someone's couch so we do use pull ups. Some people say it is confusing for kids but so far for us it is working and she wants to keep the "princess" big girl pants dry.
Sunday we told Peyton she was going to be a big girl and use the potty and that meant no more diapers. We put a pallet of towels and blankets down in front of the TV and were prepared for a long day of movies and cartoons. Well, as luck would have it, I felt awful after having no sleep the night before and being sick to my stomach multiple times throughout the night and ended up having to sleep for three hours and poor John was left on potty duty. We waited and waited and finally she had to go but she had an accident. Pretty much there were LOTS of accidents on the first day, her not wanting to go even try to the potty and by the end of the day no progress. I was really questioning whether or not she was ready and if we just traumatized her instead. We did end up giving her a candy reward for trying at the end of the day because I wanted to end on a positive note.
Monday I decided to implement more of a schedule/interval and made her try every 15 minutes and worked up to 30 minutes by the end of the day. I made sure to watch only movies or cartoons on Netflix that I could pause so I could show her that she doesn't miss anything by going potty and I also put in a variety of different candies instead of just M&M's including lollipops (something she hardly ever gets) to make the reward jar more appealing. We had much more progress but still lots of accidents, pretty much she would start heading to the potty as she was going, she was figuring out the whole deal. The afternoon went better and we even ventured to Granny and Papa's that night for cookie decorating and made it accident free! Tuesday and Wednesday proved more and more successful (still having an occasional accident...I think one each day) and she even went on the big potty at Starbucks last night!
Today was the biggest test as we drove out to Katy for Christmas celebrations with John's mom. I didn't expect her to be accident free since it was an hour drive but she was and went as soon as we got there! The whole rest of the day was accident free and we even ventured to my parents for the evening and she watched a movie while we played a game and had no accidents! She is still not telling us if she has to pee but she is holding it until we take her (it helps being pregnant and me having to go all the time so she just comes with me). She does tell us if she has to go #2 which is great and is not scared of it like most kids are when learning to go on the potty! I am just so proud of her not having any accidents today at all and she is no longer asking for her candy reward. Many times I offer her the candy and she just says no and is content with the praise and being a big girl!
I will give a huge shout out and praise to John for his tremendous help and support. Although I am feeling much better than the earlier parts of my pregnancy, this is still super hard on my body and it doesn't help that I haven't been sleeping. He has been so amazing in serving me by letting me take lots of naps this week, taking a break from household responsibilities and then taking on the majority of the potty training. I appreciate him so much for using him time off from work to help me in this process and I am so thankful that we will have had a week of potty training before he goes back to work and then still another 10 days until Peyton goes back to school! I am very blessed to have John as my husband and partner in parenting!
Tomorrow we will be hanging out at home most of the day again (potty training has felt like house arrest almost) and then heading to church for Christmas Eve services and then spending the night at my parents so we can wake up there Christmas morning (yes, we live a mile away and we are still spending the night)! The next couple of days will be interesting with all of the excitement and business but hopefully John and I can stay consistent, have lots of potty breaks and continue to make progress!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Princess Peyton Visits Starbucks
Tonight we got together with a couple in our small group at Starbucks. I was little worried about trying to have an adult conversation while entertaining Peyton but she was amazing and LOVED their little 7 month old daughter. She loved holding her and thought it was hilarious when she would grab her bow out of Peyton's hair. The more and more I see Peyton interact with babies, the more comforted and excited I get about seeing her as a big sister. She is going to be amazing!
Anyways...I promised her some big girl coffee (chocolate milk in a Starbucks paper cup like ours) and so she was super excited to come with us and decided just before we headed out that she needed to be a little more dressed for the occasion...as if the cool black boots, leggings and dress was not fashionable enough......and she came out with her dress up skirt, a pink wand and a boa. I love it and love that she wore it out to Starbucks with much pride and enthusiasm! She thought she was looking amazing and I agree completly! I am so in love with my silly toddler!
Anyways...I promised her some big girl coffee (chocolate milk in a Starbucks paper cup like ours) and so she was super excited to come with us and decided just before we headed out that she needed to be a little more dressed for the occasion...as if the cool black boots, leggings and dress was not fashionable enough......and she came out with her dress up skirt, a pink wand and a boa. I love it and love that she wore it out to Starbucks with much pride and enthusiasm! She thought she was looking amazing and I agree completly! I am so in love with my silly toddler!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
2010 Highlights
I thought it would be fun to look at the past year and put together a little overview of the highlights. It was kind of crazy to look back and see how much we have done as well as how much Peyton has changed.
January- I run in the Houston Half Marathon; February - Peyton and I go to the Vancouver Olympics and she attends the women's Gold Medal Hockey game and my Grandfather passes away; March- Peyton gets a big girl bed and also her first haircut 
April - We celebrate Easter; May- Peyton has her baby dedication and Mommy and Daddy escape on a 5 night cruise to Mexico minus Peyton; June - It is summer time full of playing outside, trips to the Children's Museum and swimming lessons
July- John turns 29, and Peyton and I escape to Canada for a two week vacation at the cottage and Peyton LOVES it!; August- Mommy goes to the Lady Gaga concert, Peyton starts at a new school and we find out we are expecting baby #2!
September - Peyton turns 2 and celebrates with a Shrek themed birthday party and we find out that Baby #2 is a Boy! ; October - I turn 27, we celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary and we enjoy the Halloween festivities with Peyton who was a cheerleader.
November - We take a trip to Austin to take Peyton to her first Longhorn game; December - We have loved celebrating Christmas with Peyton and she is loving all of the cookies, Santa's and the season!
January- I run in the Houston Half Marathon; February - Peyton and I go to the Vancouver Olympics and she attends the women's Gold Medal Hockey game and my Grandfather passes away; March- Peyton gets a big girl bed and also her first haircut
April - We celebrate Easter; May- Peyton has her baby dedication and Mommy and Daddy escape on a 5 night cruise to Mexico minus Peyton; June - It is summer time full of playing outside, trips to the Children's Museum and swimming lessons
July- John turns 29, and Peyton and I escape to Canada for a two week vacation at the cottage and Peyton LOVES it!; August- Mommy goes to the Lady Gaga concert, Peyton starts at a new school and we find out we are expecting baby #2!
September - Peyton turns 2 and celebrates with a Shrek themed birthday party and we find out that Baby #2 is a Boy! ; October - I turn 27, we celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary and we enjoy the Halloween festivities with Peyton who was a cheerleader.
November - We take a trip to Austin to take Peyton to her first Longhorn game; December - We have loved celebrating Christmas with Peyton and she is loving all of the cookies, Santa's and the season!We already know that 2011 is going to a busy year full of changes and exciting but scary things to come! We will be expecting Graham Ryerson in March and will be adjusting to being a family of four! We are excited, nervous and ready to lean on God in seeing what 2011 looks like for our family! Praying many blessings for all you and your families in 2011!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Graham's Nursery
Last Thursday and Friday my mom and I got serious and worked hard to finish up all of the sewing for Graham's nursery. Since I decided not to do a bumper pad for various reasons....one, they use it for such a short time before they can pull up and it becomes dangerous and second, there have been some recent studies debating the safety of them even before they can pull up/roll, we really only had some throw pillows and then a crib skirt. We finished up Friday and John put up the pictures and shelves for me and we are pretty much done.
As I mentioned in my 28 weeks post, I am still waiting on a 20" wooden letter that will be painted blue with white polka dots and then the sides brown and hung with a brown ribbon that will go above the dresser. But overall it is done and exactly what I was wanting. I LOVE IT! When I started thinking about a boys room I wanted something modern, nothing too over the top baby and nothing like what I was finding in stores.
I found all of the fabric at High Fashion in downtown Houston, the crib sheet and changing pad sheet is from Babies R'Us and is made by Carters. The bins on the bookcase are from BRU and then the lamps are from Ikea and I just added a piece of brown ribbon to the top and bottom of them. The rug is from Pottery Barn Kids (my splurge). The shelves are from Hobby Lobby and I just painted them. The frame on his bookcase will eventually have a bible verse in it when I finally get around to printing it off. And finally one of my favorite parts are the elephant paintings which were done by my mom!
View from the closet door of the crib and glidder. The pillow on the chair is done in a brown and white stripe pattern.
View from the door.
Paintings done by my mom...seems like a lot of my artwork in my house is done by her!
I found these knobs at Hobby Lobby and they are the perfect way to spruce up the dresser we got from Ikea. I wanted a dresser to help with storage but that meant our changing table from Peyton would add too much furniture in the room. This dresser is the perfect height for a changing table and it provided storage and for cheap! Perfect! The letter that I ordered will be going above the dresser/changing table. I will have to update the picture when it arrives in a couple of weeks.
The bookcase/toy area. I looked everywhere for bins and finally found these perfect ones on sale at BRU! Peyton loves to come in and play with Graham's toys!
The curtains made by my wonderful mom! They have a brown/white hounds tooth fabric at the top, then a blue suede and then the elephant pattern.
As I mentioned in my 28 weeks post, I am still waiting on a 20" wooden letter that will be painted blue with white polka dots and then the sides brown and hung with a brown ribbon that will go above the dresser. But overall it is done and exactly what I was wanting. I LOVE IT! When I started thinking about a boys room I wanted something modern, nothing too over the top baby and nothing like what I was finding in stores.
I found all of the fabric at High Fashion in downtown Houston, the crib sheet and changing pad sheet is from Babies R'Us and is made by Carters. The bins on the bookcase are from BRU and then the lamps are from Ikea and I just added a piece of brown ribbon to the top and bottom of them. The rug is from Pottery Barn Kids (my splurge). The shelves are from Hobby Lobby and I just painted them. The frame on his bookcase will eventually have a bible verse in it when I finally get around to printing it off. And finally one of my favorite parts are the elephant paintings which were done by my mom!
View from the closet door of the crib and glidder. The pillow on the chair is done in a brown and white stripe pattern.
View from the door.
Paintings done by my mom...seems like a lot of my artwork in my house is done by her!
I found these knobs at Hobby Lobby and they are the perfect way to spruce up the dresser we got from Ikea. I wanted a dresser to help with storage but that meant our changing table from Peyton would add too much furniture in the room. This dresser is the perfect height for a changing table and it provided storage and for cheap! Perfect! The letter that I ordered will be going above the dresser/changing table. I will have to update the picture when it arrives in a couple of weeks.
The bookcase/toy area. I looked everywhere for bins and finally found these perfect ones on sale at BRU! Peyton loves to come in and play with Graham's toys!
The curtains made by my wonderful mom! They have a brown/white hounds tooth fabric at the top, then a blue suede and then the elephant pattern.I am loving sitting in his room and re-reading all of my baby care/preparation books. I also love just rocking in there while praying over him or having my quiet time. I loved that time when I was pregnant with Peyton and part of the reason I love having the nursery done early. I feel like this time around I have less and less time to be still and reflect on Graham, my pregnancy, and the changes to come so it is nice when I do have a little bit of time to have a quiet place that was made and designed for him to do that.
Thank you so much to my mom for all her help in designing, shopping multiple times for fabric, sewing, painting and helping put it all together! I appreciate it so much!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Christmas 2010 Ornament
Growing up one of the MANY Christmas traditions we had was an ornament for each year. Typically it was just a ball type ornament with the year on it and then some years (Baby's First Christmas etc) there were themes. Well when John and I met, we knew early on that we would be married at some point, and I figured if it didn't work out I could just toss the ornaments, so we decided to start the tradition of year ornaments from the very beginning in 2003.
Here is the progression of our ornaments...
Here is the progression of our ornaments...
2003- Our First Christmas; 2004- Christmas in Paris (ball) and Germany (Nutcracker) with my parents; 2005- Cross because that was the year that we both felt like we grew the most in our faith as individuals and as a couple; 2006- We got married!; 2007- Our first house; 2008- Peyton's first Christmas; 2009- Picture of us as a family (actually we haven't printed and put the picture in there yet so as of now our family was Hispanic and had two boys in 2009).
And this is the one that I ordered for 2010 off of Etsy! I was looking for a pregnancy one but at the same time I wanted one that included Peyton. I looked and looked and didn't know what I was going to do and decided to browse Etsy one day and found this woman's shop. She has a bunch of various ornaments for different occasions and does different finishes. I am in love with it and think it is my favorite one so far. It should be here today and I am so excited!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
28 Weeks
I made it to my THIRD TRIMESTER! Praise God! I only have 9 more weeks until full term which sounds wonderful to me!So here is what is going on with me and Graham (who is the size of a Chinese Cabbage)....
Weight Gain: A whole lot....I don't know why but I am never in the ranges that every pregnancy book says you should be. I was over with Peyton and over this time. However, I do like how I am carrying the weight better this time. I started at the same weight (one pound lighter this time) but I attribute it to me being in tons better shape entering into this pregnancy with all of the weight training I was doing and also eating better this time and chasing after Peyton has helped. Either way...I still don't know why I gain so much!
Maternity Clothes: I can still wear some non maternity shirts and maternity pants are a most although my non maternity yoga pants and some dresses etc still fit. I do love how I don't try to hide my belly and am all about the form fitting shirts which is probably why I don't wear only maternity clothes....oh and because I don't like them! I have worked hard for this belly so I am showing it off!
Maternity Clothes: I can still wear some non maternity shirts and maternity pants are a most although my non maternity yoga pants and some dresses etc still fit. I do love how I don't try to hide my belly and am all about the form fitting shirts which is probably why I don't wear only maternity clothes....oh and because I don't like them! I have worked hard for this belly so I am showing it off!
Movement: This kid can move, kick, roll and just cause all kinds of discomfort. He LOVES to move around when I start to fall asleep and the other day when Peyton was sitting in my lap and leaning against my belly he kicked at her which I loved! She has felt him a couple of times and tells me that the "baby kick me" which she is shocked at and I love partly because she has been in a kicking phase and we constantly tell her not to kick people or the dog.Sleeping: What is that?!?! I don't sleep anymore and get about 5 hours of sleep at night. I do try to get a nap in during Peyton's nap but that is not always possible. I do love that John is off this week and yesterday he let me sleep for 2 extra hours in the morning!
Other News: I am pretty tired of being pregnant...what else is new! I am sore, it is hard to do stuff with Peyton (getting up and down off the floor) and I am just ready to meet Graham and enjoy my new family of four!
Other than all of that, I have a doctor's appointment next week and will be doing my one hour glucose test. I was supposed to do it last time but eventhough I asked, they told me I wasn't doing it so I didn't fast and showed up and sure enough I was supposed to do it.
Finally.....we are 98.9% done with the nursery! I am waiting on a letter that I ordered from Etsy. We are doing one big (20") letter 'G' painted blue with white polka dots as opposed to his whole name and so that should be here in a couple of weeks and then my friend Sarah from My Spare Time is going to make him a quilt. She is super talented and I am so excited that she is going to bless us with one of her creations! Since none of his bedding is store bought, we did all of his bedding from fabric we got at High Fashion (if you live in Houston and have not been here...you are missing out), I didn't even think I was going to worry about a quilt! I am meeting up with her in the next couple of weeks and am super excited to see what she will do! I will post pictures of the nursery as it is soon!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Sugar Cookies with Extra Flour
Every year as a Christmas tradition we ice sugar cookies as a family. It always turns into a contest between the kids and is something we look forward to every year. Since Peyton LOVES to bake, my mom thought that it would be fun to include Peyton in the baking process and invited her over and she sure had fun!
Here they are at the start...notice the progression of messiness!
She got the hang of rolling pretty quickly and would follow Granny's instructions and did a great job! Her favorite part however was the flour and dumping it all over the place.
And every helper needs to enjoy her work at the end and she thought they were delicious and would ask for more cookies. She even told me to put them "in my mouth"! She had a blast and was such a mess! Good Christmas memories!
And every helper needs to enjoy her work at the end and she thought they were delicious and would ask for more cookies. She even told me to put them "in my mouth"! She had a blast and was such a mess! Good Christmas memories! Now we get to decorate on Monday night and more fun will be had I am sure....and more messes!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Peyton's Busy Social Calendar
It seems like Peyton has had the busiest social calendar of all of us and the past couple of weeks have been filled with Christmas activities and we still have several more this week!
We started with a family Christmas party for Peyton's school. I tried to get her to pose for a picture before we left and this is what I got...what a ham!
We got our pictures taken with Santa and she was very excited about seeing him. The whole way there she told us she was going to a "Santa Party." We got a nice family picture and one of just Peyton but the school gave us hard copies and I haven't had time and I don't see myself having the time to scan them. After our pictures we did the craft tables around and made various things including a picture frame, nativity scene out of stickers and of course a cookie! At the end they had a kid geared play of the Christmas story which Peyton loved and kept telling me what was going on at various parts!
Throughout the week we have had lots of fun Christmas crafts and activities at home. We made sugar cookies and decorated them a couple of times, made Christmas cards for family including the pets and did various reenactments of the Christmas story and other fun crafts. Then last night we took Peyton to the Dickinson Festival of Lights and she LOVED it! She was having a hard time finishing dinner and I told her we couldn't go see Santa and the lights if she didn't finish...well she finished quickly and was so excited to go see Santa!
The line for Santa was super long so we just waved at him from a distance and instead made some sugar cookies. She made one for herself and one for mommy. She is getting to be a pro at icing cookies and is probably wondering why we do that so much lately!
And keeping with the cookie decorating theme...we had a cookie decorating play date at a friends house this morning and we made more and more cookies. She LOVED the gum drops but was really sweet about listening when I would tell her that was the "last one" for each cookie and listened well when I told her it was her last cookie to eat. She had tons of fun and made cookies for Granny and Papa....when I asked her if she was going to make one for Daddy she told me, "No...all mine." Hmmm.....sorry dad no cookies for you when you come home!
This week we have another Christmas themed play date, Peyton's class party at school and a party at gymnastics and then I think her parties are done and we head into the week of Christmas with just family get togethers! And Daddy is off all next week which I am so excited about and it also means that since it is a calm week next week,we aren't really going anywhere for Christmas and John will be home for help......we will be starting the joys of potty training! Fun!
We started with a family Christmas party for Peyton's school. I tried to get her to pose for a picture before we left and this is what I got...what a ham!
We got our pictures taken with Santa and she was very excited about seeing him. The whole way there she told us she was going to a "Santa Party." We got a nice family picture and one of just Peyton but the school gave us hard copies and I haven't had time and I don't see myself having the time to scan them. After our pictures we did the craft tables around and made various things including a picture frame, nativity scene out of stickers and of course a cookie! At the end they had a kid geared play of the Christmas story which Peyton loved and kept telling me what was going on at various parts!
Throughout the week we have had lots of fun Christmas crafts and activities at home. We made sugar cookies and decorated them a couple of times, made Christmas cards for family including the pets and did various reenactments of the Christmas story and other fun crafts. Then last night we took Peyton to the Dickinson Festival of Lights and she LOVED it! She was having a hard time finishing dinner and I told her we couldn't go see Santa and the lights if she didn't finish...well she finished quickly and was so excited to go see Santa!
The line for Santa was super long so we just waved at him from a distance and instead made some sugar cookies. She made one for herself and one for mommy. She is getting to be a pro at icing cookies and is probably wondering why we do that so much lately!
And keeping with the cookie decorating theme...we had a cookie decorating play date at a friends house this morning and we made more and more cookies. She LOVED the gum drops but was really sweet about listening when I would tell her that was the "last one" for each cookie and listened well when I told her it was her last cookie to eat. She had tons of fun and made cookies for Granny and Papa....when I asked her if she was going to make one for Daddy she told me, "No...all mine." Hmmm.....sorry dad no cookies for you when you come home!
This week we have another Christmas themed play date, Peyton's class party at school and a party at gymnastics and then I think her parties are done and we head into the week of Christmas with just family get togethers! And Daddy is off all next week which I am so excited about and it also means that since it is a calm week next week,we aren't really going anywhere for Christmas and John will be home for help......we will be starting the joys of potty training! Fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)