Let's rewind a bit...

Okay, my last blog post was in October. Boy do things change in a few short months!! Our Olivia Claire is here and is almost 3 months old!! Can't believe it!! She decided to show up very unexpectedly and it has been a wonderful whirlwind since then. How about a few highlights?!

Olivia arrived on December 5, 2011 at 3:20 pm. I had a check up with my OB that morning at 11:30. It was a rainy, lazy day and I had every intention of coming straight home from my appointment, getting back into my pjs, and lounging around the house for the rest of the day. Little did I know that instead of a quick checkup and lunch with my hubby, I would meet the most precious girl in the world instead.

To make a long story short, we went straight from the doc's office to the ER to the OR.... and TADA...

Here she is. All 5 pounds and 12 ounces, and 18 inches of her. She was four weeks early, so they took her to the NICU to monitor her. She was in there for over six hours, but did not have to spend the night!! I was so relieved!! I must say that I was very impatient when she was in the NICU as all of our visitors were able to go see her and I had to wait on them to bring her into the room at close to 10:30 that night!! :( I got over it pretty quickly though!! Just SO thankful that she was healthy!!

We stayed in the hospital until that Friday, December 9th. Here is our first family photo!

While little Olivia was slow to gain weight at first, once she got started, she has been on a roll ever since. At her 2 month check up she weighed 11 pounds and was 22 inches long!! This momma was so happy to hear that!! She did great with her first round of vaccines too... the tears only lasted for about 5 or 10 ten minutes, and then she was fine... and I was too. :)

As of tomorrow, Olivia will be 12 weeks old. (I just can't believe that!!) This was from a couple of days ago.

I just love the naked pictures, because you can see all of those sweet little rolls!! Ha! Lola loves her too!! :)

 Here is what miss Olivia is up to...

She's sleeping through the night for 8-9 hours. She has really found her voice and makes all kinds of cooing noises at us. So sweet!! Her smile is as bright as the sun and it makes my day, everyday!! She is the happiest first thing in the morning... definitely gets that from her daddy!! Her favorite thing to do is sit in her bouncer or lay on her activity mat and flail her arms around and kick her legs as hard and as quickly as she can. It's so funny to watch her little face get so excited like she's really going to go somewhere!!

Brad and I can't believe how she has changed so much in only 12 weeks. So far, being a parent has been tiring, eye-opening, fun, exciting, stressful and amazing and we are so excited about the new experiences that lie ahead!!

Olivia's first 5K

Saturday morning Brad and I walked in the Race for the Cure 5K in Brentwood. It was a very cold 32 degree morning. Brrrrr!!!

It was super crowded, which was great!! The 3.1 miles went by fairly quickly and it was great to get some good exercise in. Brad and I were both on his company's team and I really loved their outfits! Gotta love a guy who is not afraid to wear a pink tutu for a good cause!! :)

I did fine during the walk, but I was super tired later that night. I'll just say that I had NO problem falling asleep. Ha! We have another 5K coming up this weekend with my office, and I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully I can make this a habit and keep it up after Olivia gets here!

Photo Session

Last weekend Brad and I had a maternity photo shoot with Kathryn Russell. We spent the late afternoon at Centennial park and had a great time! She was awesome. She had super cute ideas and was a lot of fun! Here are some of my favorites...

Thanks to Kathryn for a great time and sweet pictures of such a special time in our lives!! We can't wait to meet our little Olivia!!

I love Pinterest yes I do!!

I don't even remember how I stumbled across this website, but it took no time at all for me to become addicted to Pinterest.com. It's hard to describe how it works, but it basically gives you your own "pin board" to save things as you come across ideas while browsing the Internet. For instance, while looking for nursery decor ideas, instead of having to print off pictures or take notes on cute things that I find, I just "pin" them and it saves to my pinterest page. You can have multiple categories as well. I have a board for nursery ideas, recipes, home decor, funny things, arts and crafts, etc. It is so fun and addicting!!
I've pinned quite a few recipes, and while I've only tried a couple so far, I've been pretty impressed with the results. I found a recipe for ice cream that tastes just like a Wendy's frosty... only three ingredients too!! Chocolate milk, sweetened condensed milk and cool whip!! Yes, it's a sugar OVERLOAD, but it is so tasty and really tastes like a Frosty!! Here is the pic from the website.


Another recipe that I tried is for baked spaghetti with cream cheese. I liked it a lot too! It's a simple way to put a new twist on an oldie but goodie. Super creamy and a little rich, but tasty!! Again, a pic from the website... doesn't this look yummy?!


Needless to say, I am loving this website and am looking forward to finding more ideas and of course trying out some more recipes! If you aren't familiar with pinterest, you should try it out. Just don't say I didn't warn you about how addictive it can be!! Happy pinning!! :)

Baby girl has a name!!

Well, our sweet little girl finally has a name. We have decided on Olivia Claire Jones!!
Who knew it could be so hard to name a baby girl?? Brad and I have talked about SO many different names in the past few months, it's crazy. Olivia was at the top of our original list and we finally came back around to it in the end.
We went through many other names... Sarah Jane, Brooklyn Claire or Kate, Kaylyn Reese, Charlotte Reese, Jenna Kate, Olivia Katherine or Kate... the list goes on and on. It feels so good to have finally made a decision, and I'm so happy to be able to call her Olivia instead of baby girl! Let the monogram craziness begin! :)

Checking off the to-do list

We have reached 26 weeks and our sweet girl is steadily growing... see below! :)

We have marked a lot off of our to-do list at this 26 week milestone. Painting the nursery, putting up the crib, hospital visiting, etc. It feels great to be so productive seeing as how our little sweetie pie will be here in less than 14 weeks now!! Unbelievable!!
We decided to take my craft/scrapbook room and turn it into the nursery. I had been working on a big project for Brad's brother's wedding for months, so the room was a complete mess with my scrapbook stuff scattered EVERYWHERE!!! I can't believe I'm brave enough to share pictures of this craziness, but we have to have a "before" picture. So, here you have it:

 AAAHHHH.. I tried to warn you... complete craziness!! And yes, there is some baby stuff mixed in with the scrapbook madness as well, so that made it even harder to keep straight.
Anyhow, I started to organize, clean up and move this stuff out last week while I was on vacation. After it was completely empty, I started to paint on Friday. Then Saturday morning, Brad and Sam helped me finish the painting by reaching the areas that I couldn't. We painted the ceiling bright white and painted the walls a neutral greyish-brown color called Blowin' In the Wind. Here is our final result:

Of course after the paint dried, we had to put the crib together right away... yay!!! Here is daddy working on the crib, along with the final product:

Love it!!! We don't have the mattress yet, but I put the crib skirt on and just kind of laid the blanket on the rail just to get an idea of what it will look like. We aren't quite ready for an "after" picture, but here is what we have so far:

I am SO excited!! We have a long way to go, but you have to start somewhere!! I can't wait to keep rolling along and get everything ready for our little one's arrival!!
We have also visited both hospitals that my OB delivers at. Now to make a final decision about that, and then we will pre-register and mark one more thing off of the list. It feels good to watch that list grow shorter and shorter. It just means that we are that much closer to meeting our little angel!!

HELLO!!!

My poor blog probably feels abandoned seeing as how I haven't been on here in MONTHS!!! It's crazy how there has been so much to blog about this summer, but I haven't had time to get on here and do it. What an emotional roller coaster it has been!
It started in May with the great news and announcement of our little bun in the oven. We were so excited to learn that we were about to start a new journey and phase of life together with a precious baby!!!
Then in June, my sweet Pepaw suffered a major stroke and was in the hospital for over a month. Brad and I drove down to visit him as much as possible during his hospital stay. Unfortunately, he gradually got worse and eventually passed away in July. I miss him so much, but I find comfort in knowing that he is with my Memaw and they are celebrating together every day!!
August rolled around, and we found out that we are having a baby girl!!! We are both so excited and have been thinking about names and planning for the nursery since then.
And most recently, my baby sister turned 21 and Brad's baby brother got married and is on his honeymoon as I write this.
So, like I said plenty of ups and downs  and happy moments and sad moments this summer!! I hate that I haven't made it on here to blog about each event in more detail, but I'm back again and I'm hoping to stay on top of things from now on!