So much to do, so little time

Mike and I have been super busy getting Bryson's room ready. Sandi and I went shopping two Saturdays ago and got the bedding, mattress, hamper, window valance and paint. We spent about seven hours shopping, which was awesome. The funny part is that about four of those hours we didn't buy a single thing. We were on a mission to find shelves to put on the walls (the decorative kind to put small stuff on). I think we went to about six different places with no success. How hard is it to find brown shelves? Very! There were tons of black ones and white ones, but that just wouldn't work. So, the search continues.

Now back to the cool stuff we got. I hope you all are as anxious to see the end result as I am. It's still a work in progress, so I will not be sharing any pictures of the room just yet. But I will say it looks awesome! Spoiler alert...the walls are an apple blossom green (kinda like a Granny Smith apple) and look fantastic. I can't wait to share. It brings out the colors in the bedding so well. Plus, our chair arrived last Saturday. Yay! Mike and I have already been enjoying it, sorry Bryson.

As for me, I'm doing great. I feel like I'm massive, so I'm a bit worried about how much more I can grow. My current size, luckily just in my stomach, is something I'm not used to just yet. I can't bend over completely, because my stomach doesn't have any give to it. It's hard as a rock, so it can be a bit difficult to maneuver. Bryson kicks ALL the time, and I can see him doing it a lot. It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. If I catch him at the right time, I'll try to record it and post it on here.

Here is a picture of his feet. This is one of my favorite pics of him.

Aspen is still addicted to Bryson's room, especially the crib. She's not too sure about it and constantly whines to see inside of it. She gets on her hind legs and dances around the crib thinking something may happen. I certainly wonder what goes through her head when she is in his room. She is very curious. I'm excited for when she actually meets Bryson. It could really go either way.

Here is a shot of Aspen sporting her Auburn shirt.  War Eagle Aspen!

I didn't post any pictures last time, which is no fun, so I wanted to share a few random pics. Mike carved a pumpkin on Monday night, so we have officially "decorated" for Halloween. Maybe next year we will branch out and do more.

Mike carving the pumpkin

The finished result. Good job Honey!

Furniture…Check! Chair…Check! Decorations…working on it.

We officially have all of our nursery furniture, hooray! Bryson’s room comes complete with a crib, dresser, combo unit dresser/changing table and a recliner. We went recliner shopping on Saturday, and Mike was officially worn out when we were finished. Apparently chair shopping takes a lot out of him. It was a lot of fun. Mike picked out his favorite chair (a.k.a. the baseball chair, due to the fabric) and was determined to have it in Bryson’s room. It was definitely the most comfortable chair we sat in. However, it was by far the ugliest chair we sat in (sorry Mike!). I would post a picture to show how scary it was, but I would feel terrible if anyone that read this actually has a chair like this. So, no picture for anyone! We did find a fantastic chair that was equally as comfortable and is pretty to look at.

With all this furniture, it’s definitely a tight squeeze to fit it all in the room. I think we have decided on our bedding and paint color too, but until it is set up, I can’t make any guarantees yet. I’m looking forward to the finished room, but I’m really looking forward to decorating it. I’m even excited about painting. I promise to post pictures once the nursery is complete.

As for Bryson, he is kicking in full force now. I can without a doubt tell if the feeling is from Bryson or something else. He is certainly getting stronger by the day. Mike was able to feel him really kick for the first time last night. It was the strongest one yet, so we were both really excited. He gave me a mini kick, so Mike came over to see if there would be a repeat performance. After about five minutes, Mike was a bit discouraged because he couldn’t feel anything. Then all of a sudden, Bryson gave a power kick. I wish I could have a picture of our faces at that exact moment. Priceless! Bryson weights 13 ounces (average is 10 ounces, so he is a growing boy!). According to several books, he is the size of a banana…a really big banana.

As for me, all is still going well. I have gained 7 pounds in 21 weeks, so I’m right on track. Some days it feels like I have gained 20 pounds already, especially at night. Bryson has a tendency to stretch out more as the day goes on, so my stomach goes from a pretty normal size in the morning to really massive by 8:00 at night. It amazes me how heavy my stomach can get. I can’t imagine what it will be like when I’m almost ready to deliver. I am now in maternity pants, which is a must. They are awesome, by the way. I feel like I’m wearing pajamas, but everyone else sees I’m wearing work pants or jeans. They should make these pants for everyone to enjoy! I highly recommend them.

First round, here we go

To start out, I am completely new to the blog scene.  I honestly have no clue what I'm doing, so bear with me here.  Creating a blog seemed like a great way to keep family and friends posted on what's happening with the family.  Hopefully, I will be dedicated to this and keep a regular posting for everyone.

The main reason this blog is being created is to talk about an exciting time in life for me and Mike.  This blog is dedicated to a new edition that Mike and I would like to introduce you to.  His name is Bryson, and he is 20 weeks old today (in my belly). But let's not get ahead of ourselves...I'll start about 14 weeks earlier.

I found out I was pregnant on July 1.  I had that feeling of "there's no way I'm not pregnant", so after a week of debating on whether or not to take THE test, I bought one.  Yes, just one.  Word of advise, always buy three.  I completely read the first one wrong, and immediately threw it away.  (Apparently the negative sign shows up immediately.  You have to be patient and wait for the positive line to gradually come up.  Who knew?)  Anyway, four days later, I had that thought again.  So this time I bought two tests.  You can guess the rest of the story.

So, pregnancy overall has been fantastic.  I was a bit nauseaus for the first two weeks, but once that passed, it has been smooth sailing. No morning sickness, no super weird cravings, no aweful mood swings.  I know Mike is extra happy about the last one.  We had our first ultrasond at 12 weeks, which was amazing.  Talk about a baby that loves to dance.  It was quite a show.  That appointment was after lunch around 1:00.

Our second ultrasound was today at 8:00, bright and early.  The baby wasn't nearly as active and still quite sleepy.  In fact, we caught him yawning.  The ultrasound tech had to press on my belly to get him to move around a bit so she could see everything she was looking for.  Sleepy baby.  Today was the day we found out we were having a beautiful baby boy!  This has been a truely incredible day for us, not to mention the grandparents that are on Cloud 9.  What a perfect day!

Well, I feel I have rambled, so maybe my next posts will be more condensed.  Hey, I said I was new to this.  I'll figure it out.  Thanks for reading, and to all of our family and friends, thanks for all the love and prayers for our Bryson.  We love you!  Talk to you soon!

Profile shot

The yawning I was telling you about

P.S.  The picture at the top is of me at 19 weeks.  I thought I would be crafty and put "19 weeks" on a post-it.  Clearly, you can't read it...but that's what it says.