Samuel's Nursery

Planning and decorating a nursery is one of my favorite things about being pregnant. I know I only have a few years with my boys where I have total control over things like their rooms, so I like to take advantage of it before I start buying Cars and Spiderman bedding :).

Samuel's room is our old guest room, and we are using the furniture that was originally in the guest room. The only big piece of furniture we had to buy was a new crib. We found one that matched the dresser and hutch, and it came together nicely.

I had seen this bedding several months ago (I think before I was even pregnant) and really liked it if we had another boy. I like the bright colors and I think the forest theme is sweet. Nathan's room is decorated in soft, pastel colors, and I wanted Samuel's to be different. I like the brighter colors in the bedding.

Matt did a wonderful job painting the tree. When I got the idea in my head to paint a tree on the wall by his crib, I had no idea how detailed Matt would make it, and how great it would look in his room. Matt has many hidden talents, and this shows one of them. I think the tree adds so much to Samuel's nursery. I just love it, and Matt does too. He told me that one reason we have to move in a few years is that he doesn't think he could paint over it when Samuel gets older :).

I found this wall decal online and had to have it to hang over his crib. This is such a special verse for us, and it will be a constant reminder of how richly God has blessed our family by allowing us to have children. I never want to forget that God is the giver of life and our children are a gift from Him and a reminder of His faithfulness to our family.

Once Samuel is here, I want to add a few other things to the walls and the shelves on the hutch. We're hoping to capture some sweet newborn pictures that we can display in his room. We're also planning on moving the rocker from Nathan's room to Samuel's after he is born. I still read and pray with Nathan in the rocker at bedtime, so we wanted to wait to move it until after Samuel is here and we need it in his room. Other than those last finishing touches, we're just lacking a tiny newborn sleeping in the crib for his nursery to be complete!

3rd Trimester Recap

I can't believe this pregnancy is almost over. It's a little bittersweet that Samuel will no longer be inside me and I won't get to feel his kicks and jabs, but I can definitely say that I've reached the point where I am ready to not be pregnant anymore! I don't want to complain because I think being pregnant with a healthy baby and carrying him to full term is one of the greatest blessings in this life, but the end of this pregnancy has been harder than my first one (unless I just blocked out all the bad memories. I have a tendency to do that with a lot of things). Matt says I had similar symptoms at the end of my pregnancy with Nathan, but they seem to be more exaggerated this time around.

It's a little weird, but I feel like my energy level is a roller coaster these days. One day I'll be so tired all day that I'm dragging until Nathan goes to bed and I can relax, and other days I will feel normal with plenty of energy and am able to be really productive (nesting, I guess?). I never know which day I'm going to have. The amount of sleep I get the night before isn't really an indicator as to how I'll feel that day. I'm thankful for the days of good energy, where I'm able to get things done in preparation for Samuel's arrival and able to spend quality, intentional time with Nathan as well, but the days when I'm wiped out can be pretty tough.

I've had a lot of lower back pain too. I remember having some with Nathan, but this pregnancy seems worse. I usually always wake up with my back hurting. It will get a little better as the day goes on, but by the end of the day it's hurting pretty badly again. I've been taking warm baths in the evening, using a heating pad, and taking Tylenol occasionally which all help some. I notice it hurting worse when I have a particularly active day. Lifting Nathan, getting up and down off the floor with him, bending over cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, being on my feet for a prolonged period of time all seem to make it worse.

I haven't been sleeping well either. I get up several times during the night to go to the bathroom, and that combined with back pain and just generally being uncomfortable, I rarely get a good night's rest. I nap occasionally in the afternoons, usually just on the weekends though, unless I'm having a particularly tiring day.

Despite being tired and uncomfortable, I've still managed to get a lot done and feel prepared for Samuel's arrival. I've been freezing several meals. Those were so nice with Nathan. Our church is great about bringing us a few meals, and I know my parents will be a big help, but having an easy home cooked meal without any work is a blessing with a newborn. Samuel's bag is packed and ready for the hospital, Nathan's big brother present is wrapped and ready to take too. I've started packing my bag, as much as I can now anyway. His nursery is pretty much done until after he is born. We'll move a couple of things and add a few details once he's here, but it's as ready as it can be. The swing and bouncy seat are set up (Nathan loves to play in his swing). I've cleaned the car seat and it's installed in the car. All his newborn and 0-3 month clothes are washed and in his dresser along with burp rags, blankets and hats. I've sterilized pacifiers, bottles, and my breast pump. We're just waiting on him to arrive!

He is an active little guy. I'm getting jabbed all the time with a foot or an elbow or a knee. All the sudden I'll feel and see a bulge on my stomach in some random location. I don't know what he's doing in there, but I think he might be a feisty little boy. That's probably a good thing having to defend himself against his big brother :). He'll need to be tough.

We've made some great memories in the third trimester as we wait for Samuel to get here. We were blessed with such a sweet baby shower for our little guy. It was so fun celebrating him and anticipating his arrival. Matt and I also loved spending special time with Nathan during his Big Brother Day. All our doctor appointments have gone well, and it's been fun watching the nursery come together. Matt did such a great job painting. I love the way it turned out. My mom and I also went shopping to get the boys' Easter outfits. We're hoping to be able to make it to church Easter Sunday. We found some darling coordinating outfits. It has been so fun shopping for matching and coordinating outfits. Now we just need them to both smile and look at the camera at the same time when they're wearing them :).

There's no doubt Samuel is growing fast:

 32 weeks

 34 weeks

 35 weeks

37 weeks

I really do love being pregnant and have been thankful for easy pregnancies, but I'm ready to feel normal again. I forget what it's like to be able to turn over in bed or get up off of the floor without it being a huge ordeal. Lately, I've been missing running too. We've had some beautiful weather this winter, and I've been telling Matt that it's perfect running weather. He also got me a neat watch with a GPS chip in it for my birthday that will be really nice when I can run again. I'm also looking forward to a Subway sandwich. I haven't missed it too much, but I drove by a Subway the other day, and it sounded really good. I'm trying to savor these last couple weeks of my pregnancy with Samuel and focus on spending quality time with Nathan and Matt. I'm also trying to enjoy feeling somewhat rested. I think I've blocked out several of the tough moments parenting a newborn, but I do remember the utter exhaustion in the first couple of weeks, and I know the whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" won't really work this time around with a busy toddler needing attention. 

 

We are all so looking forward to meeting Samuel. I can't wait to see Nathan's reaction when he meets his baby brother. I've loved every stage with Nathan as he's grown from a tiny newborn into an active toddler, and I can't wait to experience each of those milestones with Samuel too.

Our Growing Boy

One of the things that has been different in this pregnancy than my first is the number of times we've gotten to see Samuel on ultrasound. I had a textbook pregnancy with Nathan, and because he was always healthy and absolutely no possible complications, I only had two ultrasounds- a first trimester ultrasound to date the pregnancy, and the anatomy scan at 20 weeks. After that we didn't see him until he was born.

For a couple of different reasons, we've gotten to have five ultrasounds with Samuel, and it was so fun to see him grow and develop in my womb. Each time we had an ultrasound, I was shocked at how much he had grown and changed. I really don't know how any pregnant woman could ever doubt that we were made by a divine creator. The growing baby is such a miracle!

We had our first ultrasound when I was 9 weeks pregnant. With both Nathan and Samuel, the first ultrasound was probably my favorite. It's such a joyful moment to see that tiny baby for the very first time. We got to see him moving his arms and legs and watch his itty bitty heart beating. That first ultrasound really made the pregnancy feel real. I would always tell people that I was basing this huge life altering change on a pink line from a cheap pregnancy test. Until that appointment, that was all the proof I had that I was really pregnant. I also remember experiencing such a feeling of relief at that ultrasound, that I had a live, growing baby inside me. I think all women fear a miscarriage early on in their pregnancies, and to know that he was growing and developing just as he should was a special moment.

9 Weeks

We had a fun surprise when the nurse took us back to the ultrasound room at my next appointment. I had expected the doctor to just find the heartbeat by doppler, but she told us that I was in the "iffy zone" of whether the heart beat could be picked up by doppler, so she just did another ultrasound. Again we got to see the heart beating and see how much he had grown in four short weeks. It was a quick ultrasound since all the doctor was looking for was the heart beat, and she needed to go deliver a baby, but it was still sweet to see our little baby.

13 weeks

At 18 weeks we had our big ultrasound appointment where we learned we were having a son. That was obviously a special ultrasound! I also enjoyed the anatomy scan and seeing his tiny kidneys, bladder, spine, etc. Again, pregnancy is such a miracle! As excited as we were to see the baby's private parts and learn whether we were having a son or a daughter, I was more excited and relieved to see the four chambers of his heart and know that he was healthy. And look how big he had gotten in 5 weeks! He was wiggling and moving all around, so fun!

 

18 weeks

Our anatomy scan revealed a small issue with a cyst on Samuel's brain, so we were sent back for another ultrasound a couple of months later to make sure the cyst had gone away. It was much shorter than our anatomy scan since they were just checking on a couple of things, but it was probably one of my favorite ultrasounds. The tech was great and let us watch him for awhile. He was sucking his thumb and posing with his hands up by his head. He is such a sweet boy!

 

 27 weeks

At my next doctor's appointment, we were relieved to learn that the cyst was gone. We were so thankful for all the prayers from our family and friends that it would go away on its own. My doctor had assured us that it would, but there was still some anxiety until we learned it was gone. God is good! At that appointment we also learned of another small complication with the position of my placenta and were told we'd get to have one more ultrasound. I went back a couple of weeks ago for our last ultrasound. Samuel is so big that we didn't get to see much. We did learn that he is in the right position for delivery and weighed about 6lbs (give or take a pound) That seems like a big margin of error, by the way. We got a few cute pictures of his face. His head took up the entire screen when just a few weeks earlier we could see his whole body in one picture. It's amazing how fast he grew.

 

36 weeks

Again, thanks to all the prayers from so many dear friends and family, my placenta moved away from my cervix and everything is set for delivery whenever Samuel decides he is ready (God taught me a few lessons about trusting Him and the power of prayer through this pregnancy).  The next pictures of him I post will be us holding him in our arms. We CANNOT WAIT to meet our precious boy!

Big Brother Day!

We only have a couple of weeks left before our little Samuel is due to arrive, so Matt and I wanted to take some time and celebrate our first born with a Big Brother Day. Matt was off work for President's Day, so we celebrated then. I was so looking forward to spending the day with Nathan doing all his favorite things. We all had such a fun day together.

Daddy made chocolate chip pancakes as a special breakfast for Nathan. Of course Nathan wanted to help mix the batter.

He seemed pretty excited about his special breakfast.

After breakfast, we finished getting ready for the day and headed to the mall.

One of Nathan's very favorite places in Tulsa is the play place at the mall. We've gone several times, and he just loves it. He's become so independent over the last several months. I remember the first time we took him, he needed help doing everything. Now he plays all by himself and can climb on everything with no help. We stayed and played for close to an hour.

After the play place, we took some time to walk around the mall. Nathan likes the escalators and all the vehicles at a station at the other end of the mall. We usually only let him climb around on them, but since it was a special day, we actually let him pick one to ride. He chose the tractor. It was probably a waste of money, but he enjoyed it.

After we finished playing at the mall, we ran to Babies R Us. I wanted to let Nathan pick out a small stuffed animal to give to Samuel in the hospital. That kind of flopped though once he spotted the toy train station set up in the store. I picked out a couple of toys and asked him which toy he wanted to give Samuel, and he said, "No, no, choo choo." He ended up picking one quickly and then ran off to play with the trains. Hopefully he's pleased with what he picked :).

When we finished at Babies R Us, it was lunchtime, so we headed across town to eat at McDonalds. Nathan had his very first Happy Meal. He ate about half his apples, a few fries, and one or two chicken nuggets, and then he was ready to play. We might not be doing Happy Meals again for awhile. I don't think he ate enough to justify getting him his own meal, but it was a fun treat for him.

Once he finished his lunch, we let him play for a bit at the play place. He climbed up all the stairs but never managed to get to the slide. We were getting close to nap time, so he was getting frustrated easily. Daddy had to go rescue him at one point, because he didn't want to climb down the stairs.

We came home for his nap and a little bit of down time at home. Later that afternoon, we ran to the park. It was colder and windier than we expected, so we didn't stay too long. He still had time to slide and swing though.

We came home and ate dinner, and I gave Nathan an early bath. I had bought some bubble bath when we were at Babies R Us, and he loved it! He asked to take a bath in our big bath tub, and since it was his special day, he pretty much got whatever he wanted :). It was the first time he's been in our bath tub. I'm sure it won't be the last.

After his bath, we popped some popcorn and settled in to watch Finding Nemo to end his big day.

He was worn out from his busy day and he's working on getting a couple of teeth which have been bothering him. I think that made him extra tired too. He ended up falling asleep cuddling with me near the end of the movie. I certainly didn't mind the extra snuggle time.

We had a very special day celebrating the soon to be Big Brother!

Valentine's Day 2013

Our Valentine's Day wasn't very exciting this year. Matt has been out of town all week, so I was missing my sweetie on Valentine's Day. Thankfully, he comes home today and we have a date night planned for tonight to celebrate Valentine's Day and my birthday. Nathan and I are both ready for him to be home!

Nathan and I still managed to have a fun day even though Daddy was gone. I don't think Nathan had any clue it was a holiday. I thought about doing some things for him to make it a special day, but he's still a little young to really "get it," and let's face it, right now, I don't have the energy to do a lot of "extra" things. We are planning to make cookies for Daddy this morning to give him when he gets home as a V-Day present. Hopefully next year, we'll have heart shaped pancakes and special goodies on Valentine's Day. And let's hope Matt is in town, so I can celebrate with my first Valentine too.

Nathan had school on Valentine's Day, so our morning was a little hectic getting everybody ready for the day and out the door on time. We did squeeze in a few minutes to Skype with Daddy, and I got a  sweet card from him. While Nathan was at school, I went to a luncheon with some dear friends from church. It was a sweet, girly time. Someday, I want to be like Judy and host fun lunches at my house for my friends. After lunch, I ran to see a client, and then had a doctor's appointment. My mom came with me to watch Nathan during my appointment. It doesn't seem that Samuel is on his way anytime soon, which is okay with me. I don't want him to come until he is ready. We did get some good news from the doctor that we had been hoping to hear, so it turned out to be a great appointment. I was certainly relieved afterward.

After my appointment, my mom and Barry invited us to dinner to celebrate with them. We went to Louie's and had a great meal. They came over afterward to play with Nathan for a little bit. He hadn't napped at school that day, so he was exhausted and ready for bed early. We might not have done anything super exciting, but I still had a great day with my little Valentine. He has certainly stolen my heart just as his Daddy did a long time ago.

21 Months Old

Nathan, You are 21 months old, only one more month until you become a big brother!

You are transitioning into a little boy more and more everyday, and your daddy and I love getting to watch the transformation!

You are talking more and more and starting to put words together. It's usually just two word phrases and one of the words is usually momma or please. You'll say, "Momma car" or "Help, please." Your increased vocabulary is starting to lead to less frustration on your part because a lot of the time you can tell us what you need and what your preferences are especially with what you want to eat or what TV show you want to watch. However, when we don't understand what you are wanting, you get pretty frustrated and upset. I know it has to be tough to know what you want and not be able to communicate it to us.

When we ask you a question, you answer with "kay" (shortened okay). I think it's adorable, although we should probably train you to say yes instead.

You really like to play with your dishes at your table. I'll put a few pieces of cereal in one of my mixing bowls and you mix them all together with one of my whisks. You set the table and play pretend with all your food. You'll even pray before you eat.

Just in the last few weeks you have become fascinated with trains. You say "choo choo" and pretend to blow a train whistle all the time, and Thomas the Train is your new favorite TV show. You have a few toy trains that you like to carry around. If your obsession keeps up, we might have found a theme for your 2nd birthday party :).

 

You love to watch videos of yourself on the computer. Your favorite one right now is playing with your blocks on Christmas morning. You also like to watch yourself kicking your soccer ball. I've shown you a few videos of when you were a baby, and you'll point to the computer a lot and want to watch "baby."

Along with dishes and trains, you still love to play with your cars, blocks, and tractor. You are good at playing with a variety of toys too and seem to always have a new favorite toy. You like to play in your room with all your toys in your closet, but either Daddy or I have to be in there with you. You don't really play with us much while we're in there. You just seem to like having the company of us being there (and to help you get your toys out). You'll play for a long time as long as one of us is in the room. When we go into your room to play, you'll sit down on the floor, look up at me and pat the carpet, and say "sit." I have a feeling you're going to like telling your baby brother what to do :).

The weather has been unusually mild this winter, and we've been able to make several visits to the park and our neighborhood playground this month. Your motor skill development still shocks me sometimes. You can climb the ladder to the slide at our playground all by yourself. It wasn't too long ago that you weren't strong or coordinated enough to make it past the first rung, and Daddy would have to lift you up to the top. Now you don't need any help from us at all. You are pretty brave at the park too and aren't afraid to go down all the big slides.

You are wearing size 24 month and 2T in clothes. A few of your 18-24 month shirts still fit, but your 18 and even some of your 24 month pants are too tight around your belly. You still wear a size 5 diaper and a size 6-7 shoe. You are starting to show some preferences in the clothes you wear. (Somehow I thought I'd avoid that since I have boys). You don't really like wearing jeans. You much prefer windsuit pants or sweat pants. Your favorite clothes to wear are your Cars jammies and your firetruck jammies. You throw a little fit when we have to take your Cars jammies off in the mornings to get dressed.

You are still a great eater, and have developed a new found love for vegetables in the last few weeks, especially green beans. They are the first thing you eat on your plate when we have them and you always ask for more (you pronounce it, "mo" and usually repeat it a few times for emphasis). You also really like carrots, bell peppers, and cucumbers. I don't know what happened that you decided you liked vegetables again, but I'm thankful for it. You go crazy over fruit. I finally found some good strawberries this week (it had been awhile since I've bought any), and you went nuts for them. You ate the entire container all by yourself in just a couple of days. You also love blueberries, bananas, apples, and oranges.

You are starting to sleep a little later in the mornings. You usually wake up between 7:30 and 8:00. I've noticed that if we don't work to wear you out in the evenings, you're not quite ready to go to bed by 8:00 and sometimes it's closer to 9:00 before you fall asleep. You are usually content to play in your crib for 15-30 minutes before you fall asleep. You are napping pretty well. It's funny how it can be inconsistent though. One afternoon, you'll sleep for 3 hours and the next day, you'll only sleep for 45 minutes. On average, you nap about 2 hours each day.

You wave and say, "bye bye" all the time, even to random strangers. We were walking in the Wal mart parking lot the other day and you waved "bye bye" to every car you saw. Saying "bye bye" helps to distract you when we're leaving somewhere and you don't want to leave (usually the park). I'll tell you to say bye bye to the park, and it will calm you and distract you enough to keep from throwing a fit. I'm surprised at how well it works!

You are just the sweetest, happiest little boy. It is such a joy to be your mommy!

Samuel's Baby Shower

Last Thursday night my mom and good friend Erica hosted a baby shower for our little Samuel. I didn't want or expect anything big since Samuel is not our first baby, but I was thankful to have a night to celebrate him. He is just as precious to us as his big brother.

It was such a great night! My mom and Erica outdid themselves, and everything was just perfect for our little boy.

Granny and Momoo drove up to celebrate with us. I was excited to have them there, and Nathan loved the extra spoiling for the few days they were here.

I was blessed to have so many friends and family able to make it to celebrate with us. I don't know how many times since the shower I've told Matt how great my friends are. They truly are wonderful. I remember thinking the same thing after Nathan's shower. The Lord has blessed us greatly with such a tremendous support network since moving to Broken Arrow. It's a joy to "do life" with each of them

Erica gave the sweetest devotion. She shared the Old Testament story of Hannah and Samuel and lessons I can apply to my life from Hannah's. It was beautiful. I treasure her friendship so much.

Samuel got so many sweet things, several adorable clothes, and handmade blankets and hats, along with the essentials we needed to finish up the nursery, and the all important diapers. Have I mentioned I have really great friends? Their generosity blows me away.

They also each wrote a prayer or words of encouragement to me and Samuel. So many of them have been faithfully praying for us throughout my entire pregnancy. Their prayers for our family are more precious than any gifts we received.

It was such a special night, and now we are even more excited for Samuel's arrival!