Jacob's Nursery is complete!!!!!

Finally without further ado, I am so happy to share Jacob's completed nursery!!!  It has been such a labor of love, and I never dreamed that I would love a boy's nursery SO MUCH!!!  

So his theme is centered round his bedding of course which is from Pottery Barn Kids called Eli's Elephant. Obviously the colors of light blu, dark blue, light olive green and white all worked so nicely together!!  Below is a picture of the crib bedding showing the sweet little elephants!!!  

The wooden letters I ordered off of etsy, and she painted them with little elephants on them in the exact colors, really pulling it all together!!  His changing table I got off the local Craigslist site, because I love a good deal!!!   And one of the last things I needed trying to finish the room was trying to find baskets that matched AND fit in these 3 crazy cubby holes in the changing table!!!  I can not tell you how many hours I searched every known store online for the correct dimension baskets, literally hours upon hours!!!!  I finally found them last week online when I happened to stumble upon  the Lucky Clover trading company.  I took my chances with their posted measurements and boy was I thrilled when they arrived yesterday and fit perfectly!!!!   So I put diapers in one, wipes in another and his newborn gowns in the other for easy access for nighttime changings.   The wooden elephants under his name I got off of eBay.  Really happy with how this wall turned out.  

Now to one of the center pieces of his room, the paper lantern mobile........

I just absolutely LOVE IT!!!!  Those of you that have followed my story for any length of time may remember where we did a paper lantern mobile in Chloe's nursery in beautiful shades of pinks and white. But it was on a much smaller scale   than this one.  I got the idea from a picture on Pinte.rest of course, but I knew to do it the way I envisioned in his room I needed to find somewhere with LOTS of color choices and lantern sizes. I finally settled on ordering from a place called Harper's Bazaar, you can google them, and they had what seemed like every shade of every color in all different sizes, so I was able to order exactly what I wanted to create the vision I had.  This site also had the large star lantern as well which was in the Pinter.est photo that I really wanted to duplicate. They only had the star in pink, purple and white----- so obviously I had to take the white but I think it really stands out and gives it a nice feel!!!  

Many people have asked how you do these???? VERY CAREFULLY!!  Haha!!

No seriously, my mom and I were able to complete it in about one 4 hour stretch but it can be so tedious and time consuming.  You need a ladder, some tea cup hooks and fishing line and you hang each lantern separately until it hangs in the exact spot you want it. Often times you have to re-tie the fishing line multiple times until you get just the right length so they all lay at just the right spot. And you should start with the largest ones and fill in the smaller ones around those. I hope that helps if any of you want to try to make one in your child's nursery or bedroom!!  We had about 8 or 10 lanterns left over when we finished the main mobile, and my Mom had the great idea of putting 2 small clusters of them in the other corners of the room to tie it all together.  I really liked how that turned out!!!!  

We decided to go with the new Dekor diaper pail system with Jacob instead of the diaper genie which we had with Chloe.  I love that it comes in soft pastel pink, green, grey, white and of course baby blue. You can see ours sitting right beside the dresser in the picture below.   The great thing about this pail is it can be used as a normal trash can once you are done with diapers!!!  Genius!!  

Moving on to my favorite thing in the whole nursery is this stripped accent wall!!!  Let me just tell you it was an absolute nightmare to tape off and paint--- but the results were oh so worth it!!!  It took 3 people honestly to work the laser light to keep a straight line and two others to place the painters tape and keep it straight!!!  We made at least 5 different trips back and forth to Home Depot getting paint sample colors trying so hard to match the colors in his bedding.   Even though we took the bedding with us to match it, we would get home and it would not dry the same color on the wall that was on the paint can lid!!!  Arghhhhh........

But we finally nailed the colors, and we tried to duplicate the stripped pattern that is on the inside of his bumper pads, which you may be able to kind of see in the picture below.  

The four framed prints above the crib were from etsy and we're done in his custom colors, and I found the white frames at Michael's arts and crafts store.  

We promised Chloe that she could help paint the stripes when the time came.    She was so excited about painting baby Jacob's room, and she was such a big helper as we finally got to paint after all the HOURS of taping!!!  Below she is helping Daddy paint his green stripe!!!!  Such fun memories!!!!!!  

Below is the opposite wall from the crib and my sweet Momma (Jacob's MiMi) made the beautiful blue curtains for both the closet and the French doors.  The closet had white metal doors on them as this room used to be my office, but they were old and loud, and we knew we wanted to do something different.  We may buy new white sliding doors eventually but I really like the pop of color the blue curtain gives that wall and the ease and quietness of getting inside to all his pretty clothes!!!!  On the other side of the French doors is our living room, so we didn't want to do something that was going to show colors that were very distracting out into the den.  So we had the idea to just make the doors look almost like big windows, leaving the white curtains there and hanging the blue ones over the top of them. I have to say I love how it turned out. Better than I imagined!!!  

Here is a closer view of the faux "window" we created.  One of the big splurges I had to have was a very comfortable glider to rock and breastfeed.  I came across this one, brand name is Shermag, at Albee Baby online and I snatched it up!!!  It was a bit pricey, but when I think about how many hours I will be rocking, sitting and feeding him, having a very comfortable place to do so will be invaluable!!!  One of the awesome things about this glider is that the ottoman has a nursing footstool that pulls out so you can really get a good position for optimal breastfeeding, which is very important to me.  And this glider can be locked into just a normal stationary chair or a full glider/rocker, and the back reclines all the way back as well...... It was everything I was looking for not to mention the white wood with the blue cushions was just perfection to match the rest of the room!!!  

The white nightstand I had purchased to place beside the glider in Chloe's nursery, so it was passed down to her baby brother but I bought it from Amazon years ago.  And the beautiful monogrammed cableknit blanket on the back of the glider is from Restoration Hardware Baby.  

 

A few smaller details......  I found this mobile on eBay for like $18!!!  I was so thrilled....... As I looked and looked for the matching PBK mobile to match his bedding, and they were all like $100 or more!!!!  Ummmmmm no thank you!!!  This one is actually cuter to me than the PBK matching one and the colors are perfect!!!  The monogrammed boppy cover came from PBK. 

 

The next two pictures of the personalized hanging canvases I also purchased on etsy from a store called Farmhouse Chic. I was very happy with how they came out  and how well they match the rest of the room.  

 

And one of the sweetest pieces in his room is this beautiful shadow box frame in the picture below.  This was given to me at my baby shower 2 weeks ago.   At the shower my girlfriends had each guest sign one of the balloons, and then they assembled it and gave it to me!!!  To say I LOVE IT is an understatement!!!  The blank balloons I will have people sign when they come to visit Jacob after he is born.  There is just so much sweetness and love represented to me in this frame- it got a place of distinction in his room!!!  

A quick snap inside his closet, shows all his sweet soft Kissy Kissy clothes. That is my favorite brand to dress very small babies in, they are all made of the softest Pima cotten with the sweetest little patterned fabric.  He is set for a long time ...... And we have bought diapers every week for many months awaiting his arrival just as we did with Chloe.  It's an ingenious thing to do, and we didn't buy diapers the whole first year of Chloe's life we had such a stash.  

And last but not least I had to include this picture!!!  As I was taking the pics for this post, Chloe was "hiding" and just a giggling in his closet.  I played along like I had no idea where she was, and she truly thought we couldn't see her, feet sticking out and all!!  The innocence she still has is so refreshing and precious....... May we always help them keep the laughter and joy in life everyday as this little girl finds happiness in every hour of every day....... she is my happy and I'm so blessed to be her and now Jacob's Mommy.  

I hope you like his nursery as much as I do and I can hardly wait a few more weeks until I can rock him for hours upon hours, telling him how much he is loved and what a MIRACLE he really is!!!!

33 weeks today!!!!

My goodness!!!!  We are almost ready to meet this sweet little boy!!  I can not believe we are 33 weeks today and in just a few short weeks he will be in our arms!!!  

I have been terrible about updating this blog!  I hate myself for it, because I so much want to document this amazing journey, but man life is SOOOO busy!!!!   Between working full time, taking care of a busy toddler and just being absolutely exhausted from pregnancy, it seems the blog posts always take a back seat!!

But I have several posts I hope to do over the next few days. We finally completely finished his room this week and took pictures so now I can finally do the post on his room.  Also, last weekend we had my maternity/family photo session done!  These pictures are going to be so amazing!!!  We got a few sneak peaks and I am absolutely IN LOVE!!!  So I will do a quick post on that and then last but not least, two weekends ago, my girlfriends gave me the sweetest baby shower and I MUST get that post up as well. All the pictures from the shower are on my big camera not my cell phone so it will take a bit more effort to download them onto my computer and then the blog but I will definitely do it because it was the prettiest shower I have ever seen and they worked so hard on it for me and Jacob!!!  

So as far as how I am doing, we are hanging in, getting bigger everyday but feeling pretty decent. I still have my PICC line in with 24/7 IV Zofran which has made such a huge difference in my life. I can pretty much eat and drink whatever I want, and I am very rarely if ever nauseous. Yeah!!!!  

At the doctor last week she decided to start twice weekly NST testing, where they hook you up and look for his heart rate accelerations and decelerations, monitor for contractions and keep an eye on his fluid levels; as all these things can rapidly change here in the last weeks of pregnancy when you are high risk like me ;)!!!!  But every test has been perfect I am so thankful to have such amazing doctors that are watching me so very closely.  

She did say that this next week on Tuesday, August 4th they will be doing an ultrasound to measure his size and growth estimate and then we would talk about delivery scenarios which may include induction several weeks early.  My birth defect in my intestines is a major factor here in this delivery and we want to try to maximize the chance that I deliver him vaginally and NOT have to have a C-section due to the complications that would undoubtedly arise should I have to be cut. So going a bit early where he is a bit smaller would help us in trying to reach that goal. 

So I will find out more next week at my appointment and see what she is thinking about how all this would best play out. 

Here is a snap hubby took of me just as we were leaving to get our professional photographs made last Saturday night.  Jacob has really grown a lot lately and finally poked out there to let us know he really is in there. I was so small for so long I was wondering if I was ever going to REALLY look pregnant??!!  But alas, I think I have finally achieved that look!!  

And not to leave out our sweet angel Chloe, she has been getting more and more excited with each passing day for her baby brother's arrival. I know she thinks he is never coming because we keep saying soon, but soon feels like an eternity to a 3 year old.  

 Here she was last Saturday running errands with us looking adorable as always....... 

 And here she was the next day on Sunday after church....... She never looks anything other than adorable and she loves having her picture made!!!!  Some days she will remind me, "Mommy, you forgot to take my picture!!"

I got home from work a little bit early yesterday, and she wanted to sit outside on our deck and play with her PawPatrol pup figurines, so we did just that......  And then she promptly reminded me that I had forgotten to take her picture that morning, would I please do it right then?  

And this was our picture....... How could I refuse taking pictures of such sweetness?!?!   

Sean and I are so SO blessed in our lives.    When I take inventory of my life and all that we have and have been given, it's hard not to just shout it to the roof tops how GOOD the Lord is to us.   Life isn't perfect, but it is pretty darn close!!!!  And with the addition of this miracle little boy, we just might have achieved PERFECTION ..........

30 weeks today!!!!!

It is so hard to believe that we are 30 weeks along in this miracle journey today!!!  I can't believe it will only be a few short weeks until we are holding our sweet Jacob in our arms!!!  

I am feeling quite well these days.  I have my PICC line in still, which gives me IV Zofran 24/7 and I am able to eat and drink pretty much anything I want now.  I did go to the doctor two days ago and they said Jacob is weighing in now about 3lbs and is head down and ready to get out!!  I definitely feel so much pressure, more than I ever have before but I am just trying to tough it out a bit longer. 

Things are going well over all, Sweetness and I have been attending birthing classes at the hospital on Monday nights, and I am very much enjoying those and learning a lot!!!  

Here we are going into class this past Momday night, being goofy in the car!!! 

Also this coming week on Tuesday we are also attending a one time, 3 hour breastfeeding class to help you prepare ahead of when baby arrives for moms wanting to breastfeed. I so badly want to be successful in this breast feeding endeavor. I am going to give it my very best shot for as long as I can!!!!  

I am going to get my hospital bag packed and ready as best I can this weekend, because you just never know when you will need it!!!  And I have 2 more finishing touches I am going to get put up in Jacob's nursery and then I promise to do the post showing off his sweet little room that I have been promising forever to do!!!

Next Saturday is my baby shower!!!!!  I never dreamed in my life that I would get a baby shower, and I am just so thrilled to be having one and thankful that I have such sweet girlfriends willing to do it for me!! 

And then.......... The following Saturday night on July 25th, we have our maternity/family Pictures on the beach at sunset!!!!  I can not wait for these!!!  We

Have spent quite a but on our photographer, but she takes AHHHHHHmazing photos and this is such a special once in a lifetime thing for me that I want it to be captured perfectly.  My dress has been ordered, and a special friend who makes amazing custom little girl dresses is making Chloe's to match mine........ I literally can not wait to see how beautiful they turn out!!!  

So we have lots coming up in the weeks ahead!!!   I am still working full time trying to work as long as possible until I go out on maternity leave!!!  

Well that's it for now, I will be back soon with another update!!!  Thank you all again for your prayers as you have walked on this journey with us!!!!