Baby Bryce is Here!

August 17, 2012 - 8lbs 5oz - 20 inches - 7:54am

He's already one week old! Time has flown by now that he is finally here and all I want is for time to slow down. Bryce is amazing. I am so in love with this baby boy. My whole family is, even his big sis, Sadie. I have so much to share, but he's due for a feeding in a few minutes so I am going to leave you with some pictures.

10 days and what I will Miss.

Mom, Nana, Sis, Me, and Sadie girl ( I think I was 36 weeks in this pic)

In spite of my slight aggravation Bryce isn't choosing to make an early appearance (I'm very impatient)...I decided I wanted to make a list of things I am pretty sure I am going to miss after he is finally here. Most of these have to do with my appearance...I'm not that vain, I just appreciate the pregnancy glow:-)

10. My hair. While I don't notice a huge difference in growth rate, it just has seemed a lot easier to do.

9. My full lips. I normally have tiny lips, and my lips are just slightly swollen, and I love it!

8. Being 30lbs heavier and everyone stopping me to tell me how beautiful I am. It's really the only time this will happen in any woman's life.

7. Being able to eat a good healthy proportion of foods that I want some more of. It's the only time I can say yes to seconds without worry about another 5lbs or having to add 15 minutes on the elliptical workout I will never do.

6. Not having to really work out. While I am excited to get back into it, its nice to take a long leisurely walk, and feel like you exercised.

5.  Being able to wear a bikini (or tankini) and not worrying about my lack of six pack abs. Shoot, this is the hardest my tummy will ever be:-)

4. When people answer the phone and ask...."ARE YOU HAVING THE BABY?!"

3. When family and friends feel Bryce kick or have the hiccups. I have no problem with people I know touching my belly. One of my favorite moments was at a wedding all of T's guy friends were saying good bye and one of them just came up and rubbed my belly good bye- all of the other boys wanted to touch it , so I encouraged them:-) They acted like either they were going to hurt it or Bryce was going to jump out and bite them.

2. All of my zipper and button free pants.

1. Being able to rest my hand on my belly and feel a little response. I don't think I will miss being pregnant, but I will miss always knowing where Bryce is, and that he is only a touch away.



Tomorrow I may have to do a "What I will NOT miss list" :-)

37 weeks (and a half!)

How far along? 37 weeks 5 days

Size of the baby? whatever a winter melon is.

Maternity Clothes? now those aren't starting to fit.

Gender? Boy! Bryce Thomas!

Movement?  Yes...and I have a hard time at this point believing I will miss it. But trying to enjoy the feeling:-) I still am amazed at how I can see him lopside my belly! Oh and today I felt him on the left side of my belly which is very real. I think he stretched his leg straight out.

Sleep? still pretty well. I only woke up once last night to pee and fell straight back asleep.

Cravings? not really, maybe onion rings with ketchup. food is just not really fun. Oh I did crave beef and broccoli stir fry and I don't really like chinese.

Symptoms? For the past week I have been having a not so glorious mix of braxton hicks and real contractions, just nothing timable. They especially kick up when I am active, although today they are continuing when I am sitting down, too. Super frustrating. I lost my mucus plug last week, and it seems like I have dropped. I am really just ready for Bryce to make his lovely appearance. I am getting exhausted with these contractions. And school starts tomorrow.

Best Moment of the Week? Attending and being part of my BFFs wedding, Here are some of the photo booth pics of me, Bryce and T.

sure hope he doesn't come out with a beard like that!

like father, like son!

A Sample of My Maternity Photos

Many thanks to Winterberry Galleries for doing such a beautiful job! We went to my father in laws farm for the photo shoot! I can't wait to get the prints, and for Bryce to get here so we can do some newborn shots!

Happy Tuesday!

Sadie loves Bryce's Moby!

A Wedding and 36 weeks!

Clint and Becca get hitched!

Good friends Reunited:-)

SIL goofing off during a shimmy:-)

me and the hubby

The Jackson 5...soon to be 6!

Me and Em!Can you believe she just had her little girl 4 months ago???

All the Roanoke Boys

36 weeks and dancin' away...glad my water didn't break last night!

How far along? 36 weeks and 2 days

Size of the baby? honey dew..I have a feeling he is longer than 18.7 inches at this point...

Maternity Clothes? yes...and I am constantly a hot mess.

Gender? Boy! Bryce Thomas:-) but I have been having moments where I get really worried he's going to pop out a girl! I wonder how often that actually happens?

Movement?  Yup- mostly on the right side...under my ribs and in my pelvis. 

Sleep? not as bad as last week- and I really thought it would be a lot worse by now, I hope I am not jinxing myself.

Cravings? Dr. Pepper- is it weird I tend to crave drinks? Oh and I have been wanting broccoli and beed stir fry and I do not like asian food very much.

Symptoms? Braxton hicks constantly, and nesting. After the wedding last night I noticed this morning I am quite swollen- but that is probably due to dehydrations from dancing and sweating.

Best Moment of the Week? I think just making it this far has been a blessing. I have had a few hiccups but fortunately a fairly healthy pregnancy. We did set up the car seat and I have packed my hospital bags...so Bryce is just around the corner!!

Just Dreaming...

You know how you get all of these great catalogues in the mail and skim through them and think...one day when I am rich I will get this? Well, here are a few things on my "When I am rich" list.

Console Table from Grandin Rod- $299

Bed from Restoration Hardware (I'de get the one without the footboard)- $1780

Table from Restoration Hardware $3495

Bench from Home depot- $179 I have to add- this is super affordable compared to other entry benches!

Of course- I will need a pool first...Frontgate Pool Float- $199

And Sadie needs a float too! - $99.50

This buffet from Pottery barn $999

Italian Resort Bedding- Frontgate $49-$299

Grandin Road Rocker- $199

Here are some ideas of what I want when I get rich...

I may have blogged about my love of giant bedlike porch swings before, but this is my idea of heaven.

Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

I want a large kitchen island.

Source: caitlincreer.com via Amy on Pinterest

I also am desperate for an end of bed bench.

Contemporary Bedroom design by San Francisco Interior Designer Nina sobiNina Design

What is on your "when I am rich..." list?

35 weeks with the bump!

How far along? 35 weeks (and four days) The pic is from a true 35 weeks:-)

Size of the baby? coconut (although on my phone it says honey dew- which seems much larger than a coconut!) And he should be around 5.25 lbs, and 18 inches!

Maternity Clothes? Yes, and they are starting to not cover my belly very well.

Gender? Boy! Bryce Thomas:-)

Movement?  He seems to have kicked up his movements, and I can really feel some feets and elbows now.

Sleep? Ughhhh. My back has had its issues this past week. Sleep has not been so great. I have moved to the guest bedroom and added a heating pad. I pee any where from 2-6 times at night.

Cravings? Not so much this week as last week- but GRAPE KOOL-AID. it has by far been my most random and necessary craving. Hubby went on a special trip to get me some.

Symptoms? Sciatica, braxton hicks are much stronger, and general uncomfortableness has set in. Pretty much I am never comfortable. How short waisted women ever have more than one baby- I do not know!

Best Moment of the Week?  I haven't been super great about doing these every week so I'll tell you about a few incidents over the past few weeks that stand out...

1. We took breastfeeding and birthing classes- which were super helpful and got both me and my husband super excited for Bryce to get here!

2. On the way to said birthing classes I was telling T a story about how the cord bank would take Bryce's cord blood because I was too far along. Well, later on in the trip I was giving him an example of pregnancy brain in which I told him about how I was talking to the cord blood lady and she asked me to spell my name. So I said  Amy Jackson...she asked me to spell Jackson so I said...G-A-C-K-S-O-N. Then she asked- do you spell Amy the traditional way? In which I realized my spelling mistake and said oh-oops I didn't mean G I meant J- I get them mixed up sometimes. Well, shortly after is when she said I could be a donor. After telling T this pregnancy brain story- he goes- NO wonder they didn't want your cord blood. They probably thought you were a ra-tard (say it like Alan on The Hangover, I really do hate that word, but it seemed funny in this situation), and thought- oh no thanks! Anyway once my hubby pointed that out to me I peed my pants laughing at him so hard because he was probably right.

3. Getting a tour of the hospital. I am just so excited to have him. I hope he comes sooner rather than later!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Love of my Life!

3 Years??? hard to believe it has gone by so quickly! 

3 years ago!

This was our last anniversary before babies, so we decided to take a quick getaway after our birthing class to Greensboro, NC.  The Bed and Breakfast was fabulous and we pretty much use the word "Bumpas" for a lot of different things, and find it hysterical.

Troy-Bumpas Inn

34 weeks

After a restful nights sleep and a great breakfast!

Our exciting evening of picking out a new putter for Tee

In our room. My face is so swollen!

My cheese picture by the fire place:-)

Tee has been such an amazing husband for the past 3 years, sure we've had our moments, but I haven't once doubted his love for me or mine for him. For us so much of our successful relationship was thanks to good timing. He still makes me laugh until I almost pee my pants, makes my heart flutter when he ignores a bad mood of mine, and I melt when I see how much he loves on our little girl, Sadie. I can't wait to fall in love with him as a dad here in a few weeks and as we grow our family. We've always said, we're not perfect, but we're perfect for each other, and that's the truth!

PINNED! What to do with Sentimental Cards

I am not huge on saving every card I ever get. Usually if it something super sweet written in them, or funny, I save it read over it once more at a later date just to remember, then toss it. However, I saved all the cards from my wedding and planned on doing the same with Bryce's shower cards because those are extra special times. Well, thank you pinterest for a great idea that I did in less than half an hour!

Here is the example I went off of.

Source: somethingturquoise.com via Amy on Pinterest

My final product!

Opened

Side View

So easy and organized!

Supplies I used: 

Cards

Card Stock (although I think the original pinner used  a thicker material

Thick Ribbon

Different decorations for cover

Hot glue

Tac

Thin wire

I just used the tack to poke a whole in the top left corner of all of the cards (I lined them up so the top edge and side edge matched the previous card). Once all of the cards were punched, I measured my front and back cover and cut them out. Then decorated the covers. I threaded the wire through the front cover, then all of the cards, then the back cover. Twisted it so it had a wring so I could hang it on a hook if I wanted to. I took thick ribbon wrapped it around the whole "book" so that the two loose ends were out to the right (different than the example book I coped) and hot glued into place on front cover, and then back cover, let cool and then tied the bow to the side. That's it! 

I can't wait to make one with all of my wedding cards! I just have to find them:-)