Aiden's Nursery Part 1

I am so so excited to share what our little Aiden's nursery looks like! We've had visions of this room long before we found out we were pregnant and once we found out we were having a boy our baseball/sports brains went into hyper drive! It's been quite the process but I finally feel like we are at a good point to share our progress. We still have lots of decorating to do and everything in the room is pretty much empty but we have the construction process and large furniture pieces in place.

I have to admit I get VERY little credit for this room. Although I helped with the vision, the decorating choices and color schemes this room is truly a product of my husbands incredible talent and hard work. I know I brag about his ability to turn my harebrained schemes into reality all the time but this nursery brought it to a whole new level. I never dreamed our little man would be lucky enough to have an incredible nursery like this! I also have to say this room would never have happened if it weren't for our generous families and their help with buying some of the furniture items and Lowes Gift Cards! Aiden is so blessed to have so many people looking out for him already.

Ok, Ok enough already here are the pictures you really want to see! Lots of them! Enjoy and come back soon for more updates as we start to fill up the little man's room!

I failed to get a picture of the room before when it was simply a guest room, but you get the gist of it here... it was boring and beige.

The first step was painting the "baseball wall." Here's Adam painting the wall an off white color.

More painting while I annoy him with pictures.

Next step painting the bottom of the other walls blue. We fell in love with this color, unfortunately the pictures don't really do it justice.

Half blue walls before adding the chair rail.

Adding the detail to the baseball wall! I saw a picture of something similar a while back. I had NO idea how to do it but I knew Adam could make it happen!

Working on the baseball "stitching."

Adam ended up using a sponge to create the stitches so they would all be the same size.

More annoying him with pictures!

A look at the construction zone almost finished!

Baseball wall! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Adam the perfectionist says it needs some touch-ups, but I'm pretty impressed!

A view of the wall and closet.

Baseball wall and closet.

Baseball wall and window.

Beautiful blue walls with chair rail and Aiden's beautiful dresser from Babies R Us!

Adam putting together the crib! We ended up picking the Baby Cache, Montana set for the furniture.

We read reviews that said it took about 45 minutes to put together the crib... Adam had to beat that time. I think it took him about 15 minutes... pretty impressive show off! ;)

The dogs already LOVE the nursery, they were so excited to be allowed in!

A picture of the very little work I did... scratching off the stupid warning stickers that baby companies plaster ALL OVER their furniture!

And a finished view of Aiden's room! Paint, construction and furniture done!

Aiden's room with a glimpse of the closet that Adam put together.

I just can't believe how good it all looks!

Looking inside the closet. Little man needed more storage that was better for  baby clothes.

Plenty of storage for all Aiden's stuff!

Plenty of storage for all Aiden's stuff!

We don't have many decorations yet but here's a look at the bedding.

And our newest addition... a bit of a splurge but we wanted a really comfy chair in Aiden's room. We know that's where we'll be spending LOTS of time!

Another view of the crib and chair.

Our awesome chair that reclines, swivels and of course rocks. The baseball blanket I bought way before we knew Baby A was a boy... I knew we we're having a boy! And I figured if by chance it was a girl she would like baseball too. We cant wait to wrap our little man up in this blanket for some newborn pictures!

And lastly a picture of one of the many projects we have left. This old set of dresser stairs is in need of some TLC! They have drawers too that aren't in the picture.  I fell in love with this beauty years ago in my Papa &  Nana's barn, I always knew it had to go in my babies room one day! They were handmade and painted by my Great Grandpa, Ross Wesley Cooper (this side of the family also contributed to Aiden's middle name!) Cant wait to see them painted and looking brand new in Aiden's room.

26 Weeks and Baby A has a NAME!

 Ok so I've had another long break between posts... but in my defense it's really impossible to focus on much during the holidays! Life is just too busy with Christmas parties, shopping, family gatherings, year end mayhem, the potential end of the world and all sorts of other holiday cheer! That being said we had an amazing Christmas with our families. And Baby A received his first Christmas presents! Oh and speaking of Baby A... he finally has a name! We've  made it official, Baby A is now: Aiden Cooper Alexander!  We're sticking with the double AA theme like Daddy (Adam Alexander!) It's been funny finally having something other than Baby A to call him. And Aiden seems to really fit. It's the name we've been leaning towards since the beginning but we wanted to be sure before putting it out there. Anyway that's what we've been up to!  Take a look below to see how the pregnancy is going!

How far along are you?  26 Weeks and 6 days
Baby Stats: Baby is the size of a head of lettuce, 13.6in to 14.8in long and 2 to 2.5lbs!
Total Weight Gain: 7lbs at my last appointment... but after Christmas lets be honest probably more like 10! Eeek! We'll see how long I keep posting my weight gain... at least at my last appointment they told me that I'm on the slow side of weight gain. So thats good. Right?
Maternity Clothes? Ummm yes! Haha I think I may have to splurge and buy a few more so I'm not wearing the same clothes all the time. 
Stretch Marks? Nope
Sleep: Sleep is no bueno at this point. I'll be fully sleep deprived before our little man arrives!
Best moment this week: Ok well it's not this week but since the last post we've had some fun moments! Most exciting is finally having a name for Aiden! Another exciting milestone is little Aiden is getting strong enough for other people to feel when he kicks or moves. Adam has felt him numerous times, and so has my mom and brother. It's really been a fun experience to see everyone's face light up when they feel the little man for the first time! Now if he would just stay away from my bladder  on long road trips we would be good! Lastly we received lots of generous gifts for Aiden this Christmas! It was so fun to open packages filled with clothes and toys for our little man. Let me just say he is spoiled already and we haven't even met him yet!
Miss Anything? No alcohol during the holidays has definitely been a bit harder. Christmas parties, family gatherings and toasts just aren't the same without a little champagne or wine! But I'm holding up better than I expected.
Movement: I guess I already covered this one. Now feeling lots and lots of movement. In fact it makes me really nervous when I don't feel him.
Food cravings? Nothing new really. Loving my OJ, oranges and lots of sweets. Aiden especially seems to like cookies and ice cream. Little man is really wiggly after I eat any of those.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope so far still feeling really blessed to be feeling pretty good.
Have you started to show? Oh lord yes. I feel like he is really sticking out there now! I don't think anyone could mistake my baby bump for a few extra lbs now! And he's starting to feel heavy! My back and hips are definitely starting to suffer!
Gender: Boy! And loving all the boy stuff we're starting to get! Bring on the tractors, sports stuff and blue everything!
Labor Signs: Nope!
Belly Button In or Out? In, but I'm not thinking it'll be that way for long.
Wedding Rings On or Off? Still on, and hoping they will stay that way.
Happy or Moody? Mostly happy. Although I've noticed I start to cry way easier lately. I'm usually able to catch myself and calm down but it's amazing how quickly the water works start!
Looking forward to: Having the nursery set up! Adam has been working so hard and it's looking really great!  He's thinking he can finish up this weekend! I cant wait to have Aiden's room set up and be able to go in and enjoy it!

Check back soon for a post on Aiden's nursery! I'm hoping to have pictures of that up next week sometime!


Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and here's to an amazing 2013!

xoxo~ Jamie 

23 Weeks and Growing!

23 weeks! PS my bangs are super weird in this pic, you can ignore that! :)

23 Weeks! Wow when did that happen?! I am almost SIX months pregnant! Seriously? It really feels like time is flying by... which is probably why I'm late posting again. Oops! But we have been so lucky throughout this pregnancy, maybe thats why it's felt so fast! Aside from my ever growing belly, lack of sleep and Baby A's movement here and there I honestly haven't felt pregnant most of the time. So for that I am so so thankful! I hope the last trimester is just as kind as the first two! But we'll see.

Next on our agenda is to get the nursery completely painted, plan some baby showers, and  just keep preparing for this little man to rock our world! Eeek! Stay tuned for more exciting news as we get closer. Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! And can we get some snow already?! Seriously!

23 Weeks and growing every day! Eeek!

Oh and here are some of the facts!

Baby Stats: Baby A is the size of an eggplant or a grapefruit. He is about 1 lbs! And around 11-12 inches long and is preparing for yet another growth spurt!
How far along are you? 23 Weeks and 4 Days
Total Weight gain/loss? 5 lbs (unofficially, I haven't been to the doc recently so this is according to my scale at home)
Maternity Clothes? Yep maternity pants are a must... cant even rubberband my regular pants together anymore. :) As for tops I can still fit into some of my old ones.
Stretch Marks? Not yet, I've been told these are genetic or that they wont show up until after the baby is here so I guess I'll just have to continue with the lotion and keep my fingers crossed!
Sleep? This week has been HORRIBLE! I have a cold so sleep is hard enough to come by but lately I also seem to wake up every night at 2:00am and then I cant fall back asleep. NO BUENO! I would really like to get a full nights sleep. On a bright note somehow my body seems to keep providing me energy so I'm still able to make it through the day.
Best Moment of the week? Hmm there has been a couple, yesterday morning Adam was finally able to feel little Baby A move! It was just one quick little movement but still very exciting! If I hadn't been sleep deprived and unable to breathe from this cold I probably would have squealed and done a little happy dance. Other than that some of the baby stuff is starting to arrive! We've gotten the crib, dresser, car seat and stroller recently. It just makes things feel more real! :)
Miss Anything? COLD MEDICINE and SLEEP! haha But I think that goes without saying! My doctor told me I could take Sudafed, which seems to help a little but I could really use some Nyquil!
Movement? Yep! Lots and lots! Love feeling this little Baby Boy move! Reminds me that he is happy and healthy in there!
Food Cravings? Still nothing really. Loving OJ and oranges still. And I definitely like ice cream more than I use to, but still not craving anything weird or so much that Adam has to run out to the store!
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope
Have you started to show yet? Haha yes. I feel like I show more every day! Wondering when I'm going to be saying goodbye to seeing my toes! lol.
Gender? Boy boy boy! And we are really excited! :)
Labor Signs? No, but I did have a bit of a scary moment late last week when I changed my prenatal vitamins... It was just my stomach not liking the new stuff but it definitely freaked me out a bit to have such strong stomach cramps! Grow baby grow you are not done yet!
Belly Button in or out?  Still in
Wedding rings on or off? On, and with the colder weather they actually feel a little big... for now.
Happy or Moody most of the time? Still pretty happy but honestly my tolerance level has definitely gone down.... I think thats the sleep deprivation and cold though.
Looking forward to: Feeling Baby A move more and having Adam really feel our baby boy! And getting further along in the nursery! :)

xoxo~ Jamie (and Baby A) 

It's a Boy! And I'm 20 Weeks Pregnant!

So if we're Facebook friends you already know that little Baby A is a BOY!!!! But I still hadn't blogged about it so I figured it was time! Adam and I could not be more thrilled to finally know that we are going to be welcoming a little boy into this world! And we are already underway on getting together our baseball/sports themed nursery! So stay tuned for updates as that progresses!

Anyway, we found out our happy news about Baby Boy A on Monday! I was really nervous that this little baby would be shy and not let us see what he or she was. So per the advice of friends on Facebook I downed a big bottle of orange juice before my appointment to make sure baby was movin! And oh my gosh was he moving! The ultrasound tech was quickly able to see that Baby A is a boy and even provided us some lovely pictures to prove it! More importantly the tech was able to check out all of baby boy's pieces and parts to make sure they looked normal and healthy! Everything looked great and Baby A is even measuring about a day early which would put our due date at March 29th instead of 30th... but who really knows at this point! We are just excited that everything is going well!

So here are a couple pictures of our little man at 20 weeks!

He was a little shy with showing his face so this is about as good as it got, but here's our little boy!

Another profile shot of Baby A!

And here is the picture that proves we are having a BOY... yes this is a shot looking between his legs... And yes this will be the only time that I'll ever be posting a picture of my son's.... penis for all to see.

After the doctor's office we had our families over for a little get together to celebrate and announce the news! We didn't keep everyone waiting for long, but made them all huddle in the front room so we could surprise them with Blue Balloons and cupcakes to make the big announcement. But like all "big" moments nothing goes as planned... we didn't really consider the fact that they could see us getting things ready in the sliding glass door directly across from us.. OOPS! Oh well, they were all super excited nonetheless! So here's a few pictures from our "Gender Reveal Dinner." (Yes this was the most PC way we could think to phrase it... my mom initially put it in her calendar as Sex Dinner... and realized that could probably be misleading!)

Coming around the corner with the balloons and cupcakes!

Holding our Pink and Blue gifts before everyone knew what we were having!

Decorations.  They were left over from a baby shower last year!

More decorations

More fun Blue & Pink gifts... we only kept one. :)

Cupcakes with BLUE candles... because blue frosting apparently doesn't exist!

Clara LOVED the balloons!

Posing with the blue balloons!

Posing with the blue balloons!

Posing with the blue balloons!

And lastly posing with the Baby Bump Chalkboard!

And lastly posing with the Baby Bump Chalkboard!

And Adam showing off his baby bump! Lol this pic cracks me up I think he may have pulled something trying to push it out that far!

And lastly here's a little 20 week update on where things stand!
Baby's Stats: Baby is the size of a mango or as long as a banana! Weight: 10-12oz, length 7-10 in!!!
How far along: 20 weeks, 6 days as of today
Total weight gain: + 4 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Yep! I can still wear some of my clothes but definitely rocking quite a bit of maternity clothes at this point!
Stretch marks: Nope! Still doing good thanks to Palmer's and Burt's Bees!
Sleep: Still off and on but I got an awesome nights sleep last night so I'm feeling pretty good today!
Best Moment of this week: Ha easy one! Finding out  that Baby A is a boy and sharing the news with family and friends! We have been amazed at how many people are excited for us!
Miss anything: Same stuff as before but it seems to be easier the further along I get.
Movement: YES YES YES! For the last two weeks I've been feeling little light movements here and there but just wasn't sure. But at our ultrasound it was easy to pare up the movements on the screen with what I was feeling! So exciting to actually know that I'm feeling my little boy! I feel them more and more now!
Food Cravings: Not much right now, still love oranges and orange juice but thats about it. Mostly I'm just eating a lot more often!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope still counting my blessings that I've felt pretty good!
Have you started showing yet: Ummmmm yes! The baby bump seems to be getting bigger every day!
Gender: Boy! I knew it!!!!!
Labor signs: Nope!
Belly Button in or out: In
Wedding rings on or off: On
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! :)
Looking forward to: Working on the nursery! We bought the crib and dresser the other day! Cant wait to see Baby A's room come together!!!

So there you go! A very long update on me and Baby A! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo~ Jamie