The Big Baptism

My big boy got baptized this weekend, alongside his cousin E. Both babies did a great job with zero crying during the actual baptism (and just a few tired tears from little man afterwards.) 

These are just the photos from my iPhone, so the quality is pretty sub par.  I miss the camera on my Galaxy!

Ceremony candid, enjoying those fingers

Big boy with Father Jeff

Apparently Eric's clan was not quite ready for this picture, but I think it's pretty hilarious.

This one's better.

The bebes with their parents and godparents

My side.  I always laugh at the massive difference in height between my little grandma and tall grandpa.  Fun fact: Grandpa turns 91 today!

Proud parents.  Tired baby.

Boss godparents

Sweet lady cousins.  Good to know that little man is in good hands.

Beautiful baby E and me.

Huge thanks to Eric's mom for hosting the after party.  I think a good time was had by all and the food was delish!

Dress Up The Dresser

Our dresser project is finally complete and I'm super pumped with how it turned out!  I can only take credit for being the brains behind the operation.  My darling boyfriend executed the project magnificently!

Here's what the dresser looked like when we started.  It was just your basic 50's/60's pine dresser.  We acquired this from Eric's grandma when she moved houses a couple years back.  There was nothing wrong with it, but I really wanted a fun conversation piece for the room. 

I posted this picture on Facebook during spring break.  Eric gave the whole thing a good sanding.  

Then came a coat of tinted primer,

some bold orange paint,  

and finally the coolest part of the whole project...the knobs!

(I still haven't hung any of his art, which is why it's all sitting on the dresser.  I figure I ought to wait until all of the furniture is in.  The "Love You Forever" art idea was taken from Young House Love and I painted the arrow art using a Martha Stewart stencil.) 

I got the idea from this post on Pinterest and asked Eric if it would be possible to 1. find this many valve handles and 2. use them safely as handles.  After a bit of research, we figured out that if we sprayed them with a clear protective coat we could check off number 2.   

Collecting all of the handles took quite a bit longer then we expected.  The pinterest listing from Etsy was no longer available, so we had been acquiring them slowly from our heating and cooling guy.  My father-in-law found a listing for valve handles on eBay and helped  us round out our collection.  Special thanks to him!

We are so pleased that we were able to make something special for Mini Meyer's nursery that is one-of-a-kind just for him.  Stay tuned for more nursery updates!

Week 29 and Feelin'...

Tired!

Baby Style

I'll admit that I *thought* little girl clothes were way more fun that baby boy clothes.  Boy was I wrong! It might take a little more digging and sifting through the traditional baby boy blue/animals/sports stuff, but there are some really cute little man duds out there!

1. Mini Meyer NEEDED these onesies.  Are you kidding me?! "Just plane cute"  It was meant to be.  These are actually a gift from my mom, along with that adorable stripped romper.  [Is that the right lingo?  Onesie + legs = romper? Please advise.]

2-7  My Aunt Kay is a machine when it comes to sewing projects.  Seriously she needs her own blog or Etsy shop.  She MADE those adorable onesies and burp cloths.  How cute are the green chevron and the baby suspenders with plaid?! I can't wait for him to wear all of these!  Thank you a hundred times!

8. Baby shoes could be the ugliest things in the world and still be adorable because of how tiny they are.  These are also from my mom.

9.  Eric's dentist told him about a baby re-sale shop so we checked it out one Saturday afternoon. I loved the colors on this and the too cool bull dog.

One thing's for sure, this baby is not going to be short of clothes for awhile!

22 (and a half) Weeks

After a 5-week picture hiatus, I'm happy to announce "Houston we have a bump!" Eric is also excited to have felt Mini M kick for the first time today.

Enjoy your weeks, everyone!

Nursery Additions

I'm so excited to get Mini M.'s room rollin', but man it takes FOR-EV-ER [Sandlot-style] for baby furniture to come!  Our crib isn't slated to be here until April, but at least the glider will be here soon.  Can you tell I'm getting impatient?

Here's a glimpse at what's going on "up in here" so far.

Crib-Baby's Dream

[Please imagine this sans dusty rose and floral.  Insert cool airplane stuff]  

Eric's folks purchased our crib and this is the model we chose [but in white.]  It didn't take us terribly long to find it, knowing that we wanted something with clean lines.  Though the dark wood is handsome, we decided that white just felt more classic baby-esque to us.  

*Tip for those shopping for Bebe furniture: give yourself plenty of time in advance for everything to come in because I hear it's normal for it to take 3-ish months to arrive.

Chevron Airplane Prints-Etsy

My aunt surprised us and ordered these prints that I'd been drooling over on Pinterest. They go just perfectly with my orange and navy airplane obsessions!  I'm thinking I'll do gray frames? Possibly?  Not sure if I'll keep them together or break them up yet, but I'm just in love!

Chair-Project Nursery Baby Tag

[Don't even get me started on how much I love this nursery.  The drapes, the airplane mobile, the doggy pics, I could go on forever.  It's just the right amount baby boy rustic-mod with great patterns and pops of color.]

My mom and dad have gifted Mini M. the glider that's shown in the two pictures above which is actually from Walmart.com.  Eric and I tried several gliders, but found that they were either too bulky for our tiny room or WAY too many $beans$.  This guy had smashing reviews and is said to be well-suited for small nurseries.  And the best part? He only cost $299.  Boom! 

And Mini M. Is...

EEEK! We're so excited (and 99.9% sure I might add) to know the gender of Mini M!  But first, some details.

Everything went smoothly with the ultrasound.  Our tech told us she was 99.9% positive of the gender (whew that was a relief!)  We ended up waiting FOREVER to see the doctor and had to rush home with only 30 minutes 'til party time.  Eric dropped off our envelope to the local party store and then picked up our box packed with baby balloons.

And the envelope, please!  (Please ignore the the lady exam pictures in the back.  We were at the doctor's after all!)

I'm a little disappointed that I have so few pictures of the decorations that I made since I didn't anticipate having so little time between the appointment and party.  Oh well. C'est la vie!  

Wives Tales Say: Boy

I made these banners from a print-out I saved.  Also note the mustache and lips straws so party people could make their guesses!

Tally the votes! (Because I can't wait any longer!)

And the results are in!  Looks like Mini M. is...

A BOY!

Wow were we surprised!  My initial "gut" feeling was boy and though I accidentally kept referring to the baby as "he" and "him,"  I actually had convinced myself that Mini was a girl.  Guess I better take back those dresses I bought! 

I'm so excited for airplanes, plaid, sweater vests, snakes, snails, and puppy dog tails!  Also, big thanks to our families who came out to celebrate with us, both in person, over the phone, and in prayer.

Week 17 Update

Check out my Week 17 "By the Weeks" update by clicking on this link

Nursery Beginnings

Woo hoo it's nursery time! We've decided on using the striped room for our little bundle 'o' joy.  As you can see this is where we're starting.  Not quite baby-ready, but it can only get better from here!  

 What's going:

• The pile of stuff in the far right corner (we spent a large portion of our snowed in time cleaning out the closets to make room for the newest little M.
• The bulletin board, shoddy shelf/filing cabinet, guitar, and basically all "stuff" you see
• The drapes
• The fan (I hope! Eric's not totally on board yet)

What's staying:

• The stripes-we figure they're pretty gender neutral and we can add accents depending on the sex of the baby
• The dresser-add a changing pad plus some fun new knobs and we'll consider it perfect

The Inspiration: Girl!

• Gold, gold, gold!
• Glitzy softness
• Polka dots

 Source

 Source-Etsy

Source-Etsy

Source-Golden Sugar Studio

The Inspiration: Boy!

• Airplanes
• Bold dresser
• Orange, navy, & gray/brown accents

 Source

 Source-Etsy

 Source

 Source-Houzz

Source-Thistle Wood Farms

Realistically, we're not going to start until we find out the gender of Mini M. so not until early-to-mid February.  Stay tuned!

First Trimester Wrap-Up

First trimester of my pregnancy has came and gone-I say this like I'm so far along-16 1/2 weeks, thank you very much! This may be bordering on TMI, but so many people ask me about cravings, how I'm feeling, etc so why not write a post about it? (Or at least that's what I'll keep telling myself!)

Morning Sickness:

Not an issue.  I didn't blow chunks once, which I was super surprised about because I get motion sickness at the drop of a hat. There may have been a hand full of days that I felt "yucky," but I only thought I might get sick once. And that was at the Home Depot (for those of you who might be wondering.)

Heartburn:

Oh the heartburn!  In the past I've had ulcers and my GI doctor tells me I have a highly acidic stomach to begin with, so unfortunately heartburn is my lot in life.  I had it mostly under control prior to becoming PG by *mostly* giving up coffee, dairy, and soda, but it came roaring back with a vengeance around week 5.  At this point it's off and on, but I was eating Tums like nobodies business for weeks straight.  Seriously.  Should have bought stock in Tums.

Acne:

Check.  All over my chin?!? WTH?!? I've NEVER had zits there before.  

Dry skin:

Oh my word, I don't know if we're having an extremely dry winter but my skin is like sand paper!  Another thing I should have invested in: Curel lotion.

Cravings:

At least this is a somewhat fun category!  It's really surprising to me how quickly these have changed.  Over the coarse of the first trimester I've wanted: roast beef deli sandwiches (really ALL deli sandwiches,) Eggs Benedict, Caesar salad, brownies, sausage, lasagna, steak, and beer (!?!?) For those of you that don't know, I don't even LIKE beer!  Obviously there are several of these items that I've not been able to indulge in because I'm trying to follow all the guidelines (sorry beer!) but other things I've been doing in moderation.

Aversions:

Let me reiterate, I did not have morning sickness.  However that increased sense of smell really discouraged me from eating lots of things that I typically enjoy.  I didn't want anything creamy. Potato or butternut squash soup.  Ice cream.  Cream cheese.  The idea of eating broccoli wasn't very appealing to me either.

I think that's probably as far as I'll go without getting too personal. :0)

Pregnant and/or mom friends, what kinds of cravings are/did you have during your first trimester?