Takin' Care of Business!!

Memorial Day weekend was a much needed time to really knock some things off our To-Do list, and it felt so great to get them accomplished!

A few weekends ago, we bought the crib and dresser, so I worked on clearing out and organizing the nursery so we could get the furniture set up. Here's Daddy putting together the crib!!!

It turned out gorgeous...now I can't wait to get the bedding on it! I filled up the dresser drawers with a bunch of clothes my sister Anne lent me (THANK YOU!), and had fun laying out goodies from the shower in Gastonia on top of the dresser. It's so fun to look at it all and think of our baby boy getting here soon :)

Thank goodness we had an extra day this weekend, because we still had a ton to do! We went to Lowe's and got a dimmer switch for the baby's room, bags of mulch for the flower beds, and some herbs to pot. Mark spent a lot of time on the yard getting the flower beds looking good, pruning bushes, clearing out dead stuff from the winter, and it looked GREAT! I wish I had a Before-and-After picture!!

We also finally decided on a glider rocker, bought it and took it to the upholstery place. Mom had given me some beautiful fabric that matched the nursery perfectly, so we're going to have it recovered. Here's what it looks like in style, before new fabric...I really like that it looks more like a chair than a baby-specific piece of furniture.

We also cleaned the house completely (I say "we"....meaning my sweet husband did the lion's share of the work since I tire out in 8 seconds flat these days...), and went to the grocery store, too. Good thing I started the weekend off with an insane amount of sleep ~ 8:30 pm on Friday 'til 9:00 am on Saturday!!! I knew I was going to need it!

Finally, here's the latest belly shot collage with a few new ones - the latest being 33 weeks...I don't know how much more I can stretch!!

May Showers

Ok, this really bugs me to be so behind on my posts, so you may see a flurry of activity here in the next few days/weeks as I catch up on all the fun things happening as we wait for Baby Boy Williams :)

Lately, I have been overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness and generosity of my co-workers, friends, and family. Check out this cute "cake" and keepsake basket at a Going Away/You're Having a Baby! luncheon at work when I moved departments. I REALLY miss everyone and can't wait to get back over there when my rotation's over!!!

A few weeks later, it was time for my first baby shower! How exciting!!! We made the trip to Gastonia for a wonderful shower hosted by my sweet sisters :) Here we are ~ I love them so much!!

We had tons of yummy food - Anne's delicious cupcakes and Laura's ham biscuits were my favorite. I so enjoyed seeing all my aunts, cousins, and friends from my hometown.

Great aunts, cousins and more!

What a cute outfit from Aunt Liz!

Mom and Me :)

Laura and me, having so much fun!!!

I love the month of May!

My usual two reasons for loving May: 1) it finally starts to warm up and 2) my birthday. This year, add one to it ~ Mother's Day! This was my first semi-official Mother's Day as a real mommy :) How exciting!! I got two sweet cards (one from my awesome hubby!) and flowers, too. And, at church, I got a gift they had for all the moms. It sure felt good to be a part of it all!

I had a great birthday, too. Dinner out with the girls, with Mark as my handsome date (he's such a good sport!!) Here's our picture - this one actually involves me wearing "normal" clothes instead of "the belly picture" outfit :)

We ate a delicious dinner at Carraba's and then went to Jack's Grill for an ENORMOUS piece of chocolate cake ~ does it get any better?!!

Here we are ~ celebrating Jessica and my birthdays! Tracy and April, where were you guys when we were taking pics?!! ;)

Happy Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day, I'm very thankful to be so blessed! First, what a wonderful mother I have...she's an unbelievable, never-ending supply of love, support, advice and friendship :) Thanks, Mom!! And second, I'm on my way to being a Mommy, too! I know how lucky I am to have this opportunity and am treasuring every moment.

Last week, we got another little peek at our son on 3D/4D ultrasound. "Little" peek it was, literally...he was not very cooperative!! For 45 minutes, he either faced my back or put his arm over his face, so we only got a few shots and they were a bit blurry. BUT, it was amazing watching him wiggle around in there. We got to see him playing with his ear, opening his mouth, grabbing the umbilical cord (and pulling it where? In front of his face, of course!), and kicking his little feet around ~ so sweet!!

Here's my favorite photo...look at those chubby cheeks!!

Here he is sucking on his arm....he just wouldn't put it down!

And here are those cute feet...Wow! What long toes :) (It's not really a foot cut off hanging in mid-air. It just looks like that when they pick an area to zoom in on.)

He's actually starting to look like a "real" baby in there!! It's hard for me to believe sometimes ~ until my belly starts jumping all around like it literally has a life of its own. Lately, I've been able to see and feel his feet or hands through my skin! Only 9 more weeks and I'll be holding those little feet in my own hands ~ I can't wait!!

~ Nursery Time ~

I really cannot believe how busy Mark and I have been getting ready for this little one lately. Mostly it’s been none of the “fun” stuff….just making room in the house. Last week, we cleaned out SO MUCH stuff, you’d have thought we were moving! I’m talking about a garage full of extra bedding, blankets, lamps, a bedroom set of furniture, clothes (who knows why we didn’t ditch those ugly things at the last 3 yardsales we’ve had!), yards and yards of fabric from several abandoned sewing projects, toys…you name it – we’re getting rid of it!

So, we’re eyeing this enormous pile of yardsale items and reveling in how much extra room and storage we’re going to have ~ Yes, Closet Space Galore!!! ~ until we go back inside and see that it looks NO DIFFERENT. Except the closets are neater (vs. empty) and the baby’s room is now just full of random baby stuff, not our junk anymore. *SIGH*

One fun thing I’ve done, though, is pick out the fabrics and “theme” for baby’s room! Here are some pics of the fabrics ~ we’re doing green and brown for this little guy. After seeing all the tons of infant clothes in the past few months and how basically for boys, they’re all baby blue, I was already getting tired of blue, blue, blue :) So, here are the two main fabrics with the animal print for an accent:

The curtains and bumper will be the character fabric, called “Storytime”. I think it may be named after some Beatrix Potter stories? The crib skirt will be made from the stripe, and piping and ties, etc. will be the cheetah fabric. Had to spice it up some, you know?! The walls are already a nice shade of very neutral taupe that matches the browns perfectly, so no paint needed! (You're welcome, Daddy ;)

Well, tonight is the first night of our Prenatal Classes at the hospital. On the agenda for tonight….”the video” of a birth. Oh BOY. I’m not looking forward to this….more in the mindset of what I don’t know won’t hurt me ~ ha! Then tomorrow is our 3D ultrasound – I can’t wait to see my little guy’s face :) I just hope he’s not going to act shy or flip over towards my back. I might have a 20 minute video of his booty to show off, then!!! Stay tuned…