a new confidence...

Something wonderful happened when I hit 31 weeks of pregnancy and I think I like it...

Up until now, I have felt a lot of anxiety and nervousness of what is to come. Whether it was thinking about the actual birth or what it would be like with a newborn in our house, I was filled with some jitters. Don't get me wrong, I still felt overwhelmingly excited about all that is our future, but it felt like the nervousness was outweighing the joy at some points.

I have tried to reflect on what changed for me and there are a few things that I came up with:

1. My friend Libby and I took a breast feeding class at our hospital. It was three hours, at times overwhelming with loads of information, but overall super helpful. I left feeling like I now had the knowledge to give breast feeding a good effort!

2. Remember my post about these lovely ladies...well, there a bunch of new babies in Denver now! I went on a spree to get a visit in with all of the new mommas and cute little boys (yes, you read that right...all boys)!

First visit was with the lovely Dana and Avery.

How adorable is he?! It was great to catch up on all of the happenings since his arrival. Most of all, I left this visit thinking to myself, "They seem ok," and, "That doesn't look too hard or scary." The biggest thought that went through my head that gave me such comfort was, "I think Andy and I can actually do this."

This visit was a pivotal moment for this new feeling of confidence that I feel.

3. My next visit was to the hospital for the arrival of Henry. Libby and I did that class just in time because their little guy arrived just four days later!

 

Another cutie!! It was great to see this new family of three so soon after Henry's birth. I was amazed at how easy it was to visit them. It was also surreal to see the exact location that we would be at in just a few short months. It helped with the visualization process enormously!

I know that no one is perfect, but these three really seemed to have it together even after only a short time together. They definitely helped with this new confidence of mine and it continued to build me up as I left them in their cozy recovery room.

4. My last visit was with the beautiful Heather and Mr. Hudson.

Is Gizmo going to have some good looking friends or what?!

We touched base on life lately and Heather was great about asking how I was doing and talking me through some of my nerves. She didn't act like she had all of the answers and there was no judgements being made. It was the perfect finale to this new feeling of mine.

This change of confidence is no little thing in my eyes...it is a HUGE thing that will make the rest of this pregnancy so much better. Now I can focus on relaxing, enjoying life, and continuing to research what to do with a baby! Thank you to all my amazing ladies that were involved unknowingly in this transformation.

a perfect Saturday...

Most weekends are good. Whether you have lots of plans or get time to relax, it is time away from the grind. Once in awhile a weekend leaves you with a satisfying feeling, refreshed for the week, and with lasting memories.

We were lucky enough to have one of those weekends recently, particularly our Saturday. Lately, we haven't been able to sleep in much past 7am on the weekends. It started out as a big bummer, but we have definitely learned to embrace it (and figure it is our bodies' way of getting us ready for baby boy)!

This weekend continued the trend and we rose with the sun (and Chewy letting us know it was time for his breakfast)! I started working on some laundry as Andy began preparing breakfast. Once I got the laundry going, we tag teamed our meal. Andy focused on the bacon outside and I made eggs and English muffins inside.

After we were energized by our meal, we headed outside to our fire armed with our books. We still had some time before college football started, so we buried our noses in our reading. I found myself a little distracted listening to the birds chirp as I read. It was so relaxing!

Even our Minnesota Gophers not being televised could get us down. We watched other Big 10 games and followed our game by a combination of ESPN Gamecast and texts from family. I leisurely got ready for my lunch/shopping date with Kelley and Andy started a list of to-dos for him and my dad's man day.

Kelley and I headed to Cherry Creek and ate on the patio at Cucine Colore. Love this place! It was even better because of the company and conversation (and their yummy seasoning that we both bought to take home).

Feeling nice and fueled, we made our way to a super cute baby store that I have been meaning to get to, Right Start. If you haven't been there and have a reason to be in a baby store, it is definitely a neat spot with all the baby necessities and nice gift ideas. From there we headed to the Cherry Creek Mall, which if you haven't been in lately, it is worth a trip. H & M just opened a store there and many other new stores have also opened recently or old stores have gotten a face lift to make this mall the best in Colorado in my opinion.

We both scored most of the things we were looking for and I lasted a record amount of time on a shopping trip. It's also a major bonus when your partner in crime is studying image consulting and helps you find the right colors and styles that make you look your best!

When we got home, the boys had their own successes to show off. They had checked off the majority of their tasks on their list (my favorite being the installation of a new light fixture in the nursey) and it was definitely time for wine thirty and some relaxing for all.

Believe it or not, this dastation had some hidden perfection in store. The night finished up with an amazing dinner of salmon grilled on cedar planks, rice, and a spinach and strawberry salad. And the night cap was a memorizing fire in our fire pit, more relaxing, and more good conversation.

There are so many little things in this post. But, I guess what it comes down to is a pretty simple equation:

doing what you love + being with people you love (relaxing)(good food)

=

a perfect Saturday

Posted with Blogsy

operation nursery...

The long awaited post on our nursery...Enjoy!

Once we were back from Minnesota and still had two weeks of summer break, there was only one thing on our minds...Gizmo's nursery!  

We were both equally motivated to get as much done as we could in the time that we had.  Every day, we settled into a routine of crossing things off of our to-do list and working through most of each day and even the nights (don't worry, I took many breaks in between jobs)!  

It was definitely a lot more work than I expected, well...probably more for Andy than for me as he had to do much of the hard labor.  We were not just moving furniture and painting, we were taking the opportunity to sift through all of our junk that we had accumulated and decided what to keep and what to get rid of.  Sounds a lot like nesting, huh?!  It is insane (and it is still in full swing)! 

Here is a look at the transformation in numbers...

7 trips to Goodwill
4 bins of packed up books

3 pieces of large furniture packed up and moved to the basement
1 coat of primer

2 coats of paint

8 trips to IKEA
endless trips to Ace Hardware
lots of sweat and smiles

What came out in the end is exactly like I pictured in my head and maybe even better.  See for yourself!  Here is the transformation in pictures...

Preparation Stage: 

Paint color before and after with the "professional" painter!

Some room layouts... apparently, I missed my calling as an Interior Designer.  Maybe that will be my next career change when my mom needs an assistant!


Finished Product:

Things of note: gummy bear night light mounted to the wall, lots of books to start Gizmo as a reader early, beginning of a collection of stuffed animals, baskets for organization, play farm on bottom shelf (from IKEA, which may need a future post), and plush rocking dog!

Things of note: hanging bird mobile, changing pad, IKEA dresser with awesome drawer organizers, and a lamp base for a decorative lamp shade that is on order.  

Things of note: globe for our future traveler, crochet pea pod for newborn pictures, space for more organization baskets which are on order (yellow), and more stuffed animals.

Things of note: picture ledge (I have always wanted one and finally found a perfect spot for  it), baby's first piece of original art (in yellow frame), hamper for dirty baby clothes, sneak peak of the adorable wall decals we found on Etsy!

My favorite corner!  Things to note: comfy glider chair/ottoman, crib with cute sheets from Land of Nod, and another sneak peak of wall decals

A full look at the wall decals.  We wanted a forest look with aspen trees and birds.  Our favorite time of year is when the aspen leaves turn a golden color (almost neon yellow)!   These were definitely a labor of sweat and frustration love, but they are so worth it!

We have more items on the way, so there will be a future post with more pictures.  We were so lucky over Labor Day weekend to have my mother/interior designer in town to help with these final touches.  

I am well aware that becoming a parent is more than having a cute nursery.  I have to tell myself from time to time that all of the "stuff" doesn't matter.  But, I can't deny the little thing that I feel when I go into the nursery, sit in the glider chair, and visualize what the room will be like when it is actually in use and our baby boy is here.  It is indescribable...
{it doesn't hurt to have a cute room to have this feeling in though!}