WE SHOPPED and WE SCORED!
The Monday after Father's day was a HUGE shopping success for the nursery. We all (Mom, April, Cindy and I) spent quite a bit of time shopping online and at antique stores looking for the perfect 'rustic' furniture for the baby room. Everything we found was either too rickity and old or too expensive or just not quite right. I was so tired of not finding what I wanted, I got REALLY close to 'antiquing' my own furniture (even though I've never tried such a thing - could have been a disappointing outcome)... So, on Monday morning (after Father's Day), Mom, April, Grandmother and I set out on a mission to find something good. We headed to Pastimes in West End. It's a huge consignment store with lots of good stuff. We found a beige antiqued hutch-like dresser and a matching barn-red bookshelf for the room - great prices too (SCORE!) We also came home with some perfect decor to add to the 'rustic' look I was going for.... it was a fun day. After our success, I demanded we eat immediately so we went to Maxi's and I ate like a cow, which you're allowed to do when you're pregnant. Then, mom and I headed to the new Hobby Lobby that opened in Pinehurst and I found a few plaques that were perfect for the room - one says 'Born to Ride' and has an old motorcycle on it and the other says 'This Ain't my First Rodeo', which I liked b/c Will often says that when I try to tell him how to do something. Oh yea, I forgot to mention my Hobby Lobby purchases in Atlanta when mom and April were visiting in May... April found these awesome old-timey-looking pistol book-ends and I had to get them. So I did and Will loved them. Here are some pics of us setting out for the shopping day:
Grandmother and Mom in the back seat
Me and Ape in the front
MOM & DAD BRING OUR GIFTS and FURNITURE AND the NURSERY IS FINALIZED!
When Will and I left Pinehurst and headed to our babymoon after the baby shower weekend, we were in my Honda Accord with Onyx in the back seat... so we had very little room to bring hardly ANY of our shower gifts with us... and my newly purchased furniture was definitely not going to fit... and that made me so sad. I was so excited about all my new stuff - I so wanted to be able to get home from my babymoon and have all my new things there to wash/organize/decorate. We left mom and dad's with a tentative plan to come back for a weekend or to meet mom and dad half way to get the stuff - But we didn't have to do any of that b/c Mom and Dad decided to pack up all our things and come for the weekend following our babymoon! It was AWESOME. I not only got uninterrupted selfish one-on-one time with mom and dad [rarity when we're in NC] but, with Dad's help, we got some major handy-man work done that probably wouldn't have happened if Will and I had to try ourselves... a new light in the closet, a new overhead light attached to the fan, a new shelf in the closet... good stuff. And, I learned a lot about all the different lighting/shelving options when I was with Dad at Home Depot...
The weekend was stress-free, fun and fulfilling. I LOVED having my parents here and everyone was excited to be helping with the room. Dad and Will worked hard getting the new installations done while mom and I found the perfect placement for all the furniture and decor.
I love his room. It's perfect and exactly what I wanted. And I love that so many people played a role in the room... Cindy helped me find the art work; April made the 'BABY TUCKER' letters; the rug used to be in Emily's room; the rocking chair is Will's Grandmother's; Grandmother Smith made the bedskirt and mom found the fabric; mom and April made the curtains; Dad's deer antlers are hung above the changing table; Will inspired a lot of the cowboy/rustic decor; handmade blankets from Cindy and Jill are draped around the room; and mom handmade the sweet 'hootie-pie Owl' in the pics below. I love this little guy and the fact mom made him... I can't imagine this room any other way. Our son belongs in this room! :)
Changing table
Mom's handmade "Hootie-pie Owl"
the back says "Owl Love you Forever"
We spent the following weekend in Greensboro, GA where Cindy's friend, Stephanie hosted a baby shower for me and Jenni and the little Tucker babies. It was a a great shower; I really enjoyed talking to and getting to know Cindy's girlfriends a little better. They're all really sweet. I thought it was really nice of them to all come together to celebrate the Tucker babies; they were all excited for me and Jenni. And Will was super excited that we got our 'crossbones/skull' diaper bag... it might be the only thing he truly wanted off the registry.
The boys (Will, Wade, Teddy and Otho) spent the morning on a motorcycle ride to the gun range, where they spent a few hours. And on their way back home they stopped and had BBQ at some shack (Will called it a shit-hole shack with great BBQ... the cook/owner actually killed the pig himself). Welp, not my kind of place, but they loved it. After everyone got home, we hung out by the pool with Teddy & Anna who were in town for the weekend. Anna is also pregnant! So, there were three pregos hanging out in the pool... and I think we all ended up taking naps while our husbands played corn hole and drank beer. Later that night Cindy cooked for everyone and we celebrated Jenni's birthday. Cindy and Otho's gift for her was the umbrella stroller... poor snoop (Jenni & Wade's dog) was selected as the guinea pig to try it out. He's such a chill dog and incredibly flexible, he didn't seem bothered at all to be strapped in there. He just sat back and let Jenni push him around for a while. It was SO cute and hilarious.
Me & Jenni with Stephanie
Jenni, Cindy, me & Jill
Wad & Jenni
Snoopie being a good sport
APRIL's VISIT - CHILDBIRTH ESSENTIALS - JENNI'S BABY SHOWER
April came back to visit me the last weekend in July. She decided she wanted to see me one more time and spend one more weekend with me before I go into labor. I was SO excited she decided to spend her weekend off work with me!
On Friday I decided to make a last minute doctor's appointment b/c I had been feeling an increasingly sharp pain in my upper abdomen. It worked out great b/c April went with me and got to see the practice that has taken care of me and her soon-to-be nephew for 8+ months. The issue turned out just to be the baby/my uterus putting pressure on a key nerve. The discomfort and pain hasn't gone away but it doesn't bother me as much since I know it's no big threat to my health or the baby's. Anyway, the doctor decided to do an ultrasound just to be sure there was nothing going on with my placenta or with the baby. When he ordered the ultrasound a sense of excitment rushed through me b/c I hadn't seen him since my 20 week appointment and I was pumped that April was going to get to see him on the live monitor. At the same time, I was upset Will was missing this... he was excited to see the pictures i sent him on my phone and was just glad nothing was wrong. I would post the ultrasound pics but, I have lost my mind these days and cannot for the life of me remember where I put them. They wern't very clear b/c he was moving so much and had his hand in front of his face. Here's one of me getting the ultrasound though... April is so good at remembering to take pics; she rarely misses special moments... thanks April!
After the doctor's appointment, April and I had a great lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then spent a few hours at the mall and then 2 hours at BabiesRUs. I bought a maternity support band while I as there and it felt amazing from the moment i put it on. We bought a bunch of other fun stuff too - you can imagine after being in there for hours. It was fun.
After Will got home from work, we all went to dinner in the Highlands, where I became so jealous of Will and April's beers. I took a few swigs and it was delightful.
Me and April at Dinner
On Saturday morning Will and I went to a Childbirth Essentials course offered by our Doctor's office. There were 8 couples there. It was a good course; I'm glad we went to it. It covered all sorts of topics but the overall takeaway was what signs to look for leading up to labor indicating that you are in fact about to go into labor and also what to expect once you get to the hospital and the different phases of labor. Then we watched a video of an actual birth, which I was really skeptical of watching but I'm so glad I did b/c that baby came out very blue. Turns out that is normal for most babies and they "pink-up" a few minutes after birth as they get more and more oxygen. I didn't know that so I would have definitely panicked if my son came out that blue and I hadn't watched that video. I feel as prepared as possible and if I'm not prepared, I wouldn't know it.
After the Childbirth Essentials course, April and I headed to Jill's house for Jenni's baby shower. It was a great baby shower. The food was awesome and the decor was all handmade by Jill. She had some really cute ideas. And I was excited to meet all of Jenni's friends and family I had never met before. It was great to finally put some names with faces. Sweet people; everyone had lots of fun!
After the shower, April and I headed home and crashed on the couch for the rest of the night. And on Sunday, April took some pictures of me doing "normal" stuff around the house. She said those type of pics are the ones she loves to look back on of our mom when she was pregnant with us... Thanks April for coming to visit me. I had an awesome weekend - I love my sister time!!
Whew - I've updated you now on the past 18 weeks. Sorry it took me so long. I had so many people getting on to me for not keeping this updated. And most of you thought I would give it up. Better late than never! Hope you've enjoyed. Two more weeks! Keep the positive thoughts and prayers coming our way please. I'm pretty nervous about labor - :)
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