BABY SHOWERS IN JAX

On Saturday, August 11, our wonderful friends and family hosted two baby showers for Baby Boy Hewiett in Jacksonville.  I finished up my travels for work that week and headed straight to Jax where I met Josh for the weekend.  It was so wonderful to see all of our family and friends and we are so thankful for everything that they did for our baby boy.

Both Grandma's with Baby Boy Hewiett - Mimi & Grammy :)

The first shower was hosted by my college friends Jackie, Paula and Liz.  The shower was at Liz's parents' house and we invited a lot of friends from Jax.  It was so wonderful to see everyone!!

Beautiful Food Table

Eating before playing games

Gifts for Baby Boy Hewiett

Christmas jammies :)

Are you My Mother?  - Can't wait for story time

Baby Boy Hewiett's Blanket with an alligator :)

With Aunt Cat

Shower Hostesses AKA Gator Aunts - Jackie, Paula & Liz

The second shower was later in the afternoon and was hosted by our families.  It was held at Normandy Park Baptist church in one of their fellowship halls.  

Beautiful decorations done by Aunt Mel

Food & Presents for Baby Boy Hewiett

Love this picture: Mimi, Aunt Cat, Mommy, Aunt Mel & Grammy :)

Aunt Pat, Me, Mom & Aunt Lala

Michelle & I with our boys 

Cowboy boots and a Long Horn for the trips to Texas

Getting ready for fishing :)

Hewiett/Allen Men with Baby Boy Hewiett's Name

Dad and Mom - Boy does that sound weird!

Aunt Lisa, Ashli, Me, Grandma Hewiett & Mel

Baby Hewiett with his Great-Grandmothers

Overall it was a wonderful weekend with family and friends and we are so incredibly thankful for all of the wonderful gifts we received.  We were able to come home and finish the nursery last weekend - I will post pictures very soon!

33 WEEK UPDATE

How Far Along: 33 Weeks (Last Friday)

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a pineapple (21 inches long, 4 lbs 11oz as of our sonogram last week)

The Bad: Lower back and hips get sore if I sit or stand in one position for too long.

Maternity Clothes: Lots of them... Nothing non-maternity fits at this point :)

Gender: BOY - getting so excited to meet and see him.

Sleep: Sleep is difficult - get up every 2-3 hours for the bathroom.   

Movement: Moving all the time - especially when I am laying down to try and sleep at night.  He is big enough now that I feel like I can tell what his exact position is - even Josh can feel my stomach and say "Oh his side is right here and I think that is an elbow or leg..."  Pretty neat.  I also sat down to play the piano this week for the first time since I have been pregnant and he was moving a ton - got to get him used to it now!

What I miss: Sleeping on my back!!  When I wake up on my back now... I am in lots of pain.

Cravings: Still no real cravings which is kind of boring I know... sorry no pickles or hot sauce here!

Symptoms: Growing belly, still a little heartburn or random hiccup here or there... from me that is.  I think I may have felt him have hiccups this week too.  

Best Moment this week: Getting to see our little guy in another sonogram at our appointment - he is getting so big that it is harder to see everything at one time.  He and I had a great checkup after all of the travel for work the past couple of weeks and so we were very thankful.  Also - we got to set an inducement date for Sunday evening, September 30th.  If all goes as planned - our baby boy will be born on Monday, October 1.  (That is 6 weeks from today - BTW...)  

Nursery Progress... this weekend we were almost able to finish the nursery!  Josh and I were so excited after unpacking all of the baby gifts from last weekend's showers and getting the rocking chair delivered on Thursday that we stayed up until 2AM Friday night to hang pictures and put away/organize everything.  I still have a couple of things that I need to get this week and I hope to post pictures very soon!  It has become my new favorite room in the house - I love to go in there and sit and dream about bringing him home to be there :).  Cheesy I know... but I am getting very ready and excited!

NURSERY PROGRESS at 28 WEEKS

Lately, we have been hard at work in the nursery getting things ready for our baby boy due in about 12 weeks!!  We have decided to use one of the extra bedrooms upstairs as the nursery - it has a very unique shape that we thought would work perfectly for the furniture we wanted to include: crib, rocker, dresser/changing table & toy chest.  When we first moved in - the room look like this:

 NURSERY: BEFORE

For the design of the nursery - I am trying to pull together lots of elements that would be sort of industrial and am also incorporating a few reptile themed items... the bedding I picked out has an alligator on it (tastefully done of course) and so I am playing off of that by incorporating other reptiles/animal accessories... although, I am not sure if that is the theme... I am trying not to go too overboard.

So far, we have painted the walls, trim and doors, changed out the outlets/face plates from ivory to white, installed an overhead light, purchased a dresser and toy chest and found various accessories, toys, books and artwork to include.

NURSERY: PROGRESS - Walls painted a dark khaki color

Industrial Pendant Light Installed - Pottery Barn Kids 

Toy Chest for Window Niche - Homegoods

Dresser/Changing Table - Homegoods (Broyhill)

A few toys/accessories we have collected or received as gifts + artwork from ETSY

We have also been working on the crib.  We found a Jenny Lind crib on craigslist and purchased it before we even knew the sex of the baby... we had decided that either way, we liked the style and would plan to paint it an accent color.  

 Jenny Lind crib after we sanded and cleaned it off...

Here is my sweet husband applying the first coat of primer (we did two)

First coat of GREEN paint - love it so far

Because of the torrential amount of rain we have had over the past few days, we have yet to apply the final coat of paint.  After that, we plan to let the crib cure for at least 2-3 more days before moving it inside.  I am so excited to see the end result in the room.

So... we still have a lot of work to do.  We have ordered a rocker and rug for the room - those should come in later this month and we need to get curtains for the windows, more accessories and hang everything/set it all up/organize.

For the most part I think the big items are either taken care of or on their way so I feel pretty good.  I hit the road this Monday for 4 weeks in a row for work.  We I return after all the travel in mid-August, we plan to pull everything together in a couple of weeks or so.

Will post the final results very soon!

House Update: Den & Kitchen

Happy Thursday everyone!  So glad that tomorrow is Friday... things have been busy around here.  We are definitely still doing lots of work on the house and although I would not say we are "done" - there are definitely a couple of rooms that I feel like have progressed enough to show you :).  

The first room is our den - I think this is definitely the most dramatic before and after room that we have so far... The room has original pine paneling that had not been touched since it was built/installed in 1970.  As soon as we saw this room... we knew it had a ton of potential.  We loved the character in the architectural detailing and the larger than life fire place.  

DEN: BEFORE

Upon moving in, we decided that this room would be used as our family room or living room and would contain our media cabinet with TV and large comfy sectional.  It is in the perfect location since it is right off of the kitchen and would be convenient to watch kids play/hang out while I am in the kitchen cooking.  We immediately decided to paint the wood paneling and trim/door but leave the wood beams in the ceiling as is... We changed out the window treatments and overhead lighting.

DEN: AFTER

We absolutely love the end result.  Painting the walls a grey/blue color has lightened up the space tremendously.  The room feels very comfortable and much more like home :).  We still have lots of plans for this space... some of which include: Clean up the fireplace/add accessories to the mantel (since it is such a focal point, I am taking my time to find just the right items...), add window panels on the windows to soften the hard edges and find an end table/lamp for the sofa end of the sectional.

The next room that we worked on was the kitchen.  Again, we love the character of our kitchen and simply thought that a fresh paint job would lighten up the space.  The paint in the kitchen when we moved in was a dark red color... Now, don't get me wrong, I love red - just not on the walls.  

KITCHEN: BEFORE

We immediately painted the walls a light french blue, changed out the light fixture on the working/cooking side from gold to oil rubbed bronze and changed out the faucet on the sink to an oil rubbed bronze finish to match the existing hardware on the cabinets.  

KITCHEN: AFTER

We love our kitchen - again, the improvements we have made so far make it really feel more like home.  There is a ton of storage/work space which makes making meals together much easier!  

That is all of the improvements I have to share for now... stay tuned for more to come.  I am hoping to post a few PROGRESS pics of the nursery since I am getting so anxious to show everyone!  

27 WEEK :: 7 MONTH UPDATE

How Far Along: 27 Weeks (Friday)

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a head of cauliflower (16 inches long, 2.5 lbs)

The Bad: Nothing really too bad at this point... leg cramps have stopped for now (very glad).  

Maternity Clothes: I am in maternity pants and tops all the time now... don't really have anything non-maternity that fits anymore. I am also loving the maternity dresses - very comfortable!

Gender: BOY - we can't wait to meet him :)

Sleep: Sleep is getting more and more difficult.  Getting up multiple times during the night to use the bathroom and getting some more noticeable pains in my sides and back.  

Movement: Still feeling lots of movement!  I can tell that he does not have nearly as much room as before... his movements are slower but bigger... if that makes sense.  I am beginning to wonder if he is going to have any room left to move at all in a couple of months.  Also - I can really tell when he is unhappy with the way I am laying when asleep - he lets me know.

What I miss: Sleeping... although everyone is telling me that this is just preparation for what is to come.

Cravings: Still no real cravings which is kind of boring I know... sorry no pickles or hot sauce here!

Symptoms: More frequent trips to the bathroom (of course) and the ever growing belly - I can't believe how much he has grown since my last update a month ago.  Josh and a lot of my friends have said the same thing... 

Best Moment this week: Getting to see our little guy in another sonogram at our appointment and starting to work on the nursery.  I think it is really starting to hit us that we will be bringing home our baby boy to live with us in 3 short months!  

Nursery Progress... this week we started (well, Josh started and I watched...) painting the crib (there are lots of layers of paint and airing out in between), hung the light, switched out the outlets/switches in his room, found a toy chest and framed some artwork that I found and purchased off of Etsy.  I am hoping we can finish the crib this week and I can post some progress pics.  We are so thankful and are so excited to prepare for our baby boy.  

BERMUDA!!

And now on to our cruise to Bermuda: On Sunday afternoon, we boarded our ship in New Jersey and left for a seven day cruise to Bermuda.  We had a great time - lots of relaxing, good food, sun and spending time with family.  Our ship (seen below) was The Summit with Celebrity Cruises.  We spent two days at sea, three days in Bermuda and then another day at sea before returning back to the states.

 Our first formal night - before dinner picture 

Bermuda was beautiful!  The water was crystal clear blue the temperature was in the 70's which was a nice relief from all of this hot weather we have been having around here...

The view from our balcony - A fort in the bay in Bermuda

The first day that we got off the ship, we decided to take a tour of the island with my Mom and Aunt Delila.  (We had to do something low key that the preggo was allowed to do... no snorkeling or wind surfing here...)  None of us realized how big and nice Bermuda is... we are much more used to the Bahamas that have good parts and bad parts - Bermuda is all nice.  It is a British territory and you have to be a citizen of Bermuda to buy property or move there... they do not let just anyone in!  They are the third most populated country per capita in the world - it is certainly crowded and they can't let everyone move there that wants to...

We visited lots of scenic beaches on our tour... complete with Pink Sand.  (Although it was not quite as pink as I had imagined...)  The pink sand comes from the coral reefs.

We took a tour of  Crystal Caves that was beautiful - lots of rock formations - not quite the same as the ones I was used to seeing in Tennessee or other places in the US that have a lot more RED dirt that causes the formations to be more colorful.  These were mainly white, but still beautiful.

We went to the Aquarium and Zoo and Josh took this awesome picture of a sea turtle - so pretty.

The next day, Josh went snorkeling with my Aunt Sissy, Uncle Jean-Claude and cousins Christian and Natasha while I went on a glass bottom boat tour with my Mom and Aunt Delila.  We all had a lot of fun and then after meeting back on the ship for lunch, Josh and I headed across the port to take a tour of the fort.  There was a pool in the back where they had dolphins that you could swim with or watch do tricks - picture below.  

View from the Fort Back to the ship

Inside the commissioner's house - in the process of full restoration

Overall the vacation was relaxing and a lot of fun - definitely something that we needed before this busy summer of work travel and getting ready for our baby boy!