Well... it's FINISHED! We finally got all of the nursery completed (and with 5 days to go!)! Here are some pictures and a video for my sis in Virginia.

We got some really cute old black and white pictures of Little League. The one on the bottom is of little boys learning to play first base. That was Chris' position so we had to get it! Behind the rocking chair is a really old bat given to us by Chris' grandmother. It's amazing what your family has lying around!

My mom did an AMAZING job on the bedding. I had something very specific in mind and we were able to find all of the fabric that I liked on the web or in the stores!

A picture of Chris in Little League, Chris' grandfather's glove and a cup my Grandmother had engraved with Cooper's initials

A picture of my dad in Little League and a really old Red Sox pennant I found online

Tea Party Time

Mom has been going into early withdraws knowing that this is her last week with just Caroline. Mom has watched Caroline everyday (except for the summer) since she was 8 weeks old! They are definitely two peas in a pod!
They have been spending the week doing countless fun things. The biggest hit has been having their normal tea parties outside in Caroline's playhouse. Because it is ridiculously hot here (almost 90 degrees today!!) they have been able to have perfect weather!

ALSO.. I go in for another appointment today. We'll see what the doctor has to say! We will for sure have a baby this time next week- unless he chooses to come earlier!

Last Thursday I had the sweetest shower at school. The ladies were so generous and I got some really wonderful gifts! We also got to break in our brand new library!

On Sunday I had my first baby shower for Cooper. These sweet ladies outdid themselves! I had a wonderful time! There is something so amazing about events like births and weddings- they bring together a ton of people you love in one place. I love that!

A SUPER yummy cake!

A few of the goodies!

My class at school got me a new car seat

The hostess gift

Thank you to all of the sweet friends and family that came and were so generous!

Happy Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day was different than our previous years. We decided to drive to Dallas to eat at one of our favorite places! This lovely locale is located right off of Industrial Blvd. It even had karaoke (there was a man wearing a large cowboy hat with a big feather sticking out of the top of it and singing into the hugest sound system ever!). We went inside to order our tacos and then headed to the truck to eat. It was a very colorful environment. Every few minutes a preteen girl would come by and ask it we wanted to buy a teddy bear or rose or a balloon containing both.

The view from the truck as we ate

My tacos- no hot sauce or lime on flour

Chris' tacos- no cilantro on corn

There was a young woman outside the door that sells fresh corn! You can add things like cheese, butter or even sour cream! I opted for cheese and butter.

HATE the 9 months pregnant pictures!

We went to the movies after we got back from Dallas and waited with 250 others in line. We got to the front at the very instant our movies sold out. Lovely. Do you people really want to see a large, pregnant woman cry or scream?? In an attempt to avoid a scene, Chris quickly suggested we head home and watch a movie on Pay Per View. We ran by the store to get some stuff to make for dessert and settled in to enjoy the movie.

Hope you all had as great of an evening as we did! There is something so comforting about just doing what you want to do on Valentine's Day. No need to dress up or spend a lot of money- just a good time with the one you love!

Cooper Update

Well I went into the doctor yesterday (the lovely weekly visit). I had a sono first and they estimated that he weighs about 6 lbs. right now. She couldn't get a good belly measurement so she said it may be off. Then my doctor did an exam (lovely) and said I am dilated to 1+cm! I was surprised! I could tell I was progressing but I was setting myself up for her to tell me nothing was going on. I sat at this same measurement with Caroline for several weeks, so it's not like we are packing bags or anything, but I am glad to know that my body is thinking about getting this baby out!
My official induction date is March 5. We'll check in the night before and labor through the night. I did this with Caroline and LOVED it, so I requested to do it again!
So there you have it! We'll see what happens over the next few weeks!

The Beginning of a Nursery

Well, we've got the nursery going. We painted this weekend and got the furniture and a few other things moved in tonight. We are still lacking most of the decor, the curtains, the rest of the bedding and maybe a rug or something.

This is the room before we did anything

Caroline was giving Daddy instructions about how to put the crib together

The baseball fabric in the bedding

Caroline trying out the bed

The toy chest was made by Chris' GrandMarshall and the bear was made for Cooper by his Aunt Allie and Uncle Anthony. The rocking chair came from my grandparent's old house.

We obviously still have a lot of the cutesy stuff to do, but it can be used if we need to!

After much pleading, Sara and I finally agreed to have a picutre made of our ever-growing tummies. It has been so much fun to do this with her! She is such a sweet friend and has been such a blessing!

Ready or Not...

I have been leaning more to the NOT side of that statement for pretty much this entire pregnancy! Now don't mistake- I am personally very ready to meet my new little guy ASAP- just ask my shirts with the belly hanging out. But, as far as the preparation for Cooper's arrival, we are moving at a very slow pace. Like snail's pace. Like school zone pace. For whatever reason, I have not been the least bit concerned about even looking at what stuff we have from Caroline and what we need to replace. I have been completely avoiding our office/guest room for weeks in an attempt to ignore what needs to be done.
Honestly I am so much more excited about meeting him and seeing what he looks like and going into labor (weird I know!) than I am about what color his walls are or what he is coming home in. What's wrong with me!!?? Is it the second child thing? Is it the working full time thing? What?
The nesting is slowly starting to creep in however, because I found myself getting up from a nap yesterday and going to each of our closets one by one and making a mental checklist of what I wanted to change in them. ME? Get up from a nap? Unheard of! There are rumblings of urgency, but really it is still very forced.
The main motivation I got was when my boss (who knows the controlling side of me) said, "Ashley, if you don't get everything organized and he comes early, someone else is going to end up doing it for you." That statement got me sweating (or was it a hot flash?). Either way, he is coming in about 4 weeks, so I have to at least begin thinking in that direction.
Chris and I cleaned out a closet yesterday, so I decided that was plenty of work for several days and I will revisit the issue this weekend...maybe.