The Nursery is Finally Finished!

Hard-working daddy painting Addison's room.
The chair in the corner is from Mema's house--this is the grandmother Addison is named after. I should have used the flash on this picture and the next one because the color looks more yellow than it actually is.
The furniture was my furniture growing up. Her room also includes some of the wonderful gifts we received at the shower on Saturday.
This piece will serve as her changing table once we get the pad on top.

Addison's crib with her name hanging over the bed.

We reached our goal of finishing Addison's nursery before the shower on Saturday. The last project was her name hanging over the bed and that got finished late Friday night. We bought the letters and all the wood unfinished because we couldn't find anything else that was pre-made that would work. Wayne didn't want to put 7 holes in the wall to hang each letter individually, so we needed some way to hang her name. We came up with the shelf idea when we discovered the pre-made pegboards only had an even number of pegs. It turned out better than I expected and is a great addition to her room. I'm very pleased with her nursery and am glad we decided to use the furniture I grew up with. It's very unique. It turns out that the company who made her crib is a division of the company that made my furniture. Even though the furniture it 25+ years old and the crib is brand new, they go together very well. The crib and furniture both have an "antiqued" look and have some darker flakes within the wood. I was very surprised with how well they coordinated. And the chair in the corner really helps to tie together all the colors in the room. There is a lot of sentimental value to all the pieces in her room--some old and some new. I've found myself drawn to her room late at night before I go to bed. I sit in the big comfy chair and wait for Addison to start wiggling around. This time of the evening seems to be her most active time. It's a wonderful experience I will remember for a long time and something I will probably miss when she finally arrives.

Our first baby shower was on Saturday. The weather was miserable (rainy), but the shower was WONDERFUL! Thank you to all who turned out on that yucky day to celebrate with me. I'll share more about the shower when I get the pictures from the "official photographer". Needless to say, we spent much of the day Sunday unpacking, assembling and washing. Addison now has clean clothes, towels, bibs, and blankets in her room. The nursery is all set for her arrival.

I went to the doctor today and had another good checkup. My weight gain was a little below where it should have been which is surprising because I seem to be hungry and eating all the time now. It's rare that I go anywhere without food these days. Addison's heartbeat continues to be strong and she is measuring within a normal range. The doctor told me today that if I go into labor at this point, she probably wouldn't try to stop it as long as an ultrasound shows Addison is at least 5 pounds. That was a little startling to me--really motivated me even more to get everything in place at work. Hopefully she will cooperate and stay right where she is for 5 more weeks! I'll reach the 35 week mark tomorrow. It's so hard to believe this pregnancy has gone by so fast. I have truly enjoyed every minute of it. I'm feeling great--swelling a little more in my feet at the end of the day and feeling a little more tired--but still pretty comfortable. Working all day is helping me to sleep pretty good at night except for a couple trips to the bathroom. I'm also continuing to walk at least 45 minutes 5-6 days a week which I think is also helping me to feel good. I hope to keep that up until Addison arrives.

Thank you all for continuing to keep us in your prayers. I pray that this preganancy continues to go well and that her deliver goes just as smoothly. I can't wait to meet our little girl and to introduce her to all the people who have expressed so much love and caring for her even before she arrives. We appreciate you all so much!

Love,

Rebecca

Fun Weekend

Stephen is all smiles before the game.
Stephen enjoys cotton candy while mom and dad watch. Little brother Christian takes a nap.
Christian awake from his nap.
Christian and Uncle Wayne enjoy the game.

Wayne and I have had a fun weekend. We started off Friday celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary with a wonderful dinner and some shopping. We decided to buy ourselves a new Sony Handycam camcorder with a built-in hard drive to capture all our exciting moments with Addison. Then we left Saturday morning headed to Atlanta with Wayne's sister, Tonya, her husband, Marshall, and their boys, Stephen (3) and Christian (7 months). Stephen is all about baseball, so our purpose in going was to see a Braves game. It was a very fun trip and we enjoyed spending time with family. It's fun to see Wayne interact with Stephen and especially Christian since he is just a little guy. Wayne tries hard to entertain and take care of the boys, but he usually ends up irritating Stephen and making him mad. I also see that he has a little to learn about putting a baby in a carrier. I don't think he had tried that one before and poor Christian ended up with his arms pinned down by the straps. But at least Wayne was willing to give it a try. We spent the night in Atlanta and headed back home today.

We spent the afternoon doing a little shopping for some items for Addison's nursery. We finally got all the furniture in her room this week and have her crib put together. I also washed her bedding and have all of that on her bed. I want to hang wooden letters with her name over her crib, so we went shopping for those items today. I also needed some baskets to organize her things as well as curtain rods to hang the valences. We succeeded in finding everything but the curtain rods, so I'm pretty happy. My goal this summer has been to have her nursery ready by the first baby shower which is this weekend. It's going to be a busy week, but I think we can pull it together.

I've been back at work for 2 weeks now. It's very hectic and I'm worn out by the end of the day, but I think that has helped me continue to sleep pretty well. I'm really feeling good and the days are flying by. I'm trying to find a few minutes every hour or two to sit and rest. I'm usually on the phone or checking e-mail, but at least I'm sitting. I'm trying very hard to get everything in place before I leave for maternity leave so that the burden doesn't fall on my co-workers. They have been wonderful during my pregnancy and have been so willing to take on new tasks this year and while I'm off. I'm lucky to work with such a great group of ladies.

Addison update--Our little girl is very busy even though her space is getting small for her. While we were watching the Braves game last night, you could see her moving around in my belly. It was quite amusing to Wayne. According to the books, she is about 4 pounds now, but she feels like she weighs at least 10 pounds (especially at the end of the day). I went to the doctor on Wednesday and everything looks good. Her heartbeat continues to be strong. She is measuring in a normal range and she is already head down. I'm going to the doctor every 2 weeks now until I reach 37 weeks. I pray that this preganancy continues to go well and our little girl continues to grow stronger each day. I can't wait to meet her!