passed down...

there are some very special clothes in our little mister boy's closet. a few of them are ones that his uncle austin and uncle dallas wore...this is one of them...

we are so in love with this little man! he has so many littles faces and sweet expressions...

ps...just realized in the true nick of time i got 2 posts in this month! woo hoo!! miss you friends!

maternity leave

happy thanksgiving! merry christmas! and i hope your 2010 is off to a blessed start! does that about cover everything i missed during my maternity leave? :) ...i hardly think so! i hope each of you had wonderful holidays and that life is treating you kindly!

thank you all for your warmest welcome on our little mister boy's arrival and introduction and for your "are you ok"..."we miss you" emails and comments! we had a rough start. he is and has been so very healthy and for that we are more than blessed and so grateful, but at 2.5 weeks we had an unwelcomed visitor...reflux......hence my absence. if you've "been there done that" then that would be enough said! ;) at his most painful the poor guy was at the point that he cried/screamed 30-45 min. after e-v-e-r-y feeding. we are thankful that we finally have found a therapy that works for him...and now at 3 months are beginning to get into a routine. it is more than gut-wrenching to watch your baby endure such agony.

he is such a happy baby with such an infectious smile and we are loving learning more and more about him! i hope you are each doing well and i hope to catch up...i can't promise a return to blogging as i have many projects on the horizon through march...but i think i can at least post once a month!

meet the little mister

thank you friends for your prayers, congratulations, and blessings as hubby and i welcomed our little man! we have spent the last 2 weeks getting to know our precious blessing and molding into a family of 3. we are "smittenly" in love with him!!! God blessed us with such a happy, healthy, thriving, content...and as his mommy i can say...perfect little baby boy!

lala is still in town and we are so thankful that she will be loving on him until early december...we have so appreciated her help and support...we are so blessed...

{ ...and she became lala }

He is here!!!

(Aunt Krystal posting on behalf of his mom)

Our little man is here!

Our little mister was born Tuesday at 7:45am. He weighed 6.7 lbs and 19 3/4 inches. 10 fingers and 1o toes~perfect as can be! Ashley is doing great, just trying to get some rest when she can.

Dad, Mom and baby are at home and resting. They will update with pictures and posts as soon as they can!

all our bags are packed

...and we're ready to go!

lala landed on wednesday and brought many surprises for the little mister and some for his daddy...but the mommy-to-be got this gorgeous brand new bag...as you can see it is already packed full and ready for its first trip...the hospital!!!

mom designed it just for me! it has several different fabrics...

and lots of little details...



and is complete with my monogram...

i love it! thank you so much mom! you always go above and beyond in thinking of the little things that make us feel so special! and thank you oh so very much for being here for us as we take it day to day on the wait for the little mister! we love you!!!

magic number

we have made it to 37 weeks!!! we didn't doubt we would until this week...

the little mister sure sent us all into a tailspin to hurry things up in getting ready for him...because he decided he is now coming any day. {which can be defined as tomorrow or in a week!}

we have been encouraging him all week to keep tight and wait a bit longer to make his debut.

we are grateful for the preparation time...but more importantly we are so thankful that he stayed snug and cozy until the magic number...37 weeks! he is now full-term!

we can't wait to meet this little babe who we so quickly fell in love with, have so fervently prayed selfishly perfect and healthy things for, and who we know will change our lives in one breath...

we welcome it and we can't wait to welcome him!

..............................

{ thank you so very much shea for taking some impromptu snaps for us!! you did a fabulous job with my new "bff"! we will surely treasure them! }

final touches

he's not here yet...but if i shared with you the list of things i got accomplished in just one day on wednesday...you would think he was coming this weekend {lets just say it gave my mom great concern that he might just be coming sooner than her flight next week!}

as promised i was able to get a few new snaps of the "little" extras we've added to his nursery making it complete and just waiting for the prince. ...

a pillow for his bed that hubby and i dreamed up...he will be a fourth generation "fire engine enthusiast" hence the 4 and we wanted a font that reflected one that would have been used on an old fire engine {that part was hubby's job!}...

the window seat cushion...that mom and i designed and ms. rebecca oh so very sweetly sewed up for us! {thank you so so much ms. rebecca...we love it!!! and mom for the gift!}...

mom made him a super duper long cord cover for the chandi...{i'm not going to admit how long this took me last week to turn right side out...} also in this picture {that i forgot to point out last time} are the 2 pictures that hang inside his window seat {there are 2 more that hang on the opposite inside too that you can see in the picture above} anyone who knows me knows i am extremely sentimental...but even i didn't plan this one. i took these 4 pics of the engines back when hubby and i were engaged...had them blown up, framed, and gave them to him one year for christmas. well...one of the pics on the opposite wall is of the engine we left the church on on our wedding day. {ok that i might have planned because it was hubby's favorite}...but the top engine in the picture below is of a mack {hubby's dad's favorite} that is from none other than one of the towns close to us here in PA...that one...i didn't plan many years ago when we were in texas and no idea we'd ever be here...but God has such a way of making me smile in the smallest of things! its just another reminder to me that His hand is in all things big and small...and that we are exactly where we are supposed to be...may our little mister always see these little things too and know how much God loves him.

mom and i designed the blanket while she was here...it gives great color to the rocker. she headed home and whipped it right up for her baby grand! thanks so much lala...we love it!!!

this isn't a new addition...but i hadn't touched on it last time and it was actually the start of the entire room...the fire engine painting above his bed is actually his daddy's. {mom and dad got it for b for graduation from medical school} it is a painting of b's fire engine that i got him his first birthday after we were married...only it doesn't currently look like this...it will once he restores it.

one of my mom's super creative friends creates these unique pieces of art! the coolest thing about it is that its not created with paint, but with melted crayon. see the texture... what talent!

lala, thank you so much for all of your hard work and skills on helping make and create the perfect little spot for our little mister on the way. we love it all and can't wait to see him enjoy it!

..................

and some answers to your questions from this post...
-"I would love to know if you can share where the "momento" holder came from..."

• unfortunately, i picked it up at a little boutique flower shop back when we lived in cleveland. i googled and found a similar one...and this would be a wonderful alternative! they are used a lot for christmas cards too like this one...

-"...just curious where did the inspiration for the firetrucks come from..."

• i touched on it a bit up top...but my husband, his father, and his grandfather are all "fire enthusiasts". they collect and restore vintage fire engines back to their original state...and can tell you just about any bit of information on the history of these engines that you could dream up. this is also why we went with authentic fire engine touches...and neither one of us wanted a theme-y theme per say. we don't want to force this on the little mister...but it only made sense that we introduce him to it at a very young age. plus...as hubby says..."what little boy doesn't love a fire engine?"

coming soon?

these pics are from last friday...it was a wonderful day at 35 weeks and 6 days preggo...hubby surprised me with a day off! he went in and rounded that morning and because of the g20 summit that literally took over our super popular city...he was case free for the rest of the day. oh how he needed a "down day" and we thoroughly enjoyed our day together...lunch out, shopping, new cell phones, and complete relaxation!

after my check up on monday it is apparent that the little mister most likely will not be making it to his due day. we shall just have to wait and see what he and the Lord decide will be a good day to make his debut!

thank you all so very very much for your precious comments on his nursery. a box arrived from my mom last week with all the final touches that we had designed and she and ms. rebecca sewed. i'm hoping to get pics taken on the completed and share those along with the answers to many of your questions...just might take a few days longer than planned as i am trying to work through my to-do list as quick as possible in case he decides to arrive anytime very soon.

the nursery is almost complete...

the nursery is almost in its final stage. {well close...the final stage will actually be when a cute little prince is laying in his bed!} there are a few touches that i designed and my momma is finishing up sewing and sending our way and his monogram will also go up once he arrives...then it will be ready!

but for now...here is the little mister's nursery...hopefully you'll enjoy the tour...come on in...

i am so more than happy with his bedding! thank you so much mom!



these are his bed buddies...and a very sweet blanket...all from dear friends and family



his curtains {also handmade by his lala} turned out beautifully and will soon have a cushion on the window seat below



his rocker arrived a couple weekends ago...courtesy of his daddy as my birthday surprise!
and looks just perfect with his firetrucks flying ahead {from aunt katie and uncle rick}

the lamp...hubby, mom, and i made...it is an old fire alarm box that hubby has had for a while...
you can even open the little door and set off an alarm...it started out like this...



this cute little vintage suitcase is from my aunt...i just love it! i hand carried it home on the plane this summer! it holds all the needed goods for proper diaper changes! the dishes are my baby dishes and the vintage little lamb is from his lala!



if you are a long time reader you will recognize his changing table...
and remember this ladder...



we are so happy with how the ladder turned shelf turned out...
{you just never know sometimes about the wild designs swirling in my head...}
hubby did a fabulous job redoing it and attaching it to the wall!!! thanks love!




right now i have several of his cards and blessings on his closet door. i just couldn't bear to hide them all away in a box yet. they are a wonderful reminder of all the love for this little mister on the way!



that concludes the tour! and i just realized i forgot to take a picture of his closet...what room isn't complete without a closet full of adorable clothes! i'll include that when the room is all finished and i snap some more pics!

thank you so much for the onesie love yesterday...they were my first attempt and i enjoyed doing them...super easy!