Sutton's Shower

Meghan, Cathleen, and Corinne planned the sweetest sprinkle for baby Sutton on March 29th. I was 30 weeks pregnant here. They came up on Friday (Ryan, Hayden, and Ava too). We all enjoyed dinner and had fun catching up. This was the first time we had guests to our new house so that was exciting as well. On Saturday the girls were so sweet preparing food and decorating for our friends to come over.

 

Corinne, me, Cathleen, Meghan

 

Meghan had the cutest banner made on burlap fabric and it will look adorable in her nursery.

 

They made lemonade and of course had cute mason jars and pink straws

 

Meghan painted some Sutton's monogram since they through me "Monogram Sprinkle"

 

Me with my fam!

Amy, Meghan, me, Cathleen, Corinne

 

They made chicken salad croissants, a vegetable tray, spinach/artichoke dip, apples with toffee bit dip, lemon cookies (from ham-n-goodies in Knoxville), and Martha's famous cake squares (that my mother-in-law contributed.

 

Everything looked absolutely perfect! It was time for our guests to arrive.

 

 My mother-in-law who is sooo sweet to me arrived with some of her very best girlfriends. She will be retiring in July just in time to help out with Sutton. I just know Sutton will be spoiled having Papa and Nana take care of her.

 

 

It was so sweet for everyone to put their personal touch on a mongrammed gift for Sutton. We got so many sweet little outfits, blankets, and even a bible with her name engraved.

 

 

Hayden helped me with all the gifts and was an adorable little helper while Ryan, Craw, Hope, and Carter played upstairs.

 

I can NOT wait for all these girly outfits. I have dreamt of these types of outfits all my life. I can't wait for bows, monograms, and pink everything!

 

Most of my Greenville girlfriends were busy this weekend but I was so excited that Ashley was able to make it. We have become such great friends over the past two years and now we will have kids that are 9 months apart.

 

Aunt Cat put on a gift show for Brad after the shower. He is secretly so pumped about having a girl. He loves all these clothes and he can't wait to help me dress her up!

 

I appreciated everyone coming out on their busy Saturdays to celebrate this little blessing that we can't wait to welcome into the world. I am so grateful that I have had an easy pregnancy thus far. I have loved being pregnant and feeling her kick and squirm. I just love this part of being pregnant. I am enjoying every moment of this pregnancy but can't wait to see her personality when she arrives in June. Thanks again to my amazing sisters and best friend for making me feel really special and planning such a sweet party to celebrate Sutton!

House (Almost) Done

We have been battling the polar vortex the past few months with record setting temperatures in the single digits and snow and ice and you name it.  Therefore, we are still not in our house.  We should have been moving in the end of January but here it is, mid-February and still not in.  At the beginning of the building process last summer, it rained 6 straight weeks and now here at the end, snow and ice.  We really picked, weather-wise, a bad time to build but at the end of it all, its definitely going to be worth it.  I subbed out all of the work myself, even did some of it on my own.  Here are a few of the roadblocks we have battled throughout the process:
-6 straight weeks of rain
-concrete guy pouring my footers wrong (had to cantilever my framing)
-had to cut out framing after it was done to run pipe for gas logs
-roofers flashed incorrectly around chimney and windows not caulked so had flooded master bedroom and family room
-had flooded crawl space due to brick guys not building up crawl space opening (rain would run down side of my house and into crawl space) - bought sump pump to pump out water on a consistent basis until crawl space opening was built up 8 inches - spent many days under there moving dirt around to limit the amount of water build up and to level it out (back took a hurtin' on those days)
-tankless water heater pipes busted due to extreme cold weather, flooded crawl space even more
-determined there was a natural spring on the left side of my lot where the driveway was going - landscaper had to put in a drainage system to send the water out the back of the lot
-grader busted main water line going to the house, water was spewing everywhere (plumber fixed same day so not that big of an issue)
-tried to get painters to the house for 3 weeks, they never showed - had to go with different painter who was more expensive but he was really good and accommodating
-tried to get garage poured for 2 weeks, they never showed - called different company, they were out there in less than 2 hours to pour it for me
-pushed back 2 weeks on getting driveway poured due to freezing temperatures
-tile ordered wrong, had to re-order (took over 2 months from start to finish to get tile work complete)
-double oven cabinet ordered wrong, had to modify cabinet to lower double oven
-one of the three French doors leading to back porch was sent from the manufacturer with a faulty locking mechanism (took over 2 months to get fixed)
-3 times, my heat stopped working; 3rd trip to fix it was a charm; have not had any problems since
-our white Carrera marble top for the master bath was installed with a seam in it - we had told to the fabricator we wanted a solid piece - we waited a month and a half to get it replaced

I'm sure there are some obstacles I missed but these were the main ones I can remember.  Overall, being the builder and homeowner definitely increased my stress level but I keep reminding myself that it will be worth it once complete.  Being the first house I've built from start to finish, I learned a lot.  There are so many things I didn't realize that goes into building a house, so many decisions that have to be made spur of the moment in order to keep production moving.

The #1 issue I encountered was subcontractors not showing up, not calling back, not completing their work in a timely manner.  However, here are a few of the good ones:
-cabinet specialist and the installers were always on time, very knowledgeable and did everything I asked of them
-electrician was efficient and extremely respectable
-plumbers always came out same day when asked (which was a lot)
-hardwood flooring installers finished in one day with no issues (and there is quite a bit of flooring, they didn't speak English but luckily, they didn't have any questions for me)
-framers (whom I knew from previous work) were great and had fun while working (every time I would go out there to check on them, they had their latino music playing and singing; it was a lot of fun to be out there with them)
-painters did everything I asked, they worked after hours when needed

Again, it was a great experience and I learned so much.  After 7 months of construction, we can't wait to move in next week and get settled in our home.  Below are a few random pics of the process.  I will do another blog once fully completed with more pics of the finished product.

Baby - It's a.....

We knew we wanted to find out what we were having as soon as possible. I waited until the 20 week ultrasound last time and I have no idea how I waited that long. Since we were all going to be together for Craw's birthday I thought it would be fun for us all to find out together. On December 11,2013 Brad, Craw, and I headed to the ultrasound facility and got to watch the baby wiggle and move all around. I told that tech that we would like to take the results of the sex with us and not find out that day. After showing us the baby move all about she told us to turn our heads while she figured out what we were having. I could have sworn I heard her type b-o-y enter and I was just 100% it was a boy. When I asked her how someone would know what it is she said "oh they will be able to tell and if not I labeled it." I kept thinking back and I was like I totally heard her type boy and now she's telling me she typed something so I know it's a boy. I thought we would be so anxious the rest of the day...but we thought it would be so much more fun to find out with a ton of balloons exploding out of a box. We wanted to wait until Corinne and all the kiddos got to the cabin so we could all get excited together. Brad and his mom took this giant box up to Kroger and asked the florist to blow up a dozen balloons and seal the box as tight as possible. They told her that no one knew what it was and she was so surprised that she would be the only one who knew. We told her we would be back later that afternoon for the box. We were all so nervous picking the box up...we didn't want the surprise ruined and we were so nervous that we would see something coming out of the box that would ruin the surprise. After celebrating Craw's birthday with his Thomas cake we took the box downstairs and all crowded around. We had Brittany on facetime, Meghan on facetime, (Cathleen was holding two iphones), Brian/Amy on facetime (on doug's phone), Janet was videoing it, and Corinne had Brad's phone --- so on the count of 3 we opened the box and out came pink balloons!! All I remember is jumping up and down again and again. I think I was soooo shocked I didn't even know how to react...Ryan and Hayden we just as excited as me and it was craziness in the room. It was such a fun moment for me to share with everyone. Brad was looking at me like I was looney! Corinne forgot to hit record so we don't have this on video. Janet videod the balloons so we really don't have a good video of any of it...but we will never forget this exciting moment!!

 

 

 

 Poor Craw--when you ask him if he wants a brother or sister he says "no thanks"
We (by we I mean I) have been in a state of uncertainty since we found out the sex because now I keep second guessing the ultrasound like "maybe we went too soon and it's really a boy" so I haven't gone overboard shopping yet until we have our next ultrasound at 19 weeks. Either way I am over the moon about a second baby and I can only imagine how hard my bank account will take a hit once the shopping ensues.

 

 

The baby was moving around like crazy at the 15 week ultrasound so we didn't get the many clear shots.

This is the picture that was labeled girl in the envelope! It is soo crazy to believe we will be having a girl!! 

Christmas Pictures

We always do Christmas pictures and this was the first year Craw would actually smile for the pictures! Here are a few of our favorites!

 

 

Crawford Turns 3

Since Craw's birthday is in December and it's cold and close to Christmas I have vowed to make his birthday as special as I can. There is nothing he loves more than all of his cousins so we were excited to plan a weekend in Pigeon Forge at a cabin with my sisters, the kiddos, and Brad's parents. All Craw talked about was wanting to see a train for his birthday...we were thinking oh please let us find a train. It was too cold to take him to see the Dollywood train and after visiting the Christmas shop and letting him watch the model train he still wanted more train action.

The first night there was just Brad's parents, Aunt Cat and us so we decided to let him open up his first birthday present which was a giant train that goes around the Christmas tree. Of course he LOVED it!

 

He must have sat like this watching the train forever!

The next day Corinne and her crew arrived. We decided to check out Gatlinburg. We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets and then took the tram to the top of Ober Gatlinburg. The 4 kids just thought the tram was the coolest thing! When we got to the top there was snow everywhere. We watched some snow tubers and skiers before heading back down. I think we will all plan to bring snow clothes next time and try out the snow tubing!

 

Back at the house we cooked up a roast dinner and then sang Happy Birthday to Craw. He got the only thing he asked for which was a Thomas the Train cake!

 

 

 

All the kids gathered around the table and we sang to Craw before he blew out every single one of the candles that spelt out Happy Birthday!

 

It's amazing how well they all play together...they all run around like crazy wild and they laugh and have a ball!

 

Craw got to open all his presents from his cousins which included lots of Thomas the train themed items.

We sure don't get to see all these munckins enough and even though I am not sure Craw quite got that this was a celebration for him turning 3 he still loved all of these people coming together and getting to play with his cousins.

 

The kids played in the hot tub, they played with his train, they played shuffleboard, and just ran all over the cabin until they were all exhausted. We will always remember our sweet boy turning 3 up in the mountains of Tennessee!

baby #2 ---1st trimester

 

We found out we having baby #2 on October 1, 2013. After months of trying to conceive I finally took a positive pregnancy test. I had gotten so frustrated and discouraged that this particular month I waited until I 4 days late before testing. I woke up at 6 am giddy excited because I thought this really could be the month. I waited until Brad left for work and then after getting confirmation that we were indeed pregnant I couldn't wait to share the news with Brad. I had the day off so I just beamed from ear to ear all day before picking Crawford up from school. I changed him into a big brother shirt and we picked up some ice cream and met Brad at the new house to surprise him with the news. He was sooo excited!

 

 

Since I found out when I was only 4 weeks along I was very cautious and nervous. I waited a few days before calling the doctor since I knew they wouldn't want to see me for a few weeks. I went in to see the nurse at the Ob office on October 10 at just 5 weeks pregnant. They went over the dos and donts of pregnancy. I still wasn't feeling sick or pregnant but I felt much more excited about it all after this visit. ...three days later sickness set in....It was BAD! (much worse than I ever remember feeling with Crawford) I felt sick from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to sleep. It was like instant sickness. All of the sudden I couldn't work out, nothing sounded good to eat, and I felt like I could hardly stand up to work all day. I kept reading that the "morning sickness" usually peaked around 9 weeks. I kept wondering how I was going to make through the first trimester. Every now and then I would have an hour here or there where I didn't feel sick but overall I felt sick...all day...everyday! Around 8 weeks along I started feeling a little cramping. I called the doctor and they suggested I come in for an ultrasound later that week. When I got home from work two night later around 9 I went to get ready for bed and I started bleeding everywhere. I just  broke down. I thought for sure my pregnancy was over. I called the doctor and they told me to come in first thing in the morning and kind of prepared me for the worst. I had to call in to work (which you can't really do as a pharmacist) but I was a wreck and knew that I had to be at the doctor in the morning). I woke up and we went into the doctor prepared for the worst and then the ultrasound tech pulled up the ultrasound monitor and the first thing I heard was a heartbeat. She goes well there's the baby. I was stunned. She didn't know anything that was going on...so of course I stopped her immediately and was like wait but I thought the baby ....and I just couldn't believe my eyes. I was in shock! The doctor said everything looked perfect and they truly couldn't identify what caused the bleeding. She even asked me "are you sure you were really bleeding." I felt excited but cautious over the next several days. I still had some bleeding but I still felt terribly sick. They ran some tests on my hormones and still everything looked ok. I was set for an ultrasound 2 weeks later at 11 weeks.

 

At 11 weeks, the nerves set in again as I was soo nervous about hearing the sweet heartbeat of the baby. The sickness had continued which kept my hopes alive. The baby was moving all over the place and the ultrasound tech said the baby measured around 11 weeks and looked great. Again, the doctor assured me that these things happen and that I indeed did have a little baby growing in my stomach. We were beaming when we left the office....No sickness could take away my excitement that day.

I still had not told many people as the whole scare had me nervous but I finally felt like I could share our exciting news!!