Cole's Nursery Reveal

When I found out I was pregnant, I was not the person that automatically started pinning nursery ideas or had this grand plan for a fancy nursery.  I started thinking of color ideas, but that was about it. I wanted simple, not too modern, and most importantly, I wanted the opportunity for the nursery to change with Cole.

And then when I found out we were having a boy, I felt like that made everything even easier. Plus, I don't like anything that looks too "baby", so going with simple colors like grey and navy made my possibilities endless.  I am so happy with how it turned out. And I am even more happy that I didn't put to much stress on myself about it or try to do anything too elaborate and time consuming. The best part was it was done by 34 weeks, so no last minute stress.

I did have a few splurges, but of course I justified them in my head and so glad I did. At the same time, I found some amazing deals and was also able to re-use a few items I had already had.

Welcome to Cole's Nursery!!!!

view  into the room from the door

bookshelves and artwork made by Cole's cousin Sicily

best chair ever and blackout curtains

I love this dresser, so many drawers!

We love Bob Marley and everything Jamaica, so naturally this fit perfect.

Cole's Room

Meet Cole Michael Gardner

Our little peanut just couldn't wait till his scheduled delivery day, he decided to join the world 24 hours early. Cole Michael Gardner was born 6/18/2013 at 6:06 am. He was 6 lbs and 19.5 inches in length.

Ross and I are so in love and I hope to share his birth story with everyone soon!

Maternity Pictures

At 35 weeks we had our maternity pictures done by the amazing LE photography. I had many great recommendations for her and have always LOVED her work, she is crazy talented. We got very lucky with the weather the day of our shoot. It was suppose to be stormy all day, but the weather gods gave us a couple hour window of warm temperatures, sun, and less wind. I am very happy with how they turned out and had such a hard time narrowing down which ones to turn to prints and share with you.

I am so glad we decided to do these pictures to document this amazing time. And I am even more excited for her to do our newborn pictures. Enjoy

Baby Gardner- 38 weeks

How far along? 38 weeks
Total weight gain. No weight gain at last appt, so it looks like I will be at 21 lbs total.
Baby Development. Not much is happening as far as development goes, he is just getting stronger and gaining a little more fat. At our 38 week appt I was about 60% effaced and he didn't check to see if I was dilated (I think he was afraid of aggravating my cervix therefor causing progression due to his position). But baby is still VERY low, at least a +1 station. Also the doctor thinks because he is so low and  I am tall, I might be "hiding" a bigger baby. His guess was 7 lb 6 oz., we will see. Ross doesn't believe this(he thinks we are gonna have a little peanut), but I think that sounds about right.
Maternity Cloths? No new cloths, just squeezing into my maxi skirts, leggings, and tanks and turning up the heat on the dryer to shrink them back down to size. So total maternity cloths bought were 3 pair of pants, 1 dress, and 2 tanks. Very lucky that I am pregnant at a time of year that didn't require much more.
Stretch Marks? I don't want to jinx myself the last week, but I may have dodged this nasty bullet
Sleep? Still sleeping well, I do get up for a bathroom break and notice myself doing more repositioning than normal, but I am comfortable
Best Moment of the week? For the first time at our 38 week appt, things felt "real". While discussing what will happen next week in great detail with the doctor, all I could think was oh my gosh, this baby is coming. Excited, Nervous, Anxious, SO. MANY. EMOTIONS
Symptoms? A lot of Braxton Hicks, especially in the morning. If I sit too long I get a lot of pressure in my diaphragm,lots of bathroom breaks, and had a few episodes of that annoying sciatic pain this week
Food cravings? Fruit, seriously could eat it all day. Haven't had much of an appetite, no room for food in there. So, I have to force myself to eat something every couple hours.
Miss anything? Lunch meat sandwiches, sleeping on my back, not peeing every 20 minutes
Movement? Still very active, lots of knees and elbows in my sides
Gender ? baby boy
Belly Button in or out? Still in, but very funny looking
Goals for upcoming week?  JUST.BREATH. I cannot believe this is all happening
Looking Forward to? Meeting our son. I am tearing up just writing what might be my last weekly post. AND revealing his name!!
Thoughts? If my little guy stays put until Wednesday, I am going to try and do one last post Tuesday night/Wednesday morning -not like I will be able to sleep knowing I am going to wake up and have a baby-holy emotional overload.  But otherwise next time we meet, I will introduce you to the rest of my life!!!

Baby Gardner- 37 weeks

How far along? 37 weeks
Total weight gain.  Lost 1 lb at last appt, so 21 lbs total.
Baby Development. Baby G is gaining about 1/2 ounce a day and getting his first sticky poop (called meconium) ready. He's also brushing up on skills for the outside world: blinking, sucking, inhaling, exhaling, and gripping. At our 37 week appt I was not dilated, about 30% effaced and still in a head down position.
Maternity Cloths? Still wearing my non maternity dress, skirts, and leggings
Stretch Marks? Still Safe
Sleep? Thankfully, no problems here. I have taken a few naps this week, they were glorious. 
Best Moment of the week?  Our 37 week appt went well, everything looks great. Our new grill got delivered so Ross is officially on dinner duty!! Our baby list is officially COMPLETE!!!! Now we just need our little man here.
Symptoms? Very intense Braxton Hicks, frequent bathroom breaks, and lots of knees to the diaphragm.
Food cravings? Fruit, cannot get enough. Huge sweet tooth these days too.
Miss anything? running
Movement?Yep, mostly knees and elbows to my side
Gender ? baby boy
Belly Button in or out? Still in
Goals for upcoming week?  Didn't get that pedicure last week, so I am planning on making that happen for sure. Otherwise just enjoy my last week of pregnancy.
Looking Forward to?  Our next appt on Wednesday to see if this guy is making any progress on his own. Also Ross and I have our last date as a family of 2 scheduled for this weekend.
Thoughts?  So many thoughts going through my head, everything is so surreal at this point. I cannot believe we are just under a week and a half away from meeting our son-crazy stuff.

For Love of the Scrubs

Before i got pregnant, scrubs were the worst part of my job. Yah, it sounds nice, wearing PJ like cloths to work everyday. But I have never been a fan. I don't like to feel like I just rolled out of bed at work. When I first got pregnant though,  work scrubs were great to hide the 'in between' stage.  As I started to grow, I began wondering how long the drawstring waist band was gonna work for me. And at this point, I am very grateful that I don't have a 'corporate' job that requires me to dress up. I would hate to have to buy a bunch of new cloths for my changing body.

But, luckily, I have reached my 9th month and can still wear my scrubs without having to buy a bigger size-THANK YOU BAGGY DRAWSTRING SCRUBS. This isn't me bragging,  I just needed to document my love for scrubs during pregnancy. So, when I am shopping next time and think for a split second I would love a job where I could wear a cute pencil skirt and collared shirt, I can look back on this and appreciate my work attire. Sorry for the funky hair and tired look, I didn't think and took a picture after a 10 hour surgery day.

Baby Gardner- 36 weeks

How far along? 36 weeks
Total weight gain.  1 pound gain this week, 22 lbs total.
Baby Development Baby is about 6 pounds at this point. His main job is increasing his fat supply.
Maternity Cloths? No new cloths, just trying to fit into whatever I can. At this point I am wearing all non maternity cloths that used to fit loosely or are very stretchy
Stretch Marks? Still negative
Sleep? Sleeping well, waking up for a bathroom break, but sleeping comfortably
Best Moment of the week? Getting the last few items needed, including my stroller, which I am IN LOVE WITH. I do many laps around the living room with it. So glad I went with the  Baby Jogger City Mini GT. Also was able to get all my flowers planted, so happy I got a few nice days to complete it!
Symptoms? Luckily Braxton Hicks have decreased in frequency, but have definitely increased in intensity. Also I get lots of little knees in the ribs.
Food cravings? Fruit and yogurt, as usual. Also craving soft serve ice cream almost every night.
Miss anything? Lunch meat sandwich's are sounding pretty good these days
Movement?Still lots of moving, but definitely not as much as the past few weeks
Gender ? Little baby boy
Belly Button in or out? Still in,but very shallow
Goals for upcoming week?  Just relax, finish the book I have been trying to read the past month and also get a pedicure.
Looking Forward to?  Our 37 week appt on Wednesday, so interested to see his progression and to see how big the DR thinks our little man is. Also we can "officially" schedule our C-Section.
Thoughts? I am so excited to share the nursery reveal. I was going to do it before he came, but we decided to do some 'name' type decor, so now it must wait.