Wednesday, March 31, 2010

March Madness, Part 3: New Baby!

So the Parsons left after the beach house vacation and Mark left this little message as a parting gift. Little did we know, I would almost satisfy his request. (They left our house Saturday afternoon). The Friday before, I had my doctors appt and I was at a 2-3cm dilated and 80% effaced. We were supposed to go to the beach house again that weekend and my doctor suggested I not go. We were a little disappointed thinking that I was still 3 weeks away from my due date and that I could be that far along for who knows how long.But this is me on Sunday! I started having contractions again (I'd had false labor at least 3 other times, with progressing, timeable contractions). My Dr. gave me strict instructions that the next time I have timeable contractions for an hour that I should go directly to the hospital. I waited until I'd had them for 4, just to make sure.
At this point, I've gotten exactly 2 hours of sleep, thanks to the epidural, but things are moving along nicely.
Time to push! (Gotta love that epidural!)
Who does this to their wife? Take this picture that is.
Only had to push through 2 contractions, it took less than 5 minutes once I started pushing!
Such a proud mama.
Introducing our newest edition:
Lincoln Graham
Born March 29, 11:32am
7 lbs. 7 oz.
19 1/4 inches long

How proud is his big brother!
Miraculously Grandpa was in town and got to come for a visit! We never dreamed that he would be there. Lincoln surprised us by coming so early!
John takes over the bed to finally get a comfy rest. He stayed both nights in the hospital.
Here's our whiteboard full of potential names. We had such a hard time coming up with a name. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!
So happy he's here!
Such a sweet boy. And look at all that hair!
Is that called a lo-jack?
Sleeping like they do.
Time to go home now.
Waiting for the doctors release. This part always seems to take forever!
Ethan loves his brother so much. He's completely obsessed. Just like the rest of us!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

March Madness, Part 2: Redecorating

For the past month, John & I have been working as quickly as possible to redecorate and make some improvements to our home (with the help of one of John's employees).
Project 1 was to add pendant lights above our bar. Sorry I don't have a before picture. I'm so happy with the amount of light it brings into the kitchen though. It's not a fantastic picture of the lights themselves, but I guess you'll just have to come and visit to see them!
Project 2 was to repaint the entire interior of our house. This has been on the to-do list for 4 years. Along with that, we scraped the popcorn ceilings, and re-textured the ceilings. This is our entryway BEFORE:
After:
I'm still hoping to add some new curtains, and planning on doing black & white houndstooth.
Here is our Living Room BEFORE:

AFTER: One wall is yellow, with the surrounding walls gray. I still have to make the pillows to match that kind of tie the room together.
I did make two of these numbers, and am quite happy with how they turned out (the pillow).
This is our upstairs hallway BEFORE:
AFTER:
Our Office BEFORE:
AFTER:
And a little corner with the glider:
Our Dining Room BEFORE: peach!
Now AFTER:Peacock!
Our Master Bedroom: Oops forgot to take the before picture before we started tearing the room apart, don't mind the mess eh?
Now AFTER: See? We're not total slobs.
Our Guest bedroom BEFORE:
AFTER: It's a Pumpkin Spice Accent wall.
Ethan's Room BEFORE:
AFTER: Eventually I'm hoping to make him a quilt that matches, but that will have to be saved for a later date!
The Baby's Room BEFORE:
AFTER:
John thinks it's a whole lot of different colors. I told him that was exactly my point! What do you think?

Thursday, March 25, 2010

March Madness, Part 1

March was a super busy month for us! We sold one of our Camaros, The one that we can actually drive, that is. At least we got to take it on one last Sunday drive. Oh, and John promises me that it won't be our last one, just because I was SO worried.We got to go to the beach house too. Sadly, I left my camera at home, but I did get a few choice shots with my phone. This one is of the Parsons taking a voyage out on the kayak.
Ethan watching carefully in case we decide to take a turn after the Parsons. But with Mommy only 4 weeks away from her due date, we're glad to watch from the beach first.
Yikes! The boat took a spill and Maddie lost her tooth! Evidently the oar smacked her in the face as they took on a huge wave, but we won't mention who was holding that oar, Jami, will we? Don't you worry though, the tooth was already loose so it's a good thing that Jami has good aim.
My friends threw me a fantastic baby shower too this month (I had one at work, but I didn't bring my camera, so I have no good stories to share)! This one was nice & casual, just my style. With plenty of food, friends, and chats (sorry I couldn't continue the alliteration).
Here is my big belly with my friend Jen who I used to work with at the design firm.
Liz & Teri, with Liz's twins.
Tammy & April
Hayley is here too.
Another Jen with her new baby (I think only 2 1/2 months old here)!
I know there were more people there, but I didn't get everyone in a picture. I loved it ladies, thank you so much. And at some point, I hope you'll get a thank you note!