she's having my baby...

...nephew! It's a BOY! My sister and BIL just had their 20-week u/s and found out they will be having a little boy in October! *beaming*

I'm beyond excited and will be the bestest Aunt Jen in the whole wide world. And the bestest shower-thrower ever (btw, Pinterest is my weapon of choice!).

When Carey and Jason gave us the big news that they were pregnant, I about tackled my sister with excitement...only to quickly freeze and apologize incessantly for practically attacking a pregnant lady! Who does that?!

Jack will be excited to have a boy to teach boy-stuff to...and Lila will be excited to have someone in the family smaller than her...we will all be blessed to have baby "Insert Boy Name" Ricks to join our happy family.

Pictures of the fam

Here's our first new family photo...just the 4 of us!

And me and my two favorite people ever.

and Lila's first car ride...I think she was as excited as we were to head home...

And a few of our little Lila Grace...so much love already

Newborn photos

Home sweet home! We are home and happy to be on our own turf...

Lila is doing wonderfully. She's eating like a champ and sleeping most of the days. She lets us see her pretty blue eyes now and then, but for the most part is getting plenty of rest.

Jack has taken on the role of big brother perfectly and we are most proud. He loves to help change her diaper and even wants to take naps with her...he frequently kisses her and wants to hold her every second he can...practice makes perfect!

I'm doing better than expected...the second time around is much easier (not EASY by any means, but easier than #1). I have so many pictures to share, but haven't found the time to upload them, so for now, you can view Lila's newborn photoshoot by clicking here, the password is 0730lilagreffet.

I'll post more pictures of Miss Lila Grace and big bro Jack soon. Thanks for all of the well wishes and love. We're most lucky to have the best family and friends to support us.

Love, love, love...

She takes after her dad...

So I’ve been feeling very frustrated that baby girl still isn’t here. I know it’s still 10 days from her due date, but it’s different this time.

Jack was 21 days early, and obviously I was not prepared for him to come. I don’t think anything can fully prepare you for your first child. So we didn’t have the car seat installed or bags packed…but looking back, it was nice that there was no period that I was stuck anxiously waiting for something to happen.

This time around, I’m prepared: mentally, physically…everything’s ready (except her name!). Every night I clean up the house as if we will have guests, and when I crawl into bed I think, “This could be the night…” and I practice saying the date in my head “7/27/10…7/28/10…”, but every morning I wake up and think, “DAMN! She still didn’t want to come yet.”

And I know I should be trying to enjoy the last few days of (somewhat uninterrupted) sleep, and downtime, and life as we know it now…but.I.can’t.

And then I think, she’s TOTALLY her father’s daughter! Jim isn’t a “rusher”…he’s more of a “dawdler”. He’s always asking me why I have to hurry through everything…and I’m always asking him why everything takes him soooo loooong… It’s the combination of our paces that make it work.

But for now, I will try to practice patience, and hope that she’s like her father in more ways too: his sense of humor, his attitude, his eyelashes and hair :-), his athleticism, his calm manner…

But honestly, I mean, there’s got to be part of me, in her, in me ;-) that is ready to get this show on the road, right!? :-) I need to find more flowers to make or something to keep me busy!

Build-a-Present-for-Your-Sister

Jack got a present for his baby sister. Actually, he built it himself! Luckily, there is a Build-a-Bear in the St. Louis Science Center, so when Jack got tired of the dinosaurs and “science stuff”, this was just what he needed!

He picked out a pink bear for his baby sister, and even recorded a special message for her: “I LOVE YOU, BABY SISTER!” Jack shouted the message as loud as he could into the recorder, but it’s the thought that counts!

Then Jack picked out the heart and went through the steps of putting the heart on his head, nose, tummy, and knees...I don't know why, but it was necessary and Jack loved to participate!

He gave the heart a finally rub, and stuffed it inside the bear! He was very proud of the pink bear he made for his baby sister!

I think this means he's finally ready for his baby sister to come too. ;-)

Ready to meet my baby girl!

At 37 weeks and full term (boo ya!), we are finally ready for baby girl to arrive (any day now…according to the Dr, we’re progressing and things are on track)! And after this weekend, I think we’re really prepared (as much as you can be), so baby girl, come see us soon!

We had a childbirth “refresher” class (LAME. Do they ever update those videos?!), but we did get a quick tour of the maternity ward (Is it still called a “ward”? Seems like an outdated term.) We also made some final adjustments to the nursery, did some cleaning/organizing, and re-acquired our newborn baby-gear from my Mom's (plus some new gear from Mom and Care…love it!).

I’ll admit that I’m no good at these “maternity self-portraits”, but here’s a shot to show that I am ready to P-O-P! Obv I haven’t dropped yet, but I learned that when it’s your second+ pregnancy, you don’t drop until much later (like during labor)…interesting!

Oh and check out the sweet banner I scored for the nursery! Love it. I've been noticing this banner trend in nurseries lately, and was contemplating getting one from etsy, but I found this on clearance for $5 (Marshall's). Yeah for deals!

And here's my other obsession: the quilt (from etsy). Note: the pillow is just for decorative purposes, I know it's a major no-no in the crib for a newborn!) I think the room has come together quite nicely. And although there are a few more things I'd like to finish up, I'm happy knowing the room is livable.

So, note to daughter: We're all super excited to meet you, and to see what you look like, and hold/hug/kiss you for...well, forever. We've been waiting for you...so when you are ready, we'll be here with open arms. And although I may look tired/angry/like crap when you first see me, know that:

#1: I'm bursting with joy to meet you, and hold you, and love you (oh, and NAME you). And,

#2: I look much better with some hairspray, makeup, and after a little rest. ;-)

Love!

Our only child...

Right now it's just him and us...

Our little family of 3 is all he's ever known. These are the last few weeks that he will be an only child, the baby of the family...even though I've made him pinky promise that he will always be my baby.

I wonder how he will adjust when it's not just him and us...I know we're headed for quite a transition period, and I haven't really had time to think about how he'll deal with it all.

I know he'll be an amazing big brother...he's grown up so fast and makes me so proud everyday.

How did we get so lucky? He's the best person in the whole world, and he's our son...

...our boy...

...I love him so much.

By giving children lots of affection, you can help fill them with love and acceptance of themselves. Then that's what they will have to give away. - Wayne Dyer

birds of a feather...

This was my Friday night, and it was super exciting...thanks for all of your help Care, you're THE best!

I’ve wanted to make a bird mobile like the one I showed in my inspiration post back in March. But I’m not a sewer so I was seriously contemplating buying some birds from etsy and crafting a mobile on my own. However, I had so much fabric left over from my embroidery hoop project, that I thought, I could certainly find a way to DIY these birds!

So although I’m no seamstress, I certainly am a hot-gluer (I don’t have any fingerprints to prove it!), so with some hot glue, fabric, stuffing, felt, buttons, ribbon, and a home-made template, I was all about it! Check out my flock:

I think this one is my fav...I love the green and pink color combo! Carey was totally my "sous-chef of crafting"! She basically matched up all the buttons and color combos, and stuffed and did whatever I told asked her to :)...AND she made flower hair bows that are seriously Ahhh-mazing! I can't wait to play beauty shop with them!

another fav...

I bought little beads for eyes but kind of liked them without because the fabrics are so busy…thoughts?!?

PS: I finally bought a quilt (on etsy, of course!) that should be arriving today…boo ya! I’m super excited so hopefully I love it as much in person as I do in the pictures…here’s a sneak peek!

34 weeks...

I feel like all of a sudden I woke up and am like, "Holy s#!t, I'm 8 months pregnant?!?" As excited as I am to meet this little lady, I'm wishing time would slow down to a leisurely pace rather than high-speed freight train velocity so I can slow down and:
1. Finish my list of projects to complete her room.
2. Take time to organize/clean all of the baby gear that's been sitting idle since Jack used it.
3. Relax a bit before life gets a whole lot crazier!

Instead, time is turning me into this...

which is roughly the size of a honeydew!

I've officially begun wearing Jim's clothes...and not just t-shirts while lounging around the house: work shirts. I tell myself I'm totally pulling off the "trendy menswear look", but I'm really just looking for something roomy that's clean at this point!

I’m making a list so I can be sure to pack my hospital bag ahead of time this go-round. When I went into labor with Jack, I didn’t have my bag packed yet (because he was 3 weeks early!) and it caused a major meltdown mid-contractions because I hadn’t picked out the perfect outfit for him to wear yet. I’m trying to be prepared this time (which is proving harder when I'm trying to keep up with Jack)!

All in all, I'm feeling good and in slight disbelief that this pregnancy is almost over. At least I have a three-day weekend to look forward to. Hopefully some organizing is in my future!

PS: This weekend we re-finished up the armoire for her room so I have some pictures (that make it look way cuter than it does in person) to show later!

Re-org

AKA: "What to do when your child is sent home sick and you are nesting"


After you make sure he is taken care of and napping well (obv!), get busy washing, boiling, thoroughly sanitizing every part of every bottle.


Then, look at your storage. And think, “Who lives like this?! I’m a hot mess!” So remove all of the junk/miscellany (yes, this includes Easter candy that’s been hiding from Jack: gross!).

Clean, sanitize, reorganize the shelves and step back and admire your work…(also, realize that this will most likely not stay in such pristine condition, and that is ok).

Is it the silliest thing that this kind of stuff gets me excited?! Just like when we finally cleaned out what was just a large “throw-all” known as our 3rd bedroom, I find myself taking sneak peeks at the lovely, organized cabinets!

This also lead to more cabinet reorganization…ummm, nesting much! Hopefully, this can jumpstart a fun weekend of cleaning/organizing as the clock is ticking before baby girl comes along!

On a Jack note, the poor little guy has a fever and is not himself. Hopefully he can get plenty of rest and TLC this weekend...

Pregnant & Random

Yesterday was officially 2 months from my DD (in real time, not pregnancy time because pregnancy time is all weird: you would think 40 weeks=10 months right [40÷10=4]? But no, not in Pregnancy time where 40 weeks=9 months because apparently a month is 4 1/3 weeks long not just 4 so its not a nice, even, round number…whatever, I hate math!)

Anyway, I got to thinking: only 8 more weekends until DD. And weekends are golden because it’s prime time to get the ‘To Do’s’ to be ‘To Done’! But Jack was like 3 weeks early so that makes me think she will be the same way…which makes me think: Holy hell I need to get stuff done because she'll be here before we know it and I don't even have the birdcage decor! (Because logically, her room would just not be livable without the birdcage decor!)

And then I came across this article that really stuck with me. It’s called Letter to A Pregnant Friend…and I love it…go read it. (Of course, I had to share it with my pregnant friend, Laura!) And I keep thinking about the line below and realizing that, “It is going to have to do, and the funny thing is, it will”…it may not all be my picture perfect, but it will be just right…and it will do.

There are going to be many, many days when you will not be able to do one single thing on your list of what needs to be done. The baby's needs are going to claim every living second of your time…You will think, "God! If I could only take a three-minute shower, I could cope," but there will be no chance for a three-minute shower…Maybe late tonight you will finally get to take your shower, and even brush your teeth. It is going to have to do, and the funny thing is, it will. (Anne Lamott)

Me (+baby) and Jack

All things girly...

The baby girl clothes collecting has commenced! I was very lucky and blessed to receive 4 boxes of baby clothes from a SIL of a friend (I call her my fairy Godmother of girly clothes!). I bought 50 hangers and ran out with a box and a half to still hang! Seriously! It was insanely generous and I’m 100% obsessed with everything.

Friday night as the boys were watching the game, I was going through piece by piece and “Ooooh-ing” and “Ahhh-ing” over everything. I’d hold something up and say, “Oh isn’t this just the cutest!” and Jim was nearly oblivious to the adorability of each dress and romper. Luckily, Jack caught on quickly and began saying, “Dat’s cute, Mommy,” and “I wear dat tomorrow?!”

I seriously feel SO fortunate and am beyond excited to play dress up in real life. A MA-JOR thanks to Kelli for all of the clothes, and for having adorable taste. I think Laura’s exact words were, “She’s always been pretty good about dressing the girls like human beings instead of stuffed animals.” Thanks also to Laura (my ex-co-worker bestie) for the hookup.

I’m loving this onesie with embroidered flowers and cap sleeves! And the bloomers…don’t even get me started! Note: I’m sure these will look so much better ON Lila Grace (tentative name) rather than on the hanger!

I also thought it was appropriate to show off our little girl’s first Cardinals outfit (a gift from Mom and Aunt CC). We know she’s a Cards fan (it’s kinda genetic)…the real question is will she be a Rams or Chiefs fan…

Jack's going to be...

... a good big brother. I practically hold my breath in anticipation when he starts a sentence with, "My baby sister..."

He's been talking more and more about his "baby sister"...just last night he said he wanted to give his baby sister a pink motorcycle helmet. As random as that is, it makes me smile!

Apparently, he's been taking care of the baby dolls at school (even though when I ask him what he did with the dolls he says he played trucks with them...). Here's a note from one of his daily reports:

Jack's baby sister is a mover and a shaker! It's hands down my favorite part of pregnancy. She seems most active at night (or maybe I'm just more attuned then: aka, not completely preoccupied with life!). I'm 29 weeks, which according to TheBump is the size of a squash! That means only 11 more weeks to go!

I think for the next few months (or the rest of my life) I will have THIS song stuck in my head...