Nesting has begun

So, I am at almost 20 weeks...half way! The nesting definitely kicked in this weekend. For starters, on Saturday morning, I got up early and cleaned out the master bedroom closet. I filled 2 trash bags with clothes and shoes for Goodwill. Will got home from work, and we started on the guest room/nursery closet. This closet has been a catch-all closet for the last 3.5 years and has never been cleaned out. It holds: out of season clothes, wrapping paper, Christmas stuff, Junior League clean sweep items, ironing board and drying rack, etc. I got rid of about 5 bags of trash/give away stuff from there. After that 2 hour foray, we set off for lunch and errands. We went to Buy Buy Baby to look at strollers and get a crib mattress. I think we picked out our stroller. We are going to use a hand-me-down Snap-n-Go with our infant carrier, and then transition into the Britax B-Agile once he is out of the infant seat. This stroller only weighs 15 pounds, is super easy to collapse, and it has great safety ratings.

After leaving the baby store, we went into Consignment 1st to look for a dresser. After being there less than 10 minutes, I spotted the perfect one!

We brought the dresser home, put the crib together, and rearranged the room all on Saturday afternoon. We were flat worn out after all of our adventures of the day. We got a ton accomplished though. 

Before Pictures of the Nursery/Guest Room

View from the door looking in; bathroom door and dresser are to the right of the TV. New pillow shams and curtains will be made to match the crib bedding. Scotch is taking it all in from his perch on the bed.
(Not sure why this picture is so blurry)

View from the window; closet door to the left of the crib and room door to the right of the crib. I am waiting for the crib bedding to arrive before picking out a paint color.

Crib Bedding from Pottery Barn Kids (obviously the quilt will have Sawyer on it and not Michael)

I can't wait to see it all come together! Stay tuned for more pictures of our progress. We hope to get the room painted in the next couple of weeks. Next up on the nesting/getting ready for baby agenda: registering at Buy Buy Baby and Target. Several of our sweet family friends are going to host showers for us and our precious baby boy. Can't wait to meet him in June!

Ok, so I blabbed....

I didn't even last 24 hours. How in the world was I going to keep our baby boy's name a secret? Are you kidding me? I am so excited to share with everyone! I want to be able to call him by name with friends and family, and I want them to be able to do the same. Also, there are some really cute baby things out there that might need his name on them.

William Sawyer

We are going to call him Sawyer. William is a family name on both sides of our family. My mother's grandfather, uncle, and cousin are all William. On my husband Will's dad's side of the family, William goes back for many, many generations. Most of them are William S. Will's dad and Will are both William Steven. We didn't really want our son to be a third, but we knew we wanted to continue the tradition of William S., and Will wanted his initials to be the same as his, WST. So, we started thinking of "S" boy names. Neither of us could think of any great "S" family names that we wanted to use. One night, we were on a baby names website and started reading off "S" boy names. We got to Sawyer and both loved it instantly. So, that's how our little boy got his name. I hope he likes it, because we sure do!

It's a BOY!!

We are beyond thrilled to annouce that we are having a BOY! I have thought the baby was a boy for awhile and we couldn't be happier! We had our ultrasound this morning, and everything checked out good and healthy. He was definitely not shy in showing us he is a boy! Now, it's time for the fun part...nursery decorating and clothes buying!! Can't wait to meet him in June!

Boy or Girl?

We have anxiously been waiting for the news of whether our bundle of joy is a boy or girl. We find out tomorrow morning!!! We go to our doctor at her new office for the first time as well. She recently changed practices, so we will be visiting her new practice. Going to her new practice also means we will be delivering at a different hospital, which is fine with us. At this appointment, we will have the anatomy scan ultrasound and a regular checkup. I'm sure what else will be on the agenda. We just can't wait to see our baby and hear his or her heartbeat again!

Blue or Pink?

For almost the entire pregnancy, I have thought it is a boy...I guess we will see tomorrow. Hopefully baby will not be shy and will show us the goods! We do have names picked out for either a boy or a girl. We have decided that we are going to keep the name a secret until the baby is born. Hopefully I will be able to keep it a secret and not spill the beans. I know I will be so excited to share will our friends and family.
Stay tuned for the big news tomorrow...

Oh, and we bought our crib this weekend! Can't wait to pick out fabric, bedding, and accessories.

I think I forgot to share all of the wonderful things that Baby T got for Christmas. I hope he or she looks good in cute little yellow duckies and Clemson gear because that's the majority of what we got. We really appreciate all of the love that our family and friends showed our baby.

My New-to-Me Ride!

I finally got my new car last night! Last week, the trusty Pathfinder got hit in the Publix parking lot while I was grocery shopping. That was the last straw for her. She was really shaky and made horrible noises. She was deemed unsafe for me to drive (other than to and from work), and definitely unsafe for the future bambino to ride in. We did lots of research last weekend and went to test drive. We ended up deciding on the Dodge Journey. The size and price were perfect for us. I knew I wanted an SUV, but not a huge one. After test driving the Journeys, I fell in love. Now, we just had to find one for the right price, low mileage, and with the features/colors we wanted. We ended up at Carmax sometime on Saturday and drove one of their cars. It wasn't the right one for us though. However, the one we wanted was at the Carmax in Greenville. The nice people would have it transferred to Columbia for us. It got here safely and was ready for us to drive/inspect last night. We were already financed, so we signed some papers and brought her home. I can't wait to take some time this weekend and learn all of the features that she offers. I also need to get all of my things organized and accessible. I think she is going to be a great choice for us and our growing family!



2010 Dodge Journey



Hip Hip Hooray for Christmas Vacation!

Wow....what a wonderful week and a half off from work to enjoy the holidays! I was off work from December 23rd until yesterday, January 3rd. Spending time with family and friends is priceless, especially this time of year.

Christmas

Christmas Eve, Will, me, and my sister went out to my Dad and Step-mom's farm outside of Camden for lunch. Dad cooked a wonderful meal (baked ziti and Caesar salad)! We spent time enjoying each other's company and opening gifts. Myself and Baby T lucked out with gift cards to Bumble Boutique and Bee Maternal, local baby and maternity boutiques. I have already been shopping for a few maternity pieces. Christmas Eve evening, Will and I went to church with his family. The service was lovely and it was great spending time with them. After church, we went over to some dear family friends' house for an annual drop-in. We exchanged gifts and enjoyed the evening with them. When we got home, Will and I exchanged gifts from each other, this seems to be the tradition we have started, because Christmas Day is so hectic.

Christmas Eve after church- 14 week baby bump!

Christmas morning, we got up and went over to my parent's house for breakfast and gift exchange. We had a lovely time with them, as always. Next, we moved on to Will's parents to open gifts with them. More fun and enjoyment was had. We went out to Chapin to Will's aunt and uncle's house to have Christmas lunch. Will's grandparents and extended family were there, so it was nice to see everyone. Finally, we got in the car to make the trek to Greenville to see my Mom's side of the family. We had dinner at my cousin's house and then went to spend the night at my aunt and uncle's. We made the trip home the next day- exhausted, but blessed!

Christmas Lunch in Chapin

Annual Cousin picture- my mom's side of the family...next year there will be one more kiddo!

New Year's

Will and I spent New Year's Eve, as we usually do, with our dear friends. It was a low-key evening with lots of laughs, quality time, and a little champagne (or sparkling grape juice in my case). We always have the best time when we all get together. We rang in the new year then headed back home to bed. I was surprised that I even made it to midnight, my bed time these days has been closer to 9:30 or 10. New Year's day, we went out to our friend's hunt club where they always cook up a big feast of pork chops, rice, black eyed peas, and collards. Everyone just hangs out around the big fire place and celebrates the new year. Happy 2012!!

New Year's Eve