16 Days or less!

This is SUCH an incredible time for us. In 16 days or less David and I will be parents! It amazes me how right now my body completely fulfills every need he has. God is completely wonderful like that.
I love when he moves- which is good because he is very active. Sometimes when he is still I will run my hand down the side of my belly and he will kick it. I think, "Oh, he must really like that" because he responded but in all actuality he could hate it and wish I would stop. I will never know so I will pretend he likes it.
Last week I went to the doctor and he was head down and I was dialated 1 cm. The process has begun! I know it could still take weeks from here but I am glad for the 1. Maybe next week we will be a 2 or 3! :) Shelly told me a few things to help that process along which include walking A LOT, spicy foods, and ankle rubs. So I have been making more appearances at the YMCA and getting on the treadmill. My goal has been 2 miles a day and then a few miles on the bike. Wednesday I had enormous amounts of energy so I walked 4 miles and then did the bike. Thursday I was sore.. so I did nothing. I guess it is not really extra if it prohibits you from working out the next day. lesson learned. Our Y has this bike that has the most comfortable seat and armrests. I love getting on it! I don't understand why they aren't all this soft- you don't burn more calories because your butt is sore from the hard chair.
My belly is getting SO BIG! I am 37 weeks today so he is considered full term. I am so relieved to be at a point where I can go into labor and everything should be fine with him. If my dr had not changed my due date then I would be 38.5 weeks. I feel like that is probably more accurate. David and I were feeling him kick at 16 weeks and I found out at 3 weeks if she is right and that just seems a little early. I have never been a fan of the date change.

This picture is 36 weeks. (or 37.5 depending on which date you go by)

Before I was pregnant I would look at pictures and think- she is sticking her belly out to make it look bigger. I realize now that your back just does that.
May is special for more reasons than just Eli. David graduates law school in 22 days! I am so proud of him. I was filled with pride when I pre-registered Eli for the hospital and on his birth certificate form it asked what David's highest degree was and I was able to check doctorate! We have his graduation attire ready to go. It is very fancy! This is no blue itchy gown and cardboard hat. His gown has velvet stripes on it and the hat looks like a little mushroom. He also wears a satin V thing that has his school colors on it. He will be so handsome- I know I will be crying when they call his name. Hopefully Eli will not- Daddy's graduation will probably be his first outing.
It is somewhat stressful having these 2 lifechanging events less than a week apart but it also has its perks. David's Dad and Mom are flying in and since they are close together they will get to witness both. (Well... not witness the birth, but be in the hospital when it happens. ;) My Mom is driving in and staying a little while and more of the family is coming in for graduation and to see our new baby. David should be on Cloud 9!

Eli's Nursery

It is finally done! Eli's nursery is complete and ready for him to come home to.

Even before I got pregnant I was planning for him. I picked out little girl and little boy bedding long ago and thought I would just order the one I wanted when I found out. Just before ordering a blue and brown bedding set by Lambs and Ivy that David and I loved, I decided that I wanted more colors in his room than just those two. SOO I scrapped it and started over.

I never wanted a theme really (oddly enough) or a nursery where I just ordered one of the entire set and I was done. I wanted my baby boy's room to be unique and be able to grow with him. I do not want to be doing his room again in a couple of years.

One day the idea for his room just came to me. I would do Eli's room in Vintage Toys! This theme is NOT common. I could not even find a picture online of a person who had done it before so everything had to come completely from me. That is lots of pressure! After hours and hours of looking for toys online I picked a few and pieced other things together- Here is the result!

The entrance to Eli's room!

His bed- the monkey was a gift from his Aunt Moose.
Eli's Daddy hung the picture very securely so it is not going anywhere- no worries.
Eli's Mommy made sure it was hung perfectly center. :)

The bedding was pretty difficult because it is from 3 different stores. I ordered the bumper and curtain from JC Penny, the crib sheet from Target, and I found the skirt at Pottery Barn (On clearance for $8 regular- much more than that) It all came together but just took a while to find all of the perfect pieces.

I had originally wanted to frame pages from old books as the wall art but could not find a book that I liked enough so Keelie told me about art.com- a wonderful website with tons of great pictures. The two I picked ended up being prints of covers of old children's books.

Above the changing table is a mirror (thank you Jennifer!) where he can watch himself when he gets changed or stands up in his crib (opposite wall to the mirror)
Hanging on the door is a picture that Melissa painted for Eli. She did such a wonderful job!

This is the shelf by his bed. The Lilliput Robot is one of my favorite tin toys I ordered of his. The picture beside the robot was actually the front of the box that I had framed.

Here are some old books Mom found at an estate sale for me years ago. I also have some Little Golden books that were mine when I was a child. Gumby and Pokey David's Mom found at Cracker Barrel and loved them. (Cracker Barrel is a great place to find great stuff!)

I have a few books here of his but believe me when I tell you that this is NOT all! He has many more books in his closet but I didn 't want to clutter up the decorative shelf with them.
On the bottom is a basket with his toys in it. This little man has several toys but they are just perfect. My teacher friends picked some great ones that encourage him to use his imagination and don't have a specific way to play with them. I LOVE that!

The corner has vintage blocks and a scooter Mom found at Cracker Barrel.

Mom found this gently used glider before Christmas. It was light wood colored and had ugly material on it but we redid it and could not be happier with the results.
(I will try to post a before picture of the glider.)

There will be lots of rocking done in this chair. :)

A little closeup of some of Eli's toys!

So, there it is. Eli's nursery finally done!