Progress

So, we've been plugging along trying to get things ready for Miss Caroline to arrive in about 3 months. I feel pretty good about the progress we've made so far!

The least fun part of it all has been cleaning out and organizing all of the stuff that had been crammed into our guest bedroom when we moved in last summer...and never thought about again. Mark and I spent the entire weekend last weekend working on cleaning out and organizing! It's a great feeling to go through things and clean things out but it's definitely tedious and draining! So far, we have about 6 trash bags worth of things to take to Goodwill and there will likely be more on the horizon! And as we're able to get her future room cleaned out, we've been making progress on getting things ready for her arrival...i.e. putting together her crib, painting her changing table, trying to pick a paint color for the walls, etc.

Here are some pictures of a few things we've done and some cute baby clothes that my parents gave us when we went to visit them in Birmingham a few weeks ago.

Caroline's crib

Her changing table...

I found it on Craigslist. It was stained brown and not the prettiest but I saw potential and we painted it and replaced the knobs. :)

26 weeks pregnant

Mark with a sweet little sleeper that my parent's gave us.



Can't wait to see her in this little dress next summer!

20 week ultrasound...and movement!

I don't even have a baby yet and I'm already getting behind on posting about big events! On Monday, the 21st, Mark and I went in for our 20 week Ultrasound. It was amazing to see how much she's grown. We got a great report back from the doctor. She's developing perfectly...her heart, brain, all vital organs looked perfect. It was such a blessing to see her growing and healthy!

Also, last night I was sitting on the couch with Murphy and I finally felt a REAL kick! So much so that you could feel it from the outside. She did it about 4 times in a row. It was the most amazing feeling. I've felt some slight movement...or things that I thought were movement before last night but that was definitely the first time I felt it strongly. :) Mark was out golfing....I wanted him to get to see if he could try and feel her kick too! Oh well, I know those little kicks last night were the first of many more to come.

The first step

So, last weekend Mark's mom and her husband came to visit and we all went baby shopping for the first time since we found out we were pregnant! It was so fun and overwhelming at the same time. I've made a running list with my "wish list" for the nursery as well as things to register for whenever I get around to doing that. I've had some great friends that have given advice on what items they've really used and loved since having their baby as well as what things they registered for but then never even looked at! So that has been really helpful in getting a list started. To look at the list on paper, it's slightly overwhelming but I feel good about having a start so that whenever I do register, I hopefully won't get carried away with all the baby gadgets out there that I'll KNOW we need. :)


There is one thing that we did purchase on our baby store outings this past weekend and that is BEDDING! I feel like it's a great first start to planning what the nursery will look like. Still working on finding an upholstered glider that won't break our budget! That's been a little tricky but I'm using my Internet searching skills to the best of my ability. Buying the bedding was a really exciting first step to putting our little girl's special room together!


Here are some pics. It's Rachel Ashwell Shabby chic. :)

We're having a GIRL!

Her name is Caroline Rhodes Haden and we think she's perfect! I'm just shy of 18 weeks and I'm not sure if I've felt her move yet. I definitely have felt some things that COULD be the baby but I think I'll have to wait a few more weeks to know for sure. So, it was really amazing to see her litte body moving around on the 4d ultrasound.

As my friend Jill said on her blog, I know that ultrasound pics are generally cool only to immediate family but I can't help but share them! We're just so excited.

More Deck Progress

When I went home at lunch today this was the state of the house...

Then at 4pm, Mark just emailed me a new photo...not finished yet...but much, much better!

Here's a link to more pictures of the project starting from Day 1: http://picasaweb.google.com/markahaden/DeckCrestridge?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzn74bg2pz0EA&feat=email#