preK graduation

Reese graduated from Pre-K last Thursday.  Technically for the second time.

If you'll remember, we did the whole shebang {cap, gown, grandparents, etc..} last year, too.  With an October birthday he wasn't quite old enough to start kindergarten, thus our excitement over getting into the public school PreK program.  We kept graduation simple this year.  No grandparents, just Lofton and I, enjoying the moment with our most favorite person.  There were no gowns--only caps-- and a few quick songs followed by cookies.  Short and sweet.

This year has had high points and lows.  We've been blessed to be in a great school a year prior to most other kiddos.  It does my Mama heart good to know that when Kindergarten begins in August Reese will already be acclimated to the building, the people, and the routines.  He's also in my school system which means we follow the same calendar.  Amen to that. 

There have been lows, too.  I'm not sad to see this particular teacher go.  While I've been pleased at what Reese has learned, I've been less than happy with other aspects of her classroom.  I'd like to think there is something positive to be said about ALL children, especially my own.  I say that with many, many years of teaching experience and MANY very challenging children having graced my room.  At graduation her exact words were, 'Well, I guess he's come a long way." Moving on...

For his part Reese is simply thrilled to be finally headed to kindergarten.  It's been a long buildup for my little buddy!

The face of pure joy.

nursery complete

The nursery is complete.

It's been fun to create another little boy nursery.  As I said previously, Reese's nursery had a definite nursery theme.  I added some baby elements to this room, but primarily just kept it simple and classic.  I wanted it to fit in with the rest of our house.

The paint color was a doozy.  I had an idea for what I wanted but once we tried it on the walls I hated it.  Eight samples later we landed in the perfect color.  It's Black Pepper by Benjamin Moore.  Neither black, nor super gray... it's more of a grayed out navy.  I love it. The chair is from Reese's nursery.  It was green chenille and is now an ivory Matisse.  Practical?  Maybe not.  But it's what I wanted.  So much so that I tracked it down after my order was cancelled by three different places for lack of inventory.  My MIL had it recovered for me and the arm slips were made from the extra fabric.  We also scotch guarded it a zillion times. I decided to forgo an ottoman this time and grabbed a pouf from Target.  The lamp is also from Target {thanks to my Mama!}.  The garden stool was a last minute purchase so we have a spot to set a drink or a bottle.

I may have mentioned before but aside from the chair we had no nursery furniture.  All of what we used for Reese was borrowed --and then returned-- many years ago.  For a changing table this go round I knew I wanted something more furniture like.  We lucked out finding this piece at a consignment store in Auburn.  The mirror was living in the hall closet and the plates were a Pottery barn find.  They have the sweetest bunnies on them, but are super simple and don't scream baby.

This tray corrals some diapering gear.  I saw the dog on One King's Lane and knew it had to be mine.  Reminds me so much of Raleigh.  There are diapers in the top drawers of the dresser along with nail clippers and all those other fun things that babies need. In the top photo you can see the changing pad peaking out.  I love the star print Aden and Anais cover.

The crib came from Amazon {thanks again Mama} and currently has no sheet on it.  But we have one!  It's white. Just waiting on Lofton to bring a piece of plywood home for under the mattress before I make the bed.  The bumper is from restoration hardware {which probably explains why 13 catalogs weighing a total of 17 pounds were delivered to my house by UPS yesterday}.  Lofton and I made the skirt from fabric I ordered.  Don't get him started on the amount of fabric samples I went through.  He says we could make a quilt.  All the extra diapers we were gifted at my school baby shower hide perfectly under the crib. 

You've seen the bookshelves before.  Lofton made them to cover the fireplace.  Yes, there's a fireplace back there. The bookshelves are kind of amazing.  He made a pair for our old house and leaving them was sad.  I'm so glad to have something similar here.  They aren't super full right now.  Some books {most shared by big brother}, a few toys, a rabbit from Peter's Pottery {i collect it}, and two baskets.  The baskets hold blankets, swaddles {that I don't know how to use}, and extra crib sheets/changing pad covers.  We left a right shelf empty to hold the monitor parts and maybe a humidifier.  

So that's it.  A nursery complete. Sans the baby who will be here sometime in the next 35 days!

Just to keep it real, Reese's room currently looks like this:

The painters came yesterday and I'm not tackling rearranging furniture solo.  Project get Reese's room and the dining room {which looks similar to this} done are on the agenda for this weekend.

maternity leave

Yesterday was day one of my maternity leave.  Day one came about two weeks sooner than I planned, but then again, I've learned a lot on the last year about "my plans.'

This baby has not made pregnancy easy on me.  The sickness was quickly replaced by sharp pains that ran through my pelvis down my left leg and braxton hicks contractions.  At first, the doctor said the leg pains were from my ligaments stretching-- they aren't as strong due to this being my second pregnancy.  I carried Reese to almost 40 weeks and he weighed eight pounds ten ounces.  Not a giant baby for most people, but I'm really short and fairly small framed.

I did all the things he told me to do.  Tons and tons of water to help the contractions, resting more when I was home and trying to put my feet up at school to help the pain.  The bigger the baby got, though, the more my pain increased.  The last month has been awful.  It hurts to walk, to roll over in the bed, to step in the car or shower-- all the necessary parts of my day.  Stress at work has also ramped up with it being testing time and the end of the year.

All that to say, I had a not so ideal doctor's appointment about two weeks ago.  Picture lots of tears after a day spent prepping my kids for state testing in a room with no air conditioning.  As I laid on the table my sweet doctor patted my arm and we talked EXTENSIVELY about priorities-- what comes first right now and what SHOULD come first.  He sent me home with a prescription for some pain medicine he knew I wouldn't take and instructions to talk to Lofton about what we want the next month or so to look like.  I would go back in a week for an ultrasound and appointment.

The answer for Lofton was easy.  He wanted me home, resting during the day and crying less at night :)  We both want me to be able to enjoy this fleeting time with Reese as our only child.  Leaving my school kiddos early was not something I had planned on, though.  I'm tougher than I look and I felt certain I could make it.

Flash forward to last Wednesday.  Lofton met me at the doctor for my scan and appointment.  The good news is that the baby sounded much better than he had the week before.  He's really big.  Measuring three weeks ahead in almost all areas except his head.  His head measures four weeks ahead.  Ultrasound weight estimates are just that-- estimates-- but they estimate him to weigh almost six pounds.  And I have five weeks left :)  We met with my doctor after the scan and he talked about a few things.  The first being the need for the baby to grow a lot more despite his giant size.  We are going to have to have another ultrasound, maybe two, to keep an eye on him.  He's crowded and they want to make sure he isn't too crowded, or running out of fluid, or getting tangled in the cord.  The second being that because of his location and size he is putting a lot of pressure on my left pelvic joint, possibly causing it to become disjointed.  He referred me for physical therapy and signed me out of work, starting immediately.  He wants me off my feet more than I'm on.

I was impressed by how well I took the news.  I was glad to have had a week to prepare myself for what I knew was probably inevitable.  Lofton begrudgingly allowed me to work Thursday and Friday so I could get plans in place and say goodbye to my kiddos.  It is certainly bittersweet, but made a little easier by knowing it's the end of the year anyway.  It's only two weeks early.

And so I'm at home.  Yesterday I watched a ridiculous amount of television and surfed the internet.  Rest is boring, but productive I presume.  I was so happy to see the clock turn 3:30 so I could go pick up my favorite kid!