The Trifecta of all Weekends

If you live in Kentucky, this was a pretty big weekend - we had the Derby on Saturday, Mother's Day on Sunday, and the University of Kentucky Commencement services today as well.

Pete told me he wanted to spend Sunday celebrating Mother's Day, and I was unable to attend my graduation ceremony today since Ellie is so young, so we celebrated my graduation on Friday night. Pete got me a cake from Martine's - yum!

As of this afternoon I hold my Master's in Communication Disorders so I can write the following letters after my name: M.S., CF-SLP. Three years of hard work paid off!!

Saturday morning we went to the farmer's market and wore Ellie in her Baby Bjorn for the first time - we loved it!! Saturday evening we headed over to Ben and Emily's for a Derby party. Last year I found the greatest outfits at Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood rummage sale.

Two jockey silks complete with hats!! Ellie came as our little horse. We thought it was hilarious and assured Ellie this would not be the last time we embarrassed her.

Then today was my first Mother's Day. My first treat was Pete taking Ellie downstairs after her 6:00am feeding so I could sleep another 2-2 1/2 hours, how nice! Then around nine Pete brought Ellie back upstairs with his laptop so we could watch UK's commencement ceremony live online. I got to see all my fellow classmates receive their degrees, so that was nice. When we came downstairs Pete had gotten me not one but two hydrangea plants. One indoor potted one that is in full bloom, and another one to plant outside to commemorate our first Mother's Day. We went to Starbucks for breakfast and dropped by church just as it was getting out (Ellie's still too young to attend) so we could introduce her to the choir. After that we visited the peony garden at Ashland to take some pictures.

(thanks for the outfit Uncle Corky!)

Pete had more Mother's Day things after that -

A picture frame with clay on one-side for Ellie's handprints! We'll put a picture from Ashland this afternoon in the frame side.

For dinner Pete grilled chicken shish-ka-bobs and I fixed corn-on-the-cob. Ellie was being fussy so I wore her in her Baby Bjorn while getting dinner ready. She was still upset when the food was ready, so Pete wore her while we ate - and protected her from any corn kernels that might have fallen. :)

So that was our weekend - hope yours was as fun as ours!!

first trip for fro yo!

On Monday we took Ellie to Orange Leaf - the frozen yogurt store we frequented a minimum of twice a week the last few weeks of my pregnancy.

I got my usual - vanilla with strawberries, and Pete got something with crushed butterfinger, chocolate something, and rainbow sprinkles!

Now we're in some freak cold front so the high today was only 50 - definitely not a fro yo day. On fro yo day Ellie was wearing a cute sleeveless romper, today we had her in a play suit with both feet and mitten cuffs!

Look how bright eyed she is! She really enjoyed her first tummy time - our girl has wicked head control and can turn her head and hold it up like a champ!!

this little light of mine

She's here!! Eleanor Wrenn Crawford was born last Monday, April 25th, at 5:09pm. She weighed 7lbs, 13oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. We have been drinking up every last minute with her and somehow one week has already passed!!

We have had a steady stream of visitors at the hospital and our house - yesterday was our first day as a family of three. My Aunt Susie was generous enough to come stay with us from the time we were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday through Saturday - we would not have survived the first few days without her.

Here's Ellie all ready for her first car ride - our trip home last Wednesday 4/27/11

and here she is a big one-week old this afternoon!

Pregnant in Heels

We have given this girl every opportunity to have a crazy birth story - Murphy's Law is totally letting us down this week.

Friday night we spent 2 hours in our basement because of a tornado warning - perfect time to go into labor, we've had several severe thunderstorms since then, none of which would be fun for driving to the hospital, and.....nothing.

Saturday we went to see a movie - Water for Elephants (it was REALLY good!) - how embarrassing would it have been to have my water break in the middle of a movie?!?!?

Today, Easter Sunday, seemed like the perfect time to make for another unfortunate situation; I was wearing a nice dress, nice shoes, and sang the Hallelujah Chorus with about as much gusto as I could muster. Again.....nothing.

This afternoon we went for a four-mile walk, we've tried everything!!

But babies come when they're ready, not when we want them to, so we continue to wait. Thanks for all your kind thoughts - we promise to update when there's news!!

any guesses?

I find myself wondering how big Baby Girl will be when she decides to make her entrance to this wonderful world. I weighed 6lbs, 7oz when I was born (I don't know how long I was) and Pete weighed 8lbs, 10oz and was 21 1/4" long.

Here I am at 40 weeks, not really looking like I'll go into labor soon. Oh well. As long as she's healthy and I'm healthy, I have no reason to complain.

Though, truthfully, I WANT HER TO COME NOW!! WE WANT TO SEE WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE AND TELL HER WE LOVE HER AND THAT WE ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT HER!!!

So how big do you all think she'll be? How long?

Still Pregnant!

Wouldn't you want to follow a labor plan if it was given to you in this format?

I am certainly hoping so. AND I got a giant new 32oz tervis tumbler. Doesn't it look baby-girl-delivery-room fantastic?!?
Here's a pic of me last Tuesday - when I was 39 weeks:

Bye Bye Bee-Bo

It finally happened - my belly button has gone to hide. It hasn't popped out - just pretty much flattened so there's only a little lip of skin protruding. Fear not - no naked belly pics here - or anywhere else, but here I am in all my 38-week glory.

And I'm wearing a different shirt!! Hallelujah! It has warmed up just enough here that I don't have to wear the same four long-sleeved shirts. Granted, I only have 2ish weeks left so I only snagged a few tees at Target, but even a little variety helps me feel better.

AND WE FINISHED THE NURSERY!! YAY!! I think it turned out really well - warm and welcoming, not too pinky pink, but definitely a space for a girl. After I took this picture yesterday I whisked the pillow on the glider off to have a giant letter monogrammed on the middle so it will be personalized too.

Since our nursery space is limited, we also have some baby things on the landing by the stairs, across from the door to her room.

Don't worry - her door is not the little one on the right - that is our walkout attic. We have all her books in the bookshelf and stuffed animals in baskets under the sideboard.


So there you have it! Our house is ready, our car is ready, I just need to make it to the 15th to finish my school rotation and everything will be set!

The Final Countdown

We're full into prepare-for-baby-mode at our house. Saturday we installed the car seat - and had it checked by a certified installation person. It was a very informative 30-40 minutes at Mother Nurture/Baby Moon. I love that we have them as a resource!

sorry for the poor picture quality - it might have helped if I had taken the car out of the garage, but it's all rainy here today so there's not much sunlight

A few weeks ago Pete assembled the stroller. We thought it would take some serious work, so I got out the camera to document the assembly, but it was super-easy! (much easier than the jumperoo - which is also all ready to go)



I picked up the monogrammed outfit on Saturday - it is PERFECT! Can't wait to put Baby Girl in it!!

Audrey made us a pillow for our glider and I have 5 prints to hang in the room - then I can 'reveal' the nursery! It's all coming together - now we just need a little person - eek!

Happy Birthday Meredith!!!

Today is my friend Meredith Houlihan's birthday - she recently started her own blog and it's fantastic!! I know Meredith from school - she works in the faculty offices of our department - and it's always great to get to see her when I have an on-campus errand. She and I share a love of preppy cute things, cardigans, and chocolate. She also proudly displays all my leftover craft projects from the outpatient speech therapy clinic. Here she is with her cutie husband Hunter on their wedding day last summer. How it has almost been a year since they got married is beyond me. Time Flies!

Way back in February Meredith tagged me in a post about Stylish Bloggers!! I don't know about stylish, but I try to share the fun we have around our house :) Anyway, here are the rules:

1. Make a post and link back to the person who awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award recently discovered bloggers the award so it will be their turn next.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won.

So here are 7 things about myself - I'll try to come up with something new since I feel like everyone who reads this knows me pretty well.

1. I am really enjoying March Madness. Last season was the first time I watched any basketball because UK had such a dream team, and this year I did a bracket at work, and am having so much fun watching the games. It's probably because all the underdogs are winning. Tonight's our big game against UNC - so GO CATS!!

2. I am obsessed with ice water. This is since pregnancy. I used to prefer my water room temperature, but now I get up every morning and fill my Tervis Tumbler with ice and then water and I repeat this throughout the day at work. We only have 16 0z glasses at our house, but I'm thinking I need to buy a big 32 oz one to take with us to the hospital.

3. Every morning with breakfast I eat 1/2 grapefruit and Pete drinks a glass of grapefruit juice. In my first trimester, I drank La Croix sparkling water every day in grapefruit flavor. Now they are no longer available in Lexington (boo.) So...one of our nicknames for Baby Girl is Pamplemousse, or mousse for short :)

4. I only had to work a half-day on Friday so I was able to do a little shopping! I bought a coming home outfit for Baby Girl at Bella Bliss and had it monogrammed with her name on the front, so.......someone other than me and Pete knows the name!!

5. We've had dinner two nights in a row at home and we're going to eat here tonight, too. Confession: This is probably the first time we will be eating dinner at home at least 5 nights out of the week in 2-3 months. After our kitchen was finished we had gotten in the habit of eating out - usually Oasis, Rincon, or something similar and with me working all day and then having to work on my comps in the evening, we've been bad. :/

6. I'm afraid if our baby ISN'T born with red hair people will be disappointed (me and my dominant dark hair getting in the way).

7. My favorite Pandora station is the Disney Children's Station. It always plays good stuff from Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, and The Lion King, and then Friday when I was listening to it it also had some Glee soundtrack and Julie Andrews!! It's the perfect music for cleaning the kitchen.

okay! that's seven things!! I tag Rachael at Living the Dream, Jennifer at From Bluegrass to Palmtrees, and Stephanie at A Day in the Life...

All three of these ladies have blogs that with any post can have me in tears just as easily as laughing my head off. Can't wait to see what you all post next!!

We are SO lucky.....

...to have such loving and generous friends!!

Earlier in March all the girls from my program at school got together and threw a shower for me and Mindy. Mindy is due 10 weeks after I am with a little boy!

April was kind enough to host us at her new house, Tracy and Holly made the darling diaper cakes, Ginnie brought the delicious treats from Babycakes, and Corie got us coordinating frames! They're magnetic so you can put different initials and little figures on them - so cool. It was so fun to have someone to share in all the shower fun - Mindy and I sat side by side opening gifts and playing games - we had the best time!! I'm so excited that I know so many people who are having babies this spring or summer. I think we'll have a good time sharing ideas and inspiration, trials and triumphs as we wade through our first few months as moms. Thanks to everyone who took time out of their Sunday to come. :)

Then, two Wednesdays ago, our church choir threw us a shower during the second half of rehearsal time!! This was especially fun because Pete was there, too! We love being a part of such a great group. Here are some pics of us opening our gifts:

a whole box of goodies

including some awesome soft books!

Then it was time to open the big box.

THEY GOT US OUR PACK 'N PLAY!!!

Here we are getting ready to leave, giving one last thank-you to our fearless director Clif.

We're all done with showers and have bought all of our remaining gear. I finally found a coming home outfit this afternoon at Bella Bliss. Now we just have to install the car seat, write a labor plan, and pack a bag. Oh yeah. And find a pediatrician. We've met with one and have appointments with two more in April. Nothing quite like waiting until the last minute. Oh well, I have been pretty busy with certain school projects up until this week ;)

I'm pretty excited about this upcoming weekend - no major projects, just time to clean the house and try to relax a bit!

I'm BACK!!!

So you know what that means........

I PASSED MY ORAL COMPREHENSIVE EXAM!!!! Here I am shortly afterward - in all my 'professional' attire. For being 36 weeks pregnant, I l.o.v.e.d my dress! (you really can't go wrong with navy in my book)


My presentation went really well, and I was able to answer the questions regarding my client and his intervention with confidence. I missed a few of the 'general knowledge' questions - I had to say 'I don't know' twice - but apparently it wasn't enough not to pass me, so in May I'll graduate with my Master of Science in Communication Disorders and will be on my way to being a Speech-Language Pathologist!! Yay!! I can't believe it has gone by so quickly - so much has happened in the past three years, but, as always, it seems as though it happened in the blink of an eye.

Now that my evenings are back to being my own I'll hopefully get on the wagon with blog posts. I've got pictures from two more showers to share, a nursery to reveal, and a Baby Girl to deliver!!! So stay tuned :)

Babies, Babies, Everywhere!!

In the past 9 days I have been to 4 baby showers!! Two for me, 2 for other friends of mine who are also due in April. Here's a pic of all the preggo ladies at my shower two Saturdays ago.
Bari's due May 30th, I'm due mid-April, Megan's due April 30th, and Emily is due April 1st.
Emily, Megan and I are all having girls - yay for more girls to join the Nugget!! Josh and Bari aren't finding out the sex of their little one so it will be a Memorial Day surprise!

February 26th I had my first shower - a fabulous bird and nest-themed event thrown by Rachael and Audrey.
And as I mentioned earlier, Grandma Prann came!!!
It was so great to have her sitting beside me as I opened gifts - oohing and aahing over everything with me.
AND Matt and Jen drove in all the way from SOUTH CAROLINA just to come to my shower!! Talk about great friends. We all went to lunch before the shower - Grandma too - then Matt and Pete went off together while Jen stayed for the shower.
Like all of my friends at the shower, Matt and Jen were super-generous with their gifts. They want to be sure that Baby Girl Crawford is well-supplied for her first trip to S.C., so in addition to giving her the most darling sundress with flamingos on it, they gave us this little number:
You might not be able to tell from the picture, but it is an infant-sized crocheted/knitted(?) BIKINI!! Jen assures me it was meant as a joke, but I feel like we'll at least have to take a picture of Baby Girl in it just for posterity.

It was so great to see all my friends - old and new - and I feel so lucky that our little girl will have so many people to love and support her when she makes her arrival.

The day after my shower was Emily's - it was a GREAT little party for baby Scarlett - I forgot my camera, though, so I'll have to wait for others to share their pictures before I can post any.

This past Saturday was Megan's shower. Emily H., Emily L., and Christa did a FABU job decorating. I l.o.v.e. all the pom-poms. AND we made an alphabet book book for baby Clover. Emily had 26 pages with a giant letter sticker on each one. There were plenty of markers to go around and we each made a page or two for the book. I chose L and did an L is for Ladybug page :) That and Present Bingo are my two new favorite shower games. AND the minute-to-win-it game Rachael incorporated at my shower. Maybe I'll post that video later.

On Sunday, April, Ginnie and the girls from my program at school threw a shower for me and Mindy, who is due at the end of June. I'll save that one for another blog, but it was great!