{ What I am Loving }

A rainy Wednesday it is, but I am well rested because the little Mr. slept all night last night!! Which tops todays list of the things I am loving!!

- I love that some days my cheeks actually hurt from smiling soo much. Who knew that this little boy could cause soo much joy. I am the happiest I have been in a loooong time!

- I love that the dogs are starting to take more interest in Noah during mat time and the cats are loving him more too. Including Jazz - who gets kicked constantly because she likes to sit beside him and purr. Clearly her happy pills are working.

- I love this pic of Gracie from yesterday morning:

- I am loving white chocolate brownies. I had one at Moxie's on the weekend for the first time and now I want more! I found this recipe on Pinterest and might have to try it!

- I am struggling with wearing my hair down lately because I get annoyed with it when nursing, so I have been trying to find cute ways to tie it back. I came across this one and I love it!

PIN

- I am loving that the first ball game of the season is Friday!! 

- I love that the results of my x-ray have finally showed that my ankle fracture has healed. It doesn't explain the pain or the swelling and bruising, but I at least know I won't sustain more damage by exercising again. I will just have to deal with it and push on!

- I think Noah and I are going to have to get crafting and make this for his nursery:

PIN

I have never made my own canvas art! Anyone have any tips?

- I would also love to make these:

PIN

But I think I will have to then make a new gallery wall to showcase them, which I am considering doing on my staircase going upstairs like this one:

PIN

- I am loving the duet by Blake Shelton and Shakira called Medicine:

I hope everyone is having a great day, we are off to the vet today for shots and blood work.

Weekend Rewind

Another busy weekend has come and gone by. I feel like our weekends are about to slow down, as M is getting into busy season and will be working Saturdays for a while.

On to this past weekend: 

Friday we had dinner at the farm! It was rainy and cool out! Noah must have been going through a little growth spurt this weekend because he was a bit off with not sleeping well at night,but more. The day and being a little cranky. 

We came home from the farm, bathed him and we were all in bed by 10:00! I find when he gets up before 8 AM then it makes a long day for me. 

Saturday we started yard work. M cut down my favorite ornamental tree that was ruined in the ice storm, I was hopeful to save it, but that won't be happening now...but I will be getting new one!! That man is crazy with a chainsaw and needs supervision! But we got most of the trees trimmed up.

M's Mom came over to help me with some sewing projects. I have a lot I want to do, but my head is just not in it. I feel that when I start a project I need to finish a project with no interruptions when it comes to sewing or I forget where I left off and screw it up. I have no patience for it! So it was great for S to come and help me put my ideas to life! She made a bib and burp cloth, fixed the car seat cover, fixed the nursing cover I made. 

We met our new neighbours in the afternoon while cleaning up the back yard. M fixed one of our gates, but still has the rest to fix. 

We got cleaned up and then headed out shopping with friends and grabbed dinner at Moxie's. I will say Moxie's wasn't very baby friendly, but we made it work!! 

Noah didn't sleep well Saturday night, but woke Daddy up just in time to head over to setup the fireman's breakfast at 6 AM! I fed Noah and we went back to sleep for another hour and a half and then headed to help out at the breakfast as well!! 

All decked out in fire trucks to support Daddy!! 

Noah and I headed home just before noon, I finished feeding Noah and heard sirens indicating the department got a call, so we packed back up and headed down the street to the hall to help clean up while the guys were at the 3 car accident. M got home just after 1 pm. He fixed the clothesline and then headed down to the park to hit some balls. 

We headed into town after, where I broke my own rules and paid full price for a pair of shoes!! I bought Sanuks and LOVE them!! 

We grabbed groceries and dinner and then settled in for the evening. My outfit of the day:

I actually feel really comfortable in it for once. I'm still struggling with dressing myself. Crazy to think I used to enjoy that part of my day! I know I will again and hopefully soon!! If I could just cut out these cravings - they are almost worse post-partum then during the pregnancy! 

Noah had yet another rough night. When I say rough, I suppose isn't really rough, it just means he woke up when he usually sleeps through. I think weekends are too busy for him. 

But today he is all stories and smiles! 

5 on Friday

This week has gone by fast, I think because of the holiday Monday! But 5 things did go down!

1. Girls night happened finally on Wednesday!! We were all supposed to get together in February before the new babies came (both J and I were expecting in March) however Noah had other plans and came the Sunday before. But we finally all got together, headed into town to Kelseys for drinks and apps! It was well over due, and great to see everyone!! 

What I wore: 

2. While I was at girls night, Noah and Daddy had some one on one time. Noah actually didn't fuss much this time when I left, which makes leaving him a little easier. I'd be lying if I said I miss him and on my mind continuously! I did get some baby snuggles with J's little boy though! Crazy that he is a month younger than Noah, but 2 pounds heavier!! 

3. This is our last Friday to ourselves before ball season starts!! I can't lie though, I love watching ball and can't wait to introduce Noah to baseball!! Not to mention he has some pretty stellar ball outfits to wear to support Daddy!! 

4. We have started bathing Noah every night now that the weather is nicer and since he loves having baths now!! However last night M and I ended up having a water fight in the kitchen during bath time. This definitely wasn't the first water fight in our house and I know it won't be the last. Needless to say both M and I were soaked! Noah wasn't harmed and both M and I had some good laughs as usual. 

5. I'm enjoying some baby snuggles. Noah has wanted to be held constantly the last few days, which of course I enjoy, although nothing gets done. But it can wait, because we all know babies grow up waay to fast and I will miss these days. But he is in a much better mood today compared to yesterday:

I think he just needed out of the house yesterday, because once we were out he was fine. Mommy bought some new scarves, bought Noah a sleeper (because clearly he has more than enough clothes..) and I bought a new hair straightener! Now I just have to learn how to curl my hair with it too, although my infinity curler wins hands down for easiness and time. 

Life After Beating Infertility

This week marks Infertility Awareness Week. One out of seven couples struggle with infertility in one way or another.

Today I am going to talk about infertility and how it has affected my life. My husband and I suffered with infertility for 4 long years. The problem being my diminishing ovarian reserve, as well as having a hydrosalpinx in my one tube. I ended up having surgery to block that tube, although my other tube wasn't great either. Treatment after treatment, month after month, I soon began to fear pregnancy tests for the simple fact of seeing that negative pop up. I stopped testing after the first year. We did IVF 3 times with no such luck. I would produce the minimum eggs, leading to very few embryos. But we always had hope that one would make it. 

It was hard to come up with various ways to excuse why we didn't have children, as we kept our struggle a secret, just as many people did. I didn't keep it a secret because I was ashamed, but more because I wasn't strong enough to talk about it, I can just now talk about all we have gone through without tearing up. Remembering the pain, the let downs, the questions, the lack of understanding as to why WE had to go through this. But as time went by I realized how strong this was making my husband and I's relationship. We were chosen for this life and this is just what we had to go through to bring us our miracle. God wasn't saying no, He was saying just wait! Hold on to hope, it was a major component for getting us through.

After our last failed IVF cycle, I was done, I couldn't bear the thought of another cycle, more bad news, it was all weighing me down. I started the new year off with a new goal to simply be the best me I could be. We went to a naturopath, did a yeast cleanse, we both dropped a lot of weight, we travelled and I was then finally able to consider another cycle. 

We tried clomid and ended up with a false positive. Clomid for me should have worked like a glass of water - causing nothing more to happen for me, ovulation was not my problem, but I just knew I had to try it. My fertility doctor decided to give me a 2nd month on the medication and sure enough we were pregnant! We couldn't believe it. It was officially the happiest, yet scariest time in our lives. I wanted nothing more but to enjoy my pregnancy and that is just what I did, despite the fear of anything going wrong, I enjoyed being pregnant to the fullest. 

My pregnancy started off super easy, with no morning sickness, I felt the best I had felt in years. At 25 weeks I ended up on blood pressure meds, 26 weeks I fractured my ankle, 32 weeks my blood pressure spiked again and 36 weeks it went up again and I ended up being induced and diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia. My labor/delivery was complicated with being put on magnesium sulphate to prevent seizures due to my blood pressure being soo high. I ended up with a c-section after 36 hours of labor. Our son was born blue, he had a heart rate, but wasn't breathing properly due to the medication they had given me. He spent the first 2 days in the NICU. Today he is a happy and healthy baby boy and we couldn't feel any happier or more blessed! 

I am here today to talk to you about life after infertility. A lot of people think that once you have a baby that infertility is done and over with. I am here to tell you that is not the case. Infertility is always with you. I wake up each day feeling soo blessed to be a mother to our little guy, but that pain we endured doesn't just disappear. I often find myself already wondering if I will be lucky enough to experience another pregnancy. I will never forget everything we went through to get to where we are today and if anything it has given me a new respect for my child, my life and my marriage. Infertility has made me stronger and I wouldn't be the person I am today having not experienced it! I have a whole new respect for a woman's body and conception, just knowing how lucky we were to get pregnant, having such odds against us!

You won't find me asking some one if they will have kids or when. I get it's the norm to get married, have kids, etc., but you don't know that persons story. You don't know if they are struggling and if they are, it is the worst question you can ask. Nothing drove me more insane. I know people weren't trying to be rude, I was just super sensitive about it. 

Another thing to never say to someone even just trying - just relax, it will happen. No it won't. Relaxing has nothing to do it. If you think there might be something wrong, get it checked out! Don't wait a year because that's what the doctor says to do! Trust your instincts!

One thing I will admit to is not knowing anything about infertility before the diagnosis slapped me in the face. You don't think it can happen to you or someone you know until it does! The best thing you can do before offering advice is to be aware of infertility. Your questions will change, your opinions will change, and most importantly your advice will change. Now a days it is becoming more and more of an issue for many couples. No one wants to talk about it and even today it is not an easy subject for myself.

Like I said infertility will always be with me, always a chapter in my life's story.

You can read more about my story HERE, HERE and HERE.

What I Am Loving!!

Let me start off by saying that I am loving the weather!! Finally I think spring might actually be here!!

I am loving this flirty little boy: 

I am loving and hating that my cats caught a mouse in the house... Love that they caught it, but hate that there was a mouse in my house! We haven't had any for a long time! I'm happy M was home to deal with it! 

I love that yesterday both Noah and I stayed in our jammies all day long! Today I will get dressed!! Noah will most likely stay in his sleeper because he is in between newborn clothes and 0-3 months! Therefore he has no pants that fit... Unless they don't have feet and I don't feel like 50 million sock/slipper changes at diaper change time. The sleepers win right now, even if only 5 fit good right now. The one above is too big still, but we are over it! Old navy fits best right now! 

I am loving the smiles this little man is coming up with these days! I need to video tape these because the noises he makes are just as good as the faces!! Think big giggles and squeals! 

I love that my new perfume has come in today and I can't wait to go grab it from the post office!! 

I am loving playing around with my new blog design as some of you may have noticed!! Just working on the about me section next, which is taking a bit more time than I care to admit to! 

I am loving my little mans new wardrobe, however I am still not enjoying attempting to organize it!! He will be one trendy little man after seeing all the gifts he has received!! Which means I have a second and probably third batch of thank yous to get done! 

Hope everyone is enjoying their Wednesday!! Tomorrow I will be back to talk about my story with infertility to support Infertility Awareness Week!! 

Noah's First Easter Weekend [weekend rewind]

Noah had another super busy weekend filled with 4 days of fun! I will start off by saying how nice the 20 degree weather was all weekend long! It makes today's rain not so bad!

Friday S&K came over in the morning with W for a visit. The guys looked at our roof and sure enough it is going to need some work this summer! We had a great visit and W enjoyed some fun baby snuggles with Noah!

Once they left, I enjoyed my first bath in the new tub, as well as my first bath in this house!! It was great!! 

Friday we had dinner at the farm! Mike's parents invited my sisters family and my parents over for dinner. It was soo nice having our family all together, especially for Noah's First Easter! I might have mentioned we should do this once a year!! 

Noah was spoiled by Grandpa and had his first taste of ice cream - black cherry, Grandpa's favorite! Fun was had by all!! My Mom stayed over both Friday night and Saturday night. 

Friday night was the first night Noah slept ALL night long!! Celebrations were had!! So proud of our little man!! 

Saturday we worked on the garage, it flooded when all the snow melted for some reason and we had a lot of card board on the ground. Needless to say we had a mess! We got a lot of it cleaned up, but the garage is far from clean yet. We did get a good start before we had to goto Easter celebration #2 with my Mom's extended family. I did find myself a new bottle of wine to enjoy: 

Noah slept great again, not quite all night, but soo close!! 

Sunday morning we took pictures of Noah and his Easter loot! We went with clothes this year, since we all know I won't be able to do that again!! Grandma gave him the basket, the bunny that us actually the same size as him haha, and the books! 

This picture sums up Easter for Noah: 

Noah had some playtime with Lux: 

We were at the farm for lunch. M's Mom helped me out with making his car seat cover. I just have the straps to finish, maybe this week! M helped his Dad with some yard work and the dogs had a blast running around after the quad and playing in the fields! We went to my Aunts for yet another Easter dinner, which was fun! 

M worked Monday morning, but got off around 11, so we could head to London for the final Easter celebration with my Dad's extended family! It was great because my cousin from out west was home visiting!! We had a great visit and were home by 6 after picking up the dogs up from the farm! 

Noah did great after having such a busy weekend!! We are soo proud of him! He slept great at night, waking each morning at 4:30 after filling his pants! If he didn't fill his pants at 4:30, he would most likely sleep through the night like he did on Friday night! 

So last night we tried moving his last feed up to 9:45pm and having him in bed at 10 - but he still woke at 4:30 on the dot with needing a diaper change!! 

Over all we had a great weekend and finished it up with a family photo! I'm not sure how we got Noah looking at the camera and actually smiling, but we did at just 9 weeks old!! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend as well!! 

My Dearest Grandma

Last Monday night, we received the news that my Grandma had passed. Actually my sister and I were talking about her as she passed. I meant to share this last week instead of leaving everyone hanging, but my wardrobe needed massive help and quickly. Luckily my sister came through for me with a dress from her closet that I might have to keep in mine for her!  I ended up adding to this letter for the family and reading it as her eulogy, but this is my original letter.

Dear Grandma,

I would start off this letter telling you how missed you will be, but that is the obvious, so I will share a few things that we will miss about you! 

I will never forget your strength. You had been sick for too long and just when they mention that you won't pull through, you would miracously pull through. Like hell someone was going to decide your fate, you were a fighter!

You were soo strong when Grandpa passed, you weren't afraid of your grief like most of us were. You taught me that it is okay to be mad when someone passes away, it isn't a bad thing, but a stage of grief. You showed us that there is a time to cry, a time to mourn and many times to laugh. You have shown us what it is to love endlessly in past or present. You have taught me that God doesn't do things to punish us. He didn't call upon you because we didn't need you or because you weren't loved, but rather because you were soo loved and you have lived a great life. You were part of His plan.  He only takes the best. 

You kept this family going strong and I pray that we are able to continue this even though you are no longer with us in person, but always in our hearts. I would like to think many card games will continue to play at family functions. This will be a way for you to remain alive with us, more alive than ever if you know how this family plays cards. 

Growing up you helped us find faith by taking us to church when we were in London. I could never understand why you would goto church so often, but then I learned that you had a family with God too and your heart was open to all of those in God's family, whether it was going to church just to pray for someone else. You were always soo generous and putting others first.

I will miss your whitty sense of humor and your crush on Mike. I'm glad you approved of the man I chose to marry and loved how you would often tell both Mike and I how lucky we were to have each other. It made us laugh when you would tell Mike that he needed to take you out on a date instead! I remember the day we did take you out and you thought we were joking, but you would never turn down a good meal and dessert was always a must! 

I will miss your hugs. They were endless and I always felt your love through them as you gave us that extra squish at the end. I hope to never forget this part. I hope to be as proud of a parent as you were to all your children and grandchildren. Coming to various school functions to show your support, telling me how proud of me you were after watching me sing in the church choir as a child or perform in a school play in high school. Your love and support will never go unknown to not only me, but all your children and grandchildren. 

I am sad that my son will not grow up knowing you like I did. But we will do our best in making sure he knows who you are. I am happy that he was at least able to see you before you passed away, although you were not well. I saw you lock eyes on him and can just imagine what you would have said to both me and Noah. I will be sure to let him know that he met one of his great-grandparents. 

Grandma, most importantly, I hope you will always know how loved you are. I put this in present tense because even though you are up in heaven, you are still loved down here. You hold a place in each and every one of the hearts you touched. We will all carry you in our hearts. Heaven gained a new angel when they called upon you. I will pick another star in the sky and know that it is you shining down on us. 

I hope you had the best reunion with Grandpa, because we all know how much you have missed him. I am happy you are together again because a love like that should never be separated. Now the two of you can hold hands once again and watch down on all of your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

Thank you Grandma for being a great role model. I want to love like you loved, live as long as you lived and embrace life just as you did. I want to be patient, just as you were and I would love to have some of your strength. I know the last few years have been rough for you, you had your good days and your bad days. It is your good days that only stand out to me in my mind. Thank you for being you. 

To think that someone like you felt proud of us and loved us unconditionally should make us all feel more than just a little good. We can never forget that there is a part of you in each of us, something that you gave to us and asked nothing for in return because that is just who you were. How lucky we are to have had someone who made saying goodbye soo hard.

Mike and I will miss you. 

Love 

Ashley 

So What Wednesday

This is a great week for a little so what action. We have had a rough two days and luckily today is shaping up to be a good one!

So what if when we left the house on Monday to goto Noah's doctor appointment for shots, Gracie and Binx were both playing dead. Apparently they knew what was about to go down. We were already dragging our feet to going in the first place. Thanks for the encouragement guys! 

So what if Noah had his shots on Monday and screamed like I had never heard before - why didn't anyone warn me?? 

So what if I then found it appropriate to cry while he was screaming in my arms. Poor baby boy! It was just a few tears! 

So what if we rewarded ourselves with a Cadbury Creme Egg McFlurry afterwards! Our day had to have something positive happen! 

So what if nothing AT ALL has been done in my house by myself in the last 2 days because I've been handing out extra snuggles instead. 

So what if Mother Nature is having another break down?? I'm pretty sure I saw four seasons in 20 minutes yesterday!! 

So what if this is the way I really feel: 

So what if I gave been eating cupcakes for breakfast everyday this week? Those 9 pounds will come off one day??

So what if I have to go and have my ankle x-rayed yet again. Third time is a charm right? Although I'm sure it hasn't healed properly! 

So what if cutting baby fingernails is now worse than cutting the cats nails? The cats meow when you get to short, but Noah lets it go down and then you see his red little finger tips to haunt you. It's gotta hurt! 

So what if I ever so badly wanted to have a bath in my new tub yesterday, maybe with a glass of wine, but settled for a shower instead knowing I had one fussy baby that would be screaming for me. 

So what if said fussy baby pooped in the bath for the first time last night? He was in a much better mood afterwards!!

So what if M and I enjoy a little family time after Noah's 5 AM feed. Noah lays in M's spot and tells us stories, smiles a whole ton and M and I can't help but to enjoy this time! 

So what if I forgot to pick 3 winner of the Quinn and Lane Give Away! We have had a lot of unexpected things come up, but today's the day for 3 lucky winners!! 

1. Lindsey from A Running Tale

2. Jennifer Golding  - my apologies - cant find your blog!!

3. Nicole from Haute Runner

Huge thanks to Quinn and Lane for the opportunity!! I absolutely love Noah's!!

Congrat's ladies, I will put you in touch with Catherine!! 

Noah - 2 Months

Weight:

7 lbs 8 oz - 4 weeks

 7 lbs 11 oz - 4 1/2 weeks
8 lbs 2 oz (with a onesie on, which will be from here on in) - 5 1/2 weeks

8 lbs 5 oz - 6 1/2 weeks 

8lbs 13 oz - 7 1/2 weeks

9 lbs - 8 weeks

His head is measuring at 40 cm at 8 weeks!

Height: 
20.5 inches

21.75 inches

The doctors office seems to think he is 23.15 inches... But that is a bit exaggerated as far as I'm concerned! 

Sleeping: We have started to establish a bit of a routine where possible!! Noah tends to give us 3-5 hour stretches of sleep at a time during the night. We did get a few 6 hour stretches. We had a weekend of waking more often, but as long as I feed him at 11pm, he usually will just wake once around 3 and then wake around 7pm. He has even been stretching the 3AM to 4AM - bonus! But sometimes he gives Daddy a run for his money and doesn't go right back to sleep after a feed! 

Weekends tend to involve more wake ups at night, I think because he ends up over-stimulated with outings or guests. But this past weekend, despite how busy he has been with the funeral, his shower, etc. he has slept great!! Back to our 5 hour stretches! 

Feeding: Every 2-4/5 hours. Still pumping once a day and freezing what I am able to get. But when we hit 6 weeks, we were nursing every 1.5 hours! Noah has gone 7 hours at night without a feed! What a champ! 

We no longer use the medela nipple and are switching over to our Dr. Brown bottles, as the medela nipple now allows him to drink too fast! This creates a very unhappy, gassy baby! He doesn't get bottles very often and has maybe had 5 since bringing him home from the hospital. He does much better with the doctor brown nipples! 

My milk supply seems to be increasing on demand, which makes me happy, as I was a bit worried with the first growth spurt there at 6 weeks!

Clothing: Newborn size! We have started introducing 0-3 months, but they are big. Towards the end of this month, he has very few newborn sleepers that fit in length, in fact we have just one left, two if you count the Disney one, but it fits more like 3 months!  Onesies and outfits are still newborn, although the onsies are getting a bit short, so we have been weeding those out too! But 3 month onesies are like dresses on him! Poor guy! 

Joe and Old Navy 0-3 are just starting to fit. 

Diaper Changes: At 5 weeks we switched over to size 1 diapers. Newborn still fit him, but I was tired of paying the more expensive price for the newborns, when size 1 will work. They just go up to his ribs!! There is no leaking though!

We did have our first "blow out" if we can call it that! It wasn't up his back or anything drastic, just on the edge of the leg of his onsie! 

Looks: Blue eyes, and brown hair. His hair seems to be lightening up a bit after a bath and in sunlight there is a slight reddish tinge.

So far I think the little man is the perfect mix of M and I! Someday's I think he looks like M and others just like me! It also depends on his expressions.

What The Doctor Had To Say: Noah is doing great and she didn't have any concerns. He us in the low percentiles as far as his weight/height go. But he is growing and that is all that matters. 

We had his first set of vaccinations as well and oh. my. goodness. It was bad!!! I gave him Tylenol before hand, but he still screamed and cried like I had never seen him do before, which then led to this mama tearing up. The nurse told us we both did well and that most moms cry! Poor little guy!! Then I thought Tylenol last 8 hours like Advil, and sure enough it doesn't, so around 6 hours Noah was angry and soo upset!! Poor little man had a rough day! We rewarded ourselves with a Cadbury Creme Egg McFlurry afterwards! 

Nicknames: Stretch, Spike, Captain, Mr. Magoo, Little Man, Toots, Mama's Monkey. 

Likes: The mamaroo! Car rides, his fleece blanket, moving, snuggles, his play mat, country music, the bouncer, Lux, Grace and Lily. He also hasn't been minding his baths again!! He is always smiling while laying in his change station! He stares at pictures of M & I and himself! 

Dislikes: diaper changes, gas pains, outfit changes, hats falling on his eyes and hiccups.

Fur Baby Update: Both Gracie and Lily are taking more interest in Noah! Gracie is always making sure we bring him home after an outing. They are still a little skiddish when he is on the ground. Lux is a great big brother! He is always checking on Noah when he cries. The other night Noah was fussing on our bed, so Lux went over to him, started sniffing him and he stopped crying! Mike and I both watched in awe!

While we were up in the nursery, Noah was sleeping in to mama-roo but started crying. Gracie came to get us and Lux was sitting at his side! Priceless! But great babysitters! Lol. 

Personality: When Noah is hungry - he is hungry and he means business!! When Noah turned 6 weeks, we started to get new smiles! He is soo alert and is awake more often in the day and looking around at everything. He is very calm to say the least and only fusses if there is a problem. He has a very sweet temperament. 

My Recovery: I am pushing myself to walk that extra block, in fact once 6 weeks came, the weather was nicer and we did 2 walks and a trip to Wal-Mart all in one day and didn't feel too bad. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I haven't been able to get out much since fracturing my ankle at 26 weeks! My ankle is not tolerating the temperature change very well, but we are pushing through!

I was cleared at my 6 week follow up to resume regular activity, ankle dependant! But he was happy with my blood pressure and my incision!

I decided it was time to walk the whole village again at 7 weeks, I was tired afterwards, but it felt like a great accomplishment! I think I will continue to ease up to it before making it a daily routine! 

My family doctor decided we better re-x-ray my ankle to make sure there isn't a new problem, as she warned me that nothing heals properly while pregnant, which could explain the swelling, bruising and pain I am getting again.

Events: Noah had a busy month to say the least. Just this past week he had funeral visitations, a funeral, a baby shower with M's parents family and friends, a bridal shower, his first shots, he met more family members and friends and most importantly he grew!! We saw his delivery doctor again and had his picture taken with her! I left him with Daddy for the first time to get my hair cut! We both survived! We have been enjoying several walks with the nicer weather!!

Past Week Rewind

Sorry for the blogging hiatus, a week ago today, my Grandma ended up passing away. She is in a much better place now and her suffering has ended. This led the way for a very busy week.

Wednesday this Mama had to try to find something to wear, luckily my sister ended up pulling through for me with some dress options. 

Thursday we had the visitations and Friday was the funeral. I ended up reading a letter I wrote to Grandma, just adding in bits for the family, to make it from everyone. I will share my letter later this week. 

Needless to say, it was a very busy week, Noah was a champ through it all. So proud of my sweet baby boy!! However his weekend was just as busy! We did manage to grab a quick family photo, and I just have the phone edition, as we had to use Grandma's camera for the picture because I didn't bring mine. 

(Excuse my puffy face - this was taken after the funeral) 

Saturday M's Mom hosted a couples shower for us to welcome Noah with her closest friends and her side family. It was another busy day and I am not sure what energy M and I, as well as Noah were running on by this point. Noah was luckily sleeping through the night great, but for myself at least I was just exhausted, emotionally, and physically. I think it was also hard to transition from such a sad moment in life, and then flipping back to one of the happiest in our lives, but we made the best of it. The shower was great, it was great to see everyone and celebrate! We received some great gifts and Noah will be one well fashioned baby for the next year and a bit! We went for dinner in the village after and then M and I came straight home. I was in bed by 9, missing a few thunderstorms. 

Sunday we tried to start cleaning up the house. I pretty much created a bomb in my closet trying to find something to wear and unfortunately neither M or I wanted to deal with it! It still awaits me unfortunately! The weather was gorgeous, so we opened up the house completely! I would say welcome spring, but we are supposed to get snow tomorrow as well as negative temperatures instead of the 20 degree weather we were spoiled with. 

Noah and I attended my cousins wedding shower in the afternoon, while M did some more housework! We had a quick spaghetti dinner and then headed out for a nice long walk in the village! M's parents popped over when we got back for a visit and watched Noah enjoy his bath time! We were all in bed around 10:30! 

Today Noah has his first set of shots and I would be lying if I were to tell you that this Mama is nervous!!  I am sure he will do great! His 2 month post recapping the last month will be up tomorrow!! 

Noah's Nursery Reveal

I am finally ready to reveal Noah's Nursery that is filled with bits and pieces of M and I and I cannot wait to share it with you all!!

We ended up giving the nursery a nautical theme and added more boyish touches to it once we had Noah.

View from the hallway

                                   

Moses basket - from Mike's family and M's Mom relined it! 

Chevron/anchor blanket - I made it! It is far from square, but it is made with love!

Chevron Curtains - www.Beyondbedding.com

Ceiling Fan - Home Depot

Wardrobe - M's parents used to use it as a bar station and were getting rid of it. We painted it and changed the hardware, added a rod in it and it holds his clothes!

Rocking Chair - my Mom and Dad. When they sold the house, we scooped it up!

Dresser - a hand-me-down in M's family, we painted it again, as it used to be in our bedroom and added new hardware and now it looks good as new! 

 Noah's Crib

Crib - Babies R Us

Chevron Crocheted Blanket - Etsy - Cozy Couture Head Wraps - she blogs over at Life Of Meg

Life Ring - Babies R Us

Letters - Babies R Us

Anchor - Target

Chevron Quilt - M's Mom and girlfriend Max made it together. I absolutely adore it!! 

Crib Bumper - Amazon

Crib Skirt - Amazon

Crib sheet - Target

I got this teddy bear from my Grandma B when she passed away. It used to be my great great Aunt Madeline's, but was one of my Grandma's favorite things, so I am proud to have it be a part of Noah's room. It is well over 100 years old. 

The sailboat is M's, which was a gift from his parents, however we both decided it would look best in Noah's room for now!

Canvas - c/o www.easycanvasprints.com

Baby V Journal - c/o www.tinyprints.com

"Laugh" "Dream" "Love" and "Hope"  stones - my wishes for Noah. Stepping stones in life for him to carry on - Bed Bath and Beyond

 Lamp - from our old house collecting dust. We decided to wrap rope around it to add to the nautical look. I won't even tell you how much rope we used or how this inexpensive project became more and more pricey. But it was made with love by Daddy!

Owl - is from Mike's Aunt Barbara who passed away this winter. We wanted to add a little bit of his Aunt Barbara to Noah's room, since M grew up quite close to her and has fond memories of her. She had quite the collection of owls, which I love! M painted it teal to match the room.

Hour Glass - this is to remind us of our journey. I always said during our infertility journey that I felt like someone was taking an hour glass and constantly flipping it as we approached the last bit of sand. Our hour glass sits still now in Noah's room. 

Rug - Home Depot

Mobile - I made this by hand. I won't lie, it was a challenge, as it is all hand stuffed and stitched. I saw one on etsy but it was like $200, now I know why! It was time consuming and a pain to make! But it will hopefully provide entertainment for Noah when he makes it up to his nursery!

Growth Board - was made by my Dad! I absolutely love how it turned out! He did a great job with it! There will be a post coming up on this! We still have to hang this on the wall somehow as my Dad made it to go above the trim. This is something that just Noah will have. If we are lucky enough to have more children they will get their own as well

Chair - we purchased this lazy boy brand new! We wanted to make sure we had a comfy chair we could read in, rock in, I could nurse in, or fall asleep in. It is great!

Stuffed Dog - M had to get it for Noah. It is bigger than him right now! 

Blanket - Ikea

Gallery Wall!!!

Filled with ultrasound pictures in frames we painted.

I made the typography myself. One is filled with his stats. 

One says "Love You Like Crazy" and the other one says "Love you to the moon and back, more than all the stars in the sky" both things I have said to Noah since we found out we were pregnant!

A family picture frame, with M and I, the dogs and of course the cats

Change Table-  was my Grandma's , we just painted it and put on new hardware

Change Pad Cover - found it at Babies R Us in the states

Diaper Basket - From Winner's

 The Reading Nook:

I am soo happy with how this turned out!! We used trim that had 4 grooves in the back of it to provide various ledges to hold more books on display. We painted it and then nailed them to a piece of wood creating the shelf! Noah has quite the book collection going and this isn't even all of them! We have more downstairs that we have started reading to him! Then we have the overflow basket at the bottom there! 

Book Basket - Winner's 

And there you have a finished nursery that we couldn't be more proud of!! 

Like I said, it is filled with family pieces, love and memories! It is one of my favorite rooms I the house now and we can't wait to start using it more once he's a bit older!