Greyson Matthew

Greyson Matthew Crawford

Arrived December 9th, 2011

11:20pm

This month has been SO busy & eventful! Greyson made his arrival 2 days after my due date. Labor started friday morning at 6:30am & I held off all morning until I decided to call the doctor at 1:30pm. I wanted to make sure it was the real deal since we live 45 min from the hospital (more or less) sometimes it can take up to an hour to get there. They only keep you at 4 cm so I was determined to make sure when we made the trip we weren't sent home. 

The doctor said to go on in to labor & delivery so I called Matt at work. He made it home a little while later, but had to get cleaned up & finish up a few things, so we didn't actually leave for the hospital until 3:15! During that time I all of a sudden started cleaning like crazy during contractions! They were about 5 minutes apart & I was running around making sure everything was taken care of since we would be in the hospital a few days. My parents were coming Monday from PA so I finished up their room & grabbed some last minute things. We made it to the hospital (safely) but somehow in great time & I was in a room, hooked up to the monitors by 4pm.

I was only 3cm but because I was late & having regular contractions I was allowed to stay. They moved me to a labor room & I progressed to 6cm so Dr. DuBois came in & got things started! I got an epidural & around 8pm I was ready to have the baby!

After the epidural & very excited!

Labor was tolerable because of the pain medicine but after 2 whole hours of pushing, the Dr. decided it was time for a C-section. Little bean was being stubborn & had his head "up" instead of tucked so he wouldn't come out! 

Matt ready to go into he OR 

His mom & brother Ben & my friend Emily were all there for the birth. It was a late night! 

The C-section was SO fast & I because of an IV leak I was in conversation with the nurses fixing it & didn't even realize the surgery was already pretty much over. I all of a sudden heard Dr. DuBois tell me I would feel pressure then I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of me & I could breathe!! 

It was then I heard baby Greyson's cry...the sweetest sound ever!!!

They showed him to me briefly then whisked him off to the nursery with Matt.

Greyson was 7 pounds 9 ounces & 20 inches long.

Greyson getting his footprints made

I was in recovery for about 45 minutes before I got to hold him, but it was a great night. We got to sleep about 2am.

Very proud grandparents came to visit the next day..GeeGee & Gpa!

Great-Grandparents G-mama & G-daddy

2 of my friends Emily & Skye (& Emily's little guy, Jace)

He sucked on everything! even in the ultrasounds, he had his hands in his mouth, so the hospital gave him a pacifier. It was huge for his little face!

First family photo!

Uncle Matt & Aunt Mindy sent this bear & balloon! They will get to meet him in March.

We got to go home on Monday...Matts mom came to help with Greyson while I got ready & Matt packed.

My family made it to the hospital a little while before we left...Mom rode home with us. We took a few pictures in the lobby of the hospital because I just loved the huge tree & decorations.

My family!

My mom got to stay for 3 weeks!! she was great at multi-tasking & did so much for me while I recovered & got into the mom role! 

GeeGee got him this shirt so this was what he wore on Christmas day =)

We also were asked to be in the Christmas program at church (last minute) We hadn't taken Greyson to church yet, so we made the brief appearance then left during the closing remarks. It was fun to have Greyson be baby Jesus during such a special time of year.

The greatest Christmas gift EVER! God is so good =)

3 weeks later Greyson now weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces & has grown 1.5 inches. He smiles a lot & is a very pleasant baby. He has only had a couple really rough nights & I found out those were growth spurts! He eats all the time it seems but I'm so glad he is perfect, healthy & a total blessing. 

I have loved being a mom! My own mom left just yesterday to go back home to PA. It was wonderful having my family here for the majority of the time, but now we are "on our own". Matt is a great hands on dad & takes a lot of the load off. We have learned to juggle our regular lives with our little blessing & couldn't be happier!!

I have so much more to post about including Greyson's dedication, Christmas & some more exciting news, but for now, I want to wish everyone a Happy New YEAR! 

God blessed us so much in 2011, I can't wait to see what is in store for 2012!!

Never Forget...

December 7th, 1941

We've all heard the stories, & possibly even watched the movie & TV segments on Pearl Harbor. 

A day in History that should never be forgotten. 

I think about the men & women who encountered that day & what they must have faced. My grandparents remember that day, people in my own family who fought in those wars (not exactly at Pearl Harbor) but overseas & all around...they fought for a much different country than we are living in today. 

I want to specifically draw attention to this day because of the impact it had on our nation & to celebrate the men & women who were there & are still living. They are true hero's!

~God Bless America~

A few months ago, when Matt & I were in Atlanta, a gentleman we were passing smiled at me & asked me when the baby was due! 

December 7th

Right away his face got serious & he immediately pointed out the significance of the day & explained to us how important it would be for us to teach our son about his "expected" birthday. Just the way he talked made me realize just how passionate he was about making sure we knew the true value of what those men & women faced. I wish I could say that Greyson would be arriving today...or that he really could share his Birthday with such a historical day, but it really doesn't look like that will happen...

Even though it may still be a few more days until we get to meet our little guy, I STILL want to make sure that he knows about certain days in History, why we are privileged to live in America & that God has blessed us more than we could ever know! I want him to know that our grandparents & family members  stood up for what they believed in, for a cause that they fought for & that whatever happens in the future, he can have the same drive & appreciation for all our men & women in service!

Christmas Decorations!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! 

It is my favorite time of year & I love decorating for it. 

This year, because of the much anticipated arrival of baby bean, we decided to decorate WAY early. Like October early! I skipped Fall this year & went straight to Christmas. 

It just made sense to start early since I knew I would not be up to decorating that much right before my due date (which is in 2 days by the way)

So, here are just a few shots of our Christmas decorations for 2011

This is the hutch in our den

Because of the wood paneling, we go a little more rustic in this room. We got a much smaller tree for this room this year since we will need all the seating we can get. We usually take out one of the recliners, but with us celebrating Christmas at my house this year, we didn't want to lose another chair!

We put all our childhood ornaments & fun colored lights on this tree.

 This is part of the hallway...not much going on there, but Matt's Granny always displayed that white Christmas tree at her house & now it is ours to remember her by.

I love this idea I found on Pinterest.com I would have liked the greenery to be a little fuller, but I got them on sale & just made it work. It's just something nice & different.

Our living room is much more open this year since we arranged the seating 

 We tried putting our BIG tree in here at first, but it was just TOO big! So we found another small tree to use for the formal living room. It doesn't have very many ornaments on it, but I just love having a "pretty" tree in there

I do something different over the fireplace each year...last year was vintage decorations & this year I wanted to emphasize that JESUS really IS the reason for the season.

I love shopping on Etsy.com too & found these cute stockings that had all kinds of different fabrics. I thought it would be a perfect way to start our family stockings so that when we have more kids, we can add whatever color fabric we want & it doesn't necessarily have to match. 

Matt picked "Auburn" colors for his stocking & I already have presents in it so it is laying nice, but mine & Greysons are still a bit floppy...waiting for Matt to put something in them I guess! 

We usually put the formal tree where the pack-n-play is, but of course, having a baby changes everything! We had to move some furniture around, but I wanted a place downstairs for Greyson to enjoy & also keep a diaper changing station here so we wouldn't have to run the stairs every time.

 And here is what the room looks like with the lights on. I love the beautiful glow it casts around the room & whats better is that the lights are all connected to the light switch! so no unplugging or plugging in! Matt thought that was pretty clever...haha

 & here's just a small part of the dining room. I don't have much in there & this room is getting curtains soon so I hope to finish that up before Christmas.

This is the entry way to our house...the plate has a scene of a little girl decorating a tree & I just happened to find a votive candle holder with the same scene on it that was Matt's Granny's before she passed away. I am glad I can have a few momentos of Matt's Granny around our house this year. 

So that's just a little bit of the house this year...I am glad I got so much of it done early. These last couple weeks have been pretty rough! I am looking forward to this baby getting here soon & being able to enjoy a nice Christmas at our house with family. It will be the first time my parents get to be here for this Holiday! I also can't wait to share the true meaning of Christmas with our kids someday & celebrate Jesus' birthday. Until then, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season! The countdown is on!

Just a peek!

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful! I am so thankful for all of my wonderful blessings & for this exciting time in our lives =)

Work was closed for the majority of the week & we were able to get SO much done in the nursery. It is as this point...complete & ready for baby bean!

I thought I would show you just a peek of what it looks like now. Hopefully when my mom comes & stays for awhile we can finish the decorating part. There isn't much on walls, other than what was already there to begin with (when it was a guest bedroom) so I am excited to have her here to help with the final touches.

I still want to get a nice big rug for the floor & still need to buy a clothes hamper, but for now it will do!

Here is looking in from the doorway

Side view

I wanted a recliner, swivel rocker more than anything! SO I had to sacrifce some space in order to get it. Because of that, we had to put the changing table in front of the window. It actually worked out quite well! However, I'm afraid my roman shade will turn into a "canvas" for baby bean to "do his best work" on! haha

My mom found this changing table on Craigs List & got it for $10. I had looked & looked for one that was reasonably priced that had drawers or an old dresser that we could turn into a changing table. NOTHING came close to this bargain & since Matt said we didn't need one anyway, I figured this was as good as it was going to be! =) We even painted it to match the other furniture in the room & distressed it too. I got the baskets at Hobby Lobby on sale as well so I KNOW I couldn't have found anything cheaper & we LOVE the way it turned out!

This is the other side of the room & as you can see, not quite all oranized & the dresser is definitely getting an update on decorations soon. Most of what I have on it now are odds & ends that will end up finding another place sooner or later. I also have a pile of things on the floor that need put away too!

For now we had to put Matt's toy box in the attic, but when we no longer need the changing table, we will switch that out.

I can't believe there is only 1 week left until my due date!

Other than a FEW issues, I have felt really great right up until NOW. I really do thank God for allowing me to make it this far without being too entirely miserable. I mean, I had my moments...sometimes the difficulty of doing things just got to me, but nothing was really painful or sore (NOT counting the kidney stone episode!) 

I noticed over Thanksgiving that the baby must have begun to drop, because the pressure on my pelvis & hips started REALLY hurting! Sleeping is so hard & I never knew it was going to be that sore trying to turn over & get out of bed. Plus I have started having a lot more contractions this week. Not just the little stuff that I called "warming up" Braxton Hicks, but MAJOR hard, can't walk until it's over, contractions. They have never gotten completely consitent (even after lasting every so often in a 2 hour span) but I just have this feeling I "might" go earlier. I will find out at my Dr.'s appointment Dec. 1st what my progress will be & hopefully we will know when baby bean plans to make his arrival!!

Since it could be "any time", I have had his bag packed & sitting in the crib for a couple weeks now. My mother in law got him the most adorable going home outfit & little shoes. It is a big deal to have a "going home" outfit that is more like a keep sake in the long run. Lela has all 3 of her boys outfits in a shadow box with other momentos so I plan to keep that tradition with our kids. We thought about getting Matt's little outfit out of the box for Greyson to wear home, but I think having his own will be special to keep too.

I just love the little shoes!

Close up showing the little train!

Here is his bag all packed & ready to go!

Now I know there is some controversy about having the bumper pads in the crib...however, when we took our parenting class at the hospital, the nurse told us that it is really just a preference & she had them with all of her kids. Of course our crib is also outdated & supposedly not up to standard either, but they have safety latches now that can be used on older cribs to make them meet all the regulations. SO with all of that taken care of, we should be good to go!

Mobile Project

Most everyone has heard of Pinterest these days...if you haven't you are really missing out on a fun website!

http://www.pinterest.com/

It is a really neat site that allows you to pin pictures & fun ideas onto boards so you can do fun projects at home. I have gotten lots of decorating ideas that I have used & have even accomplished a couple projects as well.

This is a project that I found on Pinterest using paint chips to make a mobile or really just a fun decoration for any room. I wanted something different that would have the accent colors in it for the nursery & what better way to do that than to use paint chips! You can match those right up to the colors in your room!

So I went to work on it & thought I would share how it went.

Step 1:

Go to any store that has paint chips & grab a ton!

My brothers girlfriend Richelle & I took on this mission...I'm not sure just how "complimentary" the paint chips are but between the 2 of us we gathered several different colors & had stacks & stacks when we got home! haha

Step 2:

Gather supplies

I bought some wooden dowel rods, stick glue, some metal rings & twine. I already had a creative memories circle stencil with the cutting utensils, the mat board to cut on & of course the paint chips.

Step 3:

Cut out the shapes

I have seen lots of other cute shapes that you can punch out or cut, but following a specific pinterest project, I just did the same thing & of course I had it on hand. I chose the paint chips that I thought matched the best & just put the others away for something else.

Step 4:

Glue the circles together

If you were using paper cardstock or something along those lines, you most likely wouldn't have to do this step, but because paint chips are not the same color on both sides, you just have to glue 2 circles together. Paint chips are just a fun way to get some "free" easy to match colors for your room.

Step 5:

Connect the dots!

I didn't use a hole punch because that would have been too big & a regular pin punching through wasn't big enough! So I ended up taking a sharp pocket knife that Matt had & made my own holes. I just put the tip of the knife in the spot I wanted the metal ring & the twisted it enough so the ring would fit through. Probably more time consuming, so if you have a nifty little tool that would work better, by all means!

Once the holes were made, I just fit the tiny metal rings through & squeezed them together, some pinterst ideas have used string & other means to connect the circles, but I liked this look better. At the point of this picture I started out with a color fade idea, then later changed it to a more bold look. I connected about 13 circles together for each line. Tink just HAD to lay on top of anything I laid out.

Step 6:

Put it together

I didn't get any pictures of us actually doing that, but once all the dots were connected, I just chose 2 dowel rods that the metal rings fit around & slid my circles on. I crisscrossed the rods in the center & tied it with some of my twine. I had 2 circle lines (yeah not sure what to call those) per side & then one that hung in the middle so it would look like 5 across each way but I really only made 9. Once that was done, I tied the twine to the end of each rod & connected them to a little clear command strip on the ceiling. I let Matt take care of putting it up.

 It does move around & since the metal rings let the circles dangle & twirl, it can "act" like a mobile, but I'm sure this was probably more for my benefit than the baby's...I just wanted a fun accent decoration for the nursery & LOVE the way it turned out! It's very simple, in that, I wanted to use more rustic supplies so it would match the room better. The rope type twine & wood keep it looking more "boyish" & matches other elements in the room as well. Maybe Greyson will like looking at it because of the colors, but we will have to see!

Here is the finished product!



Like I said, just ONE of the millions of neat, fun ideas on pinterest.com...make sure you check that out & ask for an invite. You won't be sorry! =)

Time is flying!

*Photo taken at 34 weeks

                                          

                             How Far Along: 36 weeks & 4 days

                Size of baby: 18 inches long & over 5 pounds

Weight gain so far: 22 pounds

Maternity Clothes: There are cold fall days that make me pull out the sweaters & comfy closed in shoes...but every now & then it gets warm again & I can still wear my flip flops & short sleeve shirts! I am trying to get as much wear out of my t-shirts as possible =)

Gender: A BOY!!! Greyson Matthew Crawford

Movement: So far he is keeping to his schedule...moving a lot in the morning, mid afternoon & night. He has moved his feet from my ribs to my upper side which has helped me breath SO much better!

Sleep: Some nights are better than others. I am at the point now where it takes a while to get comfortable & have had to stack pillows in the bottom of the bed so I can elevate my feet, while trying to sleep on my left side...yeah, it doesn't work or feel great!

 Symptoms: My feet have really been swelling more lately. It doesn't take much & most nights Matt gets out the foot lotion & massages the fluid around so they are not so tight. I still have a little heartburn & my back has started aching a lot more...but still just the normal things.

What I miss: Energy! While I am still doing lots of things & keeping really busy, I go at a much slower pace since my waddle walk has begun to take over! Bending over is a process & Matt has had to help me put socks & shoes on!

Cravings: Comfort food...thank goodness my mother in law sends lots of food home with us!

Best Moment this week: Getting my nursery a lot more organized & putting out all of our Christmas decorations!!  

 What I am looking forward to: My next baby shower on the 19th hosted by my mother in law! It will be a "cowboy" theme & the invitations are adorable. We are supposed to get the recliner for the nursery in this week too!

*Photo taken at 36 weeks