Life as a Davis

May was a busy month!

By The Davis Family on Saturday, June 12, 2010 12:11 PM , 0 Comments

In May we started painting Molly's room . We decided to do two red walls and two beige/tan walls. John did a really great job with the painting! The picture that has the nursery bedding advertised in it had a tree on the wall behind the crib, which we loved. We thought...we can do that! So we borrowed my dad's very old projector to project the image up on the wall. Then I traced it with a white fabric pencil onto the red wall, then painted it...it turned out even better than we had hoped!

One of the finished red walls...

Dad's old-school projector that worked like a charm!

The "finished" product...we'll be adding some other things to the tree...like a bird, a bird house, maybe some flowers...so it's still a work in progress. The words on the tree are wooden words we painted (Faith, Dream, Hope, & Believe). We'll post pictures of the entire room as soon as we get it all finished. We love how it looks so far, we're excited to see how it all comes together!

We were blessed with a couple of showers in May...our previous post has pictures of the first one that was here locally. Our second one was Memorial Day weekend in Sandusky, and was hosted by both of our moms, my Aunt (SAS) from Columbus, John's sister Julie, and our sister Sara (my brother Brian's wife). The pictures don't really do it justice, but every little detail was thought of and it was absolutely amazing!

These cupcakes were incredible! My aunt made the heads and blankets out of marshmallow fondant, and the bodies under the blankets were candy circus peanuts. Here's a few pics of the assembly process...

Haha, lots of baby heads! Everything was edible except the mini pacifiers...

The "army" of baby cupcakes :0)

The centerpieces...

The amazing food table! My brother Brian helped assemble the table, white picket fence and all!

This was one of my favorite things...blue Hawaiian Punch complete with frogs and lilly pads!

My good friend Larken from high school! This is the only picture I have of guests that came to the shower, I'm hoping I'll get some pictures from other folks that were there. I had some surprise guests, some that came from hours away, what a blessing! Thank you to all the family and friends who came, sent gifts, and made the day so special...I will remember it always! Molly has no idea how loved she is ALREADY by so many!

We were blessed by so many amazing gifts, including MANY special hand-made blankets, sweaters, hats, onesies, and booties! Here's John trying to translate the directions to the stroller and car seat :0)

So, after the showers I decided to wash all of the clothes we have for Molly, so they're ready for her when she arrives...6 loads!! And A LOT of little clothes fit in one load. I'm pretty sure she has more clothes than I do, haha! Can't wait to see her in them...

The girls I work with had a shower for me too! Kelly made these beautiful cupcakes (I have such talented friends and family!!). We had a great afternoon together :0). They all went together and got us our bedding set for the nursery...Thank you so much ladies!

Kelly, Amy, Lori, Tracy, me, Christine, & Cathi

Cheryl brought her adorable 9-month old Brook. She was more interested in my earring than getting her picture taken.

It's in the water! There's 3 of us pregnant right now, all about 6 weeks apart :0)

Again, thanks to EVERYONE who has hosted a shower, made something for Molly, sent gifts, driven miles, or just given words of love and encouragement for our little one. We're so thankful for each and every one of you. We're on the home stretch, about 5 weeks away, and getting more excited by the day. Most every day John and I just go sit in her room and talk about the future and what is to come. God has truly blessed us in so many ways!! Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to Molly's arrival!

1st Shower and Changing Table Update

By The Davis Family on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:44 PM , 0 Comments

We have a buffet that we know is at least John's great grandmother's, that we are using as Molly's changing table (you can see a pic of the buffet in one of our previous posts, I think in December or January). Chuck, John's step dad, is making a custom piece for the top that will hold the changing pad and have a place for diapers, wipes, etc. When we were in Sandusky a few weeks ago we got some pictures of how it's coming along. It's basically all done except for staining it to match the buffet. I knew that Chuck would do a great job, as he is so talented in this area, but I was amazed at how incredible the piece is turning out! Chuck traced the design on the crib so the design on this piece will match the crib perfectly. We are so excited to have such a special piece of furniture that is a family heirloom/custom made just for Molly. Can't wait to see the finished product!!

On Sunday (5/23) we had our first shower given by our friends, which was so much fun! We are blessed with such amazing (and generous) friends!

Nikki and Marcella prepared a delicious menu! There were chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches, Mexican rolls, pickle rolls (because of my special request), dip, fruit skewers, spinach/strawberry salad, chocolate covered strawberries, and a beautiful (& delicious...thank you Karla!!) cake!

My mom was able to make it over for the shower too :0)

Lots of adorable outfits and great gifts!

Nikki put together the coolest "diaper cake". Inside is diapers, onesies, t-shirts, and washcloths, and the outside decorated with toys, books, etc. Here's a pic of it all put together, then one so you can see what's inside...

We were told that the final gift was to be opened by John and I both, so the guys came back at the end so we could open it together. It was a joint gift by everyone. I had no clue what it could be...It was the American Girl doll, Molly, complete with story book. We were SO surprised! What an amazing and special gift! I read the Molly books when I was younger, and loved Molly because I thought I looked like her. So cool that our little one will have such a special doll that holds so much meaning with it.

It was such a great day, and we're so thankful for everyone that made it out, sent gifts, and/or took part in putting it all together...This week we started paining the nursery (okay, so John started painting the nursery), so we'll put up some pictures as soon as it's done! The room is coming along great, Molly will definitely have the coolest room in our home!

3rd Trimester

By The Davis Family on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 9:21 PM , 0 Comments

Well, I've been using all the great sewing skills my mom has taught me over the years to make a few things for Molly. John and I picked out some material together and I made a blanket that matches her room. It turned out so cute! It has soft minky fabric on the back that makes it extra warm and comfy :0) I also made a nursing cover with burp cloth to match. I found the cutest iron on letters that matched so I put her initials on the nursing cover too. It's been so much fun making things for her, and she'll have some special things she can keep for a long time that are specially made by her mommy.

We're almost to the 30 week mark! Right now she weighs about 2 1/2 pounds, and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. She has been moving around like crazy, especially in the evenings and at night. I love when she starts to move and I call John over to look, and it looks like she's trying to escape! It is still the coolest feeling, and that daily reassurance that she's growing and getting stronger. We plan to paint her room within the next couple of weeks, I'll post some pics as soon as we make some progress. We also have our showers this month, which is kind of a mark that we're on the home stretch!

26 Weeks

By The Davis Family on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 9:53 PM , 0 Comments

So, I literally feel like I woke up this morning and my belly had grown from the night before! (maybe that was why I was feeling like my skin was stretching so much yesterday). Sometimes I have to do a double-take when I walk by a mirror, to make sure that's really me :0) I've really been feeling Molly move a lot lately, and have even begun to SEE her move. It's the coolest thing! She gave a BIG kick the other day that John got to feel. She tends to be most active at night. We've started reading stories to her, because she can now start to hear both of our voices. She weighs almost two pounds at this point, and measure about 14 inches from head to heel. We're only 2 weeks away from entering the 3rd trimester...the home stretch! I can't believe how fast the 2nd trimester has gone.

We recently received some very special gifts from family...The first is the rocker/recliner chair for the nursery. My Aunt recommended a rocker/recliner, for extra comfort and convenience for those late night feedings, which we thought was a great idea. As we were out shopping for one and getting ready to order it, we got a call from John's dad and step mom that live out in Las Vegas. They ended up purchasing the chair for us, which was a true blessing. It is the perfect color, and is SO comfortable (yep, I've already tested it out by taking a few naps in it!). Thanks SO much Dad and Erin!

Molly got another early gift from her Aunt Julie on Easter. It is a special collection of outfits put together just for Molly...it's her "Tres Chic" collection. When we opened the bag and pulled out the first thing, we noticed it was clipped to a rope. As we pulled on it the rest just kept coming and coming, until we ended up with a whole collectioin of outfits! Thanks Aunt Julie we absolutely love it!!

This little girl is already so blessed and loved by so many. It's so cool to think that in just a few months we'll finally get to meet her!

John's Birthday and Baby Registries

By The Davis Family on Sunday, March 28, 2010 9:05 PM , 0 Comments

We celebrated John's 31st birthday, on March 15, with friends and family. John's mom and step dad came up to celebrate with us, and we went out to one of our new favorite restaurants, the "B Spot". It's owned by now-famous Iron Chef Michael Symon, who is originally from Cleveland. It was so delicious! Chuck made some final measurements while they were here for the changing table too. He is working hard on it and we can't wait to see how it turns out!

The B Spot has mostly burgers, which are SO GOOD! Since I've been pregnant I've really been craving meat, so I was happy to try it out! This is John's burger, the "Fat Doug", which we found out was voted one of the best burgers in the country or something! It's a burger patty, cole slaw, pastrami, swiss, and mustard. It's John's new favorite burger!

To top it all off we got a vanilla bean apple pie bacon milkshake to share...that's right, bacon. It was very...interesting. We were all glad that we shared it, and agreed that it would have been super delicious without the bacon. It was definately an interesting combination of flavors.

That night we celebrated with some friends with cake and ice cream...

John with 3 month old Abby Coy ;0) Such a cutie!

Here's the pics of the curtains I made for the nursery. We chose the colors (chocolate brown and a deep red) before we knew what we were having, then found the bedding set we really love (shown below) and the colors match perfectly! We also ordered the rocker/recliner, which should be in this coming week. It's so fun to see the nursery come together little by little.

We're not getting everything pictured in this set, mainly the bedding. We are planning on doing a tree on the wall behind the crib...excited to see how that turns out!

We did our registries this weekend, at Babies R Us and Target. It was a little overwhealming trying to decide what to put on them! We had a lot of fun though, and met some other young couples that are due about the same time as us, that were out registering too.

Here I am at 24 weeks! The baby is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. She's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn). Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

It's a Girl!

By The Davis Family on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 7:27 PM , 0 Comments

Well, we had our 20 week ultrasound on March 5 and found out we're having a baby girl! We love knowing what we're having and being able to call her by name. My mom and dad and John's mom all came over from Sandusky for the ultrasound, which made the day extra special. We all took a tour of the birthing center at the hospital we're going to deliver at before the ultrasound, which was really cool. The birth center at Robinson Memorial is beautiful - all private suites, HUGE bathtub in the bathrooms, and a bed for the new daddy's to sleep in too. The ultrasound was pretty emotional for all of us, our little one was moving around like crazy and opening and closing her mouth. We thought she was about to suck her thumb at one point. I even felt a big kick while seeing it on the screen at the same time. It was so cool. I'm continually in awe of the way God really does "knit" us together in our mother's wombs. To be experiencing this miricle of life is like nothing we have experienced before...and it just keeps getting better! Right now she is about 14 ounces and about 7.5 inches long.

Look at those strong arms!

This is how we know for sure she's a girl

REALLY cool footprint shot

Her tiny little heartbeat

Our little one's name is Molly. Molly Claire. We both fell in love with the name very early on in the pregnancy. We have an outlet mall right in Aurora with a Carter's, Osh Kosh B'Gosh, and The Children's Place, and have already picked up some adorable outfits for her - it is so addicting! We've found a few nursery ideas that we really like too, so we're trying to narrow it down. We did pick colors, and I finished making the curtains for the nursery...there's so much to do before she arrives!

We were having fun taking a couple belly pics...

21 weeks

We thought she might want to know how her daddy looked along the way, too, so we got a side pic of John, haha! :0)

1/2 way there!

By The Davis Family on Friday, February 26, 2010 11:01 AM , 2 Comments

Well, we're both home today because of the snow (yay for snow days!) so I thought I'd take a few moments for an update before we head out to Bob Evans for some Cinnamon Hotcakes (Yum!)...It's hard to believe we're at 20 weeks already, 1/2 way there! We've started to add a few things to the nursery, but are waiting to do any painting or big decorating until we find out what we're having. Our ultrasound was moved from Feb 27th to March 5, so we've got another week to go. Kim is pretty sure she has started to feel the baby moving, but the flutters are so subtle that she's not positive. It does feel different than any other tummy grumbles she's felt before, but she's looking forward to the movements to become stronger as the baby does.

The baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now, and is around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel - the length of a bannana (we think it's so funny how the different stages of growth are compared to fruits and veggies!). Here's some new pics, we'll do another update after the ultrasound next week!

Starting to Show!

By The Davis Family on Saturday, February 13, 2010 10:40 AM , 2 Comments

Well, here we are at almost 18 weeks, and finally starting to see a baby bump! Kim is making the switch to maternity clothes and loving it (SO much more comfortable than trying to squeeze into regular clothes!). Patients at Kim's work are starting to notice which is really fun. We read that this month Kim will be able to start feeling the baby move, and possibly even feel hiccups! The baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and is around 5 inches long from head to bottom. We are anxiously awaiting our ultrasound at the end of the month!

Last weekend we were in Mohican with some very special friends of ours, the Parschauers. Despite the crazy weather and adventure getting up the hills to the beautiful Mohican Lodge, we had an amazing time. Sommer Parschauer (of Justin and Sommer) is about 6 weeks ahead of Kim (she's due in June) so it was a lot of fun talking about our growing families throughout the weekend. Suprisingly, we didn't take many pictures throughout the weekend, but we did manage to get a few from our balcony the night that the snow just kept on falling (this was a few hours before we lost all power in the lodge).