Photo Shoot - 36 weeks

Well, today we officially reached 37 weeks - considered full term!  Right now our little one is gaining weight and building strength each day for her grand entrance into the world.  My body has definately been feeling it these last couple weeks...amazing how exhausting it is "growing" a baby! :0)  As of right now little Molly is in a Breech position, so it looks like we'll be scheduling a C-section at 39 weeks.  We are totally fine with this, as we just want her to be born healthy and safe!  We'll have an ultrasound this coming week to confirm her position and schedule a C-section...that means we're only 2 weeks away from meeting our little girl!!

Last weekend we spent Sunday at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron (built on 70 acres, it ranks sixth on the list of Largest Historic Homes in the United States.  The estate was built between 1912 and 1915 for the founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company - such a beautiful place!).  We have a good friend (www.cindynicholsphotography.com) that took some (and when I say some, I mean like 250 shots!) pictures for us...she did a BEAUTIFUL job, and we had so much fun!  Here's some of our favorites...


May was a busy month!

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

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



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! 


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