Our Final Checkup and some other tidbits...

Friday brought me a morning full of doctor/hospital visits.  Both were a good prep for Monday's big event!!

I had my weekly appointment with Dr. Talsky at 9:30am.  It was a really quick appointment and I was in and out in no time!  I learned that I'm measuring 39 to 40 weeks.  Dr. T believes that Cooper will be 8 to 8.5 lbs by this week.  His heartbeat and my blood pressure and everything else were looking awesome...and my only real change to report is just being more tired and hungry as my body tries to keep up with an ever growing Cooper!!  We were told that everything was looking great for a Monday c-section and I couldn't be happier that everything was able to continue on just as scheduled!!

After I left there I headed to Saint Anthony's for some pre-op testing and paperwork.  I answered lots of questions.  There was a blood typing test and then I sat down to talk about the procedure and what to expect.  I will admit it's totally different hearing about a surgery in full detail vs having it done at 12 in the morning!

So here is what I know about tomorrow:

**Though the nurse was nice, they threatened me within an inch of my life if I remove the blood typing band they put on my wrist.  I actually had to sign a waver for it, stating if it was removed or destroyed, then I would have to have it done again and would be billed accordingly.  Apparently somewhere along the way, people stopped understanding how important it was to following the instructions regarding this!

**Because of this band being on my wrist, in order to shower I have to wrap the whole thing in a rubber glove and put a rubber band around it.  It's been interesting to say the least!

**My surgery is now moved to 9:30...yay!!  So my fears of a 12:30 surgery are calmed!!

**I have to be at the hospital at 7:30am.  I am already emotional at the thought of dropping Owen off at Grandpa Mike's and Grandma Stacey's.  UGH.

**I cannot have anything to eat or drink after midnight tonight (Sunday).

**I also learned that most of the prep for the surgery is done in the pre-op room and I cannot have anyone with me. Jer doesn't get to come back until they have me all ready and are about to begin!  So I have to walk back to get my epidural and everything else by myself.  Last time I had my epidural I had Jer's hand to hold...so I'm significantly more nervous about that part of it now.

**They nurse I spoke with about what to expect told me that I probably will not get up and walk until the next day.  I may or may not get up and sit in a chair that evening after.

**I'm currently not finishing packing my hospital bag because it's so final...I know it's all coming, but boy does that final zip of the bag make it truly official for me!

**I realize there is a lot of nervous talk in the sentences above...but if I were honest...that's what I'm feeling.  Time to contemplate surgery has definitely been something I knew would eventually start getting to me and luckily I've been able to relax myself about it until today.

**I'm also realizing that this time tomorrow, I will have held my newest baby boy and seen his face and kissed his cheeks for the first time...in 9 whole months of knowing we were having him.

**That fact in and of itself puts a serious skip in my step...and calms my fears like nothing else can.  Tomorrow I get to know he's finally here, safe, sound and health.  My first job as his mother is over and the real fun can begin!!!

I'm hanging onto my seat and enjoying the last bit of time this afternoon with my boys!!

Stay tuned...

Working on the Boys Room - Three Horn Lamp

Our last and final project was to assemble this fun lamp Jeremy found online!

All I will say is that there were about a million pieces.  And the directions, though there were lots of pictures and I'm a visual person, had ZERO written instructions.  I spent half the time attempting to assemble and half the time un-assembling and re-doing per Jeremy's instructions.  I believe at one point there may have been a curse word or two that escaped my lips...along with frustration over him becoming an engineer and being smarter than me.  I wasn't feeling particular adult-like during this event!  

We did though...finally get it all together :)

Photos of instructions...and the mess of pieces!

You understand my frustration here??  UGH!

There were 3 main steps.  Step 1 complete...the Head

Step 2...the legs and tail

Step 3 assemble all together with mid-section.

The lamp in its final resting place :)  It gives a fun touch to the room and makes a wonderful reading lamp at bedtime!!

Bubbles!!

We love bath time with Owen...and he loves it too :)

Working on the Boys Room - Dino Canvases

Another project for the boys room was an idea to put up some canvases.  A long time ago I had purchased these for Owen's nursery with full intentions of putting some kind of favorite storybook lines/quote on them.  While I still would one day love to make that a reality, the idea came together for these so much better than we ever expected!

We started with 3 16x20 white canvases. I bought mine at Michaels.

We used my Cricut and a Dinosaur Tracks cartridge to cut out the silhouettes and tag shapes below the names.  I knew we wanted to pick a few cute dinos and also wanted to like the meaning of their names.  So we picked our favorite three, researched to make sure the names matched up with their meanings and got to work.

Using different patterned scrapbook paper we cut the dinosaur shapes and circular tags out.  We chose to use a solid coordinating cardstock for the lettering and border strips.  We used the George cartridge to cut out the letters.

All 3 ready for gluing.

We placed the shapes and words using scrapbooking adhesive.  Once they were glued down, we coated them with Modge Podge to seal the canvases and keep everything in place.

After one coat of Modge Podge.

In their final destination above the crib!  Another project we loved doing and love having in the boys room!!

What pregnant girls do when it's too hot to be outside...

On a Sunday afternoon when it's way to warm to be outside...this pregnant girl indulges her craving for delicious food!

My famous holiday treat of peanut butter cookies made it feel like Christmas in July!

Also, Dad's garden is in full summer swing and we are lucky enough to be the recipients of fruits that it grows!  I had decided to try my hand at frying up the first zucchini we have gotten out of Dad's garden.  The recipe wasn't too difficult and the results were scrumptious!

First you cut your zucchini into slices much like a pickle.  Then you sprinkle the cut zuch's with salt and flour.  

Letting those sit for a bit, you whisk up a couple eggs and a splash of cold water.  Then for the breading you mix, Italian bread crumbs (I didn't have any Italian ones...so I made my own by adding oregano, garlic salt and basil to regular bread crumbs) and a couple tablespoons of parmesan cheese.

In a saucepan, bring 4 cups of canola oil to 350 degrees.  And once it's hot, begin putting them into the oil a few at a time.  Cook the slices until they are a nice golden and crisp.  Once they come out of the oil be sure to set them on a paper towels to drain the grease off.

Then you make yourself a big happy stack of crispy deliciousness aside a hot and juicy grilled steak and baked potato with fresh chives!  Can't beat it!

One Week and Counting...

Today marks exactly one week!  One week before we welcome Cooper Ayden Linley into the world.  One week until Jeremy and I become parents of 2 boys.  One week until I go to the hospital to have surgery.  One week before I'm blissfully reminded of all the smells, softness and wonderment that goes along with a newborn baby.

On one hand I cannot wait!!!  Life as Owen's Momma and Dadda has been so much fun.  It's been filled with challenge, laughter, reward and taught me and Jeremy so much about ourselves.  I have no doubt that life with Cooper will be more of the same!

On the other hand, I'm finding myself a little bit sad.  Another phase of our lives is passing.  We are going from parents of one to two.  Our time as the Linley 3 is quickly coming to a close.  I went back to re-read some of the things I wrote about the time prior to us having Owen.  I started here.  After re-reading it, of course I cried. And I remembered it...so well.  I remember the feeling in my stomach.  The excitement, mixed with nervousness, mixed with HOLYCRAP!!  We have no idea what we are doing!!

After reading it though, I feel like I need to take a Life Jar account for this time in our lives now.  Because I could bottle up a life jar this time around probably even easier than ever before.  And sit it right next to the one of life before Owen.  This one might say, life before Cooper, or life as the Linley 3.  I'd bottle up my memories from our first two and some years of Owen's life.  Everything from the first moment I saw his chubby little cheeks...and he shut his eyes and slept in my arms.  To that unspoken and not even fully realized bond that I cannot explain. There'd be dancing to Jason Mraz at 2am and bringing him home for the first time.  Our first trip to the Botanical Gardens...taking him in our baby carrier and how much he truly loved the time just as much we did!  The fountains and the flowers and the colors!!  Watching him explore the zoo. Going to the pumpkin patch and watching Owen taste an apple for the first time. Go swimming. See fireworks. Eat sweet potatoes. Clap for himself. I'd have to put pictures of his first birthday party, first tuxedo, first halloween costume.  His silly blue hat with the pointy fleece coming out of the top.  The video of him falling back into Jeremy's arms and making us laugh so hard we cried.  Moments like watching him learn to walk and that first time he gave me a kiss just because he wanted to.  Him falling asleep on my shoulder now.  Or crashing at a table in Bread Company.  Or him putting his precious palm up to my lips because he likes for you to kiss his hand before he falls asleep.  Having him come crawling into our bed saying Hey You at 3:45am and through my fog of sleepiness, laughing till I cried.  Watching him and Jeremy dance and play every single day they are together.  Telling Deci "good girl" and patting her on the back.  There'd also be some peaceful adult times to include the jar also.  Like after a day together, knowing he is sound asleep and Jer and I curling up and watching a movie and enjoying a little time to ourselves.  Talking until 12am because it was the first time in a whole day we'd had a moment to talk.  Our first overnight away to Pere Marquette and how much fun it was to be a husband and wife enjoying a date and talking about how wonderful life with Owen had been so far.  Taking a few trips to the Lake and enjoying time with friends and what it felt like to sleep in again!  Lots of great things that have a new meaning once you begin your life as a parent.  Those things and so many more would make up my life jar of Linley 3 moments.

What's amazing to me is that our life jar still has all the same things it did before...Jer's hugs at the end of the day.   His shoulder to cry on.  Our laundry to pick up and our things about our home.  But there is just so much more...and so many new things.  Little sandals.  Tiny t-shirts.  Race cars, dinosaur toys and DVD boxes.  There are sippy cups in our dishwasher and painted handprints on our refrigerator door.  Our life is richer, fuller, and WAY more unpredictable than it ever was before.  And our life jar is much more colorful now.  And I think before we had Owen, I knew those things were part of the promise of children.  But now as we look forward to the future with another amazing little boy to raise, I imagine we'll have a whole new world of colors to add.  Cooper's colors and toys and stories. All the blessings that a new life means.

I think the most amazing part of all of this is looking back at me less than 3 years ago.  Preparing for a baby. Thinking about all the changes.  And how much more sure I am of myself as a mother.  How much more sure I am of Jer and I as a team.  How much in the short time we've had Owen and been parenting together, that Jeremy and I are more of a team than we ever imagined that we would/could be. I assume our teamwork will get even stronger as we learn to spread ourselves out for two children instead of just one.  Life certainly never ceases to amaze me.  And I know this next chapter, this next jar waiting to be filled with wonderful things, will be just as amazing as the last few have been.  I'm a blessed and lucky girl.  And remembering that above everything else, puts a twinkle to even the simplest things in my life!

Jer, thanks for another wonderful couple of years.  Lord knows we've been challenged and tested.  But I'm so proud of us.  I'm proud of our family, our home, the people we've become.  I can't wait to meet Cooper and see what lessons he has to teach us about this thing called life. And take on the blessing of raising not one, but two wonderful boys together!

Owen, bubba, my baby boy...I feel as amazed by you today as I did just two and a half years ago.  You light up my life.  Make me laugh and I'm can't imagine a day in this life without you.  Your smile, energy for life and sweet little spirit help me to know that God must think of a lot of me.  He gave me you.  And what a wonderful gift that has been!

Ready or not...in one week...the Linley 3 become the Linley 4!!!

Working on the Boys Room - The Dino Silhouette

A big part of making the boys room special, was having some fun working on a couple projects that we made from scratch!  I'm really proud of the way our dinosaur painting came together.  And the best part is, it was not near as time consuming as it may appear like it would be...

Here are some photos of the steps we took to accomplish this project/artwork!!

We purchased 2 8ft shelving boards and had them cut into 4ft sections.  

Using wood glue and two 1x2in strips across the back, we drilled all four boards together.

 Once the glue was dried, we used a bag of screws to distress the wood a bit further.  We knew we were going to do a crackle paint finish, so after distressing, we painted our green undercoat.

After the green, we followed the directions on the crackle solution.  You brush one consistent coat of the crackle solution overtop the green coat and wait at least one hour before painting the topcoat  We chose a cream for the topcoat. 

Jeremy has a program at work that enabled him to paste a silhouette image into it, blow it up and then he used the plotter at work to print out a large sheet. 

We did 2 trial sizes before finding the right one!  This is the smaller...

And the bigger one....

After tracing the silhouette with a pencil, we filled it in using small artist paint brushes.  We did two imperfect coats.

It's final destination was above the boys changer/dresser!  Jeremy used 4 screws and drilled it directly into the studs on our wall.  It was really heavy and this helped us feel confident that it would stay where we put it!  We are definitely happy with the finished product!

Story Time and Big Boy Bedtimes

Books have always been a part of our bedtime routine.  We were reading books to Owen before he was even born!!

As part of his transition into his big boy bed, we started reading to him in his bed.  We also started putting his big green dinosaur to go "nite nite."  Sometimes Dadda reads from the rocking chair and he and I work on laying down and shhhhhh!  Listen to Dadda's story.  And sometimes he wants to repeatedly put Dino to go "nite nite."  He covers him with his sheet and pats him and says nite nite!  and will put his fingers to his lips and say..."shhhhh."  I have loved this special time with him so very much!!

The other night he pulled me onto his bed with him and I had already picked out a few stories.  As I read them, he flipped the pages. When it was over, we read the stories again.  This is something else he has began to ask for.  When we finish a book, he will hand it back and forth between me and Jer and want us to read it again.  Sometimes we will read the same story 3 and 4 times before turning out the light.  Some of our favorites are:

I love you Through and Through

Old McDonald Has a Farm

Giraffe and a Half

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

I hope this time with him continues for a very long time!  And I hope his love of books and stories continues too!!  Jer snuck in and snapped a few pictures of me and him together the other night.  I love the moment it captured.  Thanks babe for thinking to capture this time with photos!

Hey You!!

You'd probably have to hear it said at 3:30am to fully appreciate the hilarity of it all...but ever since we were visited by the Hey You Fairy a few nights ago, we've been laughing our butts off!

I mentioned here that Owen was sleeping in his big boy bed.  The very night that post went out, the fluke of him staying in there came to a screeching halt!  I knew I jinxed us!!  That night, he had no interested in staying in his bed when we left the room.  He wandered out, told us Hi and tried to dodge us to get to his living room toys.  Around 11pm he finally was tired enough to actually fall asleep in his bed.

Jer and I made our way to bed and were both sleeping by 11:30 or so.  We weren't sure what the rest of the night would bring, but we were pretty sure we hadn't seen the last of our escapee.  Around 3:45 that same night I felt a familiar patting on my legs and looked down to find a blonde little monkey crawling up middle of our bed towards us.  He was saying...Heeey You!!...Heeey You!!!...Heeey You!!!...repeatedly until he reached the pillows.  When he got to the pillows he plopped down in between us.  ***As an aside...one of the things I realized that I/we say to Owen when he would wake in his crib in the morning and wait for us to come and rescue him was....Hey You!  Good Morning!  How are you??  I also always ask him if he had good dreams and a few other things.  But apparently he has the first thing down.*** After a few attempts at falling asleep in our room and going back to his bed, then a few more attempts at falling asleep in his bed with him, he finally made his way to our bed one last time.  Hey You.  Hey You.  Hey You.  All the way to our pillows.  Luckily he did finally fall asleep with us...and that is where he stayed till 8:15am!  What a little turkey!

The next night we were not awakened by Hey You until 6:45am.  This time the greeting changed to Moning (with an emphasis on the ING) and sleeping till 8:15 was NOT an option!  I'm just glad it was 6:45, not 3:45!

Having children is certainly an adventure!  Thankfully in our case, it's an adventure that keeps us laughing...pretty darn...almost everyday!

Thank You Aunt April!!!

Aunt April made Cooper and Owen a special present for their bedroom!!  It is hard to see in the pic below, but it's a framed picture!

We put this special picture on top of our shelf and love it so much!! 

Thank you Aunt April for the fun and very special addition to our dinosaur space :)

Love, Coop and the O man

Welcome to the Prehistoric Era!!

Our inspiration started with our son...toting around a plastic dinosaur toy.  He will roar at you when you ask him what Dinosaurs say!

Then I found this online:

This inspired a whole room of dinosaur awesomeness.  Now, just because I showed you the Pottery Barn room, doesn't mean our bedroom looks quite like the PB room.  However, we took our favorite elements that we could afford and/or could re-create ourselves and tried to put our own spin on things!  

Here are a few pics of the befores, the in-progress work, and some afters of the final space!  Sorry for some of the blur in the photos.  I'm still trying to figure out camera settings that work indoors on my camera...and not having the greatest luck!

Paint sampling...

First coat of green done...

Checking out our matching skills with the bedding!

Owen's big boy bed...all set up!!  Meet his sleeping buddy Dino.

Our take on the painting from the picture above.  I have a post coming on the before and after of this project!  I could not be happier with how it turned out!!

Some shelving solutions!  So frogs aren't exactly dinosaurs, but hey...at least they are amphibians and some of their ancestors were dinosaurs right??  (I may be wrong about this fact, but they were a green lizard-ish option!)  Also, the triceratops on the top right side of the shelf is a lamp we purchased online that came with assembly instructions.  More on that soon :)

Fun decals we found at Babies R Us that tied in pretty well!  They match some sheets we bought for Cooper's crib. We put the decals on the wall between the bunks.

And on the back of the closet door!

Canvases that Jer and I made...I also plan to do a post about the process for making those!

It's hard to capture the room in one sweeping shot and get the overall feel of everything.  But I couldn't be happier with the final results of the room!  There are lots of fun touches and I feel like it is a very neat shared space for our boys!!