A little glimpse of Asher's room. I'm so happy with how it's all coming together!

A big part of pregnancy is preparation. The room, all the clothes, what car seat should we depend on, which diapers should we use, picking out a name, what will my birthplan be? So many questions and things to plan ahead for. I love this part of pregnancy since I'm a huge planner and checklist type of person. Thankfully a lot of the questions weren't a problem this time around thanks to it being our second baby. But I have been a little shocked with how different this time around has been.

This pregnancy has been very different than my first. I don't know if it's having a toddler running around, or if it's my body already experiencing this before, but the aches and pains are real. For months, I have felt like I did a couple of weeks before Solomon was born. I can't imagine making it to my due date based on how I feel right now but, we'll have to wait and see when Asher is ready to meet us. One thing that I have been struggling with is preparing for labor. This was a big shock for me. 

As most of you know, my birth story with Solomon (Part 1 & Part 2), was such an amazing experience and I've been dreaming about having another baby and going through birth again since that day. One of the reasons I loved birth so much was how close I felt to God. As a believer, I wanted to put all my hope on Him as I pushed through the changes and my body worked to bring my baby into my arms. I also believed that women's bodies were made to do this incredible task, and as long as everything went as planned, I could do it with His help. I wrote more about how God's peace was surrounding me through the process of giving birth to Solomon here. 

So I was feeling pretty bummed about how my heart was feeling. I think that is why I have been having such a hard time lately, the peace I felt with Solomon had faded some. We have had a hard 5-6 weeks with a cold passing around our house. Add in the way my body is becoming even more uncomfortable, which I didn't think was possible, and you have a very down and worn out momma. We went almost a month without going to church because one of us was sick and we didn't want to spread the germs. A couple of weeks ago we finally made it to church since the runny noses subsided for a couple of days. I was so thrilled! Worshiping at church is one of my favorite things, and I love to prepare for birth by listening to my playlist, which also includes a lot of the songs that we sing at church. As we were singing one of my favorite songs, Great & Mighty King, I could hardly hold back the tears. I've said for a while now that this song is so great for a birth playlist and I could feel God's peace wrapping me up like warm blanket as I sang the words..... 

Your glory fills this place,

we shout unending praise, 

forever hallelujah 

forever hallelujah 

With singing those words I could picture it. Walking around our living room and feeling those contractions that will bring Asher to us. Standing in the shower of the Birthing Center with hot water pouring over my tight stomach. Swaying back and forth on a birthing ball while praying and worshiping the King who gave me this second miracle. All while feeling His glory around me. His glory will fill every place, as long as I let it. 

I now can't wait to experience birth for the second time. I'm ready! I'm excited to rely fully on His presence and glory to bring Asher to us so we can meet him face to face. He is going to be perfect & I thank our loving Father for giving us a second son to add to our family. 

to baby Asher.

sweet baby Asher, 

I'm dying to meet you. I really can't wait to see your face and touch your baby soft skin and kiss your tiny little toes. I know you still need some time to get ready to meet us, and we are getting ready to meet you, but the anticipation is killing me. 

I have been working so hard in your room (with the help of your Gigi, Auntie Lola, Daddy and your big brother!) so that it will be ready for you. Going through all the little outfits and making everything perfect is so much fun. I can't wait to see you in all the tiny little outfits that your brother has already worn. I'm so thankful that you will have your brother to look up to and play with. He is going to love you so well. 

I pray for your relationship with him often. I have been praying for you to have a best friend and a protector and a role model in Solomon. I know he doesn't fully understand the importance of you, but I know he will love you. He rubs my belly and says hey baby Asher and my heart could burst with excitement for the two of you and the memories you will create. I'm so thankful to have two little boys to love. 

Your name means happy & blessed, and that is one thing that I pray over you a lot. I pray for you to be a happy and content little guy. I pray for blessing to flow into your life from the Father over and over. I can't wait for you to know His big love one day, and I'm so excited to teach you about Him. I hope that you will use your name to honor and glorify God one day. You can do BIG things, sweet boy, I know you can.

Your are my Asher, and I can't wait to hold you in my arms.
Soon, so so soon!

Love,
Momma

funny little things.

Crawling has opened up a whole new world for this adventurous boy of ours, and even though he's been crawling for quite some time now, I wanted to make a list of some little things he's been doing. My biggest fear is that I might forget them one day. Watching him explore and learn new things is the best part of being a momma. I love to see him experience something, and then the smile he gives me when he turns to look back, that melts my heart. It's so precious! I have a feeling he will be walking soon so I thought it was opproriate to write some of these memories down.....

one // when I put him on the floor of his room he instantly crawls to the crib and pulls his blanket off the side and then reaches in to pull out his sleeping blanket 

two // he has started crawling and hiding in the corner of the living room but he makes sure we see him first, that way we will chase him. He freaks out laughing and acts like he's going to climb the wall, it's so funny 

three // if he's playing in the living room and the air comes on he crawls over to the vent and sits right beside it, then he throws his right foot over the vent so the cold air hits it. Every single time, just the right foot, then he crawls away. It is the cutest thing and I'm dying to catch him on video doing it 

four // anytime he breaks free from the living room he crawls straight to the plant in the dining room and grabs a hand full of dirt. The first time he did this, I realized he was being super quiet and when I found him he had dirt all around and was dropping fist fulls over his head! Such a boy

1 week old.

I'm so thankful to have a sweet, sweet friend that is all artsy and talented with a camera!

Auntie Jocie came over on Solomon's 1 week birthday to take some family photos and I'm in love with all of them. Of course that means I will be sharing WAY too many of them, but ya know... that's what you do when you have a baby and you fall madly in love with him. 

My favorite men that make my heart so, so full!!!

I can't take it sometimes, this life... it is so sweet and God is so good!

the nursery.

Finally sharing all the details for the nursery! I love that it doesn't really have a theme so he can grow with it. The green and navy and wood accents with white furniture just makes me happy! 

There are a LOT of details below with all the decoration pieces, but if you have any questions about where I purchased something that you don't see listed below, let me know! :) I'd be happy to share!!

Details

curtains (best curtains ever, also used them in our living room!) & rods & finials

pompoms sewn on curtain trim thanks to my mom-in-law

the crib

my aunt made the crib skirt, using THESE directions

photo over crib // frame & print

the crib sheet

blanket around Solomon was made by my grandma

frog in crib

S pillow in crib

the rug

art work behind chair

the chair was purchased in store at Buy Buy Baby

bug pillow is from IKEA, no longer available 

stuffed animal in chair (gift from Auntie Whit)

floor lamp & table lamp (I scored both of these at the outlet for a discount price!)

floor shade & table shade

the side table

photo on side table // frame & bunny print

the hamper

the dresser

little punch buggy (in store)

empty frame for picture of baby boy

all the knobs were bought from Lowe's and stained

the daybed

quilt for daybed

the green pillows // the triangle pillows // the center striped pillow

the love pillow // the big white pillows

all the frames for the gallery wall

prints for gallery // all Etsy - here & here &

shelves for gallery are from Target, no longer available

& whale on shelf is from Target, no longer available

 mocs in shelf (first thing I bought for baby boy to use for the Big Announcement!)

bear in shelf was gift from my aunt & uncle

wooden S for gallery wall (in store) gift from my mom

memory frame for gallery is a sweet gift from my BFF

the bookcase

fire truck toy

photo in bookcase // frame & amazing grace print
Solomon the Crocodile book, a gift from my mom
pirate toy, a gift from Brooke

chest in closet is a hand me down that my grandpa made over 50 years ago

banner above chest are decorations from my friend shower that worked perfectly for the nursery

 tractor toy & dump truck toy

baskets in closet

stuffed animals are my old toys

the nursery, so far.

Working on the nursery has been one of the most fun things ever! Peter has said a few times, "his room is going to be the best room in the house!", ooops, he may be right. I can't help it!! Of course I started out with a plan and some ideas for the nursery and once all the pieces started to come together I realized it wasn't going to work. Below is what we started with....

The daybed is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be so it didn't fit well on the entry wall of the room. I was trying to figure out how everything was going to make sense and with some discussions with my mom and friends, we realized that the daybed and crib needed to switch places. The sizes made more sense that way. Now the adorable room is looking like this!!

Of course I have to give a HUGE shout out to my wonderful, baby daddy, for all of his hard work! The furniture started out my thing... I did the crib almost all by myself, and the side table was all me! But, then the pieces started to get bigger, and well, I started to get a lot bigger also, and the building nights turned into Peter screwing things together while I lied back on pillows in the floor for moral support. It was fun though, and I'm so glad we got to work on everything together for our little boy!

We had a lot of help from my Mom, also. She helped with some painting (she painted the room while we were on our Babymoon, and we were so thankful!!) and staining (all the wood pieces in the room that weren't the right shade of wood, yes... I'm talking about all those knobs!), so she deserves one big hug and a huge thank you! I don't know what I'd do with out her.

All we have left is the decorating side which is what I'm most excited about!! Peter's Mom is going to help me hem the curtains and make the crib skirt! After that, will be adding in all the final touches and making the crib look complete once we have the mattress. I'm so excited to bring our little boy home to his precious room... it gives me butterflies when I think about it!

nursery inspiration.

Things are finally starting to happen in the nursery and I can hardly stand it! After we set up the crib last night I actually said to Peter, "Oh my gosh, we are having a baby!" I just want to jump up and down all the time when I think about having our little human being here with us. Getting his room ready is just like a big cherry on top of everything. Here's the ideas that we have so far.... 

crib // daybed // dresser // nightstand

shelves // whale // lamp // rug

green // wood accents // navy

This weekend my mom and I are going to Charlotte for her yearly Birthday trip (early this year thanks to the fact that her and Solomon might share a birthday!!!) and we are going to do a lot of shopping for the nursery! We can't wait and I'm so excited to get all the details mentioned above set up in the little man's room. Of course I will be sharing the final product once it is ready!