Season of Sarah

The month of November is a busy one for us! We have our Anniversary, 6 days later is my birthday and because of the timing of when Olivia will arrive it is also the month that we had to have the baby shower.
Our Anniversary was PERFECT. It was the type of day that we both love. We ate a delicious breakfast, watched our wedding DVD, watched 2 movies, ate our wedding cake (which was honestly just as good as when Aunt Lu first made it), went to a movie and ATTEMPTED to go to our favorite Main Street restaurant. We probably should have checked to make sure it was open before we went. Of course it was closed, so we headed to another restaurant instead. It was also good but I think my favorite part was how we just looked at each other and laughed about how funny it was that we'd been waiting to eat at Henry's all day and then it wasn't even opened. We like to laugh.

That same weekend Jennifer, Mom and Viki threw me and Olivia a BEAUTIFUL baby shower. It was so perfect. It was so great to have all of my friends and family celebrating her upcoming arrival. She had so many sweet touches that just really made me feel special. The diaper cake she made was filled with wash cloths, blankets and washcloths. She also made some adorable "lollipops" that were made of washcloths and baby spoons. I appreciated the hardwork she put into it so much. Here are some pictures of that day.



Notice the cute letters attached to the flower vases. Jen is going to attach those to a picture frame for Ms. Olivia's bedroom.



The note on these says "Thanks for celebrating Sarah's Bun in the Oven!" So cute!!!




These are the cupcakes Viki ordered for the shower. They were so delicious!




Jen had these adorable Layette's strung up. The one in the middle is a little ballerina outfit. I can't wait to put her in the other two layettes. She is already pretty in pink!


This diaper cake is so cute! It has flower hairbands, monogrammed diaper covers, burp cloths, lovies and blankets. I don't want to ever take it apart! The lollipops on either side are washcloths with baby spoons. How creative!


Our friend Elizabeth made this diaper wreath for us to hang on the door of the hospital and our house. I love that her name is on it and it is in yellow!


Here are the girls! We are missing our Texas girls! We'll have to take this shot again in December. Hopefully I can still stand upright at that point. :)



Here is Grandma Viki! She is so excited about her first grandchild!



Here is the picture that will most likely go in Olivia's baby book. This way, when she gives me a hard time I can show her how much I sacrificed to bring her into the world.

Progress...

I am happy to report that there was a lot of progress made on Olivia's room this weekend. I got to begin Saturday with a pre-natal massage, thanks to Kris who got me one for Mother's Day. I was finally able to use it and it was so worth it. I realized during this massage that my body pillow, which I stole from Kris, was pretty flimsy and the trick to sleeping more comfortably would be buying a new body pillow. What a difference!

Next, we went on a hunt for a dresser for the little one's bedroom. The crib we bought does not have a matching dresser so we decided to try and find one that would serve the purpose we needed but would still look nice with the crib. We believe we have found what we want. We agreed that the damage that a small child will do to a piece of furniture is pretty risky, so we'll go with low cost now and eventually get her a nice bedroom set. The dresser we found is at Target and we'll be buying that soon and putting it togther. I say "we" but we all know who is really putting it together. I just get to point my finger and watch.

After the dresser search we were off to see our little lady during a 3D sonogram. We scheduled it for 1:30. I don't think I was thinking clearly because I know that that is her quiet time. We got to Peek-a-Belly and sure enough our little lady was wrapped up in a tight little ball fast asleep. We tried everything! We ate spicy food and a coke before we went, we drank OJ, ate a cookie, played her Kings of Leon (her favorite music) and poked and prodded. She wouldn't have any of it! We left the place with a CD of about 10 pictures. Luckily we get to go back on Friday and try again. This time we'll be going later in the day. She loves to stretch out in the evening so hopefully that will be better.

On Sunday Kris decided to attempt the crib! I can't wait to post pictures of it! The room looks awesome. We won't be posting pictures until it is completely finished. The crib,bedding and glider/ottoman all look so perfect in the room. Now we just walk into it and look around. We are so amazed that this room will be our daughter's room. We ordered a wall decal that is a beautiful tree that we will be putting up too. I know we still have 10 weeks to go and that that is a lot of time but doesn't feel that long.

The Nursery

When Kris and I moved into our new house we knew which room would be the nursery. The one closest to us and the one that accumulated all of the junk until we were ready to turn it into someone's room. Here are some before pictures.

Kris was mostly excited about getting to try and prime those awesome electric blue walls that the previous owners thought were a winning choice.

I wish I could really capture the fantastic light fixture with the energy saving light bulbs. This combination made every single person who ever saw the room squint, I am NOT kidding.







I think the best part for me was clearing out all of the junk. We got to get rid of things we didn't need. This fact alone gives me chills. I hate clutter. I can't stand having too much stuff. I realize that I need to overcome this because a child will bring more clutter than I can imagine, but as the Mommy, I hope to limit it.



This is the room, empty. The daybed was mine as a child and has been dismantled. Kris was able to get it up into the attic. The trundle bed is now under our guest bed and the dresser is also in the guest room. I won't be posting after pics until the Nursery is completed.

May we introduce...

The most exciting part of the summer was finding out if we were going to introduce Avery or Olivia into our family! I don't think I have ever been more excited about anything...except getting married of course. Technically it wasn't summer any longer. School was back in full swing and now everyone knew we were having a baby. We anxiously anticipated this day.

So may we introduce Ms. Olivia Lynn Goodwin!

After all of my girl dreams and feelings it being a girl, I had convinced myself it was a boy. Turns out we were right from the beginning. Olivia Lynn is already so loved. I can't wait to actually meet her and hold her in my arms for the first time.

Here is the sonogram picture from that appointment.

Telling the family...

So here is how it went down.....

We knew we wanted to tell the rest of our family members either in person or as "in-person" as possible.

We decided that we would be telling Kris' Mom in person so she would know before she left for her trip to Germany. We drove to Viki's apartment with a little gift in hand. She needed us to pick something up for her at Wal-mart so while we were there Kris picked up a bib that said "I love Grandma". We got to her apartment, handed her the bag and started chatting. Eventually she decided to check out the bag and found the bib and just stared at it for a minute. She had the funniest look on her face. Finally she said "Grandma?" and then FINALLY she got it! The moment was priceless. We had finally shared our news.

We told Aunt Lauren by calling her up and asking her if they could make a "Whiskey Gentry" onesie by Christmas time....she also took a second but got it and said she would!

We called Grandma Joanne and asked her what she'd like for Christmas, after telling us she wasn't sure, Kris asked her if she'd like to be a Great Grandma and in true "Joanne" style she said "Well I guess so, if I'm gonna be." priceless....

Tuesday, April 27 is my Dad's birthday. We had discussed how we would tell them. I wanted to be sure and see their faces when we told them so we made up a story about wanting to test out our webcam. Mom and Dad went along with it. While we were g-chatting with the webcam I told Dad that we had some birthday cards for him that we had forgotten to send. So We held them up and showed him. The first one was from me, the second one was from Kris and the third card looked like this....




Next came The Goulds and The McDonalds!
We are lucky to live so close to Jen and Derek so we went over to their house with our camera. We had recently gotten our kitchen painted and wanted to show them the pictures on our camera. I let Jen scroll through until she got to the picture of the pregnancy test I had taken. That was how we told Jen and Derek. Next came Maddy and Dylan. Baby G wrote them a letter that looked like this...



As you can see that is the copy that we made for Harrison and Annelise. We tried repeatedly to get Kris and Lydianne on the webcam with us and unfortunately were never able to. We called them and ended up telling them over the phone. It was very fun and I they were excited. I think Lydianne even cried a little. I am pretty sure they said to us "Well it's about time!".


After that we made the calls to our other extended family members. Everyone was thrilled for us and I don't think anyone was surprised.....I can't imagine why.

I should back up...

I am a terrible blogger! I want to get better at it and I think now is the perfect time.
We should back up to April 26th, 2010, that would approximately 24 weeks ago. Kris and I had decided we were ready to grow our little family. We spent the weekend wondering if we'd been successful. It's funny...when we first talked about trying to get pregnant I would constantly say "Let's just see what happens. We won't get obessessed." Then reality sets in and you actually start wondering...constantly. So over that weekend we decided to pick up a box of tests and I took one Saturday and Sunday and got negatives both times. Monday morning rolls around... I get up and decided I couldn't make it through the day unless I knew so I took a test. Imagine my surprise after several no's to see this little picture.....


Well of course I was stunned for about 3 seconds. Then I raced into the bedroom and pretty much scared the crud out of my peacefully sleeping husband....(now I know that at the time he knew I would take a test and was just waiting for me either wake him up or not). He shot up from the bed, I shoved it in his face and we both just smiled and were practically speechless. I still can't believe it. What a blessing we have been given. It was Monday, April 26th and it is the best Monday morning that has ever happened.

Now, here was the crappy part, we had to go to work. We both knew this amazing news and were so thrilled and we had to go to work. Of course we both kept it to ourselves for a little while...

Confessions of a New Dad To Be

6 months to go. Well technically 5.5 months. 5.5 months until our worlds forever change for the better. Don't get me wrong. Sarah and I love our time together, sitting on the couch or being able to just pick up and go where we want, when we want. But we often say to each other that our house feels kind of empty. When we have our nieces or nephews over, we love it. We love having someone else in that house to help fill it up. Yeah, a 100lb dog helps fills things up, and he'll forever be our 1st child and a part of our family, but the two legged kind is different. At least I hope it has two legs. Sarah recorded a show on Discover about Octopus Man. I couldn't watch it. I sure hope we don't have an octopus.

So anyway, let's see. We find out next month what we are having. I really think that will help me wrap my brain around this whole deal. Dance recitals or baseball games? Hair braids or buzz cuts? Barbie or GI Joe? Of course it is entirely possible we have a baby girl who likes baseball, wants short hair, and wants to play with GI Joe. Or a baby boy who wants to dance, has long hair he braids like Snoop, and has a strange fascination with Barbie. While either of those scenarios may cause Daddy some moments of disconcert, we'll manage just fine.

The trips to the doctor's are rather interesting to me. I find myself wondering about the lives of the people we see there. There is a couple that we always see, and it's crazy to think this couple will go through the same things we will, almost at the same time. You see young single girls, and you wonder if they have the same excitement we have, or are they scared out of their minds? It's all pretty much insane, but we love it. We'll keep everyone up to date on things from here out, and again vow to better at this whole blogging thing.