Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there, hope your day is filled with fun and relaxation! Wishing a special Happy Father's Day to Nate, who's going to be a wonderful Dad!

A few quotes for the Father to Be:

The most important thing a father can do
for his children is to love their mother.
~~Author Unknown

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
~~Elizabeth Stone

Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a Dad.
~~ Anne Geddes


Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat. Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher's mound. Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again.
~~Jimmy Piersal, on how to diaper a baby, 1968

35/35

Today I'm 35 weeks, which means only 35 days until my due date! I went to the doctor yesterday and all is well with Baby Horton and I. The baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's estimated to be over 18 inches long and 5 1/4 pounds. Because it's so snug in the womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, therefore it's a good thing he's facing head down, as it would be hard for him to flip if he were breach. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete, I cannot wait to see what he looks like! He'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight (so will his Mommy, I assume). He continues to be spoiled rotten, as we've gotten a few more adorable outfits in the mail all the way from AZ, as well as some Towson gear- thanks girls! My work had a baby shower for me on Friday and we received a VERY generous gift card to Babies R Us and a couple of other gifts...thank you to my wonderful coworkers!

Big Momma- 35 weeks

My Mom has 5 babies beside her house, look at this adorable little one. And notice the poor Big Momma (white horse) in the background just waiting to pop out her baby--I know how she feels.

Another little one.

Nate found this newborn while he was hunting turkeys. No- he does not shoot fawns, this baby is very much alive he's just trying to figure out what's going on now that he's outside of the womb.

Isn't' he cute?

Pretty Posies

With the exception of my day lilies, which the critters decided to completely devour (literally probably 100 blooms before I even got a picture) my flowers are doing pretty well.

Lavender

Begonia

Hydrangeas, cut from my flower beds. Look at all the colors.

Gerber daisy, another of my favorites.

34 weeks

Today, I'm 34 weeks. Time is winding down until we finally meet our little boy. No major changes with me, just watching my belly get big and feeling a little tired. The baby weighs about 4 3/4 pounds right now, which a little more than the size I was when my Mom brought me home from the hospital! His fat is filling out which will help regulate his body temperature once he arrives. It's also making him rounder, hence my significant weight gain! His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. His skin is also changing from very wrinkly to smooth.

I've posted plenty of pictures of myself recently, so this week I'll post a few pics of the nursery as we've added some items since my last pictures.

Crib with our new mobile. Mobile from Babies R Us. We are having a bookshelf made (by Pap-Pap) for the wall around the corner and to the left of the crib, can't wait to get this!

New chair, which is so comfy. Purchased from Rock A Bye Baby. Blanket was a shower gift as was the picture hanging on the wall behind the chair.

Love this picture titled "Mudding" by Josh Axelrod.

Dresser/Changing table with the new changing pad. Lamp from Target. Towson Tiger stuffed animal was a shower gift. For the artwork above the dresser/changing table, we matted and framed 2 Horton books:).

Up close of the books

Toy box and/or ottoman, from Target.

We still need to install some additional shelving to the closet and a add few more decorative items. The baby's Pap Pap is making a bookshelf (see below) that will hang on the wall beside the crib. which is the wall that the window is on. This will give us a place for all his new books, as well space for other items such as his cute red piggy bank, new stork figurine, and John Deere tractor:). I also need to figure out what I'm putting on the wall behind the crib, I have one option which includes 3 framed tin balls (soccer, basketball and baseball). I would really like to do a wall decal like the picture below but we need a name first!

This is what the wall bookshelf will look like.

This decal is from etsy seller back40life's shop

Yes, I'm Obsessed

Ok, I know you all may tire of reading about Anguilla and Turks and Caicos but I love both places and 2 of my favorite beaches just earned top honors from Luxury Retreats! Grace Bay and Maundays Bay were named in the top beaches for Amazing Sand and I couldn't agree more. Shaool Bay East in Anguilla was number 5. You won't find sharp shells or rocks at these 3 beaches, just powder like sand that your feet literally sinks into for inches. Although, I'd argue that Rendezvous Bay beach has just as soft of sand as the beaches mentioned and should be on the list, maybe it doesn't have any luxury retreats located along it.

Grace Bay beach at sunset

Maundays Bay beach

Shaool Bay East at Sunset

Showered with Love

Yesterday, my family and friends hosted a baby shower for Baby Horton and I. A HUGE thank you to everyone who came and for all the wonderful gifts. A very special thank you to Mom, Tammy, Gram, Melissa, and Summer for putting together such a wonderful day...and another special thank you to Rebecca who traveled all the way from Oklahoma even though she is still isn't feeling 100%. She also wrote a special poem for Nate and I that we really enjoyed. We received so many gifts; this little boy is already spoiled!

The shower was at the Dobbin House in Gettysburg. The Dobbin House is a beautiful civil war building and made for a neat location. The thoughtful hosts decorated with bears (wearing baby gear), baby pics of Nate and I, a diaper cake, and pretty flower arrangements. Lots of blue, of course, and everything looked great! Melissa made candy bars as favors, as well as pretzels with blue and white chocolate for the tables, very tasty. The cake was from Dingeldeins (in New Cumberland, PA), and was absolutely delicious! We played a few games (with prizes from Harry and Davids), ate lunch, and enjoyed each others' company, what a fun day:)

Diaper cake made by my Mom

Pretzels with chocolate and baby themed M&Ms. A recipe for this tasty treat can be found here. Make your treats fit the occasion by using colored candy (check out Michaels) and/or use themed M&Ms.


Cake and one of the flower arrangements filled with baby items (if you want to diy just attach skewers to your item and place in the arrangement). I just realized that the bear on the cake is the same as the bear on the napkins and plates!

Nate's bear with a "party in my crib shirt"

Favors made by Melissa, with the same bear again!

Opening lots of gifts!

Everyone brought a book so the little guy now has an entire library. I love this idea and it's so neat to have books from all of the special people in his life. I know he'll enjoy reading the messages everyone wrote in the books (as well as the stories) someday.

He also got lots of toys and even more clothes, blankets, towels and wash clothes (no pic, the stuff is already in the wash).

Love this print from Summer, it's going to look great in his room!

A beautiful blanket made by my Gram

And another from a friend's Mom

And another from a friend!

We also received all of the big gear including the car seat and base, swing, high chair, pac n play, baby monitor, play gym, and stroller! We are also stocked with the little gear such as bottles, warmers, diapers, thermometers, pacifiers...you name it we have it! We are all set. Nate even put everything together already.

There are too many gifts to post pics of everything, but we love all of the items and can't wait for Baby Horton to wear them, use them, and enjoy them! Thanks again everyone, we really appreciate everything and are so grateful for your love and support.

Maternity Pics

Last weekend, I had Kylene and Matt of Kylene Krotzer Photography come to our house to take maternity pics. She has posted a few of the pics on her blog. Kylene previously helped improve many of our wedding photos and made us an awesome album. Kylene and Matt were easy to work with and their prices are very affordable. Check out their website (click first link above) for more information; she does wedding photography, as well as portrait sessions. They will come back again to take pics sometime in the first 2 weeks after the little guy is born. I'm sure these pics will be even better, considering the subject:)

A couple of my favorite pics that she also has on her blog:



I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the pics (they took a lot in 2 hours). She will post all of them online for us to view when she has a chance.