Jackson's Nursery

Here's some pics of Jackson's room!  It's not 100% complete, but it's so close that I wanted to go ahead and get some pictures up...

Sometime we would like to frame a picture of Jackson's name that we wrote with rocks one day on the wall above his crib.

The wall space to the right of the shelf is where we are going to have a tree painted.

We love his bedding called "Forest Friends."  And don't worry, for all you Captain Safety people out there, I do know I'm not supposed to use the bumper for a while.  It was just there for the pictures :)  

This is the most comfortable glider in the world!  I love it!  

Top 10 Ways I Know I Am About To Have A Baby (The Sentimental Edition):

#10  When I look at Jackson's 3D picture, my heart skips a beat.

#9    I am often brought to tears when Ryan and I pray for our son.

#8    Ryan and I have been looking at old childhood pictures and getting so excited to have family photos with Jackson and     other little ones in the future.

#7   I am blown away by how much you can love someone so much that you've never even met.

#6   I already worry about all the bad things that could happen to him, and already realize how fragile and vulnerable life is.

#5   I am in awe at God's great love for Ryan and me, and that He would trust us enough with one of His own for a little while.

#4   When I see little blonde boys in public, I can't help but smile.

#3   When we pray over Jackson with our hands on my belly and he moves, I am certain I just felt the Holy Spirit moving inside me.

#2   Every time Ryan pulls his tiny clothes out of the dryer, he likes to snuggle his face into them and think about how cute he's going to look in them.  

#1  My heart melts when Ryan talks to my belly and tells Jackson how much we love him and can't wait to meet him.  My favorite thing he says to him is "Be nice to Mommy."

Top 10 Ways I Know I'm About To Have A Baby

#10  Heartburn with a vengeance.
#9   I no longer walk.  I waddle.
#8  The biggest travesty of my day is when I drop something on the ground, because that means I'm going to have to somehow bend over and pick it up.
#7  When I go to Starbucks and order 1 mini scone, they almost always give me 2.
#6  People refer to me more as "Mama" or "Mommy" than "Ellen"
#5  Major nesting instinct...I could stay up for hours working on Jackson's nursery!
#4  Jackson can now press on my bladder and poke up under my ribs AT THE SAME TIME
#3  I (sadly) can't eat as much as I used to...no more room!
#2  I have dreams almost every night that I am going into labor, only to wake up and realize I just have to pee (again)
#1  Did I mention heartburn?

Windy Gap and 34 Week Profile

It's been forever since we really updated the blog.  Life has been so crazy with moving into our house and trying to get everything ready before Jackson gets here.  But, we did want to give a brief life update.

#1 Jackson
Had a dr. appointment today and he seems to be looking and growing strong!  I go back in 2 weeks, and then I start going once a week and they will check to see if I'm dilated each time (oh let the joys begin...).  I'll be 35 weeks on Friday...crazy!  Here's the latest profile pic...if it looks like I gained about 10 pounds in 2 weeks, that's because I did!  All of a sudden I am huge!  I blame summer camp at Windy Gap...they feed you like 4 times a day there, plus dessert after every meal and at bed time.  Plus when you are with high school kids who can eat constantly and not show it, it's hard not to get sucked in too.  But, oh well!  But when else in life can I gain weight and people tell me more and more how cute I am?

Speaking of that, it's so funny how people treat pregnant women differently than every other woman.  At Windy Gap, it was like all the moms there saw how pregnant I was and immediately inducted me into the Mommy Club.  It's like instant friends that want to help you out, offer to do things for you, and give you all the labor and delivery advice you need.  Then there are those perfect strangers that make your day...like the lady today at the post office.  In my former life, we would have just been two strangers passing by, but today she became my new best friend when she took one look at me and said, "Oh my gosh, you are the cutest person I have ever seen!"  I mean, when are women ever going to compliment each other like that on a normal day?  I don't mean to sound conceited or anything like that, because the truth is, I do not feel cute...I feel huge!  But, it's just been so interesting lately noticing how people just love pregnant women.

#2  Windy Gap

Ryan and I, along with one of our female leaders and Kiley (Ryan's sister) took about 20 students to Windy Gap this past week for camp.  It was SUCH AN AWESOME WEEK!  Our speaker was great and the Lord really moved in so many of their hearts.  For a few of them, their lives will be forever changed by the refreshing Truth of the gospel of Jesus!  On top of all that, we had a blast too! Here are some of my favorite pics from the week:

1890's/Western Night

Ryan about to get flour dropped on his head.  This was after his 1st (but not last) trip to the pie-in-the-face booth and before his guys sent him to the dunk tank...such a trooper!

Speaking of troopers...KILEY IS MY HERO!  Being pregnant prevented me from doing a lot of the activities, so I guess my girls thought I also couldn't get a pie in the face or flour on my head, so they got Kiley over and over again instead of me.  I have the best sister-in-law EVER!!

Square Dance

Giant slide

Blob

Banquet night (hence, the dresses)

This one is my favs!!

The Gray Family

Anyway, it was a great week at camp and I'm so thankful I was able to go.  Promise to post again sooner than later.

31 Weeks Profile Pic

3D Ultrasound

We got to see Jackson today via 3D ultrasound...it was so cool!  He is weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs. 8 oz. and is in the 48th percentile for growth.  So far so good!  Look at how handsome he is :)

We love his little grin!

Jackson's Room In Progress...

Hey everyone,
It's been a while since we've updated the blog, and we don't have a ton of new pics, but we wanted to update you on Jackson's room.  We are totally finished preparing his room except for the baseboards and painting the closet doors.  Here it was before...

And here it is now...

We re-finished and painted the door, put on new hardware, got new closet doors, painted the trim white and the walls blue.

His clothes that are already hanging up are so small!!  Once we get more hangers, we'll hang the rest of them...thanks to so many people, he will NOT be in need of clothing!

We haven't put the crib together yet, but here is the adorable bedding.  Love it!

We also had a friend of ours put in the new tile in the bathrooms.  You can tell from this before pic that there were linoleum floors before (they were the same in both bathrooms).

And here it is now (this is before the grout went in, but you get the idea...

The bathrooms will be completely finished in the next day or so...new toilets, new vanities, new lights, new doors, new hardware.  :)