I can't believe...

Nathan will be 5 months old on Sunday and I still have not updated this blog since a week before his birth. Yikes! To sum up the past 5 months - Nathan is just the sweetest little baby we could ask for. Hopefully one day soon I'll properly update this blog with many posts about our little Nater Tot. Including, but not limited too, his birth story, meeting his only living great-grandparents, Tarheel football and basketball games, achievements... you get the picture. For now, enjoy a couple of pictures of our little munchkin. Isn't he just the cutest?

First morning at home - June 26th - 4 days old

Relaxing at the beach house - July - 2 weeks old

Fast Forward to more recent - November, 19 weeks (4 months)

39 weeks.

Here's what we looked like last week - at 39 weeks. Since we're 40 weeks tomorrow, and we're still waiting for little Nate to arrive, I think I'm going to need to take another picture... Eek! Hoping baby boy comes soon! We're getting impatient and oh so excited to meet our little one.

Nursery nearly complete!

The last few weeks we've been working on getting everything set up in the nursery. The painting is done. We have blinds hung in the window (the only blinds we have so far in the whole house!). The valance is hung. The bookcase and changing table are all set up. And as of yesterday, the crib is in place! Dad finished building the crib last week, so they brought it down to us yesterday and helped us put it in place and get all of the freshly washed bedding onto it. We are so excited to have a nearly complete nursery now! We still have a few things to hang on the walls, but other than that, it's all ready for our baby boy's arrival. While he'll spend his nights in our bedroom initially, I plan to have him take his day time naps in his crib so he'll be familiar with his crib/bedroom when we transition in a few months to sleeping in his crib at night. We absolutely love the furniture my dad built for our little one. The nursery is just how we imagined it! Here are some pictures of everything in place.

Painting

Over Memorial Day weekend, we finally got around to choosing a color for Nathan's room and getting it painted. My mom and dad came down for the day to help paint, hang blinds and a curtain rod, and bring the dresser/changing table my dad built. It was a busy Saturday, but we got a lot of work done in that one weekend!

Cradle

Since our master bedroom is on the first floor, and our other bedrooms are on the second floor, we knew we wanted to start out with Nathan spending his nights in our bedroom. As much as I will need the exercise, it didn't sound like a lot of fun to run up and down the stairs several times a night for feedings. While we were researching smaller bed options for our bedroom, we learned from Ben's mom that she had an heirloom cradle that had been in the family for over 100 years. We were so excited that she offered it to us for our little boy (and future children). It needed a little bit of work, which she OK'd. We enlisted my dad to firm up the joints a bit, and then we sanded it, primed it, and painted it white. It looks nearly brand new now, and is so precious with its blue bedding. We can't wait for baby Nathan to sleep in it. We hope he likes it as much as we do! Here are some before and after photos.

37 Weeks

It's been awhile since I've posted a belly picture, so I thought it was about time. Here's what we looked like at 37 weeks.

3D Ultrasound

On May 15th, one month before our due date, we went in for a 3D ultrasound - just for fun. We were very lucky that we were able to see his little face! Typically, by 36 weeks, the baby has turned to face the mother's back completely, and you can't get a good picture of the face. Thankfully, Nathan decided to be on his side for us! We got some decent pictures of his little face. He was a little shy though, and kept putting his hands in front of his face.

We also found out he was measuring at about 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Which means, if he stays in the warmth of my belly until his due date, and continues to grow at the appropriate rate.... we'll be delivering a high 8 or low 9 pound baby! Wow! Big, healthy boy! I am hoping he decides to come a little early so that maybe he'll be a teensy bit smaller! There's also the chance that the measurements from the ultrasound were a little off...

Here are some pictures of our baby from the ultrasound.