The One Where We're In Love . . .

. . . with our new, sweet baby!!

Meet Paige Erica Brunson.
Born February 18 (yes... 2 weeks early!) at 9:09 am
5 tiny lbs 8 oz, 18.5 inches.






I mentioned in the last post that I was having lots and lots of contractions, but they weren't all that painful. Well, Wednesday night, while Rick and I were at his dad's house, I noticed they were getting a little bit more intense, and told Rick maybe we'd have a baby in the next week. We then decided that we shouldn't get our hopes up.

We went to bed that night at about 10:30, and I woke up at 11:30 with very strong contractions every 15 minutes. I've never stayed awake all night and had it fly by as fast as that night. By 5:00 am my contractions were really, really intense and about 7 minutes apart, so we made our trip to the hospital. I was then dilated to a 5 and 80% effaced. They called my midwife and decided she would come in around 8. They told us to plan on delivering the baby around 1-3 that afternoon, so I rested (thank heaven for epidurals, btw!!!!!) and Rick slept.

Around 7:45 Rick woke up and I told him to go get himself some breakfast. While he was gone, my midwife came. While she was measuring me, she said, "you don't have a cervix!" I was in shock. It was only 8:00... we were supposed to wait like 5 more hours! She suggested we push just to see what happens, so I started pushing a little bit. Thankfully, Rick forgot his credit card, so he came back a little faster than he would have. He walked in while I was pushing, and I told him I was ready. He almost missed the birth! After only about 20 minutes of pushing, my midwife told me to help deliver her. It sounds weird, but I am so glad I did. Paige grabbed onto my finger as I brought her onto my chest, and it was the most amazing feeling. I cried, of course. She looked like a tiny old man, but I was so in love with this little stranger. I loved the whole experience and would do it again in an instant (don't worry... we're not planning on that for a while... then again, we weren't planning on this time...). :)

She looks just like her dad, so her middle name is Erica... kind of like Rick. :)

She had a hard time learning to suck, even a bottle, and we're still really working on nursing, but she's been great. She would sleep through the night already if I would let her. She also has acid reflux, so we have to burp her for half an hour after every feeding, because she choked quite a few times in the hospital. That was a scary thing to see. The poor girl.

She only lost 3 oz in the hospital, and then half an oz since then, so we're paying close attention to feeding her often so she can gain some weight, even though she hasn't lost too much. She's just so tiny to begin with. She's a great baby so far, and we can't stop looking at her. I've LOVED watching Rick with her... that was what I was the most excited for while I was pregnant. Which, btw, I am really surprised that I don't miss being pregnant. I had such a great pregnancy, and I thought I would really miss feeling her inside of me, but so far, I feel great and just love having her here.

The pictures are all of her first day with us, but she has changed so much already in this busy week. I haven't taken as many pictures as I would have liked to, since we've been so busy teaching her to nurse and waking her up to eat (it can sometimes take an hour to wake her up, and then the minute she starts eating, she's out again). You can be sure I'll post more pictures later... after my naps!

The One With The Evolution Of My Belly

10 Weeks14 Weeks

15 Weeks

16 Weeks

17 Weeks

18 Weeks

19 Weeks

20 Weeks

23 Weeks

16 Weeks

29 Weeks

32 Weeks

36 Weeks

38 Weeks

Almost there!! I CANNOT believe how fast time has flown! I had a doc appointment yesterday, and I am dilated to a 3, and 60 percent effaced... I guess we'll have to wait and see if that really means anything for me. :) But my midwife was very pleasantly surprised with those numbers, so that made me happy. I have had almost non-stop contractions since yesterday too, but not the real ones. They aren't as painful as I am sure the real ones will be, but they still aren't the most comfortable... I am planning on them lasting for weeks, but lets hope I don't have to deal with them too much longer. :)

My sisters threw me a shower last weekend. It was fun to see everyone, and everybody was so generous! Thanks so much, we really, really appreciate it! This is what her room looks like now... I am still trying to organize everything.


I made a list of things to do before the baby comes, and it's about a mile long (including organizing her room), so wish me luck on getting everything done!! At least I have plenty to do to keep my mind busy.

The One With The Valentines Craft

***Update... Welcome to all of our Pinterest friends!  Unfortunately, I don't have a template anymore for this because my computer died & I lost it :(  I'm so sorry, but feel free to still get ideas from this post & my other popular posts (you can view them on the right side of the screen).  Thanks!

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Rick and I had a great weekend. I love that Valentines Day fell on Sunday, so we could celebrate all weekend.
Rick is a big believer that Valentines Day is just for the girls (I know, I am lucky), but I REALLY wanted to show him how much I appreciated him right now, since he has been working like a banshee and since things are going to be changing forever in a couple of weeks. But, I put Rick in charge of the money when we first got married (he's excellent with it... me... not so much...) but he wouldn't agree to give me money to buy him anything for Valentines Day. Therefore, I was left with no choice but to craft. Rick isn't much of a cheesy guy, so I had to really think about what I could get him that wasn't too cheesy. I finally decided on the least cheesy thing I could make him for only a few dollars. I saw on a couple of websites the idea for "52 reasons why I love you" (you put the reasons on a deck of cards). So, as expected, here are the pictures of my version of "52 Reasons Why I Love Rick"...




I was surprised at how fast and easy it was for me to come up with 52 reasons. Some of the cards had pictures that applied, so I printed the pictures, but the rest I just mounted the reason onto the card. Rick did suggest I buy him Almond Joy's, so I bought a Valentine's Day cup from no other than Target, and threw the candy and cards in. I usually am not a fan of the "love coupons" that people seem to get (no offense to anyone...), but Rick left me no choice. On the back of 4 or 5 of the Almond Joy's I wrote a couple of things, like I would give him a head scratch (he's loved those so much), and Rick might not appreciate if I mentioned the other few. :)
So, even though it was kind of a silly gift, I was so excited to give it to him, and he actually let me give it to him on Friday night. He never lets me give him presents early!


All in all, even though it was on the cheesier side, he seemed to love it, and I was glad I could show him a little bit of appreciation.
We made my dad's secret recipe for ribs on Saturday to celebrate as well. It was so nice to have the weekend with him. I sure do heart him! ;)

The One Where The Last Nursry Craft Is Done!!!

Or is it... ?!?

Well, the last one I was working on, and am planning on doing anyway. :)

I still have 3 weeks left until the supposed "D Day", so we'll see what my mind comes up with to keep me busy until then. Although, if I could just kick all of these sinus infections & bronchitis, it sure would help me to have more energy to do more. I hope you aren't sick of reading about her room... :) If so... sorry!!

So, without further adieu... the last, and possibly my favorite part of her room!


Can you tell what it is??





I got the idea from this blog that I LOVE!

I ended up getting the backs from DI (hence why they are all a little different... I didn't have $50 bucks to buy the ones I wanted from Roberts or Michael's so I ended up spending probably $2.00/back), sanded & Painted them. Then, I modge podged the scrapbook paper that I loved (and used on the blocks), then just hot glued the letters & some tulle to the top, and walah! I couldn't decide for days what I should use to hang them with, but one night, as I couldn't sleep, it just came to me... tulle! I was a bit nervous that it wouldn't hold, but lucky for me it seems to be plenty strong enough. I am happy with how they turned out. Her room has been a bit of a labor of love for me.

I guess her name is official now!! :)

The One With Some More Show & Tell

I am sad to say that my crafts are coming to an end. I still have at least one left to do, but I don't know what I am going to do with myself when I am out of ideas and all done with Paige's room.

I have loved, loved, loved making everything, putting it all together, and seeing it all come together.

The first "craft" that I started when I found out we were expecting was a sling. I did it before I knew if it was a boy or a girl, but I couldn't wait to get started on it. Although it took me at least a month to even wash the fabric, and even longer to finish it, it was a fun and probably the most challenging project for me. I haven't sewn with a pattern since high school, and it took a lot of reading and re-reading the instructions for me to understand what it was saying. I still don't understand what the last step was saying, so I improvised. :) It worked out, even though I had to try, try again. Hopefully I didn't cut too much off of it and it fits once the baby is out of my belly.

Here's the finished project:


The next project was yet another cheap and easy one. It is the one to incorporate more of the birdies. These are on the opposite wall (above the changing table) as the bird mobiles as seen here.

I saw these wooden plates (remember the old 70's wooden bowls!?! That's what they remind me of!) at the DI for $1.00 each, so I thought it was worth seeing what I could do with them. I think it was worth the "splurge". :)

The One With More Nursery Crafting

I've been spending a ton of time getting the nursery ready. It's taken a lot more time than I would have thought, but part of the reason is because I have been making lots of crafts for it. I'm getting so excited that it is starting to come together!

She has a closet (and a whole chest of drawers) full of clothes already. They are organized by size, but have not been washed yet.


And of course . . . she wouldn't be a true Brunson without lots of shoes already!! Most of them are from the Brunson's :)


Rick bought her the Redskins beanie and booties... so cute!


My mom said that this onsie just "jumped" into her cart... she loves us!


I found this wall hanger thing at the DI for $0.75. I know it's kind of old school, but I needed things for the wall, and some sort of hooks, so it was perfect! Notice the cute hats. My sweet sister must have spent hours making them, and a matching diaper bag, for my Christmas Present. She did an amazing job on them. They look like they were bought at an expensive boutique!


Craft A:
I spent hours making like 20 of these birds out of some fabric that my mom gave me (some from the 80's or before I am sure) and some fat quarters I found on clearance. I decided to make a mobile for over her crib with them. I have something up my sleeve for the rest of the birds... (that will be in a post to come)




It's not the best picture of the mobile, but you get the idea. I'm debating hanging a few more random birds around it, outside of the hoops.


Notice the cute blanket on the chair. My mom made it for me, it's so cute and super soft!


Craft B:
Dun Dun Nuh Nuh!!! My sweet daddy cut a bunch of these wooden cubes for me so I could make some blocks. You might remember this post where I said that I wanted to incorporate the birds into her room. A friend gave me a whole digital scrapbook kid (that included the birds and flowers, etc.), so I played around with them a little bit and made some blocks out of them. I am pretty excited about this one. I modge podged them onto the blocks that I had sanded and stained. I had everything, so they were free!!




I have something else up my sleeve for this digital scrapbooking kit... that will be a in a future post as well... That one might just be my favorite craft of them all!