Slowly But Surely

Slowly but surely, Easton's (woohoo, finally get to use his name!) nursery is coming along. At this point, we really just need the bedding and to continue adding to his closet. Thankfully, we've already gotten some great hand-me-downs!

Here are some updated pictures of his room. We decided to keep the walls and bedding pretty simple because I wanted to use some of my favorite baseball pictures from Greg's childhood, high school and college days on the walls.

The picture in the red frame is my favorite picture of Greg with his dad on the baseball field.

We had to add in a little basketball to keep momma happy!

Couldn't forget about Homer!

Deck the Halls with FREE Christmas Cards

As I have mentioned before, we've had quite a time getting a family picture for our annual Christmas card. It's been driving me crazy because I LOVE sending Christmas cards, and I love seeing photos on cards from friends and family. I was losing hope, until I came across this great deal from Shutterfly.com on a few friends' blogs. After I learned about their deal for bloggers, I was back on my mission!

This year, Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE holiday cards to bloggers willing to tell others about their products and this promotion. This was a no-brainer for me because I'm already a Shutterfly fan! For our first anniversary, I gave Greg a photo book that I created on Shutterfly. It's one of my favorite things to flip through from time to time.

I've had fun looking through the huge assortment of Christmas cards, and I have officially chosen my favorite for this year's card! (But that's a secret!) Here are some that I love:

So festive!

So simple, but beautiful.

Love all the photo options.

I also love their gift ideas--like photo calendars and coffee mugs. You put a grandbaby's face on ANYTHING, and it is the best gift ever for a grandparent. 

Nameless No More!

It's official! Yesterday, before our full day of Thanksgiving festivities began, we decided on a name for our baby boy.

His name is Easton Paul Joyner. Easton is a name we've both liked since before we found out we were expecting the little guy, and Paul is my dad's name. In fact, today is my dad's birthday, so technically this could/should count as Pop's birthday present! (He asked for a Harley, but a namesake will have to do. )

What's In a Name?

Lately, friends/family/total strangers are spending a lot of time attempting to name our baby. I mean, we haven't decided on anything so why not listen to some suggestions from others, right?

Let's at least make it fun!

Possible names inspired by my favorite University of Memphis Tigers players:

• Richard Elmer Dorsey (a.k.a. Joey Dorsey)...Hmmm. Not so sure. Maybe Joseph?
• William Coleman. I like it!
• Rodney Dion Carney. Nah.
• Chris Douglas Roberts. I like Christopher because it includes my maiden name. :-)
• Anfernee Deon Hardaway. There's Dion/Deon again...but no.

Possible names inspired by my favorite actors:

• Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg. Well, at least he gives me a lot of names to choose from...
• Donald Edmond Wahlberg. Ummm, no.
• David Andrew Samberg (you know, Andy Samberg). Maybe, Sammy?
• Vincent Anthony Vaughn. Nope.

Possible names inspired by some of my dad's favorite things:

• John Deere.
• David Allan Coe.
• Lennon, Paul, Ringo, George...take your pick.
• Harley Davidson.

See what I have to work with, people? Now are you surprised that we haven't decided on a name?

The Final Countdown

TODAY begins my third and final trimester! That means in 12 weeks or less, we'll meet Mr. Baby Boy Joyner. Although he has no name, he's starting to build up a little wardrobe! Our friend Carol found some of the sweetest baby boy clothes while on vacation, and I found some gender neutral outfits that Macey never wore when she was a little baby. I also found 5 or 6 boy outfits that I bought before we knew that Macey was a girl.

We have no new developments in his nursery, but hopefully we'll make a little more progress during this long holiday weekend. (I do not shop on Black Friday, unless it's online, so my Friday is wide open for Christmas and nursery decorating.)

According to BabyCenter.com this week:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. He's also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Weird...

Yesterday, I took (and passed) the awful glucose test. I must say, the orange flavor drink was much better than the lemon lime, so I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever take another glucose test in my life.

He Only Takes the Best

A poem from my Uncle Rex's funeral. Just thought it was beautiful...

God saw you getting tired and a cure was not to be, so He put His arms around you and whispered, "Come to me."

With tearful eyes we watched you and saw you pass away, and although we love you dearly, we couldn't make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best. 

Quick Feet Joyner

After an unusually long morning nap, she didn't think the camera was too scary.

Spaghetti Adventures

Macey was loving her spaghetti dinner tonight!

Moving Right Along

A couple updated pictures so you can see the progress baby J is making on my belly. Not excited about the fact that I have 12 weeks left to grow...

Almost 28 weeks along.

Me and Miss Anti-Camera. :-)

She thought it was kind of funny for the camera to be reeeeeeaaallly close to her face.

Go Tigers Go!

Last night, we took Macey to her first Tigers game of the season! She had a blast, but was definitely ready to go home at halftime. It was a fun night!

Let's play basketball!

Macey and mommy!

Soooooo excited!

Probably checking out mommy's favorite, Will Coleman.

The beginning of the end for Macey and the basketball game...

Quite possibly her favorite part. Playing outside! :-)

Another Trimester Bites the Dust

The second trimester wraps up this week, and I'll officially begin my third (and final!) trimester next week. Wow! Just 13 weeks (or 91 days, however you'd like to look at it) until we reach the baby's due date. I've said it a million times, but this pregnancy seems to be going by so fast.

Baby J Updates:

• No name.
• His room is painted and the furniture is in the right place.
• His bedding has been picked out.
• At this point, he's breech! Yep, just like Macey was. Yesterday, I visited my doctor for an impromptu check-up because I wasn't feeling him move. Turns out, he's just flipped upside down (head up high, butt down low) so his movements aren't as easy to detect. There's plenty of time for him to get back in the right position...fingers crossed!
• Per yesterday's ultrasound, the little fella is weighing in at 2 pounds 6 ounces already. I think that seems big, but the doctor said he's in the normal range.

According to BabyCenter.com:
This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother him, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Little cauliflower. Weird comparison, huh?

Dancing Queen

As I've mentioned before, Macey is pretty camera shy these days. These videos capture QUICK glimpses of her serious dancing skills...until she spots the camera. (Oh, and one video features a little bit of singing from Macey's daddy.)

Not Just Any Cucumber...

But an English Hothouse Cucumber. (I can't make this stuff up!) I'm 26 weeks along, which means just 14 weeks left...still no name. :-) More and more people seem to think that we secretly have a name picked out that we just don't want to share. If you know me well enough, you know I'm a pretty terrible secret keeper, especially when I'm excited. Trust me, everyone will know when he has an official name!

My inability to keep secrets goes way back. I remember being pretty young and visiting my great-grandmother in Florida one summer. Father's Day was coming up, so we went shopping, and I picked out a new wallet for my dad. He kept saying, "What'd ya get me for Father's Day?" knowing I'd crack, and I kept trying my hardest to keep my mouth shut. Then, as we were walking into Grandma Gill's house, I said, "I'm going to run in and hide this wallet!" Of course, my dad was standing right there and heard it! If I remember correctly, he acted like he didn't hear...but I know he did! Me and secrets, no bueno. But I'm getting better in my old age!

Just like every night about this time, Macey is snoozing away, while Baby J is kicking and moving like a wild man. Most days, I don't really slow down and relax until about 8:30 or 9, so that's when I feel that little cucumber swimming, flipping, kicking, etc. He's starting to kick pretty hard so Greg has gotten to feel him a few times. That's always fun!


According to BabyCenter.com:
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

I don't know about you, but I think this just looks like a plain ol' cucumber.

Attempted Photo Shoot for the Christmas Card...

Just for fun, take a look at some of our shots from the attempt at a family photo at my parents' house. I believe we'll either have to try again, take some shots at home with just Macey and the dogs or steal a photo of a random family and stick it on the front of our cards. We did get one picture that I sort of, kind of, maybe like...

Not so sure what we're looking at...

Totally sums up Macey's mood.

Totally sums up mommy's mood, haha.

A Glimpse of My Crazy Life

Last weekend was a great weekend! Seriously, it was. There was lots of family togetherness, we started getting the baby's room in order and just had a good time. The funny part is, when I go over the main highlights of the weekend, it sounds anything but great:

• Friday evening Macey fell down the stairs. Hard. Watching your toddler topple over and over down a flight of stairs is not fun.
• Saturday morning, Macey reached up to the kitchen table and spilled a cup of coffee on herself. Thankfully, the coffee was lukewarm at best.
• Sunday, we attempted to take a family picture for our Christmas card. The dogs pulled my mom all over God's green earth and were eventually kicked out of our photo, then Macey decided she was OVER IT and wouldn't smile, sit still, etc. Long story short...you might get a card with just me and Greg on the front, haha. (Probably not.)
• Sunday night as I was making tacos, the shells literally caught on fire as I was warming them under the broiler in the oven. I'm talking, flames shooting out of the oven kind of fire.
• Oh yeah, and Macey's cutting an evil little tooth. She's thrilled.

Doesn't that sound fun?! I promise, when I think back on the weekend, it really was a good one. All of those crazy catastrophes were short-lived, but the rest of the time was a lot of fun.

Work in Progress

Latest update in the baby's nursery...walls are painted! (The furniture has also been arranged, but we don't have pictures of that yet.)

Don't You Think She'll be a Good Big Sister?

I don't know why, but 97% of our pictures seem to be in this room...

Just Because...

I think these are cute pictures and thought I would share. Macey's at a stage right now where she's not so fond of the camera. She'll happily sing, dance, play, whatever...until you hold up a camera, then BAM it's over. She either gets shy or wants to take the camera from you! So, I'm thrilled with any pictures I get lately.

Working SO hard!

About to head to church!

Macey's Room and Baby J's Nursery

In an earlier post, I mentioned we found a beautiful off-white crib that we were planning to use in the baby's room. But it just really felt like a girl's crib, so Greg took Macey's original crib apart and moved it to the baby's room, then assembled the new white crib in Macey's room. Logistically, probably a dumb plan, but I couldn't be happier with the outcome!

Macey girl's room...slowly but surely becoming a big girl room...sad.

A special quilt from our wonderful friend, Carol.

An Etsy purchase from last year. Planning to get one for Baby J, too.

The beautiful toy chest, made by Macey's daddy!

Nameless Baby J's room is still a huge work in progress, but we're working on it! He's got a bed, we've chosen bedding AND the painting begins tonight.

I'm only posting these awful pictures so you'll be extra impressed with the finished product. :-)

Sorry, it's blurry...

Just another view.

Such an Ugly Little Word

"Discipline." It just sounds awful for some reason, but I know it's completely necessary. If our children don't learn right from wrong, then our world would be even scarier, right?

Here's my biggest problem. My child is really funny! And the bad part is that she knows she's funny. She already likes to ham it up when people are laughing at something she's done. But the WORST part is that when I use my super stern voice (it's so scary, y'all) and say, "Macey, no ma'am!" She cries and cries like I've just told her that the New Kids on the Block aren't really going on tour again next summer. It's bad. (Don't worry, NKOTB are totally going on tour next summer WITH the Backstreet Boys!)

So, then I just feel like the meanest woman ever. A tiny part of me would rather let her pour the dog's water bowl all over the kitchen floor than watch her cry, but I know that's not the best decision. So far, we've done a few time outs because when she's super frustrated or exhausted, her immediate reaction is to hit when something doesn't go her way. That's not very nice, huh? So, I try to sternly say, "Macey, no hitting," and head to time out...but that sneaky little thing either smiles and thinks about hitting something/someone/some dog again or cries those crocodile tears.

I know I'm not the only one dealing with this! What are your go-to discipline methods?

Clearly I'm a little immature because this book cover cracked me. Look how mad that girl looks!

I Don't Know What a Rutabaga Is...

But it sounds awful.

Today marks my 25th week of pregnancy with sweet Baby J. Unbelievable! Where have these weeks gone? When I was pregnant with Macey, every morning I read a little paragraph in a pregnancy journal I received as a gift. This time around, I'm so busy with little miss that I'm very proud to keep up with reading a weekly e-mail about Baby J's progress.

Speaking of progress. We have furniture in the nursery! (This is a very big deal.) As you may know, this child doesn't have a name, but he now has a bed! Macey's room has been totally rearranged as she ended up with the new beautiful off-white crib. It just screamed "girl!" to me, so she had to have it. I'll post pictures of her new room in the near future. Baby J's room, well...it has furniture, but that's really all I can say. I've picked out bedding, and I think I know what we'll do with his wall color, but neither of those things are in place yet. Thankfully, we have 15 weeks left. Sounds like a long time, huh? Yeah, it's not.

According to BabyCenter.com:
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

P.S. Have I told you that I have a feeling this baby just might have red hair? Some of you may know that my brother has red hair, and I have a lot of natural red in my head. For some reason, I feel like he'll have dark auburn hair.

I think I'm offended that my baby's been compared to a rutabaga.

How ugly is this vegetable thing? It looks like a jellyfish. My baby's not a jellyfish!

Happy HALLOWEEN!

This year, we celebrated Macey's second Halloween. I think next year she'll finally have it all figured out! This year was more about running around in her costume and less about the candy. But don't let that fool you. Even though she didn't understand that she could walk up to a door to get candy, she definitely understood (and enjoyed) the fact that there was candy all around all weekend!

Daddy and his little girl!

Funny bunny on a mission!

Long night, let's go home, mommy!

Britax Car Seat Recall

Attention moms and dads! Britax has recalled their Chaperone Infant Car Seats. To read the full recall notice from the Britax website, click here.

What you should do:

A. Remove Chaperone infant car seat from base.
B. Turn infant car seat over and locate the white sticker on underside of car seat
C. Look for model numbers and manufacturing dates: E9L69N9, E9L69P2, E9L69P3, E9L69P5; manufactured between April 2009 through May 2010.
D. If your Chaperone infant car set is affected, visit ChaperoneSeatRecall.com.