Classic Powder Blue Boy Nursery | Featured Real Room

Classic Powder Blue Boy Nursery | Featured Real Room
Just click the link above to see the write up on Chic & Cheap Nursery.com

I am sooooo excited to be featured and I am so excited that people like Foster's nursery so much!

The Other Three

The first "The Other Three":
Ever since Foster and I came home from the hospital I have been struggling with thoughts about "the other three". You know, the two embryos that we put back in our first IVF and the second embryo that got put back when Foster did.... those three.... the three my body failed.

When I sit and look at Foster I cant help but think of those three that my body failed and how they would have been just like Foster. He is so amazing and beautiful. I know that its silly to think and worry about something that I cant change but the truth is that I feel like those babies werent given a fair chance because they probably would be here today if they were put into someone else's body.

The second "The Other Three":
We have three frozen embryos waiting for us at the clinic. I cant imagine not using all of them because they are just like Foster. Justin is pretty set that he only wants 2 kids but if our first FET happened to work I cannot imagine leaving the other 2 embryos unused. Ugh, so much to think about.

"Little Bird"

How can I resist this face?! I cant.

Daddy's 27th Birthday (Aug 20th)

I have been slacking a little bit so I am going to catch up now. First of all, Aug 19th was Foster's due date. It was so weird that it was his 4 week bday but it was actually the date that he was due to enter the world. We went out on friday night (the 19th) to dinner and a bar with about 10 of our friends and it was a really good time. Nana babysat for us while we went out =) On

The 20th was Justin's birthday and he turned 27! We went over to his parents house for dinner and to celebrate. My parents went over there as well! Here are some pictures from the day:

Daddy and Foster at dinner time:




Daddy with a present from Foster and I. I got him some clothes and Foster got him a picture frame that said: "Best Dad" and had a picture of the two of them in it for Daddy's desk at work!




Daddy's birthday cake that I ordered. Justin LOVES fondant so I got him a special cake!




Daddy getting ready to blow out the candles:




Daddy and Foster:




Our Family <3




Foster with Great-Grandma Daniel:




Foster with Grandpa Chesnut:



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Quick Shout Out....

I just wanted to link you guys to Hales @ Dandelion Wishes to see her version of my DIY shadowbox. I think its super cute and I LOVE when people actually use my DIY projects for themselves =) Thanks Hales!

I GOT A BLOG AWARD!

I want to say a huge thanks to Emily over at Playground Duty for this blog award! She is one of my very best friends and her blog is awesome. She is a DIY queen and makes some of the coolest things. She is also one of the best teachers that I know!!!!!

The OFFICIAL rules of the award are:

-Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.

-Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.

-Give this award to up to 15 recently discovered bloggers.

-Contact those bloggers and tell them the exciting news!

Ok, 7 things about myself:

1: I am a nurse, RN to be specific. I am also in school getting my masters and I will be a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner when I complete the program. I currently work as an RN Case Manager for a large home health agency. I work mostly with older adults and I love my job!

2: I am an animal lover. I try and rescue animals and return lost animals all the time. My husband thinks that I am crazy and tells me that I need to stop trying to coax stray dog into my car. I cant even hear the humane society commercial with all the abused pets without crying. I scream and close my eyes and make him change the channel immediately.

3: I am total perfectionist. I cannot stand to do something half way. I do it all the way or not at all. I am that girl who totally freaks out if she gets an A- because I know that I can do better.

4: I am a mom to a BEAUTIFUL one month old boy, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a hermit crab. I am a nurturer by nature. I cant help but want to care for things.... thus being a nurse. Being a mom is the most amazing and rewarding experience. I could not imagine how my life would have been without my son.

5: I have ADD. I cannot sit still. I cant even watch TV without being on my computer, phone, and talking to DH. Relax isnt in my vocabulary.

6: I am married to the best man in the whole wide world. We met senior year of high school, started dating, became exclusive at the end of senior year, we to penn state together, got engaged and built a house, got married, and had a baby. We have been together for a little over 8 years and married for about 2.5 years. (He is also an AMAZING father).

7: I am obsessed with aquariums. I love zoos too but aquariums are about the best thing ever to me. I could literally go on a world tour of aquariums and never get tired of them!!!

I would like to award this blog award to:

Hales @ Dandelion Wishes

Samantha @ Where the green grass grows

Lindsey @ We're Finally Three

Anna @ Pinkadots

Aimee @ Sprik Space

Head on over and check them out!

Tail Wagging Tuesday!

Im linking up with CMae for Tail Wagging Tuesday!

This week we are supposed to share our favorite photos of our pets (old or new).

Here it goes:

Since I have so many pets I am just going to focus on the dogs for this one =)

Bella:

{the day that we got her}

 {her toy was as big as she was}

 {keeping a lookout}

 {hanging out on the stairs with Cupid}

Lola:

{at the pet store when we picked her out}

 {lola at her puppy appointment at the vet}

 {long haired lola a couple months ago}

The Girls together...

Monday Funday!

This morning we woke up and quickly got ready because the plan for today was Foster's first zoo trip! This was the outfit that Foster wore for the zoo since we could easily take off his cardigan if it got warm (it was actually cool and overcast here this morning). The onesie and cardigan have elephants on them!

Foster was super excited to be at the zoo with Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Meg, and Sherry! We bought a zoo membership today since we plan to take Foster here all the time since I absolutely love zoos and aquariums. 

Here is a picture of mommy and daddy with foster at the flamingo exhibit!

 Anyone who knows me knows that I love Manatees so this picture was necessary =)

 Daddy and Foster with the Manatees!

 We stopped to feed Foster and have lunch so Aunt Sherry was more than happy to hold the little guys for his "30 minutes of UP time" that he has to have because of his reflux.

Daddy found AWESOME hat in the gift shop.... we didnt buy it, darn! hahaha, just kidding.

After the zoo Meg and I came back to the house and watch Sex and the City 2 while I snuggled with Foster.... much needed snuggle time. The poor little guy is still having bad tummy aches and really cries and struggles to try and poop. He also has lots of gas and you can tell it really hurts him. He will wake up out of a dead sleep and scream. I called the Pediatrician and asked what we can do for him and they are having us switch formulas to a "sensitive tummy for fussiness and gas" formula. Hopefully this will help!!!

After dinner and some more snuggling Foster had a total blow out and pooped alllll over me. This meant that it was bath time! After his bath (which he is starting to like more than in the beginning) we put him in his adorable robe!

Then in his PJs for the night. Arent the cute?! Grandma Chesnut got this for him.

Then he spent a long time on his playmat and got to hear a couple books while he was playing.

We then got out his basket of toys and let him see which ones he liked. He fell in LOVE with his seahorse and it is totally his favorite toy now!

After about 2 hours of being awake and playing it was time for a bottle and couch time to watch a harry potter movie <3
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Foster's weekend, so far..

Friday night we got to go visit Amie and Chris! Mom and Foster went to dinner with Amie at Cane's chicken while daddy and Chris went to play volleyball. Afterwards we went back to the house and spent some time in the nursery that Amie and Chris have perfectly decorated for their little twin girls who are due in just 8 short weeks!!!!

On Saturday we ran some errands and then gave Foster a bath, which he starting to hate less. I loooove giving him baths because he smells so wonderful when he's done!











Then we went to a cookout at Emily and Nicks house!!! Foster had a really good time there and got to snuggle with Emily, Mandy, Ashley and some others. All day his tummy had been hurting so we knew he needed to poop but at a feeding while there foster accidentally did this to daddy:





Sorry for the nasty pic but this was toooooooo funny :) it definitely scared some party-goers.

On Sunday we woke up early for mom to do homework because she had a tests to prepare for. Grandpa Chesnut came over to visit and Foster spent some fun time on his activity mat!


Auntie Meg arrived to stay for the week and brought Foster a very awesome gift:


It's a onesie :)

Then mommy washed the tv remote in the washing machine.... Dammit!!!!!!

My new toy!!!

I am excited to announce that I am ditching my crappy droid and I got...............



A white iPhone!!!!!!!!! I am so thrilled to be done with droids forever :)

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The way things happen...

Its so true when they say that things never happen as you plan them, we are definitely proof of that point. When I think back over the past 2.5 years this really become abundantly clear. I am a "planner", I have to plan everything that I do and if things dont go as planned it totally upsets me.

I must say that now, looking back, I wouldnt change the way that we became a family of 3 for anything. We worked so hard to have what we have. We have such a different perspective of pregnancy and parenthood. We know exactly how much of a gift Foster is. We know that we were ready to be parents because we fought so hard to be parents.

I overcame so many fears to make this family. I overcame my fear of blood draws, needles, shots, surgery,  and personal privacy. Not only those things but I had to learn to be "weak"..... this is something that I have always struggled with. I like to the the funny one, the strong one, the one who doesnt really show her sadness to others. I am not good at crying on other people's shoulders. I dont even cry to my parents. The only person who gets that side of me is Justin. After almost 10 months of failure and private pain  I shared all that we were going through with some close friends. It was hard for me, it was a change for me. I still struggle with this and I still tend to want to pretend that I let things roll off my back and im ok, I dont like to let people know how scared I am.... thats just how I am.

The end of our infertility journey began with surgery:

and ended with surgery:

Like our journey to get pregnant our pregnancy was riddled with issues and complications:
- Low beta numbers
- Abnormal NT scan
- Growth scan issues
- Fetal echos
- Polyhydramnios
- A bleeding scare
- Mild Preeclampsia
- Bedrest
- Severe Preeclampsia
- Failed 28 hour induction
- C-Section
- NICU stay for Foster
- Failed car seat test
- Readmission to Children's Hospital
- Severe Reflux

We are not "normal"... things arent easy for us and we are used to that now. Looking back on it I learned a lot, cried a lot, loved a lot and now I am who I am because of all the things that we went through.

I cherish this miracle.

Foster's Newborn Photoshoot!