Baby Boy is Here!

He's here! Long overdue and one month late, Benjamin Hudson Ganz has arrived!

I can't wait to share details, but since time is very limited right now {time to feed, again!} here are a few first pictures of our PRECIOUS baby boy:

He's here, and I'm in love! 

perfect little family

oh my cuteness

first family photo

We are so thankful for this little miracle!!

3rd Trimester

The Third Trimester was filled with lots of blessings--feeling baby kick, working on baby's room, showers--and lots of very pregnant feelings--being swollen, hot, tired--but I can't believe how fast it went! Here are my collages!

Here is my photo collage of the baby bump:

And here is the Chalkboard Tracker Collage for each week:

It's almost over! Can't believe it!!

Happy Due Date Baby Boy!!

Well, I'm not surprised I made it to my due date...but deep down, I had hoped I'd be holding a sweet little one right now instead of waddling around with a bowling ball (albeit precious) in my tummy.

An adorable student asked me today when the baby would come. I explained that the baby was supposed to come today, or around today, but babies don't always come on time.  Another sweet student said she thought the baby would come in 3 days. A horrible child **note sarcasm** then stated she didn't think the baby would come for 100 more days! Oh my...just the thought of it made me squirm!

 Here are a few snapshots of the past week:

Attempting to walk baby boy out!

The look of fear...that's a big bump! 

I've been very blessed with a smooth pregnancy. This past week, though, I've definitely hit the "uncomfortable" phase. Is is hard to bend, my feet are swollen, my back hurts and driving? I can hardly get in the driver's seat!  However, I'm trying to love every minute, because, I know I'll miss baby boy's kicks and movements being with me constantly. Being pregnant has been such a blessing, and a longing I had for so long...and back then I promised I would NEVER complain about anything related to being pregnant! So, as much as I want baby boy out to hold and cuddle, I want to treasure this incredible miracle and blessing of having him grow and develop inside me!!

Baby Boy's Nursery

My labor of love is finally revealed--baby boy's nursery!!! I'm SO excited to reveal the adorable and fabulous nursery that we will *soon* be bringing baby boy home to!

Here are some pictures of the nursery being transformed:

Someone is looking very preggo!

Tom's wainscoting makes the room! It is gorgeous, he did a fabulous job. And, as with any project, he taught himself, figured it out, and made it look incredible!

You'll notice a theme, that we have a lot of people who love baby boy enough to spend a lot of time and energy on making his nursery very special. We're so thankful for them!

I chose this fabric [from Hancock Fabrics] for the draperies and my talented mother in law made beautiful draperies. I wanted to try grommets, so she made them to my measurements, and I added the grommets. It was fun to figure out something new. Grommets? EASY. Measuring? HARD. My hatred of math didn't help here!

The "during" pictures of my biggest labor of love: the Alphabet wall. I found some inspiration on Pinterest [of course] but I wanted to make it my own. I LOVE how it turned out! I got most of the letters from Hobby Lobby [don't forget your 40% off coupon!], Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us [the Life Preserver], and my own creativity. The y is a rope, the d [vinyl] and f [framed cut out letter on cute paper] I created using my Silouette Cameo, the J is a painted canvas with buttons, the v is a photo [found online] in a frame, and the t is a cross from my parents. The hardest part was getting them up on the wall! My mom helped and we measured, measured, measured. I recommend created a "border" of top and bottom, then spacing them out along the floor and working on hanging groups of letters at a time. For instance, the top row we hung A, B,C, then L, M N, then the middle. On the bottom we anchored the big letters S and W and then spaced the smaller letters around them. Whew.

The Alphabet Wall

Walking into the room

Refinished armoire

Wreath from my family baby shower on the door

Oh. my. cuteness. Maggie loves the baby's room and likes to take her naps here. And leave her toys here. I think it is a sign she's ready to be a big sister!

Getting Schooled

I finally get to work with my kiddos! YEA!! Probably the only real downside of my Reading Specialist job is the fact that at the beginning of the school year, I have SO MUCH TESTING to do to determine my caseload. When it is finally all done, we have to hash out schedules and paperwork, and eventually I get to work with my sweet students. Today was that day! I'm always so refreshed when I get to enjoy a day of teaching versus all the other [boring] stuff.

Trying to explain to 5-9 year old students about my pregnancy and when the baby is going to arrive is always entertaining, and usually makes me a bit nervous. You just never know what they will ask! Here are some comments that schooled me today!

"You're having a baby. I can tell by looking at you." -1st grade boy
"You havin' a baby? A girl baby? No? you havin' a boy baby? Oh." -2nd grade girl
"You know what the biggest surprise is, right? It's when you think you are having a boy but then you have a girl!" -2nd grade girl
"You could have this baby any minute, like right NOW." -2nd grade boy
"How do they know it is a boy?" [I gave a explanation including how doctors have a special machine, like an x-ray to look inside my tummy and see if it is a boy or a girl.] "No, HOW do they know it is a BOY or a GIRL?" [I go through my explanation again.] NO, like do the girls have long hair and the boys have short hair?? How can they TELL if it is a boy or a girl?" [Um...."They just can," I respond.] -1st grade girl

I also had multiple kids tell me their moms were also having babies...some of which I was a bit skeptical on, but we'll see! Kids are so fun! I'm so glad to be working with them, and a little sad that I'll miss them while I'm on my maternity leave.

Pictures of Pregnancy

I am loving pregnancy...not because it doesn't come with its difficulties, but because I'm so thankful to be pregnant. Isn't is crazy how perspective works? I don't think 2 years ago I would have appreciated the morning sickness, weird pains, exhaustion and increasing numbers on the scale. But, between the rough sleepless nights, largely swollen hands and feet, there is also the fabulous feeling of having baby boy kick and squirm, and the excitement of baby coming home and joining our family!

Here are some pictures of pregnancy:

Loving these oh so close parking spots!

 I think ALL stores should have this awesome perk...whose with me!?

Oh my swollen...rings? long gone!!

Registering for goodies for baby!

 Uh, is there an instruction book on how to use these items?!

So thankful, so excited for this little gift! He is definitely worth all the little complaints!

Daddy's Hospital Bag

Gifts for nurses? Check!
Nursery done? Check!
Hospital Bag for Dad? ...Check!

Since Tom works at the hospital, and has a locker with some basic items waiting for him, I wanted to keep a hospital treat bag simple and cheap. [He doesn't need a toothbrush, deodorant, etc., as those essentials are in his locker, and packed in our toiletry bag. Tom also thinks he is going to wear scrubs the entire time we're at the hospital. I finally broke the news to him that he will need to bring at least ONE regular outfit to wear!!]

 Basically, I raided our basement storage area, and used the leftovers from the nurse gifts to come up with a simple bag of goodies that I know Tom will enjoy.

I included:
2 bottled waters
2 Diet Dr. Pepper bottles
beef jerk
peanut M&Ms
Snickers candy bars
Clif Bars
Gum
Almond snack size bags

I found the adorable *free* printable via Pinterest here. Print, cut, done!

The MOST important thing I included in the bag? A hand written letter expressing how thrilled I am for us to go down this parenting road together!

Summer's End

The last day of summer. It came WAY too soon this year. With the snow day make up days tacked onto the end of the year, and the ever earlier start of the school year, summer was shorter than ever. It didn't help that I tutored an insane amount this summer...I really only had one free day each week for summer activities!!

Therefore, the last day of summer? I had to SOAK. IT. UP.

I did a little poolside reading of What to Expect the First Year while feeling huge in the maternity swimsuit my cousin let me borrow. But I didn't care, I had to enjoy the last time in about 15 years I'll probably sit at a pool and just enjoy quietly reading a book. And I had to learn what in the world to do with the baby once he comes out!! I feel a bit like Rachel from Friends at her baby shower.

I took a nice dog walk with Maggie. The poor thing, I learned at the vet that she's gained a few pounds and I'm sure it is MY fault. Since my feet starting swelling like watermelons two weeks ago, our walks have gone from daily to almost non-existent. She's getting really good at bringing the tennis ball directly to my outdoor lounge chair, though,...which I think is an important skill for her to learn!

I made some finishing touches on baby boy's nursery {more details and pictures coming soon}! Here's a little teaser:

I'm getting super excited for bringing the Read Right Run Marathon to my school! It is such an awesome program and I have so many ideas for making our monthly meetings fun. I really want to build up the positive reading climate in my building.

And now, back to school! Which is another time of year I love, but I will still miss the long, lovely, lazy days of summer!

Thank You Gifts

With the upcoming arrival of baby boy, this summer I spent a large part of my free time organizing and creating. With my crazy tutoring schedule, I didn't have as much free time as I had hoped, so I enlisted a lot of help from my mom to complete all my projects. Boy, was that a huge gift!!

One project was creating thank you gifts for our nurses at the hospital where baby boy will be born. Typically, you might need or want a few thank you gifts for your Labor & Delivery nurses, and a few for your Post-Partum nurses, and in other instances, even less if these are the same people because your hospital doesn't have various wings or floors. However, because Tom works with these fabulous nurses on a daily basis, and they are so [sweetly] excited about our baby's arrival, we wanted them each to have a thank you token, and feel appreciated for what they do--even if they don't directly care for baby boy and I.

SO...that meant a LOT of gifts! After a little research, in order to hit everyone on the day and night shifts of Labor & Delivery, we needed 20 thank you gifts for L&D, and the same for Post-Partum. Whew, 40 gifts was quite a project, and could become quite expensive.  We wanted to keep it cute, and meaningful, without breaking the bank. Here's what I came up with:

Clear Treat bags from Wal-Mart

Hand Sanitizers from Bath & Body Works

Mini Orbit Gum Packs from Amazon

Candy Bars from Sams Club

Next I used my fabulous Silhouette Cameo to cut these cute tags out! We then hole punched them and added fun ribbon to attach them to the baggies, once they were filled with goodies.

I created 20 white tags and 20 blue tags, so I could easily see the difference between the ones that need to be on set out on L&D versus PP. That was just easy for me to keep track. Besides the difference in candy bars and hand sanitizer scents, the thank you bags are all the same.

The final product...in a {unused and unneeded} bowl for easy delivery to the nurses' station. I can't wait to hand them out after baby boy's arrival!

Big Decisions

There are so many big decisions as motherhood is on the horizon. The nursery wall color, which glider to purchase, disposable diapers vs cloth, and the enormous question: to work or not to work? This question has been on my mind (a bit far back there) for years. Growing up, I responded to the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question alternatively with "a teacher" and "a mom", and by mom, I meant a stay at home mom. It was what I knew, and what I respected, and what I wanted. And then, I grew up, and I started my career. I taught long hours, I built up my resume, I completed my masters degree...all so I could be a better, more well established, and more successful teacher, and career woman. I started to scoff a bit at those stay at home moms, while internally battling with my future decision. What would I do, now, knowing and doing what I do now? What would my co-workers think of me? What would my stay at home friends think of me? What do I want and how do I feel about this momentous decision?

And here we are. At the crossroads, and a necessary decision needed. Through God's great plan, and some maneuvering and begging on my part, and the delicate and momentary good mood of the Human Resources department, I am undertaking neither path. I won't work or stay at home full time, and so it is funny to realize the decision I vacillated between for so long isn't even what I am choosing.

But God's plan--although sometimes hard to understand and definitely difficult to wait upon--is good. I am embarking on a new journey, one as a part time teacher and part time stay at home mom. I am thrilled, and sad, and excited, and scared. We realized I do in fact need to work, and so the full time stay at home option wasn't in fact an option at all. But, I couldn't bring myself to abandon that long term dream. And so we are here. I am feeling very good about the change, but it is hard to know what the future will be like, so naturally I have fears at well. Will I like it? Can I handle it? Will I miss my baby? Will I miss my job? I know I'll cry the first day back and be stressed about breastfeeding at work, but I know I'll enjoy adult interaction and the feeling of doing something to benefit others.

This article encouraged my spirit today and made me feel as though I am making the best decision for our family. I'm so thankful for this part time opportunity.

What If the Best Years of Your Life...Just Aren't?

2nd Trimester

I'm so thankful to be finishing my 2nd Trimester! Baby Ganz is growing big and strong, and he is very healthy! We could not be more thrilled and I can't wait to be sharing my 3rd Trimester collages!

Here's my chalkboard tracker collage from the 2nd trimester:

And my photo collage from the 2nd Trimester:

Baby bump is growing, that is for sure!

Perks

Tom gets very few perks in his 80 hour a week residency, but this weekend we got to enjoy one! After our nursing class, we headed up to Labor and Delivery and Tom gave me an ultrasound! It was so fun to see our little guy moving around and measure his growth. I felt a bit like Rachel from FRIENDS here, though.

Tom is so talented at doing and reading ultrasounds, I'm so proud of him. But, as he was all "oh, look, the baby's resting his head on his hands," I was all, "What?! Where!? I don't see it....there?! huh?"  So, after Tom readjusting the entire machine so he could simultaneously move the ultrasound probe AND point out the baby on the screen, I was able to understand [i think] all the movements of our little cutie. In my defense, as the baby gets bigger, you only see one small portion/body part at a time so it is hard to piece it all together.  It was easy back when baby was small, but now he is over 2 pounds!!

It really didn't matter, though, because seeing his movements and heartbeats were all I needed to make me thankful and overjoyed!

It's a...

I was one of those people who totally mocked the idea of a gender reveal party. I mean, come on, now you have to attend a party to find out the baby’s gender?! SO cheesy. It probably didn't help that I felt like everyone around me was having babies and it wasn't happening for me.

So, fast forward, and here we are: 20 week ultrasound ahead and what do I insist on having? Why, a gender reveal party, of course!

I am so glad that we went through with the party, though, as it was the highlight of our pregnancy so far.  I wanted to enjoy the fun and creative details, and of course, I had a grand vision. I tried to keep it simple, but I did create ties and tutu clips with my brand new Silhouette Cameo (thank you Tom!) for everyone to wear based on their guess. I bought some poufs off Amazon that I fluffed up, and we had a casual and fun BBQ one Saturday in April to announce the big news. Tom and I found out ahead of time, as it is pretty easy for OBGYNs to read ultrasounds. It was actually very special for us to find out together and have those moments together, then share that with family.

I really wanted to do something creative, and I had seen on a blog—but never heard of anyone doing it in real life—a question mark piñata filled with pink or blue confetti. Being who I am, I thought, I can make that! :) Well, about two weeks beforehand, I realized I had NO time to be making my own piñata, and had a bit of a meltdown. Thankfully I have the best parents in the world who said they would attempt it. And it turned out great! They created the shell and I spray painted and decorated it. I thought, wouldn’t it be cute to do little poufs of tissue all over? And 7 hours later, it was done {how do I always do that to myself!?}!

It was such a joy to have our closest friends and family around us as we announced our little one’s gender. And, we have it all on video, too! We are so thankful to be at this point and overjoyed about our bundle of…

BOY!!