One of the most Precious Gifts

 Finley Nicole made her grand entrance into the world  

on 7.22.15 at 3:19pm.

Weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs. 4oz. and 20 in. long.

She is a happy baby and our hearts are so full with love.

Every good and perfect gift is from above.

James 1;17

Baseball's and Tu-tus

Our last shower was hosted by Judy, Christine, Emily, and Tracie. There was a mix of family and more friends and we were absolutely blessed once again! 

The food, fellowship, decor, and family time was ALL wonderful!

Here are some of the best pictures from another great shower!

Is this wreath not amazing?? Connie out did herself on this one!

Loved the idea of this thumbprint tree! Christine put it in the frame for us and its displayed in the nursery...

One of my fave outfits!!

Connie was letting me know that all those boxes wrapper were diapers.. whoo hoo!! Just to save time I left them in the pretty wrapping paper.

Handmade quilt by Judy...

And another from Granny!

Mama Jane got her bath tub.. so awesome!

LOVE THIS!!

All the sweet and wonderful hostess!!

Thank y'all so much for blessing us and Baby Hopper! I had such a great time! We appreciate everything!

BUMPDATE // 39 Weeks

** Thank you to all my readers who have followed us on this new journey in life. I know this little .com space has seemed to turn into a pregnancy journal only and I know it is not for everyone... so thank you to all my sweet readers who have stuck around! I promise for more than just pregnancy/baby posts soon! Preparation just had us super busy and not to mention I think I lost a few brain cells for any extra creativity.. Ha! 

This is my last BUMPDATE post... we are checking in tomorrow at 6:30AM and will excitedly await the arrival of our precious little girl. We greatly appreciate prayers that are being sent up for us.

I originally started this post Sunday so some of this is an update.. 

HOW FAR ALONG // 39 weeks

7/13/15

BABY SIZE // About the size of a small watermelon

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! She may measure about 20 inches and weigh a bit over 7 pounds. Your baby continues to build a layer of fat to help control body temperature after birth, and the outer layers of skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

MY SYMPTOMS // I have had some cramping this past week.. nothing consistent at all and not too severe except for Thursday night? Can't exactly remember when.. by the time I got out of bed nothing was going on.. Friday while I was at work I started having some back pain and wondered if it was back labor but it was more my mid back than lower back so I wasn't too sure.
So that busted blood vessel that I thought I had... I do believe is a stretch mark and Friday afternoon, I noticed a few more tiny ones on the left side of my belly. They truly do look like busted blood vessels but I have been assured that if they are stretchies they are so small they will fade quickly. I'm still oiling like a mad woman tho..
I've had days of energy and days of exhaustion but after Friday, I have felt SO much better because I rescheduled all my clients for next week. I just feel a huge relief, Shane came home Thursday night, we had a date night Friday night and have been home together ever since. It has been SOOO wonderful!! I haven't been "worked up" at all, have felt really relaxed and peaceful but I have felt a little ancy just wondering when we will FINALLY get to meet our little girl!

UPDATE: Monday I had my 39 week checkup.. my BP was 102/70 and I had only gained 1lb since the week before, which the nurse told me it was probably fluid. This past week my right foot has held some fluid.. its so weird its from my ankle down and my left foot isn't as bad. I was asking the nurse what my BP was, and she thought I was talking about my weight, in which she replied 164. So if I am remembering correctly, my scale when I got pregnant said either 132 or 134 but I do remember the dr scale saying different. I will have to find out from them.. so that's 30 lbs total what I'm calculating right now.
My cervix was 90% and I was dialated Monday almost to 2 cm. When Dr Elder got finished examaning me, he said that I was in great place to pick a day and asked, "what about Wednesday?". I immediatley looked at Shane and busted out laughing because from the beginning he has been calling the 22nd. We had short laugh, explained it to Dr Elder, and then I started hounding him with questions. I will be 40 weeks Friday, and technically according to their charts, I will be Thursday. I just originally thought they said Friday so I have gone with that day ever since. There were a couple of "concerns", I hate to use this word because all is well with me and baby, but after a lot of questioning and answering, I decided to go in tomorrow.
I have felt pretty good, just nervous at times, I've had some pretty uncomfortable moments but not miserable. I am starting to get sore on my right side where she constantly rolls and I'm pretty sure I had a contraction today. I didn't time it because I had no idea what it was as first... then when it was over, I was like DUH Ashley.. that's probably what it was. I didn't have another one but have been cramping.
I'm definitely waddling, she still hits a nerve on my left side, and my legs are really achy and feel so heavy.
I'm just trying to soak up feeling all these last rolls and punches. As ready as I am to meet her, I think I'm really going to miss my belly and feeling her movements inside me... truly a miracle.

MATERNITY CLOTHES // Yes

SLEEP // I have had some pretty awesome nights knock on wood! A few where if I got up for potty break - which I'm sure I did- I don't remember doing it!

** Coach and I slept in this morning and just cuddled. It was wonderful.

MOVEMENT // She is still pretty consistent and rolls more than she "kicks".  There has only been a handful of times where her foot or something has bulged out on my right side.
She has the hiccups ALL the time and she loves laying on the left side. Dr Elder can go straight to her heartbeat every time.

CRAVINGS // I'm loving some spicy stuff right now.. preferably jalapenos from Barberitos.. fruit popsicles, Fage yogurt, grapes.

GENDER // It's a girl!

WHAT I MISS // Moving around easily.. regular clothes.. working out.. 

WORK OUTS // None but walking wherever I can.

EMOTIONS // This week, feeling really good.. I think I covered everything in My Symptoms except every time I feel a cramp or something weird, my mind wonders "is this it??"

Dr. Elder did keep reassuring me that since I had already been to the hospital for the Rhogan shot that I was already registered and didn't have to worry about it. I couldn't get it out of the back of my mind if we ended up going in the middle of the night, so yesterday I registered online again.

DREAMS // None that I can think of..

HUBBY'S THOUGHTS // I think he's getting ancy too.. a little nervous but ready as well. Danielle came over Saturday and brought Kade with her.. Shane's face was priceless when he saw him. I don't think he could get over how tiny he was! I know he was thinking, Oh boy and this is going to be us any day now.
He has been so sweet and helpful and sweet and helpful and asking me am I OK and can he get me anything. Love my husband so much! Like I said before, its just been absolutely wonderful him being home.

UPDATE: We left the Dr office Monday and he just exclaimed how excited he was! I got a little upset in the office and he has been the absolute best to me.. We left there and went and had our traditional brunch at the Cracker Barrel. He's still been on top of asking me am I OK and can he get me anything. So. Sweet. 

3 AMIGAS THOUGHTS // They have been so sweet!

 Shane got this going! Ha! I took her for a "ride" around the living room and foyer and Shane had to tell her to get down when we finished. I have a feeling her and Miss Priss will be strolling together.

BEST PREGNANCY MOMENT THIS WEEK //

Knowing it was my last day at work and Shane being home..

One of my clients blessed us with having her cleaning lady come clean our house Saturday.. BEST. GIFT. EVER. It was SO nice not having to worry about doing it myself or having family doing it. Although, I know family would have no problem doing it if I asked.. they have just done so much already..

I've finished several last "to-do" projects for Baby Hopper's room this week/weekend and even hung her stuff on her walls..
I also finished all thank you notes, filled out more of her baby book, set up the video monitor, and put down her rug.

Yesterday, Bre and I went to Whitney's to relax in the pool in the late afternoon. Once again the water felt so amazing and it was wonderful having the weight off my body!

UPDATE: Amber came over today and brought the rest of FNH bedding she made for her.. OMG it looks absolutely AMAZING!! I love, love, LOVE it!! She tried to hand the curtains but these tounge and groove walls are like concrete and Shane is going to have to do it. So she just measured and marked where they need to go.
Can. Not. Wait. to share with y'all her nursery!!


Baby Hopper, your Daddy and I, and the whole family are SOO excited to meet you! I can't believe the time has come! We can't wait to see your sweet face, hold you, and kiss on you. You are such a blessing already. We have so many emotions right now we cannot put them into words but we do know We love you so much!

Lately in pictures...

.. I am working on a painting for above the mantle in the kitchen.. I finished for the night and Mara decided she needed to lay on the towel I had down. They all love any kind of "blanket" they can get on.

I saw this gem walking out of Hobby Lobby this past week. 

Love. It.

This just made me bust out laughing!

One of my faves from a little last minute shoot with Coach last week before he left for out of town!

I had a gift card to use for this store in Athens.. I cashed it in Monday on my first Lily purchase!

We've had some amazing sunsets here the past week..

These veggies were amazing and it doesn't hurt to have your very own food tray on hand ;) 

Our chickens are back in business apparently!

And, Kyli sure did love her visit Sunday.. she didn't know what to do with herself!

Nurse's gifts are complete and packed and ready to go!

Sweetest picture ever.

This is just too funny and reminds me of Sox. 

And this got my funny bone too!

Happy Weekend!

Burlap Headband Holder

Our little girl has some super cute headbands that needed their own special place.... I am all about a DIY so enter the Headband Holder project.

You will need:

Quaker Oats canisters

your choice of fabric

mod podge

scissors

candle base

hot glue gun

paint (if you choose to paint candle base)

To go along with the nursery 'theme', I chose burlap as my fabric choice. Let me just go ahead and warn you by the time I got to glueing the lid on, I didn't think about how thick the fabric was and was ready to throw the whole thing away.. I blame it on the hormones. Ha!

But you will see it all worked out in the end.

I picked up the burlap and white candle bases at Hobby Lobby and the brown one came from Connie.. it was actually for another project I never finished, I just happened to remember it and it worked out perfectly!

If you choose to paint, go ahead and do so...

This pink is the same color used on her chifferobe..

Cut your fabric for the canister, leaving it just a little longer to glue underneath..

Time for the Mod Podge! Best thing ever... 

I hot glued it underneath and inside the canister..

Cut slits in the fabric.. 

Then glue to the lid.

This is where things got irritating for me. The fabric was so thick, I couldn't get it to fit properly. If you have a thin fabric, you should not run into this problem. So I started digging thru my craft stuff trying to figure out a way I could still make this work and I found these craft fibers. Thank goodness they match her room! 

I hot glued the lid on and with a few more dabs of glue, covered the little bit of space with the fibers..

And hot glue the bottom of the canister to the candle bases.

Ready to go!

And finished with headbands!

Easy peasy!