Showered with Love

We have been very blessed to have such an amazing family and so many wonderful friends who have helped us celebrate Addison's upcoming arrival.  She is a very lucky girl who is already loved by so many people.  Addison has been "Showered with Love" in Pittsburgh by the Castello's, in Raleigh by the Harvell's, and in Virginia Beach by her John B. Dey family.

Our first shower was with my amazing 5th grade team on December 6, 2013.  It was very special because they added so many personal touches, from the decorations, to the food, to the gifts, it was awesome!  One of my favorite gifts that Addison received was a book of fairy tales filled with special notes from the 5th grade team.  I can't wait to read it to her as I am rocking her to sleep!

Next, it was time to shower Addison with love in Pittsburgh on December 28th at Atria's Restaurant.

The theme was coral/aqua and rubber ducks!  How cute is that cake?!?  And it was SO yummy!

Kristen made this super cute headband wreath!  I can't wait for Addison to try them all out, she is going to be adorable! My mom (with some help) made a diaper cake full of all kinds of goodies.

Eric especially loved this adorable pink onsie, "Sorry boys, I can't date until I'm 30!" 

We all know that I LOVE personalized gifts and this is one of my favorites!  My cousin Anne made Addison her very own toy chest and it is going to look perfect in her coral and aqua nursery!

My mom gave Addison a very special gift.  She made this poem "God's Masterpiece" for Jeff when he was born and updated it so she could pass it down to her first grand-daughter.  It is already hanging in Addison's nursery and it looks perfect!

Baby bumpin' with Julie!  Addison and Maxwell are going to be best friends!

 "Diapers and Dads" was the theme for our shower in Raleigh on January 11, 2014 at Rob and Terri's house.  Kristen even surprised me and flew in for the weekend from Pittsburgh!

It was great to see Derrick, Jaime Jo, and Naomi Jo and Brantley, Jenni, and Sawyer at the shower!  Derrick and Brantley are 2 of Eric's best friends from high school and it's crazy that all 3 of them will have their first baby girls within 1 year of each other!  We can't wait to introduce Addison to the crew!

We had a blast showering Addison with love in Raleigh and because of all of our wonderful friends and family, Daddy has plenty of diapers for Addie!

Maternity Pics

The wonderful Kathryn Whitworth took our maternity photos for us a few weeks ago and she will also be doing Addison's newborn photo shoot.

We are so happy with how they turned out, the sunset was the perfect backdrop!

Officially Full Term

Yayyy!  I made it to 37 weeks and I am officially FULL TERM!  It seems like it was just yesterday that we found out that we were pregnant, I can't believe how fast time has flown by!

Don't let the smile fool you, it's totally fake and I am super uncomfortable these days.  I haven't been able to wear my rings for the last month or so and I have to wear wrist supports at night because my hands are just that swollen.  I've started wearing my slippers at school when I am in my classroom because shoes just aren't cutting it anymore.  Sleeping is pretty much nonexistent, but I guess it's just preparing me for motherhood.

With all that being said, I am SO over being pregnant!  I cannot wait to meet you Addison (and of course get my old body back too...see below!)

Since you will be making your official debut VERY soon, let's talk a little about the birth plan.  I was planning on trying to have an unmediated, natural labor and delivery.  Now obviously I've never been pregnant before, so I was not opposed to the epidural, but I wanted to try some natural pain remedies first and see what happens.  Your dad and I did everything we could to prepare for the labor and delivery process.  We took a 6 week childbirth class and learned all about the stages of labor and exactly what to expect during the delivery.  We collected some comfort tools and packed them in our hospital bag, reviewed the different laboring positions that we learned about in class, and we were all set...or so we thought. 

We found out at our 32 week appointment that you were BREECH.  Wait, what?  

Apparently, what I thought was your butt was your head and all the movement I felt up high on my stomach was because you were "Frank Breech" and your feet are up by your head.  So yes, you totally had mommy fooled and it was a shock when I found out that you were breech.  As soon as we got back from our appointment, I went right to google.  We tried EVERYTHING to get you to flip.  I went to a chiropractor who was trained in the "Webster Technique", tried holding something cold up near your head and playing music down low, and pretty much stood on my head when I did my prenatal yoga stretches.  I tried just about all of the suggestions on the Spinning Babies website, but all were a no go.  You wouldn't budge, at all!

When we went back for our 35 week appointment, the ultra sound confirmed what we already knew. You were still breech and running out of room to move.  Our doctor explained that we could schedule a "version" for week 37 if we were interested.  A "version" is basically when you go to labor and delivery and the doctor manually tries to turn the baby from the outside.  Between the low success rate, the risks, and the general discomfort for mom and baby, your dad and I decided that it wasn't for us and we would just schedule a c-section. 

Therefore, if everything goes according to plan (and I don't go into labor earlier) you will make your official debut on February 10th. 

Addison, your dad and I can't wait to meet you!  Feel free to enjoy my womb for about another 2 weeks, but after that you are officially being evicted!  We will see you soon :)

Team PINK

As soon as we found out that you were a girl, the planning began! 

We had so many things on our to do list:

*Your Name - Addison Elizabeth.  We have always loved the name Madison, but since I am a teacher I have taught TONS of Madisons in the past.  Not that there was anything wrong with the name, but we felt it was a little over used.  That's where the name Addison came about!  We called you Addison for a few weeks and we continued to love it.  You and I not only share the same middle name, but we share the same initials.  Now that you had a name, it was time to monogram, EVERYTHING!

*Your wardrobe - I could not wait to go shopping!  There are so many cute baby girl clothes and I wanted them all!  I knew I was going to purchase TONS of headbands...

Aren't these adorable? You are probably going to hate me, but you will wear a headband almost every day.  NO ONE will mistake you for a baby boy if I have anything to say about it. 

It didn't take long before your closet was FULL of clothes.  There were dresses, tiny little bikinis, leggings and onsies, and of course plenty of outfits for you to cheer on all of your favorite teams!  Even though you are a girl, you will still be a HUGE sports fan.  You might get a little confused about college teams, your dad went to NC State, I went to Ohio University, and we are both big Notre Dame fans...so you have quite a few teams to support, but when it comes to the NFL you will be black and gold all the way!  Of course, you will have a matching head band to go along with all of these adorable onsies...

*The Nursery - We knew we wanted to do most of the nursery gender neutral, but with some girly accents.  We decided to to tan walls and add horizontal stripes to one wall to give the room some character (thank you Pinterest!)  We wanted to accent colors to be beachy and fun, so we went with coral and aqua with a touch of chevron.  The bedding and curtains were custom made by your Grandma and brought everything together perfectly.  So here it is, the official nursery reveal!  We hope you love it as much as we do!

 

Now all we need is our baby girl and it will be complete!  We can't wait to meet you Addison Elizabeth!

Pink or Blue?

One of the highlights of our pregnancy was when we found out if you were a BOY or GIRL.   Throughout the first trimester, I read every single old wives tale there was out there to try to predict your gender.  According to your heart beat, the amount of morning sickness I had (I was sick ALL of the time!), cravings, and frequent breakouts you were a girl.  You were also a girl every time I had a crazy pregnancy dream, so I was pretty convinced - Team Pink.  Your dad on the other hand was Team Blue.  When we had our 20 week ultra sound you were far from cooperative.  You had your legs crossed and you were not moving not matter what we did (and this wasn't the first ultra sound that you didn't cooperate for, you were stubborn from Day 1 - I wonder who you get that from?)  The technician finally had me get up to walk around and use the restroom, we were going to try one more time to see if we could get you to budge.  Your dad and I looked away, and the technician FINALLY said, "There IT is, I got it!"  and for obvious reasons "IT" immediately meant Team Blue to your dad.  Boy or Girl, we were just excited that we would finally find out in just a few short days at our Gender Reveal Party in Pittsburgh.

Team Blue

 

Team Pink

After the 1st quarter of the Steeler game, it was time to cut the cake!  Everyone gathered around in their pink and blue for the big reveal!  We even had the iPad set up front and center so that your NC family could join in on the fun.  All of a sudden, I got really nervous!  It really didn't matter to me if you were a girl or a boy, but I knew within moments it would really hit me.  I was going to be a mom and it was going to become so much more real and I couldn't wait!  Your dad and I slowly put the knife through the cake....

It's a girl!

Where it all began

Since Eric and I live in Virginia, away from most of our family and friends, I decided that it was time to start a blog so everyone can keep up with what's going on in the Harvell household.

But first, let's take a look back where it all started...

It was the summer of 2009 when I met a boy, named Eric, on the softball field.  We hit it off right away and fast forward about 2 years and he was down on one knee proposing to me (and of course I said YES!)

We spent the next year planning our big day and on May 26, 2012 we said "I DO" in the Outer Banks!

Our first year as Mr. and Mrs. was great!  Not only did our dreams came true of living at the beach, but we also bought our first house and became a family of 3 when we adopted our puppy, Cooper!

Life was good for Eric, Cooper, and I in Chesapeake, Virginia!  Eric was really enjoying learning the ins and outs of running his new territory for Jostens and I started teaching 5th grade at John B. Dey.  When we weren't working, we were usually enjoying the sun and sand, playing with our puppy, or traveling!  Another highlight of our first year of marriage was celebrating our 1st Anniversary in Charleston. We had a blast shopping at The Market, taking a carriage tour around the historic neighborhoods, and eating!

As our first year of marriage came to an end, we found out some very exciting news!  We learned our family would be growing by 1 more because we were expecting!