The Baby Cove

Baby Luke is here!

Hello!!

Sorry I've been MIA lately....I'm so excited to say that baby Luke Thomas was born on October 10th weighing in at 8lbs 13oz. He is doing absolutely amazing-I can't believe a whole month has gone by!! He is such an amazing little guy, and it's been so fun getting to know him, and settling into life with baby!

Here is a sneak peek pic from his newborn session with Kerianne (keriannebrown.com). There are more amazing pics from his session posted on her blog:)

What's in a name?

After months of debating what we should name our baby-boy-to-be, here is what we came up with!

First name: Maximilian, meaning "the greatest". This is also the name of my husband's patron saint.

Middle name: Dusan (Serbian name with the caret "v" over the 's,' pronounced "Dushan") was the name of my wonderful paternal grandfather. Dusan is a derivative of the Serbian word dusa (with a "v" over the "s"), pronounced "dusha" which means soul or spirit. A little research revealed that Dan or Daniel ("God is my judge") is a commonly used version of Dusan. Other meanings associated with the Slavic name Dusan are: essence, lively, spirited, lord, and judge.

So when you put the the two names together you get "the greatest soul and spirit." :-)

What thoughts went into picking the name of your little angel?

baby Rockstin is here!

Baby Rockstin is here!
8 lbs 12 oz
21 inches
lots of black hair

Now that I am a mom of three I need a new stroller
( I am looking at the valco tri mode ... any suggestions!)

Traveling for Your Babymoon

My darling hubby and I decided we wanted to go on a babymoon before our little guy is welcomed into the world.  Yes, since I last blogged (sorry it's been so long!), we found out we're having a boy!  So we went to Maui, Hawaii when I was right at 6-months along.  I don't think I'd recommend flying anywhere much later than that, unless it's a shorter flight, because it can get pretty uncomfortable pretty quickly.  So as we traveled from Austin, TX to Maui, Hawaii, and back again, I kept notes of some great tips I learned along the way that I really want to pass along to all of you other soon-to-be mamas out there who also want to hop on a plane while the little one is still in your belly!

(1) Try for a shorter distance to fly, if possible.  With that said, even though we spent a good 10 hours in the air flying to Maui (same for the return trip), the destination was still totally worth it!  We spent 5 glorious nights in Maui and I wouldn't have traded it for any other place in the world.

(2) Go somewhere you can RELAX, and don't fill every second of your vacation with activities!  Sure, spend some time doing some of the "touristy" things and seeing the main attractions that you won't forgive yourself for not seeing, but then plan on spending most of your time just RELAXING and enjoying the fact that you don't have any real responsibilities to attend to while you're on vacation.  We enjoyed several hours each day just relaxing on the beach and swimming in the beautiful 79 degree water!

(3) Along with that last one, consider going somewhere you can swim!  Pools are fun, but there's nothing like connecting with nature through the ocean.  Also, being in that warm ocean water made me feel simply weightless and took away every ache and pain that comes along with pregnancy.

(4) Make sure you book a stay somewhere that has a soft bed (it really adds to the pains you already typically wake up with when you're pregnant if you don't have a good mattress), and AIR CONDITIONING.  It didn't seem like a big deal at the time to book a condo on a Hawaiian beach that didn't have A/C, but when you're pregnant, you're pretty much hot all of the time already, so staying somewhere with A/C is probably a must!

(5) Consider booking a unit that has a full kitchen so you can make all of your must-have pregnancy meals for the sake of cravings and for the sake of having healthy food!  We had a kitchen in our condo, and it was great!

(6) Miscellaneous: Drink lots of water, wear LOTS of sunscreen if you're going somewhere sunny (especially tropical), wear VERY comfortable shoes, and definitely book a prenatal massage if you can!

Ready for pics from this wonderful babymoon??? :-)

Hubby is a pretty great photographer... :-)  I guess we know who will be doing all of my maternity photos!

  

My favorite flowers from the whole trip... Found at the Tedeschi Vineyards

 

View from our lanai

 

24 week baby bump! I opted for a regular bikini (Victoria's Secret), instead of a "maternity suit"

 

Hubby and I at the Tedeschi Vineyards (probably my FAVORITE part of Maui!!!)

The best Mommy-to-be tea!

Hello Baby Covers!

I had to share with you the best herbal tea I've found to help ease those pregnancy discomforts...The company is called "Earth Mama Angel Baby", and they make a range of 100% organic products for pregnancy, postpartum, and baby. My sister gave me a box of the "Mama-To-Be Sampler", and the teas are amazing!

The sampler has 4 different teas each designed to help with different symptoms...I particularly like the "Peacful Mama" for helping me get to sleep...it contains a blend of chamomile, lemon balm, and other herbs...it tastes great and is really comforting.

They have a super website earthmamaangelbaby.com that lists all their products....there are several that I want to try, including what I've heard is the absolute best body butter out there!

Stroller Strides

Hello Baby Covers,

I was excited to pick up our stroller over the weekend-I had researched quite extensively, and had asked a lot of moms (many with more than one child) what they had, and also what they wished they had bought initially (a lot of moms have 3+ strollers!) and the consensus was that if they could do it over from the beginning, they would get a stroller that has the capacity to carry 2 (an infant and a toddler).

This was my criteria for a stroller:

• Lightweight, easy to fold and store
• Big, sturdy wheels that can handle all terrain
• Easy to navigate around malls, sidewalks, etc
• Possibility of seating a second child in the future
• Able to accomodate infant car seat

Based on all of that (a tall order, I know!) I decided on the Phil and Ted's Sport

model.   It is pictured above without the optional second seat, and until you need the seat, there is an accessory that converts it into a bouncy chair! How brilliant!! It also has an adaptor so you can attach either a Peg Perego or Graco infant seat to it, which is important as I want to it to be useful right from the beginning. Here's a pic with the second seat attached:

 

Moms I've talked to that have the Phil and Ted's love it, so I'm pretty confident it will do the job. What are your thoughts? Which stoller did you pick? I'd be curious to hear from moms who have a stoller like the Phil and Ted's...do you think I should get an infant car seat stroller frame for short trips out??

Here's a couple pics that Kerianne (keriannebrown.com) took of my "6 month baby bump" a few weeks ago...I can't believe I'm now almost 30 weeks along.....

Starting Our Nursery

 Hello My Friends:)

We have began our nursery:)

Carpet has been ripped out, baseboards sanded, walls painted and chandelier has been hung:)

I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband and family to help with everything!

The colors we are using for her room are: Pinks, Greens and Lavenders!

Three of her walls are lavender and one wall green!

We still have to install new carpet in her room and put together her furniture and re-finish a chest of drawers but I am happy with the progress Ryan has made so far!!

 

 

 

 

 

We already have:

Her new crib

Dresser and Hutch

Chest of Drawers is being refinished right now

Curtains

Rug

Bedding

Now if the carpet would just get in, so we could finish her nursery!

I have to be patient because Lowes said that it will take 2 weeks before our carpet is in and then we have to move all the furniture in the whole house out and Lowe's will lay the carpet and then put all our furniture back in and then really get after her room:)

How are you decorating your new babies nursery??

Baby Shower's and Registry Items

Hello Ladies:)

I am so sorry I have been so MIA:) Between a slow, messed up computer and millions of Dr. apts., I have been so MIA in blog world:( Boo ME!!!

So I have a question for all you pregnant ladies out there... or even non-pregnant ladies..

A good family friend is throwing us a baby shower next week and I got the invite and it is the cutest thing ever... small problem... she didn't list where we are registered!!  I of course started worrying that everyone was just going to get whatever they wanted or only go to Pottery Barn Kids and forget that the majority of the things we need are at Babies R US.

Don't get me wrong, I am appreciative of everything we receive but I am pregnant and neurotic and worry about stupid pointless things!

So here is what I did: I went to our PB Kids registry and added in our personal note that we were also registered at Babies R US and Peek A Boo Baby and then went to the other two registries and did the same.....

What would you do?

Nursery Decor

i am no Martha Stewart, so when it came time to start on Bryson's nursery I was somewhat intimidated. but thanks to my sweet friend Kristie, she pointed me to this really cute website called Rate My Space.
from what i understand it is also at TV show that is featured on HGTV. I have yet to get a chance to check it out, but the website for the nurseries section is an awesome tool for those of you that are like me and have not one creative bone in your body.

from searching around this website and looking at a lot of the nurseries i found this other neat place called Vinyl Attraction. They are a company that sells personalized home decorating like wall lettering and words for your walls. I used them to create a personalized name to go over Bryson's crib. 

I thought they did an awesome job. I was able to pick out the font and the colors of the dots to match the other colors in his room. It's very easy to apply to the wall and from what I understand, it's not that difficult to remove. I will definitely use them again for other things. Some of items in there inspirational collection are just beautiful. I would love to have something in my master bedroom or something in my kitchen.

Another place that I am buying from is design{etc}. Elaine has a wonderful collection of verse boards that she customizes for you. I found her through Kelly @ Kelly's Korner. She is customizing a verse board to go in Bryson's room. I can't wait to see the finished product. Elaine is a freelance graphic designer and has some of the cutest products and gifts. She also does the VERY cute vintage wooden blocks. I think those will be next on my list to purchase. Here are just a few of her designs.

It's a BOY!!

My husband and I were very excited to go to the 3D/4D ultrasound clinic to see baby, and to find out the gender-they won't tell you at the hospital here during your routine anatomical ultrasound, so doing the private clinic is the only way to find out. Here's Doug and I arriving at UC Baby:

 

My dad came with us, and the rest of the family got to tune in via live broadcast over the net, which was so neat! We have family all over the country, and it was really nice to have everyone involved! So, besides getting to see our adorable little one, we learned that we're having a baby BOY! We would be thrilled with either a boy or a girl, but it's so exciting to finally know, so we can start all the nursery and layette set planning! We also purchased a keepsake video of the ultrasound session, which I highly recommend adding to your package-it shows the whole ultrasound with your choice of music playing in the background (we chose some classic lullabies). We received lots of pics from the session as well-here are a couple:

 

 

 Baby boy was 25 weeks during his ultrasound. So now, the real fun begins! Here are a few pics of the wall color + curtains in his nursery:

 

 

The room was already painted before we purchased the house a few years ago-the previous owner won the home in a hospital lottery, and the designers had already painted this room as a little boy's bedroom (lucky us!). I love the hockey stick detail as the curtain rod...so cute:)

So, now it's all about coordinating things to these colors. Anyone have any ideas in terms of themes/crib bedding ideas? I was thinking of keeping the sports theme going, and getting the crib bedding made in the same colors as the curtains, but also include some fun patterns like stripes, polka dots, etc. to create visual interest. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated! I would like it to be a room he can grow into and still be relevant when he's a toddler.

Today we're off to shop for nursery furniture and strollers...I'll let you know how that goes in my next post!