Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday

Today, August 26th, was our 4th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by pretending the flowers sent by my work (BEAUTIFUL) were really our anniversary flowers and Scott bought me a hand free pumping shirt (really cool). I suck and didn't plan ahead or get anything. Scott had to go to work today and stopped at the mall on the way home, and I can't drive for another week. We jointly decided it would be a non-event and we would try and do dinner to celebrate on 9/26. Thanks honey!

Today was also Katelyn's one week birthday. We sang to her at 6:20pm followed by a happy anniversary wish at 6:30p, the time we got married. When choosing our wedding date we debated between 8/19 and 8/26 so Katelyn's birthday is quite appropriate. It's nice that we aren't celebrating 2 special occasions on the same date.

Happy Anniversary Scott. Your present was perfect, but your real present was a week early :) One of the reasons we went with Murphy for the middle name was because she has so many features of scott's- toes, chin, etc. I could see so much of him in her it seemed like the natural choice. I've never been the type who can see adults in little babies. I think she has my fingers, maybe my nose, but that's all I can tell for now. I know she'll change so much in the coming weeks and even years. That's so exciting to us.

Later gators.

Mommy

1st photo shoot

Katelyn, Scott and I are getting settled at home. Trying to find time to blog is like trying to change a poopy diaper one handed... really difficult.

Here is a link to katelyn's 1st photo shoot at the hospital. My fav is the last one but, daddy LOVES the one of her cross eyed. Hopefully this link works. I'll have to find some time to download some of our own pics. There are some great ones, but unfortunately I think Beannette (yes, we still call her that everyday) inherited mommy's unphotogenic gene. Sorry honey! Maybe that means you will be a supermodel and I'm totally wrong. Looks like you'll have the height for it.

http://www.our365.com/newbornportraits/babydetail.aspx?birthid=2b5724b1-82f4-41be-a969-29ce21ee1364

More to come later, probably with other 3am feeding sessions :) Oh how life has changed, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Katelyn has been a dream come true for us!!

Miss Katelyn Murphy Allen

Daddy and I are pleased to announce katelyn's arrival on Thursday, August 19th at 6:20pm.  I don't have any great pics on my blackberry, so until I get a better blog post together here's one pic.  All is well.  Kate was 9 lbs, 0 oz and was 21 1/4 inch long.  She is PERFECT and we love how chubby she is in all the right places.  Time to blog is limited, so more to come later.  

Katelyn can't wait to meet everyone.  Tonight is our last night in the hospital, and we'll be home after lunch tomorrow.   We're up for healthy visitors if anyone is dying to meet her.

WE LOVE YOU KATELYN!

Waiting

Still waiting for Katelyn...

Last night was rough, but epidural : happiness (and sleepiness)!

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THE Big Day for the Scott Murphy Allen Family!

It's a little surreal to wake up and know that later on that day the birthing process of your firstborn will start and in about 36 hours you will have a live, breathing, helpless little human to take care of. We are excited...and nervous...but mainly excited.

8/18...you are on the clock. Daddy is sure I'll go into labor on my own before tonight. I think katelyn is pretty content in there. My belly is definitely expanding and every evening this week scott has taken some extra time examining the belly. He just laughs. I swear he thinks I've grown like 2 inches every day (not true!).

Last night we had our last date night without a baby. We went to downtown roswell and had a yummy meal at Salt (highly recommended, robin and laura- I had a burger this time and it was equally delicious). We went to bed early. We're both pretty tired in general, and I've been having trouble getting a good nights rest this week.

I'm at work for a while this AM, then I'll head home to finish packing and probably do a quick house clean so Katelyn comes home to a clean home. we are anxiously awaiting the call from the hospital to tell us what time to arrive.

We still haven't picked a middle name, so that news will come with the birth announcement email. Thanks for all the notes, calls, thoughts and prayers...we appreciate it. We are sure to have some downtime tonight, and maybe even tomorrow. We'll keep you posted via the blog.

Belly Shot- Week 39, Day 4

Well, here is what may be the final belly shot in my series (actually now that I'm looking, bad tank top color choice...hopefully we can squeeze in one more round). Katelyn must have a guardian angel or some grandparents looking over her, see the orb in one of them?

Scott and I are in full prep mode and today is my last full day in the office. Tomorrow I'm going to bring my team breakfast and work for a few hours. Then I'll head home, nap, shower and do final packing for the hospital. Yes, it's getting real. I'm anxious in a good way and nervous in a bad way. I know things will be fine, but delivering a 9 lb. baby makes me a little nervous. I'm still hoping the estimates are off =)

We'll go to the hospital Wed. night around 6 or 7p and the "action" will start later that night. I'll wake up and get some different medicine, Pitocin, that should cause contractions to start. Supposedly they get pretty intense with the meds, so yes...I will get an epidural. No reason to suffer, I figure.

Great Day to be Alive

8/19 that is. We had our appointment this morning and Dr. Howard said it was good that we gave her a week to come on her own, but it is now time to bring her into this world with some help. We are inducing this week. It was a little weird to schedule our daughter's birthdate. It was between Wed 8/18, Thur 8/19 and Fri 8/20. Uncle Tripper has a work trip on the 18th and I don't love the on-call doctor so that was out. Thursday is a great date and so is Friday. The on-call doctor for Thursday is Dr. Michael Scott, and we are fans of The Office. We thought that was fitting in some way.

Katelyn ______ Allen will be induced beginning Wed evening. Katelyn will be born on 8/19 one way or the other (the Wed evening drug sometimes causes labor so she has a slight chance of an 8/18 birthday).

We can't wait to meet you. We love you so much already!

On the clock

My internal body clock is definitely prepping for newborn mode. I think I am waking up every hour on the half hour to pee. If I wake up and it has been 2 hours I get excited. (sleeping and getting comfortable with the pillow fortress isn't easy.)

At some point in the middle of the night I find myself realizing the next "birthdate" has arrived. I feel like this is a professional sports league draft or something. When I realize it's the next day, usually around 2:30am or so, I say to myself, "8/16...you are on the clock". Then I laugh at myself b/c that's pretty funny. This started about a week ago with 8/8.

I honestly thought Katelyn would come this weekend. Scott keeps commenting at how large the belly is. We took pics this morning, but the camera is at home. I'll post tonight or tomorrow. One thing I did get a pic of is the nursery name letters =) They arrived Saturday. The winner was...

#1- I primed them this weekend and creative aunt holly is going to help me decorate them. We'll do polka dots, stripes, flowers and solid colors with stitching. Guess we'll paint after Katelyn arrives.


We've got a doctors appointment today, so we'll keep you posted.

Scary Daddy

Ok, so this is really cute...

Scott knows how uncomfortable I've been. I think he is confusing delivering a baby with hiccups. For the past two days, he keeps trying to scare me. I don't have the heart to tell him I don't think that'll do the trick b/c he's just so darn cute about it.

We just had lunch and he dropped me off, I started walking away with my back turned and he honked the horn really loud. yes, I jumped, but I was also laughing. Really don't think that's gonna bring on labor babe. Nice try though. I guess at this point anything is worth a shot.

Digital Upgrade

Scott and I both had digital cameras from before getting married. They are probably 8 years old. My camera probably took 2-3 seconds between pressing the button and taking the pic.

Scott and I decided we needed a new one about a week ago (yes, poor planning). I found a good deal on my favorite deal website, slickdeals.net, so we ordered one Monday and luckily it was a speedy delivery. We got it yesterday =) Scott's a SONY guy, so we got a Cybershot (pic below).

I snapped a few pics using the new camera this morning of the nursery. Here is a pic of the window wall with everything all set for katelyn except a little clean-up of the changing "extras" basket area.


And now for the main event! I purchased a really high end glider used from a neighbor. It was in great shape and was only used for one baby. My only issue was that it was natural colored wood and the pads were a sage green. We decided to paint it white which was very difficult. If you get paint in the "gliding" areas the chair can squeak. It took longer to tape off all the gears, snaps, etc. than it did to paint it. Finished product looks great. The best part of the glider transformation was the cushion recovering. Stacy "martha stewart" prather to the rescue (that's my mom for those of you that don't know her). She really is SO talented. I keep telling her to start a business. At first we were going to go with a tan microfiber that could be used in a boys room and would match the neutral rug we decided on. Upon further review, we landed on blue (suprise, suprise...I love blue!!!). I figure the chances of us having a boy for #2 are probably 99.8%, so we've been trying to plan the nursery to be transitioned to a baby boy in a few years. I think the final product looks great and I love how the pillow ties the paisley fabric back in. Don't you just love it?


We are still waiting on the adorable painting and the wooden letters to arrive. Once those are up, decorating will be complete for katelyn. Woo hoo! Until then, she will have a cute enough room to make her happy.

Tricks for Bringing on Labor?

As stated in the last post, I'm extremely ready for Katelyn's arrival. What tricks have you heard of to bring on labor? I've heard of eating spicy foods, exercising/walking, and the "other" one I won't mention on the blog. Any other tips?

Also, we are having trouble deciding on a middle name. Which of these do you like best? Vote on the poll to the right. Scott and I both have a front runner and neither of us are budging. All 3 are family names. She's a girl so of course we need to consider the monogrammed letters too. We are thinking about coming up with some other options.

1) Katelyn Elizabeth Allen (KEA or kAe)
2) Katelyn Murphy Allen (KMA or kAm)
3) Katelyn Lee Allen (KLA or kAl)

Any other great suggestions?

Cankles Plus

No, we haven't been at the hospital having a baby.  Blog silence is because I've been at a work conference all week.

The nursery is coming along great,  mom recovered the glider and it looks FAB.  I'll try to take some pics tonight.

On the baby front, I'm ready.  WAY READY!  The picture below is evidence.  I'm hot, crampy, can't sleep, anxious and miserable.  I told scott I'm putting myself on bed rest this weekend (a certain Aunt hopes katelyn has other plans and will arrive on Sunday).

I was going to treat myself to a pedi at lunch.  Think anyone will do my feet

Docs Update

I had a doctors appointment this morning. All is well and there is a teeny bit of progress. The doctors have been worried that Katelyn is big, so they had me come back this afternoon for an ultrasound to determine size. Scott was able to meet me, so I'm glad that worked out.

Results: They estimate she is 8lbs. 4 oz. right now. This could be off by a pound, so I'm telling myself she's really in the 7's. That puts her in the 80th percentile according to their charts.

They gave us the option of inducing so she doesn't get any bigger. We decided to give her a bit more time to come naturally. They said she looks very happy in there and all the levels look good. One of the measurements they use to determine the size is leg bone length and her femur was really long. Hopefully that'll mean she gets scott's height (I'm 5'4", Scott is 6'1"). Maybe that is also throwing off the estimates.

We did get a few pics and this one is simply amazing. katelyn says "I see you." She was very active in there and kept opening her eyes. I'd be curious too. It was a day of poking for sure. I adore those chubby cheeks!!!

Hello katelyn!!!

Week 38, Day 2

Katelyn,

You have been growing in mommy's belly for approximately 38 weeks and 2 days. It's been a pretty easy pregnancy and I'm actually very sad it is about to end. It been fun to play with you and have that special connection.

You have been growing like a weed. I took some more pictures today because I'm trying to show myself if you've "dropped". A little, I think.

Everyone can't wait to meet you. You must be in a weird state now that you are about to make your grand entrance to this world. Tonight mommy is craving either a taco or fried chicken, with Cheetos for dessert. You're so silly. (but mommy says yummy!)

Daddy had to go out of town today for work, so we are very glad you didn't decide to make your grand entrance this morning =) Well played.

Here are the latest pics of you in mommy's belly. I also attached a pic of one of my first belly bump pics.



How time changes things... You were 11 weeks old in mommy's belly in this one.

Are we nesting?

I can't tell if this qualifies as nesting. I think it's normal, but here's a few things I've done this week that can be borderline nesting:
- thursday trash day: emptied every trash can in the house; scott has been sick and I want all sick germs OUTTA HERE
- Today I'm getting my car detailed at the car wash in the basement of our parking deck...reason: Katelyn needs to come home in a clean car, right?
- Sudden urge for a spotless laundry room (on the to do list for this weekend, but I need scott's help); I think I'd rather do laundry than get the pedicure I planned on tonight...definitely not normal

I also need to tell you how sweet scott has been lately. He's been sick with cold like symptoms for over a week. He went to the doctor and they said it was allergies and even tested his blood for a sinus infection...came back negative. He's been trying to take care of his girls even though he feels bad. It takes me a few minutes to "settle in" to my pillow fortress (i think we are up to 8 pillows). The other night after one of my many 2-5am pee breaks, I got all settled in to the pillows and right before the final shift to my left side the pillow I put under my belly fell to the floor. Sweet Scott got out of bed and walked around to get it for me. SO SWEET! Thanks Babe!! That's just one of the many things he's done for me this week. I guess my feeling miserable is showing. I sure do appreciate it!!!

Kitchen Remodel....check!

I can say now that I was a little nervous Scott, Katelyn and I would come home from the hospital to a not completed kitchen. I'm happy to say we are 100% finished with the kitchen remodel and we give ourselves a 10 out of 10 (yes, we are biased). We LOVE IT! We upgraded in a few places and couldn't be happier. We love the feel, colors, stainless appliances, etc. we bought the house knowing the kitchen remodel would be at the top of the list and boy does it make a difference. It has been budgeted since the house purchase so I don't feel like we spent a ton either. I'm a bargain shopper so we definitely have a nicer kitchen than what we paid for =)

The floor guys came to poly coat the hardwood "patching" and decided it would look best to buff and poly the whole kitchen. It looks fabulous and was a nice touch. The floor guy did much better than the company we used to re-do our hardwoods when we purchased the house. We haven't put the kitchen table back in and haven't put the floor mats back down yet, but other than that we have a fully functioning kitchen. We've even cooked a few meals. Scott keeps wanting to try out new cooking methods in our speedcook oven so I am a happy girl.

What's even better...now we can share the finished product with you. I took lots of pictures this morning, so here are some before and after shots.

Before: Old desk are and double ovens


New: Fridge location and oven and a 1/2. The smaller oven is a convection oven and a microwave. The counter area is our "drink station" so we have all our glassware, blender, bar "stuff" here.


Before: cooktop and range hood corner


After: We went with a more professional looking hood with tile to the ceiling to be a focal point of the kitchen. We gained a BUNCH of storage space because we have cabinets to the ceiling now, so we weren't worried about those lost cabinets. We also LOVE the drawers under the cooktop for our pots and pans and the lazy susan in the corner. We went with a medium grey grout to accent the subway pattern more. We love the way it turned out.


Pantry doors before and after:














I don't have a before pic of counter where the fridge used to be, below is the only one I have. These after pics show how much moving the fridge opened up the kitchen. The fridge used to come out so much the eat in area felt like another room. No more! It feels like part of the kitchen and mommy can prep dinner where the kids can see her which is sure to help.
Before:

After:




So there it is. I know kitchens and home decorating in general completely depend on personal taste, but we are the ones who will be living in this kitchen for the next 10+ years. We couldn't be happier.

We can't wait for those of you in Atlanta to see it in person. A special, HUGE thank you to Robin Pittman, kitchen designer extraorinarire who has won national awards, for her advice and council. YOU'RE THE BEST!! If you ever need a kitchen remodel that's a little higher end, look her up with Design Galleria in Atlanta. She's very talented and she works all over the country! Thanks to everyone else who offered advice and opinions along the way too.

There's one more thank you to go out and that's to Scott. The kitchen remodel was a bit stressful and he was a HUGE help when it came to making final decisions. There were some speed bumps, but in the end it was so much fun to do this with you! I'm a lucky wife to have you!!!

Time has flown by with so much going on in our lives. We are finishing up the nursery in the next few weeks. For now we are in full-on baby prep mode. Bring it on!

Week 37, 6 Days

Here's the latest baby bump pic. I think the baby bump is officially a baby mountain. 15 Days until the due date =) Can't wait to meet you Beanette.

cute painting for katelyn's room

I found this painting and fell in love. It won't arrive for another 2-3 weeks, but I had to have it. I hope it matches the colors. I figure with all the shades, it'll work. The artists have tons of cute paintings on Etsy @ winborgdesign.

And the winner is...

I ordered the wooden letters that match #1 below. We'll stagger the letters, so it will end up looking like this:



It'll be fun to decorate the letters too. I've got wooden picture frames to decorate in a coordinating design.

HOORAY! Beanette's room is coming together. This weekend we put a neutral rug down and painted the glider's ottoman white. Next task: paint the glider. (we bought it used adn it was a natural color wood, we're painting it white and hoping for no squeaks from paint)

Tomorrow I'll post kitchen pics.