"It's been one week since you looked at me" Barenaked Ladies

As long as Reagan continues to be this easy going, I plan to do a weekly "photo shoot" {that will eventually probably turn into a monthly one} to track her growth.

The crocheted bear in the picture was made by Matt's mom and I thought it would be an adorable reference to her change in size.

Here are some shots from Week 1!

"Isn't she lovely made from love" Stevie Wonder

Reagan Lindsey Hughes finally made her appearance on Sunday, January 22, 2012

Cookie cake courtesy of the Hills!

After several loooooong days of waiting and with an induction scheduled for Sunday night at 8:00 p.m., I ended up going into labor on my own at midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning. Looking back, I have to laugh at how nervous I was about not knowing what labor would feel like, but everyone told me {and it really is true}: "You will know!!"

After 21 hours of labor, Reagan entered the world and, based on the picture below, it doesn't look like she was too happy about it...

I am literally unable to put into words what goes through my mind when I look at her. She is the absolute sweetest little thing and I still have not fully grasped that she is ours.

Leaving the hospital was unexpectedly emotional for me. On top of being nervous about going home with a real, life human being, I wasn't ready to leave the quiet, safe haven of our hospital room. When it was time to leave, the reality started to set in and a series of small happenings put me over the edge. They are as follows:

1. Matt went to pull the car around, which meant I was left alone for the first time with Reagan. The solitude allowed me time to reflect on the pregnancy, the whole labor and delivery experience, and the magnitude of the gift and responsibility I have been given. That's enough to send me back over the edge just thinking about it...

2. I grew really fond of one of the nurses and it was kind of an emotional good bye. She is the one who had to repeatedly remind me that:

a) I am not bleeding to death

b) Pain is normal after you birth a child

c) I am fully capable of caring for an infant

3. I passed a childbirth class taking a hospital tour and in flooded the memories of our class just a few weeks ago. I remember craning my neck to see the moms with their new babies and dying to know what our little girl would look like. I saw these couples doing the same thing, only they were looking at ME holding my daughter.

4. There were a TON of people in the lobby of the hospital, including a man playing a piano. The combination of the live music and crowds of people {okay, "crowds" is an exaggeration}, and everyone staring at me Reagan, I felt like I was in the middle of a parade. Parades usually make me cry anyway {weird, I know}, but the thought of being on parade with my brand new daughter really made me really emotional.

5. As the nurse was wheeling me toward the door, Matt appeared and I really started to tear up. Then the nurse just had to say, "It sort of feels like your wedding day, doesn't it?" At which point I completely lost it. It happened to be exactly what I was feeling.

So far, recovery has gone relatively well for me and Reagan has been such a sweet and easy baby. We have already had several outings, which has been good for me, mentally and emotionally. It's nice to have encounters with the outside world to look forward to when your day consists mostly of nursing and sleeping.

Lunch after the pediatrician

Our first family walk

We are loving life with our little one!

"This killing time is killing me" Clint Black

I'm back. No baby. Going in Sunday night for induction if she doesn't come on her own before then.

Anyway...

Over the past few months, there have been several "ongoing" {read:unfinished} projects in the Hughes household. I think I only acquired half of the nesting instinct because, although I have been very ambitious to start things, I haven't been very motivated on the follow through. Lucky for me, Matt has been a nesting nut and has helped complete most of them for me.

Project #1 began in September when my mom was visiting. We ventured into Architectural Salvage {a store in town I had been dying to visit} and I fell in love with a large window frame that had 6 individual panes on top and I immediately thought "'Hughes' has 6 letters!". Originally from a garage door, it was the perfect fit for one of the giant blank walls in our place and I had a vision of FINALLY getting some wedding pictures displayed.

The picture below shows where the window sat for 4 months until my mom got in town last week...

Needless to say, it was top priority when she arrived. And after a few attempts to mount pictures in a frame that isn't made for pictures, we figured out a few tricks. You would think that with the trend over the past few years of using old windows to display photos, there would be a tutorial online, but I couldn't find anything overly helpful. I ended up mounting the alphabet letters to the back of the frame with a staple gun and attached the pictures to the wall with sticky tack. I'm happy that it will be easy to add pictures because we will EVENTUALLY have a beautiful daughter join our family! That's what they say anyway...I'm beginning to have my doubts.

The finished product:

Project #2 started as a simple one: Stencil a passage of Scripture on a piece of wood {also from Architectural Salvage} to be mounted by front door. The evolution of this project is too boring to share, but let's just say it ended up in the baby's room--NOT stenciled--but still a passage of Scripture. I'm probably most proud of this one because, although the outcome is a simple one, there were A LOT of bumps along the way.

Project #3 was birthed out of two needs: 1. Another BIG blank wall to fill and 2. A way to display fun candid pictures that can easily be switched out.

I never take the time to replace pictures in frames, but really love having recent pictures displayed. I bought this wiry photo display thing from Pier 1 for our Christmas cards this year and decided to keep it up for a place to stick pictures, invitations, birth announcements, etc...simple enough!

The wall, like I said, is HUGE and it still needed a little something, so I bought one of those vinyl wall cling things from Michael's that says "The greatest joy in life is to see those you love happy" {something along those lines}, which is perfect for a wall full of smiling faces! Currently the wall is a whole lotta Matt and Jessica because that's what I had in prints, but I look forward to adding more of friends and family! In fact, send me some!

And our only pending project {which my mom will complete due to paint fumes...}:

So there's another update on what we have been doing while waiting for our daughter to join us. This WILL officially be the last post before she's here...I'm SURE of it!

One of Matt's friends texted the following to him the other day: "Welcome to daughters. They are great, but they take their time." We got a good laugh out of that :)

"I was sitting, waiting, wishing..." Jack Johnson

Soooooooo...we're still waiting.

This sweet girl is taking her time! I was almost two weeks late, so I guess it's payback.

Here's what we have been doing to pass the time and attempting to move things along...

Bouncing on my exercise ball

Walking. a. lot.

Bike riding

Eating eggplant parmesan (just once...and I almost gagged.

Textures have been an issue for me since being pregnant.)

We got a new grill and Matt has been making the most amazing meals!

Attempting to finish all my unfinished projects around the house. I'll admit, I've lost

the motivation to do anything that requires much thinking or creativity. My mom is finishing most of them. God bless her.

I'm not the only one anxiously waiting...

"Step by step...ooh baby...gonna get to you, girl" NKOTB

I'm officially full term and my mind is officially blown.

As of today {Saturday, January 7, 2012}, we are 5 days away from our due date. Due dates are funny things...I've never known anyone to deliver ON their due date, yet there is still so much anticipation built up around it. For us, January 12, 2012 has been on our minds for months and months, but I have a very strong feeling we won't be meeting our girl then. I've often wondered if I'm going to have a hard time remembering her actual birthday each year, or if I will always think of it as January 12.

35 weeks at Disneyland

I was just telling a friend that even with all of the home preparation we have done, the changes my body has undergone, and the weekly doctor appointments...somehow it is just now hitting me that in a matter of days we will have a baby in our care. A child to love and nourish and protect.

Matt and I have both been humbled by the blessing of a healthy pregnancy and, as far as we know, a healthy baby. We are beyond excited...one of us a bit more eager to get this show on the road {Matt}, but it's only because I'm afraid of pain. And a bit anxious over the responsibility of keeping a human alive. Up until now, my body has been doing all the work and I haven't had to really remember anything!

As I write this, I feel a lot of pressure to say something profound that sums up my first pregnancy experience...like I should be wiser and more mature than I was 9 months ago. I know these months have changed me, I just don't know how yet. All I know is I've wanted to be a mother my whole life and I am days away from one of my biggest dreams being realized. What if I don't love it as much as I thought I would? What if I'm not as "good" at it as everyone tells me I will be?

But none of my fears are bigger than the truth, which is this: "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness" 2 Peter 1:3

I'll close with a couple of pictures from last weekend when Sean and Erin were in town. We took a boat out on New Year's Day to welcome 2012 {and 80* in January} and also capitalized on Sean's talents and my ever-growing body belly :) Thanks, Sean!

Lucky to have this man on my team...I think we make a great one!

"Dad to Be" medal courtesy of Sean and Erin :)

38 weeks

Though I know every child is a blessing, I can't imagine there being anything quite like preparing for your first baby and I don't want to forget how special this time has been for us. I didn't plan to get maternity pictures taken, but I'm really glad I have these to remember this season of life. And I'm glad I have some "belly pics" where I actually have make up on :)

Signing off for the last time as a mommy-to-be!

"Rock-a-bye baby" -Mother Goose?

I love seeing pictures of baby nurseries. There's something so special about seeing the environment parents have created for their little ones. And, maybe I'm over-thinking it, but I think a baby nursery has the potential to help shape and mold a child's personality. {It's okay, Matt thinks I'm crazy, so you can too} I'm a great example! My nursery was Winnie the Pooh and I was and have remained a lover of all things Disney.

Okay, so maybe my theory is a bit of a stretch, but it caused me to be pretty particular when picking out stuff for our little girl. After scouring Etsy's over-priced {for me} hand-made bedding and purchasing 3 very different bedding sets from target.com, I came across a set at a baby furniture store and immediately fell in love. It's girly, but not juvenile, and it really fits well into the rest of our home decor. I never had that as a requirement or even thought it was necessary, but now that everything is coming together, I'm happy that her room is an extension of the rest of our house.

Our furniture arrived last week and I was looking forward to a few days of getting everything unpacked from bags, washed, and taking my time setting things up. Well, Matt and I were both way too excited to take a few days, so we spent all afternoon and night one day getting everything set up. Drawers and shelves are still empty and the closet is a mess, but the majority of the room itself is complete! Now I just get to decorate and nest...can't wait!

Here's what we have so far!

The set is called "Delilah" by Cocalo Couture. I'm not usually a fan of buying all the pieces to a bedding set, but everything was so cute and we couldn't resist getting a lot of it.

Oh, and we took a HUGE risk on the red glider, but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

**The large window pane is not part of her nursery...it's a project in process and her room has been our storage space :)

"Take another little piece of my heart, now {Buddy}" Faith Hill

I swore I'd never get a dog.

And then this happened...

And then he stole my heart...

And he's just so darn cute and cuddly when he's asleep...

So eventually I allowed something else I said I'd never do and he started sleeping with us. And although we love it, it is kind of becoming a problem...

So we decided to buy him a little bed {that he will, hopefully, not chew to pieces} and we're letting him spend a few nights getting used to it ON the bed. Here he is getting ready for bed on night #1...

And below is a shot I took in the middle of the night...

I think he likes it!