shower for baby

We've started counting our pre-baby weekends left on one hand!  Last weekend was a particularly fun one . . . UK won BOTH of their games (GO CATS!) . . . and more notably in my little world was a visit from my college friend Sarah and her husband and a baby shower!  Fun times for me!  

My small group at church hosted a shower this weekend and they did such a great job making me feel loved and baby feel welcomed!  

Diaper cake masterpiece:

The mother of my 4 nanny boys came and brought gifts from the kids.  

I had a lot of fun - and almost no trouble - guessing who picked out which thing!  They all have their likes and want Baby Yezerski in on the fun.  

Besides getting some really helpful stuff from our registry, but my friends amazed me with their talents and craftiness.  They gave a lot of handmade items that are so sweet.  And a lot of them brought baby books instead of cards, so now Baby Y has quite the collection.  

It was so nice to see Sarah for a bit and have her out at our house.  She and her husband Jon live only a few hours away in New Jersey but somehow having to travel through the city is makes it seem a lot farther!  They took the train with success so that might be an option for us in the future.

One of Jon's good friends lives in Long Island so he spent the weekend with us as well.  I'm all about friends reconnecting! 

Umm, I just look at these pictures and laugh . . . this baby is taking over!  According to the sonogram, he was 6 lb 13 oz last week - getting big and healthy!  

a host of phone photos

We're having a "lion day," as described by the kindergartner as we waited for the bus this morning.  He went on to explain how they chart "lion days" vs "lamb days" every day in his class.  I'd say 37 degrees and a wintery mix of slushy snow is definitely a lion day.  

We've been busy getting ready for baby!  Matt and I have both invested chunks of time in the baby's room.  I made a crib skirt, we gave it a joint effort on the window treatments, and he's been fixing a VIP (very important problem) with the door to the room.  We still have a little ways to go, but if the baby came tomorrow, we'd survive.  He is NOT coming tomorrow, I'm just saying.  We are less than a month from the due date but I am under no illusions that this baby will come on time . . . I'm trying to mentally prepare for him to be a bit late, but that doesn't mean I'm postponing our projects!  We're just getting things done as we have time for them.  I'll get some pictures of the nursery up soon.  I'm a little disappointed our slipcover is on backorder for another month but we'll all just have to use some imagination. :)

In the meantime, I uploaded some old pictures off my phone this weekend and thought I'd share an entertaining mishmash.  

I walked into the room and saw Moose reclining on the couch with his leg up in the air:

What a funny guy.  Also, he looks really funny when he tries to scratch his nose or clean off his back feet.  

 

You know I just love that dog. 

Here are the kids sporting some hats . . . 

Back when the outdoors looked like this:

Thankfully, it's looking less ridiculous these days!  I was SO THANKFUL to go away for two weeks and come back to minimal snow on the ground.  

Right before we left for vacation we assembled our jogging stroller and gave it a spin around the kitchen.  

Both of our strollers are SO nice, I am really looking forward to pushing the baby around OUTSIDE my body.  (Did I mention that we're less than a month to the due date?  Believe me, I can tell.)

Some more of the kiddos:

(I don't know where he got that hoodie but I like it . . . we'd like to be in Tennessee some day!)

Spotting ducks at low tide.

Matt made the bed the other day and when I walked in, I had to laugh . . . can you guess which side is mine?

I don't sleep with SIX pillows but I do have about three more than I used to sleep with.  It's not exactly fun, but it certainly helps.  

Lastly, Matt was watching a basketball game and I walked into our room and saw this:

Maybe I just had March Madness on the brain but it sure looked like I had a basketball stuffed under there.  

getting my craft on

Before we left for vacation I got a little busy with the sewing machine again.  I wanted to make a little something for my girls that were coming to see me.  And, since I normally make one thing, I decided to stick with what works: pillows.  I love some throw pillows.  I don't have enough of them in my life right now . . . our couch pillows are begging to be recovered and our beds are sorely lacking.  We also have some nooks and crannies that house random chairs that I think are throw-pillow friendly.  I'll be working on that.  

So here's what I came up with:

{exhibit A}

Case in point - chair in nook.  This one has two pillows on it in real life, though, so I think it's set. :)

I tried my hand at some fabric flowers.  

{exhibit B}

A different type of flower.  

That chair actually didn't live in that spot until I took the picture, and it's been there since then.  I think a pillow on it would ground it a little more, next to a table with the phone on it.

{exhibit C}

Another random chair in a nook.  This pillow I actually made on a cold December day whilst waiting for the oil man to come . . . and it lives on that chair, cheering me with its ruffles. 

I think my pillows could be improved if I knew how to make piping or cording or whatever it's called.  If anyone wants to fly out here and teach me, that would be great.  

murray highlights

When we left our sunny island respite, Matt and I were both so thankful that our vacation didn't have to end then.  He gets four weeks of vacation a year, split into two two-week segments, so we had another whole week to spend in Murray, KY, Matt's hometown.  Matt LOVES his hometown and I admit it has earned a little soft spot in my heart as well.  Who couldn't love a place that celebrates over the March 1st reopening of Dairy Queen?  Sounds like my kind of town.  Matt had a mental list of fine culinary experiences he had to complete during the week - a meal at his favorite Mexican restaurant, a drink from Sonic, DQ, etc.  Suffice it to say we've been on a leaner diet since we got back!  

Of course his favorite part about Murray is seeing his family and friends, who I enjoy hanging out with as well. Although I think falling asleep on their couch at 9:30 does not necessary qualify me as life of the party.  This time two of my girls made the trip to Murray so we could be together for a couple days!!  Apparently it was closer than New York. :)  Kelly, Kerry, and I have been friends since we lived in the same suite freshman year at Taylor.  We have all been roommates with each other during those four years.  Kelly lives in Charlotte and Kerry is in Knoxville and they met us at the airport when we flew in to Nashville!   

Oh, and Kelly is pregnant, too.  Kerry obviously is not.  Look at that little waistline.  :)

Kelly is due about 5 weeks after me, at the end of May.  It's pretty great having babies at the same time.  We have lots of phone conversations about babies kicking and what to eat and how our backs hurts and stuff like that.  Kerry spent the whole weekend making sure we had enough ice to crunch and adequate bathroom breaks. :) 

I've got six weeks to go and a little worried about how much bigger I can possibly get!  

I am SO thankful these girls drove across state lines so that we could be together!  I hadn't seen either of them since our wedding.  It was such a blessing to catch up! 

They left Monday afternoon and Matt and I were sitting with his mom when the doorbell rang.  In walked Matt's Aunt Bo, from Nashville!  What a nice surprise!  An hour or so later, Matt's Aunt Doris and Uncle Bob were standing at the front door, in from Glasgow, Kentucky!  We hadn't seen any of them since Christmas a year ago and were touched that they drove in to spend some time with us.  Around dinnertime, Matt started to notice a little more activity than usual at the house . . . and the doorbell started ringing again.  When we opened the front door and say "It's a Boy" balloons, I finally caught on.  A little shower.  For us.  So fun!!

Our baby now has a Murray State Jersey to add to the Oklahoma State bibs and University of Kentucky onesie.  Lots of teams to cheer for.

One of my favorite parts of the night was listening to the parents talk about Matt and his friends when they were in kindergarten.  Kind of amazing.  One of the most often told is how Matt hated kindergarten and refused to get out of the car, and how the principal had to haul him out, etcetera.  Or how Matt and his best friend Micah used to throw pretend grenades into the block houses in that the other kids would build.  I think we have a lot to look forward to.  

blue shirts

With our travel itinerary, we each received an Orthopaedics Associates of Murray shirt to bring down to Cayman.  On our last night there, we constructed a leaning tower of Adirondack chairs to get a family picture of everybody looking good and sporting some sun. 

*cheese*

After our successful snap, Adam started to play photographer extraordinaire and we ended up with a bunch of blue-shirted candids.  90% of them involve someone throwing Connor around in order to hear his full-on belly laughs.  I reserve the right to not post pictures of myself from this photo shoot as I looked really lumpy in all of them.  I've supplemented with extras of the nephews. :)   

Funny, Connor calls Adam "Uncle Wigwam."  Consistently.  It's very cute.  Uncle Matt is easy to say. Also he called me Uncle Erica.  

island living

I've been on vacation and so relaxed I couldn't even be bothered to blog.  Not only did we visit a tropical island, but we spent almost a week in western Kentucky, as well!  Matt's family kindly scheduled a trip around Matt's vacation days and we had a wonderful, stress-free week in sunny Grand Cayman.  It was perfect, especially for Matt and me, since we couldn't WAIT to leave the snow behind and see some warm days again!  We have 1.5 childless months left, and we are living them up.  

The house had several landings leading down to the ocean, perfect for kite flying:

There's the belly!

We hadn't met our four-month-old nephew yet!  Little Evan is quite adorable!

Sunrise, taken by Adam on his phone on a walk back toward the house:

Sunset, on our little beach:

Going to great lengths for some coconuts:

And teaching Connor how to drink from them!

Watching for fishes.

Our snorkeling expedition.

There was some question as to whether I'd be able to swim on my stomach or immediately pop over and look like Snoopy floating in the ocean.  I was able to snorkel and we saw some amazing creatures, from a 4-ft long lobster (honestly) to a couple Eagle Rays.

More realistically, this is where I spent 90% of my time:

I got through a few books.  Loved it.

The family I nanny for vacation in Cayman frequently and happened to be there for part of the time we were.  They came over for a morning swim.

We had 5 little boys in the pool!  

Not pictured: kayaking, popsicles, napping, or the 8 million glasses of ice water/watered-down cranberry juice I consumed during the week.  Ice water is my new vice.

It was a wonderful time to recharge, especially for Matt, who works quite hard.  I can't imagine a better 'babymoon' before our life changes forever.