Grayson Michael

Born Friday September 23rd, 2011

6:11 AM 7 lbs 11 oz 20.5 inches long

The love of our lives- for sure.

Nursery Reveal!

Well yesterday was my due date- apparently little man didn't get the memo, cause I'm still on the knocked up side of things and not the Mommy side. He better decide to come soon, otherwise I will have to move him from the top of my favorite kids list to spot numero uno on the children that drive me crazy list.

Annywhooo~ at least Daddy finished his nursery on time!

First- some befores:

Our house was built in 1890. Its a big old place, with 10 foot ceelings, large rooms and zippo closet space. But it's ours, and we love it. His room was a blue guest room to start, with linoleum floors and a rug from Lowes to cover the floor.

There was a beautiful hand carved fireplace here, there is one in almost every room. However, the previous owner ripped it out and sold it leaving this beauty behind. They also replaced the orignal tiles with some random 4x4 blue squares and left large gaps in the woodwork. Thanks for that, folks.

We started by painting the walls Tiggers Tummy from the Disney Line at Home Depot that we had color matched to Behr Premium Plus Ultra. The trim was looking a little wonky, and since only about 1/2 of it was orignial we decided to just paint the trim Bitter Chocolate from Behr, and it honestly doesnt look like painted trim but rather stained woodwork.

Next came the carpet, wall to wall thick wonderful shag it was, and thanks to Remanant City in Pittsburgh we got a 20x17 piece WITH padding for $279. Score!!

Daddy and Grandpa took the old tile off of the fireplace and put new tile and a new mantle on that fits with the jungle theme we have going on. The bedding is Lambs and Ivy Papagayo.

We bought his crib new from USA Baby, but I scored the rest of the furnature off of craigslist for super cheap then we painted it a really deep, rich green. Yes, there is a tv and dvd collection in his room- please don't judge me, but we have a fouton in there that will be used for guests so we decided to keep the tv in there for that purpose...not so he can watch cartoons from his crib!!

A shot of the new mantle. It may not be original to the house, but I love how it fits the theme of his room.

How cute is this bathrobe holder? This is one of my favorite parts of his room, I'll be honest.

So many books. The bins at the bottom are for his little toys and things and the basket on the top has his stuffed animals and soft toys.

Last up is little man's closet...stuffed full of clothes. Everything on the top bar is newborn-6 months, and everything on the bottom is 6-12 months all seporated out by the little dividers I made a few months ago. The diaper stacker is full of his cloth dipes, and crammed in there as well is his musical table, jeep travel stroller, a bumboo, and a play mat. Momma can cram ALOT into a tiny closet ;)

Now all thats missing is little man- come on out, Buddy!

Mommy and Daddy really want to meet you!

The girl behind the crazy

Its a long, crazy road that got me to where I am today.

Growing up I never realized that it wasn't normal to have a crazy life. Im the daughter of a single Momma who worked three jobs, who lived with my grandparents and had my dad around 24/7. (Seriously, my parents had the best divorce ever, they got along so great once they didnt live together anymore that my Dad still came for dinner every night and had a key to our house.)

I grew up in a super small town, with family on every single street. My Dad has 11 brothers and sisters- most of whom live in the town. I have more cousins than I know what to do with. We swam in the river, played on the railroad tracks, rode quads and played capture the flag. Yeah, I should have been a boy. I managed to grow up and graduate high school, then college, then I went on to get my Masters in Education. Thats right, I was going to spend 7 years in college to go back to high school.

On Sunday December 13th, 2009 Patrick changed my life. While decorating our Christmas tree he had his little cousin hand me a box and say "Here Besamy, this is for you". When I opened the box I realized- pigs were flying, he was asking me to marry him. I knew we'd get there someday, of course, but he typically avoided that subject like the plague. He wanted to have a job to support me, a house for us to live in, and life for me to join into...and once he did all of that he (cough, cough, FINALLY) put a ring on it. (Please forgive the crazy unbrushed, unkept look of me in this photo- I had no idea or I would have spiffed up a bit!)

I graduated in May and got hired to teach 9th grade science in August- which is really a miracle when you look at the job market these days. I am that teacher- the one who climbs on desks, tells horribly bad jokes, sings, dances, decorates her room (LOVE that Cricut!), and dresses up on spirit day. I have fun at work, and my kids have fun in class. We laugh, we argue, and we learn. I like to tell them that if I sneak the learning in with the fun it keeps the natives from getting restless. Do they think I'm crazy? Yes. Do they love it? Most of them, yes. As I prepare to go out for maternity leave Ive had more than one ask me not to leave because they'll miss me- from 14 year olds that's a pretty big complement.

On October 30th, 2010 there was a gorgeous boy with the most amazing blue eyes waiting for me in a tux and Nike Shoxx at the end of the aisle of the church I grew up in. He said I do, and so did I and we became husband and wife.

I DIY-ed everything I could with the wedding, and you can read more about that here- being cheap as I am. We went back to the place we met to take our pictures, and had so many personal touches that really made it our wedding. I couldn't have asked for a better day, or a better husband.

Just as we were settling into being newlyweds on January 12th, 2011 we found out we were expecting. We were not trying to have a baby...but God had another plan. I found out when the doctor called with the results of my physical and said "Why didn't you tell us you were pregnant?" and I responded "You've got someone elses blood, lady!". Well, she didn't and here I am two days from my due date with our first (non-doggie) child.

So that's my life- and to some people its not much but I think its pretty darn perfect.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my hubby's birthday- he's officially old! We're really the same age, but he gets "old" five months before me, so I rub that in every single year haha! This year is a little different, because Im also three days from my due date with our baby boy. This week when he asked what the plans were for his birthday I kept telling him "Im not going to the mall to buy you a birthday present, Im having this baby on your birthday."

Well its still early, but no signs of the bean yet. Come on baby- Momma didn't go shopping!

So Happy Birthday my Love, I can't wait to spend the rest of our birthdays together!