Ryker Andrew's Nursery

Well, it's finally done! YIPPEE! Ryker's nursery has been a work in progress for quite awhile now, and we finally finished it this weekend. :) Like...everything. All of it. Nick kept asking why we need to have the nursery finished up before Ryker arrives (especially since we aren't gonna be using it right after he's born), and I just kept telling him that there will be no time to work on it once he's here. Now we just wait for our little boy to arrive...impatiently I might add. Please enjoy all the pics from the beginning to the end of our hard work.

Nick helping me unpack the bedding and accessories...this was in February.

Just the bookcase was in...early March...

Ryker's closet before washing began and organization was slighty present...

His bedding's quilt...

His mobile close-up...

The bookcase with his lamp and wall hangings, frame, cross, and a few books..
.

My dad came up to visit one weekend while I was working. Nick and him kept busy by painting the bottom half of the walls this awesome blue I had Lowe's mix up for us. They also applied and painted a chair rail. It looks so good! The pics just don't do it justice. We left the top part of the room with the original paint color since it was so neutral, and it matched well. Those pictures start below.

Nick putting together the dresser. Holy cow...it was a 2 hour project.

Nick and the crib...only 45 minutes of labor. Must be why there's such a SMILE.

The completed dresser...

The completed crib...

Ryker's first load of laundry in the washer...I was SO excited! Hope I remember this in a few months. :)

The crib with the bedding and mobile on...

Shot of the crib mattress and bumpers...

The left side of the room before our showers weekend...

The right side of the room before our shower weekend...

All of the following pics were taken this morning. ENJOY!

The view of Ry's nursery from the doorway...

The left wall of the room (from the door). There's 2 of my fav nursery things...our cross and the rocking horse my dad made for him.

The rest of the left wall, closet door, and the glider...

Next wall with the window on it along with shelves and the dresser. The top shelf has a camera on it that goes along with our monitor set. We can see and hear Ryker from downstairs, and he can hear us with it. Pretty technical huh?

Ryker's crib with his wall letters painted and finally in place :)

I wasn't sure what to do with his quilt because I don't think we'll be using it to cover him for awhile so I decided to hang it on the wall. This is the rest of the crib wall and onto the chnaging table area.

The rest of the changing table wall with the bookcase...

Close-up of bookcase top and first shelf...

The rest of the bookcases' shelves...

The top of the closet back wall...

The top of the closet side wall...

The left side of the closet...

The back wall of the closet...

We are getting more and more excited every day to meet our precious and long-awaited baby boy! He is definitely making us wait, though, for his grand entrace into the world. He's got stubborn Carlson and Daylong genes so who knows when he'll be here. :) I hope he will love his room as much as we do. It's so cozy and cute. Hope everyone is able to come visit the three of us soon!

Aunt Val's visit and final preparations for Ryker

Since I am now on maternity leave, Valerie came to visit me on Tuesday morning for a couple days. I think we were going through sister withdrawals, and I welcomed any help I could get to do some things around here before the baby comes. :) Val got here about 10:30 that morning. We finished getting ready and left for lunch with my friend, Brenda. Val had to back our new Pilot out of the garage because I couldn't open the door wide enough on the driver's side to get in the car without smushing Ryker. Yikes. We met Brenda at Panera Bread. It was nice to see Bren, and we had a fun lunch. Afterwards, Val and I ran a few errands (including finding me a maternity bathing suit), and we then decided that we desperately needed to go to my nail place for pedicures. I <3 their deluxe pedi. It's such a treat for $35. Peeps in the Katy area...check out Star Nails and Spa over by The Lakes of Bella Terra. You won't get a pedicure anywhere else after going there...I promise.

Val and I decided to get baby blue while we wait on Ryker to come...

Nick came home from work, and we decided it was finally time to put the carseat in the car for good. :) Here's some pics of us installing the seat and putting in the seat cover and sun shades. After all our hard work, we headed out to Atami Steak and Sushi to have a hibachi dinner with Val. She'd never been to hibachi before, and she loved it! It was as delicious as I remember, and the fried rice is the best! Yummo! We ended the night back at the house watching the first game of the NBA Finals. The Heat beat the Mavs. Nick was a little disappointed, but he will survive. He still says Mavs in 6 anyway.

Wednesday we were supposed to hang at the pool for awhile in the morning, but I realized that the pool was closed again the 2 days Val was here. This always seems to happen when she's visiting...she still hasn't been to the Firethorne pool yet in 3 years. Crazy huh? We decided to go see the movie "Bridesmaids" instead and then visit Val's fav lunch place...Chick-fil-a. Back at the house afterwards, we did some touch-up painting, toy and clothes organizing, and sitting up in Ryker's nursery. Nick hung the wall letters when he got home, with our supervision of course, and then Val and I made dinner together while Nick enjoyed a few last video game minutes. Val left soon after dinner to head back to San Marcos, and Nick and I had a quiet TV evening together.

Memorial Day weekend FUN

Nick and I kicked off a wonderful holiday weekend last Friday with our weekly OB appointment. It was a bit disappointing that my doc said that Ryker nor I had made any progress from the week before, but I was glad that everything was within normal limits number wise. After our appointment, I picked up the embroidery I had done for Ryker. I LOVE how it all turned out...

Then I was off to a hair and brow appointment...gotta look good delivering this baby boy. :) It felt great to get pampered for awhile, and I always enjoy having freshly done hair. Lunch with my good friend Kelly was next on my agenda. We met at Chipotle, and we had a very good time catching up...as usual. I am blessed to have a few good friends here in town, and she's definitely one of them. Love ya Kel!

Once I got home from all my errands, Nick and I headed out to do some shopping. The most important shopping we did was pretty much finishing up our registry at Babies 'R' Us. We finally got the swing, breast pump, and quite a few other things we wanted but hadn't received. It was fun! I couldn't get Nick outta the store this time...I loved that! After a quick trip to PetSmart and Costco, we headed home and enjoyed going through all our purchases and hanging out that night.

Saturday was a pretty laid back day. We were able to get some things done here at the house in the morning, and that afternoon we met up with one of Nick's co-workers, Austin, and his fiance, Megan. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and headed out to the Astros game after that. We had really good seats, and we had a good time despite the Astros losing (and not scoring until the 9th inning). The game was against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and unfortunately, we were just a couple rows in front of a FANATICAL Diamondbacks fan. She was yelling the ENTIRE game, and Megan decided that our group should drink every time she yelled out in support of her team. So creative. :) Needless to say...I drove home everyone home that night. :) It was a fun night, though, even for me. Nick said he doesn't think he can ever drink Bud Light again, but I am hopeful he can. We shall see.

View from our seats...

Nick and I...thank you bloating. Ugh.

The game...

The drinking game...Austin and Nick...

The four of us...

Sunday morning brought errands, yardwork and more cleaning here at the house. Our neighbors had a BBQ that evening so we went to Clint and Jackie's house that afternoon. It was nice to see everyone again and hang out since we don't know how many days we have left before, as Nick calls it "Threat Level Midnight", occurs. The guys played ladder ball while the girls did a lot of talking. Go figure. After an evening of good food, friends, and visiting, we walked back home and called it a night.

Nick woke up with a wild hair on Monday, and he decided to go look at Honda Pilots. We have talked about the fact that eventually my CR-V won't be big enough for kids, dogs, and the way I pack, but we weren't really looking into doing anything about it soon. Nick set out alone, and I stayed here and waited for a visit from my SA friend, Kimberly. She was in the area to drop off her daughter at her momma's house for the week. It was so nice to see her and visit again...I miss her a lot more than she knows. <3 We were able to talk and catch up on many things, and she got to see the home improvements we have done and Ryker's nursery. I wish our visit would have been longer, but she had to head back to SA that afternoon.

Nick and I went out for a late lunch after that and then onto the Honda dealership. They still had my car since Nick drove home a Pilot for me to check out. After looking around the lot and doing a bit more talking, we were the proud new owners of a 2011 Honda Pilot EXL! It's crazy how much bigger and heavier it feels, but I already LOVE it. It has a silver exterior with black leather inside. I am very STOKED about the back-up camera, the XM radio, and the 3rd row of seating. I have definitely upgraded to a momma mobile. :) Here's some pics of her...

Overall it was a VERY busy, but great, weekend. Now I am ready to relax and keep my feet up some this week. Ryker countdown is on...

My WORK is DONE!

As many of you know, I started my maternity leave last Thursday after work. I don't plan on going back to work until sometime in September, and even then, I am only going back as a supplemental nurse. I will be working 2 days a pay period...every other Friday and Saturday. :) How lucky am I? Anywho. I took a few pictures the last couple days I was at the hospital, and I thought I would share them. Here's some awesome nurses in action...

Erica and Chandy...

Ashley hard at work...with Dr. B in the background. I think she was surprised I was taking pics of her.

Me pretending to work...

Ashley and Erica...There is no "I" in team. :)

Terri is everyone's favorite soon-to-be grandma. Thanks for all you do Terri!

The end of an era...at least for awhile. Me and my work BFF Ashley. She made this lion to hang on our door at the hospital. It's got her guess on it for delivery date and weight. So sweet!

\

 

I already miss all the girls (I have such GREAT co-workers), but I am glad that I am taking this time off before the baby gets here. I feel so tired most of the time, and I haven't been sleeping well at all. I have also had a lot more swelling the past few days. I don't even think I could get my work shoes on at this point. Yikes. I am very thankful that I am able to use this time to rest up before Ryker's arrival.