SHE'S HERE!

Carolyn Jo finally made her debut! These past few days have been the most exhausting yet amazing days of our lives. Thought I'd take a minute to share Carolyn Jo's birth story.

We scheduled our induction for July 10th at 6:30 in the morning. We arrived at the hospital not really sure what to expect except that we weren't leaving until Carolyn Jo was in our arms. We got settled in our room then started pitocin and broke my water right away. Once I was given the epidural around 9:00am, labor was much more enjoyable and moved very quickly. Our family, who were all in town already (big plus of the induction), stopped in to see us. We checked around 11:30 to see how things were going and to everyone's surprise we were ready to push. This was the most exciting part! Seth and I were literally giddy to meet her! We pushed for an hour and 15 minutes and then at 12:47pm got to see the most beautiful baby girl. They placed her on my chest and it was truly love at first sight! To say I was overwhelmed with emotions was an understatement. Soon after, the receptionist came in our room and asked us if we wanted to give a report to the crowd in the waiting room that was oh so patiently waiting!

We spent the next two days at the hospital visiting with family and friends and thanking the good Lord for blessing our lives with sweet Carolyn Jo!

 Our welcoming crew!

 

 

 

Coming home finally!

To see more and the most updated pictures of our sweet baby girl, check out our flickr account here!

Due Date and Myth Busters

Well, Carolyn Jo's due date has arrived and it may possibly pass us by without her making a debut! Meanwhile, I've been testing out every theory to induce labor with no such luck yet. Everything shy of drinking castor oil, which I don't intend on trying. This walking theory is becoming dangerous for our bank account, especially with all these great sales going on at the mall right now! Trying our best to remain patient and remember that it's out of our control. Carolyn Jo will be here when she's good and ready!

Birth month!

It's July and we are getting so close! We had a doctor appointment Friday and she said any day now. We did schedule an induction for July 10th if she hasn't arrived by then. Even though I'd rather her come on her own, it's a relief to know we'll meet our baby girl by July 10th no matter what! There have been quite a few predictions for the delivery date within the next few days so we'll see!

I feel great and think we're as prepared and ready as we'll ever be!

Last few days as just the two of us!

These past few weeks have been jam packed and so fun! We've played golf, been to the movies, tried out the new Cheesecake Factory in Knoxville and so much more. Here are a few pictures from some fun things we've been up to trying to pass the time waiting on Carolyn Jo!

We toured the UT Athletic Training Facility with the Alumni Association!

We celebrated the marriage of two good friends in Knoxville!

Incredibly beautiful and fun couple, Chris and Amy!

Got to spend some time with these crazy two!

Went to hear a friend of Seth's from Lawrenceburg perform! You must check out his music! He's so talented and has some seriously big gigs coming up!  Jacob Powell Music

And the waiting continues.... Just 5 days now!

Single digit countdown!

We are officially in a single digit countdown until Carolyn Jo's supposed debut and couldn't be more excited! Really 8 days now :)

These past few months of our lives have been busy preparing for her arrival! We are all set and now just waiting! Yes, that is a doll in the car seat! Gotta take all of Carolyn Jo's toys and necessities for a test run first. Ok, I might be crazy!

 

Bags are packed!

Doctors orders changed our plans a few weekends ago and we were able to get all our last minute to-dos finished up. We did, however, have to miss out on personally attending the wedding of my beautiful cousin! Thank goodness for FaceTime!

Since then, we've been really trying to enjoy our last few weeks before we officially become mommy and daddy! Really just enjoying life as two (plus Knox)!

Mr. Build It!

Not a day goes by that Seth and I don't feel completely blessed for our amazing families! Most of my life, I have really taken for granted just how great my family really is. With Carolyn Jo's arrival just days (16 to be exact) away, I become more and more thankful everyday that Seth and I have such strong examples of parents who loved us and each other unconditionally. It's so obvious that they will pass on that love to our little bundle of joy and already have in so many ways!

Both of our dads, really all the men in our families, are so handy and talented. They can fix and build anything! I'm serious, I haven't found a challenge yet that they haven't been able to tackle. My dad wanted to build a complete nursery furniture set for Carolyn Jo as a gift to her. Since she won't be a baby forever, we decided on a dresser and possibly adding matching pieces down the road. I am completely in love with how it turned out and had to share more pictures...

 

This was the inspiration I sent him from RH Baby. And he put his own touches on it to match everything!

Perfect to use as changing table for now. All stocked up!

Sweet signature he burned on the inside!

Why not brag for just another minute? Here are a few other pieces he made for us...

 

Bookshelf that I love!

Matching nightstand. This is an old picture...It is now stuffed with pregnancy and baby books!

An entertainment center he made for Seth when we were dating!

And one of my favorites, our dining room table! This is a bad picture but it's truly beautiful!

Are we lucky or what?

Maternity Pictures

We had a sweet friend take some maternity pictures for us and I am over the moon with how they turned out! She is fabulous and I am already giddy at her fun ideas for the newborn shoot with Carolyn Jo! It was really hard to pick my favorites so I'll just share a few!

 The ones with Knox are of course some of my fave! Isn't he just so photogenic?

 Loves his momma and daddy and baby sister, too!

Sweet hanger from Margaret Rose!

This was my favorite book that my Grandma (who Carolyn Jo is named after) would read to me at our slumber parties while eating popcorn in bed! Still love it!

 Blessed with TONS of books for Carolyn Jo from the fun shower theme!

 We had some fun with the balloons!

 Of course we had to take one with our future little vol fan gear!

Check out Abby's website here!