Baby Hogan Nursery

While we are playing the waiting game I thought I would share some pictures of the nursery now that everything is done!

I had a lot of fun dreaming and seeing it all come together. Its just how I hoped it would be. We can't wait to bring home our sweet girl to this sweet nursery!

 

Some of my favorite details...

 

 My mom found this map and it brought everything together. Sweet soft colors, animals and the sense of adventure that maps bring. The bottom of it says, "Compassion for the world and all who inhabit it"

We knew we wanted this verse represented somewhere in the nursery. I love having it displayed with this elephant hook that hung in my Mimi's kitchen. 

Of course our love of maps and globes spilled over into the nursery!

This bunny was the initial inspiration for the whole nursery. My sweet friend Keeley gave this to me years ago and I knew that if I got to decorate a nursery one day that this would be the inspiration behind it all! 

This sweet guy was one of the things I grabbed years ago after I had been inspired by the bunny picture!

Our bags are packed! We are ready to meet our sweet girl any day now!

Baby Hogan - Weeks 32-36

Crazy to think that unless I make it all the way to my due date this could be the last blog update before Stevie's arrival! Here's hoping that she doesn't come late and my next post is an arrival announcement!

Feeling: So tired and yet so restless at night, some contractions, back pain, leg pain, congestion, and oh the emotions.. I get all teary eyed over a lot lately (ya know rational things like I can't get off the couch, Fitz needs to go outside again, the butter is too cold to spread on my bread, we are going to outlive Fitz (WHY oh WHY do thoughts like this pop into my pregnant head??) and when I realized we only had like 3 pairs of pajamas for her and what kind of mom doesn't have enough pajamas for their child...Aubrey is very good about sweetly talking me down from these crazy ledges) but mostly when I imagine meeting this baby girl for the first time. I had this awesome idea that I would write a letter to her before she was born...and then 20 minutes of crying later it was done...needless to say it is much shorter than I first imagined..!

Craving: Smoothies everyday, Corn on the cob, so. much. spinach dip, ice cream cones, Chick-fil-a,

Milestones: Class at the hospital, one last baby shower for our sweet girl, buying everything else we needed off the registries, per-registering for birth at the hospital, moving to weekly Dr. appointments, outgrew my maternity jeans and had to buy a bigger size, birthing class, being less than a month away from our due date!

Anticipating: Labor and the arrival of our girl!

32 weeks 

33 weeks

 35 weeks

 36 weeks

Baby Hogan - Weeks 28-32

The weeks seem to be flying by, probably because our to-do list before Stevie arrives is never ending!

Feeling: So tired, and yet so restless at night, some serious heartburn that has made me cry at times... (which I'm sure has nothing to do with the extra hormones and sleep deprivation...!), speaking of hormones...hello crazy emotions, lots of nesting, some braxton hicks contractions.

Craving: Pickles (how stereotypical!), green beans, squash and zucchini, BLUE BELL (it is FINALLY back in my life!), spinach dip, queso dip, bacon sandwiches, still a smoothie everyday.

Milestones: Moving from a Dr.'s appointment every 4 weeks to every 2 weeks, first snow with a bump, finishing touches on nursery decor (pictures coming soon!), putting together her stroller and car seat, starting to pack the hospital bags, my mom booking her flight to come to Asheville! - So many things that can only mean her arrival is just around the corner!

Anticipating: Making the most of the last few weeks with just the two of us! Meeting our sweet girl so soon!

28 weeks

30 weeks - and a "Hello!" from Fitz

31 weeks - First snow in Asheville!

 32 weeks

Baby Hogan - Weeks 24-28

As the last day of 2015 draws to an end I am a little emotional as I think about everything this past year held and everything 2016 promises. (Or maybe its just hormones...!) 2015 has been a crazy and wild year filled with so many exciting memories that we will always cherish, but we cannot wait for all that the next year will hold. We can't wait to meet our sweet girl, learn to be parents, and capture all the milestones that we will experience with Stevie! God has been and continues to be so good to us. Let's do this 2016!

I can't believe the THIRD and FINAL trimester is here! :O Where has the time gone!

Feeling: Generally pretty good. Back pain, heartburn, general exhaustion, and trouble sleeping at night. Oh also - hello hormones. The things I get teary over... oh my.

Craving: Homemade salsa, coke floats, sauteed green beans, cookie dough (don't worry I didn't give in...but making Christmas cookies this year was a major test of will power!) Most random craving was definitely for strawberry sheet cake. It. Was. Amazing. Still loving my smoothies just about every day!

Milestones: Our annual trip to Louisiana with a bump during which I, by some kind of Christmas miracle, did not get the stomach virus the rest of the family did. Getting to see so many friends and family in Louisiana. We celebrated our last Christmas without our sweet girl and tonight we will ring in the new year - a year where we will meet sweet Stevie! 

Anticipating: Organizing the house and nursery, touring the hospital, taking a birth class, but mostly just the arrival of our sweet girl!!

24 weeks - In Lee's Summitt, MO

 25 weeks - Home in Asheville, NC

No pictures from weeks 26 & 27, we were in Louisiana and everyone who could take the picture was sick... and when they finally felt better we were too busy catching up to remember to take a picture!

 28 weeks - Back home until Stevie's arrival!

Baby Hogan - Weeks 20-24

I've been on the road on a grand adventure seeing so many friends and family these past weeks! 

Feeling: Overall pretty great. Definitely some aches and pains that are always present and I'm so tired, but still pretty great.

Craving: Because I've been on the road I've gotten to eat so many of my favorites from all over! Blue Bell ice cream has returned to Texas so I ate that every. single. day. that I was there! I've had Taco Bueno's mexi-dips and chips four times! LOTS of delicious Mexican food, fabulous Thanksgiving spread, and my many requests for my mom and dad's home-cooking! Still rocking my smoothies every day.

Milestones: Traveling with a baby bump! Seeing so many friends and family and lots of them getting to feel Stevie's sweet kicks. She's kicking strong enough now that they are visible movements in my belly - if you happen to be staring at it when she does! Family and friends showering Stevie with all sorts of fun goodies! Taking some fun pictures with Tay and Molly and snapping a few maternity pictures as well!

Anticipating: The infamous glucose test is coming up. I'm not really anticipating it, but it should be something to remember based on everyone's faces whose ever had to do it! Starting the decorating and nesting in the nursery! We have one more cross-country road trip to make in December as we go see Aubrey's family for Christmas!

20 weeks

 21 weeks - spent in Ardmore, OK, Watauga, TX and Witchita Falls, TX

Photo by Alexis Hines Photography

No pictures from weeks 22&23 - Spent in Watauga, TX and Lee's Summit, MO

24 weeks - Spent in Lee's Summit, MO

Baby Hogan - Weeks 16-20

Half way there!

Feeling: Pretty great. I will now join the chorus of other pregnant women who say the second trimester is awesome. I will take the new symptoms like heartburn over nausea any day.

Craving: A lot of the same. I really haven't had many huge out of the blue weird cravings... I eat a lot of Chick-fil-a and I have a smoothie every. single. morning.

Milestones: First little flutters and kicks! Amazing. Telling family and friends that we are having a little girl and that her name is Stevie! Got to see our sweet Stevie at the 18 week ultrasound! She was so busy in there waving, kicking, and sucking her thumb.  We took the guest bed out of the second room in our apartment to make the transition from "Guest Room" to "Nursery" official!

Anticipating: The upcoming holidays and my big trip where I will get to see so many friends and family! My first shower for sweet Stevie later this month! Flying with a belly...praying all goes smoothly.

16 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

Stevie at 18 weeks sucking her thumb!

It's a ...

Aubrey and I are super excited to announce that Baby Hogan is a....

We had our ultrasound this past week and got to see our sweet baby girl! Besides getting to find out that we will be joined by a beautiful little lady in March we got to see that she is developing beautifully and that she looked healthy and happy!

Aubrey and I actually decided and agreed on a girl name long before we were pregnant. It was of course brought up again when we found out we were pregnant and we both still agreed! It was just clear to both of us that this name was waiting for the little girl we might have one day.

We also decided on a boy name we loved so we went into the ultrasound excited to find out which name we would get to share with the world.

So, without further ado...

Stevie Tay Hogan, we love you so much and we can't wait to officially "meet" you in March! You are loved by so many already!

Baby Hogan - Weeks 12-16

Can't believe a month has already gone by since we announced our exciting news!

Weeks 12-16

Feeling: With the transition into the second trimester my nausea decreased and eventually has disappeared! (and by that I mean I still get car sick easier than normal and sometimes the thought of a certain food makes me want hurl...but I'll take it!) Still pretty tired, but much more energy than last month! Feeling lots of stretching in my stomach... not the most fun, but definite signs that baby is growing!

Craving: Very specific cravings have begun. A specific pasta dish from TGIFridays, Pigs in a blanket, and Dean's French onion dip. But with the nausea gone I can now eat a much wider variety of items without ending up sick!

Milestones: Cleaned out my closet and put away all summer and spring clothes, along with any fall/winter clothes that wont fit, then went out and bought clothes so that I will have something to wear...!

Anticipating: Our Dr. appointment at 18 weeks where we will find out the gender!!! Watching my belly continue to grow!

12 Weeks

13 Weeks (forgot to take a picture at 14 weeks!)

 15 Weeks

 16 Weeks (and Fitz)

Baby Hogan - Weeks 4-12

For the remainder of the pregnancy I will try to do a monthly post on how things are going! So for now I'll catch you up on what has been happening with Baby Hogan!

Weeks 4-7

Feeling: So tired, but overall felt great until week 7 when I got an upper respiratory infection...it all went downhill from there

Craving: Salmon, veggies, baked potato (thinking to myself, "Good for me! I'm craving foods that are so good for me and the baby!" ...hahaha that was short-lived), personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut

Milestones: Found out I was pregnant!! Stopped being able to button my jeans at 6 weeks, Belly band to the rescue! First bit of nausea. Telling family and close friends!

Anticipating: First Dr. Appointment and ultrasound in week 8!

                        4 weeks (there are no belly pictures of weeks 5-7 because I felt horrible)



Weeks 8-12

Feeling: Sick, sick, sick. Upper respiratory infection on top of morning sickness, on top of extreme fatigue left me at home and in bed until week 11

Craving: Bagel Bites, pop tarts, taquitos, Kraft macaroni and cheese (Aka all the foods I ate in middle school...)

Milestones: Little baby bump appeared, bought my first maternity shirts and jeans, baby sighting at our 8 week ultrasound, listening to baby's heartbeat at our 12 week appointment, Going "public" with our exciting news!

Anticipating: Morning sickness going away and the magical second trimester everyone kept telling me about. Our 18 week ultrasound where we will find out the gender!!!

                                                 9 Weeks - still feeling (and looking) rough

                                                                          11 Weeks

                                                                         12 weeks

What's New?

After a long and quiet 6 months on the blog front we are breaking out silence with a pretty big update.

Though we started this blog when we announced we had started the adoption process, I have always viewed this blog as our family blog. A place where we can document and share how our family is growing and what we are doing. A place where friends and family all across the country can stay updated on our lives.

With that being said I will just get to the point:

We are so beyond excited to share that our family will be growing by 1 in March!

As the picture at the top of the blog says, we were praying to find whichever one fit, and this beautiful baby will be the perfect first "fit" for our family!

Wait? What about adoption? Great question. I have a whole blog post dedicated to sharing how we arrived at this point coming soon!

But for now we are just thrilled to share with our family and friends our exciting news! We ask for your continued prayers for us as we start our family!