Kingsley Josiah Mann

Born: December 15th

Height: 21.5 inches

Weight: 8lbs 10oz

We love him with all of our hearts. He's doing so great. I've been busy busy.. so sorry it's taken THIS long to let yall know that HE'S HERE! Many more pics and birth details to come.

Merry Christmas to you all!!

I'll be holding a baby by Tuesday!

-Ezra was 4 days late and came 2 days before my scheduled induction
-Baby #2 is 2 days late and I have 2 days before my scheduled induction


If he's not here by Monday night at 5pm- I'll be induced. At my last appointment on.. hmm what day was that..Thursday I think.. I had not had any change in my dilation. I'm not super super super anxious.. but I feel like there is NOTHING else to do but HAVE A BABY. I'm just staring around the house... bored. bored. bored.

I'm ready for my baby.. but can I skip past the pain?

Just in case you forgot how small and precious a newborn is.. I've put up Ezra's newborn pictures. How SWEET! I can't believe how much my baby has grown- and can't wait to hold another one SO TINY!

39 weeks and READY FOR BABY!!

Ok peeps.. I'm getting a bit anxious now. My due date is 3 days away. I'm 2-3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. My OB didn't think I'd make it to last Wednesday (the 2nd) ... SOOOO I'm ready ANY DAY! I've been cramping a bit for weeks now.

My Mother in law is here to help for the month of December, our bags are packed for the hospital, car seat is in the car, baby's nursery is ready to go...

SOOOOO COME ON OUT BABY MANN!!!!!

giving

included-
christmas oven mitts-
christmas kitchen towels-
decorative plaque-
candy & other treats-
pinecones-
cookie cutters-
christmas cards-

I honestly have the most giving and wonderful neighbors. They are a sweet older couple who live across the street from us. They were never able to have children so told us that they 'adopt' others as their own. They are just so generous and thoughtful.. sending dinners and desserts over, coupons, new magazines, new clothes, and home decor and tons and tons and tons of other things. Last weekend we had just got back from finishing Ezra's Christmas shopping at Target and I see these two gifts sitting on my rocking chair. I was just touched again by how sweet these people are. Not that this is out of the ordinary for them.. but it warmed me in a big CHRISTMAS kind of way. :) Now I am inspired to give.

Thanksgiving--

We had a great Thanksgiving!! The food was so delicious.. I wish I could go back for seconds RIGHT NOW. My Mom did such a great job with everything. Here are some random pictures from the day!
Enjoy!

The baby bumps

My Brownie Ganache Torte

Ali's AMAZING pumpkin cake

The girls- (my sister playing the part of a pregnant woman.)

My fam- (I love this pic.. too bad Ezra cut off Tony's head.)

And ONE more preggo pic for fun!

As you can see we had a great time... Jenna, Ali and I ate so much and were so pooped by the evening that we ended up laid out on the floor. (Sorry no pics were taken.)

bambi and thumper

Brownie Ganache Torte with Raspberries

I'm planning to make this yummy looking dessert to bring to my Mom's for Thanksgiving! Two people in my family are on gluten-free diets, so this recipe is gluten-free. I got the recipe from Betty Crocker. I hope it turns out yummy!!

I'm SO excited for Thanksgiving!

I WANT THIS!

Ok- why do I SO want this? It's overpriced if you ask me.. and I don't need a popsicle maker that works in 7 minutes! Plus.. it's not even summer anymore. I guess it's appealing because both of my boys are popsicle LOVERS. It was an ad in Family Circle that got me.. great advertising. :) You can even make these with filling.. like orange flavored with a cream filling! YUMMM. You can find it on the Williams-Sonoma website.

Don't know why-but I WANT THIS!

37 WEEKS-FULL TERM!!

Thebump.com says...

At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world… meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you’ll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it’s like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life.

The fact that I'm listening to the -Sounds of the Seasons- channel and have already had my 1st Christmas light spotting scares me a little bit. Why? Because that means Christmas is almost here .. and that means that it's REALLY almost time for my little boy to come... and that is going to HURT. A LOT. I'm super excited though. I can't wait to ... have our 1st Christmas together as a family. Dress my son in Christmas outfits and snuggle him under the glowing Christmas tree!!

the 'my nose is running' face.

This is the face I've seen for almost the past week.
What a cutie though. I'm ready for him to be back to his normal healthy self.

One of those ... days !

cute.


As I said in my previous post.. Ezra has an ear infection.. and lets just say it's been a ROUGH few days.
Due to the extreme lack of sleep, I was a mess yesterday. A MESS people.
Grumpy, angry mean. I lost it.
Today started the same way, but I decided to not let the way my body feels determine my attitude. So I tried to stay as positive and kind as possible.
My family could use your prayers of healing and SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP!

Children... what is UP with them?!

Little Ez has an ear infection. He's had his times where he's felt terrible... but all I'm trying to ask you is what is with the energy these children have when they're sick?! If I was in his condition I wouldn't leave the couch. He's been up feeling yucky at least 3 times, the past 2 nights.. and now he isn't going down for his nap. Sleep you child. For the sake of your mother. Perhaps God is trying to prepare me for a newborn.

He is feeling better and that makes me happy. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Baby shower!

My baby shower was on Saturday!
It was so much fun.. my mom, Ali and Jenna did a great job hosting it. It was at the cabana at Ali's apartments and it was just beautiful. The games were fun, the food was delicious, and I'm so glad we got to celebrate this little baby. One sweet thing my mom planned was to have each guest decorate a square that will be sewn into a quilt for the baby.



Here I am about to take me and the baby off in flight with this big bouquet of balloons.

Jenna sandwiched between two preggos. Haha.

The girls at the craft table.

We had lots of fun and I want to thank the three of them for doing such an amazing job. I was spoiled!! At the end of the night we had to figure out what to do with the two balloon bouquets.. I took one home for Ezra and made a wish for my baby and let the other go flying into the dark night sky. (My moms idea.. hehe) Loved it!

PS- No idea WHY my font is underlined at the top?!

A SHOWER is coming!

My baby shower starts in an hour and 15 minutes! I'm so excited!

the NAME game

As many of you know we've had a tough time deciding on a name this time around. We've got a handful that we like.. and we figure when we do decide, we are going to wait to announce it until he is here.. which won't be more than 6 weeks! Smile!
My husband has made the bold prediction that I will have him on November 28th. All I have to say is thank goodness that is AFTER Thanksgiving. MMM. I am SO looking forward to stuffing myself. I just LOVE Thanksgiving food!

Yum Yum!

A package came for my BOYS!!

My Aunt has been hard at work quilting for my boys. The plan was to make the new baby a quilt. Of coarse she was too thoughtful and made Ezra a coordinating one .. and a cute little bag that came packed with a book and matchbox cars. I am in love with these quilts. I love the colors used and the ADORABLE fabric!! My favorite fabric of all of them is the vintage one in the top right corner of this blanket. Love it!

-Quilt for new baby boy-

-Quilt for Ezra-

(click images to enlarge)

Have I mentioned that I just NEED to learn to sew?!
Thank you so much Aunt Elaine for all of your HARD work!!!

Halloween 2009

We had a great Halloween. Ezra was of coarse a dinosaur.
The cutest one I've ever seen!
He was so interested in trick or treating with all the other kids in the neighborhood.. AND he started walking in to one lady's house. Haha. We went to a couple of houses in our neighborhood, but mostly all around my mom's.
What a cute kid. Wow- this was his last Halloween flying solo.. next year he'll have an 11 month old brother with him!

It got pretty cold and we decided to come in. I had been wanting carrot cake.. and had super cute Halloween cookie cutters..
so I decided we'd use them on the cake!

Haha. It was fun.. they were nothing to look at.. but they tasted SO DELICIOUS
and it was cute doing it with my boy.

And as icing on the cake..
here is a picture of baby's 1st Halloween!

HAHAHAHA. I know.. I know.. I'm CRAZY!

Happy Halloween Eve!

We had a great time carving pumpkins the other day at my Mom's house. Ezra picked out the pumpkin on the right, I carved it.. and Tony's pumpkin is the professional one on the left.
I'm a little bummed because tonight we were going to go to a Harvest Party for our church, but due to a huge storm it is canceled. Anyway-- Happy Halloween everyone!

Love this pic.. and I took it with my phone!?

33 weeks

What's going on over here?

-Today Tony and I are going to a breast feeding class.
-We're planning on the Pumpkin Patch this evening..if the weather and my energy level allow. ;)
-Praying right now that our car that didn't start this morning will be a cheap and quick fix!!
-Enjoying Ezra and his growing vocabulary, sense of humor and loving personality. (Right now he's making his grilled cheese pieces kiss each other.) Haha.
-Baby has hiccups and Mama is exhauuuusted.

This handy little sign was right in front of MY CAR today!

Nice! I typically wouldn't take a "reserved for expectant mothers" spot.. but today I needed it. We were only out for a bit, but I was SO exhausted afterward!! We had a fun day of relaxing and buying CHRISTMAS PRESENTS for Ezra. SO much fun! Then we had a great time at my Mom's for dinner. I have to admit.. after we put Ezra to bed.. Tony and I opened one of his games and played with it. Shhh don't tell him!

PS- I'm due TWO MONTHS from today!!

I love Autumn. I'm going to embrace it for all it's worth.. it goes by quickly enough when I'm not preoccupied preparing for baby. Here is my list this year.

CHECK:

Fall wreath on door.
Made yummy pumpkin bread/cake.
Made chicken noodle soup.


YET TO CHECK:

Go on a Saturday morning date with my family to walk through a State Park in Nashville.
Pick up a Pumpkin Spice Latte along the way.
Photograph Ezra in fall leaves.
Visit pumpkin patch.
Go to the harvest party at our church.
Take Ezra trick-or-treating.
Light delicious smelling candles.

I think that's about it. I LOVE this season! My Autumn officially ends the day after Thanksgiving. I plan to have my tree up, presents wrapped everything done done done for Christmas (and the baby) by Dec. 1st.

1st visit to Chuck E. Cheese!

First I must make a congratulations announcement. Today Ali and Zach found out that they're having a little GIRL!!!! CONGRATULATIONS to them!! I'm SOOOOOO excited for the pink-ness!

In other news .. On Sunday we went to a birthday party for a little boy in our church. It was Ezra's 1st trip to Chuck E. Cheese. He loved it and was running around and taking it allll in. He LOVED when he got to see him in person.. and give hugs and high fives. For those of you who know me well.. I must confess.. I think I washed his hands 3 or 4 times while we were there. Ugh.. just SO many germs. Yuck. It was cute to see Ezra with his little friends.. and I was super proud he didn't blow out the candles on the cake or open ANY of the presents! A true success!