Aunted, again.

Miss Emily Ann made her grand debut!

   

09.03.2013 // 7lb, 13oz // 19"

 

Heaven is bringing its angel baby home

Today Heaven is taking an angel home. Sweet Amelia Grace's path is unfolding differently than we had all been hoping and praying, but she will be in a better place.

Amelia's family has been close with our family for as long as I can remember, her mom and my brother grew up together and Amelia's grandma and my mom were friends for even longer. Tori announced her pregnancy shortly after Brandin & Courtney announced there's, and the anticipation of a third generation of friends bustled.

Heart-breakingly, it was announced that Amelia had a heart defect and liquid on her lungs and probably wouldn't even make it full term. Amelia proved her doctors wrong and made her grand debut into this world January 13th and has been a fighter ever since.

Unfortunately, diagnosed at birth with Down Syndrome and a life-threatening heart defect, it has been no easy feat. Her short life has had it's fair share of high's and low's, and as we learned last night, God has different plans for her than we all had hoped. I ask that today you keep Amelia and her family in your thoughts, and pray that she has a painless return back up to Heaven where she may watch over all of us.

Sweet Amelia Grace, you have taught us more about miracles in your short time than we may have ever learned without you!

(A side note I wanted to mention that struck me as interesting - Amelia was born 1/13 at 2:22, my niece Olivia was born 2/22 at 1:13. I take this as a sign that this precious baby will forever be watching over my niece and keeping her in good hands!)

Top 2 Tuesday : Baby Names

It's time for another Top 2 Tuesday with Taylor over at The Undomestic Momma. This weeks topic is baby names, because miss Tay just announced she is expecting another! (Yay!)

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been dreaming up names for future babes (at that time, my Barbie's got all of my favorite names!)

Girls
1. Addeline Rae - since I'll be married off, I'd love to give my lil girl my last name (Ray) as her middle name! Plus I love the thought of yellin "ADDY RAE IT'S TIME TO COME INSIDE!" off my front porch haha! It's so adorable and country-soundin!

2. Lucille Ann - I love older names, my mom came up with this one while we were waiting for Baby Olivia to make her debut and it's stuck! Lucille was my great grandma's middle name, and Ann was my grandma's middle name (I almost was named Carla Ann - my grandpa's middle name is Carl, but my parents didn't think I looked like a Carla... I agree!) Plus, in my mind, a little pig-tailed Lucy is just too cute for words

I also like Presley or Anniston as girls names, but I don't want people to think I named my kid after Elvis... or Jennifer!! Heather over at Dooce got me obsessed with Marlo too but Chrischris hates that!

Boys
1. Easton Nickolas - I think Easton is so cute, and Nickolas is a mandatory middle name coming from Chrischris' side of the family!

2. Huckleberry Finnigan - I'm just kidding here. Totally kidding, I just couldn't think of any of the other boys names I've liked =)

Chris is hooked on Aiden, but I don't like how popular it is. He also likes Collin too, which is sort of growin on me!

Hurry over to Taylor's blog and play along... you know I will be makin my McLinky rounds to see what everyone else picked!

Olivia Lauren

Bloggie buddies, I want to introduce you to my newest obsession...

Baby Olivia

She was born today at 1:13pm, weighing in at a healthy 8lbs, 4oz. The new parents are doing wonderfully, but quite wore out!

That's my mom in the photo, the new grandma! I will post more pictures soon, but I can't find my camera cord right now! 

Another update!

Looks like little miss Papaya is just as stubborn as the rest of our family. This is how the day's played out so far
11:30pm (last night): B texted me to say that Courtney were having contractions 5-6min apart so they were heading to the hospital to see if it was time.
3:15am: Another text from Brandin, they were admitted, Courtney is at 6cm
6:30am: I checked in to see how it was going, Brandin said everything was good til Courtney got the epidural, she had been puking ever since, and no progress
9:15am: Still stuck at 6cm
10:04am: Moved along to 7cm, they gave Courtney a little more epidural (she was given too much the first time, that's why she got sick)

Thanks for all the happy thoughts, will keep you updated!

Papaya Rose will be here soon!

I feel I should preface this post by saying Papaya Rose is not going to be her real name. It was a joke name I came up with about halfway through Courtney's pregnancy, and it has sort of stuck. (Mama & Daddy haven't decided on a name/aren't telling until she is born).

 

(print by SycamoreStreetPress, found on etsy here)

I'm sure you are all familiar with Papaya, I posted about her here when they found out she was a girl, here when I was looking around for gifts, and here when we threw her a shower!

My brother emailed me today to say that Courtney is half effaced, and 2-3cm dilated!! I'm not exactly sure what all this means... BUT the doctor says the baby will be here by Thursday! Please keep Courtney & Papaya in your thoughts and lets hope for a fast, smooth, healthy delivery whenever she decides to make her grand debut!

I can't wait to be an aunt! Any and all suggestions are welcomed - aside from babysitting gigs, I haven't had much experience with little babes! I was the youngest in my family!

T-1 to Papaya's shower

The noodle has a nickname. She's not even here yet, and my niece is called Papaya by nearly half of our family friends! It started as a joke when I threatened mama-to-be that they didn't choose a name soon I was going to name her, and it was going to be something outrageous and CelebriTot-inspired!

That's where Papaya Rose came in. It was either that or Boisenberry Blou! We started referring to Courtney's bump as Papaya as a joke, and now it's kind of stuck! You have to admit, there could be worse nicknames though!

Anyways, Papaya's shower is tomorrow! I have LOVED planning this, like seriously I've had so much fun. I wanted to share some of the goodies with you.

Candy bar! We sort of lucked out, and with the Valentines day right around the corner we found TONS of options of things that match the shower colors - pink, dark pink/red, and a springy green (these colors, and brown, are the colors of the nursery!)

These are part of the favors - aren't these little jars ADORABLE?! We filled them with 3 shades of pink M&M's and tied a green ribbon around the top.

Jones Soda's that will be going in a bucket full of ice - I can't remember the exact flavors- I want to say .

we got Cream Soda (clear/white), FuFu Berry (pink) and Apple (green).

I just wanted to give ya'll a sneak peek! I've got a TON to do today, and will be taking lots of pictures tomorrow so I will definately have a lot to share! EEeeee -I can't wait! I am so excited there will be a little one in the family!

Here's a cute picture of the parents-to-be from a few years ago. Aren't they so cute?! Since I've never "introduced" them on my blog; that's my brother, Brandin and his my sister-in-law, Courtney.... they're so excited for lil noodle to get here!

Prepping for the little noodle

If you have followed my blog for a lil while, you know that this lil macaroni is on her way.

And with the noodle coming in February, January brings a baby shower and lots of cutesy baby gifts! I've been scouring the web to find original, meaningful gifts for her. With the pre-req that they are absolutely adorable of course. What kind of aunt would I be if I got her non-adorable things!

Since it seems every third woman I meet is a pregger, I though I would share my finds!

1. Girard Alphabet Blocks

Eco-friendly, non-toxic and a great color combo. What more could I ask for?! These are available at the Museum of Modern Art's webstore for $120.

2. Birth Date Print 

This would go great on a nursery wall! It's available for $25 in gracehesterdesign's etsy shop.

3. BabyLegs' leg warmers gift set 

Who doesn't love those chunky baby thighs in cute lil leg warmers...  plus it's MUCH easier to change a poopie one with these on then having to take whole tights/pants off! This gift set comes with 3 pairs, and are on sale for $30 from the BabyLegs' website (different color combos available!)

4. Suprise Sock Monkey 

This little charmer isn't your typical sock monkey. These lil guys are handmade by artists at Fresh Art, New York-based non-profit organization that provides personal development and entrepreneurial opportunities to people with special needs. The fact that no two monkies are the same makes them even more appealing! I originally saw these on Anthropologie's website but have looked into the organization and the monkeys are also available for purchase through FreshArt's website as well, for $30

5. My Little Button boots

Originally, I wanted to get the lil squirt a pair of baby Uggs, however seeing they were a tad pricey, and would probably get grown out of rather quickly, I thought these (while slightly cheaper) were equally as adorable! They are available in six different colors from HipKnotz for $24-$28 (depending on size)

Well, I don't know about you but that's all the cuteness I can handle for one day. HA only kidding, unfortunately I need to get to work on the invites for said shower, otherwise the little peanut will be very upset when she's born and her mommy & daddy have no supplies because Auntie Chelsea didn't follow through with the party!

It's a girl!

I wanted to give you the warning now - prepare for lots of pink and baby related posts, as I have a niece on the way! (Congrats big brother!)

I've been anxiously awaiting yesterday to find out whether I'd become a first-time aunt to a blue or a pink. And I'm SO excited to say the macaroni-with-a-heartbeat is a pink!

There she is, waving, probably to me because she already knows I will spoil her in the very near future! Truth be told, I don't know how they can recognize a boy from a girl. You could probably give me an ultrasound of a horse and I wouldn't know the difference. But I printed off a (better) ultrasound photo of her darling little head and body and have had it on my desk at work every since I found out at 8am yesterday!

I'm so excited for the new parents, they will be celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary this month and I know they will be great parents with a little one come February!

Babies and beaches

Lot's of baby bumps these days, a few girls at work are expecting as well as my sister-in-law. I got to embrace all the baby cuteness today while designing up shower invitations for a co-worker.
Sorry, I went ahead and blanked out the rsvp so I guess you bloglanders can't join us! =) haha Her nursery is decorated in these colors, with dandelions, bunnies & dragonflies - super cute! I've always loved designing invitations!

Wednesday my brother and his wife go to the doctor to find out if they will be having a pink or a blue.... I'm slightly partial to a girl, but I'm ecstatic to be an aunt either way. They aren't due to February though, so I've still got plenty of time to practice and get ready!

Instead of packin a baby bump I'm packing luggage soon! The cruise countdown is down to 17 days and I couldn't be more ready! Yesterday, fall showed up with a vengeance here in Indy, and I'm pretty sure he's planning on sticking around. Real windy and chilly weather lately. I'll be sure to brag plenty about our nice, WARM weather aboard the Carnival Liberty in 2 and a half weeks!!