Brady's Nursery is All Done!

Ever since we found out we were having a baby boy, I have been anxious to decorate his room! Before we found out what we were having, we bought our crib and changer because we found what we liked and they seem to be running low since they were on sale, so we went ahead and bought these two pieces. We loved this changer because we knew that we could easily turn it into storage for books/toys when he gets older. The baskets have covers (sewn by a friend from work) that have the fabric that is part of his bedding. Then, we decided to stain a dresser that we already had to match the crib and changer--we really love how the stain turned out, and we were pretty hesitant about it since it was both of our first staining projects! As far as baby boy bedding, it was NOT easy to find! When we found out we were having a boy, we decided we wanted to have green and blue in his room with patterns instead of a theme. Well, there was a lot of searching that happened--online, fabric stores, baby stores, etc.--literally, we could find three sets to choose from that were blue and green that just used patterns instead of themes. If anyone is in the market for a business idea, baby boy bedding just might be the ticket! After several days of searching online, my stepmom, Kelly, found the Sweet Kyla website, and we fell in love with the Cabana set. This company is based in Canada, and they are SUPER sweet to work with...we highly recommend them! Instead of ordering a set, we ordered the pieces that we wanted--coverlet, bedskirt, lamp shade and valance--since we decided to go with the sage breathable bumper. As far as Brady's letters go, I wanted to find more ways to bring in the fabrics in his bedding since we were not going with the tradition bumper. So, I ordered some of his bedding fabric and created the letters myself--it was really actually fun to make them! The other cute things that you see around are gifts that we have been given along the way--a diaper cake, a diaper tricycle, a diaper wreath, picture frame with his name, cross with his name, Onesie with his name, etc. We are so thankful for the fabulous gifts that our friends and family have given us for baby Brady!

B-R-A-D-Y...where did this name come from?

Prior to having out anatomy ultrasound, we had fun talking about name possibilities, making lists, numbering our favorites, etc. It was definitely harder for us to come up with a list of girl names--we had a list and narrowed it down, but we weren't set on the same favorite. When it came to boy names, we had talked about 'Brady' for over six years! (When we were dating, Nathan heard the name and mentioned it to me. I really liked it a lot and hadn't heard it at that point. Since then, we have talked about the name off and on while always saying that it would be fun to have a boy and be able to use the name since we still loved it after six years!) However, we still wanted to make sure, so we came up with a list of other boy names to consider. We were considering other boy names, but we both kept coming back to 'Brady' as our favorite. So, as soon as we found out we were having a little boy, we were sure his name would be Brady Edward.

Since 'Brady' is not a family name, we decided to have a family middle name of 'Edward.' Nathan's middle name is Edward named after his sweet grandfather Edward Tie. Grandad Tie passed away in September 2009, and we wanted his name to carry on, so we were set on Brady's middle name pretty easily!

When we were searching for names, I came across a fabulous website that I LOVED! There are lots of baby name websites out there, but this one kind of blew me away. As I typed in each name that we were considering, it would come up with a short meaning along with my favorite two features..."If you like this name, what about these names"...AND "Suggested boy/girl sibling names." The bizarre thing about this is that almost EVERY time we typed in a name, the other names that we were considering were listed under the "If you like this name, what about these names." Then, I was again surprised to find the opposite sex names that we liked under the "Suggested boy/girl sibling names." If you have any names that you like, you should try it out--it was CRAZY!

(Pictured above: Brady's wall letters--one of my little projects that I finished over the weekend! The fabric is also in his bedding to be shown later.)

A Semi-Reveal Night

As soon as we found out we were having a boy, we told our parents! But, we decided to wait until our next gathering with Nathan's extended family to have a semi-reveal night with them. To tell his family that we were having a baby BOY, we made blue cupcakes with lots of white icing (to cover the blue), so they didn't know until the bit into the cupcake. It was pretty exciting and fun to see them all find out at the same time! Of course, we HAD to record this moment--too much excitement to miss out with the video :)

Finding Out We Are Having a Boy...

When I was 18 weeks (on the dot) pregnant, we went in for our anatomy ultrasound on February 10th! Thankfully, I didn't have crazy dreams that kept me up all night about if we were having a boy or a girl, but I was pretty anxious to find out. The week before the ultrasound, I asked Nathan if he had a feeling one way or the other, and he was thinking girl. I really didn't know if I had a feeling--I think I had wanted a girl for a long time but had always been surrounded by boys (3 brothers and the cousins that lived near us were all boys), so I was thinking I was probably destined to have a boy. When we found out we were having a boy, it took me by surprise because I thought just maybe I would have a girl, but I have heard so many great things about the mother/son bond, so I am excited to see what that's all about! I am really excited now, and I know that God knows exactly what He is doing, so here we go...life with a baby boy begins in just 14 1/2 weeks or so :)