Easy Peasy...

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy....errr watermelon squeezy....Ok, ok, more like

Hard Pard Watermelon OUCH!

We are home. We are adjusting. We are exhausted. We are over the moon for this little guy and feeling truly blessed. This baby boy is a miracle!

I would like to introduce the worlds most well behaved, smartest, funniest, cutest little boy....

Raleigh Myers Ramirez

Awesome doctor and nurse!

Mimi!

So I'll sum up the last few days as quick as possible because there is a small human about to wake up. Last Friday (July 19th) I woke up very pregnant and really wanting NOT to be pregnancy anymore. No dirty details here but in a rush we headed to the hospital around noon. I had not showered or washed my hair...side note, these were the only two things on my pregnancy plan. The. Only.Two!

We went in and expected to be sent home. I was actually embarrassed that we had even driven all the way to the hospital when I wasn't exactly in labor. Well, they kept us, dirty hair and all. 

Now here is where I will be honest. Labor was easy! No really it was a pleasant day filled with family and great nurses. Lots of laughs. Pushed for about 30 minutes. When it was over, and I genuinely meant it, I thanked everyone for a lovely day. The worst pain/distress I have been in was last summer when I caught Campylobacter, I will give that a 10 on the pain scale, labor was a 5. 

PS - I had an epidural:)

Aunts!

I love this picture! So much love!

Our family!

Raleigh boy!

We of course were so surprised the find out Raleigh was a boy. But we would have been surprised either way. We welcomed him into the world at 10:11pm weighing a whopping 7lbs 14 oz. 

Another danged ol' boy!

1 day old...and so handsome!

The hospital stay flew by in a foggy haze. The nurses and staff were so great I felt so taken care of. We were super ready to head home and on Sunday around noon they sent us out into the world...ready or not.

Welcome home banner waiting for us!

The week has really flown by. Still very sleepy. Once simple tasks like going to the bathroom turned into 10 minutes of all kinds of "other stuff". Our days, and nights, have been filled with lots of HGTV because I am attached to this little guy every 2-3 hours. No seriously, I have seen every episode of Love or List It and House Hunters.

Two of the last eight days were hard. Like, cry all day (and night) hard. This is were I'm going to be honest folks. Breastfeeding is far from fun! It's so so so very hard! And the uncontrollable crying that accompanies this is the crap cherry on top. So, it hurts when your "milk comes in". I was prepared for this part. What I wasn't prepared for was my baby freaking out because my boobs were as hard as rocks, un-freaking-latchable. Call in the troops you will loose your mind. I thought my baby was starving!! And I thought my boobs might actually explode! A little advice, surround yourself with positive knowledgeable people. People who will give advice in the most loving way. Or yell at you like you are in a workout class....You can do it! Push through. It only hurts for a little while! People like my mom and sister. No really if you need their number let me know. They saved me! 

Oh, and my husband. When it was bad....really really bad, he curled up behind me in bed and just held me. A good old fashioned spooning. No words, just an unspoken gesture reassuring me we are all in this together. If it takes a village to raise a child, Mr. R is my mayor. He has done everything I asked of him and more.

After we got over the two nights of hell we are feeling better. Raleigh is an eating machine, we are on a great schedule, and we are all so much happier. I am a realist, I know not every night is going to be easy but we are counting every night we are getting some sleep as a little victory.

Wearing sleep deprivation like a badge of honor.

George does not know why this new puppy is here.

Poppie and Raleigh  

Waving hello! 

I knew I would love this baby and my heart would grow tremendously BUT I had no idea how much. As I am typing I am crying because I had no idea I had this much love in my heart. And I am a lover! He is the most perfect precious angel and I feel like God has truly given us a gift. I feel so honored to be his mama.

I cannot get enough of his little expressions. His sounds. His hiccups. His loud burps. His louder toots. The yawns. The squeaks. This child can do no wrong. Even during the "night of hell" Mr. R and I just started laughing because his face was so stinking cute even when he was screaming his head off.

These are some photos from this last week. He gets cuter every day doesn't he? So many people love Raleigh. We are so blessed to have so many friends and family so close. 

Love!

Raleigh's best friend Ily was born one week after him.

So many cousins!

"when is he leaving?"

We are so in love and so happy! A huge thank you to all of the calls and texts and food that has been brought by the house. Ok, thats all I got for now. I'm not proofing this post so forgive any typing errors. Lot's of love!

Happy Baby!

Eeek! Nursery Reveal!

Can you hear it? That is me squealing with joy! Mainly because it is finished before the baby makes it's official appearance. And not a moment too soon! We had a long eventful night and I woke up this morning telling Mr. R we had to hang the last thing on the wall. Not, let's install a car seat or lets pack a bag. He told me my priorities were way off BUT posting these photos were on my "before baby comes" to do list.


Most people are shocked when they find out we don't know the sex of the baby. Like raised eyebrows with disbelief and shock. I don't think it is that uncommon but apparently we are not the norm. After they wipe the disappointment off their face the next question is....and it's usually with a nasty tone too, "So how will you decorate the nursery.....yellow?" So for all of you "yellow is the only gender neutral color" haters out there I will explain how this room evolved. And you know exactly who you are!

It started with the grey and white curtains to be perfectly honest. I have been eyeing these guys for almost a year. We didn't exactly know when would be bringing home a baby but I did know that these curtains would be in this house somewhere. Y'all think I am kidding but I'm not. The wall color was next. I wanted to room to be bold so I chose a bright turquoise. Again, this was way before we were even pregnant. And so it evolved from there. The grey and zebra rug was next and then everything else just kind of fell into place. There is a subtle animal theme but not in your face. It's just a nice space that will grow with baby OR transition into an office OR transition into a guest room.

The most shocking experience in all of this baby making is what a racket it all is. Cribs are stupid expensive! Baby bedding is tacky! Glider vs. Rocker....who cares they are mostly hideous! Things that they tell you you MUST have are so ugly and big...and usually pink or blue...with a bunny on it!!!!

Here's a rundown of what we got going in here, if you are at all curious.

Crib - Babyletto Hudson
*Rocker - Nurseryworks Sleepytime Rocker
*Rug - Pottery Barn Kids
*Curtains - Crate and Barrel
Bedding - Layla Grayce
Dresser - Vintage via Craigslist
Side table - Vintage via Granbury TX
Hamper - Ross
Light fixture - Lowes
Lamps - Thrift Town and spray painted, shades from Target
Frames - Thrift Town and Marshall's
Art - Vintage paper, cards, and original prints that I whipped up on the computer and printed for a whopping $1.09
Elephant head - hostess shower gift from Etsy
Vintage metal letter - wedding present that has been hanging outside at the farm since November 2011
Pouf - Target
Orange stool - Hico Antique fair.....and PS it was $30!

*I did splurge a little on a few items. Nothing crazy, I could never justify spending a $1,000 on a chair...ever! My only justification for these was to purchase items that could work in any room. I am constantly moving things from one room to another so I didn't want to have a pastel gingham rocker that I would not use in any other space in my house. Nothing against pastel gingham but it's not a color scheme or pattern I usually decorate with. So any of these items could be moved...besides the crib obviously. Hopefully we will have that baby bed in rotation for a few years:)

Some of my very favorite things in the room are the little things I didn't even register for. The quilt made by my sweet friend Amanda....just perfect. The card board mini dear head my sister picked up on a trip down to Austin. Of course the elephant head but I have been eyeing faux taxidermy for years! The little wood carved elephant I found at an antique store in Colleyville along with the brass lion. The E.E. Cummings poem that I read last year and couldn't get out of my head, felt appropriate for the space.

Things you wont find in this room, judge me if you must...
Diaper genie: There is only one place for a poopie diaper and that is in the outside trashcan....period! I don't care if it is 4am, poop goes outside!

I hope y'all like it. For some reason I just knew this is what I wanted to do in a babies room. It feels good and cozy and right for our family. A huge thank you to my dear friend Jim Martin who came over to photograph the nursery for me today. I fully understand how insane it is but I really wanted some nice shots before laborpalooza begins in the next few days....eeeerrrr hours maybe. And the best thing about being friends with a photographer is they work for beer.

Jim Martin

We don't know when exactly this baby is coming but he/she coming soon. I think I might have one more post in me before I go into labor. PS we have decided on names and they are somewhere hidden in the top picture. See if you can find them. We are not sharing with the world until we meet our little bundle. Yay!

Waiting for baby!