The Nursery

Well we have pretty much finished up Bryson's room with the exception of the odd & end things. I just love to go and sit in his room & look! It's my new favorite room in the house!

The before...well its not technically the true before because we had already painted the walls & added the furniture in

His bed & monkey bedding

The painted letters from Aunt April & Uncle Jared

The letters over his bed

I made this for less than $5 :)

His Monkey Mural <3 A huge thanks to our friend Damian Holder! He hand painted the monkeys & the tree on the wall. This picture just does not do it justice! We couldn't be happier with the mural!

His curtains made by Pam Temple. We couldn't find the perfect curtains, so I decided to take the bed skirt & have the back that is against the wall made into curtains. They turned out so good & of course match better than any other curtains we could of found!

Our comfy glider & ottoman (in half of the picture) thanks to my sweet Aunt Laura & Uncle Bert. Of course Mr. Elmer loves the glider! Every time one of us sits in it Elmer thinks he should too! Luckily there will be plenty of room for Mommy/Daddy, Bryson & Elmer. I mean how could you not just love that face??

26 week update

I cant believe its half way through September! Looks like December will be here before we know it! I love having Fridays off & today I bought lots of goodies for Bryson! The BEST part was they were all on sale! I have found my new favorite store thanks to Melissa! It's called "Crazy 8"...if you have kids or buy presents for a kid or baby its a MUST! I bought 4 coats, a pair of jeans, a pair of corduroys, a dress, leggings, & a shirt for $40 today!! (No, it's not all for Bryson ;) Needless to say I will be returning very soon for more awesome deals!  

Fleece Coat for Bryson for $3.99

We went shopping last weekend to find the paint for the monkey mural that will be on the wall in Bryson's room & I stumbled upon these cute inexpensive letters & a cute monkey. I just had to have them to make something for Bryson. 

The final project! Somehow my "before pictures" were erased, but oh well...the letters were just plain ole boring wood colored. We decided to hang it on the outside of his door!

The belly is growing...26 weeks!

Crazy Kids!

Friday afternoon I picked up my good friends Jennifer & Melissa's kids from school. I just love these kids to death & they love coming to our house to play. They were playing in the living room & all the sudden all 3 of them came into the den (where I was) & said, "now we look just like you!"

Jacob, Little Justin & Kayleigh

I just thought this was too cute! Needless to say these kiddos always make me smile! I just love them!

Pregnancy Savings ;)

Well we are almost half way through Week 25. Time is flying by us! Our sweet Bryson could be here in 12 weeks! We have all of his furniture & his room is finished except for the odd & end stuff & his monkey mural hasn't been started yet! (Pictures of his room are to come) Today, Justin & I did some shopping & it actually turned out to be some bargain shopping (MY FAVORITE! It makes me feel better about spending the money ;)

We have been looking for the PERFECT glider. Well we thought we were ahead of the game, but evidently you should purchase a glider as soon as you find out you are pregnant if you want a special wood & special fabric! We found a glider we LOVED but it was just too big, so we decided against it. So I had looked at the gliders online at "Babies R Us" and found one but wanted to sit in it first before we bought it. We couldn't find it (so we thought) so we found something else. We knew we wanted cherry wood to match his furniture, but the fabric could be dark tan, brown or green. Well after we matched it all we agreed on dark tan or green. So we asked the lady if we could get this glider in those specific colors & the sign said "Delivery in 7-10 business days" so we were like that's perfect! I asked about the delivery & she told me the estimated date was approx. 12-14 weeks (beginning to mid Dec) I was quickly told her that wasn't going to work! What if the glider comes after Bryson? I just knew it would require us to put it together!! What if it comes when we are at the hospital & it sits outside for a couple days? So we asked how do we get the 7-10 business day delivery & she told us we had to get the the exact fabric & wood as the floor model. Back to "square one" we were, then we discovered the glider & ottoman combo that I had originally seen online & it came in cherry wood & dark tan fabric & sat very nicely!! So needless to say it was the winner!

(Not the best picture of the Glider & Ottoman)

But best of all we had a 20% off coupon & a $10 gift card for registering at "Babies R Us" so we saved $75!! :)

I've also had a hard time getting comfortable when its time to go to bed. Everyone including the Dr. told me to try the "Pregnancy Pillow". I have been using a spare pillow, but as my belly grows it just wasn't doing the trick for me. So, I broke down today & bought the "Preggle Body Pillow". I haven't used it yet, so tonight will be the test! We also had a $10 off coupon if you spent $30 or more. The pillow was originally $54.99, so we ended up paying right at $46 with the coupon & tax!

The "Preggle Body Pillow"

I think my pillow will get a lot of use!! Looks like it will have a new owner during the day while we are at work!! ;)

I also bought stuff to make a cute sign to hang on Bryson's door! Pictures of my project will come soon!

6 Months...Where has time gone?

Thursday, September 1st- 24 weeks (6 months)

It seems like we just found out we were having a baby & now I'm already 6 months pregnant!!! Time is flying by but we are getting more & more excited & anxious to meet Bryson. You can surely tell I am pregnant now! Pregnancy hasnt been too bad for me, so unless labor is just awful there will be more McCowan babies to come (in several years that is!!!)

No doubt there is a baby bump now!

My next appointment is September 30th. Its the diabetes test for the next appointment. I will have to have my blood drawn again...my least favorite part, but hopefully it will go as well as it did last time!

Back Tracking a Bit (part 3)

Friday, July 29th- Boy or Girl...The BIG Ultrasound! 19 weeks Justin & I had been waiting for this day to come since we found out we were having a baby! Something told me that "Baby McCowan" was a boy, but Daddy (Justin) thought otherwise! Everyone had told me to eat something sugary & drink some caffeine before the ultrasound! I thought a Mountain Dew would be just perfect especially after a night of not much sleep due to the excitement of finding out what we were having!!
The Ultrasound Tech asked us if we would like to know what the sex was & we both quickly said "YES!" So she prepped me for the ultrasound & literally sets the gadget on my stomach & HE was showing us that he was indeed a he! She pulled the gadget away & said "You did say you wanted to know what the sex was...correct?" I said "I saw that! It's a BOY!!"

He was not shy at all!

At that moment we both said "We have a Bryson Michael!" Justin just knew it was a girl, but he was VERY happy with it being a boy! After Bryson showed us his stuff he quickly decided that he had enough of "smiling for the camera" & rolled over so the ultrasound tech couldn't see the rest of all the features & body parts she wanted to see. So she told us when we come back in a month we will have another ultrasound! It sounded great to us! It was a chance to see our sweet Bryson again & get more pictures of his cute self!

Our Sweet Bryson Michel <3

We had planned a brunch after the ultrasound with our parents & good friends. We planned to meet at IHOP at 11am, but our appointment went over due to stubborn Mr. Bryson so we were a little late.

One side of the table: Mike, Teresa, Richard, Beth

The other side of the table: Howard, Nana, Josh, Melissa, April

We had decided that we were going to tell everyone the sex of "Baby McCowan" by handing out candy bars made by "Aunt Melissa" & we couldn't figure out how we were going to announce the name so "Aunt April" came up with the idea of writing it on a pancake since we were eating breakfast! We thought that the candy bar idea would give it away! But boy were we wrong! Uncle Josh was the only one to figure it out (besides April & Melissa because they knew what our ideas were of how to reveal the sex). Uncle Josh said "It's a boy because my candy bar has nuts!!" Everyone quickly said "Joshua!! Hush your mouth! That has nothing to do with it!" Well he was exactly right!!

The cute candy bars made by Aunt Melissa!

(We did some boy & some girl so we were prepared either way!)

The revealing of "Baby Boy McCowans" name!

(This is when the majority of the table finally realized it was indeed a boy!)

Thanks to the great idea from Aunt April

The Happy Parents

The Whole Gang :)

Thursday, August 11th- 21 weeks

The belly is starting to show more & more

Friday, August 26th- Doctors appointment for ultrasound #2. 23 weeks

We had our routine visit but had to have another ultrasound because Bryson was stubborn & didn't want us to see all of his body parts & features. They wanted to see all 4 chambers of his heart, his diaphram & his lips. We saw the heart & the diaphram, but he was yet again stubborn (he gets this honest from Mommy & Daddy) So the ultrasound tech asked me if I could run around the room & do some jumping jacks for a few minutes. I felt like a complete idiot but it worked. I layed back down and Bryson was looking right at us! He looks JUST like his Daddy! The picture isn't all the best, but on the screen it was clear as can be!

Bryson Michael McCowan

How could you not just fall in love with that face??

Back Tracking a Bit (part 2)

After we told our parents we then told our grandparent & family, but they had to swear to secrecy until we shared the news! Luckily I wasn't sick & only felt nauseous a couple times, so it was a lot easier to keep quiet!

Friday, May 13th- Our First Doctors Appointment

My doctors office wont see you until you are 8 weeks pregnant unless you have had previous issues or have heart trouble. We were very excited about our first visit. To comfirm the pregnancy they also do an ultrasound, unlike most doctors offices. They confirmed they we did indeed have a little one in the works! Twins is common in my family & Justin immediatly asked "How many are there??" The doctor quickly said "Oh, Just One!"

Baby McCowan at 8 weeks 1 day. The heart rate was 169 beats per minute which was great!

A little sibling love <3



We decided we werent going to announce it to the world or make it "Facebook Offical" as we call it until I was 12 weeks (3 months) pregnant.

As most of yall know....Im not a fan of going to the doctor & anything dealing with blood. Well I have quickly gotten over my fear of going to the doctor, but the whole blood issue was still on my mind. At 11 weeks they have to draw blood & run a lot of tests. I usually pass out & fall in the floor (no joke!) when I get my blood drawn, so I was so scared that I was going to pass out this time. Luckily I told my nurse that I was an awful patient when it came to getting my blood drawn. She assured me everything would be ok if I just laid down. Sure enough she was right! So now maybe I am getting over the fear of my blood being drawn! ;)

Thursday, June 9th- 12 weeks along!

Justin & I decided to make it offical & we no longer kept our wonderful news a secret! We posted it on facebook & told anyone & everyone!

A little over 13 weeks along. I notice the "bump" but most people at this point couldnt.

We made lists of names & debated & debated over what "Baby McCowan" was going to be named. We had decided that the day we found out if it was a boy or girl we needed a name besides "Baby McCowan." Justin's only request was if it was a boy it HAD to have the middle name Michael since its his middle name & his dads middle name. I said I could handle that! We finally narrowed it down to 3 boy names & 3 girl names. After saying the names out loud over & over again we were able to come up with 1 boy & 1 girl name.

Back Tracking a Bit (part 1)

Monday, April 25th- Something was telling me that "something just wasn't right," so I decided to take a pregnancy test. The test correctly proved that my suspicions were right. IT WAS POSITIVE. I quickly ran & called Justin (he had just left to go to work literally 5 minutes before). He answered & immediately asked what was wrong because I never call him that early in the morning. We talked for a few seconds & he said "OK, Meredith I know something is wrong because you just don't call me for no reason at 7am!" I said "Well....you are right! I hope you are ready to be a Daddy!!" We talked for a few minutes after he got over the surprise. I took a picture of the pregnancy test and sent it to him so he had proof, but as we all know Justin...that wasn't good enough he needed REAL proof, so as soon as we got home from work I had to take another test so he could see it with his own eyes! Needless to say it was positive too!

We plotted & plotted on when to tell our parents. We decided that Mother's Day wasn't too far away so that would be a perfect time to tell them. (Justin usually isn't very good at keeping secrets, but he sure proved me wrong this time!!! I did threaten to hurt him if he spoke a word of this to our parents or family!!)

Sunday, May 8th- Happy Mother's Day! We knew this Mother's Day would be no Mother's Day to ever forget. We went out to dinner with both of our moms & decided to go open gifts at my Nana's house because there were several people at the restuarant that we knew. We wanted to tell our parents but we werent ready to tell everyone yet. So we went to my Nana's and they opened there "real" gifts & my step-dad, Howard, who doesn't miss a thing, quickly reminded me that there was still 2 more gifts to be opened. So, we gave our moms the "other" gift.

Our good friend, Melissa, found these cute frames for us to share the news & I wrote a poem to put in the frame since we didn't have an ultrasound picture yet. The poem says:

I would love to give you a kiss

And make it a special Mother's Day wish,

But the world has not yet seen my face.

I can't wait for the day of your sweet embrace.

I'm a special gift from above

Who will always love a grandma's hug!

I will meet you in December,

And it will always be a day for you to remember.

I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day

Because "Baby McCowan" is on the way!

Both of our moms, Beth & Teresa, were very shocked but VERY happy!

Meredith's Mom, Beth

Justin's Mom, Teresa

(These aren't the best pictures of them, but we were trying to take them with out being so obvious)



Hey Friends & Family!

Hello!! Everyone has been asking up for updates & pictures along the way, so we thought this would be the easiest way to share our news with everyone. As its no secret now...The McCowan family is gaining a new family member come December. I am going to back track some with the pregnancy updates & photos so everyone can join "Our Pregnancy Journey."