grey's nursery

Yes, I do still have this blog! I have so many things I want to write about (including Grey's birth story), but it's so hard to find time to do it all! I'll start with his nursery and let the photos do most of the talking!

I love how his room turned out. It's so bright and clean...and was pretty cheap too! Most of the items in the room were either made by me, refurbished, or were things we already had. The room was already painted white because it used to be my office so that was one less thing to check off our to do list!

I painted the two items on the left and made the yarn wall hanging.

These shelves were already hanging in my office. They were filled with books, but we took the majority of them down. I still have a few other items I want to add to them, but still haven't yet!

This was a family globe that I've had and I added the lettering. Originally, I had planned to use this in Crew's room when he was born, but we ran out of space!

The mobile is actually something I didn't make! It was from Nifty Neat on Etsy. The shop owner is so friendly and helpful! Be sure to check them out!

Blue cart from Ikea

Pillow was on clearance at Target and chair was from Amazon | Black blackout curtains from Amazon

Crib is from Ikea and I made the green tassels. Inspired from here

I painted the lettered statement wall inspired from A Beautiful Mess
"i love you in the morning and in the afternoon. i love you in the evening and underneath the moon."

The blue dresser was purchased from Craigslist for around $60, I believe. I painted it blue and polished the brass hardware. It's one of my favorite things in the room!

 Changing pad cover from KB Cute on Etsy

The door hanger was made by my brother, Cody, his fiance, Brittney, and my mom for our hospital stay!

Faux sheepskin rug from Amazon

The card catalog was something we already had in my office. There was no way I was getting rid of it! It was from the library at the church where my parents grew up and were married. I love it!

There are still two things I've painted that we haven't hung on the wall yet. One day! There's also a piece on the wall next to the closet from friends and it reads "The best thing about me is you." Love it!

All photos courtesy of Kelly Ginn Photography

meet our second son!

Grey Ransom Kassner

June 11, 2015

8lbs 4oz

19 3/4 in

Our family couldn't be happier to have this sweet, precious boy in our lives now. He's already two weeks old somehow and growing so quickly. I'll be sharing his birth story on the blog as soon as we get the birth photos back from the photographer!

31-37 weeks bumpdate: baby #2

It hardly seems possible that we're two weeks away from meeting baby #2. Didn't we just find out we were pregnant?! 

When people ask if we're ready, we say yes and no. No because his room isn't ready, all the clothes aren't washed, all the deep cleaning and house projects aren't finished...and the list goes on. (Literally, my to do list goes on forever...like painting our front door before he's born. Really? Who has time for that?!) But at the same time, I'm ready to meet him. I'm ready for heartburn to go away. I'm ready to at least be able to get comfortable when laying in bed, even if our sleep drastically decreases, at least I'll be comfortable! 

Crew was 9 lbs, 5 oz and I have a feeling Grey will be a big boy too. My belly is pretty close to the same size as I was with Crew and boy does it feel like he's huge when he's stretching his feet and legs up against my ribs! With Crew I gained 40 lbs and this time I hadn't been keeping up with my weight so I asked the doctor last week what my total gain was so far. It was only 26 lbs! I 100% attribute that to chasing Crew around and lifting that little 33 lb chunk all the time! I joke all the time and say that my water is going to break one of these days when I'm picking Crew up because I have to strain so hard! Ha! I have played it in my mind a hundred times!

I told my doctor last week (36 week check up) that I thought Grey had dropped some because I could feel his movements much lower than I had been able to. Well I was right and he's pretty low. No dilation yet though! We'll see if I've made any progress this Friday!

As far as symptoms lately, of course there is constant heartburn. (Never really had this with Crew) I feel like I just look at food and my chest starts burning! I had braxton hicks a lot around 33-44 weeks and then they went away until this past week. Braxton hicks, sharp pains and cramps have been going on quite often the past several days. (Trying not to think anything of it all because I don't want to psych myself out thinking that he's going to come early!) I also have been getting so much less sleep lately! A lot of it is because Grey is a night owl! He kicks and stretches all through the night and his feet have been up in my ribs 24/7. He's already preparing me for getting back on a newborn's sleep schedule! I've been just so exhausted lately and take advantage of Crew's nap time on my two days off a week. I hope this all doesn't come across as complaining! I really have such easy pregnancies and am so thankful for that! I can't wait to meet this little chunk!

It's scary that 9 months of worry is about to come to an end - Worry about how Crew will transition to being a big brother. I don't want him to feel left out or ignored once Grey is born. I have no doubt that he'll be a fantastic brother, I just am scared about how we will all transition as a new family of four. I still want him to feel just as important and loved as he does now! I know God is in control of all and has orchestrated our new addition to His perfect timing so I'm just praying for guidance in this area as well!

last weekend away

The first weekend in May I packed up with my mom, g-ma and aunt and we drove down to the coast for a girls weekend away. It was a lot of driving in a short period of time, but so worth it to sit on the beach and relax...sunburnt and all! This was also Will's first extended period of time with Crew by himself. I knew they'd be fine and that I'd be coming home to a daddy's boy!

This was my last time away before Grey makes his appearance and we transition to life with TWO boys! Ahh! Can't believe it's approaching in just 3-4 weeks!

A belly, a book and a beach!

I got pictures like this all weekend from the boys!

Finished the trip off with beignets for breakfast before driving home!

a beautiful weather weekend

The weather this weekend in Memphis was amazing, sunny and in the 70's. Crew is happiest outside so we played with chalk a lot and (he) ran up and down the street and played with the dogs.

He also had a glow in the dark bath two nights this weekend and loved it! Yay for cheap entertainment!

On Saturday morning the three of us went to the Children's Museum. We got a membership about a month ago and Will hadn't been able to go with Crew and I yet.

Our little dancing machine!

A little Saturday morning disco #crewwilliamkassner @williekaz

A video posted by Courtney Kassner (@courtkassner) on Apr 11, 2015 at 9:49am PDT

We had planned to work on Grey's nursery that day also, but Will ended up having to work all afternoon so it was just Crew and I hanging out. We spent most of the day outside of course!

On Sunday morning, I woke up not feeling very well (just pregnancy ickiness), but we ended up all going to church anyway. Sunday afternoon we all went home and rested after church. Will was tired from work the previous day, Crew was tired from church, and I am always tired...and was still feeling a little under the weather. Grey was just not agreeing with my body!

I really cherish our weekends and family time. Things definitely didn't go as planned as far as that's concerned, but I'm thankful for the time we did have together and the new memories made!

27-30 weeks bumpdate: baby #2

I had a bad streak with my pictures during weeks 26-28. They didn't happen. Partly because I thought I was 26 weeks when I was actually 27 (whoops!) and partly because well, it just didn't happen. It takes two seconds, but somehow 3 weeks had gone by and no pictures.

I had my glucose test (passed) and 3D ultrasound at 28 weeks. Grey looks EXACTLY like Crew on the ultrasound...his profile and everything. I can't wait to see how much they resemble each other. At 28 weeks, he was already 3 lbs and measuring a week ahead. I think we've got another big boy on our hands!

I've already been feeling so tired again into this third trimester. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with chasing Crewboo around...and also the fact that Grey will be here in 2 months or less (whoa!) and I'm getting huge! I really love and appreciate naps when I can get one!

These are the differences I've noticed so far between this pregnancy and the first:

Acne
The first time I only broke out a little in the first trimester and then at the very end | With this one, my face has been broken out the. entire. time. and it's making me crazy.

Hormones
I haven't been near as emotional this time around. I didn't say "not emotional," just not as emotional!

Soreness
The first time around, I didn't really start feeling pelvic soreness until at least 33 weeks | This time I've been hurting for at least 8 weeks already

Back Pain
Back pain both times, just different places

Restless Legs
Last time I had terrible restless legs every single night. I couldn't go to sleep unless I took a really hot shower right before getting in bed. | This time, (knock on wood) it hasn't been near as bad. Usually just once a week.

Those are just what I can think of off the top of my head right now. Luckily it's generally been another easy pregnancy. Can't believe we'll be meeting him in 2 months!

first trimester

14-26 weeks

crew | 18 months

It CANNOT be possible that our baby is 18 months already! A year and a half?! No!
He turned 18 months on April 3, 2015

weight: a whopping 32 lbs (as of 2 or 3 weeks ago sick visit to doc)
clothes: 2T
diapers: size 4 in disposables
hair color: Dirty blonde
eye color: VERY dark green/brown
nicknames: Crewboo, pumpkin, baby
eating: He still loves fruit and Mexican food - he definitely has picky spells and we're trying to work past it. I hope he doesn't turn out to be a picky eater like me!
likes: He still loves being in the water and taking baths, entertaining the room, any and every dog, being at church, being outside (so happy for this warmer weather!), he loves reading and learning colors/new words, he loves trains and animals - one of his many talents is that he can do almost any animal noise you ask him. My favorite is the horse! He's very observant to the things around him (especially outside) and loves to listen for airplanes, trains, birds, lawnmowers, trucks - everything!
dislikes: lately he's had fits about his sippy cups - either he doesn't want a certain cup or he'll get mad about his juice:water ratio. Toddlers! He also doesn't like coming inside after he's been playing outside. He'd stay out all day if he could. He can reach the door knobs now so he's always trying to make an escape to get out.

grey's name

Remember when I explained why we chose Crew's name? (Read it here) Well, I wanted to make sure I documented the reason behind choosing Grey's name too - mainly just his middle name!

We found out we were pregnant with Grey on October 12th...and Papaw passed away the next day. We never got a chance to share our news with him, but I know he knows about his second great grandson now. We debated for a long time about what Grey's middle name would be. Ransom is an unusual name and I wasn't sure about it for a while. In the end, we kept coming back to it because of the meaning and the sentimentality to us and our family - Ransom "Sonny" Skelton is so missed and we still haven't adjusted to life without him, but Will and I hope that giving Grey this name will in some way help shape him into the man that our Papaw was.

Photo by Kelly Ginn Photography at Crew's birth in 2013

easter weekend 2015

What a fun weekend! I think it's because I gave myself a break from calligraphy orders and just enjoyed the time with my family. It was so needed!

Thursday night we finally got to eat El Porton with Tyler, Amanda and sweet Madison. Crew was being a total sweetheart and was actually paying attention to her. (He usually gives babies the cold shoulder or is just too busy to notice them!)

On Friday Collierville was having a kids' Easter event and I mainly just wanted to go so Crew could see the trains they have. He LOVES trains, but apparently he likes them from a distance right now. He was not a fan of standing on it by himself. Maybe it was the metal grate he was standing on that made him so unsure. He "choo choo"ed all day (and even did it in his sleep that night!) Thankfully my mom went with me and was the Crew-chaser. I'm getting slower and slower with this big belly!

A real train went by and he was just in heaven!

That night we tried to go see the Easter bunny at Bass Pro, but the line was to the back of the store and that was just not happening. We watched the fish instead and I'm sure that Crew liked that better than he would have with that creepy-looking bunny! Ha!

He's officially mastered the "what do the fish do?" face

Crew got his hair cut also on Friday and now looks like a 3 year old. Where did my baby go?!

He was exceptionally clingy at our Cracker Barrel that night. We got home and realized the poor baby had a random fever :( He slept it off though and was ready to go the next morning!

Wild man taking over our bed on Saturday morning!

Easter egg hunt - it was chilly and wet! But I think Crew still had fun!

Saturday evening we went back to Collierville to see the trains again so Will could go too. Crew dreamed about those trains so we had to go back because it was a beautiful day. We ate dinner at Dyer's at it was delicious. Yay for greasy food.

Sunday morning we went to our church (Island Community Church in downtown Memphis) and then over to my parents' for lunch. Crew was A D O R A B L E in his outfit. My brother's puppy was about the only way to make him look happy in these pics because it was past nap time. Crew loves dog kisses...with a mouth wide open!

No, we didn't plan to match! Will got his shirt about a month ago and on Friday I was searching Target for a dress. They were really slacking in their maternity section right now so I just had to get this blue dress and throw a cardigan over it! We noticed Saturday night that we'd be "that couple" who matches on Easter! Oh well!

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter celebrating our risen Savior!

And just for fun, check out Easter 2014, and 2013! Wow, time flies!