Oh boy! It's a boy!

 Less than 2 weeks ago, we welcomed our son Wesley into the world.  It didn't take long at all for me to see how a little boy will immediately capture his mommy's heart.  I have 2 girls , 5 and 3 1/2, and they are the sweetest, most loving little girls.  And now my son is looking at me with his dark blue eyes as if he's wondered what I look like as much as I have wondered the same about him.  He has my heart!

Wesley Ray Boldin
9lbs 2oz, 20.5"
born 4-4-11

We meet at last!!

We couldn't be happier meeting our son!

Ready to take my son home!

Our girls are so excited about their baby brother.  The carefully hold him and give him plenty of kisses and hugs. Katie, my 3 year old, will walk up and say "he is so tute", or "he is so beautiful".  Abby says that "he is too cute, we should have more babies".  I couldn't be happier with how well-received he has been by his older sisters.  

Proud Big Sisters & their Little Brother

Now as a family of 5, adjustments are necessary.  I struggle with underestimating how long it takes to get ready or to get places. Now with a new infant in the house, I have to allow even more time for accidents: last minute diaper changes, little boy sprinkle-incidents, or spit-up (aka: geysers).  Despite the difficulties, I am cherishing these moments because each day our baby is changing, growing, learning and I know now from experience how fast this time will pass. 

Family of Five

Thank God my recovery, although very sore from the c-section the first week, has gone smoothly. Since Wesley was born, I could not feel more loved and cared for as I have been.  My husband, first and foremost, is the hardest working yet most family oriented person I know.  He works his butt of with a full time job, our side business, and now taking care of all of my delivery, activity, and errand duties while I am not allowed to drive, as well as helping with the girls and keeping the house picked up.  And he still finds time for fun and relaxing with all of us.  I'm still handling emails and ordering for the business and I am looking forward to being back on the road so I can relieve Jessie a bit.  My family, namely my mom, sister and mother-in-law have been an incredible help and support: getting me to and from appointments and helping with the kiddos and our newby while I am adjusting to being a mommy of 3.  My friends from church are incredible!  They have brought meals, call or text often to check up on me, or visit--knowing how necessary socialization is after a new baby.  I feel so blessed by you all!  I love you guys!!  

Here are some more sweet moments captured on camera:

Father & Son

Abby & Katie meet Wesley

Katie holds her brother for the firs time as Abby supervises. 

Abigail is so proud of her little brother.

She's so silly!

Katelyn is so fascinated with her baby brother!

I love my 3 little ones!

Family Time

Today is our final family day before our baby boy joins us and we become a family of 5.

The girls have wanted to go fishing for a long time now.  Daddy got them princess fishing poles for Christmas.  They have been practicing casting without hooks and bait.  So, today seemed like a great day to take them to the next level and actually let them fish with hooks and live bait.  As daddy was preparing for this little outing in our backyard, he took the girls out to dig for worms.  The very first place he pulled back straw in our landscape, he heard a noise and this is what he found:

Baby Rabbits?

Our first thought was that it might be mice or rats.  We were ready to transport them to the woods or dispose of them as humanely as possible.  But after a lot of research on babies and the type of nest we observed, and looking at these babies closer, we are thinking that they are baby rabbits.  The tails are not long like a mouse and they are almost the size of a nearly full-grown mouse.  So, I think we have a little nest of rabbits burrowed on the side of our house.  Since their little eyes are still closed, based on what I read, they are not more than a week-week & a half old.  I covered the babies back up with the fur/mulch/straw nest to keep them warm, and we will keep an eye on them to make sure their mom is taking care of them.  

For those of you who have read my previous blogs, you know that we also have a nest of 11 mallard duck eggs by our front porch.  And of course, we are expecting our 3rd child any day now!    We live on fertile ground--what can I say. :)  Meanwhile the momma mallard has been sitting on her eggs, and as long as we don't get too close, she will not scare away as easily as she did before.  This is the first picture I have gotten of her that I did not take through the window.  Can you see her hidden in the bush?  

Momma Mallard taking care of her 11 eggs.

So, back to our fishing adventure. We took the girls in the backyard to go fishing.  We weren't sure what to expect.  After the nest incident, Jessie ran up to the store and bought some worms.

Yucky worms!

Abby actually got to where she would hand the worms to Jessie to bait the hook--as long as they weren't too "dirty".  She's braver than I am!

Curled up with daddy--it was a little chilly out there this morning.

Katie was into it at first.

Fishing with their princess rod & reel's.

So the final count was:

Abby-3

Katie (or Mommy really, because she bailed)-2

            

Katie couldn't wait to catch a fish, but once she (or mommy) did catch one, she wanted nothing to do with it.  The 2nd one "Katie" caught was huge, for a brim.  We threw them all back of course.  

We did some laundry and cleaning too, while Jessie ran the embroidery machines--finishing up orders that have to go out before the baby comes.  Then we ordered pizza, made cookies and watched "Tangled" together.  

We had such a nice relaxing family day together as our last official day as a family of 4. We are so blessed with the sweetest, most loving little girls.  They are going to be the best big sisters!  And we know that this little boy will be so loved and just as sweet as his sisters.  Abby prayed over the food this evening and added that baby Wesley would not come late.  She has made a countdown sheet and daily announces how many days until baby Wesley will be here.  They both will kiss and hug the baby (my belly) sporadically throughout the day.  We're all pretty excited here on the home-front!

Today is the day!!!

....March 28, the day that Jessie proposed to me 8 years ago!  Nope, no baby yet!  :)

Jessie and I first met in November of 2002.  My sister, Amanda, and I were heading to First Tuesday at Seacoast and accepted a last minute invite to the fair with a group of friends from Faith Assembly.  I noticed him right away, and tried to talk to him, but he was soo quiet!

Jessie is on the far left and I'm in the center in the tan sweater (Nov. '02).

In December, I came home to Charleston for holiday break from my masters program.  There was a group of us from Faith that got together quite often.  I definitely had my eye on Jessie, but again, he was soo quiet....so I observed a lot and whenever I could work my way into a conversation with him--I did.  I didn't know he was just as interested in me.  Through that short time of about 3 1/2 weeks, Jessie and I got to know each other better as our "group" was getting together at least every other day.  He was all I could talk about...when he wasn't around. :)

Fast-forward to our New Years Eve party 2003.  The party was a blast with such a great group of friends!  At some point Jessie and I ended up in a conversation on the apartment balcony that lasted for what might have been a couple of hours.  All I know is when we came inside, nearly everyone was gone.  We talked about everything from family, to morals, our spiritual beliefs.  The next morning I went over to my parents house to help take down Christmas decor and I told my mom, without a doubt, that I was going to marry Jessie!  Little did I know, Jessie had told his mom the same thing about a week before.  God had definitely prepared our hearts for each other leading up to this very moment.

Jessie (top right) and I'm right next to him (Jan. 1, 2003). 

I came home just about every weekend over the next semester.  I remember that I told Jessie "I love you" before we ever went on our first official date.  Those are words I had never told anyone other than family before.  And even at the time I said them it was because I was so overwhelmed and couldn't think of anything else to say until I told him how I felt.  Our first date was January 15th, he came up to Columbia to take me out to dinner.  We dated over the next couple of months and talked all the time, racking up some serious cell phone minutes!

On March 28th, I drove into Charleston after a late afternoon meeting, stressing to get ready quickly for our date.  I threw my hair up, and borrowed an outfit from my friend & sister's roommate (umm..but she wasn't there to ask...sorry Erin).  We had planned to go to dinner and a Broadway show that was showing at our local Performing Arts Center.  

Ready for our date (March 28, 2003).

The show was amazing, and dinner was very good.  I had no idea what was in store.  I learned later that poor Jessie had hardly paid attention to the show because he was so nervous and kept checking to make sure the ring was still in his sock where he had hidden it.  I was also unaware that he had visited my parents days before our date and asked my dad for my hand in marriage.  We left the show and he acted nonchalant, like, so what do you want to do now?  He had already planned to go where we were headed...to Folly Beach by the pier.  We went for a walk, when he turned and got down on his knee and read a poem he had written to me that ended with asking me to be his wife.  

My entire life, I wanted to be a wife and a mom.  I wanted to be with someone who shared the same values that I did.  Someone who I could grow with and love and support and have as my best friend--forever!  Someone who had a giving heart, compassion, ambition, and prioritized his love for the Lord and family above everything else.  Although Jessie and I had only known each other for less than 4 months, I knew in my heart of hearts that this was the man that God wanted me to be with.  I knew he was the man that I wanted to be with!  So, of course, I said YES!!!

We were married in September of that year.  And the story between then and now is one to be written and one that we hope will inspire and encourage others in their lives.  We have 2 beautiful girls and a healthy baby boy who will join us just one week from today.  God has demonstrated His grace in our life together.  Our Faith has grown tremendously.  Our love for each other has grown deeper.  And even though we have only scraped the surface of what is in store for us in our life together, I can honestly say that I love my husband more now than the day I first told him those words, more than the day he poured his heart out in his proposal, and more than the day we exchanged our vows. 

ps: I linked up with Miscellany Monday today.

Nesting

Spring is definitely in the air!  Granted it is a bit hazy with pollen, but the plants are budding new growth, neighbors are working in their yards, and this mommy is getting ready for her baby boy.  I have been tying up loose ends with business stuff, tackling unfinished projects, and cleaning everything from the toilets, fridge and  stove--not in that order.  Nesting is definitely underway in preparation for our precious son.  However, I am not the only one at our residence preparing for the arrival of little ones...

We have a mallard couple who chose our home to safely hide their nest.  When we fist discovered the nest there were three eggs, and the momma mallard is adding 1-2 eggs to her offspring daily.  We are now up to 8 eggs!   

Watching & waiting to make sure all is clear for the momma to return to her nest.

It is so fascinating to watch their routine for the momma's trip to her nest each day.  They come up from the water and the daddy mallard stands watch (in our backyard) while the momma VERY slowly makes her way to our front yard where she has hidden her nest.  As people pass by she will lay flat with her head stretched flat on the ground so she is undetected by predators.  If she feels unsafe at all she returns to the water with the male, or I have seen him call her off and they return to the water together.  They are strategically paranoid.

The beautiful daddy mallard.

Momma Mallard waiting near her nest.

8 eggs as of today, tucked away in a safe place.

Our family is having fun watching the little mallard family grow.  It doesn't trump the fact that we are having a new baby of our own in a little over a week, but it is still very exciting.  Our girls have enjoyed carefully peaking and counting the eggs every day.  We love our little mallard family that has adopted our residence!

Winning!

Like so many others, I have entered contests and "liked" company Facebook pages for giveaways to no avail.  Just last night I was talking to some ladies about that very thing and saying that sadly "I never win" these contests.  Well, imagine my excitement when I logged into Facebook today to see my name as the winner of a JJ Cole diaper bag!  They were running a promotion to reach 6,000 fans by March 22nd in order to give away one of their fabulous diaper bags: their new System 180 Bag. 

JJ Cole Collections System 180 Bag

And as owner of my own embroidery business, Bold Impressions (shameless plug), you know I totally plan to embroider my son's name on this bag!  

The contest is still on if you want to win a fashionable JJ Cole bag of your own.  Following the success of this promotion, they have issued a new goal of 7,000 Facebook Fans by Tuesday, April 5th and they will give away 3 of their Mode Totes.  I am just so excited about my win that I wanted to share with you all.  I hope that you can come back and tell me that you won one of the Mode Totes.  They are super cute too!!