Visit from Uncle Dusten, Aunt Kala and our Niece Dusti

Seeing Dusten, Kala and Dusti waiting for us when we got home was great. Can't wait to see you all again.

We love the new babies :) 

 

 

 

 Grandma holding both her grandkids. 

 

 

What a great new adventure we have started

 

 This may be bias but our babies are pretty damn adorable lol

 

They wanted to play more with each other than the toys hanging from the mat :)

 

 

Daddy and Rea getting a few winks in between seeing company 

 

 I love holding this bundle of joy :)













 

Raelin Rose Aikin

Welcome into the world our little Rae of Sunshine :)

after an all natural 30 hours of labor and an hour of hard pushing she joined us at

8lbs 12oz

20 1/4in

 with all 10 fingers and 10 toes

what an amazing, exhausting, unbelievable experience

Raelin Rose we are so happy you are here

she was born happy, healthy, and with no complications



Trevor was amazing through the whole thing and was there for me every step of the way :)



Realin meeting Grandma for the first time :)

having some daddy-baby time



Our first visitors were the Somers family and that's Cage meeting Raelin

 Trev changing the 1st diaper

Getting ready to go home finally :)





heading home









The First Month

Hello All :D
Well it's already been a month and oh boy ( I guess I should say oh girl LoL). As you all know babies are a lot of work, its really amazing but it takes time to get used to such a little baby taking up every second of your day. Trev and I are loving being parents and are learning together how to take care of Raelin to the best of our ability. We want to say thank you to all our family who came out and visited and the ones who couldn't, we are thinking of you and for all our friends near and far :) We love you all!
We have taken lots of pictures so far and hope to start posting this week. I will try and keep it as up to date as I can but like I said most of you know how busy a newborn can keep you. :)

OMG She's Almost Here?!?!

38 Weeks?!?! When the heck did that happen? :) She can be here any time now! Trev and I are so excited!!! His last day of work is tomorrow and then he'll be off until she gets here.

 

Doctor's appointments have been weekly now. They say I'm right where I need to be health wise and baby is in a good position. I'm not dilated yet but there's no rush. Even if I was it doesn't really mean anything because I've know women who are 4-6 cm dilated for a couple weeks before their baby comes. I think I've finally started feeling what Braxton Hicks are so that was interesting to say the least lol.

 

The last week we have been pretty busy. We have been working on Raelin's room, packing the hospital bag, and also celebrating Trev's  31st birthday this past weekend.

 

 

(This is a blanket my friend Mary Jo and I made especially for Trev)

He was a little sad there was no pirate stuff in Raelin's room so I scoured the internet for a couple hours and found this pirate material out of Taiwan or Indonesia lol. It was so worth it especially for how excited Trev was. I'm a little worried though because he said he loved it so much he may take it underway with him :P

 

(and here it is in Raelin's Room)

 

These next 2 projects I know Trev took great pride in making :)

 

(he made this glass lamp and filled it with sea glass we found in Michigan and also when he was on a port-a-call in San Juan) It looks really neat up close!

 

(this is the other project he's been dying to get done. These are the nautical flags that spell out Raelin Rose :) took a couple days to paint and string up but it was definitely a fun project)

 

Here are some other pictures of her room

 

(she's not even here yet and she has so many clothes and blankets lol)






(This is where her change pad will go after I move her diaper bag and little toys)

 

Trev and I also wanted to thank Grandma TT for holding a baby shower for us this past weekend. We heard it went great and saw pictures of the decorations :)

 

We will try and update the blog again but if not, it may be because she has arrived. We will definitely post pictures of her and us once we get home. Trev and I have decided we are going to initially text parents to let them know about going into labor and her arrival. We will be making calls after we have rested and enjoyed a little time with Raelin. We will probably ask parents to call grandparents and extended family.

Please don't post anything on Facebook until we do, we would greatly appreciate it :)

 



Week 34 & 35

 

Time sure feels like it's flying by :) 35 weeks is already here, that's crazy to think she'll be here in about a month. Trev and I are so excited to finally meet her and to hold her in our arms!

 

 

She's the size of a honeydew melon this week. I went to the doctor's yesterday and now I'll be going on a weekly basis instead of every 2 weeks. The midwife said Raelin is in the optimal position and if she stays that way that would only be a good thing. Her heart beat is strong and everything is looking great. The midwife showed me how baby was positioned and that's why I can feel her feet kicking my ribs and whatever else she wants to kick lol. Every day I look down at my belly and think to myself, there isn't anymore room, where is she going to go lol and every week I get bigger and bigger :P 

 

 

 

 

Last week Trev and I went on vacation, it was nice to get away and just enjoy the time together. It was great seeing all our friends and Trev's family. Vacations are always fun but by the end of the week it was nice to get home, relax, and give my feet a well needed break.

 

(My CHOICES Family, missing April and Jackie in the pic)

It was great seeing all your smiling faces and I think of you all often :)

 

 

 

(Thank you to my Choices Family,Stephanie and PJ, our neighbor @our old house Beverly and Trev's Family for all the great gifts, they will all be put to good use and I know Raelin will love them)

 

(When we got home from our vacation we found these, thanks Grandma Sheila and Pat :)

That Moby wrap is a little tricky but I hear it's a life saver and I'm looking forward to wearing it.

 

The last night of our vacation we spend with Trev's family. It was nice to see them all, especially his cousins because one just had a baby and another one is due in December. So babies were definitely the center of topic. Thank you husbands for putting up with it :) I'm sorry we didn't get a big group shot of everyone but hopefully next year when we visit again.

 

(all the food was really yummy, but that cake made my taste buds dance lol)



(my husband is awesome lol)

 

Once we got home Trev had to work for a couple days and than yesterday he headed to Baltimore to work for a week and then he'll be home for good until Raelin is here. Knowing I only have a couple more weeks to go I'm making a list of all the "To Do's" I have to get done before she's here. If this isn't "nesting" than hell, I don't know what is, lol!

 

I want to thank everyone again for all the wonderful gifts. I've also had a couple people ask me again where we are registered and we're at Target and Babies R Us.

 

I hope everyone has a great week and isn't getting too wet from all these rain storms :)

 

 



Project Pictures

I've finally got some major projects done this past week and was really excited to share pictures!

I got the Manistee Light house decal cut out and on the wall with help from my mom :)

 

I got the crib skirt put together and sewn with help from Mary Jo :)

 

 

Found some end tables at a yard sale and redid them, one for our media room and one for Raelin's room :)

 

 (before picture, bought for $4 each)

 

 (repainted and in the media room, final cost was under $10)

 

 (repainted with new knobs, in Raelin's room, was also under $10, woohoo I love a good deal :)

Week 32 & 33

(taken @ Great Island Common Park in New Castle, NH)





Wow, time is sure flying by. It's happy and sad at the same time. I absolutely love being pregnant. (I definitely didn't think I'd be saying that especially at the beginning of pregnancy) But I am truly enjoying it now. It's crazy to think in just a few weeks Raelin will be here :)

(taken @ Great Island Common Park in New Castle, NH)

This past weekend Trev was able to come home just for a night and this week he'll be coming home for good :) It will be so great to have him around and can experience the rest of pregnancy with me. He loves seeing Raelin move in my belly. I swear every day she is just getting stronger and moves even more. We can feel her feet when she pushes on my ribs, she gets the hiccups, and feels like she's on the move 90% of the day lol.

We only have about 50 more days until she's here according to my phone app lol. She's the size of a pineapple and weighs about 4 1/2 lbs.

This week is my last hypnobirthing class. I met some very nice couples in that class and sorry it's almost over. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Trev will be able to come with me so he can at least meet the other couples, the instructor, and also take another tour of the hospital.

Trev will also be able to accompany me to my 33 week doctors appt. this week, which I know we're both excited for.

I've finally got some major projects done this past week and was really excited to share pictures but my phone is acting up so I'll have to try and download them later.

I got the Manistee Light house decal cut out and on the wall with help from my mom :)

I got the crib skirt put together and sewn with help from Mary Jo :)

Found some end tables at a yard sale and redid them, one for our media room and one for Raelin's room :)

Her room is sure coming together and Trev got to see it all and loved it. There are still a couple small projects we want to work on before she gets here but I know Trev is looking forward to helping :)

Hope everyone has a good week and hopefully my phone will stop acting up so I can show you all some pictures of what I've been up to :)