Truett's Arrival

I mentioned that we had a baby...and then disappeared.  I haven't had much time for blogging while meeting the needs of the tiny guy, but I do still want to document his first two months here in this world.

Truett's arrival was fairly uneventful in terms of labor and delivery stories.  I was 39 weeks pregnant and went for my weekly check-up.  My doctor said we are having a baby tonight, and then we did!  I checked in to the hospital around 5:00pm, and we got to meet our sweet boy at 10:42pm.  Our families didn't have as much time to make the trip over as we thought they would, but they all jumped in their cars as soon as they got word.  We loved having them here to help us welcome Tru baby!

Truett's Nursery

I had so much fun planning and working on Tru baby's nursery.  I wanted it to be a sweet, peaceful room, and I am really happy with how it all came together.  I decided I should probably document it while it's in pristine condition because I am sure it won't be too long before it's a mess of toys!

Where we do our rocking...and Tru baby loves to rock.

 

Close-up of the photo wall.  We used old photos of our parents and some of our own baby pictures.

 Where Truett spends his nights...

 

Close-up of the bedding made by my fabulously talented friend & co-worker Nathalie

 

Where Truett gets clean pants...

 

And I had to get a shot of the light--my favorite piece!

Panorama of the Whole Nursery

Welcome Baby Truett!

Truett Williams Bell

May 13, 2013

8 lbs,  20.5 in.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17

Showering Truett!

We have the sweetest and most wonderful friends and family who have simply been spoiling us rotten. Truett has already been showered with so much love and so many gifts that it is just overwhelming.  We are so very, very grateful for all of you.

Baby Shower #1 was in my hometown, and it was so sweet. Most of the women were family friends who have known me since I was a baby, so it was nice to see them all, and they were so generous to our family.  I forgot my camera (fail!), so I only have a few pictures from this shower, but it was just lovely.  We appreciated it so much!

With my cute mom!

Baby Shower #2 was a work shower with all of my sweet co-workers. We had tons of yummy food, and it was so fun to all get together outside of the office and hang out.  (Opening sweet baby gifts was also pretty fun, too.)  And once again, such a generous crowd! I couldn't believe how full my car was packed after an evening with those sweet ladies.  The bad news?  I forgot my camera AGAIN.  (Are you noticing the trend??)  So sadly, I have ZERO photos to document this fun occasion.  But it was wonderful, and I will just have to treasure my mental pictures from that night.

Baby Shower #3 was thrown by some of my sweet, sweet friends from college and beyond back in Arkansas, and it was an absolute blast. And so very special. It was so fun to have all of these people in one room.  It was ridiculously hard for me to sit and open gifts because all I wanted to do was go around and chat with my favorite gals. Such a wonderful and priceless afternoon.  And, true to form, these ladies had everything looking SO precious! Naturally, I forgot my camera (of course), so I had to borrow one from the hostess.  But thankfully, that worked out, and I have some pictures to share from that fun day with my sweet friends!

Look at this precious table! Loved the outdoor, boy theme!

With some of the sweet hostesses!

More hostesses who are little preggos too!

With sweet ACH work friends.  Miss them dearly!

So fun to catch up with Les!

With Truett's sweet grandmothers!

Thank you again to all of our precious friends and family. We are certainly blessed beyond measure.

Chicago Babymoon!

I am always terrible about updating the blog, but I really thought I would do better during this pregnancy.  I actually have something going on in my life worth documenting and remembering, and I have done nothing of the sort.  So my goal in the next few days is to catch up a bit and post about some memorable times during this journey before it's all over.  We'll see how that goes.

First things first, Austin and I decided we wanted to take a little trip before our sweet baby boy arrives and fills our hearts.... and our schedules.  So at my 30 week mark, we took a little jaunt up to Chicago for a few-day getaway.  Although it was FRIGID and rainy, we managed to have a great time!  It was so nice for both of us to have time away from work and day-to-day life stuff to play and enjoy each other's company.  We did all of the touristy things one does when they go to the windy city-- The Art Institute of Chicago, Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum, Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower), John Hancock Observatory, Second City, and, of course, the Magnificent Mile.  We loved it all, but our favorite thing was definitely the improv show we went to at Second City.  So so funny.  Definitely will be going back next time we are in town.

We didn't do the best job of taking pictures (it's always tough when it's just the two of us), but here are a few from our little babymoon!

The bean in front of the bean!

Taking in the skyline by night!

Bad lighting....but proof that we were in the front row.  Knees to the stage.
Definitely got called out by the improv actors for a little fun.

Skyline by day!
Don't look down.

Thank you for the hospitality, Chicago! We will be back soon...Perhaps when it is warmer.

26 Weeks Along!

As of today, I am officially 26 weeks into this pregnancy, and we are really starting to make things happen around here.  First things first, we have chosen his name! Truett Williams Bell is our little guy!  We are so excited to finally be able to call him by name, and somehow it makes me even more anxious to meet him!  Cannot wait to see his face and know his little personality. But I will be patient. :)

In the meantime, we have been busy little worker bees at the Bell house making way for our sweet boy! I have had so much fun thinking about and working on Truett's nursery, and I am so pleased with the way it is coming together.  My precious hubs has already performed many labors of love to prepare for little guy's arrival, and I am so grateful.  Here he is in action...

I have been asked by several people to see some shots of the baby bump.  Well here it is in all of its growing glory!

21 Weeks

23 Weeks

26 Weeks

Truett and I are both growing quite steadily these days, and he is a very active little guy already!  (Fingers crossed that this isn't indicative of his energy level post-birth.. Eek!)  Pregnancy is quite an experience, and although my body hasn't quite taken to it the way I had hoped (healthwise), I know that it is such a special thing and I am trying to appreciate these weeks with my baby boy in my tummy.

A Little Gentleman

We had such a fun Christmas, and I can't wait to share pictures from all of our celebrations.... 

But first I want to document a really big day that we had just before we left town for Christmas!

We are beyond thrilled to announce that baby Bell is a BOY!

It was such a crazy day for us.  I was a nervous wreck all day waiting for the appointment.  I was so excited to know if we were expecting a boy or a girl, but much more than that, I was anxious to see how our baby was growing and developing.  And praise the Lord, our sweet boy looked perfect.  He was measuring right at 18 weeks, and everything was as it should be.  We are beyond grateful.

It was surreal to really see him for the first time.  Austin and I both just sat there in awe.  He was a busy boy with the hiccups, and he was moving and shaking the whole time.  I wasn't able to feel him moving yet at that point, so it was crazy to see all that commotion going on in my belly yet everything still seeming perfectly still.  The sonographer was fabulous and so thorough.  She went system by system so that we could check on every little detail, and all we could think about what was just how amazing our God truly is.  And the next thought was....what are we going to name this little guy?!  This question still remains unanswered, so we have been lovingly calling him B3 (Baby Boy Bell).  We are looking forward to finding just the right  name that we feel really suits our boy.  We will keep you posted.

Sweet little profile!

Amazing to see this view of his little face!

He was tired of having his picture taken by the end of the appointment.

PROUD PARENTS!