Nolan's Birth Story

I am happy to announce the newest addition to our family---Nolan Randall Hughes. He was born Thursday May 16, and weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 inches long. I went into labor one week before my due date, so I was surprised when I started having contractions an entire week early. I thought for sure I would go past my due date like I did with Liam, but Nolan was ready to come early! And I am really glad he did :)

I was at Young Women's on Wednesday night and thought I was having  labor contractions, but I wasn't entirely sure. My water broke first with Liam and contractions followed after, so having contractions first was new to me. I much prefer the water breaking option lol less painful indeed! I was having a hard time walking around at YW because the pain was increasing, and when I got home that night I told Anthony I thought Nolan was going to be here soon. One of my fears was going to the hospital and then having the nurse telling me I wasn't in active labor and to go home. So I waited as long as I could stand before having Anthony drive me to the hospital at 1:30am. My contractions were about 5 mintues apart when we arrived. I checked in and the nurse set me up on the monitors. I was dilated to a 4cm, and an hour later I was a 5cm so the nurse said I could stay, phew! It took 5 hours to get to a 10cm. At 8am I started pushing, and 9 minutes later Nolan was born. The labor/delivery wasn't bad at all, and thankfully everything was text book. The hardest part about this labor was that it started at 1:30am so I didn't get any sort of sleep leading up to it, or any sleep the day Nolan was born.

Loving the contractions---they really suck!!

Just waiting...and feeling totally exhausted yet SO excited.

Proud parents. Look at that darling face!

Liam was darling when he met Nolan. He calls him "Noly" and says "I'm your brodder!"

This little baby is loved.

Getting ready to go home!

The hospital is such a magical experience. It's like you're in some sort of bubble where these amazing memories are formed. And it's so neat looking back at all the pictures and knowing that all of it really happened, and it's more amazing than you realize. I am so blessed to have a healthy baby, and a wonderful family of four :) Life is pretty great. 

I love you Nolan.

Attention all Purse Lovers...Great Giveaway at Color Issue!!

Ummm...who wouldn't want to win this great Kate Spade bag?!?!? Head over to colorissue.blogspot.com and enter this fabulous giveaway!! Fingers crossed!

Mother's Day

I am so thankful to be a mother. And even more than that, I am beyond blessed that I get to be the mother to this incredible child of mine. Every time he calls me 'mom' I just melt. It never gets old. Motherhood certainly isn't easy, but it is the greatest thing I have done in my life. Happy Mother's Day to my own mother---the most wonderful example of what a mother ought to be!

As soon as Liam woke up Anthony went in to his room and reminded him it was Mother's Day. Liam came bounding into my room and said "Happy Mom Day! Happy Mom Day!" and then proceeded to drag me out of bed and say "Presents!" He could hardly contain his excitement. We went downstairs and Liam gave me a clay mold of his sweet little hand that he had made. He then got out markers and colored it for me and looked so pleased with himself. It was the sweetest present :)

(keep in mind---these pics are minutes after waking up haha)

We went to church that afternoon, then to family's house that evening for some dessert. It was a lovely Mother's Day!

Tracy Aviary

I've been trying to get Liam out and about as much as I can before the new baby gets here (hopefully this week! But probably next week!).The kid is such a goer and loves being active ALL day long. Who needs a gym pass when you have a 2 year old? We headed to Salt Lake last week with some friends and visited the Tracy Aviary.

 Impressive wing span.

 It's getting harder to carry Liam with my large and in charge pregnant stomach. But I manage!

What a little poser :)

 And of course, the birds. Julie, if you're reading this...well, you know this last pic is for you ;)

Giveaway Time over at The Color Issue!!!

My lovely cousin is hosting some AH-MAZING giveaways this week. Take a little looksie below, and head over to her website (http://colorissue.blogspot.com/) to check out all of her creative and fun ideas.

Here is one giveaway:
And another:





And another!!!




Check out http://colorissue.blogspot.com/ for more amazing stuff!!

BYU Baseball

To say Liam is obsessed with baseball would be an understatement. The kid lives and breathes the sport! So we took him to his first BYU baseball game, and I think the kid could have died and gone to heaven he was so excited. This was back in late March---I am not the best at posting in chronological order! Well, I am not the best at posting much lately, so don't mind my massive amounts of posts today in an attempt to play catch up over the last 2 months :)

Can you tell it's like zero degrees out? They let everyone in for free cause the weather was so crummy!

Gearing up for Baby!!!

I am in total nesting mode. I almost have the nursery complete for the arrival of our baby boy. Yay! I bought a really cute stencil and stenciled the crib wall of the nursery. Here are some in-process shots:

Oh that hubs of mine :) I will post pics of the completed nursery soon!!

And here I am at 38 weeks, in ALL my glory! Baby can't get here soon enough!