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Ephraim Brite Nichols

Born: February 15, 2011 @ 12:06pm

8lbs 1oz 21 1/4in

 

And that day changed our lives for ever...

When we brought Ephraim home Stephan got to take family medical time and was off and home with us for about three weeks. That time was amazing and I am so thankful he was here with us b/c honestly I'm not sure if I could have done it without him here.

Ephraim was a great baby from the start, never really crying for anything besides being hungry; but on the rare days he was just fussy Stephan was the only one who could calm him down.

I don't know what it was but Ephraim just took to him. At times I felt a little down because I wanted to be able to fix things for him but he just wouldn't calm down from me the same way he did for Steph. 

When it came time for Stephan to start back to work I was so nervous! I was thinking how in the world am I going to make it through a day without him here to help me...

It all turned out fine though and my first  day with Ephraim by myself went great. I've definitely gotten the hang of this parenting thing now! 

Ephraim is growing like a weed! I feel like he gets chubbier and taller every day haha.

I never realized how fast babies change until I had one. I try to cherish every moment with him because I know one day I'll blink and he'll be grown.

He is such a fun little baby! This picture is from this week

 I decided I would sit him up on the couch just to see what would happen, because he has such good control of his back neck and head already I was pretty confident he would be able to sit up on his own.

AND 

he did for about 30 seconds 

I could hardly take the picture for laughing so hard. I just couldn't get over how big he looked and the faces he was making!

 He is starting to do so much with his hands. He loves to play with his bib and he cuddles with his owl lovie with out us having to give it to him. If its beside him and he wants it he will grab it and move it all around. SO cute! He's started to take his pacie out of his mouth and toss it away to suck on his right hand, but sometimes he gets his thumb to far back in his mouth and will gag on it... silly baby!

I am debating trying to give him his first bite of baby cereal to see how it goes...

I keep going back and forth with it just because of things I read.

Our next doc appointment is May 9th so I may wait til then and just ask him.

I am pretty positive I am going to see how he does with it before our beach trip in June though!

I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes and I will be posting messy face pictures for sure!!

I know my cousin abbey has been wanting to see his room so here are a few pics of it

 Stephan built this awesome shelf and I decorated it!

I promise to try and update more regularly. Between taking care of Ephraim, working, trying to keep the house clean etc its been a little tough.

Keep an eye out for some post about yummy recipes Stephan and I have been trying and also Ephraim's bathroom makeover. 

The new year so far for the Nichols

Happy New Year!

We had a great and crazy busy holiday season and really enjoyed getting to spend time with lots of family.  Our year has started amazing and I feel like we are both going non stop, when really we should probably be taking some time to relax before baby Ephraim arrives.

What's new with us so far this year:

Well,

Stephan is back to playing guitar at church and teaching his class before their band practice on Thursday nights. I am so happy for him. I know this is where his heart is and that he is so happy to be back!

His new obsession is cooking anything on our new grill. It cracks me up since it is the middle of winter.. but I'm not complaining because we've been eating pretty darn good the past few weeks.

And 

I am working as much as possible at Victoria's Secret preparing for my awesome new position when I come back to work after baby is born!

My new obsession is the book series that the HBO show True Blood is based off of. Stephan got me the first two for Christmas and my sister-in-law got me the third and forth and I'm half way through the third book already. I'm loving them, much more than the TV show! 

With even less hours open in our schedules now it's making it hard for us to get Ephraim's room completely finished.  

Yesterday Stephan worked on and finished all the spots we hadn't already done on the walls and while he did that I organized his closet with all the things we have for him so far.  However, while doing all this I realized how empty his walls will be once we get everything in place.

So

Stephan's new project to finish in the next few weeks will be to build a shelf that will go on the wall above the changing table. Pictures to come when it's finished!

My project to finish in the next week or so is Ephraim's changing table. I posted a picture a while back and was so excited about working on it. The reason it isn't finished is because I've really struggled on what exactly it needed to look like. With Stephan's help, we've figured it out and I'm going to get on it right away!!

Stephan's mom brought over some pictures that Stephan made when he was in elementary school and my mom has kept all of mine as well so my second project is picking three pictures that Stephan and I made when we were kids and finding the perfect frames to hang them in.

Once all these projects are done I know I will feel much better about his room looking perfect!

My goal for this week is to post pictures of Ephraim's room with everything in its right place and the changing table in progress! So everyone keep and eye out.

** Also I wanted to let everyone know that we will be getting out our wedding thank you notes as soon as wedding pictures are in our hands! I'm making them and want to use one of our pictures for the front. I promise we haven't forgotten and aren't trying to be rude! We are very thankful for everyone and everything we received**

Progress

Stephan and I had a great trip to Ikea! We got some great deals and met up with some wonderful friends while we were there.

Here is what we came home with:

The crib (from my last post)

{this amazing chair} 

and {this} 

to go above the changing table instead of the shelves from my last post 

we also picked up these {cute little blocks} that I love!

We got a few other things to finish up what will soon be our master bedroom, and also things for our kitchen!

After our Ikea trip we decided to use the Lowe's and Home Depot gift cards, we were blessed with at our wedding shower, to buy paint for baby Nichols room and also our master bedroom. Then we got to painting! Master bedroom was first and it looks wonderful, and baby's room was second. We still aren't finished painting all the walls yet because we've both been working, but here is our progress:

I love it so far! 

I feel like I'm way ahead of myself since he still wont be here for 17 more weeks, but when I think about how fast all of it has gone by so far I guess I'm not too far ahead!

Along with preparing for baby Nichols this week we've been dealing with some attitude problems from our other baby... Lyla. However, what she gives in attitude, she makes up for in cuteness!!

As soon as the wedding is over Lyla's boot camp to prepare for baby Nichols will begin...

I'm not sure she's ready for this

Room Make Over Time

This week my sweet bridesmaid Casey came to visit me from Panama City! We got to make sure her dress fit and also went to my wedding dress fitting. I loved having her here for support! She couldn't stay long and I miss her already but she will be back in less than a month. 

That means the wedding is a month away!!!

Time is flying now... this makes me very happy

I'm trying to focus on wedding stuff as much as possible now and wait to get all involved in baby room makeovers until all that is over but I just cant help myself! So on Friday Stephan and I will be headed to Ikea for this crib(ignore the mattress and bedding inside)

   

{SNIGLAR Crib}

And these shelves 

 

{MAMMUT Wall shelf}

While we're there we will also be looking for curtains, possibly a rug and then I'm sure we'll pick up some nick- naks too!

I'm so excited about our trip and I can not wait to start putting everything in baby Nichols room.

I've been feeling pretty crafty lately so today I made this for above his bed

 I'll add his name to it later....

I'm planning on painting two more pictures for his room of some funky trees so more to come later!

I sure hope he likes them!

 

 

 

Oh baby, oh baby

Baby Nichols is busy busy busy. It had a schedule for about two weeks where it would move at 9:30 am every morning! Too sweet! Stephan said "hey do you think it'll keep this same schedule once it's born?!" He's cute ha ha! Unfortunately I don't think that will be the case. It has already created a new schedule of moving whenever it feels like it, even if that means bothering me while I'm sleeping. You would think I'd be used to feeling this little baby move by now but it's still strange every time!

7 days til I find out what baby is!!

So ready to talk to it and be able to call it buy a name, instead of "It"

That's so impersonal!

Sunday night we had dinner with friends. They have a new baby and I had the pleasure of seeing his awesome nursery. It inspired me! So this week I went to the thrift store with my soon to be mother in law and sister in law in search of finding... anything that would get my creative juices flowing in the "making the perfect nursery" area. 

And I found this!!

 at the super saver thrift store- in Roebuck

and yes I know... Missing handles and not the prettiest thing anyone has ever seen. However, when I get done with the extreme makeover I plan on carry out on this piece it will be as good as new!  It's going to be the baby's changing table and then dresser when it grows up.

Stay tuned for the revile (but don't get too excited it probably wont be 'til after the wedding)

As of yesterday I only had plans for a baby girls nursery. I am in love with the plans I have for it but realized that it's a little unfair to the baby that I've been so excited about all these girl plans when I'm still not positive on what it is yet. So yesterday with the help of Stephan we came up with a pretty awesome boy nursery as well. I am now equally excited about both! 

Before I go... Quick wedding update!

This week we started marriage counseling at church. I was nervous at first but now I am very excited about what all we are going to learn and how much we will grow!

50 days til the wedding!

That is less than two months AH I cant believe it!!

I cant wait to be married to Stephan!