Operation Nursery

We are officially starting on the nursery.  Justin started painting the room this weekend.  It took a while to decide on a color, but we finally did.  The walls will be a yellowish color and the bedding is green, blue, and brown.  Our furniture arrives December 11th, so we wanted to have the walls done before it arrives.  

Here the room is before he started painting it.  Not sure Ripley knows what is going on......

Here is Justin starting to paint.  We can't wait to see it all finished and for sweet Charlie to be in his new room! Only 11 more weeks!!! 

Stay tuned for more nursery updates over the next few weeks!!!! 

29 weeks

We are already at 29 weeks.....only 11 more to go! I had our 29 week appointment this week and all is going well.  My next appointment we have our next sonogram.  We are excited to see our little guy again.  We are so thankful all is going well and that he continues to grow healthy.  Here is my belly shot at 29 weeks.  He is growing by the second.....

Weekend in Austin

On Friday, we both interviewed Charlie's potential pediatrician and then hit the road towards Austin.  It was our last getaway before Charlie's big arrival and we were so excited to get back to our favorite city in Texas.  Plus, we needed to show Charlie why his middle name was Austin! We had such a great time!! We ate at all of our favorite local spots-- Salt Lick, Tacodeli, Enoteca Vespaio, Amy's, and Maudie's.  Charlie was definitely well fed on this trip and I am sure was loving life! :) We also hit up the Co-op to get Charlie some more Longhorn gear.  His closet is already full of Longhorn gear, but we thought he should have just two more outfits. Aren't they cute?!

We then headed to the game-- Texas vs OSU.  Even though the Longhorns lost (again!) we had a great time and it was great being back on campus.  The weather was perfect too.....great football weather!! Thanks Mom and Dad for the great tickets!!!

We had such a fun weekend and it was hard coming home! It's hard to believe that the next time we are here we will have our little guy with us.  We can't wait to introduce him to our favorite city! Hopefully he enjoys it as much as we do! :)

2 down, 1 to go!!!

Today I went in for 27 week appointment and found out a few things:

• I'm entering my 3rd trimester!!! 
• He has the most beautiful heartbeat I have ever heard.  It made my day hearing it! 
• He is measuring right at 27 weeks and is still an active little thing!!! I'm not sure if he ever sleeps. :) I do LOVE to feel all of his kicks though-- it seems more likely we have a kicker in our future! 
• He said by this stage I will probably get more uncomfortable as the baby grows.  He told me I can continue working out, going to yoga, and stretching which could help with being uncomfortable.

The doctor was pleased with everything and said that now I need to see him every 2 weeks.  This makes it seem so much more real that we get to meet him so soon!! Here I am at 27 weeks.  He is growing by the second!

I heart Ebay, Lonestar Baby, and Land of Nod (Nursery Update)

As many of you know, it has been quite the challenge for me to find the 'perfect bedding (and furniture)' for sweet Charlie's nursery.  I feel like I have obsessed over this for months!! Well, I have finally found it and I feel like the nursery is coming together!!! Yay!!! After searching every store in the DFW area, I ended up finding it on Ebay.  We ordered it today and can not wait for it to come in.  Here is a picture of it below....isn't it cute?! I was really trying to find something with the blues, greens, and brown colors and I think this is perfect! I like how it goes with our monkey theme, but it is not overloaded with monkeys.

We also found and purchased our glider for the nursery this weekend.  We sat in so many of them before we found the perfect one.  It was so comfy I almost fell asleep in it....which was a sign that I new it was the perfect one.  I have to give a shout-out to one of our new favorite stores....Lonestar Baby.  They were wonderful and honored our Partners Card discount, even though they were not on the Partners Card.  Whohoo!! So, we got it at 20% off.  So exciting!!! Here is a picture of what it looks like.  The fabric is a little different than the picture....but it looks very similar to this.  It will arrive January 24th.  Yikes!!! Let's just hope Charlie doesn't make an early arrival!!

And finally.....we purchased our nursery furniture!!!! We were looking for something really simple and pieces to match that would grow with him as he got older.  I fell in love with Land of Nod...Crate and Barrel's kid line.  We ordered the pieces online and they should arrive by the end of November or early December.  We love this place.....the shipping is at a low cost, and it is all made in America. It has also got great reviews online! The only downfall is that the only stores in the US are in Illinois and Washington, so we don't actually get to see it in person before purchasing it.  But, after checking out a-million-and-one cribs we can tell this is the one.  I love it and can't wait for it to get here.  Here is what the crib looks like:

Whew....I feel like we accomplished so much this weekend!  Next up is painting the nursery and setting it all up! We can't wait!!

Dawn's Baby Shower & Visit

Last week Matt, Dawn, and Erin were in town visiting.  We thought while they were here it would be perfect to throw Dawn her baby shower.  She is only three weeks ahead of me and it has been fun being pregnant the same time as her.  I never would have thought we would have babies so close in age!!! Here are a few pictures from the shower.  Miles' nursery is a sports theme, so the theme of the shower was sports.  We had such a great time!!!!

We had to get a baby bump picture together while she is here!! :)

 She got a lot of wonderful gifts!! It looks like Miles is a longhorn fan already!! 

After the shower we ate at Zanata's...a wonderful pizza place in Rockwall.  It was so good!!! We then came back and watched the Mizzou and OU game! 

 The next day we went to Manny's to celebrate Matt and I's birthday.  We had a great time and the food was wonderful!! I'm thankful Charlie likes Mexican food!! :)

We had a great time with them being back home and can't believe that the next time we see them little Miles will be here!!! 

24 week baby bump

It's hard to believe that we are already 24 weeks along.  Before we know it we will be meeting our new little guy.  We can't wait!!! Here is my baby bump at 24 weeks.  It is safe to say that I am officially 'showing'! I feel like my belly is growing daily and I absolutely LOVE it!!! :)

23 week appointment

Last week, we had our 23 week appointment and sonogram.  I can't believe that we are already more than half way to meeting our sweet little boy!! The appointment went great and he is growing (and kicking) away! We loved seeing him again! Here are a few highlights from our appointment:

* He weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces

* Had a healthy heartbeat of 153 BPM

* He is healthy and growing just the way he should be.  Yay!! 

* The sonographer told us he was all legs- I'm thinking he is a future Longhorn kicker, soccer or basketball player :)

* During the sonogram he was extremely active- one of his legs was touching his nose- he was practicing his kicking skills already!!

This was the first week that I really felt him kicking away and I LOVED it!! He is an active little thing.  Justin was even able to feel him kick too! I have been pain free for two weeks now.  This week I was really starting to feel more like myself and had more energy compared to last week.  Great news!!! We appreciate everyone's love, support, and prayers throughout the past month.  It is greatly appreciated!!!

Update

Wow! So much has happened since the last time we posted anything.  About 2 weeks ago, we were in the ER at about 2am.  After many tests and talking to doctors, we found out that I have fibroids in my abdomen that have been degenerating, which causes extreme pain and pre-term contractions.  Good news is everything is okay with baby Rucker, bad news is that I am in lots of pain and have had to rest for the past 2 weeks. No teaching, no working out, no yoga, no dinner dates, no TX/OU game......nothing!!   Plus, this happened the same weekend that I was supposed to travel to Houston to visit my sweet friend, Jenny.  So sad I wasn't able to make it!!! Anyone that knows me well knows that it is extremely hard for me to stay still and rest.  But, I will do whatever it takes for our little guy.

We are so lucky and blessed though that everything is okay with baby Rucker.  We had two Level 2 sonograms during this time and we loved seeing him! Doctors say he is doing great and growing away.  They are all amazed at how active he is! He continues to have a strong heartbeat and is a busy little guy.  We love that! Here he is during one of the sonogram pictures.  We are amazed at how much he is already grown since the last time we saw him.

Thanks so much for everyone's love and support throughout this time.  We truly appreciate everything!!!

We are having a.......

sweet baby BOY!!! Today was definitely a day that we will not forget.  I was very nervous going into this appointment.  I just hoped that everything was okay and that he was growing just the way he should be.  Well, we found out wonderful news that baby Rucker is growing and has a fast and healthy heartbeat of 156. He is an active little thing already....just like his mom!!! He weighs 9 ounces (average is 8 ounces for 18 weeks) and the nurse said that he has long legs!! I love it because I can already tell he is going to be an awesome college quarterback!!  Justin tells me that it is good for golfers to be tall too!!!  

Meet our new precious baby boy......

Charlie Austin Rucker!!!

Here is a video of us when we found out it was a BOY:

Here we are beaming after we found out the wonderful news!!!

Thank you to everyone's support and LOVE during this exciting time!!! 

Love, Brandi, Justin, Charlie, and Ripley :)

(so excited to say this for the first time...our new family!!)

Sundae Sunday #78: We're Having a Baby!

A few weeks ago my wonderful brother-in-law taped his Sundae Sunday at our place announcing that we are expecting. Thanks Adam for featuring us in your video for the week. We hope you enjoy it! :)

15 weeks

Baby Rucker is doing great and it is growing by the second!! Here is my baby bump at 15 weeks with Ripley closely looking on!! :)

NYC Trip....

Part of being a Rucker means that you LOVE to travel and travel often! So, we thought Baby Rucker's first big trip would be to NYC. We had a blast and were able to see a lot of the city in the short amount of time we were there. By the end of the trip we were exhausted, but we had so much fun and I think Baby Rucker enjoyed being in the Big Apple as well!!!

We first experienced Times Square and saw a taping of the Daily Show. Justin was really excited about seeing the Daily Show.....it is his favorite! The next day we went on the Circle Line Tour around Manhattan and saw a lot of the city! It was great and we both got a good tan, which is always a plus for me! :)

The next evening we went to the Top of the Rock at sunset. The views of NYC are beautiful! We went during the perfect time and were able to get some great pictures!!!

By far the highlight of the trip (at least for me) was going to see Wicked on Broadway! It was AMAZING!!! If you haven't seen this show, it is a must! It was such a fun night out and was so good. I would love to see it again it was that good!!!

We had to get a baby bump picture with Lady Liberty. Here it is at 14 weeks! I'm starting to officially show and love it!!!

The trip would not be complete without a souvenir for Baby Rucker. I saw this 'I love NY' onesie and had to get it! :)

Exciting News!!!

Welcome to our new blog!! We hope that you will use it to stay connected with our new adventures! As many of you know, we are expecting our first child due in February! We are beyond excited and can not wait to meet baby Rucker. Here is the 8 week sonogram below......isn't he/she cute?! We are in love already!!

We shared the news with both of our families over July 4th weekend. They were over the moon and so excited and anxious for a new little one to enter the family. We were able to catch the excitement on video of us telling my family. We gave my Dad a late Father's Day gift which was a onesie that says 'Coming February 2011!' Check it out below....

Thank you everyone for your love and support throughout this new journey of our lives. We could not be more blessed and more excited!!!