Tenley's Nursery

Once we got the bedding, we chose the colors for baby girl's nursery: lilac and mauve. 

Day 1 of painting was spent painting the baseboards and crown molding:

Day 2 of painting was spent on lilac:

(24 weeks)

By day 2 our little helper, Pearl, was pooped!

(She can't even keep her eyes open!)

Day 3 of painting was spent on the mauve accent wall:

(24 weeks)

After 3 whole days of painting we were exhausted! The next week we ordered the crib and dresser. We were so excited when we got the call saying that the furniture was ready for pick up. The dresser came assembled, but the crib did not. So of course we put the crib together right when we got it!

Pearl helped me read the directions to daddy:

(27 weeks)

While Ed did the assembling (I helped too, though!):

The finished product:

(27 weeks)

Now that we have the furniture we are trying to get the room decorated. So Tenley's nursery isn't quite finished, but it will be soon!

I'll post pictures of the nursery when we are done!

T. E. D.

After much deliberation, we finally picked a name for our baby girl:

The Meaning Behind Our Choice:

A few weeks ago we had many names on our list (Brooklynn, Chloe, Cadence, Demi, Harlow, Harper, Sienna), but nothing that truly felt right. I've always known that I wanted to pick a name that was unique and by no means "popular"; which helped cross a few names off our list. Then when we were in Ohio we kept talking about baby girl names and it seemed like every name someone thought of another person thought of something negative to go with it; which made me determined to pick a name that I never even considered before. This week, I started to think about things that could help me pick a good name for our baby girl. The first thing that popped into my mind was the month of October (when I am due) and since October is the TENth month of the year, I thought of the name Tenley. Since we already picked the middle name of Elizabeth after my Grandma Betty who passed away when I was younger, I began to think of what our baby girl's initials would be - TED. The initials TED then made me think of the name Teddy and since people called me by my initials (KLEB), I thought we could call her Teddy after her daddy, Eddie. 

I immediately texted Ed (since he was working) and told him that I think I'm in love with this idea and he responded with, "I'm pretty much sold on it." So that's that ...Tenley Elizabeth Ditata it is!

We can't wait to meet you, Tenley!

The Last Days of Our O-HI-O Vacay...

After the baby shower, we headed to my brother Ray's to play pool, listen to music and hang out with some family and friends:

The next day, my mom planned a BBQ at the house so Ed and I didn't have to run around to see everyone, this way they could just come to us. My brothers cooked "hut dogs and humberbergers" while everyone sat around chatting up a storm. Cassie even stopped by so that I can meet her fiance, John. The weather was perfect and the company was even more perfect.

After we all ate, I was introduced to an amazingly fun game that I've never even heard of - Corn-hole! I was pretty bad when Ed and I were partners, but then I got better when Rachel and I teamed up ...maybe because she carried me the entire time. Cho should really join a corn-hole league or something.

(Ray-Ray flexin' to make us all laugh)

It was a fun-filled day/night and I'm so glad we all got to relax a little the day after the baby shower. Our next and final day was spent saying goodbye to our families. First we went to say bye to my brothers, then we spent the day at Eddie's house where we got to see his entire family again and my mom and Gram came, too:

 

(this whole "pink shirt day" thing was not planned, but it sure did make for a cute photo)

Going home to Ohio is always bittersweet for me… I love going home to see all of my family and friends, but I always get homesick when I get back to Vegas. It’s hard to go from spending all day and night with your family and friends and then not knowing when the next time you’ll see them will be. The one thing that is keeping me going is knowing that we’ll have plenty of visitors when the baby is born …visits from my mom, in-laws, aunts, grandmas, cousins and even Amy and Alex are going to visit after the baby arrives! I can not wait to welcome our daughter into such a large group of people who love her unconditionally and will always be there for her. I am so grateful that my family and Ed’s family are close and still maintain close even when we are in Vegas. It means a lot to me to know that our daughter will have the most amazing family around her. And although we will be far from Ohio, our daughter will ALWAYS be close with her family.

Thanks to everyone I got to see while vacationing in Ohio,

you all made it so much fun for us!

Perfection

My Friday in Ohio was perfection. 

My day started by being woken up by a thunderstorm; which is my favorite thing about Ohio besides my family and friends, of course. After loungin' around for a bit, Ed left to go hang out with his parents because I had a catch-up session planned with Amy. While I was getting ready Ed called to tell me that he bought us two tickets to go see Adele on August 20th, basically this day was off to thee most amazing start! Then, Amy came to my mom's to introduce me to her beautiful daughter, Alexandra:

1.) She's gorgeous and 2.) Amy is such a great mommy!

After we got ready, Amy and I went to Kate's house, then we headed over to the shower to see everyone:

I also had a variety of my favorite foods waiting for me...

(which made me gain 5lbs)

Chick-fil-a Nuggets:

Red Velvet Cake:

Pink Lemonade:

My Gram's Homemade Chocolate Suckers:

We even had my favorite ice cream in the world - Handel's Cotton Candy Ice Cream!! Basically, the hosts (my mom and mother-in-law) really out did themselves. 

Another cute surprise was baby pics of Ed and I:

In order to be travel-friendly we opted for a "Gift Card Shower" and the most creatively wrapped gift card won a prize. When we thought of this I did not anticipate how creative people would get. My Aunt Julie amazed me with her gift card wrapping skills and she won because of this fancy dancy tree with onesie/burp cloth roses:

I also received some small gifts that I was able to fit in my carry on. One of my favorite gifts was a crocheted blanket from my Gram:

(it's shaped like a star!!)

Before the shower ended Ed stopped by to say hi to everyone and thank them for all of the amazing gifts:

 (my cousins just LOVE their uncle cousin Ed)

Basically, I was blown away by how everyone made this day perfect for me. From the super cute invitations my cousin, Sara, made to the food and amazing company - I was in pure amazement and overwhelmed by how loved this baby girl is. 

I want to thank my mom and mother-in-law for throwing this amazing shower and always being so supportive of me and showering me with love not just at the baby shower, but everyday. I am truly blessed to have such amazing mothers in my life and I can only hope to be half as good of a mother to my daughter. I also want to thank all of my family for helping make the day amazing. Last, but not least I want to thank my friends for coming. Some of these girls I knew since birth and the rest since I was 14. I am so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing women!

Thanks everyone ...I love you all!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I have been living in Nevada for almost 6 years now; however I still consider Ohio to be my home. After all, home is where the heart is. I have so many great memories in Ohio with some of thee most amazing people on this planet. Since it was almost 2 years since I was home and Eddie almost 2 and a half years, we decided it was time to go home to visit. My mom had also wanted to throw me a baby shower so it was perfect timing. 

I was really nervous about flying since I'm almost in my second trimester, but the flight went really well ...other than the excessive swelling I experienced on the plane and almost crashing on the runway. We land and our pilot jokes, "Well guys we had a rough landing. Not because I was avoiding a bird, but because air traffic control messed up and we almost t-boned a plane." - AWESOME! I have never been more excited to get my feet on the ground safely and to be greeted by my momma and in-laws. 

Since our flight landed at night, we only got to see a few family members that night. First we got a visit from my niece and nephew, then we made a quick trip to my Aunt Juls. The next day was jam packed with family visits. First we visited with my Gram, then went to visit Grandma Rita and Scrub:

Then we were off to see Grandpa Ditata and Uncle Roger:

Then Ed and I ate some Chick-fil-a, of course, and got ready to go see some of my family:

Needless to say our first two days in Ohio were pretty hectic, but in the most amazing way possible. It was great for us to see our families and allow them to feel their little granddaughter/great granddaughter/niece/great niece/cousin flutter in excitement to meet them.

Next up was our baby shower hosted by my mom and mother-in-law ...stay tuned!