Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Shout out!

To my sister in "The Sooner State" - I hope your trip is amazing! I am so glad y'all got to go. Give big hugs to our Mom and Granny and Granddad and Uncle Wayne and Aunt Lyn! I miss not having you down here! I can't express how grateful I am to have such an awesome sister! Don't forget to rest a little. I'm sad you have to leave OK, but I'll be glad to have you back!

Monday, July 26, 2010

The weekend is over :(

David and I had an incredibly relaxing weekend. We took doctor's orders seriously and slept in both Saturday and Sunday. I took two naps on Saturday and a little one on Sunday. We lazed around and watched TV (even though there was NOTHING on!!!...no movies out...nothing!). We are thoroughly rested up! I think that will probably be the last weekend we EVER get to just do nothing for the rest of our lives, so I thought it would be a good idea to record it.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

33 week appointment update...

The appointment could have gone better... On the bright side, I didn't have to wait very long at this appointment. David couldn't go to this appointment because he had a lot at work to take care of. My blood pressure is up. They made me lie on my left side while I waited for the doctor to come in the room. It did go down a little while I was waiting. He went over the symptoms to look for regarding high blood pressure and when to call if I notice them. I'm not too worried. My blood pressure fluctuates a lot, so I'm cutting out the bacon and hopefully we'll see an improvement. I was supposed to have one more two week wait for an appointment, but they told me they really would like to see me back next week. Blah! The doctor asked me if I needed to be "taken off work" and I said "Please, no, I have too much to do." He said he is "Prescribing more rest." Like I have time for that...but I promise I will try. I think the blood pressure may be why my hands hurt so much in the morning. Good news....I am still measuring right on time! 33 cm's this visit. Yeah! My morning sugars haven't been so great, but he said they were nothing to worry over and this morning I had a great sugar level. Well, I'm off to work and trying not to stress out :).

Monday, July 19, 2010

Overwhelmed by the thoughfulness around us...

For those of you who don't know...the beautiful lady pictured below is my sweet, sweet sister. She decided she wanted to throw me a little surprise baby shower. I already had plans to go visit with her this weekend. My lovely nieces and nephew were camping with their Nana, so it was just us adults.

I walked into her neighbor/best friend's house and was greeted by baby shower decorations! They were so sweet to do all this! They even went so far as to get a sugar free cake so I could eat some!
I got a bunch of fun gifts! This was one of my favorites! It is a teddy bear that plays "womb sounds". No...I was not hugging it, I was listening to the "womb sounds". I just wondered what exactly Ashlyn is hearing in there.

I knew that Mary and Teresa and David had planned to work on the nursery while I was gone. I arrived home to yet another surprise...they were done! We are missing some art to go on the walls, but that is it! I am so excited that Ashlyn's room is ready now! The curtains Teresa made are gorgeous. I think they are the nicest curtains I have ever owned. She is so talented! The polka dots are adorable! All three of them worked so hard all day! I am such a lucky girl!



As if they didn't have enough to do already, they finished painting where the refrigerator goes in the kitchen and where we didn't paint because we were going to do a backsplash. We will still do a backsplash, but who knows when. Mary (who is the one I always ask to arrange my furniture because it stresses me to no end to try to figure out where to put everything) rearranged the living room. I added a couple of my own touches (like moving the TV) and now the pack and play and Ashlyn's swing have homes of their own in the living room. We are truly starting to get ready for this little one's arrival. We are so blessed to have such sweet, thoughtful people in our lives to help us!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

My hero...

My sister is my hero somedays! Like yesterday for instance. She has three kids...that in itself deserves some kind of award, but in addition to listening to three little kids whine and argue and yell and play...and do all those little kid things...she still finds the patience to listen to me whine and argue and yell too. I love her...what can I say...she rocks! This pregnancy thing just gets to be too much for me sometimes and she has been there every step of the way. But more than that...I look back and she's been there to cheer me on for every step of the way...I remember calling her to rant about finals and boys and bills and jobs and all sorts of crazy stuff that you can't talk to just anyone about and she was there. I am so lucky to have such a great sister!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Even I didn't realize...

I've already talked about how sad I am about the oil spill, but even I didn't realize there could be pictures like those in this blog. A friend had a link to this website on her blog. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't begin to qualify as anything close to a tree hugger. I'm embarrassed to say we don't even recycle (because somebody I live with won't use the right trash cans and I'm not digging through the trash to recycle...maybe one day). These pictures brought tears to my eyes. I don't know what else BP can do, but surely there is something! The news seems to have gotten tired of covering the story...but it's not over. It's not going to be over for a long time.

Friday, July 9, 2010

31 week appointment update

Yesterday, David and I went to my 31 week appointment. It went really well! The doctor checked my sugar numbers and said they were Great! He measured my belly and I am officially back in check! I only measured 30 cm. I'm not measuring big anymore! Ashlyn's heartrate was good. The nurse said it was averaging 146. I am encouraged that all my efforts were not in vain and if I keep at it, I can take care of this little girl while she is growing! I just want her to be healthy. If I keep my sugar levels in check, then for all substantial purposes, it will be to Ashlyn like any other healthy womb. I'm feeling pretty good. Swelling has started to get worse in my hands and feet/ankles. It's not very comfortable, but it could definitely be worse, so I'm trying not to complain too much. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and please don't stop!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

4th of July Weekend

To all those who serve or have served in the Military and your families:
Thank you! Those two words can't really begin to say enough! I am forever grateful for the multitude of sacrifices that have been made to give me the freedom to live my life as I choose. You are my heroes!

This weekend was jam packed..and I don't have a single picture. :) Every year I spend half the fireworks show trying to take a picture that turns out, but this year I didn't even pull out the camera. Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed over the David's Mom's house with a full trailer of junk...David and Chuck then added Chuck's junk to the pile in the trailer and they headed off to the dump. Yeah! Now I'm beginning to see the floor again in the garage! Maybe one day a car will fit in there again. :) I lounged on the couch while Mary got ready and when David got back, we headed to Lowe's for some final odds and ends needed to TILE THE FLOOR! David, Joe and Mary, then just David and Teresa (a friend of Mary's) spent the day laying ceramic tile in the dining room and kitchen (and all the closets...that looked tricky!) I think it took David a solid 12 or 13 hours of pretty much non-stop work. They wouldn't let me do anything!!!...I take that back, I was in charge of drinks. Sunday morning we got up bright and early again and I headed down to Birmingham to see my Dad and his family. (Mary and Teresa were coming over to help David grout the tile. They weren't letting me help at home anyway, so it's not like I was missed all that much.) We ate lunch and the girls all headed down to the movie theater to see the much anticipated "Eclipse"...you know the "Twilight Saga". Lindsey and I got hooked on the books together, so we've seen all the movies together too. I enjoy the movies, but they just don't do justice to the books. When I got home, I was majorly impressed with the final product! David did such a good job! The color of the floor is lighter now, so it really brightens the room up! David got cleaned up and we headed out to Sokol Park to watch the fireworks show. We stopped and picked up some dinner to eat while we waited for the show to start. One of the local radio stations "synchronizes" music to the fireworks which I really enjoy. We turned the music on and then proceeded to turn it up a lot more because just our luck....we parked beside a family with a screaming infant. Not to be rude, but I have 9 weeks left of no screaming infant and I'm just not willing to give up a second of that silent time! I have two nieces and a nephew...I'm not stranger to screaming infants...I know what is headed my way! Monday, we slept a little later and took it a little easy. We worked on some smaller projects around the house and rented a movie (Shutter Island). Bad idea to fall asleep during that movie. Between normally weird pregnant lady dreams and whatever I was hearing from the movie as I slept...talk about some seriously freaky, weird dreams during that little nap. Back to regular life now. :)

Friday, July 2, 2010

Cabbage

According to www.babycenter.com, "Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision - which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face."

We have gotten these babycenter emails since the very beginning of my pregnancy. I get them every Saturday morning at the same time and have really grown to look forward to them. Every week, the size (for a while it was length, now it is more weight) is compared to a fruit or vegetable, hence our nickname for them "The Fruit Email". One of our very first emails compared the baby to a blueberry. David laughed and said the baby was "a blueberry muffin...in the oven". We called the baby "our little blueberry" for several months after that. Well she has officially graduated to a head of cabbage. I got the fruit email just as I was starting lunch Saturday and low and behold, I was just about to pull the cabbage out of the refrigerator, so we stuck the cabbage beside the belly to compare. You can't really tell how big I am because of the t-shirt, but I'm pretty sure cabbage is low balling the estimate on how big she is. :)

My 1st Baby Shower

Wednesday of this week, I was blessed with my first baby shower. My co-workers planned a little get together. I had so much fun and I was truly "showered" with gifts and good wishes! I am such a lucky girl to work with so many caring wonderful women! I told them I wouldn't post any pictures of them on the blog since I'm not sure who would be OK with being on the world wide web and who wouldn't, but here are a few pictures I can share:


Isn't' this cake so cute!


The gorgeous flowers!


This first gift made me cry! It was too sweet for words!


I didn't get a pictures with every gift, but you get the point. I told my boss that it felt like Christmas!


David and I put the bouncy seat together as soon as I got home! :)
Thank you can't begin to describe my gratefulness for all the sweet ladies coming to support me, David and Ashlyn and all the wonderful gifts that we received! We got blankets, diapers, toys, clothes (I'm talking tiny, adorable, pink outfits!), THE PACK and PLAY!, and more. My heart is overflowing!