August updates

I have been so bad about posting lately. I promise to be better (or at least, I promise to try to be better!).

I am now 36 weeks. While I still love being pregnant, I think I might have hit that point where I am about ready for this little guy to come on out. Due to the extreme heat, I have had some massive swelling. My feet don't fit into any of my shoes anymore (they haven't grown, they are just swollen!), and I found an old pair of stretched out flip flops that fit, but they are literally the only pair that my feet will squeeze into! I wore rings up until about a week ago, when my knuckles got large. I guess it's all part of it!

School is about to start back and I am going back until the baby comes. It sounded like such a good idea at the end of last year.... sigh. I know it will be worth it: I will be helping my replacement teacher transition into the role of lead teacher by basically sitting in the back of the room and answering any questions she has, but she is certainly taking the lead. We are also having me go back because of my wonderful insurance coverage. We got a notice from the doctor's office when we were first pregnant that we would owe $0. If I didn't go back to work, I would have needed to get on Eddie's plan that has a $5000 deductible, so we would have to spend that much before they would cover anything! YIKES! That is money we could be saving! SO, I will be returning to work! We had our first meetings on Wednesday. That's when the swelling really started to kick in. It's been pretty non-stop since then.

I have an appointment on Tuesday, so I am anxious to ask the doc about it to make sure all is normal. I am seeing the doctor that is a stickler about weight gain, and I really don't want to see him because I haven't been able to walk much since my feet don't fit into my sneakers any more!

That's all for now!

You know you're getting close when....

The end is near.... I am in the final stretch!

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and as I was checking out, the girl just had me go ahead and book the remainder of my appointments right then! I go back one more time in 2 weeks, and then it's every week from then out! YAHOO!

Honestly, I really have loved being pregnant. It hasn't bothered me too much. Lately, though, I am just kinda ready to be un-pregnant! I am looking forward to sleeping on my belly, not peeing a million times a night (although, I know I'll be up a million times a night with a baby!), not having swollen feet.....etc, etc. I also (and this is going to sound SO bad...), would really love a nice MARGARITA on the rocks (with salt please). I know I can have the occasional glass of wine, but I won't do any kind of liquor. It just isn't worth it to me! I am looking forward to that nice margarita.....

The biggest reason I am ready to be "un-pregnant" is that I just can't wait to meet this little guy! He's been so active and my curiosity has peaked! I just want to hold him and rock him and kiss him! I don't know how people don't find out the sex. I think the suspense would be killing me by this part!!! Stephanie, if you are reading this: more power to you! I think it is wonderful when couples decide to not find out, but the curiosity I have right now over what he looks like is nothing compared to what it would be if I didn't know if he was a boy or a girl!

I hit the 35 week mark tomorrow.... let the big time countdown begin! What do you think? Will I be early? Or late? I have a feeling I will be early, so we'll see!!!

My trusty sidekick

I am obsessed with my dog. I mean, I love him SOOOO much. I know, I know.... it'll all change once the baby comes. I've heard it time and time again. This summer, Hank and I have spent some quality time together. We have a routine everyday:

Eddie gets up to get ready for work, Hank gets in bed with momma.

Hank wakes mom up around 8.

Hank and mom stay in bed until around 8:30 ish (it's been earlier lately).

Hank and mom take a walk for 40-60 mins.

Hank and mom come home and have breakfast together

Okay, I won't go through the whole day, but basically, we are side by side all day! He likes to ride in the car with me on errands, and we have been taking an afternoon nap together too! His world will be ROCKED at the new arrival! He will adjust perfectly, I know it. We can still take our afternoon naps together and we will still walk together everyday.

I realize this is a boring post, but I am trying to be better about posting and documenting this pregnancy. I want to be able to look back several months from now and remind myself that Hank was a good dog when I was pregnant and not always as attention deprived as he will surely be!

I seriously thought I was big THEN?

When I first got pregnant, I was convinced that I was showing early on....

Last week, my computer crashed and I lost a lot of pictures, and had to try to retrieve a lot of them (some without any success...). I came across these. I made Eddie take my picture to show off my new "bump."

SERIOUSLY?

And now... here is my 34 week bump:

now that's a bump!

Martha Stewart...

Many people that know my mother swear she is Martha Stewart's twin.... well, they don't look a thing alike, but my mom is SUPER creative and she basically can look at something and recreate it. I am excited by this, because it's awesome to have a mom that can literally do it all, but at the same time, people assume that I muse have her same creative abilities. Uh....no. Not at all!

When we were putting together the nursery, I fell in love with these picture frames from Restoration Hardware. And then I saw the prices.... they are all $59, $69, and $79! For a PICTURE frame! So, mom and I decided to have a little arts and craft day and here's what we came up with (there aren't pics in the frames, so we just put little nursery rhymes in them to be places holders until the little man arrives)...

These are the blocks we made... they have A, B, C on one side and spell C A L on the other side!

This is the mirror we made too...

The room is really coming together! Now it's just time for the baby!

Leslie's shower

This past Saturday, I drove to Winston-Salem to Sara's house, and we immediately got in her car to drive to Charlotte to go to Leslie's shower! Leslie is pregnant with TWINS, due in November, although the doctors told her to plan on going in October. She looked adorable and I could not get over her loot! She got some great things, and it made me think of things that I still need.... there's plenty of time though.....RIGHT???

The Nursery!

I am in love with our nursery.  I love to just go sit in there and look at all the little things and just relax (while I can!).  It really is the most peaceful room in the house and I can't wait to see the baby in there too!!!!  I realize that it won't be the most peaceful room in the house for long, so I am enjoying it while I can!  We don't have our glider yet.  Hoping that will be here soon!  For now, there is a wicker chair in its place, so that I can get the image if how it will look! Here are some of the more recent pictures:

The closet with a new sign that was a shower gift: 

"Chapel Hill- Home is where your story begins."

Cal's bookshelf filled with stuffed animals and books and cowboy attire!

His dresser filled with cute little outfits!  The lamp up top is new too!

A peek inside the crib with the new mattress cover with his monogram... love it!

The crib!

The changing table filled with the baskets!

Where the glider will go eventually.... and the new lamp that mom made.  LOVE it!  We saw it in a store for $180 and thought that we could make it for cheaper, so we did!  

And it turned out adorable!

SHOWERED with love!

I was SOOOOO lucky and blessed to be thrown another shower.... this one by 6 of my mom's closest friends. They were so sweet and went above and beyond with everything! It was a great night and I was loving every minute of it! We decided to have the shower during the summer, even though I am still quite a few weeks away, so that I would have time to sort through it all and organize everything and write thank you notes before having the "back to school" stress that I will be feeling oh too soon. This was going to be my BIG shower with my friends as well as my mom's friends, so we sent out quite a few invites! It's always hard during the summer to find a time that has everyone in town-- we are friends with some travelers! We ended up with a great turn out and it was so much fun! Here are some pictures from the party:Hugs with Eddie before we left for the shower.Me and Grandma (she was standing on the step!)Aunt Libby, me and momThe diaper cake! It was adorable!!!! Love the M & Ms with CWE on them!!!!

Childbirth prep class

Eddie and I spent all day yesterday (Saturday) at a childbirth prep class.  It started at 9 and ended at 4:30.  It was informative, and I think we both learned a lot, but by the end we were ready to RUN out of there!

They show 3 videos: one with a woman with no pain medication, one who has a small dose of narcotic to "take the edge off," and one who gets an epidural.  I had my mind made up wayyyy before these videos, but in case there was any doubt, I will be DRUGGED to the high heavens while I am in labor!  I think we might even give Eddie a dose of the narcotics to take his edge off too!  I am kidding.... Eddie was a trooper during the whole class and he only looked away a few times during the videos (they showed it all, after all!).  

One thing we learned that we really needed to know more about was the contractions.  I just know that when I feel the first one, I will be ready to bolt for the hospital.  It was good to hear the nurse explain that we need to stay at home until the contractions are about 5 minutes apart.  I am glad Eddie heard that part too, because he will be in charge of calming me down when I am ready to get in the car and GO.  

All in all, we survived the day, and I think it's safe to say we haven't changed our minds about having a baby (good thing!!!)!  We just can't wait to meet the little man!

4th of July at the Beach!

I spent such an amazing week at the beach for the 4th of July.  Eddie's sister, Carrie, came down from DC for the weekend and we had such a fun time.

A picture of me and Carrie

Everyone left on Sunday (or Monday morning), but I stayed down at the beach with my mom and dad for the rest of the week.  It was such a nice and relaxing week, and I had a great time walking every day and reading books and playing with Hank!  I took a bunch of pictures with my parents' camera so I will upload those pictures later and add them to the blog.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!