Nursery Week!

Our furniture is in! I'm so excited to get it up and put the bedding in. Mom is coming to paint tomorrow, and I'm sure Jordan will be putting the crib together as soon as the paint is dry (if not before). He actually told me he was going to put it together last night--in the living room where the box is sitting. I was able to convince him that it was wider than the hallway and door, so that was not a good idea. Patience, sweet husband. Here's a pic of the furniture we ordered (minus the butterfly bedding, of course :) ) I'll post pictures of the actual nursery soon!

Week 24 Pregnancy Quiz

I think I might be shrinking :( Or maybe it's just growing upward?
Aren't you jealous of my awesome pj's? You know you are!!

How far along: 24weeks, 4days
Total weight gain/loss: +15
Maternity clothes: Mostly regular dresses and elastic waisted skirts. (And sweats/comfy tees when I get home from work!)
Stretch marks: A few on the hip/thigh area. Nothing new.
Sleep: Once I get comfy, I'm good to go.
Best moment this week: Getting the call from the nurse that my urine test and b/w was normal. No Pre-E for me right now...hopefully ever!
Food cravings: Nothing.Sounds.Good. Ever :(
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out: In
What I miss: Feeling good. Seriously, I'm over the morning (and evening and sometimes mid-day) sickness. Will it ever end???
What I am looking forward to: A Vacation. Don't know when it will be, but it can't come soon enough!!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Include your husband in all the baby planning. He is as much a part of this as you are!
Milestones: Viability! I have let the monkey know that he needs to stay put for a few more months, but to reach this milestone lets me stop holding my breath...a little.

That looks...complicated

Jordan and I have decided that we are going to try out cloth diapers for our little one. Yes, it is better for the environment, but to be honest, it is the money that can be saved that is my driving factor. Being "green" is just a bonus! I ordered my first few diapers last week and they were delivered Saturday. I was so excited, but since we were having guests over, I opened the box, looked at a few things, put it away in Hamp's closet to look at later, and finished cleaning! Once our guests were gone, I pulled out my box of "goodies" and started showing Jordan all of the cute diapers. Most are just solid colors, but I got two really cute ones-one with dots and one cow print! This is totally new to both of us, but at least I've changed a diaper before in my life!! Jordan-not a one! He was pretty intrigued with all of this stuff but seemed overwhelmed. I showed him how to put the inserts in the diaper and the laundry bag I had purchased as well. I started talking about my friend Rachel's advice about washing, drying, putting the diapers together before putting them away so they are ready to grab and use, etc. I looked up to see my poor husband's deer-in-the-headlight look as he muttered, "That looks....complicated." I told him it would be fine, and if cloth didn't work for both of us we would definitely switch to disposables. His response, "No. Not the cloth part. Just diapers in general!" Oh boy...

And kind of on the same note, a conversation we had yesterday at Babies R Us about a cute little outfit-
Me: It's so cute! Pants are going to be a pain with all the snaps, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
J: Ugh! I hate snaps. How stupid to put so many.
Me: Really?
J: Yeah. That is going to take so much time.
Me: The snaps have to be there. You wouldn't want to take the entire outfit off every time you need to change a diaper would you? It's easy access!
J: Ohhh!! I never thought about that!!

Yes, friends, the two of us will be bringing a child into the world to care for ON OUR OWN! Stay tuned. This could be very interesting...

23 Week Pregnancy Quiz/ Appointment Update

How far along: 23weeks, 4days

Total weight gain/loss: +14

Maternity clothes: Not really. Mostly dresses and elastic waisted skirts.

Stretch marks: I've discovered some on my thighs. Not sure if they're new or old though. I've only been thinking about stretch marks on the stomach and ignoring other body parts!

Sleep: More, please
Best moment this week: Hearing his h/b today at the doctor-love that sound! Jordan feeling him kick last night!
Movement: Pretty consistent

Food cravings: None.

Gender: Boy

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out: In

What I miss: Sleeping all night long without having to get up to pee 2 or 3 times!

What I am looking forward to: More big movements :)
Weekly Wisdom: I've got nothing...not feeling very wise today

Milestones: Jordan and I both felt Hampton kick on the outside last night! So neat!!

And an update--At my last appointment, my blood pressure was borderline high, and was higher at my appointment today (141/70). They retested it after a while and it went up (147/72). There was no protein in my urine today, but my doc is making me collect my urine for 24 hours on Sunday and bring it in Monday when I will have to get b/w done. I also have to take my b/p at least 3 days a week and keep a record to show the doctor at my next appointment. She wanted to get a "baseline" for me and keep an eye out for Pre-Eclampsia. Freaking-A. Please pray that everything is fine and it was just a fluke...or at the very least I just need to take some medicine to keep my b/p under control.

Added: (more for my own records) Belly measuring 21 weeks-small, but okay since I'm carrying low. Heartbeat on doppler in the 140s/150s.

I'm going to be a mom!!

Not the most shocking revelation, I know, considering I've been knocked up since January, but it has recently hit me like a ton of bricks! I've been spending some of my spare time cleaning out our office and making room for Hampton and his stuff. We still have a desk w/ a computer, a small dresser, and a t.v. in the room, but those things have now been joined by a crib mattress and a big box packed full of adorable bedding! Our crib and dresser should also be here any day! The closet is completely cleaned out and in it now hangs the few adorable outfits that I've gotten for the little man. My diaper bag waits on the shelf next to some stuffed animals. I sometimes just go in the room, look around and imagine what it is going to look like and what it will be like when we finally get to put a baby in it. OUR baby! It is all just becoming so real. I'm excited, scared, anxious, but most of all I am so thankful. I absolutely can't wait to be a mom!

Prayers Needed

A virtual friend of mine and her family are in need of your prayers. Her niece was struck by a car earlier this week and is in serious condition. They've created a blog for her, which can be found here. Please keep Kayla in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks, friends!

Week 22 Pregnancy Quiz

Wow! I feel like time is flying!! I went to write a post, and it hit me that it was already Thursday of my 22nd week. Craziness! The pregnancy quizzes are taking over the blog, but that's okay because that means that I am 1 week closer to meeting my sweet baby boy. And it doesn't get any better than that! I feel like so much is going on, yet not a lot is happening. Our bedding is in (Adorable!), the crib and dresser should be coming in this weekend, gifts are being given, clothes are being hung...such exciting stuff! But we still have to wait on mom (our painter) to finish summer school and painting her own kitchen, so that she can come spend her time on the nursery. She has lots of fun ideas, so I'm anxious to see what she comes up with. I wish I could help (and I probably could), but we've all decided that it would probably be best for me to sit out this project. I'm the project manager-what I say goes! :)

How far along: 22weeks, 4days
Total weight gain/loss: +14 (My book says this is normal, but it worries me. I'm still hardly showing, so I feel a lot more weight gain will be coming in my future. I just can't do anything about it though. I'm eating healthy, drinking lots of water, etc., so I guess I'll just have to sit back and get over it. I don't care about the actual weight gain, just that the monkey is healthy!!)
Maternity clothes: Not really. Mostly dresses and elastic waisted skirts.
Stretch marks: None
Sleep: Sleeping like a rock. My head hits the pillow, and I'm out! Still pretty comfortable, so that's good.

Best moment this week: Our bedding came in! My new camera (Canon Rebel Xsi) also came in, and I'm so excited to start learning about it!

Movement: Becoming more frequent. It feels like bubbles more than kicks, but I know it's him! Still feel nothing from the outside-Jordan is anxious to feel him & nervous that it will freak him out! Haha!

Food cravings: None. I'm really having a hard time picking stuff to eat b/c nothing sounds good. :( Eating lots of fruits and veggies, but not craving any in particular.

Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out: In
What I miss: My husband! He's started a new job and has several 9 to 9 shifts during the week. I stay up most nights until he gets home, give him a kiss and head to bed.

What I am looking forward to: Preparing the nursery

Weekly Wisdom: Keep snacks on you at all times. Breakfast bars and packs of crackers can be easily thrown in your purse and are a life saver when you have to have something right that second!

Milestones: Movements are becoming more significant. No matter what I'm doing, when I feel him move, I just stop, tell him hello, and wait for another movement. :)

And, drumroll please...someone just might have a baby bump forming:

I made Jordan take a picture from the front, too. I feel like you can almost tell more this way because of the indentions (for lack of a better word) in my sides. Not sure why my shirt is so out of whack...I think I rolled off the bed, let him snap 2 pics, and climbed back in!

Can I take maternity leave early?

My job is a total snooze fest. And I'm still fighting with morning sickness. And it's summertime, so the pool is calling my name. So, the solution I've come up with--early maternity leave! In my perfect world I would take off six weeks, get paid for it, get a tan, get the house ready for a baby, and return to work for a couple of months before the monkey arrives. Then, just to make the scenario even better, on Friday, October 9 (48 mere hours before the babe's EDD), I would walk out the door and yell "I quit!!" while flashing a peace sign!

::sigh::

In a perfect world...

Week 21 Pregnancy Quiz

How far along: 21weeks, 5days

Total weight gain/loss: +11

Maternity clothes: Not really. Mostly dresses and elastic waisted skirts.

Stretch marks: None

Sleep: The exhaustion has come back and hit me hard. I want to sleep all the time! Getting up at least a couple of times a night to pee, but I'm like a zombie and fall right back to sleep!

Best moment this week: Celebrating our 4th anniversary and being giddy about yet another milestone that we will celebrate next year as a family of 3!

Movement: Everyday. Mostly in the mornings and evenings. Still can't feel him on the outside. Food cravings: I HAD to have a Bloomin' Onion from Outback, so we went there last night!

Gender: Team Blue :)

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out: In

What I miss: My heels. My circulation has been really bad in my feet, so it looks like I'm in flats from here on out!
What I am looking forward to: Looking pregnant! I am ready for people to notice!!

Weekly Wisdom: Start writing in a journal, blog, or pregnancy record book. So many things are happening and time is flying! I'm so glad to have a story to look back on!
Milestones: He's the size of a banana and about 1 pound!

My bump:

Me and the hubby before dinner last night:

4 years ago...

I had the most perfect wedding to the man of my dreams! These first 4 years have been quite the roller coaster ride, but I wouldn't change one day. I know that God put the good times and the bad times in our lives to bring us closer-to each other and to Him. It's amazing! I'm excited to be moving in to year 5. It's going to be the best one yet!! :)

I picked out a few pics from our big day to share. Sorry, they are kind of grainy because I had to scan them from our book with all of the preview pictures from the photographer. Oh well.

Getting ready to become Mr. and Mrs.:

Mom burned a hole in my sister's dress. This smile was much later. We were able to go to the bridal store across the street and get a new, slightly different dress for Ashley, and mom soon forgave herself for yelling "shit" in the church house!

I made the girls wear 4-inch heels. Clearly they couldn't wait to get them off! Wimps :P

Group shot:

College roomies & great friends!

My flower girl decided to do snow angels while we waited. She's too cute!!

Our delicious cake. I wish this picture was better. I designed it :)

In my dreams...I'm not a good mom!

During all of our TTC times, I had many, MANY dreams about being pregnant, having a baby, getting a positive pregnancy test, you know, all that fun stuff! Since actually being pregnant, I haven't had one...until Monday night. And I wasn't a very good mom! Now, I'm not much into reading into dreams (Although Saturday night, I did have a very vivid dream about a plane crash. Um, yikes!), but it just seemed so real. I actually woke up and thought, "I have to go check on Hampton!"

Here's the gist of the dream:
I had the baby. I wasn't full term. I was where I am right now, but he was perfectly healthy, just absolutely teeny tiny. The dream started at home. We had nothing but the few outfits that are hanging in the closet now, a couple of cloth diapers, 1 disposable diaper, and a crib mattress. Of course we weren't prepared...he was about 19 weeks early! We laid him on a blanket on the bed in the guest bedroom, changed his diaper, and left him laying there...and went to the park at church. After playing at the park with some family and friends for quite some time, someone asked how the baby was. Gulp. I said that we had to leave him at home b/c we didn't have a carseat yet. Everyone kind of looked at me weird b/c all of my potential babysitters were right there at the park. I assured everyone that he was fine, someone was watching him (not true), and I booked it home. When I got home, he was all tangled up in the blanket, and I thought he surely had suffocated himself. He was fine. I breastfed him and then held him out in my arms and for the first time got a glimpse of his beautiful itty bitty face. Then I woke up :)

Weird dream, I know. And, I can promise that I will not leave my baby at home unattended. The coolest part was seeing his face. It was so clear, and I think it will be etched in my mind until the day that I get to meet Hampton. I'm curious to see how close he looks to the Hampton in my dreams!