No turning back now...

not that I ever could. We had our 35 week appointment today, and everything went well. I only gained one pound since last visit, which is good, so that puts me right about 24 pounds gained total. Not too bad I guess. He also said that if I went into labor at this point, they wouldn't try to stop it! I wasn't really expecting that conversation for a couple more weeks, but now it's out there. He wasn't going to schedule my next appointment until two weeks, but then noticed that my blood pressure was a bit higher than normal, so he went ahead and just scheduled it for next week. Apparently it wasn't too high, as he didn't seem worried, but he said we'll just keep an eye on things from here on out.

I haven't posted any belly pictures on here yet, so I thought I'd go ahead and do that. My grandma has been wanting to see them, so here goes:

19 weeks

21 weeks 1 day

24 weeks 5 days

26 weeks 1 day

28 weeks 1 day

32 weeks 6 days

35 weeks 1 day

Kinda out there, huh? It's so amazing to me that there is an actual human person growing inside my body. Everytime I see a baby now, I think about how there's one of those inside me. Bizzare!

Gettin' stuff done

At least I'm trying to. We started packing the hospital bag on Sunday, after doing a little shopping. Let me tell you, that made this whole "having a baby" thing more real. As of tomorrow I'll only have 5 weeks left. 5 WEEKS! And in all reality, the baby could really come at anytime, which kind of freaks me out. But, we're mostly prepared.

I wasn't too productive on Saturday unfortunately. I did manage to make a birthday card for my friend Leigh.

I have to give some of the credit to Rebecca for this one. I was having a pretty major brain cramp, and she helped me come out of it. I absolutely LOVE the alphabet stamps that I used. I think they've been used on every card I've made since buying them. The font is just too cute and they're a great size. I really like the paper too! Michael & Emily's birthdays are coming up, so I need to get their cards made in the next couple of weeks.

Something that I am really excited about is coming up on September 19th... Clay Aiken's new CD, A Thousand Different Ways is coming out that day!!! I am so ready for some "new" music from him. I say "new" because most of the songs on this CD are covers from the 70's, 80's and 90's, but to hear him sing different songs than the ones I've been listening to for the past three years will be great! He has a new look:

I'm still trying to get used to it, but it's growing on me.

Well, I guess that's all for now...

A quick one

I just have a couple of minutes to post, I'm on my way out to meet the girls to crop at Archivers. It's been a pretty productive day I suppose. I was going to crop earlier today, but I was a little late in getting started, so it got full before I could leave. No biggie, I have plenty to do around here. I worked on the birth announcement list, there are still several addresses that I need, but I'm getting there. I also got together as many phone numbers as I have for the "call list". I got the cabinets rearranged for the bottles, bowls, etc. The next most important thing, that I'll probably start working on tomorrow, is the hospital bag. I'll feel so much better once that's packed, then if this little one decides to show up early, we'll have that ready.

Thursday was our last childbirth preparation class. We "practiced" pushing, talked about what they'll do to the baby once he/she's born, how our bodies will feel and also a little about newborn care. Chris & I opted to not take the Newborn Care classes the hospital offers, I hope we won't regret it. We've been around little ones a lot, so I think we'll be okay, but it's the fear of the unknown.

Well, that's enough for now. Send some "be productive" vibes my way tonight, so I don't just sit there & stare at the wall. TA TA~

In case of emergency

you can feel safe in Chris’ presence & mine, thanks to the infant/child/adult CPR class that we took on Saturday. It’s one of those things that you hope to never have to use, but it’s good to have the skills.

Thursday night was our second to last childbirth preparation class. We learned about all of the different interventions and medications there are. It was A LOT of information, but I’m so glad that we have it now. It really kind of drove home for me that I’d like to try to avoid as much of that as possible. Even the medications if I can. I don’t have any grand notions that I’ll definitely be able to do it naturally, but I at least want to give it a try.

It’s hard to believe that on Wednesday we’ll only have 6 weeks left until the baby is due! 6 weeks just sounds like so much less time than even 7 weeks. There’s still a lot to be done, but at least we know that if the baby were to arrive tomorrow, we’re pretty set. We have a place for him/her to sleep, and since I plan on nursing, food is readily available. Our lives are about to change so drastically, I find myself trying to cherish even the smallest things right now. Just sitting around watching TV, or reading a book is going to be harder to do for awhile, but it will all be worth it.

Haley’s been staying with us over the weekend & through at least tonight. She started her new job in Vinings last Monday, and this week she has some orientation. She got the apartment she wanted, so she’ll be moving in this weekend! From the pictures I’ve seen it looks really cute. It has a loft bedroom & a big living room. I think it will be perfect for her. I can’t wait to see it. I won’t be able to see it Saturday when she’s moving in, as I’d already made plans to be cropping all day, but maybe we’ll get to go out there next weekend.

My dad has a job interview here in metro-Atlanta on Friday! I’m so excited because it sounds really promising. If he gets it, they’ll probably wind up moving back to the Marietta area, but that’s so much better than Augusta! It will be so great to have them “nearby” again.

Wow, once again I’ve written a novel. I guess maybe I should try to post more often, then they wouldn’t be so long. Catch ya later!

Have you ever

loved someone so much it made your heart hurt? I have the most wonderful husband, he's so supportive of me, and has been wonderful throughout this entire pregnancy. I want so badly to be able to tell him how much I love him and appreciate him, but no words seem right, and no actions seem enough. So, I guess I'll just send this out into cyberspace until I find the right way to show him.

Chris - I love you more than I could ever express. You're support and compassion amaze me, and I don't know that I'll ever be able to repay you. I am so thankful that God brought you and I together. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us. I love you.

I'm ready for fall...

for several reasons. The first being COOL WEATHER. Around this time every year I really start to look forward to fall and the thought of wearing long sleeve shirts & jackets. My two favorite seasons are definitely spring and fall, it's not too hot and it's not too cold, it's perfect.

A few more reasons I'm ready for fall:

Football season! Football means cool weather (see a theme), yelling at the TV, Saturday's & Sunday's planted in front of the tube. I prefer college football, GO DAWGS!, but I also enjoy pro ball. As for my favorite teams, I tend to stick close to home. I try to not miss any Georgia Bulldogs or Atlanta Falcons games. It's only been in the past few years that I've come to enjoy the game, but I definitely look forward to it every year. The Super Bowl is always a great time to get together with friends, as is the SEC Championship game. You just can't beat hanging out in front of the TV with some friends and good snacks! And this year we'll have a new little person to introduce to the sport.


New seasons of your favorite shows. I'd definitely say the one I'm most looking forward to is "Grey's Anatomy". Season three is starting on September 21st, and I'm so excited. This has become my favorite show! I love the drama and the romance, and of course Dr. McDreamy isn't bad either. The second season finale was fantastic, with a couple of great cliffhangers. Dr. Burke was shot & may not have full use of his hand. BIG problem when you're a heart surgeon. Izzie made a bad decision, and as a result, the man that she was in love with, Denny, died. It was so sad! And then of course there's the Meredith/McVet/McDreamy/Addison situation. At the very end of the finale it's Meredith trying to decide who to go with, McVet or McDreamy. (Don't you love the names!) Personally I hope she goes with McDreamy, but I know they have to keep things interesting.

"CSI" also starts on September 21st.... at the same time as "Grey's Anatomy"... which of course brings up a dilemma. Thank goodness for DVR's. Last season's finale wasn't the best. The only "surprise" was that Grissom & Sara seem to have some sort of romantic relationship going on. That's pretty interesting, but I don't know that they'll ever top the finale for the prior season, where Nick gets buried in a box underground. Definitely kept you on the edge of your seat. Chris and I have been watching CSI since day one, and it's one we make sure to see every week.


And lastly, "Survivor". The new season starts on September 14th, and airs on Thursday nights, same as "Grey's Anatomy" & "CSI". Thursday's are by far the best night of television. This will be like the 17th season of "Survivor", and still they manage to make it a little different every time. The drama & the scheming are so much fun to watch! Just under a month to go before we get to see who the new castaways are, and start the guessing game of who's going to win the million.

It seems that the main reason I look forward to fall is television, which of course proves that I watch too much of it. There's a show on just about every night of the week that I make sure not to miss. I'm sure that my priorities will change once the baby's born, and TV won't seem nearly as important, but as long as I can watch these few things, I should be good to go.

Some pictures & other stuff

I thought I'd finally post some pictures from the shower:

Here's me, my mom (left) and my mother-in-law
Rebecca, Lisa, Pam & Me

The guests

The food table: didn't Pam do an amazing job?!

Adorable watermelon baby carraige that my mom made

The dessert table. Can't get any better than cake & Rice Krispie Treats!!!

And here are a couple of shots of the nursery

We had our hospital tour on Thursday evening. It was very informative. They have the coolest labor beds that can do all kinds of stuff. Who knows if we'll remember what all it does when we're in the heat of the moment. But then again, that's what the nurses are for. We also practiced some more relaxation breathing. It's hard to be serious when you're not really in any pain, so we were laughing quite a bit, but I think the techniques will really help when the time comes. I'm going to try and deliver naturally, with no medication, but I know my limits, and am not completely opposed to an epidural. I think at this week's class we're going to learn about all of the different medications and interventions that can take place during labor. I think it's going to be a very important class.

Saturday night a bunch of ladies got together for Rebecca's birthday. We went to Olde Towne Tavern for dinner. It was really good, and the company was great too! We all had a great time just chatting & hanging out. I have some pictures from the evening, maybe I'll post some in the next day or so. After dinner, a few of us went out to a movie. We went to see Step Up, it was so good! I'd definitely recommend it, the dancing and the music were fantastic! I think it will definitely be a soundtrack to buy.

Today was a pretty lazy day, I just never could seem to get motivated. I did work a little on making the "call list" for when the baby's born, I need to get the phone numbers together, but I still have a little time. There are several things on my list of "things to do" before I reach 36 weeks. After that point, I'd really like to just be able to relax & wait for this little one to make his/her appearance. Maybe if I post the list here, it will keep me more accountable, so here goes, in no particular order:

1. birth announcement list
2. re-arrange cabinets in kitchen
3. buy/install window alarms
4. make list for hospital bag
5. pack hospital bag (Chris thinks it's kind of silly to put both making the list & packing the bag, but I always do better packing if I have a list)
6. buy/install closet storage
7. fill out baby book
8. prepare birth plan

See, there's not too much! Ack! If you're reading this, feel free to keep me on track.

Now I'm tired from just looking at the list, so I think I'll go to bed. School starts here tomorrow, so traffic is going to be bad. I need to try and leave early for work... See ya next time!

I don't want to be here

I'm so ready for my maternity leave to start. Although, unbeknownst to my boss & the higher ups, I won't be coming back. Can you say HALLELUJAH! (If you're one of my Hitachi friends reading this, shhhh, it's a secret!)

Chris and I really want for me to be able to stay home once this little person arrives. I think we're pretty close to figuring it out, we've done some cutting back, and we'll probably do more. We eat out so much it's ridiculous, but we're trying to do better. We for sure won't be eating out that much once I'm staying home. I've always known that when I had children, I wanted to be a stay at home mom. It's very important to me for ME to be the one to raise my kids, not some daycare worker. I don't want to miss all of those important milestones, rolling over, first words & first steps. I feel that God has placed this desire in me, and He will help us to make it work. There was a discussion on the radio a few months ago where they had some working moms and stay at home moms in the studio. I was amazed at how mean they could be to each other. Like somehow working outside the home made those moms "bad moms", or the stay at home moms were just living a leisurely life, getting pedicures & going to yoga classes. I definitely don't feel that way. You have to do what's right for you and your family, and no one should be looked down upon for whatever decision they've made. Some women just aren't meant to be stay at home moms. Does that make them bad mothers? OF COURSE NOT! Their children are much better off with a mom who's happy with her life, and can be the best mother she can. Other women aren't cut out to be working moms. Their children will benefit so much more from a mother who's feeling fulfilled by staying home with them. I think that's what it comes down to, feeling fulfilled in your role as mother. Granted, I haven't actually earned that title yet, but I know it's the most difficult job a woman can have. And I'm sure it's also the most wonderful and rewarding one. Regardless of whether you earn a paycheck outside the home.

Whew, that turned into a bit of a rant. Sorry. ;o)

I was actually coming here to vent about my job & how I'm so ready to leave. I'm so bored with my work, and there's nowhere else within the company for me to move to. I've worked in three departments, Customer Service, Credit/Collections, and now the Accounting department, and now I'm stuck. I basically do data entry, and it's mindless, boring work. Every day Chris asks me how my day was, and pretty much every day I give the same answer, "Same as every other day." And it's true. He often says how he doesn't understand how I do it, that he'd never be able to. Well, I can't do it much longer, and thankfully I don't have to. The countdown to my due date now says 55 days! Little do most people know, that it's really a countdown to when I'm done here. Even if we do determine that I have to go back to work somewhere (probably just part-time) it definitely won't be here.

There are several people that I will miss when I leave. But there are also several people that I won't miss. I've found myself getting irritated with people more quickly. And it's not even "important" stuff. Just the way they are. There are "the talkers" who know EVERYTHING and have to make sure that they let us know that. I swear they study the encyclopedia and watch everything that comes on TV so they can have some input about any subject. And they can't just talk amongst themselves, they have to speak loud enough that everyone can hear what they have to say. We finally got cubicles in our department, partially to help with the noise from "the talkers". Sadly, it hasn't really helped. Then there's "the cougher". I have never heard anyone cough so loud and so much! It's quite disgusting actually. She doesn't cover her mouth, so there's no telling what kinds of germs she's spreading. She could also be called "the burper", or "the starer". I feel a little bad saying these things, but sometimes you just gotta get it out in the open. I don't let her know that I feel this way, it's all just petty stuff, but day after day it definitely wears on you.

Okay, I guess I'm done complaining. I promise to be more upbeat in the future.

It started with a bang, and ended with a bang...

My goodness, has it been a week already? Time is flying by, I tell ya.

It's been a busy week. We started the last set of childbirth preparation classes last Thursday. We learned some relaxation breathing & watched a birth video. It's amazing what our bodies were created to do. Kinda scary, but still amazing. The video we watched was of a birth with an epidural and our instructor, Melissa, said that we're also going to watch a natural delivery, a forceps/vacuum delivery, and a C-section delivery so we can see pretty much all of the options. During tomorrow's class we're going to take our hospital tour, so that's exciting.

I took Friday off so I could have a "spa day" before the baby shower on Saturday. It was wonderful! I hadn't had my hair cut since November, and that's way too long. When Kori came over to start she said, "You're here for your "yearly" haircut." Sad, but basically true. I really need to try and get up there more often as my hair looks better short. I also went and had a manicure/pedicure and eyebrow wax. I had nearly forgotten how much I like having my nails done. It always makes me feel so pretty. One more thing to add to the list of things to try and do more often.

While I was off being pampered, my mom was at our house working like a dog in the yard. I'm so thankful that she was willing to do that for us. Especially since it was like a zillion degrees outside. Okay, maybe just mid/high 90's, but still, you get the idea. It looks so much better out there now. Chris and I just really aren't yard work people, but we need to get our hineys in gear & take better care of the yard.

Saturday was the baby shower! It turned out to be an interesting day, but still great overall. Pam came over around 10:00 to get started preparing the food. She did a wonderful job with the food & decorating. Lisa & Rebecca got there around 12:00 to help set up & finish decorating. Everything really turned out cute! I'll post some pictures of the tables once I get home. (I'm at work... shhhh, don't tell).

Here's where it gets really exciting! A few people had started showing up, so we were standing around chatting & catching up. All of a sudden we hear this terrible CRASH! We're like, "that doesn't sound good" so we go and look in the garage. This is what we see:

Thats Pam's car THROUGH my closed garage door! Holy cow! So we all go running outside to see what happened & find this:

Chris' Aunt Sandra had pulled in the driveway behind Pam's car and her foot had slid off the brake! She had hit Pam's car & it slid into our garage. She felt so bad, and I think she was really embarrassed. I tried reassuring her that it was okay. After all, it's just a garage door & car, they can be fixed and no one was hurt.

So we moved on with the day, and the rest of the guests arrived. The shower went off without a hitch. It was wonderful and we received a lot of amazing gifts. Here's a shot of the nursery filled with the presents:

Chris' parents got us the carseat/stroller combo, and my parents got us the Pack n' Play and swing. We also got the bouncy seat, jumperoo and A LOT of neccessities. We have so many bibs & washcloths that we probably won't need to buy any. We also got the cutest stuffed giraffe from Rebecca & Lisa. I've never seen anything quite as cute, I don't see him in the picture above, so I'll have to make sure and post one.

Here's where it gets interesting again. Once the shower was over, and pretty much everyone had left, the boys came back from watching their movie. For some reason they didn't want to stick around for the shower! Who knows why? Not interesting in hanging out with a bunch of women and saying "ooh" and "aah" in all the right places?

When they got home, they spent a few minutes inspecting the damage to the garage & car. It was pretty funny because they looked like such stereotypical males, circling the car & making comments. I wish we'd taken some pictures. They lifted up on one of the door panels so Kevin could back Pam's car out. We still needed to be able to get OUR cars out of the garage, so they went to work taking off the bottom panel, so they could raise the door. Meanwhile, people are starting to clean up inside and I sat down to finally eat a piece of the yummy cake. (It was quite yummy, by the way.)

All of a sudden we hear this terrible CRASH! (sound familiar?) It sounded to me like shelves had fallen or something, but we don't have shelves in the garage. The next thing I hear is Chris saying, "I'm bleeding!". The rest of it is kind of a blur to me, but this is how I remember it... I start panicking and asking if he's hurt. People are running in & out of the garage getting towels and telling me to sit down & not go out there. Now I'm really freaking out. My mom comes running in & says something about, "Do we need to call 911?", me still freaking out. I just want to go out & see if he's okay. They're reassuring me that he's fine, he's standing up, etc., but I still want to go out there. Finally I go out there & ask him if he's okay. He's got a towel on his forehead and there's blood all over the garage floor. He tells me he's fine & his dad says that he's probably going to need stitches so we're taking him to the ER. I was like, "I'm going with him!" so I'm trying to get to my shoes, but I had blood all over my foot & was making a mess. Kevin was kind enough to wipe my foot off for me & off we went. Chris' dad drove with Chris in the front seat. His mom & I were in the back. Once I saw that he was okay, I was able to calm down quite a bit.

We went to the ER & were taken back pretty quickly. He had to get 6 stitches in his forehead & the doctor says he's going to have a scar in the shape of the Mercedes Benz symbol! Here's a picture, hopefully it's not too gross:

Lovely, isn't it? Thankfully it turned out to be not so bad, but head cuts always bleed like crazy. Our friends & family were so wonderful to stay & clean up the mess while we were gone. You know they're your friends when they'll clean up blood in your house. I must say I was deeply touched by Rebecca's willingness to use wet paper towels to clean it up. Anyone who knows her, knows this is a BIG deal. She doesn't do wet paper towels. And for that, I am eternally grateful!

All in all it was a great day. Like I said, it started with bang and ended with a bang, but the in between was fantastic! We're so blessed to have friends and family in our life that love us and already love this child. It's a very comforting feeling to know that no matter what, this child will never know a day without love, even if for some reason Chris and I aren't around.

Wow, this was a really long one! But, there was a lot to say. I have more to say about the shower, but it will have to wait for another day.

Single digits, and less

Today I am 31 weeks pregnant, which means I only have 9 weeks left! Wow, we've hit the single digits now, which is a little frightening. And exciting at the same time. This little person likes to take up residence in mommy's lungs, which is quite uncomfortable. I feel like I can't get a good breath, and I don't like that feeling at all. I haven't really had any cravings during the pregnancy, but I have discovered over the last couple of weeks that I could eat my body weight in Cap'n Crunch cereal. If I'm not careful, I could sit and eat an entire box in one sitting, it's so addictive! And dry is much better than with milk, it's almost like eating candy!

There was a slight snafu with Chris' paycheck this week. I noticed on Saturday that they had credited our account twice and debited once. No big deal, it came to the right amount. Well, yesterday morning, Chris comes in the bedroom while getting ready for work & says, "Don't freak out." Which of course means he's about to tell me something horrible! "Our account is negative $1000!" I begged him to be kidding, but unfortunately he wasn't. The payroll company had done another debit which essentially took away his paycheck. NOT GOOD. We had paid several bills over the weekend, and we were getting hit with overdraft fees like crazy. Thankfully his company was on top of it and was already working on getting the money put back. And they're paying any and all overdraft fees that are occurring because of this mistake. What an expensive mistake! I sure wouldn't want to be the person responsible for that! But, it's all going to work out in the end. His company even paid for lunch yesterday because some people didn't have any money.

This month is going to fly by. Once again there is something going on every weekend. This weekend is the baby shower, on the 12th a bunch of ladies are getting together for Rebecca's birthday, the 19th Chris and I are going to an infant CPR class and the 26th is another all day cropping marathon! Any time there's so much going on, it seems like the time goes so much faster.

I'm really looking forward to cropping on the 26th. I know for sure it will be Rebecca, Laurel & myself and hopefully Kimberly and Lisa can join us too. Archiver's is having themed crops all this month, I think they're calling them "Theme Mania". The weekend that we're going to be there is "The 80's"! How fun is this going to be? They're going to have 80's music & movies, and you can dress up if you want to and win a prize. I seriously doubt any of us will dress up, but it will be fun to see everyone else.

Well, time to go eat some lunch. I want to see if I can get this little person to move around a little. He/she is not being nearly as active as mommy would like. I think we need to have a talk...

It's August

I can't believe it's August already. Where has this year gone? It constantly amazes me how quickly time passes. It's kind of sad really. 2006 is going to be a great year, but will we remember any of it? I should've been journaling every day things going on during the pregnancy, but I kept telling myself, "I'll remember." Now it's almost over, and I feel like I can't remember much. There are the obvious things I remember; like when we found out I was pregnant with twins but one was ectopic. One doesn't forget things like that. I also remember the first time I felt the baby move. I was actually sitting right here at my desk at work and I was exactly 19 weeks pregnant. It was an amazing feeling. I wish it could be bottled to experience later. I already miss being pregnant. I know once the little one arrives, having him/her here is going to be wonderful, but I'm going to miss feeling the kicks from the inside. It's an awe inspiring feeling. It really makes you wonder at God's blessings, and how he created our bodies to create life.

There is still so much to be done before the baby comes, but I'm trying not to stress about it. I know it will all get taken care of. We start our last set of childbirth preparation classes this week. This class is called "Ready & Able" and lasts 4 weeks. I think we're going to see videos of births, learn relaxation techniques and take a tour of the hospital. I know it's really going to feel real then. When the classes end, we'll only have 6 weeks until the due date! Crazy!

One of these days I'm going to get around to posting some pictures. Maybe some belly shots and pictures of the nursery. I'll try to work on that either tonight or tomorrow night. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Time to go eat lunch!