For Andrea...Pics for the sake of pics

One-third of the diaper/wipe supply

Does the camera taste good?

I love this picture.

one week and counting down....

Every Friday from here on I will be called a father. To be totally honest, I couldn't be more excited. After all the months of preparation, the showers, the doctors visits, and anticipation, I'm finally going to be a dad. As I imagine most fathers do, I have tried to figure out if he will be an all star pitcher for the Braves or just an average Joe, but either way I can't wait to help mold and guide him to whatever he decides. I kid about the pro baseball thing to Haleigh and say "I have to have a retirement plan somehow"...., but she doesn't seem amused by my logic. But as I look forward, I can't wait to take "bean" to his first Auburn Football game, or teach him how to signal for a touchdown when Auburn scores, or watch him swing his first golf club, or take his first step, and most importantly take his first breath. Even though my time to see some of these things are very close and there are a lot of things I can't wait to do and see with my son, I know I can wait and will enjoy every first and every moment I will spend with him. Even though the clock has been ticking down to this last few moments until he arrives, the best part of all is that when he takes that first breath, the clock starts over and the real fun begins.

Pictures As Promised

The dresser on the left is one that my mom used when she was a child and the same one that I used when I was a little tyke.

Another nursery shot. I have others. Will post more later.

The retaining wall that Jeremy has been working on.

This is Marlee. I LOVE her 'fro. I tell the groomer to trim everything but the mohawk.

Cache was LOVING the photo shoot. I got tons of good shots of him.

Runt

I have always loved the "Runt of the Litter" because they are the smallest (and most adorable) and usually have a unique personality because of their pack order.  Our black dog, Marlee, is the runt (I would put in a picture here, but I am away from my PC).  I love my Marlee dog.  She and I have a special bond.  Jeremy even walked in from work one night and I was sitting in a chair with Marlee in my lap (she was soaking wet).  I was rocking her back and forth, sobbing.  She had just gotten into a HUGE fight with Cache (the other dog).  She bit my finger (ended up with antibiotics and a tetanus shot) and Jeremy was coming home to talk about getting rid of her.  That was a AWFUL night.  SO on to the "Runt" blog...

Our little bean is apparently a runt.  We went to the Dr. today. I am 37 weeks and 5 days.  At our last visit, Bean was measuring several weeks behind his "gestational age" on the ultrasound measurements and weighing at 5 lb 5oz.  The doctor told me to eat ice cream EVERY DAY until he gets here. Tough homework assignment, right?  Well it kinda is, since I am not a HUGE ice cream eater.  I have been drinking Ensure, which was an alternative to ice cream in the doc's eyes.  Today, they measured my belly and I was at 33 centimeters (which I have been at for the past 3 weeks); which he said wasn't great.  They also hooked up a fetal heart monitor and recorded his heartbeat for several minutes. Dr. said they did that because of him being small.  I was a bit nervous but his heart checked out fine. Whew!  I have not dilated or effaced yet. And...Bean is breech so a c-section we will be having.  (Not posting date for Internet-security reasons, but many of you will know soon.)  

We are really excited. I have lots of pics to post. I got a new camera and have been going picture crazy!!! And yes, I have pictures of the nursery, which is all done except for some things on the wall.  That will probably happen when Bean comes home and my mom can handle that. She is so much better than me when it comes to decorating (and many other things).  

Will post pics soon!

Friday Adventures

Yesterday, Jeremy and I had a couple things to mark off our 'to-do list'. Jeremy completed more on his retaining wall that he is working on (pictures to follow). Then we headed to Home Depot to return lumber; then jetted across the highway to pick up MY NEW CAMERA. I must have a good one to record our little one's new life with us. Of course, my husband had researched the heck out of it before we decided on the one to purchase. About an hour later, with new camera in tow, this pregnant woman was HUNGRY! My taste buds lead us back across the highway to Olive Garden. I can really chow down on their soup and salad deal. Yum Yum! Besides, the doctor has informed me to gain as much weight as possible over the next two weeks (more to follow about that too). While at the Garden, I started having some Braxton-Hicks type cramping and was NOT feeling well. I was slightly disappointed because I was only on my first bowl of Zuppa Tuscana and had not eaten one breadstick. The nice waitress felt sorry for me and packed me a whole salad, soup, and order of breadsticks to go.

Now the craziness begins... We head BACK across the highway to go home and put me to bed. We cross the intersection and some $%& pulls out RIGHT in front of us, Jeremy doesn't see him but I yell (I typically send Jeremy a LOT of alerts while he drives) and the brakes are slammed on. Jeremy barely hits the back end of the $%&'s car and the $%& DRIVES OFF!!!!! DID THIS JUST HAPPEN?! A motorcyclist and a very nice man in a truck run the guy down and get his plate number. HOORAY for hometown heroes! I was pretty shaken as I saw us going straight into a large portion of this evil blue Pointiac Sunfire (yes, we got tag, make, and model). Lucky for us, our neighbor repairs dings and scratches on cars. Apparently, if the nice officer who helped us can find this $%& then we can put a warrant out for his arrest. Which, being in my profession and seeing victims of car accidents, I will be more than happy to do my part to hopefully stop the $%& from seriously hurting someone.

Anyway...below is a pic with my new camera. It is a pair of newborn shoes that I bought the other day. They are precious! We also have a video of Jeremy and Hippi playing their favorite game to practice with the video feature and uploads. Enjoy!

Another Catch Up Blog...

Another trip with Wyspr included going to Franklin, TN to visit a college friend, Ashley (or author of ABCs of our Lifes, hehe). Her due date was 6 weeks ahead of mine and she has since had her little one. Her baby is BEAUTIFUL!!! We had so much fun catching up. Her shower was in the most magnificent location, the rolling hills on the Smokey Mountains at a gorgeous custom built home.

SNOW!
Here is a quick pic of me at 25 weeks in the snow. The snow on the board measured 4 1/2 inches!

Catching Up..

There has been several smalls things that I have wanted to blog about, so here is the catch up blog (mostly in pictures).

Girl Scout Camp: I went camping with my Girl Scouts when I was 30 weeks. I would show more pics, but don't want to post the pics of the girls without parental permission. We had LOTS of fun hiking, learning to tie knots, learning knife handling and fire building skills, and or course sleeping in TENTS!! Needless to say, I went to the chiropractor the first day I could when I got back.


Helen,GA: This happened awhile back; however this is a trip that we took two days after we discovered that I had a bun in the oven. We went for our first anniversary to Helen, GA (it was also a makeup honeymoon, since I was knee deep in a graduation exam right after our wedding). Helen was interesting and we can check it off our list of places we have been, but will probably make that our only visit. I was approximately 6 weeks along in this picture.


Preggy bowling : Went bowling at 31 weeks and bowled two games. I have my own ball and shoes, so I was a lot easier on me. The second game I bowled 5 STRIKES IN A ROW to finish the game out and actually beat Jeremy. The people we were with gave him a very hard time.

HOT POT! Our GREAT neighbors invited us over for Hot Pot. It is a traditional Chinese meal (which I am told). There is a pot of broth in the middle of the table on a heating element with meats and veggies around it. It is a communal/social meal where you put what you want in the pot and eat it with your noodle and broth bowl when it is ready. I ate tons of yummy mushrooms!!

Georgia Trip My friend Wyspr and I took a trip to Newnan, GA to see one of the earth's greatest gals, Jenni. She has come to Birmingham to see us so many times and we had never been to Newnan. Here is a pic from our trip. In the pic we are in Decatur, which is one of my favorite places in ATL so far. I was approximately 8 weeks pregnant and had to fib a bit when I passed up a drink. I told them very shortly after the trip once we went to the first doctors visit and heard the baby's heartbeat. I felt awful for fibbing but they were excited when I told them my news.

April Showers, bring...

...lots of essential baby items and cute clothes. We have had two showers so far. We are extremely grateful for the support and the generosity of the people that surround us.

Our first shower was in Rainsville, Jeremy's hometown. We got a PRECIOUS Auburn outfit, which I am sure he will wear as much as possible until he outgrows it.

Jeremy has quite a large family and everyone is SO great. I love his aunts and uncles and there are lots of little ones running around. There is never a shortage of young'uns for get-togethers.

The second shower was at work. The ladies were I work threw a wonderful shower. The food was amazing and there was cute decoration (I forgot I was in a conference room). We got tons of essentials, including many packs of diapers. We are well stocked. The second picture below is when I opened up a inflatable bath tub, which looks very helpful, but it was pink. I just loved Tina's expression.