35 Weeks

This week was action packed...and I am feeling it now!  Baby B is sucking all my energy and fatigue has totally set in.  So, you'll have to excuse my short blog posts.  I'm finding it hard to put my thoughts down with much detail.  I think I'm just doing good to get the facts straight. ;)  It also hasn't helped that we were super busy with lots of fun activities this week.

I had a shower at work on Tuesday and am completely floored by everyone's generosity.  I have felt so much love and encouragement from all of my co-workers (even those I don't know very well).  Thank you so much Kelly, Shaina & Jan Marie for giving me such a special shower.  And you guys definitely need to send me those pictures!

I also had a shower given by Kim, Kristen, Jennings & Lori on Saturday.  It almost felt like a kind of reunion.  I had friends that I hadn't seen in such a long time from high school, college and previous jobs there.  And Kim was gracious enough to open her beautiful home for the party.  Again, everyone was SO generous with what they gave us!  Our home and our hearts are overflowing with gifts for this baby.  And mark my words, this baby girl is going to be WAY better dressed than we are!

Kim, Me, Kristen, Jennings & Lori

Our Saturday was packed as our friend Sarah Perkins came down from Nashville to come to the shower and hang out with us.  We had a blast hanging out and catching up.  I know she & Kit had a good time chattin' and hangin' after I went to bed, too ;).  We also had a maternity photo shoot Saturday afternoon with the super talented Karen Motiejunas.  Karen's an old friend from high school and I've been admiring her work for the past few months.  I'm so glad we were able to work out our schedules to do this.  Hopefully I'll have some pics to share with ya'll soon.

And then Sunday we spent the day at the lake with the family & Sarah's "bobbie" friend from London.  Luckily, the weather was beautiful and we were able to spend the afternoon out on the boat.  I was a little bummed that everyone got to play on the jet ski but me :(.  But, it just gives me something to look forward to this spring!

Oh and one more thing, Baby B gets the hiccups ALL the time now...at least every other day. ;)

34 Weeks

Well, considering how the past few weeks have been...this week has been rather uneventful.  On Monday we took a tour of the hospital where I will be delivering.  That was exciting.  The labor & delivery rooms are HUGE and so nice.  Unfortunately because the l&d rooms are so big and fancy...they make the normal sized postpartum rooms look tiny.  But, really, everything at Northside is very nice...and they aren't kidding about it being the "baby factory".  Our tour guide told us they deliver approximately 65 babies a day there!  Crazy.  Taking that tour was another step towards making everything seem "real".  And I'm getting so excited for her to be here!!

The big excitement for this weekend (other than resting and hanging out) was Kit painting baby girl's room.  He worked so hard cleaning everything out of the room, taping off the edges, and then painting.  The color looks great.  Thanks for all your hard work, babe!  B is so lucky to have such a talented, hard-working daddy. ;)

Working hard

"Please girl, you know stirring this paint is an art."

"Ok, enough pictures..."

Now, our task is to figure out where we're going to put everything and hang the curtains.  I've stopped stressing out about everything getting done like I have for the past few months.  We have the cradle set up in our room...so, B has a place to sleep when she comes.  Everything else is just gravy, right? ;)

Shower Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the shower on Saturday. Thanks Lori for always being such a good historian!! ;)

The Beautiful Hostesses

Gigi & DeedaSonya, Lori & Me

Great-Narnie

Precious Friends & Family

Ok, these next pictures need a little explanation. We played a little diaper game at the shower. There were 4 diapers and each was filled with a different candy bar...melted. Our task was to guess what candy bar it was. It made for some good laughs...and good pictures! ;)

The Goods

Very serious...

"Was that baby eating corn?"

"Oh, I've got this one."

"Well, Vyneta, I'm not sure...what do you think?"

33 Weeks

Dear Baby B--

You and I have both grown so much the past few weeks!  You're weighing in at about 4lbs now...and let's just say Mommy is rockin' an extra 25lbs these days.  We had another Dr's appointment and everything is looking good.  I got to hear your precious heartbeat again which is always a fun treat.  Not that I need to hear your heartbeat to know you're there.  You are definitely letting me know what you're up to with all your gymnastic moves!  The appointment was short and sweet which is much appreciated.  I'm going to start having appointments every two weeks now, which means one thing to me...you're going to be here so soon!! ;)

And speaking of your movements, I had such a special, magical moment with you this week, little one.  Your daddy had a late meeting at work and I was tired and sore from my long day at work.  I decided to take a warm bubble bath and catch up on some reading.  But how could I do any reading after you decided bath time was the start of dance hour?!  So, I rubbed and patted you back when you made little moves.  And then I looked down at my belly and I could physically see you moving around!  I was mesmerized.  You would make a movement and I would watch my belly roll like a wave.  Then you would do a little kick and I would see another part of my belly giggle.  I still can't tell what little body parts I'm seeing or feeling when you move, but it was so amazing to watch you and wonder what you will look like & be like.  So, I watched you and prayed for you and tried to let you know through my rubs & pats how much I love you. 

Baby B, we both had a very big weekend this week.  My dear friends (and your "aunts") Cindy, Jenny and Stephanie threw us a wonderful brunch shower on Saturday.  There was yummy food to munch on and plenty of love to go around.  And you got so many beautiful and thoughtful gifts!  Your Gigi and great-Narnie were there and Deeda even came all the way down from Paducah.  Great-aunt Terri, great-great-aunt Vyneta and young, hip aunt Sarah came too.  The bad girls were represented by Kristen and Lori and of course Lisa's spirit.  And Sonya, as usual, kept everyone entertained with witty comments & a new rap ;).  Our "new" cousin Jane and Andy's girlfriend Beth also came...as well as special mothers Ann & Patty.  And many, many thanks to Diane (Steph's mom) for opening her home for this special party.

Sweet girl, the blessings that filled that room were palpable.  Your aunt Cindy said the most beautiful prayer to start off the morning that left everyone in tears.  She put into words so eloquently how God has walked us through the journey of receiving you.  And how He has been with us every step of the way.  It amazes me how much you are so loved already!  I thank God for the friends and family we have been given.  The souls who have been willing to cry and walk through sadness with us...and then rally around us with praise and excitement for the precious gift you are.  You are truly blessed to be born into such a community.

I want you to keep on cookin', girl.  But know we are all counting down the days until we get to meet you, see your sweet face and love on you!

Love,

Mama

32 Weeks

Be still my beating heartburn.  Yuck.  This week I feel like the blissful, energy filled portion of this program is OVER.  I guess I may just still be worn out from our travels to Paducah.  But, I am definitely feeling different this week.  I have been having mad heartburn and other yucky stuff going on in my tummy.  The heartburn has been so bad it even woke me up in the middle of the night the other day!  Gross.  I have also been really tired, which I suppose can be partially attributed to waking up several times during the night to pee.  But enough complaining! ;)

We went to a childbirth prep class at my OB's office on Saturday which was sorely disappointing.  I didn't really learn anything that I hadn't read already.  I guess it was good for Kit since he hasn't been reading like I have.  But, the class really didn't give any guidance on "childbirth"...it was more just an explanation of all the interventions that could happen while you're in the hospital.  The class didn't offer any help with how to deal with labor.  Which is fine with me because we're starting our Hypnobirthing classes at the end of this month to learn alternative ways to manage labor.  I guess I just expected more from this class and was a little disappointed.

One of my Baby B highlights from this week happened on Saturday night.  Kit was in NYC for the weekend, so I stayed with my parents after the birthday party.  I was in bed reading when I started feeling B's nightly dance routine.  After a few minutes I noticed that her kicks were coming rhythmically, one right after the other.  I had never felt anything like it before.  It took me a moment to catch on...but I eventually realized I was feeling her hiccup!  So, I giggled to myself and kept my hand on my belly until they stopped.  It was actually very reassuring.  I had read in all my books that babies can get hiccups "all the time", and I was wondering why I never felt them.  I was up pretty late that night, so I'm wondering if she's been having them after I'm usually asleep.

Well, that's all I've got for this week.  I need to post some more pictures soon so my out of town peeps can see how big we're getting! ;) 

Happy Birthday Nana!

Nana at her 101st birthday party

Today is Baby B's great-great grandmother's 103rd birthday.  Our family is so blessed to have Nana, our own living legacy, still with us.  We are all constantly amazed with Nana's health & longevity.  Our family had a nice birthday party last night for her and my dad out at my parents' house.  Nana was full of jokes and stories and kisses for everyone.  Many thanks to Narnie, my grandmother, for providing such loving care & companionship to Nana on a daily basis.  Your presence is helping so much to keep her health & spirits well.  Baby B will be Nana's 3rd great-great grandchild and it will be such a special moment in time for me to be a part of 5 generations of women.

Me & Nana at the Aquarium for her 101st birthday

31 Weeks

Well, this has been a very eventful week!  I spent the majority of my free time (when I wasn't sleeping) getting ready for our weekend trip to Paducah.  I took the day off on Friday and Kit took a half day so we could hit the road early.  And thank goodness we did!  We left around 2pm and managed to miss any real traffic...which is quite a feat going through Atlanta, Chattanooga and Nashville.  This will be our last trip up there until baby B comes.  And thankfully our last road trip, period.  Although I am still feeling pretty good...being in the car for 6 hours was definitely feeling more uncomfortable than it ever has before.  

But it was totally worth it!  MamaRita (or Deeda, which is her "granny" name) gave me a shower on Saturday and I was blown away by everyone's generosity.  For you Paducah friends and family that read here...thank you, thank you, thank you for such a special day!  I am so grateful not just for the material things, but for all the love and blessings that filled the house.  It's so comforting to know that baby B is coming into the world under the care & prayer of such wonderful people.  Deeda, baby B is so lucky to have such a loving and devoted grandmother.  I so appreciate all the ways that you give to us.  And Lesli, thank for everything you did to help out.  It was truly a perfect day!

Now there is a new task at hand...finding a space and place for all of this lovely new stuff!  I know this is only the beginning of B's stuff taking over our lives.  Bring it on! ;)  Ryan took some great pictures during the shower.  I'll try to post some up here later this week.  Thanks Ryan!