William Update

I had my first weekly doctor's appointment at UAB this past Wednesday to check on little William. Grant went with me to help "beg" for an ultrasound, but we didn't get one because the doc said "there's no medical reason" and for that we are very thankful... even though we desperately wanted to see our sweet boy's face! William's heartbeat was 124 and mommy has gained a grand total of 24 pounds! Also, I got "checked" for the first time - I was 50% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated. This does NOT mean that William will come early but the doctor did say we are moving in the right direction. His final words were "Well, unless your water breaks, come back in a week!"  WOW! It's getting close!

We've been busy doing all things William today! We've installed our car seat bases, packed my hospital bag, and washed all of his clothes, blankets, and bath towels. This is making his pending arrival VERY real. Here's a sneak peak of the nursery and a pic of me at 36 weeks 6 days. Grant wasn't trying to make this an artsy picture but it turned out pretty cool. I cannot believe I'll be considered "full term" tomorrow! However, I have a feeling William is in no hurry to meet the world because I think he's pretty cozy in my belly.

I'll be back soon with more nursery pics. We still need to make some finishing touches to bring it all together!

Coughing, Cocina, and Crawfish

Despite me coughing 5,693 times and blowing my nose 4,219 times, we managed to have a great weekend. I've been battling a head cold/sinus infection (I think) since last Saturday, and I can't seem to shake it. Hopefully it clears up soon because not only am I up all night, but the coughing keeps Grant up too. Okay, enough of the complaining for now!

We went to Cocina Superior on Friday night with Julie and Mary Neal. We had plans to try out the new Mexican restaurant in town, El Barrio, but there was a 2 hour wait. Grant was relieved that we relocated to Cocina so he could be surrounded by TV's and watch March Madness games. Here's a phone pic of us while we waited for our table.

On Saturday morning, Grant and I went out to the Hoover house to make our final run. We are so glad to finally be completely moved out. The move actually wasn't nearly as stressful as I imagined. The weeks leading up to the move to the apartment were hard, but as cliche as it sounds I can honestly say that it really made me focus on what's important in life. Our Hoover home was the perfect house for our first 2.5 years of marriage and we have so many wonderful memories there. I'm really surprised I didn't get sentimental about leaving. I can't find a picture of the entire house so this one will do for now.

After finishing up in Hoover, we came home, showered and then headed over to Ragan and Kyle's house for some crawfish. Grant has been harassing them for several weeks about having a crawfish boil before William arrives, and they selflessly obliged and had us over for a mini boil on their ANNIVERSARY weekend.

 One day I hope to have a back porch just like this one. 

 Poor little critters roasting away!

 Ragan made these Rotel Bites and any fan of Rotel would have enjoyed these, and I certainly love me some Rotel! This is one of her many Pinterest creations I've gotten to enjoy :)

Thanks Ragan and Kyle for a wonderful Saturday afternoon. As for today, Grant and I have gone Peter Rabbit crazy - literally. William's nursery finally has some character to it, which is making us even more excited (if that's possible) about meeting him in just FOUR weeks! I'm feeling pretty terrible right now so we are off to Publix for a weekly shopping trip and to get me some safe prego meds for this sinus crud - ugh!!!

Happy Birthday Juleann!

We headed to Dothan for the weekend for a very special occasion, Juleann's 79th birthday! Due to some very swollen feet and pregnancy exhaustion, I had already planned to take the day off on Friday. My day started by attending UAB's Match Day to share in the excitement and celebration with one of my closest friends, Virginia. It was soooo nerve-wracking and I'm very proud of my brilliant friend! She'll be at Baptist here in Birmingham for a transitional year and then off to Wake Forest for her residency in radiology.

Luckily, my Dad also happened to be in Birmingham, so I got to ride down to Dothan with him Friday afternoon. I'm very grateful for the special, individual time I had with him in the car - these are precious times that I never want to take for granted. Julie and Grant came down to Dothan Friday night after work to join the rest of the fam.

My mom's sisters (Lane & Lee) and their husbands (Ned & Paul) were also in Dothan for the birthday weekend. I really enjoyed catching up with them! Now for some pics of the birthday celebration on Saturday night.

As always my mom cooked a delicious, spring spread for all 12 of us. The menu included honey baked ham, melt-in-your-mouth muffins, pea salad, potato salad, deviled eggs, asparagus, fruit salad, slaw, and an Italian cream birthday cake - delicious! I definitely chowed down. 

 With the birthday girl!

Another big part of the weekend was meeting this little, wild thing - BLAIR! She is Douglas' new roommate.

You have no idea how many pictures it took to get one that wasn't blurry - she is ACTIVE and FEISTY!

 Steve was NOT happy when Blair got a little "too excited" on his porch furniture Sunday morning :) He yanked her up by the neck and "tossed" her outside. I think he forgot what his princess Abigail was like during the puppy stage!

Speaking of Abigail, she is not a fan of Blair and hasn't accepted her into the family quite yet. 

AND I'll end with a belly pic at 34 weeks 6 days:

It's hard to believe that was our last trip to Dothan without William! FIVE more weeks...

Quick Baby Update

I had a 33 week check-up appointment on Wednesday, and Grant got to come with me! It's nice to have a second set of ears because I always worry I'm forgetting to report something to my mom and Grant. Dr. Gleason said we MAY get to have another ultrasound at my next appointment so fingers are crossed..... We are dying to see our little boy!

33 week stats:

Weight gain: 22 pounds. I'm starting to feel like a whale! I've started waddling...grrrreat.

Belly measuring: 35 weeks. Apparently this doesn't mean anything. They consider plus or minus 2 weeks normal.

William's heart beat: 130

Sleep: Pretty terrible. Even though my OB says Benadryl is OK to take occasionally to help with sleep, I'm really trying not to take it on a regular basis, but it's hard.

Movement: All the time. His movements are starting to get so intense. My clients at work notice my belly jumping all over the place and they get the biggest kick out of it.

Contractions: I've started having Braxton Hicks contractions but I think it's only when I overdo it.

Other symptoms: Swollen feet and ankles and I get cramps in my feet at night sometimes.  Nothing fun about that!!

In other news, Grant and I are moving into our new apartment tomorrow. I'll update more once we get settled!

Belly at 33 weeks 5 days

Baby Shower

This past Saturday, my incredible friends hosted the most beautiful baby shower that I could have ever imagined at Jenny's house! I'm still in awe as I look through the pictures and am amazed at all of the precious details that went into making it such a wonderful day....a day that I will always remember.  Have a look!

The adorable invitations were designed by my ever-so-talented friend Megan and she also made matching stickers to place inside the books that each guest brought.  These stickers will allow us to always remember where William's baby books came from and who gave them to him - such a cute and great idea!  Also, everyone left a message for William inside the "I love you forever" book when they arrived at the shower.  One day, I will read all of the sweet notes to William and it will remind me just how special all of my friends and family are. 

Julie was a fabulous little sis and was in charge of writing down all of the gifts. I can't wait to repay the favor to her at wedding and baby showers ;)

I'm pretty stoked about my diaper bag - THANKS MOM :)

Virg, this picture was too cute not to post!

Me with all of the gorgeous hosts minus KK, Hannah, Megan, and Sarah. 

And here's a belly pic from Saturday morning of me at 31 weeks 6 days:

Thank you wonderful, dear friends for all of your time and energy that went into planning such a memorable day for me. I can't wait to repay the favor to all of you!!!

Recent Happenings

I'm going to make this post brief because I just inhaled a burrito from Chipotle and can barely breathe. It was well worth it. I had a check up appointment today and the first thing Dr. Gleason said to me was, "You're in the 4th quarter of this game and it's going to fly by!" Oh boy! Since I'm SURE you all are just DYING to know mine and William's latest stats, here they are:

Weight gain: 20 lbs. and the doctor said I'd probably average a pound/week until the end.

Tummy measurements: My baby bump is measuring 31 weeks.

William's heart rate: 149. Apparently he had the hiccups today while we listened on the doppler. I couldn't feel them though.

Movement: This little guy is active and strong! Grant and I have seen some pretty crazy things going on in my belly this past week. It's been a lot of fun to watch. As I type this, the laptop is moving up and down from his kicks!!

In other news, our house sold pending an inspection on Saturday morning. We are very grateful for this recent development and we will be busy the next couple of weeks searching for a place to call home. I'll close by asking for prayers for my lovely, beautiful friend Hannah who lost her father last week. This past Saturday I had the honor of attending Mr. Richard's funeral in Greenville, AL. It is evident that he was a strong man of faith loved by all in the community. His funeral service was a beautiful celebration of his life, and the message really resonated with me - "walk by faith, not by sight." This has been especially challenging for me lately, so it was a great reminder to put my faith in God in all things I do.

29 weeks!

11 more weeks until our precious baby's due date! I have a feeling it will be the longest 11 weeks of my entire life, but nonetheless just ELEVEN more weeks. The love I feel for our little William grows stronger each day. I cannot imagine the rush of emotions I'll experience when I see and hold him for the first time! I constantly daydream about this moment.

I'm still feeling good but I have been dealing with some of the typical 3rd trimester symptoms. My ankles have started swelling, still struggling with sleep, and I'm a hormonal wreck from time to time. I thought I had braxton hicks contractions last weekend, but I'm beginning to think William was just changing positions. He is still rather active! Grant always says, "If he's anything like me, he's trying to kick himself outta there so he can stretch out." He needs to stay put for a little bit longer, but I love every kick, jab, and turn. I may take this back if he gets up in my ribs :)

We have gotten a lot accomplished the last couple of weeks in preparing for baby. William's crib and changing table are already in the nursery, and we ordered a glider last weekend. We had so much fun sitting in all of the chairs/gliders and looking at fabrics, and it ended up taking us over an hour to decide on one. Pregnancy has made me even MORE indecisive than I already am - it's driving both of us crazy!!! The glider should come at the end of February, which is also when the crib mattress should arrive.  I'm thrilled we have all of the basics for the nursery done - now it's time to start thinking details - prints for the walls, curtains, bookshelves, etc...

Belly at 29 weeks