Major update

It's terrible that I haven't blogged in so long! It always makes me sad when I read a blog that hasn't been updated in months, even if it isn't a regular blogger friend. But here I am doing the same thing. I've thought about it off and on, wondering if I should officially quit blogging, but I think for now I'm going to hold on to it and do it when I can.

Anyway, the biggest update of all - I'm having another BOY!!!!!!! We're so excited to be expecting another boy on May 14. We've picked out the name Levi, but aren't publicly sharing it yet. It's not that it's a secret, we tell people if they ask, but for some reason I'm not ready to officially announce it to friends and family, put it on facebook, etc.

The pregnancy has been going fairly well. It's not as easy as it was with Evan though. I've struggled with depression and anxiety. I went off the meds around New Year's. Part of me is thinking about going on them again, even though it's the 3rd trimester. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't been there, but I feel that emotionally I'm not doing very well. But enough about that! I don't want my first post in 4 months to be about depression!

We've decided on a rocket ship/outer space theme for Levi's nursery. I haven't started decorating yet. We've decided Levi will share a room with the office, not with Evan. But I still want to decorate it. Of course, he'll sleep with us for the first 4 months so it doesn't HAVE to be done when he's born, but I'd like it to be. We don't co-sleep in the bed, but he will sleep right next to my side of the bed in a bassinet. That's what we did with Evan and I really liked it.

Right now a friend is living with us and is staying in the office on an air mattress. She's been visiting her boyfriend the past few days so I had a chance to get in there and start some deep cleaning and organizing. When she moves out I'll start the decorating.

I will try my hardest to start posting more regularly now. And I will definitely announce when Levi arrives (hopefully as early as big brother Evan did!).

36 Weeks

Evan is about 6 pounds and still roughly the size of a honeydew melon. He'll be full term in one week! He's almost completely developed, but his lungs could still use some growing time.

I lost my mucus plug 2 days ago. There was no blood at all, so I know that it may still be a few weeks before labor kicks in. Duh. lol But I am hoping that losing it so early will mean an early delivery, especially since he is so low already. We'll see! My next appointment is tomorrow afternoon and I'm eager to see if any progress has been made.

We have the nursery almost ready! I'll post pictures as soon as it's complete. We set up the bedding and most of the wall decor. Things are pretty much organized. On Friday we have a shower at Matt's office. We're waiting until after that to buy the final things for the nursery such as sheets for the Pack n Play (that Evan is going to sleep in the first few weeks since I want him to be in the room with us then), sheets for the crib, the changing pad covers, bath tub and other bath and health supplies, etc. The car seat just arrived today (we got it for 15% off!). I was disappointed that the box was completely smushed. Part of me wonders if we should send it back, but Matt is pretty sure that another box was placed on top of our box which made it sink in on one side where there is empty space inside. We still haven't opened it up because we're considering sending it back. I have a feeling we'll keep it though... Matt's right, it doesn't really look like it was beat up or anything, just that something was on top of it. And the side where the car seat is just under the surface of the box is fine. It is a good feeling to have it though! Now I just have to clean out the car!

I've been having a weird experience the past week. I'm popping! lol There are popping/snapping noises coming from my belly. It's not my joints popping, it isn't my ribs or hips or anything, it's coming from inside my belly, where Evan is. It only happens when he moves. Not every time, but several times a day. I've looked it up online and one large theory (this does happen to other women!) is that it is the baby's joints popping. No one knows for sure and a lot of doctors claim that it doesn't happen and is all in the woman's head (which is ridiculous, I've talked to several women, including my SIL, who heard it towards the ends of their pregnancies), but it that theory sounds feasible to me. Another theory is that it is the woman's ligaments stretching, but I'd think I would be able to feel that or that then it would happen when I move. I can be sitting still not moving a muscle and he'll move and I'll hear it.

I've been having cramps the past couple of days. Also, the nerves in my legs have been pinched some days. I've been so lucky this entire pregnancy to not have much back or leg pain, but it's catching up with me now. Also, my feet have finally started swelling. Not all that much, but my Rainbow flip flops are a little too tight now and my mom noticed that my feet are "fat" yesterday without me pointing it out. lol They really aren't that bad, most people would never know. My shin splints are acting up again and my feet are sore a lot, but that's to be expected as I keep getting bigger.

Monday and yesterday I was at my grandparents' house near Charleston, SC with my mom. Matt and my dad were both out of town Monday night, so we decided to go down to visit. Of course, it was during the hottest days of the year so far! We've had a very cool summer here in Charlotte, the highs most days have been in the mid-80s! However, the past couple of days, in Charlotte and Charleston, the temperature has been closer to 100. It was 100 in Charleston yesterday while we were out on a boat on the Edisto River. We're crazy! There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which was beautiful, but HOT. I drank a lot of water, but didn't go to the bathroom for hours because I was sweating so much. But it was so worth it, I love going out on the boat. It's beautiful there and it's very relaxing to lean back in the seat with the wind blowing my hair back, snacking on boiled peanuts.

At one point I was a little worried when we were close to the ocean and the water got a little rough and the boat slammed up and down a couple of times. Granddaddy turned around and slowed down pretty quickly though. It woke Evan up and he started kicking and squirming. My grandma kept saying, "Stay in there, baby! Don't bounce out!" My granddad said, "I don't want to deliver a baby today!" lol Maybe it just kind of bounced him closer to delivery. ;-) Afterwards I was a little worried that maybe that was too rough, but he's been very active since then and I haven't noticed anything weird, so I think it was alright.

We had such a great trip, my grandparents are very excited about Evan coming. I hadn't realized how much my granddad loves babies. I noticed he kept grinning really big when I'd mention Evan kicking or moving around. I told my mom how glad I am that he seems excited, and she said, "oh yeah! He loves babies!!" I guess I learn something new everyday. My dad also felt Evan move for the first time over the weekend. I was so happy that he didn't even have to wait to feel anything, he put his hand on my belly and Evan kicked right away. My dad was pretty excited about that! It makes me happy to see family members being involved and eager to meet the new addition.

Tomorrow we are meeting with a group of pediatricians. They don't normally attend the hospital we're delivering at, but we're going to try to work it out with them. I hope we can, because I've heard several great recommendations for them from our midwife and from some friends of ours. I'll let y'all know how it goes and post a 36 week picture then!

back home

The trip was great!! I had so much fun visiting my family. I miss them a lot, I only wish we lived over there too. The trips went very smoothly. The day I flew there I was exhausted. My shin splints starting flaring up again after I got off the plane (I'm wondering if flying has something to do with it? Or maybe just sitting in the same position for so long) even though I got up 3 times during the 1 hour and 45 minute flight there. I spent the afternoon HERE waiting for my dad to finish teaching his class and come pick me up. He was teaching on a military base and so I couldn't go in to meet him like I would for one of his normal classes. The presidential library isn't my first choice of where to spend several hours, but it was air conditioned, had lots of benches, and they held my luggage behind the desk so I didn't have to carry it around with me. However, I was very glad when 4:00 rolled around and Dad was there to pick me up!!

We drove out to Fort Smith and I was able to spend much of Friday relaxing and resting my legs and feet, which were still bothering me. My grandma and I went shopping that afternoon and she bought Evan several little things that could fit in my suitcase. That evening people started arriving for her anniversary party. It was also my great-grandmother's 88th birthday last week and so we had a birthday party for her on Friday night with a huge brisket dinner, cake, 2 pies, and presents!

Grandmother (my great-grandma) at her party:

That night I actually had to sleep on the sofa at my aunt's house because there wasn't enough room at my grandma's house anymore. It was crazy, everyone was sleeping on couches, the floor, every bed was filled. I was happy to give up my bed for my great-grandmother though. It actually worked out great because I was downstairs by myself, near a bathroom, so I didn't have to worry about waking the rest of the house up when I got up 4 times. I slept there the next night too even though I was offered a bed that time.

Me & Evan, Grandmother, and Dad:

Saturday was my grandparents' 50th anniversary party. It was gorgeous! More family from out of town arrived and although the day was about my grandparents, Evan received a lot of attention and some presents too. :-) We relaxed some more after the party, everyone sat around talking at my grandparents' house and there were lots of leftovers for dinner. I even splurged and ate a little piece of cake that night!

My grandparents at their anniversary party:

Sunday my entire family was still around and we all had a big lunch together. My dad and I had to leave to drive to Little Rock shortly after and the return flight home went smoothly as well. My dad didn't even leave security at the airport, he had a flight to Birmingham an hour after our plane landed. So I said bye to him and headed down to the baggage claim area where Matt was waiting on me!! It was great to see him and I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me at home. He had fixed up the closet in the nursery. It's painted (the walls in there were dented, scratched, and had dirt and black marks all over), the shelves are up, it has new doors, and he even put some of Evan's toys and other things on the shelves!


It's good to be home, yesterday I didn't have much of a chance to rest, but I'll post about that later. :-)

Failed

I failed my blood sugar stress test. :-( My level was 137. I've been researching the results and it looks like anything over 140 usually means you have gestational diabetes. So my results are still in the normal range, but almost over. I read that most doctors have you take the 3 hour test if your level is over 130. They will draw my blood 4 times and if at least 3 of those times are in the normal range then I will pass.

So I'm going in for the 3 hour test on Tuesday. I'm kind of worried that I'm not going to pass that either. The nurse said not to eat or drink anything besides water after midnight. But that's almost what I did last time, all I had to eat was an egg around 10:30 at night and then another in the morning an hour before the test (my instructions were to eat a protein breakfast an hour before the test, it didn't even matter what I ate the night before). But I made extra sure not to eat anything sugary the night before. *sigh*

Did any of you fail the 1 hour and then pass the 3 hour? Do you think I should try not to eat sugary foods the next few days before the test? I'm worried that I'll be harming Evan before Tuesday. I should have scheduled it for Monday, but originally I was thinking Matt would come along and Tuesday is better for him. But then I decided he's already taken off too much work this week and shouldn't come along, so I'll be going by myself anyways. Oh well..... yeah, I'm bummed, but hoping that I'll pass the 3 hour.

On another note, Matt's foot has been bothering him A LOT this past week. On Monday his big toe on his right foot started hurting a lot. It was worse the next day, so he went to his primary physician who took x-rays and has no clue what it is. He said it looks like there is a calcium deposit on the bone. They are testing his blood (he should get the results soon) and the doctor was going to consult the radiologist about the x-ray. They gave him anti-inflammatory meds. By Tuesday night his foot swelled a lot and was really hot. So yesterday he called the doctor again and they prescribed him antibiotics saying it sounds like there's an infection. So far nothing has helped and he's in constant pain, he can barely walk. He made an appointment at a podiatrist this afternoon, so hopefully they can give us better answers. He's only worked half days this entire week, but he's also worked a lot on Evan's nursery.

He sanded and painted all of the trim and put up curtain rods. We now have all of the furniture in place, it looks great! Now we're starting to think we might have to paint the walls though. There's a lot of black marks on the walls and I tried wiping some of them off with a wet sponge...bad idea on flat finish paint! The black marks are gone, but now there's weird streaks where I wiped with the sponge. So we're thinking that we might need to repaint with a satin finish paint. We'll see.

My grandparents and cousin from Arkansas are in town for my sister's graduation. They came Tuesday and are leaving tomorrow right after the ceremony (my grandma is leaving Saturday to go on a Caribbean cruise). So we've been hanging out with them every evening. Tonight we're going out to dinner to celebrate. My brother came into town last night and in a couple of hours they are all coming over to our house to check it out and see the nursery. So I have cleaning to do!!

6th appointment

Today was my 6th prenatal appointment and the blood sugar stress test. The instructions for the test were to eat a protein breakfast an hour before my appointment. When I arrived they gave me a drink that was just like orange soda, it might have been orange soda for all I know. I had 15 minutes to drink it and after that I had to wait an hour to have my blood drawn. I'll get the result in the next couple of days. While waiting I had my appointment with my midwife, Tina. She has become our main midwife. She's been our favorite so far. We really liked another one too, but she moved offices. I'm really hoping Tina will be the one to deliver Evan!

Anyway, everything looks great. Evan's heartbeat averaged in the low 140s. Once again, he was moving around a lot when she used the Doppler. I'm measuring right on schedule. My weight gain slowed a lot this past month compared to the one before. I think it will pick back up these next couple of months though.

I completely forgot to ask Tina about flying at 32 weeks. Instead I asked a bunch of stupid questions like was it okay that my stomach looks lopsided sometimes and that my pelvic area was super sore the other day (from the bones starting to separate). I guess that will teach me to write down the important questions! I am guessing it is fine though, unless something drastic happens I doubt there would be any problem.

She started talking about us signing up for birthing classes, a hospital tour, and starting a birth plan. Whoa! I guess now that I'm about in the 3rd trimester (I am in it according to some sources) we're getting down to business. Anyway, I'm trying to decide if I should take the childbirth prep classes. I'm going through the Bradley Method book and that particular class is $60 and 3 hours long. One woman I talked to who took the class at the same hospital said she thought it could be condensed into an hour and a half and that it really wasn't worth $60. So I'm not sure... At this point I'm planning on taking the infant care & CPR class (I already know infant CPR, but Matt should learn too and it doesn't hurt for me to touch up!) and possibly the breastfeeding class. I'm still not sure about that one. What do you think?

Matt and my dad installed and ceiling fan/light fixture in Evan's room yesterday. There was no light fixture at all in there...that's a 70s house for you! As a matter of fact, only 2 rooms in the house have light fixtures in the ceiling (kitchen & living room), the other rooms we just use lamps. But we wanted a fan and better lighting in the nursery. It was such hard work! They spent hours working on it. It's a good thing my dad came to help. He's done a lot of electric work in the past and we couldn't have done it without him! The final result is fabulous though. It looks and works great and I love having the bright light in there!

My grandparents and cousin are coming tomorrow for my sister's graduation. They will stay until just after the graduation on Friday. I'm looking forward to their visit, but I'm hoping to have the nursery cleaned and partially set up for when they visit. That means we need to sand down the trim and repaint it tonight! Then we can move the furniture into place and put up the valances and wall hanging. I'm so excited!

26 Weeks

And I'm huge!! And I have stretch marks. :-( On my boobs and my butt. :-( Just a few days ago I started using cocoa butter to relieve the itching and weird stretching feeling on my stomach. Yesterday I decided to go ahead and start using it on my legs and butt too to possibly prevent stretch marks. I don't know if anything can really prevent them, but I thought I'd give it a try. Then today I noticed I have them on my butt!!!! I don't think they were there yesterday. Maybe cocoa butter causes stretch marks..... hmm.... Anyway, Matt's co-worker who just had a baby a few months ago recommended cocoa butter to help stretch marks and the burning/itching/stretching feeling. But if any of you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them! So far I don't have any marks on my belly, hopefully it'll stay that way. The other ones I have look awful.

Evan is still in the pound and a half weight range and is about a foot long. He's still roughly the size of an eggplant. His ears are forming even more and he's getting more and more sensitive to sound. So far I haven't noticed him jumping at loud noises, but he definitely responds to noise, just like he has the past couple of weeks. His eyes are also forming and apparently soon he'll start blinking. Aww!!

On Friday and Saturday that was a very big difference in the amount he was moving. There were about 3 times that I seriously considered calling the midwife because he went about 4-5 hours without moving at all. Then when he moved it was very light fluttery feelings, no kicking. He didn't always respond to sound or me poking him that I could feel. I read that this happens to a lot of women around 25 weeks, the baby either turns or just doesn't have as much room to kick at that point. However, starting Sunday, Evan picked back up and is kicking and moving more than ever! Last night he was kicking me so hard that Matt could see my belly move through my shirt from across the room! I missed feeling him so much, now every time he moves I feel so incredibly happy, even more than I was feeling before.

And I've realized....I love being pregnant. I know I still have a ways to go and may change my mind, but so far the shin splints, round ligament pains, stretch marks, upset stomach, morning sickness, heartburn, and insomnia aren't nearly enough to make me dislike the condition I'm in. I'm lucky because I don't have those side effects constantly. The joys of feeling him move, seeing my baby bump, and having the satisfaction of knowing I've got a baby inside me overpower the negative stuff.

I feel so much more confident and complete. It's hard to explain, but I guess the past couple of years have been really rough on me. After I graduated and couldn't find a job I felt so much like a loser. I felt (and still do to a certain extent) that people look down on me for not working. I wondered what was so wrong with me that I didn't get a job in spite of the hundreds of applications (sadly, I'm not exaggerating all that much, I really did fill out about 150 applications to all sorts of different jobs) I filled out and the several interviews I had. I haven't been doing what I wanted to do, my dreams didn't come true. But now I feel like I'm where I should be, I'm doing what I really want to do. I feel more grown up and finally equal to the other adults around me.

Last night Matt and his friend R put together Evan's dresser! It matches the crib and it's beautiful! It's also a changing table, so that will save us some space in the nursery. Now the next big step we have for the nursery is to put in a ceiling fan and light. Right now we have to rely on lamps for lighting. It will be nice to have an overhead light. We are also planning on painting the trim, although I have to admit that I'm feeling pretty lazy about that and thinking that maybe we'll just leave it be. I don't know...there are a few places that could use sanding and touchups. So it might be best to just paint it all. After that I want to start organizing and putting up the decor!

Arrr - you can see the splotchy tan on my arm. Ugg! I didn't quite smooth sunscreen all over my arm at the beach and got burned in one place...you can even see the fingerprints where I got some of the sunscreen, but didn't rub it all in! Unfortunately it turned into a super dark tan.... I'm trying to even it out, but it's hard once it's there.

25 Weeks

I'm getting closer and closer to this actually working. I can't describe how I feel, I guess I honestly have felt like surely something is going to go wrong this pregnancy. That we won't make it. But as the weeks go by I'm feeling more confident that I will be holding Evan in my arms someday. I've been feeling him move everyday throughout the day. I feel healthy and optimistic right now. I pray that everything will continue to go smoothly. I'm not jinxing it by writing all of this, am I!?

Highlights this week.... hardly being able to fit in my pre-pregnancy tank top (a staple in my wardrobe, I wear tanks under everything). Over the weekend I went and bought 2 maternity tanks to wear underneath my shirts. I can still wear some of my regular shirts, but my wardrobe has become half maternity, half non-maternity at this point. I think I may need to buy a larger size underwear?? Sunday my underwear started falling off in the middle of church! I was wearing jeans, but my underwear were basically not even covering anything, they were as low as they could go in the jeans. Good thing I wasn't wearing a dress. lol! I had to excuse myself from the service to go take care of it. I think my jeans (they are the underbelly kind) are pushing them down, plus they don't stay up as far with my belly pushing them too. So I'm thinking a bigger size will help out...maybe. Hopefully!

There are times where I feel like I am going to bust open! I honestly don't understand how I can get any bigger than I already am. It's harder to breathe sometimes, I feel very squished in there. My stomach has been a little more upset than normal lately, the other night I woke up and felt very nauseous, it helped to sit up for awhile. No wonder, Evan is about a pound and a half and is about 13 inches long, roughly the size of an eggplant. I'm surprised I don't have stretch marks yet. I'm sure I will get them though. I already have some on my legs that I received from normal growth as a teenager. My mom has them and my sister has some too from normal growth. So I'd be shocked if I didn't get any. For all I know I do have some on the underside of my belly and I just can't see them!

I'm going to copy Nity and post a chart too. It will be interesting to see what the next 15 weeks hold. :-)

Another new development, I can now feel Evan on both sides of my abdomen at the same time. I don't understand how it works, but I guess he's kicking and punching? He's definitely kicking on one side because it's much stronger, but at the same time the kicks are happening there's a lighter movement on the opposite side. Awesome! I think one of the best parts of the week was during church on Sunday. The band at our church is super loud, it's like a concert, they even give away ear plugs. Well they started out playing a softer, lower volume song, but it suddenly picked up and started blasting away. Evan immediately starting kicking, I could tell that he could hear the music, it may have even woke him up. The service was a worship service, so it was songs throughout, with the pastors and leaders speaking in between. Every time the music would start up really loud Evan would start kicking, but when it was softer or someone was speaking, he would stay still. It was so fun! Matt thinks he takes after himself, a little drummer. I think he takes after mom, he just loves his sleep and hates being awakened. ;-)

We ordered the dresser/changing table combo that matches the crib this week. We haven't set it up yet, we want to paint the trim in the nursery and get the rest of the room cleared out first. I can't wait! Matt is out of town, but I'm hoping that this weekend we can get some work done in there. We also have so many things to do in the yard, it's crazy. It seems like whenever Matt's home it's raining or everything is still too wet to do anything.

My exercises are going well, Matt and I have also started going through our Bradley Method book. We aren't going to take the classes, we'll just go through the book together. I don't know why natural childbirth appeals to me so much, but it does, so we're hoping to go that route. I was very encouraged to hear that my mom went all natural with my little sister. Hey, if she can do it, I can too! She didn't even use any special methods or techniques, she just got through it. She had a horrible experience with meds when she delivered my brother, that's one reason why I'm going to try to avoid them. But we'll see, I'm not making any firm plans.

I don't have a bump picture for 25 weeks, but you can look at my beach pictures to see what I looked like at 24 and a half for now. :-)

Little things

Not much has been happening around here over the weekend. My brother was home and so we went over to my family's house a couple of times. Last week we took the loveseat out of the office and gave it to my brother. So yesterday Matt moved the entertainment center out of the nursery and moved it into the office. It looks good in there and soon we'll have to find a smaller TV to go in there so that it can be a game station for Matt's Nintendo and stuff. Haha, I never thought we'd be a 2 TV house, but it will be nice to have a separate TV for when Matt has his friends over. I usually read on the couch in the living room, but I don't like doing that when it's full of guys playing video games.

We're talking about nursery plans. I'm pretty sure we'll just leave the walls the light tan color instead of painting. For awhile I thought about putting a chair rail up and then maybe painting underneath another color, but now I think we'll use that money to put shelves in the closet instead. I want some nicer wood shelves that fit perfectly. Too bad my brother won't be home over the summer, I'd hire him to build them if I could. We're also planning on buying a dresser. We're thinking about buying the dresser that matches the crib now. It's reduced in price. It only has 2 drawers, but we don't have room for a wider dresser and I want it to be short so it can be used as a changing table as well. Matt wants them to match and I'm willing to pay more in order to skip all of the shopping around we'd have to do to find another that matches.

I've started doing stretches every day along with some light exercises. I'm also starting to lift hand weights again. I'm using lighter weights than I was since I've gone so long without doing any lifting and I'm lifting at a lower intensity (mainly because it doesn't require as much laying on my back). I didn't ask the midwife for her approval, but I'm taking it easy and so far, so good. If I ever feel uncomfortable I'll stop. I don't really know what to do as far as cardio. I walk whenever I can, but I don't know if I can do my aerobics DVDs. I'll have to look in my pregnancy book to see if there's anything they recommend besides walking, swimming, and stationary biking (it seems like that's all I ever see in recommended exercises for pregnant women!). If I had a membership to the Y I'd be all set, but oh well. I'm just now feeling energetic enough to exercise. I wish it would last, but I'm sure when I get really big I won't want to be doing all of this!

Serenity is fascinated by the clock in Evan's room. We ordered one off of Ebay that was made in the Lil Dino theme that we're using. You can't see in the picture, but it's personalized with Evan's name! The ticking is loud and every time Serenity goes in the room she stares at it. Right now the clock is above the glider and the other day she climbed up the back of the glider, jumped onto the top of Matt's guitar case, and then started batting at the second hand of the clock. lol Needless to say we moved the guitar case so she won't be doing this anymore (leave it to her to find another way though).

Crib and Stroller!

It's been a crazy weekend here! The weather was beautiful, and we spent Saturday working in the yard, cleaning the house, running errands, and then having some friends over for dinner. While we were running errands we went to the consignment shop nearby so that I could buy some more maternity clothes. As soon as we walked in we saw it - our stroller! It's a Gra.co Metro.lite, exactly what we've been planning to buy...and it was only $35! That's roughly $100 less than buying it new! It's in great condition, Matt thoroughly inspected it before we bought it. It's actually an older model, it was manufactured in 2006, but we like it better than the brand new ones in the stores now. It has a small support bar behind the seat to adjust the recline instead of a small cloth strap. It makes the seat much sturdier and I was happy that it didn't make the stroller noticably heavier, I can still fold and lift it easily! It had just come in that day and we snatched it up! Yay!
Yesterday after church it started raining so we couldn't do anything in the yard. Instead we ordered our crib. We found out the model we wanted has been discontinued. We called the store to confirm and to ask if they had any in stock and when they didn't we also called the Concord location. They didn't have any either and they couldn't order one for us since it's discontinued. So we had to order it off the website which meant paying shipping. :-P Thankfully I found a 15% off coupon which helped, plus it was already on sale for $30 off, probably because they are discontinuing it. I did all of the research on the Baby Bar.gains to make sure the company hasn't had any recalls and everything looks great! So that's on its way over and should be here this week!
We also started cleaning out the nursery last night. It has been filled with boxes and stuff. We threw away so much stuff, mostly stuff that was kept because of my pack rat habits. :-( We also went through my cedar hope chest where I keep sentimental things. It was so fun looking over all of the memories in there. It makes me realize how blessed I am. All of the friends and family I had/have that cared enough to write me notes and cards or send me gifts. There were a lot of things in there from my relationship with Matt like old love letters and emails, programs from all of the musicals and plays we've been to together, etc. I added more things to the chest and was happy that I didn't have to throw away all that much stuff that was in there!

The most touching things I found were cards from my great-grandmother and my aunt, uncle, and cousins. I picked up a card thinking, I can probably throw away some of these cards that are simply from my birthday. There was nothing special about it. But I opened it up and it was from my aunt, uncle, and cousins, one of which passed away almost 3 years ago. There's no way I will ever throw that away. I then opened another card addressed to a "very special niece" and discovered it was from the same aunt and uncle and my cousin signed it himself. He must have been about 3 or 4 years old, a lot of it was just scribbles. So precious!

One of the best parts of the night was opening up an unmarked envelope. I fully expected to find pictures from my ex-best friend in there. She used to give me packs of pictures in envelopes and I had already gone through 3 of them. Lo and behold, it was our passports, marriage license, and my SS card, all of which I thought were lost forever!! Last year I searched high and low for those and was so upset that I lost them. It's been on my mind all year. I was worried that they were found by someone who will steal our identities, I was mad that I was stupid enough to lose them. lol! And there they were! I picked that envelope up multiple times while moving from the apartment and after moving here, but I just assumed there were pictures in there because the passports made a bulky shape about that size. It was organized of me to put our important documents together (we didn't used to have a place for stuff like that) but too bad I didn't label it. Now we have a filing system so they will have a place to stay safe and sound!!

19 Weeks

And it's off to a beautiful start! Last night Matt and I went to BRU and asked about the bedding we like - Lil Di.no by Lam.bs and I.vy. They called the store in Concord and it turns out they had their floor model display left. We had them hold it. Today I went to pick it up with my mom and sister and it turns out that they had found a brand new set - the last one left. So I didn't have to get the floor model, I was able to get it brand new and at a discounted price. Can't beat that!!! I'm so so so happy to have it because it's our favorite. And that's our first major baby purchase. :-)

After going to BRU my mom, sister, and I went to Conc.ord Mi.lls - a huge mall that has a lot of outlet stores. I bought myself some shoes for $15, a pair of khaki maternity capris for $20, and then discovered the Carter's outlet store. Woot!! They were having a major sale so my mom and I bought a few outfits. When we checked out we discovered the were half what we thought they were going to be on sale. I ended up spending $3 for 2 onesies. I wanted to go back and buy some more stuff, but Melissa was very impatient and so I left. But now I'm kicking myself, wishing I had bought some more clothes and other things. I bought a 9 month and 12 month outfit and my mom bought a newborn onesie. I know that I'll receive clothes at my shower, but I think it's good to buy in advance, especially the bigger sizes. Most of the showers I've been to the mother has received a lot of newborn and 3 mo clothes.

I also found out that the same co-worker of Matt's that is going to give us a swing is also going to give us a glider! He also offered to give us their changing table, but I don't think we'll need that since we're planning on buying a dresser that can double as a changing table. That will save room. At BRU I saw THIS crib that was my second choice...and it has become my first choice. It was beautiful in person and very well made. I'm thinking we'll pay the extra and get that, especially since we're saving on the glider and swing. We're also planning on buying a used stroller. I'm wondering what your opinion on getting a used pack n' play is. That's what we were planning on doing, we weren't even going to register for one. However, the Bab.y Bar.gains book recommends buying it new since there is a danger in used ones just like with cribs. We're planning on using the PnP as a bassinet in our bedroom for the first couple of months when I have to feed more often during the night. I started thinking...it's true my baby will be spending a lot of time in it...maybe I should buy a new one and feel assured he's safe.

Well, Evan is the size of a mango. I have a mango sitting on my counter...that I bought a week and a half ago...it's shriveled and probably rotten (I keep forgetting to toss it since it's sitting in the corner, lol). I hope he doesn't look like that one. ;-) I haven't felt any more movements. I wore my maternity jeans for the first time last week and have been wearing them every time I go out since! They are so comfortable. Technically my regular jeans can still fit with the belly band, but these are much more comfortable. I'm still using the belly band with a pair of my regular khaki pants that are baggier.

Tonight I'm going to Matt's soccer game. He is on a team with his best friend R and R's girlfriend is in town (she's from Louisiana so we don't see her all that much). She's going to watch so I'm going with to hang out with her. They are also coming over for dinner tomorrow night (ahh I have to clean the house!!) and then on Saturday night we're having friends over too. I really don't like hosting dinners and having people over (unless it's just the guys). I hate having to entertain, I'm always uncomfortable and wonder if they are having a good time or enjoying the meal, etc. However, it is worth it to keep in touch with people. I usually make Matt do a lot of the cooking when we have people over for meals. I don't like cooking in front of people. Isn't that weird? It shouldn't make a difference, but I don't like it when people watch how I do things. R's girlfriend will probably bring some food (she always makes amazing Cajun dishes) so that helps too. So anyway, looking forward to that at the same time I'm not looking forward to it. ;-) I promise, I'm going to stop blabbing now! I'm hyper...can you tell?

Bump and first baby purchase

I had a horrible nightmare last night that my baby was dead at the big ultrasound. :-( For some reason I was so worried last night about that. That happened to my aunt and my mom's cousin, I can't help but think of it sometimes, last night after I went to bed it was on my mind though and then the nightmare didn't help. I guess it all just seems too good to be true. There's no use worrying, but it's hard not to sometimes. I think it will be so much better after I feel movement.

Matt and I went out to dinner when he got home from work and then we went over to BRU and Tar.get to look at baby stuff. He had never been into BRU. We looked at cribs and found one that we might go with HERE. That brand gets pretty good reviews as far as their cribs, but not as great for their dressers. We would like to get the matching dresser/changing table combo (HERE, but in coffee color), but we're not sure. Matt and I talked a lot about spending amounts last night and he really surprised me by saying that he wants everything in our nursery to match and be very nice looking, even if we have to pay extra! lol Obviously we still aren't going to let it get too out of hand (or so we say...), but now I'm thinking that we might just buy a new dresser/changing table to match whatever crib we end up with whether it's this one or not.

And I like THIS bedding set for a girl. It's a little busier than I thought I'd like, but I saw it in person last night and love it. It's also new so I wouldn't have to worry about it being discontinued (that happened to the bedding that SIL had picked out just before her shower). Matt really liked THIS for a boy, but I'm not sure if it's really what I want. lol. Ah!! I can't wait to find out the gender so we can really start making decisions on nursery decor! Only 11 more days.

After reading your replies and seeing the infant car seats and strollers last night we've decided to definitely get an infant car seat, one that will attach into a stroller. Thanks for all of your advice!!!! I really, really appreciate it. Y'all are all I have, I don't have any friends here who are pregnant or have babies to help me out.

Look at the baby bump!! It definitely popped out this week! Jen, you were close with your week 16 prediction. I think it's safe to say that I "started showing" during week 15. Although I guess I did have a little bump last week too. So I don't know, but this week I've noticed my jeans aren't fitting as well (just last week I could still button them, this week, no way).
And we made our first baby purchase last night. :-) The kitties love it (that's Firefly in the picture), but I've kept them off so far. It still has all of its tags and is in the bag with the receipt in a box in the nursery with the few baby things I have where it will safely stay until we start getting the nursery set up. lol! I'm determined to have the nursery completely cleaned out before we start getting the baby stuff out.