What's up with me!?

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted, especially with everything that's been happening.

I'll kind of sum it up for y'all...

A couple of weeks ago, the week of Oct 18, I started having increased spotting (I'd already been having some, but not enough to be worried enough to make an appointment) and cramping. That had me worried, especially after my miscarriage. ** Let me pause here to say that everything is okay!! ** Of course all of this started on our way to Athens, Georgia, where Matt was going on a business trip. Evan and I were going along for fun, who would have thought it would turn out so badly!? I called the nurse the next day and she said to come in for an ultrasound......except I was 4 hours away from home and couldn't leave since Matt was working!! She said it would be okay to wait until that Friday for an ultrasound unless it got worse. She also said to go on pelvic rest (which I had already put myself on pelvic rest since I found out I was pregnant! lol). I was still having cramping that night. I called my mom and told her, she arranged for my sister to come pick me up the next day. But thankfully Matt was able to take off work so we left the next evening and I changed my u/s to Thursday in the early afternoon. That way my sister didn't have to drive 8 hours in one day to take me home.

I was SO SO SO nervous, I can't even describe. But we immediately saw the baby on the ultrasound and the u/s also picked up the sound of a healthy fast heartbeat!! I was even measuring a few days ahead. The baby was sleeping, the u/s tech tried to wake him up, but s/he wouldn't have it. Just like big brother Evan!

Anyway, it was determined that the spotting was from the cervix and normal and that the cramping is from my uterus expanding. The midwife said not to be concerned about the cramping and only call if the spotting turned to heavy bleeding. I had cramping that night, but ever since then I haven't had any cramping OR spotting. Thank the Lord!

We've been so busy this past month with traveling and visiting with family and friends. One weekend we went to my grandparents' house, then a birthday party one weekend, then we went to Athens, then to Savannah, and then there was Halloween. Evan dressed up as a dinosaur (of course!) and was ADORABLE!! He started completely walking on Oct 27 and I'm so glad he was walking for Halloween. I LOVE that he's walking. It's so much easier and now we can go outside all the time since he isn't dragging his knees and feet around in the dirt and on the concrete.

I gotta end this post for now, but I'll leave you with some pictures...

San Diego

A week ago I was on a plane with Evan heading to San Diego! Matt was there on a business trip all last week and on Thursday Matt and I flew out there to meet him. The flight went very well!! It was delayed 2 hours, so it was a long time to hang around the airport and I didn't try to put Evan down for a nap so he was very tired by the time we took off. I gave him a bottle at take off and he went to sleep for about 20-25 minutes. Then he woke up and stayed awake the rest of the 4 hour flight. It was fine though because we flew first class (it was less reward miles to fly first class than it was to fly coach!! 25,000 to fly first class and 30,000 to fly coach). Ummm...I think I'll fly first class!! lol It was my first time to be in first class and it was great! They served a meal which was a lifesaver because it kept Evan and I busy for about an hour. Then he ate lots of snacks and looked out the window a long time. I let him play on the floor by my feet for a little bit. I walked him around the first class aisle for a little while, but he wasn't sleepy. However, he did lay in my lap and play with some toys for awhile. All in all, it was great. Security at the airport was great too. There's a family line at the Charlotte airport and so I went through that and someone helped me put the stroller on the x-ray belt. I only carried one backpack with me - i packed VERY light which was also a lifesaver. It's not like Evan plays with toys a whole lot anyway.

The best "toys" for flying were: water bottles (I had 2), package of pretzels, Mum Mum wrapper, package of animal crackers, and the plastic wrapper off the the snack box (that we purchased in coach on the way home). Evan loves playing with trash and it's great because I don't have to carry it around with me, it's stuff I bought in the airport or received on the plane and I just left them there when we got off.

San Diego was GREAT!! It was beautiful weather there. We went from Charlotte temperatures of the high 90s to San Diego temps of 70-80 degrees! The warmest day there was 79* and that was hot to everyone who lived there!! We spent Thursday walking around the Convention Center and Seaport Village. Then Friday we went to the zoo. My favorite things there were the hippos, elephants, polar bears, and koalas. I had been there before, but I was like 12 at the time so I don't really remember it. Evan's favorite thing was the turtles in an aquarium, a monkey we saw just after we arrived, or the fish that were in the hippo tank. lol They weren't even an attraction! We came home that afternoon and swam in the hotel pool.

Saturday we went to Old Town and spent the afternoon walking around the historic attractions and the pretty park in the center. I had a great time seeing the pretty trees, cacti, and other plants. We ate Mexican for lunch and had ice cream later in the afternoon.

We went back to the hotel and swam. Then we napped the rest of the afternoon and went out to the Gaslamp quarter for dinner. On the way back to the hotel (we took the trolley) Evan fell asleep. I lifted him out of the stroller to get on the trolley and he stayed asleep the whole way home!! He doesn't fall asleep like that much anymore. I loved holding him while he slept. :-)

On Sunday we spent the afternoon lazing around and napping. Matt's friend who lives nearby came and picked us up (he even borrowed a car seat) and took us to Coronado. It's a beautiful island with a cute little town, beautiful houses, and a great beach. I've decided that someday I want to live there! Although I would be paying the same price as a 4 bedroom home with an acre of land in NC for a 1-2 bedroom house with almost no yard in Coronado!! lol We had lunch HERE and then walked across the island (through the awesome neighborhoods) to the beach. We walked up and down the beach for awhile and then Matt's friend drove us just outside the city to see the condo he bought (he didn't even have the keys yet!). It was amazing driving through the hills outside the city at sunset. SOOOO beautiful. I think a part of me was made to live in southern Cali. I just love love love the desert hills.

Monday we flew back to Charlotte. This time Matt flew with us and we were in coach. Evan slept about an hour and a half (he slept GREAT the whole time we were there, he was worn out from the time change and all of the things we did!) on my lap. He just sprawled out on his tummy and went to sleep. He's so heavy both of my legs fell asleep from his weight! He was a little fussier on the flight home, but after he woke up he was better.

So now we are back in Charlotte where the temperature highs are 99* and the humidity is up to 85%. :-P

9 Month Appointment

Evan just had his 9 month appointment today although at this point he's closer to 10 months old than 9! His doctor, Dr. S, is SOOOOO busy. He's definitely the busiest doctor at the office we visit. I kind of wish we had gone with another doctor from the beginning, but Dr. S is really nice and great with Evan, so we'll stick with him. We can always see him at well visits (just not always "on time") and thankfully Evan hasn't had many sick visits.

They didn't do any shots at this visit, but they did prick his finger and collect blood to test iron levels. Evan didn't flinch at all! I don't know if he couldn't feel it or what, but he stayed very still while the nurse collected the blood. Such a sweetie! Everything looks great, I have a perfectly healthy son at this point. :-)

Weight: 18 lbs, 15 oz (25%)

Height: 29 inches (75%)

Head cir: 18.5 inches (90%)

Dr. S confirmed that Evan can eat anything as long as Matt and I aren't allergic to it. That includes egg whites, which is good since I just scrambled eggs for Evan this morning and didn't separate the whites. ;-) Also my mom scrambled an entire egg for him a couple of weeks ago. My goal for myself and for Evan is to eat fish once a week. We ate a lot in New Orleans and since coming home we've done mahi mahi and tuna. I bought some sea perch today. Never had it, but I figure I'll buy whatever's on sale at the grocery store and we'll try some new things. Any suggestions on good fish or good ways to cook fish (especially perch, since that's what I have right now!)? I know i personally love tilapia with mango salsa -- yum!! I've never made it, but I'm planning on getting around to it one of these days.

Dr. S also talked about weaning Evan. He said anytime after 10 months I can just start giving him whole milk instead of nursing him. Crazy that I'm so close!! I'm planning on waiting until he's a year old, then I will start weaning. Hopefully I can get him to take milk in a sippy cup instead of bottle at that point. I think he'll wean really well. I know not all babies adjust so well, but Evan doesn't have a lot of interest in nursing. I actually think he prefers not to, but too bad. ;-) At this point I'm only giving him a bottle of breast milk in the afternoon or evening after he's nursed as a supplement.

Evan has been waking up in the middle of the night since coming home from New Orleans. He actually wakes up at about 5:30 - 6:30. I've been feeding him because I thought maybe he was hungry. But it's getting old and I don't think he's waking up hungry...I think it's just becoming a habit. I talked to the doctor and he thinks the same thing and said I probably shouldn't keep feeding him because it'll get to be a habit. So in the morning I am not going to feed him. I'll let him cry for 20 minutes then I'll go in and rock him and put him back down. Of course this is the night Matt is out of town, but I want to fix this ASAP. He's been such a great nighttime sleeper since he was 7 weeks old with the exception of growth spurts or traveling. I think being in NO for so long threw him off and that's why he started waking up.

Speaking of traveling, we're going to Asheville next week (over Father's Day weekend) along with my family to visit my brother. Then next month Evan and I will be flying out to San Diego, CA to meet Matt and have a little vacation!! It'll be Evan's first time flying and I'm nervous and excited that I'll be taking him on the plane by myself. Matt will be in San Diego all week for business and I'll meet up with him on a Thursday so we can spend the weekend there. I'm so excited!!

9 Months Old

It's AMAZING how much he's changed since turning 9 months! It seemed like a lot of stuff happened during month 7, but month 9 is also turning into a big month.

Let's see if I can even begin to recount what's been going on with Evan......

*He kissed me for the first time while we were in New

Orleans. He had slept part of the night on the bed with Matt and me. When he woke up in the morning he crawled over to me, crawled up on me, and gave me a sloppy kiss. SO SWEET!

*he started saying "Mama" -- meaning ME!! He turned from him saying it when he only wanted me (which was when he was tired or hungry) to now saying it every time he wants something. Whether that's food, a toy, or something he isn't supposed to have.

*He started saying "hey." I think he started saying this around the same time as "Mama," while we were in New Orleans. It might have even been before. I didn't realize that's what he was saying at first.

*He started crawling on his hands and knees - fast. He had mostly been doing the army crawl, only crawling on his hands and knees a little and not far before he'd fall. But after returning home from NO he was crawling like a pro!

*He started "playing" with Serenity (our cat). She actually loves the attention. She'll plop down right in front of him and he'll grab a fistful of hair and pull. She'll get up, turn around, and plop right back down in front of him. If she's walking near him he'll start chasing her. The other day I walked in the room and he was completely on top of her. Yep, she's scratched him twice (on the hand). You'd think they'd both learn a lesson, but so far neither has.

*He started pulling up onto his knees.

*He started going from his belly (or crawling) to a sitting position. Before he could go from sitting to crawling, but not crawling to sitting/pulling up.

*He started pulling up to a standing position.

And my absolute favorite.......

*He started waving and saying "bye bye"!!!!!!!! My mom and sister heard him the first time. We were visiting my grandparents and they went into the house to bring him out to the car so we could go to the beach. They told him to say goodbye to my grandparents and as they were walking out the door he waved and said "bye bye." They told me when they came out to the car and I figured they had misunderstood or were exaggerating. But when we were at the beach I was sitting with Evan on a picnic table. I was feeding him, but he was distracted by the birds and people around us. He started watching a family walk out to their car. There was a little girl in a bright yellow dress trailing behind the rest of the family members. Evan lifted his hand and started flapping his fingers. I thought he was acting different...concentrating very hard. He held still except for his fingers and suddenly he said, clear as day, "bye bye." There was no mistaking it! It still amazes me just remembering it! He was watching the little girl as he did it.

NOLA

I loved New Orleans! We had such a good time on our trip and Evan was great (in spite of the fact that his second tooth broke through the morning we left).

We left on Friday the 14th and arrived late that night at our friend's dad's house. We spent the night there and attended her graduation the next morning. Yep, Evan sat through the whole graduation and was such a sweetie. The only time he made any noise was he cried twice because the ladies behind us kept shrieking and yelling and it scared him. Which, by the way, I find

very disrespectful. It didn't bother me quite as much at this graduation because overall people

were more mature and considerate (we just happened to sit in front of some of the ones who weren't), but at my brother's graduation it was much worse and it makes me angry that some people don't get to hear their loved one's name announced because the people around them are

acting like drunk rednecks at a sporting event.

After her graduation we spent the day at her reception and then Matt, Evan, and I went to stay in a hotel that night. The next day (Sunday) we went to our first crawfish boil. It was SO fun!! I didn't know what to expect since I've only ever eaten crawfish in a pasta dish once before. You boil crawfish alive like you do lobsters and so they had buckets of live crawfish when we got there. They put them in a huge pot over a cooker along with potatoes, mushrooms, lemons, and spices. Christine's family served them on large trays on the picnic tables outside and taught us how to crack them open to get to the meat. Just thinking of it makes me want some!!! I wish they sold crawfish around here. It was messy, but SO worth it. :-)

We swam in the pool - the first time in years I've been in a full sized pool and the very first time for Evan! He loved it. I took him out at one point because the sun went behind a cloud and I saw him shivering. I sat on the pool deck with him wrapped in a towel and he spent the whole time trying to get back into the pool! Christine's aunt took him back in the pool and he was giggling and laughing. :-)

We went to New Orleans on Monday and spent the evening walking around and going out for dinner. Once again, Evan was SO well behaved! We ended up going to a fancy restaurant (the manager came out while we were standing outside

talking about what to do and convinced us to eat there). I was really nervous about Evan being there, but he was better behaved than half the adults in there!

Tuesday we went to the aquarium and I'm so glad we did! Evan's favorite thing there were the jellyfish by far. LOVED them. He kept trying to grab them. lol My favorite thing was the otter. Or the penguins. Or the seahorses. Or petting the stingrays. I can't decide!

That night Christine's mom came to the hotel to watch Evan while we went out to dinner, to Bourbon Street, and then the casino. It was so nice of her to volunteer to do that. I didn't expect anyone to do that and didn't expect to get to go to Bourbon St or to the casino. I actually think I was doing her mom a favor. lol Her entire family LOVED Evan and I was actually a little afraid one of them would run off with him. ;-)

Wednesday we went to the WWII museum and the Riverwalk. I ate my first po-boy. Fried catfish on french bread in a sandwich. They also come in shrimp, oysters, and...I can't remember, but I think some other type of seafood. Our hotel overlooked the river and we could see the steamboats. So beautiful!!

Thursday we went to Jackson Square and saw the St Louis cathedral. We walked around all day stopping at restaurants and going into shops. We went back to the Riverwalk to Cafe du Monde and ate beignets (DELICIOUS!). New Orleans is beautiful! I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. My dad has been twice on business and hated it (of course, his company put him in a hotel on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras....not his thing at all, lol).

That evening we headed back to Christine's hometown and stopped at a snowball stand. Once again, something that is SO GOOD that they don't have in NC. Evan tried some of our snowballs and he loved them too. :-)

Friday we headed to Mississippi to visit Christine's grandmother. We had met her at the graduation and she loved loved loved Evan. So we stayed the night at her house. Sure enough, she was trying to steal Evan away. She even wanted him to sleep in her bed with her! lol That night was a little rough, I think at that point he'd had enough. Thankfully he waited until he was in bed to lose it so he didn't "ruin" our visit with Christine's grandparents since we'd been there several hours at that point.

Then we headed back home. The trip home was rough. Evan was fussy the entire time. The next day he woke up with a cold. I think the week wore him out. I'm grateful that he was so good while we were there though. He's such a great traveler!

Anyway, next I'm going to post a 9 month description of Evan. He's changing SO MUCH!

Adios

We're going to New Orleans for 8 days! We're leaving Friday afternoon. I'm kind of nervous about being gone for so long. Hoping that Evan will continue to nurse well and won't start teething. The past 2 days he has whined and whined all day. Yesterday I stayed home all day since I wasn't feeling well (allergies) and today we didn't go out or do much in the afternoon, just a chiropractor appointment in the morning. I don't know if he was just bored or if he's teething or what, but I'm afraid it might be teething.

I am glad to spend so much time together as a family though. It will be great for Matt and Evan to spend so much time together!

Easter baby

yellow

The title of this post says it all! Everything is yellow here!!! Every year we see the yellow pollen from the pine trees, but this year it's ridiculous. We don't even have many pine trees around our house and yet everything is completely covered with it. The air is even covered...you can see yellow clouds floating everywhere. The sky looks hazy with yellow, the grass looks yellow, the trees look yellow, the roads are yellow, everyone has yellow cars...... gross.

My allergies were SO bad on Friday and Saturday. They were getting better, but today I've had a slight relapse. Matt's were terrible and didn't get better...now he has a cough too. He went to the doctor this morning. I haven't heard what the doctor said yet.

My dad's birthday was yesterday (he is 50 now!) and we're having a party for him on Friday night. It will be the first party we've ever had for him. A couple of years ago my mom turned 50 and Matt and I threw a party for her. This year we're not doing the party though, my mom is.

Easter was fun, but like i said earlier, it would have been better if my allergies weren't so bad. Evan "swam" in his little pool for the first time.

We skipped Spring apparently! It's been in the low 90s the past couple of days and all last week it was in the mid to high 80s. We went from 60 degrees to 90 in days!! It's great though...yesterday was a little hot, but I'm loving this weather! I just need to buy some capris and more short sleeve shirts. I went to go get my capris last week and realized...they are all maternity! I don't own any regular ones.

Evan's newest thing - saying "mamamama" and "babababa." He's done it before, but not consistently and not for long. Now it's all the time! And for the record, he said "mamamama" before "dadadada." ;-) I know he's not saying "mama" for real, but Matt and I had already bet on which sound he would make babbling first. I won! The weird thing is that he only does the "mamama" when he's upset. It just breaks my heart because I'm hearing "mama" even if he doesn't really mean ME. I'm glad that it doesn't happen very often!

sick

I was sick all day yesterday. My stomach was a little upset on Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday morning I woke up feeling awful and threw up. I'm so glad Matt was here to help me out!! I was too weak to walk from the bed to the bathroom, so I don't know what I would have done without him to help. I was sick all day yesterday. I had a fever and chills, was VERY weak, and had an upset stomach. Matt worked from home most of the day so I was able to take a nap and relax most of the time.

Today I feel much better, but still very weak. I know I should eat something since I hardly ate anything last night. In a few minutes I'll try to pull myself together and go make something. Matt couldn't work from home today since he's teaching a class at his office.

We are going to visit my grandparents this weekend! I'm very excited about it! We haven't seen them in 4 months. My entire family is going (except my brother who is at school). It's been a long time since we all went to visit my grandparents as a family, so I'm happy about that too. I'm just hoping I'll feel completely well by then!

White Christmas

Our trip to Arkansas went very well! Evan was great, didn't fuss at all. We stayed on our schedule really well the entire time. While we drove we'd stop at a fast food restaurant when it was time to feed him. I'd nurse him and then we'd put him on the table on his blanket and play with him for awhile. Then Matt would either order us a meal (since Evan's eating times line up with our meals) and we'd eat while Evan stayed on the table. Then we'd hold him for a little bit and then pack him up and go. By then it would be his nap time. His afternoon feeding wouldn't line up with our meals, but then we'd do the same thing except just order a snack or milkshake instead of a meal.

Evan also did really well while we were staying with my grandparents. He napped better than normal and he was really laid back. I was afraid he'd be super fussy like he was when we visited my mom's parents back in October, but he wasn't. The trip back wasn't so smooth, we had to make some unplanned stops (including pulling over on the side of a back road in the middle of nowhere in Alabama to change his diaper in the car!), but it could have been much worse.

Evan experienced his first snow and his first Christmas on the same day! How cool is that!? I couldn't believe that it snowed while we were there. The day we arrived it was great weather, very warm. But of course the temperature dropped that night and it rained the entire first whole day we were there. That turned to snow overnight and on Christmas morning there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground! I am not a snow fan AT ALL, but it was a fun experience for Evan's first Christmas and while we were on Christmas break since it didn't interrupt our everyday lives.

Evan received lots of presents of course. I can't even list them all, but most of them were clothes, little toys that he can play with now (and put in his mouth), and sippy cups (he got 3 of them, lol). Some other fun things were traditions that my mom started for him. My parents made a donation in his name to an organization that purchases and gives things to 3rd world countries. So Evan donated 5 ducks to a family in Africa. My parents are going to do that in place of a present every Christmas. He received his first Christmas ornament in his stocking from Nana. Every year he will also receive a Christmas book from Nana. :-) My parents also bought him an exersaucer that we have yet to assemble. I think he's about ready for it though, he's holding his head up really well.

Things that have been going on with him lately......

• His eyes are changing. At first I thought they were turning green in the middle, but now I think they are a light brown. The brown(green?) color is expanding and taking over more of the blue though! I'm so excited to see what they end up looking like!
• He is rolling over from his back to his tummy. He did it for the first time yesterday. :-)
• He is standing. I still hold his hands so he can balance, but he supports all of his weight. He can't do it for very long, but he just did it yesterday for the first time.
  

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a merry Christmas!!!

We're traveling to Arkansas...we leave in the morning. Wish us luck and pray for safety as we embark on such a long drive!

7 Weeks Old

And the thought at the forefront of my mind is: I can't believe it's been 7 weeks since my house was clean. After that I think: Wow, I can't believe my baby is 7 weeks old already.

I watched A Baby Story today. I used to never watch those baby birth shows before I got pregnant because it made not having a baby even worse. Then I didn't watch them while I was pregnant because I didn't want to get scared. Now that I've been there done that I find that I can watch birthing shows and am even interested to see how other women's births went.

Thanks for all of the anniversary wishes! We had a great time in Charleston this past weekend. Friday evening we arrived and checked into our very nice hotel in the historic downtown area. We ate HERE, which was a lot of fun and delicious! We then walked up and down King Street since the temperature was great. The shops were closed, but it was neat to see the window displays. I would never actually buy anything from any of them anyway. Then we went back to the hotel and relaxed.

The next day Evan and I slept late while Matt scoured the area for drug stores that sold saline drops and a nasal aspirator since Evan had a stuffed up nose. He finally came back and watched Evan while I slept some more. We went out for lunch and then went to the Battery to walk around and take pictures. We walked past Rainbow Row. It was SO HOT, 90 degrees. The sun was beaming down and so we stayed on the sidewalk in the shade instead of walking next to the water. Evan did great. He woke up at one point when we stopped and started fussing, but he stopped after we started walking again. Poor baby was probably really hot.

After that we left Charleston and headed to my grandparents' house. My grandparents LOVE Evan. :-) It's so neat to see them interact with a baby. I never would have imagined how much my granddaddy would love Evan. He couldn't take his eyes off him. He held him a lot and would baby talk to him. I guess you'd have to meet my granddad to understand how odd it is that he loves babies so much. It was such an awesome experience to see him playing with and talking to Evan. I'm glad we only live 3 hours away so that we can hopefully see them more often. They never leave Charleston now, so it's up to us to go visit them and that hasn't happened as much as it should in the past.

Evan is starting to grab things more. I noticed it late last week and thought it was funny that that was what my 7 week email newsletter talked about...babies grabbing things and swatting at things. He hasn't grabbed his rattle yet, but it's kind of thick. He grabs my hand if he feels it and has started grabbing the blanket. I put one of his toys in his lap today and he kept grabbing parts of it and moving it. He has no clue what he's really doing, but I guess it's a reflex that will develop into better hand/eye coordination.

He's amped up the cooing and "talking" when I'm not in his line of sight. He never coos when I'm in his sight though, only when I'm not in the room. It's adorable!!! I only wish he would do it when I'm interacting with him. I've also noticed that he's been laughing in his sleep more. That's the only time I've ever heard him laugh. It makes me wonder what he's dreaming about. I'm glad they are happy dreams. :-)

No pictures right now, but I'll post them tomorrow!!

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. :-)

journey

I'm about to begin my journey to Arkansas. It starts with sleeping over at my in-laws' house (that right there should be an adventure! ;-)), then MIL is driving me to the airport tomorrow morning. From there I'll fly to Little Rock and spend tomorrow afternoon there (alone) until I meet up with my dad in the evening. Then tomorrow night my dad and I will be driving to Fort Smith. Finally I'll get there and spend a couple of days with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My grandparents have having their 50th anniversary party on Saturday and so I'm sure a lot of my extended family from Texas will be coming up for that.

I'll be flying home Sunday night so I'll be sure to post on Monday to tell y'all about it!

Flying & Crying

I'm flying to Arkansas in mid-July for my grandparents' 50th anniversary party. I'll be flying to Little Rock alone, meeting my dad there, and then we'll drive to Fort Smith. I'll be 32 weeks then. I sure hope it's okay for me to fly then! I looked up some message board posts on the subject and it seems like a lot of women fly at that point. I didn't check with any of the midwives before my dad got the ticket, but I'm guessing they will be okay with it since I've had a smooth pregnancy so far and am not high risk.

This whole thing has been really spur of the moment. My dad had purchased a ticket for himself, then a week later found out he's going to be in Little Rock on business the same day he was going to be flying there himself! So he wanted to transfer the ticket to my name (since it's non-refundable), but it's also non-transferable. So he decided to use some of his frequent flier miles to get me a ticket. He sounded excited about me coming along and it would be nice to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and most likely even more of my extended family from Texas. This will be my last chance to travel on a whim. After Evan comes, any trips I make will have to be well planned. I probably won't do much, if any, traveling alone after Evan comes. So Dad asked if I wanted to come on Saturday night and by yesterday afternoon he got the ticket. Matt is excited I'm going, the only problem I have with going without him is that he'll be on a business trip the 4 days before I leave. He'll get back the day I leave so we won't see each other for an entire week. But I've gone that long without seeing him before, so I think I can manage this time. ;-)

Did you fly that late in pregnancy? Would you? Just after I hung up the phone after telling my dad to go ahead and get the ticket I had a mini panic attack. What if you aren't supposed to fly that late!? What if something horrible happens to Evan on the plane!? But after researching it some and seeing other women discuss their travel experiences at 32 weeks or later I feel much better about it!

Speaking of panic attacks, I've been much more emotional the past few days. Weepy and more stressed than normal. Poor Matt! I have to say, he's been very supportive although I haven't been the nicest person to be around the past couple of days. All of our yard projects are weighing on me and he's the one who has to do the work, so I keep nagging him and getting upset that things aren't moving along faster. I have no clue why it seems so important to get it done quickly, but it is. I really am ready to have the front flower bed and the back patio finished. I think my life will be easier after they are finished. I can tell myself it's no big deal and not to stress all I want, but it doesn't help! I think it's pregnancy hormones. I haven't been very emotional since getting pregnant, at least not any more than I used to be. But the past couple of days I can't seem to help myself, so pregnancy hormones are the only thing I can attribute it to.

Beach bums

We had a wonderful time at the beach! We arrived at about 8:00 on Thursday night and had some time to hang out on the deck and give my mom a tour of the house. The only people there this year were Matt's parents, grandparents, the 2 of us, and my mom. I'm really glad she was able to come, every year that Matt and I go I always think of how much she would like it. Unfortunately this may have been the last time we'll get to go. Their family has been going for many, many years, probably close to 20 now. But my FIL's boss, who owns the house, is giving it to his daughter and she is now renting it out. So in future years she will probably choose to either have family stay or rent it out to make money.

Anyway, the house is on a private island just outside of Wilmington. It's gorgeous and even though it was Memorial Day weekend, it still wasn't nearly as crowded as most beaches since only people who live there or rent a house there are allowed. NC has beautiful beaches. I don't understand why SC beaches are more popular because NC's are so much prettier. I guess it isn't as touristy though, but that's how I like it. The weather was also amazing. It was warm and mostly sunny. Matt's parents said that most of the week it was cold and rainy, but it cleared up just for us!

My mom, MIL, and I drove from one end of the island to the other to give her a tour. Mom and I went walking on the beach several times, picked up shells and sand dollars, watched the birds and crabs, and sat in our beach chairs in the sun and read books. Matt and I went on a walk as well and were able to go bike riding! Friday night MIL, Matt's grandma, mom, Matt, and I went out to eat while FIL and Matt's grandfather went fishing. I had an all around good time with the in-laws, it was nice to be able to spend some time with them.



So far this month we've been all over NC, from the mountains to the sea, all the way across.

Destinations: A = my brother's school, B = Charlotte, C = Island

24 Weeks

It's amazing how fast time is flying! I know I say that every week, but it's true! My pregnancy book says this is the last week of my 2nd trimester. However, everything else I have, including my packet of info from the midwife, says that week 27 is the last week of the 2nd tri. Weird.

Evan weighs over a pound now, closer to a pound and a half! I believe it, I'm feeling him move a lot more now. Even when he does kick I can sometimes feel him moving, I don't know if he's flipping around or just wiggling, but I can feel different types of movement. He has active spurts and will kick over and over for a couple of minutes, then I won't feel him for another hour or so, then I feel him moving and kicking for another several minutes. Last night I felt him during the night for the first time. Of all the time I've spent laying awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night, I've never felt him move until last night. Usually it's only during the day that I feel him, or in the late evening/early nighttime hours. I've read that a lot of babies in the womb are more active in the middle of the night, but he hasn't been while I'm awake anyway. I'm also feeling him move even when I'm walking and moving around. Before, I had to be sitting and leaning back in order to feel him. Also this week, I felt him on the left side a couple of times. I usually only feel him kick on the right side and sometimes in the middle (usually lower down). But I was laying on my left side this week and felt him lightly kicking or moving on that side. So cool!

I've been feeling pretty good, except for some minor lower back pain last night and this morning. Woke up with heartburn in the middle of the night a couple of times the past week. My cure for that is to get up and drink some chocolate milk while reading for awhile. Milk has been working wonders. Anytime I have heartburn or an upset stomach in general (which might be mild heartburn, it's hard for me to tell exactly what heartburn is sometimes unless I actually feel funny in my throat or chest) I drink chocolate milk and it settles my stomach wonderfully. I don't know what I'd do without it! I'm already thinking that we'll have to stop by the store when we are over at the beach to buy some chocolate syrup so that I'll have it the next couple of days while we're there.

We're leaving this afternoon and will be back sometime on Saturday. It looks like the weather is going to be nice while we're there, I'm happy to see that the chance of precipitation tomorrow has dropped from 40% to 10% the past few days. I'm eager to show my mom the beach house and the gorgeous island that it's located on. I'm hoping that my shins are feeling okay so that I can do lots of walking on the beach. My favorite things to do while we're there are walking on the beach and riding bikes on the island's roads. I'm not sure that I'll attempt bike riding this year, we'll see! It might be a little difficult with this belly of mine and I know some doctors don't recommend it because of balance issues. I'm not used to riding bikes (It's been 2 years since I've been on one now!) and the roads are sandy which make them harder to ride on, especially if you have to move to the side for a passing car. But I really love riding them....so...we'll see. lol Probably Matt won't let me anyway.

This year my mom will be there though so we're planning on laying out (except I can't really lay down, so I'm going to have to buy a chair) and relaxing on the sand!! That's something that Matt can't do because of his fair skin. Nobody else in Matt's family does that either, probably for the same reason. So if I want to spend time relaxing by the ocean I have to do it alone, which is no fun! So I'm excited that this year I can spend the afternoons outside with my mom instead of cooped up in the house reading or watching TV. Maybe I'll actually go swimming this year too if I get hot enough. I haven't tried on my swim suits to see how ridiculous I look him them.... I am bringing tanks to put on top to cover up, no way am I walking around with my fat hairy belly exposed to the world.

I'll be sure to post pictures and tell y'all all about it when I return! Do you have special plans for this weekend? Have fun and be safe!

Weekend pictures

My brother graduated college on Saturday. We went up to the mountains where his school is located to go to the ceremony. It ended up being a great day for a graduation and after the ceremony we went driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at some overlooks to take pictures. We also went to downtown Asheville to eat dinner at a neat grill that had good onion rings!

You can see how all around big I'm getting in this picture, yep, that's a maternity dress. There's a waterfall in the background that you can kind of see:



The girls - Mom, Melissa, and me:


My handsome husband:

A shirt Matt bought for Evan. If you can't tell, it has a robot on it:

Boston & New England

I'm back! Our trip was amazing! Not only did we do a lot of fun things, everything went smoothly. There wasn't any stress or getting lost or wondering what to do next. That's my kind of vacation! I love it when we fit a lot in but still have time to relax.

Friday afternoon after going to our hotel and resting, we started down the Freedom Trail, a 2 and a half mile walking trail through downtown Boston that goes by all of the major historical sites. It's marked by a line of red bricks along the sidewalks and in some places by a thick line of red paint so you don't lose your way. We went halfway down the trail and stopped at Faneuil Hall for dinner and to do some shopping (we bought Evan a cute hoodie!). The most interesting site that day was Granary Burial Ground. It's filled with graves of some very important people, including victims of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. It rained a little that afternoon, but not too much. The temperature was fine, especially with all of the walking we did.


On Saturday we started up on the trail at Faneuil Hall again. The second part of the trail isn't as "action packed," the only things to see are Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, and Copp's Hill Burying Ground. It was still worth the walk though because we discovered some beautiful gardens (the flowers and trees there are just now in full bloom there). We ended up at the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat in the world (launched in 1797). They are doing renovations on it, so it wasn't as neat as it was the last time I went (in 2002), but it's still an amazing thing to see and visit. The navy gives free tours of the ship, I definitely recommend going to see it if you're ever in Boston!

(Matt standing by the Paul Revere statue in front of the Old North Church)

After the Constitution, we went to the Public Garden, mainly to visit the "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture. We bought Evan the book earlier that day and wanted to get some pictures with the sculpture to show him when he's older. The garden was beautiful! The trees and flowers were blooming, there were so many beautiful tulips planted everywhere. The weather was perfect at that point, in the mid-70s. The sun shone more that day than any of the others we were there. We found the statue and even though there was always a crowd around it, we were able to get a few pictures next to it.

On Sunday we slept in and spent the rest of the morning at Harvard, which is an amazing place! We just walked around and snapped pictures, we didn't really have a plan, but everywhere we went was beautiful. There was a festival going on in Harvard Square so we had fun crowd watching and listening to interesting music. Then we met up with Nity!!! I can't describe how fun it was to meet her in person. We had lunch with her and then met up with her husband, who is also a lot of fun. We walked around Concord, which has a lot of very old (and beautiful) houses. One of my favorite things to do on vacation is walk around and look at architecture, so Concord was a treat. We also walked on a trail that went past where the Revolutionary War started and some beautiful fields and woods.

(Harvard)

After Concord we stopped by their cute urban house and I got to meet their dog, who turned out to be really cute and fun. :-) I vote that Nity should post a picture of her on her blog! We went to a great pizza place and even had fun standing in line waiting to get in. It was definitely worth the wait! We took some leftovers to our hotel that night and as soon as we got in I ate more. lol They were so nice and drove us to the car rental place near the airport after dinner. I can't believe that we forgot to take pictures!!! I didn't even realize it until the next day. We had a camera, but I was so busy blabbing my mouth off that I forgot to take pictures, even though Nity and I had already talked about getting belly shots. She's 2 weeks ahead of me and our bellies are about the same size. She looks good!! She's tall and slender so I guess there's a little more room in there for her little boy or girl. As soon as we got to the car rental place and Nity and her husband drove away Matt said, "That was so much fun! I had a great time with them!" And I had to agree. :-) Matt had been a little nervous about spending a day with strangers, but we all got along great. I only wish we lived closer so we could see each other more often.

We spent Sunday night in Peabody, near Salem. Monday we went to Salem and were very disappointed in the main downtown area. It's mainly occupied by new age and witch stuff, which I knew about ahead of time, but I was still planning on parking downtown and then walking around the town to see the historical sites. However, after getting out of the car and seeing all of the not very nice looking people loitering around in the middle of the day, we rushed back to the car and left Salem without seeing anything. We had lunch at a nearby mall and then worked up enough courage to drive around the outskirts of Salem so that we could at least see some of the historical sites from the car. After getting over to the Maritime Site and the House of the Seven Gables (I haven't read the book, but Matt and I watched a film adaptation of it) we realized that area is fine so we parked the car and got out to walk around. I loved getting to see the places Nathaniel Hawthorne had been. We also saw the graveyard in Salem and the memorial to the witch trial victims.

(Salem Maritime Historical Site)

(House of the Seven Gables)

(Salem Burying Ground)

After Salem we drove to Manchester-by-the-Sea to walk around and have a snack. We didn't go out on the beach, but we drove by it and we did get out and walk around the harbor. We also went up to Crane Beach, which is beautiful! It's farther out in the country and we went walking along the beach. Then on to Newburyport where we ate a yummy seafood dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the water and boats.

(Crane Beach)

Monday night we discovered how close we were to Maine and decided to go up there on Tuesday. It was going to be cold and rainy, so we knew we didn't want to walk around much. We drove up and down the coast of Maine and drove through a bunch of cute little towns. We saw the Nubble Lighthouse, which was beautiful. It was actually neat that it was windy and rainy because the ocean was rough and the waves broke over the rocks.

Later that day we headed back to Boston and then on back home to Charlotte!

(22 weeks)