Weekend Recap

Most of the weekend was spent celebrating the wedding of my good friend Meredith, and her now husband Chad Tucker. If that names sounds familiar to you, it's probably because you've seen him reporting on Fox 8 news. Chad is a great guy and they really couldn't be more suited for each other. Meredith and I went to high school together but she was a year behind me and we never knew each other well then. We became good friends about 5 years or so ago and have even been to Africa together twice. She has shared in so many of her friends joy as they/we have gotten married and we've been praying and waiting for her husband for a long time. It was so exciting finally getting to celebrate her wedding.

The wedding festivities started with a bridal brunch on Friday downtown at the Screaming Rooster. I'd never been there before and it was a super cute place. Meredith is a hair stylist and is always super fashionable. She's one of those people that looks gorgeous in anything. She loves hats so in honor of that, we all wore one at the brunch. She brought a bunch extra for people like me who don't own a funky hat, because we look ridiculous in them. It may be hard to believe with as silly as I look in this hat, but Meredith can totally pull it off. And it definitely belongs on her and not me!

The brunch was a lot of fun and we even got to meet some movie producers that are here filming the new movie with Owen Wilson. Did y'all hear he was hanging at Mozelle's last weekend? The producers were fun to talk to and they told us how much they are loving Winston and all the southern-ness (pretty sure that is not a word) of good 'ol NC. 

After the brunch everybody headed out to the wedding venue to help with decorations. This big mama went home to put my swollen feet up before the rehearsal dinner. I guess I shouldn't even say "venue"; the wedding was at the home of a couple that Chad knows. Their beautiful home and farm is about an hour away in the mountains and was one of the most stunning places I have ever seen in my life. We had a delicious southern rehearsal dinner consisting of two of my favorite foods,  BBQ and mac and cheese.

Saturday we got there several hours before the wedding to take pictures and whatnot. Meredith and Chad technically only had one bridesmaid and one groomsmen and the rest of us were considered "honorary". We still walked down the ailse and did everything a wedding party would do, but Meredith didn't want us to all have to buy a dress we'd never wear again and have to worry about all the other stuff that comes along with being a bridesmaid. It was really laid back and I loved that she did things that way. We got to wear whatever we wanted, as long as it at least somewhat went with the royal blue and green wedding colors. It's obvious how much Meredith loves pregnant bellies when she insisted I be a part of her wedding, even though I told her months ago I'd be huge by her big day.

The wedding could not have been more perfect.

Sunday was baby dedication day at church. They have two a year-one every Mother's Day and one in November right around Thanksgiving, which is when we'll be dedicating Gray. We knew several couples who were dedicating their babies and it was such a sweet time. Then our pastor delivered an awesome sermon on women and mothers. Although much of it will not be easy, Paul and I are so excited to become parents soon and plan on trying our very best every day to do life, marriage and parenthood God's way.

I guess you can say I celebrated my first Mother's Day yesterday. Although I don't feel 100% like a mommy yet, it was still a very special day. Paul got me the sweetest card and a gift certificate to one of my favorite stores. My family all got together last night to celebrate all of the mothers. My brother grilled salmon and KING CRAB legs!!! It was so delicious and we all had a great night. We are blessed with wonderful family. It's crazy to think that next Mother's Day we'll have an almost one year old!

Y'all have a good week!

34 weeks

Gray weighs about four and three fourths pounds this week and has possibly hit the 18 inch mark. His fat layers are filling out and he is becoming more plump. His central nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature, although they are very close to being done developing! If Gray were born this week, there is even a good chance he'd be able to breath on his own already. Every day he stays in me cooking is a relief. I've known of several babies born really early and although they survived and live a normal life, it was a very tough road for them and their mamas and daddies. So as uncomfortable as I am right now, I am praying daily for the little booger to stay in me until he is completely ready to come out. Don't get me wrong though, in another three weeks when he is full term, I'll be wishing his arrival at any time!

Every week day gets a little more uncomfortable than the one before. Even though Gray is getting bigger, I am still feeling him move a lot. He spends most of his time on my bladder and in my ribs, which is a tad uncomfortable as you can imagine. I am sure his movement will change soon as he really starts to run out of room in there. The lovely pregnancy swelling joined me last week. It started in my ankles but at times my entire legs and feet are swollen too. By Sunday evening my legs almost all looked like one size. It's really attractive and I'm pretty excited about it. Oh, and it feels real good too. It's always a lot better when I wake up in the morning but by the middle to end of every day they look like tree trunks again. Honestly though I am very thankful it didn't start earlier. I've had several friends who got swollen a lot earlier in pregnancy and I can't imagine having to deal with that for months. My face has gotten a little puffy too. My hands are a little swollen but I am still able to wear my rings. I think I will take them off soon though because I have a small fear of having to get them cut off.

Just when you might think I can't get any bigger, think again...

Friday was my youngest nephew's 8th birthday (which seriously makes me want to cry) so I took him lunch to school. As I was leaving, a teacher stopped me and asked  me when I was due. When I told her, she said "Dang, looks like there are AT LEAST two in there!" It was the first time I did not laugh. As a matter of fact, I didn't even crack a smile. It was funny the first 500 times but the more miserable I feel, the more it gets really old. I am aware of my size but seriously, what makes people think they can say things like that out loud? So I joked that day on Facebook about how the next person to make a comment was going to get smacked. The next day my family threw a wedding shower for my cousin and her fiance. We had it in a big room at our church. Paul and I got there to help set up and as soon as I walked in the door, one of the janitorial staff who was there helping get the tables and chairs out looked at me and said, "Aww, twins!" He had the biggest smile on his face and in a truly innocent way, he was certain I was having twins. Regardless, I found it hard to laugh it off. He looked at Paul and said "By the look on her face, I'm guessing I said something wrong." I still found it hard to come up with some grace and I looked at him and said in a very stern teacher voice "Don't EVER say that to a pregnant woman again." And then my mom and Gram made me feel bad because "he didn't know any better". Hey mom, remember when you were barely 40 and got asked if you wanted the senior citizen discount at the dry cleaners? Haha, just kidding but I couldn't resist. Anywho, soon enough our sweet baby will be here and all of these rude comments might be funny again.

We had our third birthing class last night. We learned all about epidurals and c-sections. The nurse who taught our class told us that about 90% of women at our hospital get epidurals. I plan on being in that percentile. Last night was also supposed to be the meet the doctors night where a doctor from all of the local pediatricians come and tell you why you should choose their practice. There was some kind of miscommunication though and that is actually going to be tonight. Thankfully for some weird reason, Paul only has one soccer session tonight and we'll both be able to go. I am hoping we can decide on a pediatrician soon. There are several to choose from but we know of someone different who goes to each practice and they all have good things to say about where they go so it sounds like we can't really go wrong.

Ok y'all, I'm off to vote. Hoping the lines aren't too crazy for the sake of these swollen feet.

Happy Monday!

Mondays definitely didn't used to be a very happy day for me. As I've shared to some degree, this school year has been very challenging and Mondays were the most dreaded day of the week. Since I've been written out of work, that has certainly changed. Despite my foot and back causing me a lot of pain, I am so thankful not to have to be on my feet for 10 hours a day in a stressful work environment.

Mondays have actually become one of my favorite days. Paul doesn't have soccer after school so he gets home early. Sophie and I love when Daddy comes home!  I usually stay off of my feet most all day and don't do much of anything so I can save my foot and back for a fun afternoon and evening with Paul. I really hate laying around but have had plenty of thank you cards to write and reading to catch up on to keep me "busy" while being off of my feet. We started our birthing classes two weeks ago and now we have that to look forward to on Mondays too. Last Monday before our class we went and bought our stroller and a few things from our registry that we still needed. Tonight we'll probably do the same. Since we had our last shower last week, we know what we still need and have several gift cards to help us get those things. I wouldn't say I have entered to full-on nesting stage, but I am having a little sense of urgency to get the rest of everything done and bought before Gray comes.

Today's lay-low Monday house chore consists of doing baby laundry. Until today I hadn't washed one single blanket, burp cloth or any clothes. I'd been waiting to see what all we got from our showers so I knew if any sizes needed to be exchanged. Also, we really didn't have that many clothes at all because I knew we were going to be getting a ton of hand-me-downs from my friend Lindsey. I got those from her last week and OH MY GOODNESS there is some cute stuff! Gray is going to be one well dressed little boy. So the baby laundry should be done by today or tomorrow and then I need to spend time sorting and organizing sizes and clothing items (sleepers, onesies, "going out outfits", etc.). We didn't have room in the nursery for a dresser and the closet is reeeeally tiny so I am going to have to be very diligent about how I organize his clothes. Even still, I can't think of a better way to spend a Monday. Thankful.

Y'all have a good week!

More baby showers

Leave it to my sweet husband to save the day. He downloaded Firefox and I've been able to get Blogger to work through that...yay!!!

My friends Abbie and Lindsey hosted a baby shower for me on Saturday.

They had been planning this shower for a long time and I knew that with them, it would be amazing. But it was even better than I imagined it would be. There are a LOT of pictures with this post but this blog serves as my main "scrapbook" of memories so I didn't want to leave anything out. And the pictures don't come close to doing the shower justice. Either I don't know how to operate it correctly or my camera does not take good pictures inside.

For a 2:00 shower, there sure was a huge spread of "snacks". I know my friends well so I'd skipped lunch that day. Thanks to Ashley, Alex, Marie and Steph for helping with the food!

Abbie made the cake and as usual she blew us all away. It was so dang cute and the best tasting one yet. Paul and I are still enjoying the leftovers.

I couldn't stop oohing and aahing over all of the decorations.

Look at those precious thank you cards! And they are already all addressed!

Lindsey put some of our maternity pictures out as part of the decor.

They even got some baby pictures from my mom.

 Loved this super cute diaper cake made by my dear Alexandra.

Even matching labels for the water bottles! I think Pinterest had a little something to do with the decoration ideas but they still put a lot of time into it.

There were several people that couldn't be there and I missed them terribly. But to have this many of my favorite people in one place was such a blessing to me!

Meredith is obsessed with my belly. We'll see if she loves hers this much when she's this huge one day ;)

The food, decorations and all of my friends being there certainly would have been enough for this girl! But I also got some really special and nice gifts on top of that! All of the girls from our Sunday School class at church went in together and bought us a stroller! We also got some really cute clothes and some needed items from our registry.

My mom knitted this blanket.

The colors and the pattern are so perfect. It's so beautiful and the time I know she put into it makes it even more special.

As if all the planning and time she put into the shower weren't enough, Abbie gave us this scrapbook for Gray.

She already has every page completely decorated with different events and milestones and there is even a page for every month of his first year.

It just brings tears to my eyes thinking about how much time I know she put into this. She said she started the day we found out we were having a boy. I really can't express how special this gift is to me. And if that still wasn't enough she also made this adorable fleece blanket and burp clothes.

That shower will definitely go down as one of my most special memories of pregnancy!

We had our last shower this week at Paul's school. He is very loved by all of the staff and it showed in their kindness and generosity at the shower.

We got more really cute clothes, a hand-knitted blanket, some needed items for Gray and several gift cards, which is great because we still have a lot of things to get from our registries.

Blessed continues to be an understatement. We are so grateful for all of the wonderful showers we've had and for the love and generosity shown to us by so many people. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everybody!!

33 weeks!

This week Gray weighs a little over four pounds and has hit the 17 inch mark in length. In just 3 more weeks we'll have a full term baby. I can't believe how close it's getting. I don't feel nervous at all right now, just ready. Not to say that won't change, but for now I am just excited to meet our sweet little man . I have enjoyed pregnancy so much but the enjoyment dwindles down by the day as I become more and more physically uncomfortable. It's getting a lot harder to breath and baby boy continues to hang out in my ribs quite a bit. He is so, so low and sometimes when I get up from sitting or lying down, the pressure is so uncomfortable and it feels like he could just fall right out. I am not sleeping for more than two hours at a time so at least the sleepless nights that we'll face soon won't be too much of an adjustment. It seems like as soon as I finally get comfortable, I have to get up to use the bathroom. Seriously y'all, I am going to the bathroom about four times a night and during the day it seems like at least every half hour. It gets on my nerves, especially when I am out in public.

Anywho, the podiatrist wrote me out for another four weeks. Praise the Lord!! My foot has been much better but as soon as I'm on it for more than an hour or two, it starts swelling a little and gets sore. My back is definitely getting worse, which the doctor said it would probably do. I'm able to get a few errands and things done around the house each day but I don't make it long before I have to lay down. I am so thankful that I don't have to be on my feet for 10 hours a day anymore. I am still going up to school once or twice a week to check up on things and get papers to grade. The sub working in my room is a Kindergarten assistant at my school and he has filled in for several long-term sub jobs so he knows what he is doing. He is even grading some papers and has been great about contacting parents, which is more than he has to be doing. I am so thankful for that. My grade levels (since I teach both 4th and 5th grade) have been great about giving him lesson plans, which is another huge load off of me. Also very thankful for that!

I went to the OB on Friday. I hadn't been in a month and was so looking forward to the appointment. It ended up being the most disappointing one I've had yet. I saw a doctor I hadn't seen yet and I just wasn't a fan. I felt like for him to have never met me and for me to not have been in a month, he was very vague and the visit was the quickest one I've had. I have a friend whose baby was delivered by him and she said he wasn't her favorite in the office either but was awesome for delivery. I guess that's what will matter if he ends up being the one to deliver Gray. I have already hit my goal weight of 30 pounds-YIKES!! The doctor told me to expect another 10 pounds on top of that. Not thrilled about that at all. The doctors had been telling me I was doing great with my weight and was "right on track" but I've packed on quite a bit the last eight weeks or so. The doctor on Friday didn't bring it up to me, I asked him about it. His response was "well, your definitely ahead of schedule in that department". Haha, that was the one thing he said that I liked. I thought that was a pretty nice way of putting it. And considering he wasn't the one to even bring it up tells me it must not be too big of a deal. I plan on getting on the post-baby work out as soon as I can after Gray is born. I know it won't happen over night, but I am really determined to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I go back next Friday and am looking forward to more regular appointments.

We had our second birthing class last night. We learned all about coping techniques during labor and all of the possible positions for labor. We even got to practice them ;) I am certain Paul will be the most amazing support during labor. He is definitely the more laid back and calm one out of the two of us and he always seems to balance me out in the most perfect way. We also learned a little about epidurals but will learn a lot more about that next week.

My amazing friends threw a wonderful shower over the weekend. The decorations, the food and the gifts were all far more than I could have ever imagined. I am having major issues with Blogger though and am unable to post pictures. Last week when I signed in it told me I needed Google Chrome in order for Blogger to work right. I use my school laptop though and am unable to download Google Chrome. Even though it looked weird and was harder to do, I was still able to post. This week I am able to post but it will not let me upload pictures. This is tragic! We are planning on getting a new laptop sometime soon since I'll have to give mine back to the school system when I resign. But until then, if y'all know anything about this or what I can do, please comment and let me know!

Have a good week y'all!