Lisha's Life, Love, and Marriage

Week 32

2012-01-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

This week I wanted to document what you seem to like. I've already mentioned that you love sweets...fruity candy, chocolate, muffins, cakes, pies, banana bread and ice cream. Yum! I also love salads from restaurants. There is something about having salad made for you that makes it taste better. The other thing is navel oranges. I eat a massive amount of them! I eat at least one a day, but most of the time it's two or three! What I found fascinating was when I mentioned to my mom, she told me that she ate them all the time with me too!

So what does all these craving mean for me? So far a 28 pound weight gain. Not horrible, but not the best. I started at 127 and come in at 155 this week. I guess if it really bothered me, I would exercise more. I am told it will come off when I have you if I am successful at breast feeding. So I'll worry about it when the time comes and enjoy having a reason to be so fat! lol I do plan to stay under 50 pounds, though. We'll see how that works out for me.

So in honor of my cravings, here is my pic for the week.

Love,
Mommy

Week 31

2012-01-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

It has been a relatively uneventful week. The major notable was the skin acne going on. It's everywhere and spreading! It especially itched horribly this week. I lost several nights' sleep. I finally figured out what was making it itch so badly that I couldn't sleep. It was the dry air. I need even more moisturizing lotion. Let me tell you, that is not easy to apply to your back all by yourself! Your daddy is still in Virginia, so I had to make do. Since I want to document everything about this journey, I'm adding a pic of my back where the acne is the worst. I think this symptom of pregnancy is probably the worst for me to deal with. Everything else, I can get used to. But I feel so ugly a lot of the time because the blemishes never go away. I have tried several routines with safe products, but because the hormones are what is causing it, nothing works. Apparently the only solution will be to evict you! But since you're so comfy, I'll let you stay for awhile. ;)

I'm happy to report no stretch marks yet. I kind of think you are pretty little...yay for me! We are getting ready for your baby shower. Dawn got the invitations done. They are so pretty! I'll have to take a picture and post it. I've also started preparing for maternity pics. I've picked out some poses and Brittany will take the professional pics. I'm excited! There is only so much I can do to make my own maternity pics special.

Love,
Mommy

Week 30

2012-01-04T00:15:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

Happy New Year! It's been quite a year already! Daddy came a couple of days after Christmas and got to visit for a week. It was so nice to have him home. We got to relax, put away Christmas decorations, and watch the entire season 6 of Bones. It's one of our favorite shows. :)

We also scheduled a 3D ultrasound to see you a little bit better. You were not cooperative! You burrowed in a corner and stretched your neck so you could hide your face towards my back. We didn't get one pic of your face! We did confirm, once again, that you are indeed a girl. :)
We went back a few days later to try again. We were able to get a few pics of part of your face this time. You are beautiful and so sweet looking! My heart melted. We couldn't decide who you look like. We can't wait until you get here, so we can see you in person! You still love to hide in that same corner, though. You are truly my shrinking violet! We will have to change that when you get here, because your mamma loves to use a camera!

Love,
Mommy

Week 29

2011-12-27T23:49:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

Merry Christmas! This is technically your first Christmas. Your daddy had to work on duty up in Virginia, but really, that was the only downer of the day. It was as close to perfect as you can get. :) We got up and went to church, then we went and visited Granny at the nursing home. After that, we went to Mama's to have Christmas there. That's the first time in several years that I was able to eat there and celebrate. It was a good lunch.
Then we went home to my parents' house. We got to open presents and have a fabulous dinner. Mark made steaks that were sooooo yummy! Not your typical Christmas dinner, but perfect!

Speaking of presents, oh boy! I was incredibly spoiled this year...beyond what I could have ever guessed! I got fabulous amethyst jewelry from Mark and Dawn. It's so pretty and represents you very well. :) They also got you an amethyst crystal rock for your room. Then my parents got me a miche bag with two shells. They are big enough I can tote all of my stuff and yours too! They also really surprised me with Rachael Ray cookware. My previous pot set was warped and the lids wouldn't fit. I planned on buying a new set in the new year, but mom and dad shocked me! I've already cooked with it and these pots are fabulous! Maybe it's enough to make me get in the kitchen more...one can hope, right? Daddy got a roku for Christmas. That's a fun, new electronic! It makes any tv in our house an internet tv. Awesome. We have truly been blessed this year. We are all so very spoiled!

Love,
Mommy

Week 28

2011-12-24T03:07:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

This is the week of glucose! I went on Tuesday for my one hour. Because they didn't tell me not to eat, I ate breakfast before I went. I truly think that's why I failed...by TWO points. Ugh. After I drank the glucose, I wanted to go to sleep (which isn't allowed). I was pretty uncomfortable and a magazine was just making me sleepier.
The three hour test was a much more pleasant experience, if you can imagine! I think I was more prepared in knowing what to expect. I couldn't eat for twelve hours before the test. That was challenging, because I couldn't fall asleep until 2am and I was hungry! But I did not want to fail this test, so I was good and drank water instead. That was a mistake! I was awakened probably every hour by my wonderful bladder! I love the people who work in the lab at the clinic. They are such friendly people. This time around it was all guys. They told me they didn't know if they could drink those glucose drinks. I told them they really aren't bad...as long as you don't drink them on a full stomach!
My strategy for staying awake this time was my ipod. I loaded some tv shows onto it the night before and the time flew by. I also crocheted your nursery blanket for the first two hours. I had to quit the third hour, because the carpal tunnel was giving me fits! It will be a beautiful blanket, though. I bought enough yarn to do 3 blankets, but it looks like I am only going to manage one. I would have started on them earlier in my pregnancy if I had known swelling would be such a problem. But after I have you, and while you sleep, maybe I can get the others done.
In total, I got stuck 4 times. Only one of them didn't hurt. I think the swelling may make the blood draws hurt a little more than usual. I hope I passed. I might not know until next week because people are on Christmas stand down now. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Love,
Mommy

Week 27

2011-12-17T02:50:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

The pregnancy symptoms have escalated this week. It looks like my third trimester is sure to be a doozy! My breakouts are in full force across my face, chest, shoulders and down my back. That is a lot of acne for a girl who has only ever had one or two zits at a time! On the days I wear make up, I tend to feel better about myself. But mostly I am just biding my time until your arrival. Usually they don't hurt, so that's positive! :)

The other thing is swelling. You'd think every cell in my body decided to drink a gallon of water each! I wish I could just prick myself with a pin and let it all out. Check out my ankles in the pic below! :S I am drinking quite a bit of water to counter it and exercise is a goal. My shoe selection is becoming quite limited these days. I have had to give up wearing my wedding rings. I don't want them to get stuck! Even my faux rings are too small. When your daddy gets home, we'll go shopping for a bigger faux ring. I hate being ringless! I also may have to give up my watch soon. Sigh.

The swelling has created another problem. I now have carpal tunnel in my right hand. The tips of my fingers are numb almost constantly and gripping things is getting harder. I feel like an old woman! I hope the next couple of months fly by. I would like for you to come out beautiful, smart and healthy. But I would also like you to restore my healthy self to it's previous condition! :)

So far, I have gained about 19 pounds with you. I gained the first 16 quite rapidly in early November, but have finally slowed down to around a pound a week. I'm cool with that as long as it doesn't get up to 50 or something! I waddle, waddle, waddle...especially when I'm tired. Most of the waddling comes from a catch in my lower back/hip area. If I over-do it, I can barely weight bear when standing. This is mostly only a problem late at night or early in the morning. My body has to warm up to movement. lol I guess because I have always been blessed to have a healthy body, every little pain intrigues me. I notice! I suffer for you, my dear. :)

Love,
Mommy

Week 26

2011-12-10T02:30:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

This week I felt you kick on the outside for the first time! You kicked so hard, you kept bumping my laptop. :) It was pretty amusing. So far, you like to be up from midnight to 3am ish. You move around the most during that time. It's cool, because I love to stay up at night as long as you let me sleep most of the morning. ;)

I've been working on your crib this week. I got it all sanded and primed now. I hope to paint it soon. Sanding a crib is a major pain in the butt! It had a really thick lacquer on it, so it had to be sanded before priming. I liked doing the primer, though. It was good practice at not letting the paint drip among the slats. I hope it comes out beautifully, because I have put a lot of hard work and love into it. :)

I didn't want to ruin my good maternity clothes with paint, so I squeezed into my pajamas to do this project. Because I looked like this most of the week, this is the pic you get. I'm totally bumming it! ;)

It's a good thing I wore the pj's. A piece of the crib I was priming slipped out of my hand and landed in the small plastic paint tray. Paint splashed everywhere! Including on poor Melbourne who was sitting beside me. It was a miracle it missed my glasses, but it got Melbourne all over his face. I wish I had time to get a pic, but I wanted to wipe off as much of it as I could before it dried in his fur. He has a small spot or two that didn't quite make it unscathed, but overall he cleaned up well. I'll bet he won't want to sit beside me the next time I go to paint!
It's been an exciting week. I hope you will kick hard enough to feel from the outside again when your daddy gets home from Virginia. I can't wait to share with him!

Love,
Mommy

Week 25

2011-11-29T23:44:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

You are already spoiled! :) Your closet is starting to rival mine and that's no small feat! We've bought all the cute things we run across and Dawn just loves to buy things for you! My dad has even bought some dresses for you. I took some pics to document the evolution of your closet!

I fell in love with this blanket. It's purple and has ruffled flowers! Oh my! You also have a pretty green blanket Dawn bought to match your nursery.

You have quite the collection of shoes growing thanks to Miss Dawn! :) Greg got the penguin shoe/socks. Tis the season for penguins and we pick up everything we find. He loves penguins! I bought the black and pink tutu as soon as I found out you were a girl!

The white suit on the end is a Ed Hardy snow suit that Dawn insisted on buying you for next year. The family is going on a trip to TN next winter and since you won't let me this year, I want to go skiing next! So you will be quite toasty!

It's still growing!

I couldn't pass up the middle picture frame from Hobby Lobby for half off! Your picture will look fabulous in it...most likely a black and white pic. :) The pink piggy bank is from Grandma and Grandpa McDonnell for Christmas. The cute little animal is from them too. It's so soft! Dawn got you the Lucia Trumpet Ribbon socks. They are quite beautiful. She also got you the cutest sunglasses! (they're in the black and white bin) You have a few headbands too. I ordered the puppy and monkey hats from a college friend before I even found out what you were. You will look adorable in them! I also have a stack of cloth diapers as well as a few packages of disposables. So you have a great start!

Christmas also came early for you! This is what Dawn ordered for you, you lucky girl...or is it lucky Mommy? :D Either way, we'll both be quite stylish with this pink circle Coach diaper bag! Dawn spoils us both!

Week 24

2011-11-25T23:28:00.001-05:00

Dear Baby,

We had a great time visiting the McDonnell side of the family. We went to Golden Coral instead of cooking and it was so much less work and yummy! I have been eating and eating everything in sight it seems! You make me quite hungry. I went to Steak and Shake while I was in GA and it was amazing! So amazing, that I made your poor daddy go with me several times. He's a trooper! I made sure to get my fill and am crossing my fingers that I won't crave it again.

We also went shopping. I love Hobby Lobby so much! We bought a picture frame for your room and some yarn. It just occurred to me that I needed to start working on a blanket for my baby girl. I researched some patterns and found the perfect, unique one for my little miss priss! :) Greg liked a different one, so I'm going to attempt two!

We did Christmas with Sean and Rhiannon. It was so much fun to see their faces light up! I can't wait until next year when we have your first Christmas! Although, you are doing quite well this Christmas for yourself! That's another post.

Greg had to leave and go to VA for a little while this week. :( But I got to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. It was quite lovely. I had a great time having lunch with my parents, brother and SIL. We laughed and it was so relaxing. Then we hit the roads to visit grandparents. Though I love seeing all the family, I discovered that sometimes holidays are nice just chilling at home with a good dinner. :) I was supposed to go shopping all night with Dawn, but I wasn't sure I'd make it that long. Instead, I let my family go at midnight and I shopped online! I put in several orders with free shipping. I ended up getting everything I wanted and more without having to deal with crowds. Sweet! I did go out around 5am and met up with Mark and Dawn. We went to Lowes and Home Depot because you cannot use your 10% military discount online without calling customer service. That involves phones and I hate using phones! lol

Overall, it was a great week! I am sad that Greg can't be here, but I enjoyed all the time he got to spend with me the past SEVEN months that I don't feel too down yet. He may get to visit sometime after Christmas. But don't worry, Miss M, he'll be home when you arrive! :D

Love,
Mommy

Week 23

2011-11-15T21:50:00.000-05:00

Dear Baby,

This week we put up our Christmas tree. We decided on a peacock theme this year. It was going to be more of a multicolor tree, but we ran across the blue green theme at Michael's and decided to go for it. It turned out beautifully! This is the first year since we've been married that we have used a green tree. We always prefer the white one. The green one is a new one that we bought last year. It's huge! It's 5 ft around the bottom and 7ft tall! I love how it turned out. We had so much fun putting it up together. Your daddy has a great sense of style and it helps that we agree on almost everything! ;)

We are getting ready to go celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa McDonnell. Lots of packing and present wrapping going on this week. Here are the decorating pictures for this year. The last one is my week 23 pic.

What we started with.

Putting on the lights

The mess to choose from!

Handsome Hubby!

Putting on more lights!

Ta Da! All the lights are on! Montgomery is so proud! :)

Adding ornaments.

The Boys are inspecting the ornaments.

Melbourne looks scared!

Greg puts the ornaments on top.


All pretty!

Informal Family Pic

My table! I love tablescapes!

The boys will have stockings too, but theirs get filled! ;)

Mommy, Baby M, and Daddy's stockings.

Montgomery!

Melbourne!

My sweet boys!

Our finished tree topper.

Love,
Mommy

Week 21

2011-11-03T01:37:00.002-04:00

Dear Baby,

This week has been mostly about finding you a name. I'm not really sure what you will be called. We were going to name you Greyson Blake if you were a boy. It's kind of ironic that we settled on a boy's name, but I wanted a girl so badly. Unfortunately, I love love love surnames (last names) for first names. Most of these only work for boy's names. There are a couple that would work for girl's names like Harlow or Kensington. I'm still searching and compiling my list before mulling over them. Maybe I'll even do a Facebook poll when I narrow the list down a bit. I like to hear other people's opinions on the names I really like. It provides a first impression from a variety of perspectives. But ultimately it will be your daddy and I's decision and everyone will just have to get used to it. :)

I am really starting to feel you moving around in there this week. Before I thought I felt it, but wasn't sure. Now you make sure I know it's you. :) It's strange and hard to describe. I'm hoping that you will be strong enough for your daddy to feel you kick before he has to go to Virginia. Then he won't really miss all that much while he's gone. I'm trying to hold out a couple more weeks so that I'm really showing before we take our Christmas picture. I want you to be a part of our annual newsletter/picture. I usually like to have them ordered by now, but I imagine people might get them late this year. It takes me awhile to address them all!

I'm still so excited that you are a girl. I look at shops online every day! I'm trying to perfect your baby registry. I love Amazon. I can add anything from anywhere, so I don't have doubles. I will still have to go to a brick store and register for people who don't like buying things online. But I can shop for the best prices on the exact things I want using Amazon. Love it! And because I keep forgetting (that's a huge preggo symptom!) to email a link to the people who've asked, I'll put the link on here. McDonnell Amazon Baby Registry

Love,
Mommy

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T01:38:00.000-04:00

Love,
Miss Piggy!

Week 20

2011-10-28T01:19:00.000-04:00

Dear Baby,

You are a girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can't believe just how excited I am to find out! You are also stubborn like your mamma. We got a few pictures of you, but none that showed that you are a girl. We did get to see it on screen, though. When the technician told us, I smiled and looked at your daddy. He said that he knew you were a girl, he was just waiting for confirmation. He was happy you are healthy and I was ecstatic that you are a girl. Now I can shop to my heart's content! The first thing that I bought you after I knew for sure, was a hot pink and black tutu. It will look so cute on you at your first photo shoot. I plan on having lots of pictures taken of you. With all of my breakouts on my skin, I'm sure you will be supremely beautiful since you stole it all from me! lol ;)

We found out you were a girl on Oct 24th in the afternoon. We went to get an "It's a Girl" balloon to take home. After we stopped by the nursing home to tell an anxious Granny, we headed towards home. Granny was soooo excited by the way. When we got to my mom's house, we tied the balloon to Pixie's collar and let her in the house. It was so cute! I have a pic that I'll have to get off your daddy's phone. Here is a photo of you and I at 20 weeks and a couple of days.

I need to scan your ultrasound pics onto the computer. After I do that, I will try to update this post. I wanted to go ahead and post this, because I don't want to forget anything. This ultrasound was so cool because I got to see you move around for the first time! My last ultrasound was at 6 weeks, so you didn't really look very much like a baby. You moved your little hands around and you hold your arms in a position above your head much like your mommy does when she's sleeping! You had your legs crossed Indian style for most of our visit. The technician poked and prodded trying to get you to move around. You mostly kicked at her. It was amazing to see you!

Here is the pic of Pixie.

Love,
Mommy

Week 19

2011-10-21T01:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Baby,

This week has gone by super slow! We will find out what you are on Monday. I am so nervous. Boy or Girl? I dream all night 50/50! I finally got around to taking a picture of you growing away in there. Here is your mama at 19 1/2 weeks.

Sometimes you can see my bump really well, and sometimes I look like I ate too much. :) We have also been occupying our time by playing with our new stroller. Your daddy decided to spoil me and we decided to get the best for you. We got a Britax B Ready in silver. It was on sale and we got the bassinet attachment free. We will also be able to use it as a double stroller when you eventually have a brother or sister...far down the road! :) We put the stroller together and I put a towel in the bassinet. We took pics of Jules and Pixie in the bassinet. They were so cute!

The stroller has been a good distraction. We can't wait until we find out what you are!

Love,
Mommy

Landrum Family Pics

2011-10-11T18:39:00.000-04:00

My Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chris were in town, so we all took family pics with Granny. These turned out really nice!

Week 18

2011-10-11T18:24:00.000-04:00

Dear Baby,

I'm still feeling really good. I'm so anxious to know what you are! I have been behaving myself, though. I'm trying to save money, so I haven't taken advantage of the 3D/4D ultrasounds which would tell me by 16 weeks. Instead, I am trying to wait patiently for the next two weeks. After we find out, I will have a green light to SHOP! :) I haven't felt you move yet, but I definitely feel some stretching.

Last weekend, your daddy and I got to go out on a nice date! I have been wanting a banana split for quite awhile. We got to go to Ye Ole Fashioned and I got this all to myself...

It was soooo yummy! And here was my handsome date!

After this, we went to see a funny movie. And then we went to Moe's. I love the new coke machines. I don't actually eat at Moe's, but I'm addicted to the new coke machines. They have all the standard Coke choices, but then they have choices between raspberry, cherry, lemon...ect. I love strawberry lemonade mixed with strawberry sprite. I guess in the last few weeks, I have had a pseudo love affair with food. Everything I eat, seems to be the best ever! I also have become addicted to Little Caesar's italian cheese bread. Yum! As a result of all this goodness, I have gained my first two pounds this week. Yikes! :)

We also went to the corn maze with a bunch of family members. It was fun! We weren't able to get many pics, because we went so late. One day, we'll take you!

Love,
Mommy

Week 15

2011-09-22T00:36:00.000-04:00

Dear Baby,

It's been a fabulous week! Your daddy and I went on a wonderful weekend getaway with Mark and Dawn to Myrtle Beach. We stayed in a hotel room that faced the ocean. I love listening to the waves crash on the beach. It's such a wonderful way to fall asleep. I cannot describe how much we all gorged ourselves! We had a breakfast buffet each morning that was included in our hotel package. Then we had an amazing steak dinner at Logan's. After that we had a dinner at the Pirate's Voyage show. After that I had to stop for hot Krispy Kremes. And that was just on Saturday! 8D Before we left, we went shopping and ate at Steak and Shake. I so wish there was one closer. I love their burgers and fries. Yum! Just another craving for a food that I don't have regular access to. :( I'm looking forward to going to Grandpa and Grandma's for thanksgiving. I will be making a visit to Steak and Shake again!

Since Myrtle Beach is technically your first trip, I'll share what we did. ;) We went to the Ripley's Aquarium. It was really cool to stand on the moving walkway and watch the sharks swim overhead. Ripley's really impressed us with their military discount. We got in for $5.50 instead of the usual $21!!! With our savings, we were able to get you two stuffed animals...a penguin and a dolphin. Both are so cute! We also went to a moving theater. It's wasn't really that great. They showed two short clips, but the moving chairs were pretty jarring. It was cheesy. After that, we went to Wonderworks. We've been before, but it was fun to go with Mark and Dawn. By the end of that visit, I was tired! My energy has still not made a complete comeback. It was time to go to the Pirate's Voyage show. This is Dolly Parton's new show. It was amazing! I HIGHLY recommend it! We had a great time!

I will add the pics later since I have to get them off my phone. I just wanted to blog while I was in the mood. ;)
Here's our room...

We went to Wonder Works. At the end, they had a series of catwalks overhead. Mark and Greg wanted to try them. Greg did pretty well for being scared of heights. He made it all the way up and across a beam. I was proud of him! :)

This was taken at the Pirates Voyage show. I love my very own pirate! :)

The sky wheel.

Up, up, up!

All the little people!

Love,
Mommy

Week 13

2011-09-10T00:16:00.000-04:00

Dear Baby,

This has been a great week. I'm starting to feel better and not feel nauseous. One notable difference this week is that I think an oil factory has exploded on my face!!! It is worse than all of my teen years put together! Zits everywhere and lots of photoshop on my pics. Bless your daddy, though. He's so sweet and logical. I was complaining about my face and he told me that not everyone can be a goddess all the time. :) I have to put up with being a less than glowing preggo, but I have been blessed with a wonderful complexion the majority of my life. I'm sure you will be worth it. But I do hope and pray it will go away after you arrive.

I did get a call from the doc after the blood tests I took. Apparently, I am a cystic fibrosis carrier. It was quite a surprise to me. The only way it will affect you is if your daddy was also one. He took a test and he was negative. So in the worst case scenario, you would be a carrier like me. I will take the quad screening in two weeks. I can't wait to find out what gender you are! We have an appointment when I am 20 weeks. I'm already counting down!

I am so excited to be able to eat anything and as much as I want this week. It's amazing! I did take a pic of my thirteenth week. I haven't gained any weight. So it's not much of a bump. I did try to stand as straight as I could! :)

Love,
Mommy

Week 12

2011-08-29T20:41:00.000-04:00

Dear Monkey,

I'll be honest with you. Pregnancy sucks the big one! I quite dislike it. All this loosening up of my insides has not been pleasant. I'm constantly hungry now, but can only eat what really appeals to me at the moment. And thirst has been a big one too. I don't really like most soda now. I drink lots of water, but after awhile, it becomes boring. I tried adding my usual sweet n low or crystal light, but both make me even thirstier. Gatorade is good, but I hear that it may give me heartburn as you get bigger. Sigh. I'm just not used to having to deal with all this! I am very grateful for my constant good health as I grew up and so far through adulthood. Having all these preggo symptoms really make me appreciate the health bestowed on me. :) The other symptom seems to be sleep. I could literally sleep 20 hours a day if I don't have something planned! Must be part of the incubating process, I guess. So right now, you are somewhat a pain, but I am told that all will be worth it when I have you. Just don't expect a brother or sister. Right now, I couldn't imagine doing this stuff again! lol I am going to try to start taking maternity pics this week. Hopefully I can manage to do one a week. I still haven't gained any weight with you yet...which is good. I need to start exercising more than I do. You will find that I lack a lot of self discipline, but I'll try to give it a go. Behave and go easy on my symptoms....PLEASE!

Love,
Mommy

Week 10

2011-08-17T23:08:00.003-04:00

Dear Monkey,

We are on week 10 right now. It has been a busy week! We are finishing painting your room and my brother is going to help us put in the baseboards tomorrow. I finished painting them tonight while your daddy finished the trim. We had a bit of a disaster with the color. We started on Saturday and painted the whole room. I wasn't very excited about the green color when it was in the can, but I wanted to give it a chance and maybe I'd like it when it dried. Then we moved on to the charcoal. I LOVED it! I loved it so much that I wanted to just paint over the green with it. But both sets of grandparents would surely have had a fit that I would consider putting a baby in a all black room! lol The abysmal color choice was confirmed when Mark and Dawn said it looked like bad pea soup upon seeing it for the first time.

So Dawn was so helpful. She took me to Home Depot and we found a complimentary green that was much lighter. It didn't quite match the baby bedding that we bought, but it went together very nicely! When we painted over the awful pea green, it went on beautifully and we were so much happier with the room. The new green also goes with the charcoal focal wall. I'm so excited to get it finished! We bought your crib a couple of weeks ago for $50. I didn't want to spend a lot because I'm going to paint it a dreamy silver color. I like the basic shape of this crib and it was one of a very precious few that I liked. I also got my glider the same day. Your daddy sure does spoil me rotten! We found the perfect Dutailier reclining glider in cream and a dark wood for $300. It will match the nursery fantastically. It came with the glider. The same one we were looking at in the store would have been close to $800! Score!

I am busy getting the house in order. Grandpa Mike and Grandma Anita are coming to visit for Daddy's birthday this Saturday. We are going to have a lot of fun. We plan to go on a harbor cruise and go jet skiing. Daddy wanted them to see the nursery colors, so that's why we decided to take on painting this week. It's going to be crazy here for the next two days.

I also went to the doctor today. I had to get my blood drawn. The took SIX vials of blood. This was only my third time being stuck since I was a teenager! I'm starting to get used to it, but I still can't look. I'm such a weeny when it comes to pain. The nausea I had weeks 6-9 was awful, but I didn't actually puke...so I'm grateful! The vitamins, I will confess, have been hit or miss. My mental block is overwhelming. I constantly have to read how good vitamins are for you to be able to get them down. I've tried everything but liquids. Ick! I don't like taking pills unless I feel like I'm going to die. The other symptom of pregnancy I've had has been sleeping. I'm so tired all the time. I sleep in during the day quite often. I am learning to eat something every two hours or so. If I don't, I have discovered my energy lags and I don't have enough energy to even nuke something. I have been downing lots of water...LOTS! Soda pretty much turns my stomach now, so it's a struggle to find something different to drink. One thing you will learn about your mommy, is that I like options!

I will try to get pics of your room as soon as we get the baseboards installed. Your crib won't be done for a little while longer. I have to sand it first, but at least I bought the paint.

This is our nursery bedding.

First Color- baby puke green

New color-a meadowy green and charcoal gray

Love,
Mommy

Week 7

2011-07-26T23:05:00.001-04:00

Dear Monkey,

Your mom has officially taken a chill pill. I'm very excited to have you invade my body and thrive! lol Daddy and I went to the doctor to have an ultrasound to see you at 5 weeks. You were just a blob. The technician assured me that she thought things were going well. They scheduled another ultrasound for the 6th week. We loved going to that appointment. We got to hear your heart beat! It was good and strong. The technician gave us our first picture of you. You definitely look more like a baby now!

Right now I'm 7 weeks and 3 days. Since we found out we were having you at week 3, we are going to have a very long wait until you arrive. Everyone in the family seems pretty excited. I'm a little nauseous this past week and oh so hot! I'm definitely not used to feeling icky longer than a day. We have been really busy researching things for you and your nursery. I've created an Amazon baby list, and I'm slowly adding things as I run across them online. There are lots of mommy bloggers with lists of essentials. I just have to wade through it all. I really don't know if I have ever had to make so many decisions before! It's overwhelming! Wow!

We are planning on announcing your existence to everyone the end of this week or next. We are going to mail an announcement to the senior citizens with your picture. Then we'll put it on the blog and then facebook at some point. We are excited!

Love,
Mommy

Week 4

2011-07-04T23:03:00.001-04:00

Dear Baby,

We are getting excited. This weekend is crawling by. I can't wait until Tuesday when we can make the appointment to see the OB about you. We have questions, as you could imagine. We've told Mama and Granny now. Both of them are excited. Grandpa Mike and Grandma Anita still don't know yet. We picked out some cute books to send them. I'm sure when they open the package, they'll be surprised and call us. The books are "All my Bad Habits, I learned from Grandpa" and "All my Good Habits, I learned from Grandma". I think it'll be cute. I also ordered "The Grandparent's Guide to Choosing a Name that Fits" for my parents. I'm sure by the time you get here, they'll know what they want to be called.
Your Daddy is so excited about you. He's going to be such a great Daddy! You will learn to go to him when you need a patient ear. He's amazing, really! He wants to be at as many appointments as we can manage. He doesn't really care if you are a boy or a girl, he wants a healthy baby.
I spent the morning trying to think up a nickname for you. I don't want you to get a complex with a name that may have a bad connotation, so I'm trying to think of something cute and gender neutral. I've stopped my cycle, so I am a little less worried each day. I am growing more and more excited, too. :) That's the update for now.

Love,
Mommy

Sean's Videos

2011-07-02T06:37:00.000-04:00

Week 3

2011-07-01T23:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Baby,

Wow have you surprised us! We just found out we are having you today. I feel excited and giddy, a little confused, and a whole lot of scared!
Yesterday, I went to the doctor to check and see if I had a UTI. My back hurt a bit and since a holiday was coming up this weekend, I didn't want to take a chance and suffer. Well, the UTI was negative and the HGC was inconclusive. They called and wanted me to come back today for a blood test.
So Daddy and I got up and got ready for work today. I took the stick test. There were two pink lines! The second line was pretty faint, but it was there! I was shocked and then I jumped up and down saying OMG! Since Daddy left before I did, I called him right away. I think we both feel like it is rather surreal right now. After I finished work, I went to take the blood test. It was positive as well!
I am still reserved in my thinking about you. Because I'm at the end of a cycle week (I think), I'm not sure how I could be pregnant with you. I really think I could have been pregnant with you and miscarried, thus the blood. I don't know. Only time will tell, I think. Until I'm sure what's going on, I'm trying not to get too excited.
We have gotten a bit excited, though. After Daddy got home from work, we went to get some lunch. We went to the coach store at Tanger and Daddy bought me a congratulatory Coach purse!!!! You will learn that Daddy is great at spoiling! :) After that, we went to Books A Million and bought some baby books. We especially wanted to go through the names book. If you are a boy, we know we would like some form of Greyson. If you are a girl, we think maybe Kenzie, but we're still looking.
So hurry up, Baby, and tell me if you are still there. Then I can stop worrying and start being excited!

Love,
Mommy

We are having a BABY!!!!

2011-07-01T22:56:00.001-04:00