Girls Weekend 2009

One of the greatest hopes I have for our daughter is that she is able to find good girlfriends. I do not know how I got so lucky to meet some of mine at the age of 11 but they have stuck with me ever since. :)

Last year when we realized we were on a brief hiatus from Bachelorette parties and living all over the country, we decided to institute Girls' Weekend. The first was at Casa del Buerger in Hotlanta and this year we decided to visit the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville. Opryland is definitely one of those places you have to see to believe and equally full of rednecks as it is beautiful gardens...Lauren, Jordana, Lily, Staci, Erin and I had such a blast laughing, EATING, shopping, and laying out. We got a big kick out of how different this year was compared to last year. To put it simply, last year Lauren suggested we skip dinner and head straight to the clubs because we were already so pumped up. I kindly reminded her it was only 7:30...this year we didn't even see the inside of a club! haha

Another fun part to the weekend was that Erin and I finally got to be together in person while both pregnant! She has already been blessed with her baby girl Hadley and is now pregnant with their second and approximately 10 weeks behind me. She has acted as my pregnancy coach throughout my pregnancy and in fact is the one that helped me realize I should probably take my pregnancy test in the first place. I cannot thank her enough for going first so that I can call her or IM her every time I have a question to get support.

Truly, I have some of the greatest friends in the world and know that in 70 years we will still be having girls' night together in our assisted living somewhere. Still fabulous.

P.S. When Jordana finally gets around to posting our group shot I will post it on here. :) Love you JZ!

Week 25

I am way behind on posts this week because I am still sick! After ten days of putting up with this nonsense I finally decided I do not agree it is "just a cold" and went to my primary care physician. Thank goodness because now I have the proper prescription drugs and am starting to feel better. I'm home from work today and trying to get plenty of rest and fluids in an effort to be over this by tomorrow. The doctor took a look in my ear and said it is so swollen it has almost swollen shut, and recommended no plane flights. Awesome, so the two I took on Tuesday were probably not a good idea? I am being treated for bacterial infection because they are unable to do more intense testing while I am pregnant without risk. So hopefully that is what I have and this will be over soon.
On top of my ailments, my darling husband was playing with his new toys in the basement Tuesday night and put a staple through his hand. Luckily our friend Adam was here to take Ben to the ER and wait two hours since clearly in my condition I was not up to it pre-doctor. He is fine now and was given a Darwin award by the Doc who asked to take a picture to show to his friends that always ask about the strange stuff he sees in the ER. We are so proud. :)
Week 25 has definitely been entertaining as you can tell, but the baby girl is doing great considering. Her bedroom is painted a beautiful shade of lavender courtesy of her Daddy and Granddaddy. Unfortunately she does not have any furniture of her own yet and with only 15 weeks until E.D.D. we have high priority to get on top of that! My friend from work had her little boy last Friday and she was almost two weeks early, egads. Although we all know the odds are more in favor of me being 3-4 weeks late and ready to spontaneously combust rather than be able to go in early.
The crazy feeling this week has been how much my life has already changed. I went from being so nervous all the time about pregnancy and wondering what was next to feeling comfortable with the process and so proud of what my body is able to do. Now all I can think about is how fun it will be when she finally gets here. Although I really enjoy my current family with me, Ben, the kitty, and the boys...it's as if I already miss her because we are waiting for her to complete us.

Lessons from my Father

Standing up here today is the second hardest moment of my life. My fear is not that it is the day we say good-bye to my father, but because I may not have the words nor the time to honor him properly.

My Dad was the kind of person you could always depend on to bring you a Coke slushee when you were sick, to bring home at least one arrangement of flowers per trip to the store, and to always tell you “Wow, you look great!” even if you weren’t particularly looking up to par. He was by far the most generous, loving, and doting father a girl could ask for. While it saddens me that I am never going to get another hug or “I love you Bear” from my Dad, I have to admit that what makes me most upset is that he will never get to be a Grandfather.

I do not mean to diminish whom his role as Dad, Teacher, Captain, Son, Father-In-Law, Uncle, Friend, Husband, or Fraternity Brother meant to each of us. Nevertheless, in my opinion the role my father was always born to play was Grandpa. In the past few months this was something that he and I had began to talk about more openly now that it is closer to becoming a reality.

My Dad was so excited to see his girls become adults and eventually parents. While I know I will always wish he is there for birthday parties, first steps, and college football games; I know that in some way this will make these occasions all the more special. As one of my good friends reminded me, every day lessons I learned growing up with my Dad can still be pass down to my children.

Lesson #1: The art of indulgence is in knowing when to say “why not.” If your spouse loves flowers and you find roses on special, why buy just one dozen when you can buy twenty? When your daughter falls in love with Strawberry Shortcake, why not buy the house, the berry-mobile, and all of Strawberry’s friends? After you see how easily your new lawn-edger works, why not keep going down the rest of the street? When you have the ability to give someone their heart’s desire, sometimes you just have to ask yourself why not. As giving to others is truly one of life’s greatest joys.

Lesson #2: Why be a fan when you can be a fanatic? It is easy to be loyal when you are sitting on the winning side, but even when you support the mighty Gamecocks football team and your 2008 forecast for probable wins is less than five, you still fly the Carolina flag and wear garnet and black at least three times a week. When you go to the game and their down thirty, in the fourth quarter, you stay and you cheer because that is your team. You show the same loyalty no matter what team it is you are supporting.

Lesson #3: If your child gets the gimmees, you do not always have to act like the “parent.” When you hear the ice cream truck ringing its bell, grab their hand, and run to the corner with them. When your baby girl tells you, she wants to not only go to an expensive out-of-state school but to the one school you have loved to hate for the past twenty years…not only do you happily oblige her but also join the Parents’ club and secretly hide your “Clemson Dad” tag in the basement. Far from where any of your Gamecock friends can catch you.

Lesson #4: Man’s best friend is not just a dog. Most parents call the exterminator when a pesky rodent is tearing up their flowerbeds. You be the parent that sets a trap loaded with tasty treats for the chipmunk to snack on while waiting for your return. When you do find the little animal, alert the troops, load up the car, and head to the nearby park. Whether it is a chipmunk, squirrel, baby skunk, or even an opossum, love and respect for their well-being is the ultimate sign of a caring heart.

Lesson #5: Superman is not the only one that can stop a train. When they are three and want to be a cowgirl, you have a pony at her birthday, buy her the hottest pink cowboy hat at the rodeo, and film her riding lessons every week so she can see her progress. You let her continue to live this dream until she finds another, because no matter what her dreams are or where they are going to take her, you will be there to support her every step of the way.

Healthy Baby, Unhealthy Mama

Our appointment this morning went well with healthy heartbeat and good measurements. Unfortunately, Mommy has a cold with bad cough and throat that the Doc says I need to drink fluids and ride out. On top of that my weigh in was a good five to seven pounds over where it needs to be. Yikes! I guess I have overcompensated for gaining slowly in the beginning in the last month. My doctor says if I continue to be conscientious of what I eat and start exercising 30 minutes a day I will be okay at my next appointment.
I'm slightly devastated and mad at myself but I know I need to get back into my exercise routine. I am out of habit and have not been out of excuses. Even with all that said I am only planning to walk the dogs tonight since I am feeling badly and can barely breathe. :( But, I have told Ben and now all of you so hopefully this will be the good swift kick I need to get in gear.
At the end of the day, Baby Girl is healthy and right on schedule. Our next appointment is August 11th where we will have ultrasound and the dreaded glucose test. For now I am focused on getting well and ready for my Girls' Weekend 2009! Friday is the one year anniversary of finding Dad and I need to be as healthy and surrounded by love as possible. :)

24 Weeks

Only 112 days to our estimated date of delivery (E.D.D.)! Our next appointment is tomorrow morning where they will give us any updates and just check vitals, so sadly no ultrasound. I have not felt her as much recently so it will make me feel better to have the Doctor check and be able to hear her heartbeat again. I know she is doing well in there because when I do feel her move I can REALLY feel her move! She will probably be a big mover like her Daddy...let's just hope she gets his coordination to boot.
We finally started clearing out some of the boxes and nonsense from the nursery but need a few more days before our basement is finished and ready to take everything back down. We've decided to use the dresser and bookshelves from my childhood room and will pick those up sometime this summer. I think once we have those in there and paint on the walls it is going to start to feel even more real.
Lately I keep thinking and wondering about what she will be like. We already know she will be Daddy's girl because Ben is way cooler than I am so everybody likes him better anyway. :) But I wonder what her hopes and dreams will be. If she will be a beach or mountain lover. What her favorite camp activity will be. It is amazing to think that right now I have an entire person and extra soul inside me that will forever change our lives when we finally meet her. Only 112 more days!

Lesson Learned

Ben and I will both be back to work after the baby girl gets here and have been discussing our childcare options over the past few months. Originally we were both dead set on having an at-home Nanny to give one-on-one time and more flexibility for the two of us. We've been discussing the possibility with our current housekeeper and may end up going that route but after a visit to Primrose Schools yesterday I'm not sure we want Baby G to stay at home. The school is wonderful and came highly recommended from one of our neighbors. It has an entire development plan that includes sign language with infants, spanish as second language, and introduction of laptops and technology starting at three years old! Not to mention the added social benefits of being around other children during the day. My original daycare fears have been put somewhat to rest after visiting locations and talking with friends and family. My cousin Cade has been a great help with advice and told me that while it was difficult at first she absolutely loves her son's daycare.
So why is this not an absolute definite plan yet? Well, the waiting list for the school is a year and a half long! I should have known better because as soon as we found out we were pregnant my friend Lindsay told me I needed to put my name in places even if we did not end up using them. Why didn't I listen? I assumed because we are in a smaller suburb of Atlanta we would not have any issues but apparently even in good ol' Mableton demand is high and supply is low. Not all hope is lost as we are number 99 on the list and some of the people ahead of us have children at a different age need and/or do not even have children yet. On top of that the school has been so successful they are breaking ground on a second location near us in August. Fingers crossed we will be able to enroll in February when we need it, but our back up plan is to enroll her in a good school but not as good down the street and wait until we can get into Primrose. Who knew you had to enroll in a daycare plan before conception?! Lesson learned and we are planning to get her on the waiting list for the desired private school in our area just in case we decide to go that route in the next five years. That list may be ten years long at this point!
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for the daycare to work out and for my pregnancy to continue on such a good path. I've been feeling really good and getting VERY excited for her to finally be here. I will post updated bump pictures this week!

Happy Birthday America!

Great weekend! Lindsay & Joey drove up from New Orleans to spend the weekend with us and we had a blast. It was so good to see them and even more fun to shop, eat, and drink...well, everyone else did that last bit. :)
Lindsay also helped me finally "finish" registering. However, I am quetioning my choice in store as they have still not uploaded the registry to the internet. I think we drove the sales associate slightly batty but we got all the questions answered and most of our needs picked out. I am even more excited to finish up the basement so we can get started piecing the nursery together.
Speaking of the basement, we are allegedly one day away from finish and I'm hoping it looks good enough to call it a day. I'm trying to be patient but the excitement and nesting mode are a bit more than anyone can handle at this point.
We also finished the master bedroom paint. I was calling it the murder scene because it looked like they murdered my trim. That has thankfully been fixed and we are starting to put the room back together. We did one accent wall and I decided to leave the other walls the off-white color they were before but paint in higher matte. It is not bad but we definitely need something slightly more off-than-white. When the room gets pulled back together I will post pictures and you can give us your insight. However, until I get the baby girl's room color picked out I will wait to worry about our room any further.
Today I am in Orlando for work and meet with one of my accounts in themorning. Fingers crossed the meeting goes well and they like the promotions I brought. We have not had the best luck with themover the past six years and it always makes me nervous to meet with them. Wish me luck!

Couldn't Resist

Ben thought he was getting a fancy watch or similar for Father's Day. But considering he got a Porsche, brand new mountain bike, theatre room, surround sounds, new 50" plasma, bar with keg-er-ator and wine cooler...I really thought he would stop being so whiny by now? So instead me and the baby girl bought him her very first dress that is probably his worst nightmare. How fabulous is it?