Camille's Surprise Shower

A couple of weeks ago (March 15th to be exact), Brooke, Sarah L., and I threw Camille a surprise baby shower. Everything was wonderful. Camille was definitely pleasantly surprised - thank you Adam (Camille's hubby) for keeping the shower a secret for us and helping us pull off the surprise for her. I am so glad we were able to honor Camille and the upcoming birth of her son.

If you know me, you know I love planning parties. I loved planning this shower with Brooke and Sarah. These girls are incredibly creative and I was blown away by all of their amazing ideas for games and decorations. The party was held at Sarah's house and of course it looked great (thank you Sarah). I felt like the party went by too quickly and by the time it was over and we had cleaned up, Brooke and I were ready to do it all over again.

Of course I took quite a few pictures of the shower for my own iphoto library, but those aren't the pictures to see. THESE are the pictures to see, courtesy of my dear friend Brooke, master photographer/party planner extraordinare.

Kick Kick!

Yesterday marked a very monumental day in my pregnancy. Josh was able to feel our baby kicking! For the past couple of weeks I have been feeling him in there but we haven't been able to feel him kick from the outside.

I was sitting at work when all of a sudden a felt a little something strange near my belly button. When I put my hand on my belly, he kicked again. I can't even fully describe the feelings that I felt at that moment, other than to say it was amazing. I continue to be in awe of how the Lord is knitting him together inside of me and making him stronger day by day to kick hard enough for Josh and me to feel him. I was so excited to get home from work to share this with Josh. To see Josh's face light up when he felt him kicking, was also a priceless moment of my pregnancy.

As of this morning, Josh said the baby is kicking in morse code of things the baby wants to eat.
....
g-
i-
v-
e-
-

m-
e-
-

w-
i-
n-
g-
s-
!-
-

Very interesting, huh? Crazy how our baby already knows morse code. I know our son will have a very special connection with his father, I just didn't think it was going to be this specific so soon.

3x the Nola

Josh and I had a great weekend in Ohio with our family. I had really been missing my family and Josh could tell I was homesick. I appreciate him recognizing that and making the time for us to travel down there for the weekend. This time of year for school is pretty crazy with only a month left and boards studies on top of his regular school work. Thank you Josh for coming with me and for doing most of the driving!

Weekends home are usually a little hectic as we try to pack a lot in in only a couple days but it's always worth it. We ordered our crib and a dresser for the baby! It's going to be about 4-6 weeks until we get it in. I can't wait!

On Saturday afternoon we drove up to Columbus to have dinner with family at my aunt's house. We even had an early surprise celebration for my mother's birthday. Thanks Aunt Paula for a wonderful dinner and getting everything together for my mother's birthday surprise.

Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures this past weekend. The pictures I did take (like of my mother's bithday celebration) didn't turn out so well. But the pictures that did turn out were of course of Nola! 

  

 

This last picture is my favorite. I know I am completely biased, but she is the cutest dog.

Happy Spring!

SPRING IS HERE!  And in true Erie fashion, because Erie weather did not want to disappoint its residents with a change in weather so quickly, I woke up to find it had snowed! Praise the Lord it didn't snow very much, but I will remember the morning of spring 2009 waking up to snow. Actually, the snow has already melted, the sun is shining, and even though the temperatures aren't quite spring-like, it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day.

And it's FRIDAY! And this Friday I'm only working a half day so Josh and I can hit the road this afternoon and spend our weekend in Dayton, OH with my family. I'm so excited to go home this weekend! I'm trying to think when the last time I was home and I think it was at Christmas. So a weekend home is definitely needed. It's going to be a pretty full weekend of trying to get some baby things done with my mother and Saturday we'll be in Columbus all day, so even though it will be a busy weekend it will be great being with family and getting to see NOLA!

23 Week Belly

With help and much wisdom from my friend Camille, she has helped me realize that I am actually in my 23rd week of pregnancy rather than my 22nd week. Even though my pregnancy ticker above is reading 22 weeks, my What To Expect emails are counting this as my 23 week. I'm not gonna arue it but I am going to ask Camille tonight while we're swimming tonight to explain it to me AGAIN. Sorry Camille.

I am excited to be in my 23rd week. But since I am no where near ready for our little guy to get here, I got a little nervous about jumping a week ahead. I know it's only March and he won't be here until July, but I just know July will be here before I know it! And we have so much to do!

Here is the picture many of you have been waiting for (Brittany). Also worth mentioning, you can't tell in this picture but I'm actually wearing maternity leggings. When leggings came back a couple of years ago I swore I would never wear them again. I had my fun of wearing them when I was younger and didn't think leggings ever belonged on me again. As you can see (kind of) I was wrong and I actually really like my leggings. Especially this time of year up here in Erie as the weather isn't quite warm enough to not wear anything. We had a really nice weekend of the weather being in the mid-50s, so the leggings were perfect! And I'm not quite ready to wear a dress without leggings or tights. I don't know if this is still true but my mother told me that I had to wear tights (or knee socks, yes I wore knee in high school it was actually the cool thing to wear with our uniform on Thursdays which were chapel day) and I couldn't wear open toed shoes until after Easter. Not quite sure where that rule came from but that was the rule in our house growing up and for some reason it has stuck.

Questions for my sisiter: Brittany do you think I should cut my hair? Josh of course likes it long but I'm torn. I have been able to pull it up in a pony tail and I love that but I like the short bob look. What do you think Britt? Or anyone else out there who would like to comment.

Quick Weekend Re-cap

This has been a full weekend. Even though I prefer my weekends to be restful and productive with housework and reading, I would totally do this weekend over again. On Saturday morning, I met Camille at the WC for a swim. I don't usually swim for my workouts but since we're both pregnant I thought something low-key would be nice. We didn't do anything too strenuous but we had a great work-out! We found webbed gloves to give us a bit more resistance in the water, and after a couple minutes we found ourselves out of breath and almost sweating (and yes, you can sweat while you're swimming). I think the hardest thing we did was trying to tread water and carry on our conversation. Not easy folks. Even though my calve muscles are extremely sore today I can't wait for us to go back for our next work-out.

The rest of the day was spent with Josh running errands which included a little baby furniture shopping. I love weekends where Josh doesn't have a Monday exam, and I actually get to spend a lot of time with him. After our errands we went to church and then home to watch Australia. I really enjoyed the movie and was in tears by the end of it. I think it really tugged at my heart because I am preparing to be a mother. Josh thought the movie was just so so, but I was really able to connect with the characters and maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much. It definitely gets my recommendation.

And Sunday is the day I would love to do again. Today my friend Brooke, Sarah, and myself threw Camille a surprise baby shower! Camille had no idea and was so suprised! Getting to see her face when we all said "surprise!" was priceless. Brooke and I were both crying as she was realizing this was all for her. When I upload my pictures from the party I'll have to tell you more about how we schemed to surprise her and made her think her shower was on March 28th at HER house.

And lastly, I am starting my 22 week of pregnancy! I am feeling pretty good. Aside from feeling a bit run down from being on my feet all weekend and some indigestion (probably from all the yummy food from the shower today), I am doing good. Our little man has been kicking away, not strong enough for Josh to be able to feel him kicking on the outside but strong enough to keep me from falling asleep at night. I love it! Belly pic to come this week, I promise!

Self-Realization

Growing up is hard. Having to make mature adult decisions can be really tough sometimes. Realizing that you have certain qualities about yourself that you aren't too proud of can also be very unpleasant. Accepting this truth is brutal. I have recently realized a few things about myself that I am not okay with. The first step is realizing the issue and the second step is dealing with it. Just being honest here, there is a trace of hesitancy in me saying it would be easy not to face what I have recently realized. But of course I know that is not the path I should take.


Can I also say all of these crazy pregnancy hormones aren't making things any easier?


Not quite sure why the Lord has now decided to show me these things in my life, but I trust Him to help me deal with it. Josh is very proud of me for realizing this about myself. Let's just say if he would have told me, it wouldn't have gone over so well. I don't have any answers yet but I know the Lord is working on my heart.


Oh to be a grown up. Not so fun sometimes.

Slight Change of Plans

Saturday Plans:

- 9:30AM meet Camille at the WC for a nice swimming work-out
- finish registry at Baby's R Us
- register at Target
- hit up a few furniture stores in search for a crib
- make dinner for hard working husband
- make lasagna for Sunday's dinner

*HALT*
...we have a slight change of plans people...

These were my plans for today before I woke up to find my poor husband was very sick. At first I thought he just had a low blood sugar due to his disorientation and slurred speech. I checked his blood sugar and sure enough he was low so I got him some OJ. But when he was complaining about his head hurting and he didn't keep the OJ down, I knew it was more than just a low.

When Josh gets sick I kind of get into this nervous, worried, stand at alert at all times mode. I think this is because I worry about his diabetes and his blood sugars getting out of wack. Praise the Lord I have his mother and my father to call in situations like these. They help me to remain calm and give me clear instructions in how to care for Josh. I have no formal training in these situations and usually Josh has been my go-to guy for medical advice. It's tough to ask him what I should do when he's in a lot of pain and not completing sentences.

I wasn't quite sure what was wrong with Josh today but we think it was a migraine. He is prone to getting migraines (this is the third one I've experience being married to him), but he also had a fever today making me think he was getting the nasty flu bug that I've been hearing about. Thanks to a some pain meds, anti-nausea medicine, and lots of TLC, Josh came around at about 5:30pm. Praise the Lord he is beginning to feel better. Now my prayers are directed towards his preparations for his exam on Monday.

******

On a brighter note, today is Josh's father's birthday! Even though we didn't get to see him today, we were able to celebrate his birthday here in Erie a couple weekends ago. We went to a great dinner at Pufferbelly and home for chocolate cake I made and ice cream. I'd like to consider myself a modest person but I must say the cake was pretty darn good. You just can't go wrong with a double layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

Thank you so much dad for the many ways you keep blessing and loving us! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and hope you had a great day! Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Happy Birthday Olivia! Today is our niece Olivia's 3rd birthday! I will say it again and I'm sure this isn't the last time I'll say it....I can't believe you are already 3 Olivia!!! You are an amazing, precious little girl with a huge heart and I just love how you care for your little sister and love your parents so much.

I remember when you were born and I wasn't even officially your aunt yet, but that didn't stop me from loving you to pieces.

The picuture above was taken at Christmas. Olivia loves dogs and the one she is holding is her favorite. Her name is Dora.

This picture was taken at Thanksgiving 2008. She looks older now, but this is probably one of my favorite pictures of her.

(I have another favorite picture of Oliva with her cousin Addie at our wedding. They were our flower girls. I'll have to find that picture for you. It's sooo cute!)

Happy 3rd Birthday Olivia! We miss you and pray you had a wonderful birthday! Love you lots!

Half Way There!

Here are a few pictures from last thursday when we had our ultrasound of our little guy. The technician said he is looking pretty good and was 11 ounces. He is still pretty teeny but with the rate of my appetite I'm sure he is growing in there just fine.


Below is a picture of his little feet. The weird thing on the top right is the umbilical cord. We tried to get a 3D picture of his face, but I was informed I have an anterior placenta (my placenta is in the front) and that is preventing us from getting a nice clear picture of his face. But I just love this picture of his crossed little legs.

Many of you who know me know I have a foot phobia. I am currently trying to deal with it but I can't stand feet. My own feet are fine and I'm getting much better with Josh's feet, but for the most part there is something about feet that make my stomach church. Even typing about it my stomach is doing cart wheels. But when I look at the picture above and see his tiny toes, I can't kiss them. And that is something I will probably only do to my own child and no one else.

At the beginning of last week I was having a few issues with a strange feeling on my belly. It would happen in one spot on the left side right below my bra line. I would get the strangest sensation, almost like someone was rubbing Bengay on my tummy. I would get a numbing tingling and then a slight burning. This usually occurred when I was laying down. Well, it wasn't until Thursday when I had my med-school girlfriends over that I realized the tingling feeling I was having was his little feet! I can't believe the whole week I was feeling him move and I didn't even realize it! Now that I am aware of him moving, I am noticing it a lot. I think his feet are right under my bra line and that is usually where I feel him move. It is so amazing and I love it every time. Even when I am trying to fall asleep and his little feet are keeping me awake.

I started my 20th week this weekend! I can't believe I am half way through my pregnancy!!!