Sunday, July 27, 2008

Busy week and weekend!

Some highlights of our busy week and weekend! I'm going with a bulleted format this once to make this quick and easy! I need to be better about taking pictures to share... maybe I'll work on that for everyone!

* On Thursday I went to Florence for a few days. Mom has been to Birmingham so many times in the past few months that I have been meaning to go visit mom and get some things done in Florence. Florence may be "going home" for me but it really is a lovely place to visit! It was great to spend a few days there and most importantly, it was Blake's 21st Birthday on Friday! Happy Birthday Bub!=) I remember the night he was born... how on Earth is he 21 already?? So much for me always calling him my "Baby Brother"! I was so glad that I got to be in town for his Birthday Dinner with the Fam. My Grandparents, Mom, Trey, Blake and myself all went to eat at Cajun's, which we had never been to before. Dinner was great, but I really just enjoyed hanging out with the family! Trey and I were sitting beside each other at dinner and I was really happy that he got the chance to feel the baby kick! She rarely kicks right when I want her too, naturally, so I was thrilled when she did!
* On Friday I checked another item off of my Baby "To-Do" List. I ordered the girlie-girl's furniture at this baby store in Florence. I had my heart set on this particular furniture but wanted to get the best deal possible on it, so I had called every retailer in the state and gotten a price quote. I was pleasantly surprised when "The Baby's Room" in Florence came back as the cheapest! Yay! How convenient! My family is going to drive it down for me when the furniture arrives and help us put it together. This will probably be a huge task, but I'm sure I will be ready for it to be up and ready. When I had originally asked how long it would take to get my furniture in they said we could expect it to arrive in 8-12 weeks, which would be cutting it close at this point! I was REALLY happy when they told me it should be in within the next 4-5 weeks! That should make arrival around the end of August which will be perfect since we should be able to have everything assembled before football season gets started. This will be a great help since our weekends virtually disappear into weekend trips to Tuscaloosa come September!
* Speaking of the Football Season... ROLL TIDE! I am getting so excited about this season. I cannot wait for the first game, Clemson, which I expect to be a tough game. It is an away game(in Atlanta, actually), so we will be watching it from the comfort of our "Alabama Room/ Man Lair"(yes, we are those people!). Hopefully we can have a few friends and some family over and start the season off right!=) A local sports radio station that we almost always listen to (Jox) has a count down to the season opener and the closer we get to game day, the more excited I get!
* I drove back from Florence after some fun baby shopping on Saturday morning. Chris and I had plans to go visit with his family on Saturday night. They had a family get together for Chris' Brother and Mother's Birthdays, which are just a few days apart. We hung out, played catch up and had ice cream cake to celebrate! It was fun!
* Everyone was in town for the "Williamson/Allen/Carter Family" reunion on Sunday at Smith Lake. On Sunday Morning Chris and I packed up and made the trip up to the lake. It was really nice to get to visit with some of the extended family and for me to meet some of the family members that I had not yet met! We had a great time with great food! I carried my camera in to take pictures, but of course I never got around to it=( Better luck next time, huh!?
* After 4 days of running non-stop I was ready for a break!=) It's a shame the weekend was gone, but it was well spent! We had a great weekend and look forward to a slightly more restful weekend over this next weekend- "Date Night" included! Am I the only one that hasn't seen Batman yet???;-) I heard it's great!
* Oh, and a Belly shot is on the way! Sorry I am a bit behind!!!=)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

25 Week Dr.'s Appointment(updated)

We are officially in our 6th month of pregnancy... CRAZY! It seems like time is suddenly flying by and our little one will be here before we know it. I enter my third trimester in a little over 2 weeks! Wow!! Lately I have caught myself daydreaming about who our little one will be, how loud her cry will be;-), and what she will look like. Chris is blond-haired, blue-eyed. I am brunette-haired, brownish-green eyed. I have a blond-haired, blue-eyed little brother so it could happen! Genetically, Miss C had a lot to choose from!
In about a month we will go to our 4-D ultrasound. I think they are fascinating since you can literally see their sweet little facial features and watch them "breathe" and make faces. Technology is amazing!! I am really looking forward to getting an idea of what our girl will look like.;-)
In other news, I had my 25 weeks Dr's appointment today. I had to do the Glucose Tolerance/Gestational Diabetes test today which was no fun!! For those of you that don't know, they basically give you this 8 oz. bottle of flat, syrupy sweet orange liquid and tell you to chug it. UGH!! Then an hour after you drink it you have your blood drawn to see if your sugar levels come back high to assess how your body is processing sugars. We won't know the results for a few days, but I think I passed. I have heard horror stories of friends that have become physically ill or passed out after drinking "the juice" so I think part of me was expecting the worst. I handled it fairly well, I think.
The most difficult part was when they drew my labs. I also had my thyroid checked again at this visit so they drew 4 larger vials and 2 smaller vials. Having all of that blood drawn did make me feel a bit light headed, but I seriously don't think it was from the drink;-) I left Chris, who has never been a big fan of seeing blood being drawn, in the waiting room and I am so glad that I did. He seriously would have stroked out! hehe!! He was really sweet when I made it back out to the waiting room and helped me to the car. Such a good little husband, he is!
We had a relatively relaxed visit with the Dr.. Today we began rotating around through the practice in case my Dr is unable to deliver our baby. We will continue this for the next 3 Dr's appointments. The Dr. we met today was friendly and even laughed as Chris repeatedly referred to her as "Plan B".;-) the baby's heart beat was right on target, I measured perfectly, and the Dr. said she was happy with my weight gain. All in all, everything is moving along just as we hoped it would!
I will try to update when I get my results back from my Diabetes and Thyroid tests. Have a good week!!!
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We got the results back from my blood work this past week. I came back negative for gestational diabetes and my thyroid was right where they wanted to see it during pregnancy. All is well! yay!!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Baby Carter at 24 weeks

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Info from www.babycenter.com.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Chris' New Toy

For our 2 year anniversary I bought Chris a Playstation 3. We have never been interested in "video games", but I wanted to get him something he could have fun with and enjoy. When the Wii came out, I thought that would be something he would really enjoy. When I told Chris I was going to get him a Wii but that I was having a hard time finding one by our anniversary, he told me he would prefer the Playstation 3. He knew of a game that he had seen on TV that he thought he might like so a few nights later off we went to pick it up! So far we only have 2 games... Call of Duty 4(Chris' war game) and Sonic(my game). I remember Sonic from when I was a kid... I loved it! When I saw that there was a new Sonic for this game system I was excited. I really haven't played it yet, but hopefully it will be fun. Chris has really enjoyed Call of Duty, so if any of you wives out there are looking for something to give your husband or significant other, check it out! Chris really has spent most of his free time recently playing this game, which is bitter sweet. I'm glad he's enjoying it, but I miss my husband;-) haha! Soon the new will wear off and he won't be as interested in it, but for now he is glued to the screen like an 8 year old on Christmas Morning!

What's been going on??

Honestly, preparing for our little girl's arrival is without question the most exciting thing going on in our lives and I am completely consumed by it. I had put off deciding on what car seat, stroller, crib etc. to get for our baby until after our Jamaican Vacation so the day after we got home, I got down to business!

I had looked around a bit for nursery furniture before we left and found some that I absolutely loved. It will take 8-12 weeks for it to arrive in Alabama, so I knew I would need to order it as soon as possible. It is white and girly and is a "built-to-grow" crib, which means it will convert to a toddler bed, when we are ready for that, and then a full size bed ,when that time comes. I love this feature because we can get the matching dresser/changing table and armoire and she can use it throughout her childhood. I've always hated the idea of buying nursery furniture only to find that you have to buy all new stuff once your little one outgrows it. Once we are done having babies we would just have to throw it away... how sad!! I am really excited about it all and cannot wait to get our little girl's room in order. It took us long enough to finally get this sweet little miracle and I am going to enjoy every aspect possible of her joining our life!

As you can see, I am still calling our daughter our "little girl" vs. her name. The reason for this is Chris has a difficult time making major decisions sometimes and is procrastinating in the naming of our baby. Seriously, it's driving me nuts!!!;-) All monogramming has been put on hold, ha! To me, she is the name that we had originally picked for her and I cannot seem to come up with anything else that I prefer or would even seriously consider. So it is looking more and more like she will be named what Mommy wants. Daddy will learn to love it, hopefully. (I love you honey!!!=))

Which leads to something else that we have been up to lately: The killer "honey-do" list that I made for Chris the day after we got home from Jamaica. There are a few things that I would like to do around the house and I know that Chris' job is stressful enough and spreading my list out over a few months will be much easier on him. To me these are minor things, but Chris is a bit freaked out by how focused I have become on getting everything just as I want it. Ok, maybe it's borderline obsessive, but what can I say?! I just want everything in the best condition possible before our little one arrives!! I also know that once she gets here, we will have other very important obligations and interests and will want to let the little things go "until next weekend". We have a little less than 4 months before her arrival and I hate procrastination!! I would prefer everything done now so I don't have to worry about it anymore. So if you see Chris, remind him that most women go through this and he is not alone!;-)

This weekend my mother came for a visit, which is always nice! We went and did a bit of baby shopping and did girl things. Mom also brought several surprises for us too! Mom really outdid herself! Lets just say that our baby is going to be one lucky little girl and Chris and I greatly appreciate the gifts since we are starting from scratch! Mom is just as excited about becoming a grandmother as we are about becoming parents. So, Thanks Mom... For EVERYTHING!! Come back soon!=)

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Birthday Chris!

Happy 26th Birthday Chris! Yes, Chris is a 4th of July Baby! It's always fun to celebrate his birthday- especially since he typically gets fireworks! Today we are celebrating his birthday in JAMAICA! Chris, you lucky ducky, you! I hope you've enjoyed it!!! It has been difficult planning a special birthday for him since we are in another country;-) but I did hang the "Happy 4th of July" banner that I use every year so that was familiar. The Greaves also surprised Chris with a yummy Birthday cake and a nice BBQ with their family. Chris spent his birthday with his family, relaxing in paradise... not too shabby, eh?! This will be a big year for Chris! Chris will have very successfully owned and operated his own business for 3 years in August, will become the owner of our second mortgage related Business Optimum in the next few months, have been married to a very loving wife for 3 years, and the most exciting distinction of all- he will become a Father! We are so blessed! I love you honey!!=) I'll leave you with a picture as I dive back into our relaxing vacation.