29 Weeks- Welcome Third Trimester!

So, today marks week 29 of our pregnancy journey!  It is hard to believe that we have made it to our third trimester!  Time is flying by very quickly.  We had our 29 week doctor visit today.  I must say that stepping on the scale 2 days after Christmas was not something I had been looking forward to, but I was assured that my weight gain is right where it needs to be.  We got the results from our sugar test and everything looks fine there as well.  Payton's little heartbeat sounds perfect!

We were blessed with a wonderful Christmas this year.  It is so funny to think how different things will be next Christmas.  I can't imagine having a little one along and every time I imagine it, I get so excited!  Now that Christmas is over, the count down is on!!  10 weeks to go!  

Growing Baby!- 27 Weeks

First of all, I want to apologize for the sentimental post this time.  Writing this has found me sitting in my PJ’s, listening to sappy music while drinking coffee on a cloudy snow day.  Also keep in mind that I am 7 months pregnant and a little emotional. J

How is it possible to be so in love with someone you have never met?  We both wonder this every time we get to see a little sneak peak of Miss Payton, which we got the privilege of doing on Monday.  Getting to see her on the ultrasound screen is somewhat bitter sweet.  Even though I absolutely LOVE getting to see her, it just makes me long to pick her up and cuddle her, which I know cannot be done for another 2 months.  It seems so close yet so far away!  My next favorite part about having an ultrasound is watching Ryan’s face as soon as her picture pops up!  It is priceless! 

This whole experience has really made me reflect on a lot different things in life.  I feel like I am beginning to understand the everlasting love of a parent.   Because of that, it makes me think about our heavenly father and his love for us.  It makes me look at the sacrifice of his son with a whole new and different perspective.  Wow!  This experience has also forced me to reflect on my career and the kids I work with everyday.  I just hope and pray that each of them has someone who loves and cares for them as much as I do for Payton.  It also reminds me every time I get stressed out about how much the kids are learning, or if I am really preparing them and giving them what they need to know to improve their score on their next state assessment,  that I can’t forget what needs to be at the core of everything I do.  The reality is that each student is a Payton to someone and I try to always keep that in mind.  J

Well, this is week 27 and marks the last week of my second trimester!  Payton weighs a little over 2 pounds and will open her eyes this week!  We are now seeing the doctor every 2 weeks which means the day is getting closer.  Look out, life is about to change! 

Daddy's Favorite Picture of the Day

So Sleepy!  I know, she has it rough in there!

It is so funny how much she has changed!  I just knew she was going to look like her dad, but now I am not so sure! 



Making Room for Baby!- 26 Weeks!

What a fun weekend this has been!  Our home is finally beginning to look like it could possibly house an infant.  Our baby furniture came in and we spent the weekend moving furniture from one bedroom to the other and assembling the baby bed.  This made things seem even more real!  I told Ryan that I feel like a little girl again playing house, only this time, it's for real!  Picking up the furniture was quite the ordeal.  It actually came in the wrong color, but I have decided to keep it for a while to see if it grows on me.  I told Ryan, "Well, we have 90 days to decide if we want to return it, so let's just see how we feel after looking at it for a while."  He then explained, "Holly, she will be here in 90 days!"  That was definitely crazy to hear.  However, after many opinions from different friends and family, we have decided that the purchase is final!  A big thanks goes to my mom and grandma for coming over to help us pick it up.  I have attached pictures of the furniture.

I am now 26 weeks and feeling very pregnant.  I keep thinking, if I feel this way now, how in the world is going to be come February!  Oh well, thank goodness I have a wonderful husband who takes great care of me.  Speaking of Ryan, keep him in your prayers.  He has officially decided that he will be going back to school in January.  (As if we don't have enough on our plate come January.)  It is very ironic, because we both swore when we graduated with our Bachelor's that it would be a loooong time, if ever that we went back to school.  Funny how things change.  He keeps saying that he wants to give our little girl the best life possible and thinks this is one way he can help that happen.  :)  The next post will include new pictures of Payton (who weighs 2 pounds and has graciously given mommy an extra 20!).   :)  

Thanks Grandma Ruby for the early Christmas gift...our bedding.

 

25 Weeks!

Boy, time is flying by!  I cannot believe we are 99 days from our due date.  I have mixed feelings about this.  When I am thinking about all that needs to be done, 99 days does not seem like a long time.  However, when I think about my growing belly, 99 days sure seems like a loooong time!

A lot has happened since the last time I posted.  We had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend and were able to spend a lot of time with family and friends. We felt even more blessed this year considering we have a precious little girl on the way!  God is so good!  We also started the insane process of registering for baby items.  This was even more overwhelming than a wedding registry.  Who would have thought that there were so many different types of items.  After roaming around the store for about 20 minutes and not even scanning a single item, we decided to start with something easy....diapers.  Once we made it to the diaper aisle, we just looked at each other and laughed.  There were so many different brands and different sizes that we didn't even know how to pick those out!  We have A LOT to learn!  It also didn't help matters that every Baby's R Us worker that night was either a 16 year old boy or looked as if they could bounce at a night club.  I was real sure these guys had an educated recommendation on what type of breast pump to buy or which stroller was the most convenient.  To my surprise, they were excellent and even helped us pick out furniture for the baby's room.  Whew!.....one thing off the list! 

In addition to a great Thanksgiving, Miss P enjoyed Black Friday Christmas shopping.  I was a little more tired after the shopping event this year but somehow managed to spend more money....those baby stores are just too cute to pass up!  Our next ultrasound is a week from Monday and mommy and daddy cannot wait to get another glimpse of precious bundle of joy!

Making Matching Shirts for Black Friday

Yes....I realize how corny this is, but I can easily be talked into things!

A picture from the Bowles Wedding this weekend



First Thanksgiving-24 Weeks

I am now officially 24 weeks pregnant and can no longer see my toes when I am standing up and looking down!  It makes me laugh every time I try.  Little Miss P is moving like crazy and finally kicked hard for Grandma Kelly!  So exciting!  Everything I read says that at 24 weeks, she can respond to sound.  I am trying to give her soothing sounds and am glad to use this excuse every time Ryan is blaring his music in his car.  (I will never understand how he sees loud music as a stress relief; however, he has been REALLY stressed at work, so I am trying to be patient.)

Ryan and I pulled off our first Thanksgiving at our house this weekend, and when I say Thanksgiving, I mean the turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes...the whole shi-bang!  I guess something about being pregnant makes me want to turn into some kind of domestic goddess!  Lol!  It surprisingly turned out really well.  Cooking the turkey was quite the experience.  My mom laughed at me when I called her at 8:00 the night before asking where I could find a good turkey.  She explained that most people buy their turkeys 3-5 days before their dinner so that they can thaw.  Doesn't she know how I procrastinate?  Thank you Sam's Club for having fresh turkeys!  I have attached some pictures of our wonderful meal, which I might add, required 7 whole sticks of butter!  I also attached some house pictures, because we have officially been in our new home for 1 year as of this weekend.

I hate to make it official, so let's just say that we are 90% sure that we have a Payton.   There are 2 reasons why I am thinking this, and I have listed them below.  The second being on a much more serious note than the first.  :)

1)  I ordered the cutest bottle bag with the name PAYTON really big on the front!  It was too cute to pass up!

2)  In church today, when I was thinking about her and saying all my usual prayers for her, I found myself calling her Payton. 

6 month belly pictures will be coming soon! 

23 Weeks!

So, this is week number 23!  It is so hard to believe how fast time is flying by, and I know it is going to continue to do so as we move into the holidays.  Things have been super busy this week.  We went to the doctor for our November check-up.  We got to see more precious pictures of our beautiful baby girl!  I know it's too early to tell, but I think she is going to look like her dad.  I really can see some of his features in her.  I guess we will have to wait and see!  We went in for another ultrasound to check out her heart, (she wasn't cooperating well last time, so the doctor wanted to have a second look) and all looks good!  Every time we get to see her and get updated on how she is growing and developing is a constant reminder of how blessed we are!  We go again in December for the wonderful glucose test!  (I haven't heard too many good things about this one.)  However, I am not a picky eater/drinker.  I can pretty much choke anything down, so surely the orange drink can't be too bad.  I am still trying to figure out exactly how I am going to work this out though.  It HAS to be drunk between 2:00-2:05 the day of my appointment.  This is right in the middle of my 9th period class.  Surely the kids won't mind if I take a few moments out of class to chug down a tasty orange drink.  Who knows, I may be nice and offer to share!  :) (Totally kidding!)

I had the day off yesterday, so my mom and I went shopping.  We have quickly discovered how dangerous all the baby/children's clothing stores can be!  She is already getting spoiled by grandma, and she is not even here yet!  The best part about shopping for her is getting to show Ryan all the cute little items when he gets off work!  He really does enjoy looking at everything, and I think it helps it all seem a little more real to him.  Speaking of Ryan, he has been so great through all of this, and I know he will be an AWESOME dad!  As for names, still no decisions yet.  For all my close friends who know me well, this should come as no surprise!  I have attached some pictures to re-cap all thats been going on.  By the way, Little Miss P weighs  1 pound 2 ounces.  (So, where is that extra 15 pounds coming from that has magically appeared on the scale since last June????)  Oh well!  It will all be so worth it!

                                                 Her first tu-tu thanks to Grandma Kelly

A gift for baby AND mommy (Coach Diaper Bag) thanks to Great-Grandma Dorothy!

We've Got a Wild One!

Boy have I felt the kicks this week!  I had to post, because our little girl is finally starting to show off!  I have felt kicks and flutters for some time now, but now I can actually feel them on the outside.  On Monday, Little Miss P (as daddy likes to call her since he is sure her name is going to be Payton,) finally kicked hard enough for Ryan and Lindsay to both feel!  How exciting!  Since then, she has definitely been kicking like crazy.  It seems like it always happens right when I need it.  I may be having a challenging moment at school, and then I will feel this tiny little kick that makes me smile.  :) 

As for names, dad is stuck on Payton.  I like the name, but am too indecisive to decide just yet.  I am still liking Harper, Presley, and Parker.  Stay tuned to find out!

Our Rapidly Changing Life!

I decided back in June when I took a moment to really think about everything that had happened in our life over the past year, that in order to remember it all, I should start a journal.   Well journaling on pencil and paper lasted about 2 days, so I thought this may be a better route, so here goes! 


We found out on July 1 of this year that we are expecting our first baby!  At the time, we had been in our new house for about 8 months.  I had just completed my first year of teaching and Ryan worked (as he still does now) at KDL.  Here are some exciting points in our life that I hope to never forget!


July 26, 2010- We had our first doctor's appointment.  We had just gotten back from a week long vacation in Florida with Brent and Ashli, which was a little different than previous vacations considering I was 8 weeks pregnant....no rides, exhaustion, and a bed time that had been moved up to about 8:00 pm.  We were both so nervous for our first appontment, yet excited at the same time!  It was pretty much just an informative visit, but we felt a little more educated after meeting with the doctor.  This is a good thing!


July 31, 2010- We enjoyed my brother's wedding in Carbondale.  It was a beautiful wedding on a very hot summer day! 


August 24, 2010- We heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time!  This was such a surreal experience!  I was so nervous, and it seemed like it took our doctor forever to pinpoint it (which I know was only like 10-20 seconds), but once she did it was loud and beating strong.  We both felt so blessed at that point.  It really made this whole experience seem that much more real.


September 21, 2010- We had another doctor's appointment for a quick heartbeat check.  Ryan was tied up at work, so my mom got to go with me and hear the heartbeat for the first time!  This was an awesome experience for the two of us to share!


October 12, 2010-  This was the big appointment that we had been counting down to for weeks!  Trying to get through the school day was horrible!  I kept looking at the clock and counting down the hours.  I am thankful that I have job with not a lot of down time, because this did help the day go by a little faster.  Our ultrasound was scheduled for 3:00 pm.  Both of our mothers came into town to share this big day with us.  Ryan and I went back by ourselves with the ulstrasound tech.  We thought we could share the experience  together first, and then if all was well, we would bring back our moms.   I can't explain that feeling we both had when we first saw our baby's picture appear on the screen.  We could see the feet, arms, legs, lips, and nose.  Finally, after a long 20 minutes, we heard the news....ITS A GIRL!!!  After sharing the news with all our family, we enjoyed a dinner at Red Lobster with our moms, and then came home to a house full of friends who already had gifts bought after only knowing the news for about 2 hours!  We sure are blessed!


This brings us to where we are today.  I am 21 weeks pregnant and feeling more and more pregnant everyday!  Overall, I can't complain.  Other than feeling a lot more tired than usual, I have felt pretty good.  I always tell Ryan that I feel so sorry for my ninth period class.  I try so hard to give them all I've got, but by that time in the day, I don't have much left to give!!  I gladly take volunteers from the kids to work the problems out on my board for me, and I always make the kids bring their papers up to my desk when they have a question, because I just don't have the energy to stay on my feet that long.  Oh well, they seem to understand.  I have felt a little more energy this week.  I actually stayed out past 10:00 with friends last night!  I guess I better take advantage of those times while I still can.  Here are some pictures to re-cap all that's happened!

5 Weeks

8 Weeks

                                                                       13 Weeks

18 Weeks

We can't wait to meet her!!