33 Weeks!

I will be referring back to this picture when trying to get your advice on where to hang things in the nursery.

Well for the past couple of weeks I have convinced myself that leaving the house at 8 am and coming home at 5 pm on my days off probably isn't considered "relaxing" while pregnant. I have been doing this for the past couple of years and I just enjoy staying busy on my days off. I always feel so stir crazy in the house but I better get used to it because a December newborn baby probably means staying in for quite a little bit. I have now put all of my energy into online shopping---which is REALLY bad news. I must open up 12 different windows and keep going back and forth and playing with ideas and jumping around from topic to topic most frequently shopping for baby gear.

First up ...what do I do on the wall to the left of the crib? Do I put these shelves below in white and place a couple of decorative things on top..do I get one that has the jacket hooks and hang 2 of his most adorable outfits?!

Or do I opt for the book shelf...which one of Brad's friends says is very useful and handy? Or a piece of art with his name or initials on it? Or leave it bear for now!?

Next up, I just love a nice big rug in a room..but it is too much?! Would it blend with out tan carpet?! Can I not get a rug if I don't have wood floors in the bedroom?

Ok so since I have chosen a photographer for Crawford's newborn photos...the new thing is to use "photo props" to make your newborn look even that much more adorable. My photographer Gena Murphy --a look at some of her newborn work click here: www.genamurphyphotography.smugmug.com/Babies/newborn will be shooting this special day anywhere between 4-10 days after he is born. She told me she would be bringing some of her adorable props but to add some of my personality I may want to buy some too..I mean add some of my personality I was thinking uhhhh I don't know that's why I hired you...but it has been fun and I did already purchase a little Santa crocheted hat for his photo session. In addition, I am in love with these newborn cacoons. The problem is which one!?

I don't know why I am so in love with this monkey one but I seem to keep going back to it.

I mean could this little baby look any cuter in his bear cacoon?

I know we will just have a ball with our football rivalry next year and to have Crawford pictured in a football so soon in life just seems so tempting as well!

How appropriate would the snowman cacoon be for the winter time?! I need your suggestions which one will make the cutest photo prop for little Crawford?!

As you can already tell I have been shopping for nursery decor, photo prop items, clothing for his "take home" outfit and now bath towels..Well of course Pottery Barn Kids decided to email me about their bath sale and how can Crawford now have his very own monogrammed towels. I had selected 2 sets of green towels with his name and had them in the shopping cart when Brad peeked over my shoulder to see me about to fork over $52 for 2 sets of bath towels..he said "NO WAY" ...I said awww man and kept them in the shopping cart and secretly want to purchase them.

Then I came up with a new idea for lighting in his room. How could would this pendant be hanging as his main light source in the center of the room? We had originally planned to hang a fan but I started looking at different light fixtures and fell in love with this...again is it too much will it look weird hanging down the center of the room? Of course on Restoration Hardware Baby website it does not! What do you think?!

So now you might understand why I am 4 weeks behind on my tv shows...wayyyy tooo much time devoted to the arrival of Crawford..the sad part is none of these are the essentials. These are just items I WANT what about the things Crawford needs like his pack n play and carseat maybe I should be splurging on those items first!? Ahhhh!

Well since I can't imagine what I "used" to look like I decided to look back to the past 2 Octobers...both great great times.. This one is in 2008 on our Honeymoon in Riviera Maya...oh to think that I felt soo big and overweight back then..

This was also from the honeymoon after the only day of sun...note to any beach goers out there...never go to Mexico between mid-August and November (it rains like every day!)

Last year was equally as fun as we planned a great anniversary trip out to wine country. I mean it was amazing..we had a spa day, went up in hot air balloon, visited San Francisco, and indulged in delicious wine! I think it was my favorite trip of all time! I'm already planning Brad and I's first vacation away from Crawford ...Is that bad?! I mean we both love to travel and there is one trip that we both have been really wanting to go on...We would like to visit Seattle, Portland, and Oregon wine country followed by a trip to Vancouver..not sure if this is possible all in one week but I have already started bookmarking hotels out there...I always have way too much research going on!

Well here is the latest nursery addition. Our glider is finally in! I am soo thrilled and happy with its yellow color!! I was soo worried that I would hate the yellow...or that I would be sad that I did not opt for a $1000 boutique glider...well I couldn't tell you how much happier I am that I saved a ton of money and chose a more affordable glider in a great color to compliment the nursery!

It's funny to look back now and think that at 19 weeks I thought I was so large and big...

Fast forward Week 31...guess he really is growing!

Ewww..34 week shot officially getting SWOL! AHHH someone help me now!

33 week update!

*How far along? 33 weeks

*Total weight gain? 25 pounds oooh man the pounds are packing on! Crawdad better be a big baby!

*How big is the baby? close to 20 inches and almost 5 pounds (I weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 and 3/4 inches ...Brad weighed 7 pounds and was 20 inches long) he is the equivalent size of a pineapple!

*Maternity clothes? Bought a couple of warm sweaters for the next month or so and hoping that is my last splurge on maternity clothes as they are so useless here shortly!

*Sleep? Still sleeping just fine (I truly feel blessed that I sleep through the night because it seems like many pregnant women are not this lucky!) However, I usually wake up feeling sore and uncomfortable from some awkward position I have gotten in.

*Movement? Oh does he move! He moved some much in the past week that he is now BREECH! thanks little fellow now you are going to worry you mommy if you do not decide to flip back around! The doctor said there is nothing to worry about yet as he still has time to flip back around. His head was on my left side down towards my bladder and how he is under my left ribs. The coolest thing ever happened this morning as I was waking up and feeling what I generally feel in the morning-- almost like little thuds of his heartbeat..well after Brad and I had fun feeling this little thuds I realized that the poor little guy was having the hiccups..I mean it was darling! Although this is the same feeling I get almost every morning from Crawdad so he must not like the positions I am in poor little thing!

*Food cravings? I always forget to mention how much I have really craved soup this last trimester..I always wonder is it because it is loaded with sodium and I KNOW I shouldn't eat it..or is it a craving I am really having? Either way..soup always sounds delicious but I really try to limit my intake to once a week at lunch so that I don't become extremely bloated.

*What I miss? Well let's just say Brad and I went on an hour walk this morning and Brad is suffering from a toe injury and was hobbling along and was still strides ahead of me..this is the guy that I am jogging way ahead and now he is walking faster than me...something isn't right about this picture..I picked up the pace and made sure he wasn't gonna stay ahead of me on our walk!

*What I am looking forward to? Reaching the full term mark at 36 weeks..it is soo close and I can't imagine the motherly mode I am going to go into when that time hits

*Milestone? feeling Crawford hiccup...sooooo cool!

*Is working out harder? Well apparently walking is..but I still have been spinning and doing combat and doing the elliptical..it will be interesting to see the intensity level I am able to work out post baby because I truthfully didn't think I had lost my work out stamina that is until today's walk..sigh...

*What has been unexpected? That I can't keep my silly iron up. I mean I think I am pretty well nourished I take my medicine like I should to a T and somehow my hemoglobin still is in the 10's. Although the doctor's don't seem concerned it's annoying to me that I am not as healthy as I need to be for the baby.

*Nursery? Well all of the furniture is in..I just have decorations left to do and would love your help and ideas to finish the nursery up!

*Doctor's visits? Well since I go to the doctor so frequently I thought I should add a question about what happened at this week's visit. They pricked my finger, weighed me, measured my stomach (measuring 34 weeks), and listened to his heartbeat. Then the doctor explained that I needed to stay as comfortable as I could at work and really suggested I invest in some prescription strength thigh highs..well this lady wasn't kidding when she said "invest." I was planning on having a "Christen" day today and enjoying a nice prenatal massage...that is until I took the thigh high prescription to the pharmacy and got measured and ready to go to have my uncomfortable and dreaded socks ordered...Yes maam we require that you pay ahead of time for these was the young man's request as he swiped my card for $120 !!!!!!!!!!!! I mean was this a sick joke I am purchasing thigh highs (ONE PAIR) for $120 ..this had to be a joke..but no it wasn't he said she wrote for such a high strength (as in the pressure of them is 40-50 mm Hg) and they were that expensive indeed adding on that I may want to buy some rubber gloves to get them on...oh will this be a sight to see.. In other news I felt so great after this appt. I felt like I have gotten so far in my pregnancy and have remained as healthy as can be and that at my next appointment I will be days away from being "full term" this is just nuts!!! soooo exciting...well gotta go get ready for Nick and Ashley's wedding but can't wait to hear your suggestions and advice about the nursery and I am soooo excited about my second baby shower on Sunday that Cathleen (Sister) and Janet (Brad's mom) are throwing for me!!!!!!!!!

32 Weeks/ 2 year anniversary!

Happy 2 years to the most loving and caring husband around!!! I seriously can't believe we have been married 2 years..but even crazier together for 4 years...what a blessed past 4 years I have had! He takes such great care of me and we really make the best team together. I get soo excited just thinking that I get to spend the rest of my life with him! We had an amazing wedding day with great weather outside at Larkins on the River and then spent our first year celebrating in wine country (Napa Valley...one of our favorite vacations to date!). This year we took it down a notch considering I'm 7 months prego but we knew we wanted to enjoy dinner out somewhere that we had never been. We tried out Nantucket Grille a newer seafood restaurant that is the sister restaurant to Rick Erwins (where we had our rehearsal dinner)..well it doesn't hold a candle to Rick Erwins in our opinion but that's also probably because neither one of us is a huge fish eater. Either way we had a great dinner together and that's all that counts.

I came home to beautiful flowers and we pulled out the ole wedding cake (or should I say OLD wedding cake!) Brad was the guinea pig and he took one bite and spit out the freezer burned cake...good thing we had leftover chocolate cake from the baby shower!

Well again I have had another feel great week. Week 32 had been so far so good and I just love that we can FINALLY see little Crawford move around in my belly...what a sight!

This picture is me with a honeydew (the estimated size of little baby) but I am on the phone and just received great news and can't wait to share it! I love that Brad captured me in the moment great memory!

32 Week Update

*How far along? 32 weeks

*Total weight gain? uggggh 25 pounds...dear lord please only let me gain 10 more pounds max...me and the gym are going to be best friends if this weight gains continues!

*How big is the baby? estimated length is 19 inchs and he is weighing in around 4.5 pounds.. Another cool tidbit of info about the baby's size is that the amniotic fluid is now at it's max (about 6 cups of it floating in there with baby) but since there is no more fluid to come that only means that baby will continue to grow and take over the space the fluid has been taking up which is why I am probably feeling baby so much better these days! baby has also started to develop his own immune system this week.

*Maternity clothes? Well to work I have scratched out wearing any button ups and am just wearing my maternity shirts and hoping that everyone understands...at the gym I am just wearing my same really tight spandex capris and tshirts instead of my workout tops...I also bout a dress for Nick and Ashley's wedding and thank goodness it fits and I like it...hmm now I need something for the rehearsal dinner..ohhh great

*Sleep? Well the tempur-pedic has been so great for prego sleeping. It really forms soo great to your body and I wake up feeling well rested and not sore anywhere...Only downfall is that I think I get a little too comfortable and end up waking up on my stomach and that makes me so nervous but I just flip to my side whenever this happens

*Best moment this week? Having Brad see little Crawford come out of my belly and all the girls at the shower getting to feel Crawford kick!

*Movement? I think I have for sure pin pointed where is little legs and arms are and I most certainly can feel when he moves his little shoulder...still not sure how to feel the head but I am sure it's still sitting comfortably on my bladder..thanks buddy

*Food cravings? I am actually surprised with how little french fries interest me throughout this pregnancy...I thought I would just devour them but luckey for me they are just ok (thank goodness) ....still not into mexican restaurants (which again is supppper weird for me) I just love apples and all other fruits too. But good ole sweet tooth still has the best of me!

*What I miss? my energy...even my days off have now turned into pretty worthless days of me returning home after the gym and not making it back out to shop and play around town like normal

*What I am looking forward to? Maternity leave with my little boy and enjoying the holidays as far away from walmart as possible!

*Milestone? I can officially begin the 2 month countdown...thought about attaching rings together (like you would as you countdown for Christmas) and pulling one off each day..pretty fun huh?!

*Is working out harder? Again some days easier than others...going on week 3 of back to morning 6 am workouts...feeling great after them but my bladder sure does hurt the whooole time that early in the AM...still love spin and combat and just wish my bladder wouldn't annoy me the whole workout.

*What has been unexpected? How dumb I am for choosing a high deductible insurance plan (any ladies out there planning to have a baby perhaps in the near future always go more conservative on your insurance..I thought hey Brad and I are never sick let me choose that plan with the $6000 deductible and the $10,000 out of pocket max...so anyways I learned a great lesson and will be choosing a much lower deductible in the future to support the family in a more economical fashion!

*Nursery? I haven't really touched the nursery...have a couple of picture frames to add to his place from the shower and still waiting on the glider and Crawford's letters...still trying to decide if we want to put a fan in his room or if we are going to buy a cute baby light fixture that will be the next decision for the nursery

In other news...Crawford is now listening to Mozart for about 30 minutes a night..although Brad woke up the other night after about 3 hours of i-pod music playing and informed me that Crawford has probably been listening to rap for the past 2 hours so you know I am trying to give him some diversity..only kidding (they say the Mozart music is good to start about this far along in pregnancy because they like to hear to repitition of sounds...hopefully this will help his brain develop better!

Brad and I have date night tonight consisting of pizza and watching a movie from the library that comes recommended from baby blogs called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" let me just tell you how thrilled Brad is to spend his Friday night watching this..should be funny!

I am still trying to figure out how much maternity leave walmart is going to allow me to have and it has most certainly been stressing me out...It seems like in the past most pharmacists have had no problem taking 12 weeks and of course it turns out that a pharmacist is my district was only able to take 8 and couldn't even use her vacation to take the remaining weeks..I am trying to outsmart the system but knowing most likely it will fail...so 8 weeks it will probably be and then I have 2 weeks of vaca to take before March so I am crossing my fingers that I will at least get to spend 10 weeks bonding with Crawford...

Well that's it for now...hoping to have a calm weekend of work and then enjoying some days off during the week next week and we also will spend 2 nights at the hospital completing our last 2 baby classes!

Chateau Elan Shower

The adorable invites to my first baby shower!

My girlfriedsn threw me such an amazing girl weekend shower at Chateau Elan outside of Atlanta. It is a winery/resort and is beautiful. I think there were 4 weddings the day we were there.We all met at noon to watch Georgia whoop on on Vanderbilt. We also began a game that Meghan came up. She tied blue ribbon on each of our arms and if anyone said baby or Crawford at all throughout the day whoever caught them got to steal their bracelet...well Brittany just loved the idea of this game and she adamant on winning and she did! Gooo Britt!!

Then the girls took me back to the Inn where we watched the end of the football game and then they surprised me with this room attached to our room where they set up everything for the shower!

Look at what a lukcy girl I am. Everyone had gotten me gifts all wrapped in blue and we started an afternoon of baby shower gift opening and games (compliments of Meghan)

This is the first gift I bought myself that I had monogrammed with Crawford's name on it. It is a boppy pillow cover and I think his name looks great if I do say so myself!

Aunt Ellen was even present at the shower and sent us a baby doll (a great practice tool for Brad!)

Nicole's gifts were wrapped great and I wish I could take a gift wrapping lesson from her...I am the one who shows up with a gift bag without fail!

I was excited to get my first Buy Buy Baby box...they sure are cute! (you all know my love for this store!)

She got us some great items for Crawford including a surfboard (that Brad just had to have) used for tummy time, a swaddle me and some wash cloths...I already feel so blessed and loved and we're only a couple gifts into the day!

Alexis's gifts were amazing and I can't wait for Crawford to love and snuggle with his elephant stuffed animal, bathe and dry off with his new hooded towel, and go on a stroll through the neighborhood with his mini sleeping bag by jj cole that I just love!

Jenny's gifts were special as well...I am so grateful at this point!

She got me some great bath goods for lilttle man as well as a personalized frame where I will get to put a picture of Crawford each month..I can't wait to see how much he grows and changes from month to month!

Hewy's outfit selection couldn't be any cuter! She sure knows how much I love anything seersucker! She also got Crawford his first UGA gift which is a pacifier clip...can't wait to start outnumbering the UGA gear to the Clemson gear!

Britt has 2 beautiful pieces made for the baby. This adorable blanket and some little booties! I can't wait to bundle him up in them!

Alexis decorated some delicious and adorable cookies for our afternoon snack!

We began playing games and I enjoyed these so much. The girls had to guess how big around they thought I was by eye balling the ribbon without being to wrap it around themselves or see me. This was very entertaining!

We also played a game where the girls had to draw their best self potrait without looking and then I had to judge whose looked the most like them.

It was funny to see how much of the plate they took up and which features they focused on.

These 2 both drew very small pictures of themselves..I awarded Jenny with the best self portrait because I just love how she made the lips stand out and she reallly tried to make it look like her..too cute!

Britt and Meg's both took up the whole plates and I just love their attempt at drawing their hair on the plates!

Alexis and Hew took self portrait to mean "self" as in they drew stick figures of themselves and made it a little too difficult to tell them apart!

We also had to answer questionaires. The girls gave me a paper with different physical features and traits. They told me to select if I want Crawford to inherit my feature/trait or Brad's. It was hilarious that they all got one right on the nose (intelligence awarded to me...thank you very much)...I guess I should give Brad credit on the common sense award. They had to try to guess what I picked. I think most everyone only missed 2 questions..good work!

Here I am trying a ribbon around my waist...I appreciate whoever's attempt this was...they gave me a little credit for not being very big....oops way off! I believe Meghan was the winner here and I think she had it right on the nose!...hewy was just a tad off being a little too small.

We all then took off to a delicious dinner where we all indulged in Filet and/or Salmon and delicious bread and great conversations! It was the perfect place to relax, talk, and enjoy my best friends that I don't get to see enough!

After dinner Crawford was so active...probably thanks to the delicious chocolate cake I indulged in...and the girls were sooo cute and all wanted to feel him kick/punch and move all about. I loved how if one person felt him the next girl was immediately trying to get their hand in trying to feel him as well...It really made me feel so special and I can't believe how much Crawford is already adored...He sure is going to have the most amazing aunts when he gets here.

Nicole had the most adorable and darling little cake made for me...Not only did it look soo cute but it was filled with chocolate/chocolate chip cake (thanks for reading the blog and knowing how obsessed I am with chocolate!)...

I am so grateful for this special time with friends and all the love they showered me with. I don't get to see all these girls nearly as much as I would like but it's just like old times when we all get together. Crawford is a lucky little guy because he is going to be so loved beyond belief! Thanks again to everyone for their time, the precious, sweet, and thoughtful gifts, and the most amazing slumber party shower a girl could ever hope for!!!!!