34 Weeks and Counting!!

I can't believe it's been over 2 months since my last post! I don't have time for much, but I thought I'd throw a couple of pictures on here! We officially have less than 6 weeks to go if all goes accordingly! The showers are over and it's time to get things in order! The carseat is put together, it just needs to be installed in the car. We've started organizing the nursery and going through all of the gifts to figure out what we still need, which really isn't a whole lot. We're good on blankets and bibs for sure! I think the bib count was about 60 as of last week. I do still need the pack-n-play, swing, and high chair. We have lots of gift cards to put towards those items, though. I am getting more excited with every day. I am so anxious to meet him and hold him in my arms and be able to pour out all of this love and joy I'm feeling. I still can't believe he's almost here...July can't come soon enough! Keep us in your prayers as we approach the delivery of our first child!

Here is me and baby at 31 weeks before we went out for James's birthday dinner!

And here we are at 31 weeks, 6 days at the baby shower we had from the church! Lots of goodies for Parker!

Here are my three Vera diaper bags that I can't wait to carry!

The rest of the pictures are from our 3D Ultrasound which was on May 6 at 31 weeks, 2 days! He looks perfect and everything is right on track These pictures make me even more excited about seeing and holding our baby boy. I love him so much already that I can hardly stand it!

Springtime and Kiddos!

I'm so excited that springtime is officially here. I absolutely love this time of year. I don't usually get excited about the spring, but there's something about it this year! Maybe it's that we have our own house and get to plant flowers and make the front yard look presentable. Or maybe it's that all the cold and drab weather has not helped with my pregnancy blahs (you know, those days where you feel ugly and huge no matter what you try) and now it's warming up and the sun is shining. Or perhaps it's because the cold winter brought with it some HUGE KUB bills and we're finally seeing a nice little decrease since we can turn off the heat! :) All I know is that I'm so excited for spring!

We've been able to get out and walk around the neighborhood a couple of times and let Ollie out to run around the back yard. He has loved that! It's been so nice. I need to get some pictures of him outside...note to self.

Here's the most recent pictures of my growing tummy. It's certainly popping out there now! Week 23

We baby-sat my little cousin Mackenzie a little while back...what a fun time! She's a rotten mess! I love her! While we had her, I thought I'd break out the camera and try to get some cute pictures...a lot easier said than done with an active 18 month old!! I ended up chasing her around the house, but I did manage to get a couple of cute ones! I was exhausted by the end of it though!!!

Last week, the Crawford's came over and we took advantage of the pleasant spring evening! We got the kids outside and they let me get some practice in with my camera! They are so cute, I can't stand it! Brylee was hilarious with her posing. Such a drama queen, even at age 4! There was a whole lot going on outside, so it was hard to keep Tripp's attention. He wanted to watch the neighbors who were playing basketball and the couple who was out walking their dog (have I mentioned how much I love my small little neighborhood...it's just right for us!). Anyways, here are a couple of my faves from that night:

We finally got our mini vacay booked. We're going to Destin the weekend of James's birthday (and Mother's Day) for a 4 day thing. We can't really afford to use up a whole week's worth of vacation right before the baby comes, but we feel that it'll be good for us to get atleast a little break before our world gets turned upside down with baby Parker! I'm looking forward to it in a serious way!!

Well it's Friday, and I couldn't be happier! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Things are coming together...

The past 3 weeks have been so fun around our house! It's so nice finally knowing that we're having a baby boy! We've been able to buy clothes and bedding, get the nursery painted (thanks to my amazing husband!!), pick out furniture, start a registry, and all kinds of fun stuff! You'd be amazed at the wardrobe this little boy already has! My wonderful wonderful friend, Becky, gave us a whole tub full of Tripp's clothes from last year. She's the best! I'm all registered for the Duck Duck Goose Consignment sale on April 1st. I'm really looking forward to that!

It's hard to believe that baby Parker will be here in just 4 MONTHS! He has grown so much!! And he looks like an actual little baby now! Here is a picture from our ultrasound that was about 3 weeks ago. I just can't resist sharing this one, even though I swore I'd never post ultrasound pictures publicly!! He seems to be a thumb-sucker...

My books say that he's about 11 inches long (we get to include the legs, now!!) and weighs almost a whole pound!! He has started moving around like crazy!! It's the most amazing feeling. I can't get enough of it! I was so excited because James can finally feel it, too! I hated not being able to share that with him. It's too fun.

We got his bedding in and didn't waste any time in getting the nursery painted! James was in a hurry to get it done. I'm so proud of him. He really did an awesome job on it! He's going to be such a great daddy. Here's some pictures of the nursery:

James got to go to the UNC-Duke basketball game on Sunday! I was so excited for him! He loves that crazy team. He went with his dad and got to spend some quality time with him, which is always great! Of course, he had to do a little shopping for Parker while he was there. He was so proud, haha! There are some really cute Tarheel things for baby boys. I'm just glad he loves a team that has pretty colors that will look sweet on a baby! Otherwise, we might have issues... ;)

Oh, funny note...I managed to sprain my ankle this week! I'm so clumsy! I don't know what happened, I guess I'm not used to the extra weight I'm carrying? I was just walking on flat, solid ground and somehow tripped! I was carrying a box of donuts...fortunately, I was able to save them! That would have been a major let down because I was really looking forward to them! Haha!!

Well, I have more to post about, but it'll have to wait til later!

It's a boy!! :)

It seems like everyone called this one! Everytime I turned around, someone was telling me that it's a boy for sure. :) We went to the doctor on Wednesday for the big ultrasound. It was the most exciting thing ever. To be able to see how much he has grown since our last ultrasound was amazing. He's our little boy now, not just a peanut shaped alien wiggling around! The doctor said that everything looked absolutely perfect with me and the baby. He's growing right on target and has all the right developments! We were able to get a dvd of the ultrasound so I can watch it over and over again! We got to see him sucking his little thumb....too stinkin' cute. The whole experience was just amazing. I'm debating on whether or not to put up a picture of him. I have told myself that I wouldn't be one of those people...but it's just so cute to see him sucking his thumb! We'll see...

It's so fun being able to actually go shopping and pick things out now. The bedding and furniture have been a nightmare to try to pick out. I'm probably the most indecisive person you'll ever meet. I know I want baby blue and not green, and espresso colored furniture. We've definitely narrowed it down from what we started with. I just want to be 100% confident with the choice!

I also broke down and bought my first maternity jeans. My cousin had given me some, but I didn't like the way any of them looked on me. It turns out that I actually enjoy wearing them! They are so extremely comfortable!! And I found some cute ones, so I'm feeling a little bit better about the wardrobe issue! While we were out looking for my jeans, we stopped by Gap Kids. OH MY! I have a feeling that I'll be spending more than I should in that store. I could've bought probably one of almost everything! I settled for just one little outfit though. It was a nice splurge...I can't wait to put him in it! Here's a picture of it...

Oh! I almost forgot!! His name is Parker James!! We had already made that decision awhile back. So that's one we didn't have to worry about! Yay! I think everyone in the family pretty much likes it, which is good! Even if they didn't, we'd still name him that. I just don't want anyone making fun of his name! And no...he will not be called PJ as some have already suggested. Yuck.

Sorry it's been almost 3 weeks since the last post! It's been a busy time!! Now to get the bedding and furniture ordered so we can pick out some paint and get started on his room!

How Can It Be?

How is that I'm already at week 17? This pregnancy is absolutely flying by. I'm almost half way there. Goodness! Well, we had an appointment on Jan 28 (last Wednesday). Dr. Moffat said everything seems just great. It was another short appointment...just heartbeat and some Q&A. The best part about it is that she said we could come back in 3 weeks for our ultrasound rather than 4! Yay!!!!!!! I am so so very excited I can hardly stand it. I'm so ready to know if it's a boy or girl. Our appointment is on February 18th at 2:00. It'll be here before you know it! In the mean time, I'm growing growing growing. I went through my closet last week and pulled out all my "skinny" clothes. :( It was a sad sad day! I knew it was coming, but I didn't think I'd have this hard of a time with it! I bought a new maternity dress to help cheer myself up. I think that's allowed in these circumstances. That made me feel a little better. I love dresses about as much as I love purses! Have I mentioned how much I love the 2nd trimester? It is such a relief to be able to wake up and not be afraid to move and cause the morning sickness to erupt! Other than a pretty daily headache, I feel so stinkin' great! I even managed to start working out! I ordered a video online and I'm going to a class at the church once a week. I should've started working out several months ago, but better now than never I suppose! I haven't blogged about this yet, but I have been having the craziest, most vivid dreams ever throughout this pregnancy. Some nights, I feel like I haven't even slept because the dreams feel so real. Sometimes they're scary and I wake up in terror. Other nights are just random and funny. Last night, for example, Jack Bauer and I were BFF. I woke up laughing out loud this morning. He actually had a crush on me, but of course, I was committed to James and didn't have that kind of interest in him. I'm still laughing about that one. Oh goodness!
We've started working on getting the house ready for baby. It's been needing some organizing and de-cluttering. It's coming along, slowly but surely. My goal is to get that part of it all done in the next month so that we can go ahead and get the nursery painted and furniture bought by the end of March or so. I've been looking around for a good glider and am having a hard time finding one that I like. I'm thinking of getting 2, one for the living room and one for the nursery. We need an extra seat in the living room anyways. All of the rest of the furniture in the house is espresso with neutral colors. I think we'll probably use espresso furniture for the nursery as well; however, I love white furniture for a little girl's room. We'll see. Let me know if you have found the perfect glider...
James has been sick the past few days. He's picked up some kind of glorious stomach bug. I'm trying to keep my distance and take care of him at the same time...not an easy task! I've managed not to pick it up though, thank goodness! Hopefully he'll recover soon!
Here are a couple of recent pictures:

BabyBeat - My New Love

So after my last blog, I received a call from my lovely cousin, Tanya. She had read the post where I talked about renting a fetal doppler for peace of mind and it turns out that she had actually purchased a doppler when she was pregnant with Madison, her first daughter. It was one just like they use in the doctor's offices (minus the digital heart rate reading) and she paid about $500. She proceeded to tell me that she had sold the doppler to one of her friends last year for $100, but her friend no longer needed it! So she sold it to me for $75! I was so stinkin excited. They cost about $30 to rent them by the month, so we got a pretty great deal!! So now I'll get to keep this one and lend it out to my close friends as they need it. I went and picked it up on Saturday morning and spent a few hours there with Tanya, her husband and 2 little girls. It was a great time. I don't get to see them nearly enough. She showed me how to use it and let me borrow 2 huge bags full of maternity clothes, which I'm getting very close to needing. So anyways, now I have the doppler at home to use anytime I need to be reassured that our little one's heart is beating away. It has given me so much peace of mind and I am so grateful to have it.
Another exciting note: I'm getting a new camera!! Yay!! My dear friend, Lee Anne, went out and got the Canon Rebel XS (a digital SLR) and let me play with it at church on Wednesday night. I, of course, fell in love with it right away. I tried to convince James that I needed it for when the baby gets here. He surprised me and went out and bought it for me on Friday! He actually bought the upgraded model, but after doing some research, I decided that there wasn't enough difference between the 2 to justify an extra $300. The XS model was out of stock, so we had to order it. I can't wait to get it, though!
Random picture: It makes me laugh! This is Ollie on one of his darting sprees. He's so fast!

Just a quick picture or 5...

I'll put up some more later, but I thought I'd go ahead and put these up!

Have a great day!

These are our cute little trees up in between the kitchen and living room

Stockings hung on the DVD bookcase...lol!

All the presents finally wrapped and under the tree

This is me a week ago. 13 1/2 weeks along here

And again..