Friends and Showers

My very best friends Candace and Kristi came in from Andrews to spend the weekend. It was so much fun... I didn't realize how much I was missing these girls. There is nothing like being with your lifelong friends during a life changing time. I love the way God designed us to need each other.

On Thurs night we made fajitas, then on Friday we met our other friend Amy in downtown Ft Worth for a little PF Chang- YUM. We literally had lunch for 3 hours- appetizers, meal, dessert.... sooo fun!

On Saturday Candace, Kristi, my sister Anna, mother in law Sarah, my mom and I all went to The Bisque House to paint pottery. We had a blast. If you haven't ever done that, I highly recommend it.

On Saturday night we had yet another Baby Shower. I am so, so blessed with good friends and family. It was a couples dinner and shower at Jay and Charli Sherrill's house and they served a wonderful brisket supper. Everyone wrote a blessing for the baby on a scrapbook sheet and there were lots of precious gifts. I still can't believe all the wonderful people around us.

36 Week Sonogram

Well, we had the 3rd trimester sonogram on 8/5, and everything looks great! The doctor said that she was right on track with our due date, that I had plenty of fluid, etc. She said from the measurements that the baby is around 6lb 4oz right now and she expects her to be a 7ish pound baby. Sounds good to me!

I am still feeling great. I overheard Brett telling someone how miserable I was the other day and I realized that I should really stop complaining to him... Sleep is getting a little tough, and my pelvis sometimes complains about the teenzy bit of extra weight on it. Otherwise, I'm just perfect- it could be so much worse. We are just getting really excited to meet her!

Showers and Such...

OK- So I'm playing a little catch up... It's been crazy busy lately- but wonderful!

On July 12 we had our first baby shower in Tyler. My precious mother-in-law Sarah, sister-in-law Tricia, and good friend Stori planned a wonderful luncheon and shower at The Potpourri House in Tyler. It was SO much fun... of course celebrating babies is ALWAYS fun.

My mother-in-law Sarah and my blossoming belly

What a sweet cake (ha)!

Just look at all the wonderful gifts! My sweet sister-in-law FILLED and I mean FILLED a baby tub with all sorts of wonderful things- including a custom made diaper bag..... I am SO thankful!

Ummm....Lunch

So, then on July 19 & 20 Brett and I attended "Prepared Childbirth", "Breastfeeding", and "Early Infant Care" all crammed into 11 glorious hours at Baylor All-Saints hospital. No pictures unfortunately. Brett was a real trooper and is SO much more interested in the birth, changing diapers, and he knows more about how a breast works than he ever dreamed. It actually was a lot of fun. I think the best part was getting to tour the L&D department at the hospital. It's brand new and just beautiful. We are so thankful to have our BabyGirl in such a neat place!

We headed to Abilene on July 25th and celebrated my Dad's birthday at Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap- sooo yummy!



On Saturday, we had our 2nd baby shower in Abilene. My amazing mother and 10 of her work and church friends put together a beautiful brunch for us. It was so nice to see lots of friends and close family that we rarely get to spend time with.

Me and all the ladies...

Me and my favorite ladies...

Won't that be a beautiful "coming home" blanket...

So, after the shower, my mom got to work. Her gift to us is "custom-made" baby bedding. We found all the fabric weeks ago, and then this weekend we camped out at my brother's house and my mother literally sewed non-stop for 2 days. She is probably the hardest working woman I know...literally. It is almost finished, so I will post pictures of the final product when it's all together. Thanks so much Mom! BabyGirl, Brett and I appreciate your time more than you know.

Momma hard at work...

Isn't that BabyGirl growing!!!!

Independence Day!!

I love the 4th of July! Honestly, Christmas and Easter certainly "mean" the most, but the 4th of July has always been my favorite celebration. Warm weather, great food, great friends and family, and just "hanging out"....so much fun. This year we spent the weekend in Granbury with our new great friends Dewayne & Katie. Here's the run down-

Friday, Brett & Dewayne golf, then meet up with the girls and Dewayne's cousins later for pizza. That night we joined the church (and the rest of Granbury) in the Walmart parking lot for fireworks.

Katie and I waiting on fireworks...

She is around 36 weeks pregnant and counting. I predict future BFF's in those bellies!

Saturday- we met up with the same crew for a morning parade then shopped the arts and crafts around the downtown square. I didn't find a thing, but Katie found a precious toy box for baby Johnna. Now her nursery is complete. Home for a MUCH needed nap, then a quick stop for dinner at another friends birthday party. Met back up with the Wilkins crew and headed to a street dance in their neighborhood with lots of folks we know... So much fun.

The whole crew waiting on the parade. My sister Anna is front and center, then sweet Katie (so sorry I caught you drinking), then Dewayne's cousin Landon, Brett, Dewayne, and Landon's brother Garrett.

We have been especially blessed with good friends lately. I hope everyone else out there had just as wonderful a celebration.

I Love Being Pregnant...

I really don't title this entry with tongue in cheek... I actually do love being pregnant. It must be said that I have had a wonderfully easy time of things as I hear tough stories of terrible morning sickness, swollen feet, stretch marks, aching backs, hands, heads....and so on. I just wanted to share a few of my favorite things about being pregnant, and then a few things I have found...well...interesting.

My Favorites:

1. Being with my babygirl literally all of the time....often just her and me (doesn't that sound like terrible grammer- I promise it's correct, I checked). I can't wait to meet her face to face, but I know somehow there is a "specialness" about this time that won't be equalled.

2. My husband loving on me like I didn't know was possible... I still can't believe I get to have him.

3. Not even caring what the scale says or how my hiney looks in a pair of stretch pants (notice the horizontal stripes in the picture)...sweet freedom.

4. Getting a bunch of new clothes in a really short period of time....so much fun.

5. Lets all be honest... the attention is really nice. Family, friends, strangers... I assure you I have never been this interesting before.

6. Feeling my babygirl move. I never get tired of it... it's like she's talking to me.

7. God revealing parts of me that He created, but I'm just now beginning to see. He's so amazing.

Now, for some of the more interesting parts of pregnancy...

1. The body that had been so familiar to me for so long was suddenly abducted by aliens... whose body is this!?

2. Just about the time I get adjusted to how I am feeling....it changes.

3. No matter what position I am laying in, some body part falls asleep. The other night I woke up and tried to throw my hand out of the bed because I thought it was a book, yes- it was that numb. (should I be concerned?)

4. Hair. I love it on my head, eyebrows, and eyelashes- otherwise it's just so in the way (sorry, TMI I know).

5. My stomach is full yet I am still hungry. I didn't know those two feelings could exist at the same time...

6. How many times can one person pee in 24 hours? Seriously, what's the record?

7. Being out of breath from watering flowers.

8. Catching my reflection in a glass storefront and not immediately recognizing the person- weird feeling.

9. Being hot most of the time (I was once the girl with the blanket). Brett nearly teared up with joy when I scolded him for turning the air warmer than 68 degrees.

10. Cleavage- I have never had to deal with it before. (actually, I should probably be honest and move this up to the first list).

Vegas Baby!!!!

If you haven't been to The Wynn, it is sooo worth the trip. Beautiful!!!!!!!

OK, my sweet husband golfed all day in the heat and we finally sat down to eat at 9pm. This was actually a $38 dollop of pasta and it tasted like spagettios. He still managed a smile, but NOT one of our most successful meals.

I truly think I was the only pregnant tourist in Vegas. Perhaps it's not exactly a "prenatal" friendly destination.

It really doesn't need words....

Brett is a little shy of heights and it was REALLY windy, so we spent a total of 5 minutes at Hoover Dam. I loved it!

So, we took a final "pre-baby" vacation and Las Vegas was just the natural choice.... I mean, where else do you take your 6 months pregnant wife!?

It really was a load of fun. Neither of us had ever been there before, so I think we literally spent 3 days just walking around and looking at everything. It truly is larger than life...hooray for capitalism! We stayed at the MGM Signature which was perfect for us... It's connected to the MGM Grand, so you have easy access to all the madness- but it's closed to all but patrons, so it's nice and quiet. The rooms are all suites with insanely comfortable beds (very important to me right now). We loved it.

As cheesy as it is, I have to say my favorite part was having undivided play time with my husband. Before Brett, I really had no idea it was possible to enjoy a person so much- God is just amazing...amazing. Now, my second favorite thing was my prenatal massage. OH MY WORD! For any of you who have not experienced this, you HAVE to put it on your "next pregnancy" list. They had this awesome pillow with a cut out that looked like mickey mouse, and all the "bumpy" parts fit into the holes- you get the idea. Now I must admit, it was worth most of the cost just to lay on my stomach for a while- but the massage... well you just have to get one. I felt great for days!!!

The only downside was the trip home. Just FYI, I'm not sure if this is an American Airlines or Las Vegas airport rule, but apparently if you don't check in at least 45 min before your flight then they give away your seats and you have to fly stand-by. You can see where this is going... Now, we are not completely irresponsible, we were a the airport about 90 minutes before our flight but we had a little rental car return problem. So, we didn't "check-in" for the flight until 42 minutes before departing. You guessed it, because we were 3 minutes late it took us 8 hours to get on another flight. Yes...8 hours in the airport. The worst part was that there were flights back to DFW about every hour and we had no idea which one we would get... so, we had to just sit at the gate all day. It was awful. Brett was so calm and I don't know how. I suppose he realized that getting angry wouldn't get us anywhere. I just stood there and cried. Seriously, couldn't speak - just cried. Oh well, makes for a pretty good story now!

It's a Girl!

We had our 19 week sonogram yesterday and it was amazing! Is there any more tangible evidence of the existence of God than the creation of a child... I mean, 11 weeks ago there was just a little ball of cells, and then yesterday I got to see a baby, a real live little indivdual that is fearfully and wonderfully made. I love that He chose to bring people into the world this way. I am humbled to tears that I get to be a part of this little creation.
She is beautiful and perfect and amazing. Everything looked just fine and he said she weighed about a pound. Her little ankles were crossed, just like a lady! Brett just kept saying "I'm so happy", "I'm so excited". He told me, "you need to prepare yourself. I'm going to be her favorite". That'll be just fine- besides, I'm used to it! Brett's everybody's favorite... I can't wait to meet her in person!