I have been dying to write about our baby shower since as soon as we got home on Saturday night, but we have been busy every day since then and have had things going on each evening, and I just wanted to make sure that I had enough time to devote to it in order to do it justice on the blog! So here is a recap, though I promise I am not going to really be able to explain how fabulous, amazing, and beautiful it all was. Sit tight though, folks, because this is gonna be a long one!

Very shortly (maybe a couple of weeks) after I told Sarah that we were expecting, she told me that she would like to host a baby shower for us.  At the time, I thought it was SO nice of her to offer…however when she told us only a few weeks later that she was also pregnant, I told her that she did NOT need to host the shower as she would probably be uncomfortable by then and definitely did not need something to stress her out or cause her to be on her feet a lot! But, she insisted. Turns out I was right, she definitely should not have been stressing out or on her feet like she was… I was worried about her all day! These factors just make it all the more sweet of her to do this for us and Miss Hadley. Makes me teary eyed just to think about it!

During the planning of the shower, Sarah asked me if I would be ok with the idea of having a couples baby shower rather than a traditional “girls only” shower (side note: this is literally the ONLY thing she even mentioned to me about the shower…she told me NOTHING during the planning so everything was a complete surprise to me!). Of course a couples shower sounded great to me, because I would say that the majority of my (our) friends are boys—but I wanted to check with Jon first. Jon thought it was a good idea, but I think his exact response was, “Well, there will be beer, right?”. He surely knows the way to our friends’ hearts. ;) Turns out there was beer AND football on tv during the shower (I told you, best shower ever!), so the boys were not on complete baby overload, even though there was, as always, a lot of pink. Some things that were said directly to me, or that I overheard from the boys after the shower:

“I have never been to a baby shower before but this one is AWESOME!”

“Hell, If this is what baby showers are like then maybe I need to have a baby!” Oh please God No…

The shower was held at the clubhouse in Sarah and Dan’s neighborhood… and the place was so nice! There was not an overall theme of the shower (I am really just not a fan of themes!), but the colors were red (my favorite color) and pink (Sarah’s favorite plus also pink for baby girl)! In the main room, there were several cocktail tables with pink and red ribbon tied around them (sooo cute) and some “munchies” on them, including my FAVE that I have mentioned in just about every weekly update, cheese balls! The tables were decorated with mason jars full of baby’s breath (get it?!) and baby food jars with tea lights inside…such a great idea!

Another one of the cute decorations (which doubled as an amazing gift!) was made by my sister, Bekah. She totally rocked out a diaper cake that was displayed on one of the tables. This bad boy had (I’m estimating here after taking it all apart) at least 200 diapers in it, and it was beautiful! I’m so impressed with her craftiness—I’m not sure how she got the crafty gene, that is definitely not one that I was blessed with.  Isn’t this so cute?

She has got to teach me how to make one of these!

Now, on to the food. OMG, the food! If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that pretty much from day one, I have been craving: fruit, veggies, pizza, and mexican food. So, what did my bestie do? She served all of these things!  The menu consisted of a nacho bar with chicken and beef and tons of toppings, pizza dip, fruit, veggies, and last but not least, BBQ pork sliders. Now, she says that the BBQ was just random and that she just did it because her dad happens to be great at cooking a pig, but I thought it was perfectly fitting and special to me…because the night that we told Sarah and Dan that we were expecting, we were eating dinner at The Pit, one of my favorite restaurants in Raleigh that specializes in BBQ! :) I know that Sarah had a lot of help from her fabulous mom, Jeanne (“JJ”), with the food and all of the setting up, etc., but they really outdid themselves with this spread. Everyone was talking about how delicious it all was… so delicious that, unfortunately, Bekah (the designated photographer, yet again) did not take pictures of the food until everyone had eaten… it was too good to take the time to take pictures when all we all wanted to do was eat! :)  Here are the pictures that she did get of the spread…not sure if you can read it, but the sign says “Steph’s Cravings”…love!

Sarah also made cupcakes for dessert, (funfetti, my favorite, and pretty much the only cupcakes that I will eat).  She handmade the cutest wrappers for them and some super cute onesie decorations that went on them… I think I’m further proving my point here that Sarah may have missed her calling as a party planner!

I think that covers it for the food. I’m telling y’all, it was all so delicious, I know I went back for seconds and I saw some of the boys sneaking back for seconds and thirds. YUM!

At some point during the planning of the shower, Sarah came up with the genius idea to give koozies as favors…perfect for a couples shower, right? Something useful that even the boys would love.  She enlisted the help of Bekah for this one, since Bekah’s neighbor owns a screen-printing business. Bekah went over to his house and actually helped him make these… seriously, how awesome are they?!

And, as if one favor was not enough for everyone, Sarah made yet another one.  She picked up some popcorn from a specialty shop in Raleigh (Carolina Popcorn Shoppe) and made these cute little bags with the popcorn in them… I have eaten some every day this week, and I swear there must be crack in it because it is literally the best popcorn I’ve ever had!

I know you have to be thinking, ok that has to be all. Nope, not even close! Sarah enlisted the help of one of our former coworkers, Moneque, for the next awesome thing at the shower… a thumbprint/signature tree for all of the guests to sign! I am sure some of you have probably seen these at weddings, but this one was personalized for our sweet baby girl…it was perfect! Be sure to check out Moneque’s Facebook page for her new business venture, Gifts and Mo! Here is a before and after shot of the canvas:

My favorite signature on it: “Fun Uncle Jeff”. Also, obviously Sarah knew that our nursery colors were pink and green, but she could NOT have known how perfect this was going to be in the nursery. It fits perfectly in one space that I had been trying to find a picture for… and the frame that she gave me for it as well as all of the colors on the canvas make it look like it was seriously made to go where it is… you can all see it in the nursery soon when I blog about that!

Ok, I think there is just one last “detail” that I need to mention is probably one of my favorite things from the whole shower. Sarah made “wish cards”, which she asked everyone in attendance to fill out with their wishes for baby Hadley.  I had never seen this idea before, but I absolutely loved it!

Everyone took their time in filling them out, and some of the responses were hilarious, and some of them were unbelievably sweet. Jon had the idea for each of us to fill out a card for Hadley on Sunday night before reading what everyone else wrote, so we did that and boy, let me tell you that as we read some, the tears were flowing, and others, we could NOT stop laughing. Some favorites:

“I hope you get… a husband just like your Daddy.” -from my Dad (*tears*)

“I hope you never forget…your parent’s birthdays.” -from Mark (agree)

“I hope you become…a clogger since it didn’t work out for your mom.” -from Kennette (there are a few of y’all out there who know why this is hilarious)

“I hope you laugh…at your dad’s lame jokes” -from 6 different people (do you think they’re trying to tell you something, Jon?!)

“I hope you become… an NC State fan, what choice do you have?” -from 4 different people (of course she will be!)

“I hope you grow…boobies” -from Andrea (just lol at that one)

I am going to find a book to put all of the cards in for us to keep and for Hadley to read when she’s older. Thank you, Sarah for doing this, these cards are something we will treasure forever!

Whew. I know that is a lot, and I’m still not done! Believe it or not, after all this, we still had to do the actual “gift-opening” part of the shower… though honestly, everything up until that point had been so amazing, we were not even concerned about the gifts (though they were all amazing!). We were just so happy and feeling so blessed to have our family and all of our best friends all together; it was the first time a lot of those people had been together since our wedding, and I really just didn’t want the night to end.

I will just share a few pictures from the gift opening, so that I can show how amazingly generous all of our friends and family were. I am not kidding, this little girl is blessed beyond measure already.

Bib from Heather…hilarious

Baby Chuck Taylors from Jennifer…seriously adorable

AMAZING little NC State chair, handmade by Moneque

I still can’t stop laughing at this. Light switch plate cover from Jennifer, she said she wanted to teach Hadley about diversity at a young age! hahaha

Bib from Jeff…look familiar? Lol!

CUTE little tutu for Hadley… to be seen again soon in her newborn portraits :)

Sweet teddy bear blanket, crocheted by my Mom (“Mee-maw”)

I told you…amazing, right? Our friends and family were so generous and all of the cards saying how excited everyone is to meet Hadley just solidified the fact that we really do have the BEST friends and family in the whole world. A huge thank you to everyone who came for all of the sweet gifts… they will all be put to good use when she arrives, we promise!

I will wrap up this post (I warned you it would be long!) with some pictures of us with our family and some of the best friends ever. Thank you all so much for being there for us during this special time in our lives!

Me with my two bests from home, Jennifer and Kennette

Me with the excited aunts to be, Bekah and Heather

My Dad, me, Bek and my Mom

Jon and I with the Raleigh crew

Jon and I with Kennette and Mark—they drove all the way from Statesville to be there!

My bestie and me (and Hadley and Baby girl Baum)-33 weeks and 27 weeks!

Last but not least, we had to get a photo with all of the people who made this shower happen: Sarah, Dan, JJ and David. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for all of your hard work on everything. You made us feel so special, and we cannot possibly ever tell you how much we appreciate all that you did for us. Everything was absolutely amazing and this was a night we will never forget. We love you all so much!

-S

Hi friends! I am 33 weeks, 3 days today… that means we have 6.5 weeks to go. For those who don’t know, I was born 6.5 weeks early. So that means that if I went into labor RIGHT NOW, that is the equivalent of when I was born. Wait, WHAT?!?! Now, my mom had not had a single baby shower, they didn’t have any baby furniture, they were TOTALLY unprepared. She said that when her water broke, she thought it had to be something else, because it was way too early! Just thinking about that gives me some serious anxiety. However, no signs of Miss Hadley attempting to make her appearance just yet!

Week 33 was one of the best yet. I feel like I say that every week, but this one really was. This past weekend, my parents came in on Friday and brought our nursery furniture (FINALLY)!!! We got a later start than we had planned, but we got it all moved in and put together on Friday night; we worked until about midnight! A huge thank you to my brother, Zack, for coming and helping Jon carry it all upstairs…we couldn’t have done it without you! Here are just a couple of sneak peaks of them putting it together—you’ll have to wait for a later post (possibly this week, but we’ll see!) to see it all together!

Saturday morning, Jon and my Dad went to watch two of my nephews’ basketball games, and my Mom and I stayed home and did some more work on the nursery—putting things in the chest/bookcase/changing table drawers that I have just had stacked in the closet for the last few months, cleaning, and organizing. It took us all morning to do that, but it felt SO good to have it all put away when we were done! Jon’s parents got to our house Saturday afternoon, and we hung out with them and my parents and worked in the nursery some more until it was time to get ready for our baby shower, which we were SO excited about!

The baby shower was, in a word, amazing. My bestie, Sarah, totally outdid herself with this thing and I seriously think she missed her calling as a party planner… after the shower, everyone was telling me that it was the best baby shower they had ever been to, and I agree (not just because it was for us, either)! That is going to have to be all I say for now, once I get the pictures uploaded and edited, I will do a (probably really long) post about it… so stay tuned. It was seriously amazing, I can’t wait to share all of the details!

Sunday, we went to brunch with Jon’s parents, Bekah, Heather, and Jennifer, then came back here to work on the nursery even more (yep, there is a LOT to do!).  We got the letters spelling Hadley hung above the crib, and that was no easy feat. Jon’s parents left shortly after that, and Jon and spent the rest of the afternoon putting away all the fabulous things we got at the shower on Saturday… it is crazy how much stuff this little person has and how our house already feels too small and she’s not even here yet! :)

Jon and I had our final new member’s class at Apex UMC on Sunday evening, and it was great, as usual.  They talked us through the joining service and what we would be committing to and what it means to be a member of Apex UMC… we are sure that we are in the right place, and cannot wait to join next Sunday!

I think that (mostly) catches you up on our weekend. It was fabulous, to say the least. I promise I will fill you in on the details of the nursery and shower soon… I seriously can’t wait to show everyone!

Now, for the 33 week details!

Size of Baby A: A pineapple!

She is about 17 inches long and weighs around 4.25 lbs.

Developments This Week: Her skeleton is hardening, although the bones in her skull will not fuse together completely, which allows them to move and slightly overlap. This makes it easier for her to fit through the birth canal (thank the Lord!).

Weight Gain So Far: 18 lbs and counting!

Cravings: Chocolate milk, pizza, cheese balls, pop tarts, cereal. What happened to the days when I was craving all healthy snacks?!

Aversions: None!

Symptoms: Heartburn and just generally being exhausted, still.  My feet (specifically my heels) have been really sore lately, which I’m sure is attributable to just carrying around the extra weight! Also, I felt the first Braxton Hicks contractions yesterday, while we were in our new members class at church, actually.  It worried me at first because a) like I said, I was born 6.5 weeks early and my mom had NO signs until she went into labor, and b) the cramps were pretty uncomfortable, but luckily they subsided after about 10 minutes. I guess my body is starting to get ready for giving birth!

Movement: Lots, still! It is becoming pretty uncomfortable, actually… Especially when I am sitting straight up, that’s when the really hard jabs and kicks to my ribs occur. I think she must be feeling pretty cramped in there!

What I Miss: My normal clothes. I pretty much LOATHE maternity clothes, especially jeans. I am lucky in that I can still wear (and button!) most of my regular jeans, but I did break down and buy one pair of skinny maternity jeans (with just the small panel, not the huge one that covers your whole belly) so that I can wear them with boots, and they are so uncomfortable to me—they feel like they are constantly falling off! I am just ready to be able to go into my closet and be able to wear everything in there again instead of just a smallllll little section of things!

Things I am Thankful For: Without a doubt this week, Sarah and Dan (and JJ and David!) and all the hard work they they put into the baby shower. Also, Moneque and Bekah for their help with the special projects—both were awesome! I love you all so much!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Our baby girl’s arrival. Obviously, I have been looking forward to this since day one…but up until now, it has given me crazy anxiety to think about her arrival, because I felt like we just were not ready.  However, after getting so much work done on the nursery and getting all of the things that we got at our showers put away this weekend, I feel much more prepared (at least as far as things around the house go—I am not sure whether I’ll ever feel mentally or emotionally prepared!) and seriously cannot wait for her to get here.

Bump Growth: It has definitely grown in the last week. Jon’s mom kept making comments all weekend about how I had finally “popped”—even though I feel like I “popped” quite a while ago! 

Next Doctor Appointment: November 21.

That’s all for now—going to eat some Japanese food (should have mentioned that in the cravings above, I suppose) and then I will get busy editing photos and writing thank you notes! Hope everyone has a great week.

-S

Sorry I’ve been MIA the last couple days, we had some technical difficulties with my photos after an upgrade on the Mac, but it’s finally all straightened out and I’m baaaack! 

The very next day after our amazing shower in Concord, the fabulous ladies of Union Grove UMC hosted a shower for us at the church. For those that may not know, my Dad has been the pastor at UGUMC now for 20 years (almost unheard of for a Methodist minister)…I started the 2nd grade shortly after we moved there. Growing up in a small church like Union Grove, the church members are not just “people I know”…they are family. The people at UGUMC have watched me grow up, graduate high school, college, and grad school, get married, and now have a baby. I am so blessed to have them in my life!

The shower was Sunday afternoon, and since Jon was such a good sport with all the pink and “oohing” and “aahing” over sweet baby girl clothes and accessories on Saturday, I decided not to subject him to more of it on Sunday. So, he and my Dad stayed at home and watched football during the gift-opening part of the shower, but they both came over toward the end to see everyone. So many of the sweet ladies from the church came, as well as Jon’s mom and his sister Heather, and brought some super cute and sweet gifts for our baby girl!

I would say that the general theme at this shower was CLOTHES. There is just something about baby girl clothes that makes women go crazy—not saying that there aren’t cute baby boy clothes out there, but the baby girl stuff is just so much more fun! We got over 40 (yes, I counted!) different outfits for Hadley at this shower alone… and I cannot explain how CUTE they all are! The ladies at the shower joked that she was going to be the best-dressed baby girl on the planet—but that I will have to change her clothes at least 3 times a day which shouldn’t be a problem as she will probably be throwing up/pooping/peeing on them anyway for her to wear all the clothes that she has! :) Here are a few of the pictures that Bekah, the designated photographer, snapped while we were opening gifts… and the last picture is ALL of the outfits we got (just from this shower) all laid out when we got home…crazy, right?!

After the gift opening, we dug into the yummy food…it was all delicious! The cake was made by one of the church members, and it was so cute and also so yummy! Also displayed on the food table was a beautiful diaper cake made by Amanda (Powers) Loftis—she said it was the first one she had made and it was perfect! I was so impressed…note to self: learn how to make these. Thanks so much, Amanda, I absolutely loved it!

I mentioned yesterday that we received a prayer shawl at the Concord shower from Jon’s church, and we got another one from UGUMC at this shower. It was made by Irene York and is absolutely beautiful, and so soft! We will definitely think of our amazing church family from UGUMC every time that we use it, and know that they love us and are praying for us. It gives me the warm fuzzies to think about! So blessed.

Like I said, Jon and my Dad came over to the church toward the end of the shower… Jon was, like me, overwhelmed at everyone’s generosity! On the way home that night, we talked about how truly blessed we are to have not one, or two, but three church families (Cross of Christ Lutheran in Concord, UGUMC, and our newest church family—Apex UMC). Amazing.

I didn’t manage to get a picture of the hostesses of the shower on Saturday, but I did remember to get one at this one… here are the ladies who put it all together and made this shower so great!

Thank you so much to Ann, June, Jenny, Marcia, Stephanie, Amanda and all of the rest of the ladies from UGUMC who hosted this shower for us, and to everyone who came. I am not sure there has ever been a baby who has been shown so much love before she even arrives! We love you all very much and cannot wait for our baby girl to get here so that she can meet you all—her extended family! :)

-S

This past Saturday, October 22, Jon’s family (his grandmas, his sister Heather, and his aunts) hosted an amazing baby shower for us, held at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Concord where his parents and grandparents attend. They hosted a wedding shower for us there a couple months before we got married, and it is crazy to think that it is now 4+ years later and were were there again, this time for a baby! :) The whole church was invited as well as Jon’s family and some of his parents’ friends… and my mom and Bekah came, too! I did ask for Jon to come to this shower, since it was at his church and with his family, and he was a great sport even through all the PINK! ;) And, thanks to Jon’s dad, we had this awesome crown and hat to wear:

In case you can’t read…my crown said “New Mom to Be” and Jon’s hat said “Proud Dad”…we’ve already joked that he has to pull out that hat to wear at all of Hadley’s big life events…first recitals, first date, first prom, graduations, etc. Right?!

I am not sure how many people actually came, but it was a LOT. Like a whole lot. I would say that I didn’t know the majority of the people (which I expected since they were mostly church members and Jon’s parents’ friends), but there were quite a few that Jon didn’t even know—so we were blown away at how generous everyone was! I think that it is really a testament to the type of people that Jon’s parents and other family members are, that so many people came out to support us and to give such thoughtful gifts for the baby!

The decorations, the food (especially the cupcakes!) and the company was all so nice… these ladies really know how to throw a shower. ;) Also, Jon’s parents had made a copy of the DVD of the 3D ultrasound, and they played it on a screen during the shower so people got to see a glimpse of Miss Hadley while they watched us open gifts. It was so funny, many of the older ladies were amazed at the “technology these days”!

To say we got some amazing gifts is an understatement—a high chair, car seat, Mamaroo (if you haven’t seen one, check it out!), so many adorable outfits, and several beautiful handmade crocheted blankets and hats, just to name a few! Bekah was the designated photographer during the shower, so I will share a few of the pics I look the least ridiculous in that she took while we were opening gifts:

One of the most special things that we got at this shower was a blanket that my mom crocheted for the nursery. She and I went shopping for the yarn for this a while back when we finally decided on nursery bedding, so I knew it was coming, I just wasn’t sure when or what it would look like, exactly.  It is beautiful, though, and SO soft, and it is already proudly displayed on the glider in the nursery (for now, until we get the rest of our furniture). Thanks Mom!

Another one of our favorite things that we got was this sweet lamp for the nursery… we saw it one day while we were out shopping at Pottery Barn Kids and both fell in love! Jon’s mom bought it for us and used it as a cute centerpiece for the gift table at the shower…I can’t wait to set it up once we get our nursery furniture! Thanks so much, Kim! :)

The last really special thing that I’ll mention (trust me, I’m not saying that everything we got wasn’t special because it all was!) was a prayer shawl from Cross of Christ Lutheran church’s prayer shawl ministry.  If you aren’t familiar with prayer shawl ministries (I am only because UGUMC does this, too), they are usually crocheted or knitted shawls/blankets given to someone in the church or community to remind them that the church is praying for them. So sweet, right? Jon was confirmed at Cross of Christ and his Kluttz side of the family have all been members there their whole lives, so that was a really special gift for our baby girl.

Here are a couple of pics of Jon and me after opening all the gifts… it all seemed so surreal that this stuff is all for OUR baby!

We cannot thank everyone enough for all of the amazing, thoughtful, sweet gifts for Hadley. Thanks so much to Jon’s family for hosting the shower and for all of the love that you have already shown for this baby… she is so, so blessed, and so are we! We love you all VERY much!

-S

We are officially 3/4 of the way through this pregnancy. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!?! I am 30 weeks, 3 days today, so only 67 more days to go. I just cannot believe it.

This weekend was extremely eventful as far as “baby things” go, as we had not one but TWO baby showers, one in Concord on Saturday and one in Union Grove on Sunday. I’m not going to say a whole lot about them yet—I’ll blog about them separately this week—but I will say, WOW. I know I sound like a broken record, but this baby is so loved already, and we feel so blessed. Thank you to everyone who came and especially to those who hosted the showers, we are so grateful for your generosity!

I had my 30 week checkup today with Dr. Brannon, and everything looks perfect! For the first time this week, he measured my belly with a tape measure (I didn’t think to ask him what he was measuring for, but I will ask next time!). I asked him if everything looked ok, and he said that I was definitely “on the small side” but that he wasn’t concerned and that everything looked great… he said that I am just what his other patients refer to as a “lucky b*tch”, lol (he said “their words, not mine”)… so I guess thanks, Mom, for the good genes!

In other baby news, I got the news on Friday that Jamie is having a BOY! We are so excited for her and Jamey and can’t wait to meet the little guy in March… I think Hadley will be ok with her future boyfriend being just a couple months younger than her. ;)

For consistency’s sake, just wanted to post a quick 30 week update even though it’s way less exciting than talking about the cute stuff we got at our amazing baby showers:

Size of Baby A: A cabbage.

She is about 16 inches long (!!!) and weighs around 2.75-3 lbs!

Developments This Week: Her eyesight is continuing to develop, though it’s still not very keen.  One of my pregnancy apps says that as she continues to practice breathing, I may notice a bout of the hiccups. I haven’t felt this yet (that I have been aware of at least), but I have heard from friends that it is a funny feeling! Also, her bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cells, which is important because it means she will be better able to thrive on her own once she is born. It is definitely comforting to know that if something were to happen and she were to come now or in the next couple weeks (please not until we at least have furniture, Hadley!), she would be able to make it on her own. 

Weight Gain So Far: Per my doctor’s scale this morning, the official count is 15 lbs on the dot!

Cravings: Chinese food! Finally satisfied this craving today for lunch…it was delish.

Aversions: None!

Symptoms: I have been experiencing (rare, thank goodness) very sharp pains in my left leg this week. It has only happened a few (three) times so far, but I’m hoping that they were just isolated incidences, because it was VERY painful. It feels almost like a cramp at first but then like a sharp, shooting pain/burning from the back of the top of my thigh down to behind my knee. I am wondering if it could be the pregnancy sciatica that I have read about in my What to Expect emails, but I’m not sure…just hoping that it doesn’t happen anymore because it HURTS! No other new symptoms to note, just the same ol’ same ol’, tired and not sleeping very well!

Movement: Still tons… and some of it is becoming pretty uncomfortable, especially the pokes/jabs straight to the ribs that happen when I’m sitting up (i.e., all day at work). She kicked really hard today when Dr. Brannon was listening to her heartbeat, and it made a really loud noise… he just laughed and said she was trying to say hi! :)

What I Miss: Oversized hoodies being oversized. I know that sounds stupid, but this weekend I went to put on my favorite oversized hoodie and because of the bump… it fit normally. I was so sad because that was my favorite hoodie to bum around the house in! I wish that I could wear one of Jon’s…but they literally come down to my knees, haha!

Things I am Thankful For: Broken record, again, I know, but: Our family, friends, and church families for throwing us our two baby showers this past weekend. Holy moly, we are SO blessed, and Hadley Jo is so blessed to already have so many people who love her!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Getting our nursery furniture in (yep, supposed to be this week again). Meeting with one of the pastors from Apex UMC this thursday night at our house. Also, our baby shower with all our friends in Raleigh on November 12! Also is it too early to say Bekah’s wedding (in June)?!

Bump Growth: Growing every day. I would say that I now, finally, officially, “feel pregnant” now that the bump is more prominent. However, most people at our showers this weekend were asking me why I wasn’t showing more… or saying “30 weeks?! But you’re so small!”…I am not sure what the appropriate response to those comments is, but I just assured them that she is definitely in there and doing fine! Several people said it probably just means that I will have a small baby, which I am totally ok with. ;) Here’s a pic from today, please ignore the iPhone self-portrait, Jon is working late tonight and isn’t here to take it:

Next Doctor Appointment: November 7.

That’s all for this week’s update… I’ll be spending the rest of the night trying to sort through everything we got at the showers and figure out WHERE in the world it is all going to go… how is it that our house already feels too small and she’s not even here yet?! 

Hope everyone has a great week, really cannot believe it is already the last week of October!

-S

I want to start off this post by asking everyone to please say a prayer for my Granny. She was taken to the emergency room at Chapel Hill today for very low blood count, high blood pressure, and trouble breathing. I just saw her on Sunday at our baby shower, and she seemed to be doing ok, so this is all a pretty big shock. Just pray that the doctors can figure out why she is losing blood and that she starts to feel better soon. 

I have said it many times, but I am SO blessed to have such an amazing family. The women of the Kirby family were so sweet to throw us our first shower this past Sunday afternoon, at my Aunt Sherry & Uncle Mike’s house in Newton. All of my aunts and most of my girl cousins came, as well as my Granny, my mom, sisters, Jon’s mom, and Jon’s Grandma Kluttz. The food was delicious and the decorations were so cute—everything was PINK! :)

Too cute, right? Everyone was so generous with the gifts…this baby is not going to be in need of anything! Here are a few pics that Bekah snapped as I was opening gifts—but I’m warning you, please ignore some of my facial expressions—she seemed to always snap them when I was talking or making ridiculous faces.

As you can see, we got some great stuff! Jon has actually already put the Pack ‘N Play together, and we tested out the video monitor—both are awesome. The next series of pictures needs a little bit of explanation. I saw on the bag that the gift said it was from my mom, and I know she has been making a blanket to match the nursery, so I assumed that is what it was.  I was wrong…she totally surprised me! She had saved quite a few things from when I was a baby, and her hoarding finally paid off she had washed it all up so it looked brand new. Tears! She gave me (well, I guess I should say that she gave Hadley):

The dress I was dedicated in at Trinity Baptist Church,

The shoes I wore with that dress (SO cute by the way),

The outfit I wore home from the hospital,

The hat that I wore home from the hospital,

and one of my first baby blankets.

I was so surprised that she had kept all of this, and so excited that I will get to pass it on to Hadley. As long as it fits, I definitely want her to wear the dress and shoes when she is baptized. I am not a person who usually keeps a lot of things, but now I feel like I need to save things like this of Hadley’s… all of her “firsts”. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. Thanks, Mom, for giving me such a special gift!

I also want to thank my awesome Kirby family for the shower, we appreciate your generosity more than you know. I love you all!

I guess I will end the post with even more pictures, even though I have already shared a ton…y’all know I love pictures! I will note that I made a conscious effort to not do the “pregnant pose”, aka holding my hand under my belly in every picture, but maybe I should have so that you could actually see my belly in the pics! 

Had to snap a pic of me with the fabulous hosts, my Aunt Jan, cousin Laura, Aunt Sherry, and cousin Meredith:

Me with Jon’s Grandma Kluttz, Jon’s mom, my mom, and my Granny (and no, Jon’s mom and Grandma did not plan on dressing alike, lol):

My sisters trying to “make me look pregnant”:

And finally, one of my sweet sisters and me. I love them!

Thanks again to everyone for making this day so special. Hadley will be truly blessed to be born into such an amazing family. 

-S

Ahh where is the time going?! I am 25 weeks, 3 days today! Less than 15 weeks to go… and less than 3 weeks until I’m officially 2/3 of the way through and into my 3rd trimester! It is exciting and scary all at the same time. I just feel like we have so much left to do before she gets here, but I know we will get it all done somehow. 

This weekend was a bit of a blur for me—I got home from Georgia on Friday night and spent the whole evening prepping food for tailgating on Saturday.  Saturday morning, we got up early and finished getting the food ready and all our stuff packed up and headed out to tailgate. It.Was.Freezing. And raining! Pretttttty miserable, especially when I couldn’t “warm up from the inside out” like most of the people at the tailgate, haha. Not to mention I was still sick—still with the cold and cough that seems to be going around now. We made the best of it, though, and we had fun hanging out with the crew, as always! Surprisingly, I did not take a single picture at the game, but Ana got a good one of all the girls:

Yesterday, we went to church, even though I was feeling terrible after sitting out in the cold and rain (probably not the best idea to do that when I was already sick)…but I’m glad we did. We came home and watched the Panthers play a pretty solid game against Green Bay (Cam Newton is looking good!) and I napped for a little while. We had our first new members class at Apex UMC yesterday afternoon, and it was great! There were about 40 people there who are also interested in becoming members, so it was great to get to meet them and get to know them and also more about Apex UMC in general.  Jon and I both left feeling like this church is right where we need to be. Thank you God! 

Thankfully, I am feeling MUCH better today, just have an annoying cough that I hope will go away soon! Thanks for all of the messages and calls asking how I’m feeling, etc… I am so blessed to have so many people who care! :)

Here are the 25 week details:

Size of Baby A: A rutabaga. I honestly had no idea what a rutabaga looked like so here is a pic for comparison sake:

She is about 13.5 inches long and 1.5 lbs!

Developments this week: Her body parts are continuing to become more proportional to each other. Baby fat is also continuing to fill in her wrinkled skin for a smoother look, and more hair is growing, developing texture and color. I cannot wait to see what color it will be! 

Weight Gain So Far: Per my home scale…still 9.5 lbs. I feel like it is probably closer to 10 though now, because that scale is not extremely accurate! 

Cravings: Sandwiches… usually cold deli meat sandwiches, which of course I’m not supposed to have. I have been trying to satisfy the craving with warm sandwiches/subs, and it has (kind of) worked. Also craving chocolate milk ALL the time. Yum.

Aversions: None.

Symptoms: Sore feet and back, and heartburn! A big thank you to Tums. :) I have had itchy skin, too… I have read that it is because it is stretching, so I’ve been using LOTS of lotion to try to help and to hopefully avoid any stretch marks!

Movement: As I write this I can see my stomach moving out of the corner of my eye… she has been moving around like crazy today. I hope she does this on Saturday for our 3D/4D ultrasound! She has been a little more subdued the last few days…I’m wondering if it had to do with the fact that I was sick. I’m happy to have her back to normal and moving a lot again!

What I Miss: Sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time and not having to get up to go to the bathroom!

Things I am Thankful For: Family. I know this is another repeat, but I am so excited to see everyone this weekend and to have our first baby shower. We are so blessed to have such an awesome family that is just as excited as we are for this baby’s arrival!

What I’m looking forward to: Our 3D/4D ultrasound this coming Saturday and our first shower, thrown by the fabulous Kirby women on Sunday. Going wedding dress shopping with Bekah on Saturday after the ultrasound! Also…homecoming at UGUMC, can you say COVERED DISH?! A pregnant girl’s dream! ;)

Bump Growth: I had my client, who I haven’t seen in a little over a month, ask me today if I was sure I was pregnant. Umm yes I am sure! I think it must have been my clothes or something. Here is proof:

Next Doctor Appointment: October 10

I hate to wish the time away…but I am hoping that this week goes by very quickly, because we have so much to look forward to this weekend!

Hope everyone has a great week!

-S