Hayden Paul

So it's been a while. I actually really needed a break from this blog. I had become overwhelmed and sad by it actually. But I missed it.

I tried writing elsewhere, retreated to a private instagram and FB account, and it wasn't the same. This blog is a sort of home for me. It holds all of my sweetest memories of Noah, our journey, and some funny times in between. It makes me happy to write here. So I'm back. I will probably keep things simple. Just documenting our lives, hopefully sooner rather than later. I need the outlet, especially now.

A lot has changed since my last post.
We ended up adding another boy to our little family.

So without further adieu, here's his story...

***

Tuesday night, around 11:30, I started having pretty regular contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart, but they weren't really getting much worse. The funny thing is that it took me a while to figure out I was actually having contractions. It felt more like someone was sitting on my chest. There wasn't much pain involved, just a weird tightness. Since I was induced with Noah, the only real contractions I'd felt before were insanely intense (thanks Pitocin...). Our buddy Chase was on standby anyway, just in case we'd have to go to the hospital. I really hated the idea of making him drive to our house so late just for me to say, "Whoops, false alarm!" He was super sweet though, and he reassured me that it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus he'd rather spend the night than have to come at 3am. :)

We all stayed up late talking, while both the boys kept asking how I was doing. The contractions started to taper off, and I finally got comfortable enough to fall asleep around 3am.

And then I woke up at 6am. Contractions were back, and they were getting stronger. I still didn't want to go in for a false alarm, so we hung around the house for a little while. Brad ran to McD's for breakfast and grabbed me a plain biscuit. I'd told him I didn't want anything, but I'm glad he made me eat. I would've been starving by the time I got to eat again. We called my OB's office, and they told us to go ahead and go to the hospital. Turns out my Dr was already there, so she said she'd check me when we arrived.

So we headed to Charlotte... a new system took over called Novant, but everyone from here still calls the hospital "Presby Main" (the big Presbyterian hospital close to downtown... and well, if you're not from here, you'll call it "uptown" haha). Basically everyone in my family was a "Presby baby", so that's where my babies will all be born hopefully.

Anyways...

We got to the triage place, where the nurse got me in a gown, I peed in a cup, all that medical stuff. She checked me, and I was only at 1.5cm, which is where I was at my last OB appointment. I was a little disappointed. No way did I want to go all the way down there for nothing. She also told me my blood pressure was a little high and I had a little protein in my urine (I'd had pre-eclampsia with Noah and had been fine up to this point with this baby). She suggested we spend the next little while walking around the hospital. If it really was labor, I'd progress. If not, the contractions would stop, and I'd get to go home.

So Brad and I walked the halls for a good two hours, stopping once for her to check me. I wanted to check out the nursery... you know, give me some motivation... but turns out, the nursery doesn't really exist there anymore. They now require all babies to room in with the parents, unless there's a legit reason they need to put the baby under observation of course. I love the new procedure, but I was still a little bummed not to see all the sweet babies lined up in their plastic cribs. After the second hour, I was feeling ridiculous. And frankly, I looked ridiculous. I was wrapped in two hospital gowns wearing my tennis shoes. Least unattractive outfit ever. I told Brad we were probably going to get sent home, and I felt like we'd wasted all that time. We came back to the room, and my OB followed us in shortly after. She checked me and cheerfully responded, "You're a 3!"

The triage nurse looked pretty shocked... I think she thought we'd be going home too. They prepped a room for me and got me moved pretty quickly. We spent the next couple hours in the L&D room just relaxing (well, sort of...). Lots of Farm Heroes Saga, instagram, etc. Smartphones should've been invented for this purpose alone a long time ago. Perfect distraction! Brad napped a little, and I chatted with my nurse. She was so amazing.

My OB came in a couple hours later to check on me. I hadn't progressed any, so she decided to go ahead and break my water for me. And of course, that got things moving fast! Right after she did that, they went ahead and got my epi put in. Somehow I think I ended up with every top doctor and nurse that night. He was the head of the anesthesiology department. Also, my OB was named among the top 20 most influential women in Charlotte not long ago. I really lucked out.

Anyway, after my water was broken, things really picked up. After that miscarriage over a year ago, I realized how fragile these little unborn lives can be. Every visit at the OB, I would pray for a heartbeat. My heart would fall in my stomach if it took her a minute to find his heartbeat. So when my contractions got stronger, and his heart rate would drop in response, I immediately began worrying and praying. Brad assured me he was okay, just to breathe and get plenty of oxygen to him. So I did. Unfortunately it wasn't enough though. The nurse and my OB weren't concerned, although they did continue to monitor it closely. But I was nervous. As his heart rate dipped dangerously low a few times, they decided to put me on oxygen. It definitely helped, which allowed me to relax some (as much as one can relax in active labor...). Both my nurse and OB were amazingly calm and reassuring through the whole thing.  Brad was awesome and talked me out of a panic attack as well. :)

I think it may have been about 45 minutes between when she broke my water and when it was time to push. He was definitely ready to meet us! It only took like 3 or 4 pushes, and he was here. Beautiful and perfect.

And my OB knows me too well. As soon as I had him, and she told me he was beautiful, her next words were, "You're skinny again!" hahaha.

Because Noah had a rough birth experience, I didn't get to hold him immediately. This time, they didn't hesitate to hand my baby to me. It really does make a difference. It took a few days for me to feel bonded to Noah, if I'm being perfectly honest. We didn't get to do immediate skin to skin, nor was I able to breastfeed. So to have this experience was absolutely amazing.

And with that, I'd like to introduce you to Hayden Paul.
Hayden, because we're 80's/90's kids and watched a million Coach episodes while I was pregnant. And Paul after Paul McCartney. ;)

The stats:

Born at 7:51pm

Weihjed 7 lbs 5.5 oz

Length 21"

reevaluating

Since becoming pregnant and then going through the miscarriage, I've had plenty of time to think. While I was pregnant for those 10 weeks, I started noticing things. Things in my day-to-day life that made me nervous to have another baby. Don't get me wrong, I wanted that baby. If I were still pregnant, I would find a way to figure it out. To work around the challenges.

But still, there were definite issues popping up. Like how much and how often I have to pick up and carry Noah. It may be hard to tell from pictures on a blog, but Noah measures at 3 and 1/2 ft tall. He weighs 42 lbs. My little toddler isn't little by any means. He's a tall, hefty kid.
Unfortunately, there wasn't really any way around it either. Noah doesn't quite understand certain directions. So when I ask him to get in his car seat, he'll just start goofing off and looking for toys he dropped in the floorboard. I was having to physically pick him up and put him in his car seat. Sometimes when we're out, he'll see a pile of rocks or dirt that he'll want to play in. Obviously, if we're in a parking lot or some other not-so-safe area, this isn't too convenient. The only way for me to separate him from the dirt is to pick him up and carry him away. It made me worry, but I kept telling myself that my body was used to it (and it is, you should feel my arm muscles).

I also started worrying about Noah's sleep issues.
Autism plus a newborn was going to give a whole new meaning to sleep deprivation. Noah has been doing slightly better. He still stays up way too late, but at least he's starting to sleep for solid chunks of time again. However, it's not always consistent. Last Saturday night, Noah went to bed at 11pm and woke up at 4am. He didn't go back down until 9am.
Throw a newborn into that ridiculousness, and you might as well have gone ahead and ordered me some purple pills. This momma was going to need 'em.

Like I said, I would've figured it out. But while I was pregnant, I gained some perspective. I realized that even though I'm emotionally ready... logistically? Yeah. So not there yet.

I talked to my OB about my concerns at my last follow-up. I asked her about picking Noah up (she's met him), and her response was, "Well, you wouldn't want to be picking him up often or on a daily basis..."
And that just confirmed it.

Noah has come a long way in just a few months. There's no telling where he'll be in another few months, or even a year. But I've definitely decided that babies are going to be put on hold for a little while longer. I've said before that I'm not on any sort of schedule or time frame. My two siblings and I are all spaced apart by at least 7 years. Last weekend, I photographed a family with a 6 yr old and a 3 mth old. I've never thought that I've had to had my kids really close together, and I certainly don't think that now. Every family is different, and right now for my own health and sanity, we're going to remain a little family of three for a little bit longer. :)

sad.

I went to the doctor yesterday for a routine check-up... get some blood drawn, get a flu shot, etc. They do a lot of ultrasounds at my OB office, so she went ahead and wheeled in the machie wanted to get a good look at the baby, check the heartbeat, and make sure we were both doing okay.

 

Unfortunately, there was no heartbeat.

 

While I know things will be okay, and my emotions will get back to normal eventually, right now I'm just so very sad. And disappointed.

I hate that I was alone when I found out, other than Noah who was too busy leaning against the window, enjoying the cool view of the city. But my OB is amazing.

She's a mom and gets it. She kept telling me over and over how sorry she was. Then she gave me the biggest hug, promising me that it was nothing I had done or didn't do. She proceeded to explain my options, and she told me to call her at any time if I needed her for anything. I was told how this is more common than people think (it's just not talked about much, which is stupid).

At this point, I've opted to let my body handle everything naturally. It just seems like the least scary/painful choice.

 

I did a decent job of holding it all together, more for Noah than for myself. I didn't want to freak him out and make him associate that place with mommy crying.

Although if you're ever in a situation like this, I don't recommend trying to drive while this upset. The sadness would come in small hits, and it was difficult to pay attention (and at some points see beyond the tears).

 

The hardest part though (aside from the actual news) was waiting for Brad to get home from work. Technically, he was scheduled to have yesterday off, but then the store needed him for some big visit. After being there for 10 hours, I was hoping he'd be headed home. But no. Target likes to put a massive damper on our lives at important times. And it's not like I could text him and be all "Come home ASAP" or "I need you", because then he'd know. I definitely did not want my husband to find out via a text message.

As soon as he got out of the store, he called. His first words were, "So how did the doctor's go?" And I just couldn't hold it in anymore. Somehow he heard my words, even though they probably didn't come out sounding the way I wanted.

We're doing okay. Just sad, mixed with some hurt and anger (the news got out on FB before we were ready to share). Just keep us in your prayers, for peace and forgiveness.


"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" Job 1:21

playing catch-up.

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. We're coming into that busy season where we go-go-go for 2 months straight. It's actually my favorite kind of season. People are (mostly) happy and filled with excitement.
For me, I also have to factor in Noah's therapy appointments, Brad's crazy retail schedule, work, pregnancy, and all the stuff in between.
Frankly, I already have issues keeping up with blogging as it is. I can't imagine what things will look like around here in the next few weeks.
Bear with me, this may turn into a long post. Sorry 'bout that.

However, part of my blogging issue was that our laptop (we thought) had died. It wasn't charging anymore. So if I wanted to blog or do anything computer-related, I had to do it on the monster in the corner room upstairs. No more blogging while Noah played right in front of me. But, we tested out the laptop with my dad's charger, and it was indeed just the charger. So I have my laptop back. Woohoo!

Anyways, this is a catch-up post of sorts.
Just stuff we've been doing the last couple of weeks that I've been meaning to blog.

My Birthday.
It was actually a little pathetic. Life just got so busy, and I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. So I messaged a bunch of friends to see if they wanted to join us for dinner. It was kind of a last minute thing, so my feelings weren't going to be too hurt if it didn't work out.
And well... those who said they could come? Almost all had to cancel at the last minute, due to various reasons (mostly babysitter and sick kid issues). However, one of my lifelong best friends was so loyal that he and his fiance drove 2 hours from his granddad's 90th bday party to celebrate with me. It was going to be them and one other couple. And since both couples lived on opposite sides of town (and frankly, I was worried they wouldn't quite mesh well, personality wise)... we decided to keep it small. Which turns out? Is exactly how I like it.
We opted for a Japanese steakhouse (haven't had it in foreeever. shrimp sauce, how I missed you...), and we had an absolute blast. Afterwards, Brad and I picked up Noah and we all headed back to our place to hang out and play games.
It was low key. And it was wonderful.

More Birthdays.
Noah's cousin, Easton, turned two last week. To celebrate, his momma planned a little party at our grandparents' house for Easton's friends and family. Easton's daddy was actually in a very serious car accident last year. So bad in fact, that he is the only survivor. He recently started being able to walk on his own again, and it was so awesome to see him there. His progress is amazing, and I'm sure his parents are thanking God every single day for sparing their son.

We learned that Noah isn't exactly the best birthday party guest. Obviously, this is an area we need to work on a little more. Poor kid.
I wasn't able to get many pictures of the party, because a certain little boy decided to get into a massive mud puddle. He was originally heading for a big pile of dirt (my family has always been in construction, so random dirt piles are normal), but got sidetracked by a quick-sand type mud swamp. He stepped one foot in it, slipped, and was covered in mud. And of course you know I didn't pack an extra pair of pants. So the kid attended the rest of the party without pants, while his were washing.
I had to actually hose him off outside before we took his shoes and pants off. He thought that was so fun that he got mad when I wouldn't let him play with the hose himself.
He also doesn't understand that the entire gallon of ice cream is not for him.
Nor are the birthday boy's presents.
Or that you can't just walk up to kids and take their balloons, then proceed to let them go.
And while Noah is most definitely not the tantrum-thrower type, he certainly had a few fall-on-the-floor and whine moments because of our constant intervening. Apparently, we don't get invited to enough parties. haha.
But it wasn't all bad. My cousin had borrowed a bouncy house, which Noah loved. They also painted pumpkins (which Noah entertained for about 5 minutes). We also got to see one of mine and Brad's childhood buddies (he grew up down the street from us) who was there with his wife and little girls.

 

 That night, the rest of the family came over to celebrate the October birthdays. Noah was doing a little better. At least he had pants on. Although at one point, we were all sitting around the table chatting. I see my brother jump up from the table... because Noah had reached onto the kitchen counter and was carrying an entire sheet cake to us. Because he wanted some, and he didn't know how else to tell us. Thank goodness we caught him before he had a chance to drop it.

That boy.

Photography Stuff.
I need a nanny. Or a husband with a regular work schedule. I currently have two photo sessions and a wedding I'm editing, and Noah doesn't quite understand that concept. Brad has a couple days off this week, so I'm taking advantage and getting as much done as I possibly can.

Oh yeah, the wedding.
Well, the night before, Noah was an angel and went to bed at 10:30. And wouldn't you know it, Brad and I were both too excited about the next day that we couldn't sleep. We both got a little over 3 hours that night, before driving 2.5 hours to the location and spending the next 6 hours documenting a wedding.
Honestly, though? It was a blast.
I realized how much I enjoyed doing weddings. At least the easy ones. I'm not skilled enough to handle crazy lighting situations yet.
The only issues we really ran into were mostly with people. Guests who didn't want their picture taken or an incredibly shy groom. :) That and the actual ceremony itself. It's really difficult trying to balance between getting good shots and not being totally obtrusive. But it all worked out. I just hope the bride will be happy with what we got.
Here are a couple of shots I already posted on my Facebook page. Oh, and if you love me, do me a favor and go "like" my page. I'm almost at 100 likes! ;)

My dad and stepmom came to watch Noah for us for the day. They were awesome and were at our door before the sun was up. While they waited for Noah to wake up, they proceeded to wash the dirty dishes in the sink, fix our dishwasher (we thought it died, but the timer just broke), and repair our front door handle that was a pain to open.
We told them just to take our car if they needed to go anywhere (to avoid switching out the car seat). And boy did they go.
I think they took Noah on a tour of Charlotte. They went to Khols, Target, the nursing home (to visit my grandmother), their house, my dad's apartment building where he works (he had to check on something), and lunch at a drive-in.
When they got back, they proceeded to play outside.
My parents are hilarious.

("Grandaddy is a sugar bear with teeth"... not even sure what that means, but it made me laugh)

("Mama D is a Honey Boo Boo")

Pregnancy Stuff.
Still feeling pretty good. I'm starting to get some of my energy back, which is nice. I'm 10 weeks today, so I'm hoping I'm almost beyond the queasy stage. I'm very fortunate in that I don't really get sick sick when I'm pregnant. Just the idea of certain foods makes me feel gross.
I bought myself a heart rate monitor. The Doc doesn't want my heart rate going over 140, which turns out isn't very high. I attempted a light jog last night, and within a minute, my heart rate was at 170. I went back to a power walk, and within 30 seconds, it was back below 140. So no running for me, darnit. I wanted to be the awesome pregnant girl running 5K's, but apparently, that's not allowed. Looks like lots of power walking and yoga for me.
Also, if anyone has any workout ideas, I'm open to suggestions. It actually takes a lot for me to get something out of a workout. I bought a prenatal yoga DVD last time, and it was a big snooze. I never felt a thing. I like to actually feel sore after a workout. I'd prefer to be the tone type of pregnant, not the flabby, give-me-more-cake type (like last time). Honestly, I think I've been spooked into taking better care of myself this time. For any new readers, I got pre-eclamptic towards the end with Noah, and I struggled with weight gain (which was a shock for a skinny girl) and severe swelling. I want to do everything I can to prevent it. The Doc said I'm less likely to get it this time, but I'm still being careful.
My jeans are already starting to get a little snug. I can still button them, but when I'm sitting in the car? Yeah, they're totally getting unbuttoned. I need to get a rubber band to fix the issue. The good news is that they still fit everywhere else, just not my tummy. I guess it's true that you show sooner the second time around.

More importantly, I'm trying to do everything I can to keep the baby healthy. Since they're not sure what triggers autism, I'm doing my best to eat healthy, take my vitamins, and chill out when I'm exhausted. Basically just taking care of myself. That's all I know to do.
And if I still balloon up? Well, at least I know I did my best. :)

***

Alright I'll stop here. More later, hopefully.
Sorry for the random, all-over-the-place post. But it's a bit like my life at the moment, so there ya go. ;)

Happy Monday!


A few details.

Thanks for all the sweet congratulatory emails, texts, comments, etc. We're feeling really blessed and excited about it all.

Our plans of when to have another baby weren't really set in stone. I just knew that I'd know when I was ready. And somewhere in the last year, I went from being all, "Oh, cute baby" when I'd see a friend's newborn to, "OMG soooo cuuttte... I want one!" But I kept holding out. I was thinking maybe it was a phase. However, once I started getting all emotional over teeny-tiny baby shoes on Pinterest pics, I just knew. This phase wasn't ending anytime soon. And Brad was cool with whatever I decided.

Last time, Brad and I both found out together. It was special, but this time, I wanted to have a chance to tell him. My original plan was to buy a "Big Brother" shirt for Noah to wear around the house and wait for Brad to notice. haha. But I couldn't find one ANYWHERE! I swear I went to like 5 stores and nobody had one. And I really didn't want to order one and have to wait even longer to tell him. So instead, I grabbed a cute, gender neutral onesie, wrapped it in a gift bag, and gave it to him. Leading up to it, I explained that I knew he'd been stressed out a lot lately, so I wanted to get him a present to cheer him up. It took a few minutes for it to sink in. The longest few minutes of my life.

Once he realized though? All smiles.

And here we are! :)

The only concern Brad really had was the prospect of twins. Boy-girl sets run on my side of the family (and skip a generation; it's my generation's turn), so he was all prepared to freak out in the ultrasound room. But we just have one little bean. Or peanut. Whichever you prefer.
We got to hear the heartbeat, which was amazing of course. I kept going back and forth on when to tell everyone. But I didn't want to wait. I've been feeling pretty icky for the last few weeks, and I hate pretending like I'm A-okay all of the time. Plus I'm a terrible liar.
So we dropped by each of the parents houses, all three sets, in one night. We told each of them that we'd gotten family pictures done and wanted to show them. Except we handed them the ultrasound picture. :) Everyone was shocked and super excited. Actually, somehow my mom already knew. We share this kind of talent for knowing when people are pregnant already. It's weird.

And over my birthday weekend, we shared with close friends and family. Well, I shared with close friends and family. I assumed Brad would mention something to his brother and sisters, best buds, etc. But no. Most of his side found out through Facebook. Sorry to those people. Next time, I promise to handle all of the announcements to both sides. lol.

Anyway, this probably explains a little more why I was in such a funk for the last few weeks. I've been so blah lately, and all my brain wanted to do was sleep. Oh, and weirdest pregnancy issue ever.... editing my photography work made me nauseous. I have no idea what the correlation was, but that has to be the weirdest pregnancy symptom ever.

For the most part, I'm doing okay. I tend to spend the first half of our day in my pj's, avoiding certain food (Brad had canned tuna for lunch yesterday... blech), and trying to ignore the bad-for-me cravings. I think the worst so far was the fried catfish and Southern style grits when we were in Kiawah. Pretty sure I gained like 3 lbs just from that one meal. Ridiculous.


I got a little bit of birthday money, though, so I plan to get a heart rate monitor. That way I can continue to do decent workouts without hurting myself or the baby. If anyone has any recommendations on one, I'm all ears. I don't want to spend too much. I don't need anything super fancy. Just one that can tell me where I'm at, so I don't overdo it.

Anyways, thanks again for sharing the excitement with us!
Oh, and fyi, I'll do my best to keep the pregnancy whining to a minimum. But just so you know, I'm not one of those pretty, glowy, barefoot-in-the-sand type pregnant girls. At least I wasn't last time. Just thought I'd give you fair warning. ;)

Starting my 30's off with a bang (*ahem* you might want to read this one!)

I'll eventually get to all of my birthday fun details.

But I wanted to go on and blog this little piece of happiness, just in case we don't happen to be IRL buds or friends on Facebook.

Noah has some exciting news he wanted to share... :)

I'm due June 4th 

(woohoo for missing the awful summer heat!!).

So far I'm feeling pretty good, other than being tired and queasy. Oh, and a tad bit overwhelmed at the idea of raising TWO kids.

But for now, we're just really excited and feeling very blessed.

And now I'm off to pin a bajillion over-the-top baby ideas on Pinterest! ;)

Pregnancy Weight

Warning: Reader discretion is advised. This post may contain content that could possibly result in snickering, pointing, gagging, or hiding in horror.


I've always been small. Small framed, small weight, small everything... including areas I wished I wasn't so small in. Before getting pregnant, the heaviest I ever weighed was 125. And I was unhappy with it. I'd like to smack my pre-pregnant self right about now. Anyone care to join me?

The first stages of my pregnancy weren't quite like my other friends. While they were all busy hugging toilets, I was starving. All I could think about was food and when can I eat again. My hubby would crack up, because we'd be hanging out and every hour, I'd say in a small, slightly embarassed tone, "I'm hungry..." From what I gather, most ladies don't gain much in their first trimester, simply because they don't feel like eating anything. For me, I never got morning sickness. But the idea of eating certain foods made me a little queasy. Those foods? Fruits and veggies. Go figure. I was starving, but the thought of those healthy options made me want to gag. So for the first 8-12 weeks, bread was my BFF.

And then the cravings hit.

Read the rest here

*If you're wondering how I'm even connected, I met the creator of the blog over 8(ish?) years ago, became friends, she moved, we lost touch, reconnected through FB and blogger, and wahlah! Oh, and I used to work with her sis-in-law.

Another Baby Shower

But not mine this time! :)

One of my friends that I graduated high school with is pregnant too. She's actually 6 weeks behind me, and we've been going back and forth with our pregnancy stories, complaints, and excitements. She had her baby shower today, and it was so fun to see her (along with other old friends). It's been nice having a pregnant friend go through all of this right along with me. It makes you feel like less of a freak of nature, and all of your symptoms, worries, etc seem more normal. Like she said, "I am NOT one of those women who walks around angelically rubbing her belly saying she can't think of anything better than being barefoot and pregnant..I feel like an absolute whale" haha As you can see, she is NOT a whale. Everyone at the shower, who has kept up with Anna and I, knew that we've been feeling huge, and they all reassured us that we look wonderful. Anna and I decided that if people would just keep their mouths shut, I doubt we'd ever have felt so self-concious through this whole thing. :) Only a few more weeks left to go! Love you, Anna!


Also, just for the record, here's a belly shot of me at 36 weeks. It's official! I'm 9 months prego!!

The Perks of Pregnancy

One of the funnest things about pregnancy for me has been the planning. All the registering, shopping, decorating has definitely helped take my mind off of the not-so-fun parts.

As promised, here are a few photos of the bedding we finally got put together, along with a couple other nursery/baby related projects:


(oops, forgot to take the tag off)


Don't worry, I just put Pooh in there so the crib didn't look so lonely. We're also going to take the bumper pad out whenever Noah actually starts using the crib. It just looks cuter this way for now.




A cute little bucket I ordered to put Noah's toys in. If you're interested, go to thirtyonegifts.com. They have lots of cute stuff.



Brad put together the high chair. It's nice, because it folds up so we can store it until we use it. Also, the tray is dishwasher-safe. So a BIG yay for that! We also got the stroller put together, but I didn't take any pictures of that.

MAJOR update:
Brad got a promotion!! He'll be moving into Logistics for Target. They're moving him into a higher volume store (SuperTarget), and he begins this next week! Funny enough, my last week of working for the Jewel Box is the week he begins his new position. We were concerned about how we'd deal without my income, but we knew we'd figure it out. God definitely provides. He's getting a great raise, plus quarterly bonus opportunities. In a time where people are struggling to find jobs and survive, we know we're blessed for him to have the job he has where he can still continue moving upward.

Plus, he'll be working at a SuperTarget right near the gym he joined, so he's excited to get back into shape (and I can't wait to join him before too long).

A Little Late, I Know...

So my aunt finally got around to posting some of the pictures from my last baby shower, so I decided to steal some of them and stick them on here.


My aunts who threw the shower for me... Susan, Sandi, and Christie.


So pretty! The flowers are from my grandmother's garden


My stepsisters, Sarah and Hannah, and my stepmom Desna

And just for the fun of it, I thought I'd share some pics from our monthly family gatherings we have. I love my family so much, and we're so blessed to all live so close and be able to get together so often. Not many people have that, so I try not to take advantage of it. These are all from this spring/summer.


My cousins Nathan and Aaron in my granddaddy's old T-bird


My daddy, me, and Brad


Me and my brother in my skinnier pregnant days... can't wait to get back to that size!


My little cousin Nathan... isn't he a cutie?? :)


Harrison and my granddaddy switched hats (and that's my cousin, Natilie)


Brad and my aunt, Susan. They're good buddies. :)

In more recent news, I finally got the energy to vacuum and mop today. Yay for a clean house!
Also, we went out with my dad and stepmom last night for dinner and then got our mattress and changing table pad. What's even better was that yesterday, our Classic Pooh nursery stuff came! Perfect timing! Pictures to come soon!

Fourth Fun

Hope everyone had a great July 4th!

We spent the weekend with family mostly. On Saturday, we met up for dinner at my grandparents' with the cousins, aunts, parents, etc to celebrate Brad's birthday. Usually, the family with the birthday boy/girl is responsible for bringing their cake, but since Brad isn't much of a sweet eater, I ended up making one of his favorites... Mexican bean dip! Obviously, you can't really stick candles in bean dip, so my grandmother made brownies and we used that as his cake. :)



Afterwards, we all piled in the car with my aunt, uncle, and cousins to go see the fireworks downtown. We also brought along Madison and Skyler. Unfortunately, where we parked wasn't so great. Buildings were in the way, so we couldn't see hardly anything. So instead, the kids played with sparklers and legal fireworks. It was still fun to hang out with the family.



Sorry, the picture isn't that great. It's from my aunt's phone, and I did my best to edit it to where you could see it better. Notice the girls' festive outfits. Skyler even had her nails painted red, white, and blue. :)
Since those fireworks were kind of a bust, we went back to my mom's and set off our own. Then last night, we went to a local country club to watch fireworks there, and they were amazing! Noah stayed pretty quiet, so I guess they didn't bother him. The only time he ever reacts to loud noises is when we go to the movies, but that could also be a reaction to the popcorn.

In baby news, I'm now on a weekly schedule until Noah finally comes. Last week, he measured perfectly. I was at week 34 and he was 34", so apparantly, that's exactly where he's supposed to be. This Wednesday, I'm doing the Group B Strep test, then next week, we'll get to see Noah one last time on the ultrasound before he makes his debut. My Dr just wants to make sure he's positioned right. It'll be fun to see how much he's grown since the last time we saw him a couple of months ago.

Only a few more weeks left to go!!

Baby Showers and More

I had my 3rd and final baby shower today! I had a good time, and we got lots of nice things.
Last weekend I had a baby shower with my mom's side... grandmother, aunts, cousins, etc. We had it at my cousin Michelle's house and got TONS of clothes. Noah has absolutely no reason to go around naked (watch, I bet that's how he'll be happiest). My mom took pictures of that one, so all I have is a picture of the cake.


Today was the shower from my dad's side. My 3 aunts (dad's 2 sisters, Christie and Sandi, and sis-in-law Susan) threw this one for me. They did a great job, and lots of aunts, cousins, etc came to this one too. We received so many nice things like a baby swing, high chair, and cute clothes. However, my absolute favorite gift was one that was actually made way before now.

My great-grandmother (Mamaw Hagler) used to quilt and always gave the new babies in our family one when they were born. I was the first, then my cousins all came next. She passed away last year, and it's been sad for me, because I know she'd be beside herself excited about our baby. Noah would've been her first great-great grandbaby. Anyway, I was also a little sad because I knew he'd never be able to have one of her quilts. So when I opened the box from my grandmother, both me and my mom had to fight back the tears.


Inside the card, my grandmother wrote, "Mamaw Hagler made and quilted this quilt several years ago before her hands would not let her quilt anymore. I put the binding on the edges since she had not finished that. I hope you will enjoy using it with Noah. I know it would make her happy for you to have the quilt. Love, Mamaw Barbara"

Here are just a couple of outfits I got that I really liked. I love all of them, but here's just a sample of what we got.



He also got his first pair of Osh Kosh overalls today (every boy in our family MUST have these), and my stepmom gave him little teeny Polo swim trunks for when we go to Kiawah with them. She said my dad loved them. They're blue plaid (like Brad would wear), but they're RLP like my dad would wear. haha I'm not sure how much use they'll get. Brad has been very adamant about Noah not going anywhere for the first 6 months. I think he's going to be more overprotective than me! :)

Finally, this is for Meagan. :) For Father's Day, I gave Brad a little onesie that says "I love daddy" on it. She had the same idea for her husband (who is one of Brad's friends). Very cute!

We had our Childbirth Preparation class this weekend. We decided to take the weekend crash course. I didn't want to drag it out for 5 weeks, and it just worked out better this way. It was very helpful, since it was at Presbyterian (where I'll be delivering). Yes, we had to watch the videos, but it didn't last too long. I recommend going to one of these classes, just so you're prepared for whatever. She went through all the "what if's" and answered all of our questions. Our teacher was incredibly nice, funny, and informative. It helps when you like them alot. Plus, this won't be the last time I see her, because she works in the postpartum dpmt there.
Anyway, she taught us different soothing techniques and ways to get through the contractions. She also showed the guys where certain pressure points were and places to massage to help us out. At one point, she had the girls on all fours and the guys kneeling behind us so they could massage the area in our lower back. This was a little uncomfortable and actually a little bit of an inappropriate position to be in. :) She obviously knew how we all felt and made a joke about how the girls were thinking that this is how we got into this mess in the first place. Brad, of course, decides to chime in for the boys and says, "Yeah it is!" All the guys thought it was hilarious, and I was bright red and wanted to hide. Even though I've been with him long enough to know he says whatever he's thinking, it still embarrasses the heck out of me. I think he enjoys it.

Even though I had a great weekend, I'm glad all the crazy busyness is starting to end. I need a weekend to just relax and catch up on things. Although, keeping things clean and organized is getting a little harder now. I don't move as quickly or as easily as before. It's difficult to bend over and climbing is out of the question. Only 6 more weeks to go! Ok, so maybe 7 if he decides to stay in there a little longer. Either way, I'm definitely on the countdown!!

What NOT to Say...

I'm sure just about every pregnant woman goes through this at some point or another, but lately, it's surprised me at what people think is ok to say. So here are a few things I've heard that should probably just stay in people's heads:

"You're belly has gotten so big! Are you sure you're not having twins??"

- The reply in my head: "Those glasses your wearing are awfully thick. Are you sure you're not blind?"
- FYI, I just had a Dr's appt on Friday, and she said he's the perfect size... not too big and not too small. If that's the case, I wonder how I'd look if I really were expecting twins... I'd rather not think about it.

"You're never going to lose that baby weight"

- So let's just be REALLY discouraging, why don't we?? I may not be a size 4 anymore, but I am certainly NOT planning on staying this size forever.
- My cousin lost 20 lbs before she left the hospital 6 months ago with her little boy, and my mom said she lost 30 lbs the first week with me. Also, the Dr told me I'd lose a good 5 lbs if he put me on bedrest in the hospital, just because of all the swelling I've had.
- This was spoken by a man. Enough said.

"She's put on weight!"

- Yes, while everyone at my shower was saying, "oh, you look so cute!", "you're all belly", etc... my lovely grandmother says this to my mom.
- What do you expect? I'm pregnant. I'm carrying another person around.
- Funny how in the beginning, they try to shove all kinds of food down your throat saying, "you're eating for two now!", but when you're in the final stages and very pregnant, now you're a cow.

So there you go.

For those of you not pregnant, please think before you say things. I'm sure you don't mean to be rude, but certain things should just stay in your head.

For those of you who are pregnant, I think this must be some kind of rite of passage or test or something. I thought women were exaggerating when they'd complain about this stuff. Obviously not.

Babies, Babies Everywhere!!

I had my first shower yesterday, and it was so much fun! My bff Kelly, her mom Stephanie (also my godmother), and a long time friend Barbara (also one of my old teachers from Res) put it together for me. It was at Barbara's house, which is beautiful, and they did such a great job.

I got all kinds of good stuff, including a bouncy chair, lots of cute clothes, the whale bathtub we wanted, washcloths, bibs, and one of my favorites the playard! All the ladies I work with (and my friend Michelle too) went in together and got it for me, and it's perfect. I'm really excited, because if we go out of town, all we have to do is bring the playard. And it comes with a changing area too!



Anyways, we had a really good time. My cake was made by a lady named Melba who always does everyone's cakes at church. SO good, and she did a gorgeous job. Actually, that was all the office ladies talked about this morning was how adorable the cake was. And yes, the booties were icing (and not the fondant kind either).




Also, I wanted to give a big congrats to Brad's brother Ben and his wife Sara. They just added a little boy to their family. Ryan was born last Tuesday, and we're excited Noah will have a cousin his age to play with whenever they visit (or we visit them).


Finally, I thought I should mention baby Ian, who I get to see pretty much everyday where I work. My boss had him back in October, and he's such a cute little guy. He likes to hang out with all of us in his little chair and makes lots of noise whenever the conversation starts to get loud. He has all kinds of opinions on Jon and Kate, Real Housewives, and anything else those ladies tend to talk about. :)




So like I said, there really are babies everywhere in my life now!

Preggy Update

So tomorrow, I will be exactly 30 weeks pregnant, which leaves me 10 weeks to go. However, from what I hear, it may be more like 11 or 12, since this is my first. One of my coworkers' daughter-in-law is going to pop any day now, but her due date was May 23rd. I swear, I don't know how much bigger this little guy can get! :)

According to our little book, he's weighing in at about 3 lbs, which leaves me wondering why it's neccesary for me to gain the rest of the 20-30 something pounds. The whole weight thing has been a bit of an issue for me, just because it's never ever been an issue until now. I promise to the Lord above, I haven't changed a single thing in my diet or exercise from before I was pregnant. If anything, I live off of fruit. I've cut back on my ice cream (which is a fav in this house). I do yoga, and I walk. However, if I eat a chocolate chip, I gain 4 lbs. What the heck?? My mom (and now the Dr too) have said that most likely this is just how my body is reacting to it all. My mom said when she sees me, she feels like she's looking in a mirror from 26 years ago when she was pregnant with me. She gained 50 with me, and she also craved fruit and walked at least 2 miles several times a week. So I have a theory. It all seems genetic.

I'm following the same pattern my mom did... no morning sickness, lots of heartburn, swelling, and strange weight gain.
My mom's best friend had awful morning sickness, headaches, etc and her daughter did the exact same thing. It's not just these 2 examples either. I've asked several friends and their moms, and it's the same thing with them.

So here's my theory. As long as I'm not feasting on donuts and french fries, I'm staying active and eating well, and I'm doing what I can to stay healthy, there's nothing more I can do.

All of this is leading to this point... I'm too chicken to take belly pictures right now. Everyone keeps telling me I'm "all belly", but I end up hating every picture Brad tries to take of me now. I'm sure I'll get up the nerve at some point, but as for now, I just can't seem to do it.

Oh, but there is a kinda funny issue I seem to be having now. I've mentioned before how my poor feet were starting to swell. I think this is mostly because I'm on my feet at my job alot, and I also owe a big thank you to the NC humidity. So to help prevent this, I decided to get more supportive shoes. I got some cute New Balances, and they worked. My feet stopped swelling. Unfortunately, it turns out that it had more to do with my socks. Whenever I wear socks with my sneakers, all the swelling stops right above my sock line, so it just stays in my legs. Very attractive.

Since I've tried everything else (ie. drink tons of water, don't sit/stand in one spot too long, exercise), the only thing left that the Dr could recommend was support hose. And I'm sorry, but I will NOT be seen in those... plus, who wants to wear those in the dead heat of the summer?? I'd rather have chubby feet.

As for Noah, he's a very busy little boy. I think he's going to be a breakdancer like his dad, because he's constantly moving around. He also gets the hiccups. This has only started recently, and I'm not sure yet what triggers it. Still trying to figure that out. Either way, I think it's cute, even though it feels funny. Brad loves being able to feel him kicking and punching. It's alot more fun now that I can share it with him, instead of just telling him about it.

So those are my lovely pregnancy stories. Fortunately, I know that this will all be over soon, and there will be a cute, happy baby boy to replace all the not-so-fun parts with. And that's my happy ending. :)

The Graduate

Just throwing a quick, but very big CONGRATS out to my little brother, Harrison! He graduated from high school last night. His graduating class had a whopping 6 people. haha And ironically, two of them I'm related to, and one I've known since he was in preschool with Harrison.

Anyway, he's finally out!! Not sure what his plans are yet, but we're all just relieved he made it out of high school.

Brad and I have had some sickness stuff going on in our world lately. I got it first, then he got it a couple days later, just way worse than me. So we're finally getting rid of it, but now my poor mom, stepdad, and little sis have it... complete with high fevers, sore throats, all the good stuff. So my poor mom was so devastated that she was too sick to see her kid graduate. So Brad and I did her a favor and got the whole thing on video.

We're planning on having a party for him soon, and we'll all get to watch it again together.



In babyland, I'm officially over 7 months pregnant... and feeling it.
I feel huge all over, have to pee all the time, and I'm ready to be done now. Unfortunately, little Noah still has some growing to do, but oh my goodness, I don't know how I'm going to last another 2 months!

On the plus side, I have 3 showers lined up this summer, so if anything, I can be excited about that. :) Plus, everyday means we're closer to seeing Noah!

Oh yeah...

I completely forgot to mention my Dr's appt I had this week. I went in for the Glucose Screening test, where they test me to see if I have gestational diabetes. All it does is see if you have an elevated blood sugar level, and if you do, you have to come back for a 3 hour test. I was only nervous because I've been craving sweets my entire pregnancy. And no, not just chocolate and bad-for-you type sweets, but I've been living off of fruit and milk, both of which have sugar. Natural or not, both can cause the test to come back with the "elevated" sign.

So we went in and I had to drink this stuff that's kind of like thick Kool-Aid. They gave me 5 minutes to drink it, but I went ahead and tried to down the stuff as quickly as possible (lucky for me, pregnancy hasn't given me an aversion to sugar). I was a little concerned Noah was going to have a massive sugar high (and crash) from it. So anyways, I drank it and had to come back in an hour. We met with our Dr in between for a checkup, and everything was fine. I told her about my swelling, but also told her I've been drinking at least 2 big thermoses of water a day, sleeping on my side, wearing sneakers instead of heels, and she said I was doing all the right things. Apparantly, this is totally normal at this stage, especially since NC is so humid. The only other option I have is to wear supportive hose, and she already knew that wasn't happening. I'll just go through summer with chubby feet before putting those things on. Unfortunately, this seems to remind Brad of his mom (who is diabetic and her feet swell sometimes). What women likes to remind her husband of his mom (and not when it comes to things like cooking)?? So that's a downer.

We're supposed to meet with another Dr in 3 weeks, only so I can get aquainted with some of the other ones there. Dr Gordon is who I want to deliver me, but since there are 4 Dr's who rotate, there's a chance I won't get her. I reminded her that I still needed to meet some of the other ones, and she seemed genuinely disappointed. So I hope it turns out that she ends up being my Dr in the end. I think she would be sad if she wasn't. :)

After our appt, I went back to the sweet lab lady and she took my blood. She's perfect at her job, because she likes to chat, and I think she knows the more she talks, the more distracted her patients are with what's actually going on. I don't really get queasy, but I appreciate the effort anyway.

I got a call yesterday from the nurse, and she told me everything was normal. The only thing is that my iron is low, so now I have to take an iron supplement. Great. More horse pills. As if one isn't enough.

Also, as an odd side note, for the last couple of months, all I've wanted is a really good hot dog and/or sushi. I don't even normally care if I have a hot dog or not, but tell me I can't have something, and automatically, it's all I think about. haha So after Noah is born (and as long as it's safe), I'm totally getting Brad to get me everything I can't have right now.

Nursery News

We finally got a crib!!

We went through kind of an ordeal to get it, but it was worth it. The thing is that Brad bought a changing table a couple months ago on clearance for $25, not realizing that the manufacturer was planning on discontinuing that particular nursery set. They had a crib to match it, so we decided to go ahead and get it. Since this was a gift from my mom and Art, they went with me (plus, we needed their SUV to carry it). We checked online, and turns out all of the Targets were either out or only had one left. So Brad called the Kannapolis store and they said they had one left and would hold it for us. So we all piled in the car, drove over there, and lo and behold, they had pulled out the wrong crib. Brad was pretty frustrated, since he had whoever he talked to double check the item #'s to make sure it was right. So we get there, and they tell us that they're totally out. They still have a display up, and they try to tell us that even though their inventory says they have 1, it's the display and they can't give that to us. Brad got even more irritated, because the display isn't counted in their inventory... it's not even a real crib. Anyways, they told us that the Rea Rd store has one left and they'll hold it for us, but only for that day.

So yes... we all piled in the car and drove to the other side of Charlotte to get this crib. Fortunately, they seemed to be a little more organized, and they actually had it. We got it all put together, and I think it was worth the hassle. It matches the changing table, and looks really good. It's a really sturdy crib too, so it should last us a long time.

TA-DA!!




In other news, Brad got tickets to the race tonight, and since I'm not really up for walking around in the heat, he took Art (my stepdad) with him instead. They also got free Pit Passes, so Brad's pretty excited about that. Another one of the perks of working for Target. :)