32 Week Update

Lainey's nursery is finally finished!! I've still got to wash sheets and some of her newborn clothes before she comes, but we are finally satisfied with what the nursery looks like. I love it! It's super bright and cheerful and I think it represents what she is bringing into our life. Today we had our 32 week ultrasound. This is the last time we will get to see her before seeing her in person. That was bittersweet! I put the one ok picture that we got in the her ultrasound book and was amazed! Looking at the tiny embryo that she started out as and now seeing these chubby little cheeks and head full of hair was amazing. I teared up thinking of the emotional journey we've been on waiting for her to come into our life. God is so good and we are so blessed. Our appointment today was great. The doctor said she is super healthy, has a head full of hair already and weighs 4 lbs. 11 oz! WOW! I weighed 5 lbs. 6 oz. when I was born so that was super hard to believe. She's a chubby little one. I am so excited that in just a few weeks she will be in my arms. We've waited so long for Lainey's conception and arrival that I really can't believe it's about to actually be time to meet her. I love being pregnant and feeling her move, but the rash that I've had since April needs to hurry up and go away. That I will not miss. :)  Here are a few pictures of her nursery and how big I've gotten! 

                                                           The view from her crib

                                             Her cubbies hold blankets, books and burp cloths.
                           The sign on top of her cubbies will be for her visitors to sign at the hospital.

                                                          Lainey's places to relax :)

                                                        My favorite wall in her nursery!

                                                    All of the fun new outfits for little missy!

                                                    All of her bows for her full head of hair!
                                                   My friend Lyndsay made her bow holder.

                                                                       Lainey's Crib

                                                          32 Weeks! I've gained 19 lbs!

31 Weeks

Well Lainey has really grown the past couple of weeks! I'm finally getting a little bigger which I'm thankful for. I was wondering if this little girl was ever going to grow. I am supposed to take maternity pictures soon, but I don't want to take them before the "pop" that I keep hearing will come.   We have our 32 week ultrasound, which will be our final one, next Wednesday. I'm excited to know how much she weighs, what direction she is facing and how our little one is looking. She's getting so strong and her kicks are getting much more powerful. My students asked me today if I've ever felt her kick. HAHA! I told them that I was sure at some point they would actually see her kicking. It's hard to believe we've got less than 60 days left before she is here, but such a blessing. I feel like she's already got such personality and I can't wait to see if she's really like how her movements are. Right now every time I hold a baby she kicks them. She can be sound asleep, but as soon as I get another child in my hand she wakes up. It's so funny.

Her nursery is just about complete, we have a few more things to purchase and we need to wash sheets, clothes and pack our hospital bag, but we are close to being ready.  I even made our Lainey's here E-mail contact list so that Brian can send an E-mail once she's here. I guess I've just heard so many horror stories of babies coming early that I want to be ready. I've started having lots of braxton hicks contractions so I want to be ready when the real ones start. Hopefully it's not during my teaching hours! I do really like my students this year and hope that they will go easy on my for the next few weeks. I'm glad I decided to go back to work. I can't imagine sitting at home waiting for Lainey to come until October. I'd go crazy! It's worth the sore feet and exhaustion to be out of the house. Anyway, I'm about to eat my nightly bowl of ice cream and go to bed. We've been in bed by 9:00 every night this week. We are pooped!

Back to work!

Well this week we both started back to work! Our summer went by way too fast, but hopefully going back to work will make the next nine weeks go by quickly so we can meet our precious little girl soon!  This year is going to be very difficult with new TEKS, a new state assessment, a new baby, Brian finishing his masters degree, etc... but it will be good.  We are so blessed to finally be welcoming a little girl into our family and the rest will hopefully just fall into place. I finally got my long term sub set up today and spent most of the week finalizing details for him. I want to be ready when Lainey comes and not have to worry about lesson plans and what my students will be learning. I think I've finally got most of what I need to have set up in place. This week was emotional as well. I know that I want to stay home with Lainey, but I also love my job! My school district is one of the best in the nation and it's hard to think about ever leaving such a wonderful place. Brian and I are lucky to have great jobs and enjoy what we do. We are looking forward to meeting our students on Monday and starting this school year! I'm exhausted thinking about how challenging it will be, but it will be rewarding as always.

Woodland Oaks Baby Shower

This weekend we had our baby shower hosted by some of our precious friends at church. It was such a fun shower and we were so blessed to have so many people show their love and support for us. 65 people signed in at the shower which was amazing! I knew we were loved, but it really was special to have that many people show up to welcome our little one with love. We look forward to raising Lainey around such special people. We know that many people will love her, look after her, and help us raise a Godly little girl! We are beyond blessed! We can't wait to dress her up in all of her cute clothes & use all of the fun goodies that she got. The girl is close to being set. :) She now has lots of books, toys, activities, places to hang out, things to play with in the bath tub, and TONS of clothes. :) It was all so much fun! I will never forget the special shower that everyone put together. From the banners, to the food, to the diaper cake it was all so very special. Lainey is one lucky little girl and we are so lucky to be a part of such a wonderful church family. We spent this week organizing all of her new little things and writing Thank You's so that we can be ready to go back to work next week. I'm not too excited about working, but it will make the time go by fast and she will be here before I know it. I cannot wait!

Babymoon

This week has been amazing! We got to getaway to Destin, FL one last time before Lainey joins our family this fall! We had an amazing time! The beach was beautiful and so relaxing. I truly felt like we were in Jamaica again because the water was so crystal clear. There were even huge sand dollar pieces everywhere. It was unreal! We will be going back with Lainey! Other than our babymoon, we also hit 28 weeks this week. It's hard to believe we are finally in our third trimester & she will be here in just a few short weeks! It's getting harder to sleep, and I've had a terrible pregnancy rash for about two months now, but other than that all is still going well. I've currently gained 16 lbs. and am feeling like I'm carrying more weight for sure. This week I really grew! I don't know if it was all of the eating out we did on vacation or if she just decided to pop out this week, but it's fun! I have my shower at church tomorrow and I cannot wait! I'm so excited to put all of her little things in her room and get things together for her! It just makes it all the more real! She already has so much, but we need a few more things before we can really be ready for her to come! I had to laugh when my mother-in-law told me that babies really didn't need much. Between car seats, strollers, pack-n-plays, monitors, clothes, diapers, health & safety gear, boppys, bumbos, bottles, nursing gear, sheets, cradles, nursery stuff, bathtubs, wash cloths, burp cloths, pacis, medicines, etc... I would have to totally disagree with that. I feel like we are stocking a whole house just for sweet girl, but she's got to be taken care of! It's exciting to see all of those things coming together! I just can't wait to have her here!! Well, I've got to go grocery shopping because since we've been gone all week we have nothing. Have a wonderful week!

Birthday Fun

I am so blessed to be married to Brian! He is so good to me and I am constantly blown away by him. This week we celebrated my 27th birthday and as usual he had a great plan in place. I've really missed my mom lately so on Wednesday I got to hang out with her. We went shopping for a dress for me to wear to my baby shower and got to have dinner at Cheesecake Factory. It was wonderful to spend time with her! On Thursday we woke up and had lunch with my parents and grandparents and then I went to go get a pedicure. I have been having trouble reaching my feet so that was so nice. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and then went to the popcorn bag, a speciality popcorn store for some goodies. After we got our snack we headed to Gramaldi's for dinner and then went to see Larry Crowne. It was a really cute movie and it was great to have a relaxing day with my hubby! On Friday we went to breakfast at The Egg and I and then spent the day at the pool! I love being in the sun and haven't had much time to do that this summer. We had fun floating in the lazy river (even though I didn't fit in my tube very well) and just getting to enjoy the day. I felt like the day had been great, but Brian wanted to top it off with a trip to Kemah! We enjoyed dinner at Landry's on Friday night and then had a great view of the fireworks show. It was WONDERFUL! I know next year will be a little more difficult with Lainey, but I hope we can still make time to enjoy being together. I am constantly amazed that I've been married to the man of my dreams for almost seven years and he still is so good to me! Being married to him is such a blessing. He's so supportive and just a wonderful man! Right now we are keeping Kinley and Jaxon while Ryan and Jess are in Dallas and he has been so great with them as well. Three days with a two and three year old is an adventure, and he's been wonderful! I can't wait to watch him with Lainey! She will blessed to have such a great daddy!

I can hear Jaxon waking up from his nap on the monitor, so that's all for today! Have a great rest of the week!

25 weeks and counting!

25 WEEKS!

Well, the nursery is almost finished! I told Brian I wanted it finished by my birthday and I think it will be. It looks so cute! Of course we will add more to it after showers, but I think we will be finished with things that we wanted to buy and set up. So exciting! It's hard to believe that I'm already 25 weeks along. I really want to have most things set up before my 28th week because I know I could be really tired after that. We did decide to go to Destin in August for a quick little getaway before school starts and before Lainey comes. I am super excited because I didn't think we were going to do anything other than a San Antonio trip before she got here. We both decided that this year is going to be really hectic though, so why not just get away and enjoy the beach for a few days. I can't wait!

Today Brian went back to work for the next three weeks. He's enjoying coaching speed camp, but ready to be finished. He's got one more week of his masters classes for the summer and then will get a break from that for a month as well. We are both looking forward to two weeks off. Last week was so nice. We got to watch movies, play games, have people over, shop and just hang out! Our summers are so precious to us! It's times like last week that really remind me how blessed we are to both be teachers. I know the school year is crazy with Brian coaching and working on his masters, but summertime is sweet! Anyway, I've got a hair appointment at Aveda in a bit so I better close for now. Have a great week!