Dolly We Miss You!

Poor Dolly (well poor me really). Dolly is staying at my parents house while the floors are being done. I am ready for her to come home.

Memorial Day Weekend: Part II

So after we returned back to Selma from Bham, we decided to head to Camden to spend the night at my grandparent's river cabin. Our house is still completely under construction so it was easier to stay on the road all weekend. The floors should be completed by next Tuesday. Yay! Lee and I took Porter and he did great all weekend. He is definitely getting more and more comfortable being around water.

Memorial Day Weekend: Part I

We had a very busy weekend so I am going to have to cover it in 2 posts. On Sunday we went to Birmingham to Amanda and Jerry's for a birthday party for Olivia and Christian. Olivia turned 9 on May 20th and Christian will turn 8 on May 28th. We had a great time and the kids really had a good time. Amanda and Jerry -- I truly am sorry for the super soaker we gave Christian. Haha. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I wished I had some pictures of the granddads and the uncles soaked after being "attacked".

Office Baby Shower!

Today the office threw a baby shower for Kylie. She got some of the cutest things!

One Good Thing...

Well one good thing is going to come out of the whole mess with the house. I will be able to get new ceramic tile in the kitchen. I despised the old kitchen floor because it NEVER looked clean no matter how many times we swept and mopped.

Picture of Existing Tile:


Picture of New Tile Sample:


Hopefully I will have some after pics of the tile early next week.

Remember When?

Remember when the nursery looked like this??

click on Nursery Pictures

Well now it looks like this:


Our house looks worse than our beach house did after Hurricane Ivan. They should begin the tile work this weekend with the hardwoods and carpet to follow late next week.

What a Wonderful Weekend!

So this weekend was hands-down one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. Lee headed to Lake Martin for a guy's weekend and I headed to Birmingham on Saturday with Honey to go "grandmother" shopping as she calls it :) and meet my nieces and nephews! WOW...is all I have to say. I know I am a little biased, but I definitely have FOUR of the coolest nieces and nephews in the world. I had a blast and cannot wait to spend more time with them. Amanda and Jerry were born to parent these kids! It was amazing to see how natural everyone fits together like they have always been meant to be a family.

Olivia, who will be turning 9 years old tomorrow, went shopping all day Saturday with Amanda, Honey, and I for her birthday. We had so much fun! She is so girly and I loved every minute of it. It is so amazing that although she has only lived in America for a few weeks how well we were able to communicate! (I did tell Amanda that I would never want to go against their family in a game of charades though, they have it down pat! haha) So as part of the big birthday celebration...Olivia desperately wanted to get her ears pierced. Remember when we all were like that??? Haha. So Amanda and Jerry agreed that she could get it done on Saturday. She did so good and loved every minute of it! She picked out some cute, tiny pink studs and smiled the whole time. We also got her a birthday girl crown which she wore the whole day! Too cute!

We also took Olivia to get fitted for some tennis shoes. She of course picked out pink New Balances and helped us pick out some shoes for Christian too, who will be turning 8 at the end of the month. As Amanda and Honey were buying the shoes, Olivia and I were looking around at all of the rest of the shoes in the store. She would pick up baby shoes and hand to me and say "Baby Kylie". How sweet is that?

Before Honey and I headed back to Tuscaloosa, we stopped by Amanda and Jerry's to drop off her and Olivia. Jerry and the rest of the gang were doing yard work. And they were having a blast! Come to find out Christian, Daniel, and Vica had a pretty good day with Papa too! They went to the park and of course played in the sprinkler! All in all everyone had a great weekend and I am looking forward to spending time with each of my nieces and nephews! Below are some pics of Olivia and her new jewels!

TGIF!

Wow - I did not think Friday would ever get here! Last night, we attended our 2nd birthing class. We learned lots of important info on the labor process and went over in detail everything we need to bring with us to the hospital. Next week, we take a tour of Baptist East. MJ, the instructor, was right...these classes are making the end of the pregnancy go by very quickly.

In other news, the flooring people are coming tomorrow to begin tearing out the old floors. Hopefully they will be back late next week to begin the installation. Unfortunately, since there was a water leak, the slab will have to completely dry and be cleaned before the installation can take place. So we will be living on concrete for about a week. Fun! Lots and lots going on with the house, hopefully it will be over before we know it.

We both desperately wanted to get out of the house during all of this, so Lee is headed to Lake Martin this weekend with a bunch of his pledge brothers and I am headed to Tuscaloosa to see Honey (Lee's mom). We are planning on doing some baby shopping and visiting with Amanda (Lee's sis) and our new nieces and nephews. I hope the weekend doesn't go by too fast!

We are Cursed!

A week or so ago we experienced a leak from one of the main water lines in the new house. Water was coming up from the hardwood floors...have I mentioned we have only lived here for less than a month??? Anyway, we have been swamped with insurance adjusters, plumbers, and flooring representatives. Our house has hardwoods throughout the whole house except for the kitchen. All of which have to be replaced as water and hardwood floors do not mix. This has been such a stressful process...oh the joys of homeownership. :) So much for buying a house that we thought was move-in ready. haha.

Today we finally saw some light at the end of the tunnel. Come to find out the existing hardwoods in the house were exceptional quality so we were able to pick out what we want. The plan is to install carpet in the 3 bedrooms (I am sure Kylie will be excited about this). I am nervous about carpet, but know the baby will definitely enjoy it much better than the hardwoods. We are going to put down new ceramic tile in the bathrooms and vanity areas and then hardwoods in all of the living areas (living room, den, dining room, foyer, etc). I hope it will all look good, I do not know anything about flooring so hopefully we made the right decisions on colors, etc. I also had them measure the kitchen and am hoping we will have enough cash left over to lay new ceramic in there as well. The existing kitchen floor is so hard to keep clean. No matter what I do, it always looks dirty!

The carpet rep told us they hope to have everything completed in the next 2 weeks! Yay! We have lots of painting left to do before the new floors are laid. I hope this process goes quickly and smoothly as I seem to be getting less and less patient as the pregnancy progresses :). Hopefully I will have some new house pics in a few weeks!

30 Week Update from BabyCenter.com

How your baby's growing:
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Must Haves!!!

Come to find out it is hard to find nice clothes for a summer baby that are small enough to fit. I know they mostly wear daygowns and onesies at this point, but every baby girl needs some smocked clothing in her closet! I am in love with these below from Carrot Top Clothes. My family loves going to the beach and fishing in the summer and these outfits come as small as 3 mos. I think Kylie will need some of these in her closet!

Labor and Delivery 101

Last night we attended our first birthing class (1st out of FIVE that we have to attend). It was pretty fun actually. Our teacher is great, she is the wife of one of the OB's in my Doc's practice. Lee did really good, he participated and listened the whole time (except for one second when I couldn't find him, he got up to get a snack :)). Anyway, the class was great...much much better than the nursing class I attended on Monday night. That is a whole other story but needless to say I do not think I will be attending again this Monday night.

Last night, we learned all about the signs of pre-term labor and when to call the Doctor and what does not warrant a 3:00 am "emergency" phone call to the Doc. We also practiced some relaxation techniques and she told us what to expect from the classes. Thank goodness we did not have to watch a graphic video on the 1st night! I was nervous about that. I think Lee and I both left the class excited, but I must admit I am getting kinda nervous!! The teacher, MJ, showed us a sample pelvis bone and then showed us a doll that was an average baby size. I do NOT see how the baby fits through the bone!! Ouch! Thank goodness for epidurals, right? haha.

We left the class with our pre-admission forms to the hospital which must be completed and hand-delivered to Baptist East as well as some homework for the week (basically a bunch of reading and an assignment to monitor the kicks of our baby). We also need to decide on a pediatrician here in Selma. Lots to do! MJ told us these classes would make the end of the pregnancy go very very quickly.

Kylie's First Pictures!!

We had the 4-D ultrasound today. It was a lot of fun! Kylie looks really cute. She had her hands and even her feet in front of her face most of the time so we were only able to get a few good shots. She had her feet and legs crossed in most of the pictures (you can see in the last pic). I do not feel her move much, but the ultrasound tech said she is a busy little bee. Dr. Miller said everything looks great and she is measuring right on track.

29 Week Update from BabyCenter.com

How your baby's growing:
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

1st Baby Shower

This weekend was my 1st Baby Shower! Thanks so much to Lauren, Lindsey, Megan, Meredith, Jamie, Julie, and Mrs. David for everything. I had so much fun and Kylie got some of the cutest gifts. Also a huge thanks to all the friends and family members that were able to come.

Things are turning around...

Well the week started out rough, but things are looking much better! Tracy, Dr. Miller's nurse, just called and I do NOT have gestational diabetes!!! I am thrilled. Given all the sweets I have been consuming, I was convinced I had it (and probably deserved it), but everything came back normal. Evidently the results of the first test were not very accurate since I had a Dt. Coke and peanut butter crackers :). Note to any expectant mothers: the doctor's office will tell you that you can eat 90 minutes before taking the glucose tolerance test. Do NOT eat anything. You do not want to have to endure the 3 hour test. Trust me! To celebrate, I am going to the Lily Pad (cute, cute children's store in Selma) today at lunch to get Kylie a prize for processing sugar normally. (It is really obvious that I am pumped about not enduring a strict diabetic diet, huh???)

Tomorrow is my first shower in Birmingham. I am so very excited. It is at the David's house (Lauren and Lindsey's parents). They are so nice to let the girls host a shower for me at their home. Thanks in advance to La, Lin, Megan, Mer, Jamie, Julie, and Kinsey for hosting the shower. I cannot tell you how excited I am, look for all the pics on Monday!