Christmas Eve & Caroline's ETA

I can't believe Christmas Eve is TOMORROW! Dan and I both get off early around 10/11 am and that afternoon we're heading to Gommy's for her annual Christmas Eve party. I can't wait to EAT! Before I called Gommy "Gommy" I simply referred to her as "eeeeaat!!" I guess it's only natural that that's what I'm looking forward to tomorrow! I love how magical Christmas was growing up... and still is for me. I'm sure it helped being the only child AND the only grandchild!

I'm constantly wondering when Caroline will make her arrival. Most people say that I won't last until 1/12, but every now and then I run across someone who says "oh yea... you've got another 3 weeks!" One of my customers today said it would happen on the 8th (because, of course, that's Elvis' birthday- duh!!). The baby is moving a lot more lately and I can really feel her and push back on her little arms, tush, and legs! I had another appointment on Monday and there was no change on the dilation. I guess that is to be expected! It's only hard because I don't know if I should be rushing to get things done now or if I have another 3 weeks to wash clothes, write thank-yous, and figure out how on earth to work the medela pump & style!

One of my favorite things to do during slow periods at work is to read birth stories. I just read a REALLY good one and thought I'd share with y'all if you're into that kind of thing! It's graphic, but she is a good writer! Happy reading! :)

http://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/blogs/birth_stories/archive/2009/11/25/mrs-wubbins.aspx

Shower

Well as you can see I have a wonderful new look to my blog! Kristine offered to put a header together for me and I.LOVE.IT! =) Can y'all read the text okay?

Last weekend I had a shower thrown by my SIL, Amy! It was so much fun and I got LOTS of things I needed! I posted the pictures on facebook, but for those of you that missed them I'll post them below as well.

The morning of the shower as I was leaving my house:


Adorable table setting! I wish I had some of that breakfast casserole right now! And some chocolate cake would just make my day!




My sweet SIL & host!

My Mom, Gommy, & I (4 generations!)

Caroline's future Grandmothers (aka Nonnie & Nina):

BFFs!




Shelby thinks it's all for her!


I had a great time and was overwhelmed by all of the things we got!

In other news, Dan comes home TOMORROW night! I've already got a date night or two planned for this weekend and I think we are both off work Thursday and Friday! It will be nice to have a long weekend to stay around the house with no plans!

At my Dr's appointment last week they told me that I'm 1/2 a centimeter dilated and that the baby is sitting low so everything looks like it will be an easy delivery (or so my Doc says!). I feel weird talking about dilation on my blog, but I want to remember details later on so I'm doing it anyway. I'd love to hear some predictions on when Caroline will arrive if y'all have any opinions! I'm 36 weeks and due on January 12th. One of my coworker insists it will be next week! She says she can tell by my nose.... huh?! My nose has always been this big, lady! =)

I hope y'all enjoy the rest of your week!

Thanksgiving Week

Last week Dan was home Tuesday night through Sunday morning. I'm always amazed at how fast it feels "normal" to have him here again. I was surprised at how having him here made me realize that I actually do get lonely when he is gone... I just don't realize it until he is here! Sunday when I got home the house was SO quiet- and still is. He is coming home FOR GOOD in a little over two weeks, on December 16th and I'm so ready. Here is a not so great picture of us taken on Thanksgiving:

The lady in the picture below needs a tan and some lipstick! ( ;


Dan worked his entire vacation putting up beadboard in Caroline's room and it looks SO good. It was so time consuming and more expensive than I expected!


Now that the work is done, I can easily say it was worth it!!

Dan's parents drove down for Thanksgiving and we really enjoyed having them here! After lunch I put up the tree and I think it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself! I have really enjoyed shopping for and putting up Christmas decorations this year.





I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow... it's hard to believe we will be parents in about 6 weeks! It was so nice to have Dan home so he could feel Caroline really kick, hiccup, and move around. She has really started getting cramped... I can tell because my belly changes into all kind of weird shapes! Last night I had the worst case of acid reflux EVER! I woke up at least every other hour and tums wasn't helping at all. Once I even woke up gagging & coughing. Not fun at all. I hope that isn't a regular occurrence! Maybe I need to start sleeping sitting up! Yeesh! I guess that's all for now! I hope y'all have a great week!

Miscellaneous

I'm itching for a new design for my blog... I'm tempted to buy a pre-made template, but the cheapest ones I can find are $20 bucks. I just can't see spending that much! I can find plenty of backgrounds that I like, I just am puzzled by what to put at the top of the page. If I had a professional horizontal picture I could make that work... but unfortunately all my pictures seem to be vertical! Any suggestions?!

The next few weeks are definitely going to be busy for me... and that's a good thing! This weekend I'm going to visit my friend Wren in Mobile to see Twilight and I can't WAIT! Dan flies in on Tuesday night for the Thanksgiving holiday and I'm definitely ready to see him (and get him to work on my honey-do list!) He is going to put up the beadboard in the baby's room and hang curtain rods in the living room. Yay! I really really wish I had off work on Wednesday & Friday, but I don't... it's tough working for a living! (; He heads back to Georgia on Sunday morning so I'll be driving him to Mobile to catch a plane then. Another chance to see Wren! The next weekend is my baby shower in Jackson at my SIL's house. I can't wait for that either! I'm looking forward to seeing all my family & friends, eating some delicious food, and of course, opening gifts for Caroline!

I forgot to tell y'all that on the last sonogram the lady pointed out hair on Caroline's head! I'm usually very good at deciphering what I'm looking at... but I couldn't tell that it was her head. I saw the hair... but wasn't sure where it was. I've read about lanugo before so I said "ooh... is that hair on her back?" The lady laughed pretty hard at me and said "No, crazy! It's hair on her head!" Oh well, blame it on the pregnancy brain. Speaking of Caroline's head, I found another "must have" today online.

The black band with the cream flower is my favorite. I found those on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34511022. Honestly, I think I can make my own pretty easily and for cheaper. There are lots of instructions on how to do it online... I didn't even think about buying headbands from the store and just cutting and sewing them to the right size until I read that suggestion. Maybe I'll get to work on that this weekend!

Sonogram

I had a sonogram yesterday to see how big the baby is and she is 4 pounds 6 ounces! Everything I read says she should be about 3 1/2 pounds so I was shocked to hear that she is over 4. My doctor says she is in the 66th percentile... that's not TOO bad, right? :) I definitely won't need any preemie clothes! I'm thinking she will be at least 9 pounds. She is head down which was great news! I asked if she would move from that position and they said not usually.

That's all for now, just wanted to share the picture of my sweet little... er, big... baby!

31 Weeks

Forgive me for the picture. I was in the target dressing room trying on clothes and I sent this to Dan as a text message. I decided since I'm having issues with my camera and my computer I'd just update my blog with this pic! :)

9 more weeks!

That's right! Only 9 more weeks till my due date! And 5 weeks till Dan comes home! I look at the calendar all the time. I have pictures I need to post, but my computer doesn't seem to want to take memory cards anymore and I can't find the cord to connect the camera and the computer. I must get this fixed soon!

Yesterday my mom drove down and we went to a 1 day birthing education class at the hospital. It was very informative and I really enjoyed it! Mom was glad there was only about 10 minutes of graphic material. :) The nurse teaching the class was so funny! She mentioned how some people feel the baby hiccuping while they're pregnant and it hit me! THAT is what I've been feeling all the time! I could not figure out why Caroline would be kicking these little bitty kicks in such a rhythm. Then, about 10 minutes later to prove me right, Caroline had the hiccups! It was pretty funny. Other than that, the biggest highlight of the class was being able to see the labor/delivery/recovery room. I'm so glad that all three events will take place in the same room. The interesting thing about this hospital is that they don't have a nursery... so the baby sleeps (or cries) in your room at night. That is a little scary because I'm not sure how exhausted I'm going to be after laboring but at least I'll have Dan there. They did say that the nurse will come get the baby for a while if you need to sleep. We'll see how that goes! As we were leaving that area of the hospital I heard a little bitty baby crying and that made it so much more real. I was talking to someone with a 9 month old last week and she said it didn't feel really real until she showed up at the hospital in labor. 9 weeks feels like a long time away, but I'm sure it will come in no time!

Wall Decal

Last week my newest purchase for Caroline's room came in so my mom and Gommy came to town yesterday to help me put it up! I ordered a wall decal from http://www.etsy.com/ and I think it is adorable!



The branch and the leaves are perfect. The ONLY thing I'm not crazy over is how plain the birds are. I'm thinking about maybe painting them a different color or taking them off and replacing them with cuter birds... something like this or this


If I did decide to replace them I don't really know what color to make them. I'm up for suggestions!! :)

That's all for now! We're about to go shopping and eat lunch! Yay!

Test Results

Last week I had my glucose test and my results came back too high so I went this week to have the 3 hour glucose tolerance test done. Let me just tell you, being stuck with a needle 5 times in a matter of 3 hours is NOT fun! I look like a druggie with all these holes in my arms. Anyway, I got the results back today and they were too high again. My doctor is out of town so I haven't had a chance to have a good talk with an MD but it basically looks like I've got gestational diabetes. Cuss!!!!

Now, I know there are MUCH worse things that can go wrong but it's so hard eating a low carb diet! EVERYTHING has carbs... even healthy stuff!! I feel like I need a meal planner. Then throw the fact that I'm super picky on top of that and it just makes things more complicated. One of the most upsetting things about this is that over half of the people who have gestational diabetes develop full blown diabetes later on in life. This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?!??

Anyway enough of that stuff. I'm 28 weeks and the baby weighs over 2 lbs now! It's crazy to think she is that big and that she could probably survive on her own if born right now! I love feeling her move and watching my stomach jump at night before bed. :) This week her eyes are open and she'll blink in response to light. So neat! I got another big part of my nursery in (ordered it off the internet) and my Mom may be coming this weekend to help me put it up so I hope to have updated pictures of the nursery then!

Belly Pics & Bedding!

I haven't really been good about keeping up with the belly pictures, but my friend Wren was in town this weekend and so she took a picture for me. I can't believe how big I am already! I've got a long way to go... this could be bad a bad sign!



We had a great time this weekend... we were lazy but we did manage to get some shopping and eating done! Ha! As much fun as we had, I think our pups had even more! They get along so well and are the perfect size for each other. Her dog Luxie is sooooo sweet!



Shelby is sweet too!!


Last week was great... I spent two days in Jackson training for my new job so I got to visit with my mom, Gommy, and my MIL and SIL! I enjoyed seeing them all... I'm so glad that I'm closer to home now! My mother in law bought me several precious outfits for the baby and also the crib bedding that I've been wanting! It is so cute! I can't wait to get the room painted and get a dresser in there.





Now here is something I'd like everyone's opinion on... In the first picture of the bedding you see the bumper shows the bird design facing out... but you can't really see it that well because it's covered by the crib bars. The picture below shows the bumper reversed so you can see the design better when you're looking into the crib. So... should I have it facing inward or outward?


A little onsie she got me that I love! :)

Jennifer vs. Mouse Family

So remember me telling y'all about the mouse in my garage this weekend? Yea... well, her family decided to make an appearance IN MY TRUNK today. I opened the trunk to get out a bottle of water (I keep a big pack in the trunk to carry into work with me) and I saw two little mice scurrying around in there. EEEEEKKK!!!!!

So I had to leave for work.... I was scared the WHOLE way.... I kept picturing them crawling up my pants or something terrible. Then when I got to work I asked my coworkers what to do and finally they decided I should get some of those sticky pads and put them in the car & trunk. I did that and both of them were caught shortly after... I had to have my coworker go get them out for me. I shouldn't have looked, but I did and that image will be stuck in my head for a while. Poor little things...

I also bought 4 traps (the metal snappy kind) and put peanut butter on them and placed them in my garage. Well, actually, my neighbor placed them because every time I tried they'd go off and peanut butter would fly off. I can't do anything!! GAH!

Why on earth would this happen now of all times? Special Agent Henry needs to get his butt home FAST!!!!!!!!

Long haired dogs & hardwoods: not a good combination!

I'm SO tired of sweeping up dog hair! I told Dan earlier that either our next house won't have hardwood floors OR our next dog won't be a shedding breed! I REALLY wish Shelby didn't shed. Hopefully this is just a bad time of year for shedding and once it gets cold she'll stop? I have a daily routine now of brushing her and then sweeping... and then walking around and finding more hair....yeesh!

My mom came down to visit me this weekend and I really enjoyed having her company. Yesterday we cooked chicken fajitas and I made chocolate chip cookies! It was my first time ever to do them from scratch! I used my friend Julie's recipe and they turned out pretty good... not as awesome as hers always are, but still, pretty good. :)

I just finished my first week at my new job and I think it's going pretty well. I don't love dressing up every day but that's just the real world, right? I DO love getting off at 2 pm once a week... I love, love, LOVE that! I also met my neighbors this week and they are so sweet. They have 4 kids and they cut my grass yesterday and brought me dinner. I could get used to this kind of treatment! :) The wife is so nice... she asked if I cooked much and I told her no, I usually eat a sandwich for dinner. When she came over to bring me dinner she said "the baby doesn't want a sandwich tonight!" I offered to pay her for cutting the grass and she said no way and that her neighbors used to take care of her when her husband was in Iraq... so it's good to know she understands. Dan's parents are giving us a lawn mower and he is coming home October 10th so hopefully the grass won't need to be cut again until then. Owning a house is serious business! It's just a totally different feeling of responsibility. Yesterday I saw a mouse in my garage...... greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat. I'm leaving the garage door open all day and praying he will go back outside where he belongs! I just can't wait till Dan gets home so he can worry about all that stuff. Only 2 1/2 more months!!!

That's all the news for now! I hope everyone has a great week!

We're hooome!

Oooo...ahhhh....


Dan installing blinds:


Pop installing blinds:


Messy, but pretty kitchen:


Messy, but pretty living room:


Baby's crib is up:


Aww, first pic of our family in the new house!


Dan looks like he is struggling a little bit... strange...


It's finally OVER! Here is a little timeline of events: Dan came home around 8:30 on Thursday night and we drove all night and arrived in our future drive way at about 4am on Friday morning. We were able to go in and look around and we prayed the cops wouldn't come carry us away in handcuffs! :)Then, we spent the rest of the morning sleeping in our car (again, in the drive way). Our realtor showed up at 8 and we had closed on the house by 9:30. After the lack of sleep, we were both feeling pretty rough by this point! We went to OUR house and took a nap and got some much needed rest. I felt so much better by Saturday morning after a full night's sleep. Dan's parents showed up Saturday to help hang blinds and install our new refrigerator, washer & dryer! Sunday was move in day and the movers were quick and got it all done in a few hours. It started raining at the very end so they finished just in the nick of time. A little later my brother in law and sister in law & their kids showed up to help us unpack and hang pictures and organize furniture. I can't tell y'all how blessed I am to have family that will come and work so hard for us! Dan leaves tomorrow to go back to Georgia and I'm going to miss having him around! It's so easy to fall back into our normal routine and forget that he isn't home for good. Thursday through Sunday I'm going to the beach with my sister in law's family and I can't wait! I'm sure my next post will be full of pictures from that trip. Unfortunately, who knows how long it may be before I can blog again... I have no idea when I'm going to get internet! :( I don't know what I'll do without it!

Shelby on an inflatable mattress

Yea, I'm crazy. I did just buy an inflatable mattress and yes I'm letting my dog sleep on it. Will I regret it? I sure hope not....



Where else is she supposed to sleep??? On the floor? **GASP, I think not!

Our apartment is officially all packed up and on a truck which is who knows where by now. I still don't know what day they'll be delivering our stuff to Hattiesburg and it's really starting to tick me off. I'm not sure if I should try and be extra sweet to the lady in control or just cry and scream at her. Probably neither...

Anywho, this will probably be the last post until this move is all over with! I.CAN'T.WAIT.

I think I hear the inflatable mattress calling my name... here I come!

20 Weeks!

I hate that I don't have anyone to take these pictures for me... for some reason I think I would look better if someone else took the picture instead of me having to use the self timer. HA!

Things are really falling into place for our new house in Hattiesburg! I have been SO STRESSED about the inspection and whether or not the timing will work out to close on the right date... there are just a million things to think about. I know worrying doesn't help at all and I wish I could just turn off the 'worry switch' but it just isn't that easy. Thank goodness I have such wonderful family and coworkers that will listen to me talk it out over and over again.
Anyway, our appraisal is set to come back tomorrow which means we will probably close on time and the builder agreed to fix almost everything that was mentioned in the inspection. **deep sigh of relief!
Here are some pictures of the house that my SIL took early this month when we first saw it:
http://gallery.me.com/amydhenry#100410

Since then, the house has been finished! This is the only updated picture that I have since our original trip. Maybe more to come after the weekend! :)


The movers are supposed to come pack everything and load the truck a week from today. I am SO excited that I don't have to pack anything and Dan won't have to worry about loading up a truck in the heat or anything. Dan comes home a week from Thursday (for labor day weekend). I can't wait to see him! He'll actually be home for 4 days so that will be a nice break. We will drive to Hattiesburg on Friday and our stuff will arrive sometime between the 3rd and the 8th. I just love that they've given me such a big time frame... and I have no idea when we will actually have all of our stuff back. :)

Anyway, that's all for now!

18.5 Weeks

Below is a picture of some beautiful flowers my mom bought me the day after we found out that we're having a girl! :) So pretty!


And of course we had to do lots of shopping the moment we found out! Mom ended up buying everything for me this weekend, which was great! LOL! Below are pictures of a few of my favorites!





I know everyone knows this, but can I just say.... shopping for a baby girl is FUN!!!!
I started looking at bedding this weekend and this is my favorite so far:

I just love the little birds! I think that will make a really cute nursery! I found it at this website: http://www.babybananza.com/p/bf-SET-LVB-BBF/bf-SET-LVB-BBF.html.

My SIL is lending me her crib and it is gorgeous! It's white and will look so good! :) I can't wait to get in my new house and really start working on this room!

That's all for now! Goodnight!

drum roll please!!!!

Let me just start by showing you some pictures!


I'm smiling at you!









aaaaaaaaaaaaand...... we're having a..............................................................................

GIRL!!!!



When the lady doing the sonogram pulled that shot up I said "IT'S A GIRL!!!!" and she just smiled and nodded!! Then, my mom proceeded to go nuts. Ha! We spent the day shopping in downtown Franklin and then headed to Cool Springs Mall and bought two little precious tops for our girl. :)

THEN, on my way home I got a call from the HR lady at Trustmark and she "officially" offered me the job! I'm so glad to have that all lined up! Now, if my house will be finished on time everything will be JUUUST RIGHT! It's been a wonderful day!