French Toast

I had a very tough day today...

after work I got really sick... lost everything I ate last night sick...

then I ate some bland breakfast and drank a big glass of water and some sprite and went to my appointment at the birth center...

all my tests came back healthy and I don't have to have an IV during labor...

then the secretary confused my pants off about the payments saying that we should have paid in full by today... I knew nothing of this. The contract is written too general. It says 36 weeks... 36 weeks of what is what should be detailed better. We're going to talk to the owner on Monday and arrange the rest of the payments with her... our story is a little different anyhow. Shouldn't be a problem at all. Lee's in charge of that...

still no official approval of my leave from work... a little frustrating... gives me more time to pray about it...

Final note... I'm ready to have the baby... it's hard to think in 3 weeks I'll be a mommy and hold my son in my arms. 5 weeks at most.

Tomorrow we will finish getting ready for him and all we'll have left to do it wait.

Also are looking at going to visit Lee's grandparents... maybe spend the night out there. =) Lee's grandma is the best cook ever!

We went to Cracker Barrel last night and I had french toast, bacon, eggs, and coke to drink... biscuits and gravy there was no room to eat so that will be yummy when I wake up from sleeping today.

Tomorrow we go shopping for baby stuff... going to buy a trash bin with a lid, a glider chair with an automan, a dresser (or changing table), and anything else we don't have. Then when we get home from shopping we're going to put it all together and put baby's stuff in his room and I'm going to take pictures the whole day and post them on facebook sometime this week. Then hopefully we'll be driving to Lee's grandparent's house for a visit. Lee's day will be considerably long as he is going to church at 8 to do grounds duty with Marc then going to the post office and then going back to church for visitation and then going shopping with me and doing baby stuff. Such a wonderful husband! I could not ask for more. I love his so much and then so much more as the days go by.

Full Term, Full Figure, Full of Baby, Full Nursery

Tomorrow it is officially safe to delivery that baby that's been growing inside of me for what seems like forever. Leave at work still hasn't been approved... we're at the point of waiting for the final word. May the Lord's will be done. I'm just super excited to have this baby in a matter of weeks in my arms. I hope my belly shrinks down relatively reasonably. I feel like a cow anymore. A very pregnant cow.

This past Monday was the baby shower for our baby boy. He's going to be so spoiled! It was more than I ever imagined. It's difficult at times because my family and friends up till a year ago are all 1,000 miles away. But down here I have a different family, but family all the same. Our church family and Lee's family have more than been supportive with their prayers and generosity. I thank God every day for blessing me so much. And to top it all off the newest addition is going to be here so soon. =)

I met with a pediatrician today and he's going to be the baby's doctor. It was wonderful. I feel so much better about it all now that we've squared that away. We chose Dr. Tom Benton. It's a little bit of a drive to his office but it is well worth it. The office was clean, the staff was friendly, he's a father of five, they gave me a book and a bag of goodies... and he answered all my questions. He was great!

I also went to the dentist yesterday and am getting a cleaning today. I have some dental issues. My one tooth chipped in the back and it needs some immediate assistance. One day at a time, one dental visit at a time. I pray we can get it taken care of and it doesn't turn worse than it is.

I am looking forward to this weekend. We're going to spend some vacation time in St. Augustine to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. I am hoping for no rain. It'll be nice to sleep in a big bed and relax in a hot tub and spend time with my husband and not have to worry about anything. Then Sunday morning we're looking at going to church with Lee's dad and stepmom. Should be a good weekend.

Evaluated

I got evaluated at work in relation to my leave I am sure. I did good. 30/40 which puts me in the upper adequate range of evaluations. I'm very happy with this.

I'm very ready for my maternity leave. Tomorrow we do the final touches of things needed to be done before delivery. Baby shower is Monday and then we'll do final shopping for baby after next payday.

I am officially nine months pregnant as of today and boy do I feel it. I slept really good today. 8 almost solid hours... silly bathroom breaks.

On a bad note I chipped a tooth today and need some dentist action. Hubby is going to call around tomorrow and see where and when I can get in somewhere so this doesn't develop into a baby dangerous issue. It was bleeding a little but doesn't really hurt. Just to be safe I packed only soft food for my lunch today and am rinsing after eating like it's my job.

All I want to do now is sleep but I need to go to the post office today before I go to sleep. Depending on how I'm feeling I may or may not get around to that. I have a birthday present to send my daddy and a necklace to mail to Shanna. I may just wait till Tuesday and send this stuff with my husband during lunch hour instead so I can get to sleep right away. It's a long weekend after all and I should sleep as much as possible as a result. Next Friday I'm offically in my delivery window for labor. I pray I make it to my due date. We'll see what God has planned for me however. Baby will come when He is ready.

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Don't forget to remember what it's for.

Reality.

Ultrasounds make the pregnancy feel so much more real. You spend so much time dealing with the symptoms and preparing it doesn't really allow you the attention towards the baby itself. I get filled with tears of joy thinking in about a month I'm going to be a mommy. And my wonderful husband is going to be a daddy. How much of our lives do we spend this way? Consumed by the day to day we forget to stop and appreciate what it's all for. The interesting, the cultural, the outward drag. Instead I'd rather be able to stop and look at the picture that reminds us of the simple beauty God has blessed upon us. With all the pain in this world and the suffering and the sin it makes the good moments truely wonderful. Especially with becoming a parent it makes me cherish the rest of my family, those who are in my life and not, so much more important to me. It pains me to think of how people bicker and argue with each other over so many trivial things and it pains me that much more when it is over the important things in life. I pray from the deepest part of my heart that I am blessed with the guidence to raise my children in a strong Christian home so they may know the Lord one day and as they grow into the people they will be will see the joy the Lord gives us. And with that I pray we can strive every day to live as examples for Christ and do the Lord's work. Because that would please Him.

Common Cold

I have a cold and can't take off from work because I need all the sick time I can get for my maternity leave. =( This makes me sleep all day which means nothing has changed except that whole stuffy nose sore everything enhanced vitamin C thing I'm going through. I hope it passes with all this rain.

Appointments!

My calendar is so full it seems. Before the baby is born I have one birth center visit every week from now on, I have meet and greet with a pediatrician, I have another ultrasound scheduled for this week, I have to talk to HR about approval for maternity leave, a baby shower, a visit to some in-laws, and the list goes on. If all that doesn't make me go into labor I don't know what will.

Today at my birth center appointment they took blood and did a test for some kind of bacteria that can make the baby sick. Pray test results come back healthy. I don't want to have an IV during labor. So much is going to be going on to begin with.

I've also found a new show I can't stop watching for some reason... Jon and Kate Plus 8. Their kids are so precious. There are some questionable things there but I just stop and ask myself how I would be in their situation. Talk about prayer. I like the show about the Duggar family better but you can't find full episodes of their show anywhere I've looked. Maybe I'll order the DVD from their web site. Couldn't tell you. We don't have cable for a good reason and it's not because we can't afford it. There is way too much junk on TV that we don't want in our house. So it's not. There's enough that filters through in movies to deal with. Before the baby is born I'm going to go through and clean up my DVD collection again. It's hard to throw things away and I refuse to try to sell something I deem innapropriate to someone else. One of my struggles.

Otherwise all is well. I've been having a lot of back pain and indigestion which makes it hard to get to sleep sometimes. But once I am out there is no hope in waking me up till either I get hungry or a bathroom break is in sight.

36 days!

It seems like every entry I make is a focus of coutdown.

36 days.

I remember in 2007 when I was counting down the days until I would be done with AmeriCorps. That was mostly because of a negative influence in my life and because I wanted to get to Ohio on account of my Daddy being sick with the cancer. Crazy how far I've come since then. Daddy is now cancer free and I'm back in FL, married and about to have myself a baby. I just wish my parents lived closer. I miss them terribly.

June 2nd is mine and Lee's 1st wedding anniversary. Hard to imagine it's been a year already. Hopefully on the 30th we will be able to take a trip to St. Augustine and stay in a hotel overnight. It'll be our last hoorah before life changes forever and we have that little bundle of baby boy to consume us.

We bought a coming home outfit for Jonas today. It's a little onsie (spell?) with bugs on it and it says "bug buddies". Lee found it and I loved it. It's hard to imagine this little guy needing so much stuff still. I feel a bit overwhelmed.

Otherwise I just want to sleep sleep sleep. I get soooo tired all the time. Weekend is almost here and I'm going to hopefully tackle some more baby preparing and get lots and lots of sleepy.

Feeling Better

My advice to anyone who is pregnant is keep up the regular walks. I stopped doing them for a few weeks because I had unjustified fears that I might go into pre-term labor, but went and walked today and feel a million times better. Lots of water and regular walks make it feel so good. Makes for an easier labor so I hear as well. =) I made the nasty magnesium drink like it's supposed to be and it wasn't as nasty. Still gross. Makes me feel good. If it wasn't for those leg cramps... or as I like to call leg twists of death... I would avoid the stuff 100%. But it does relieve your muscle pains. Calm is the brand name of the stuff I have if anyone is interested in trying it.

5 weeks on Friday till the official due date. All I want to do is eat and sleep it seems. Can you blame me? This weekend I hope to get some serious work done in the ready for baby dept. I also want to give the house a good top to bottom scrub since that won't be happening for awhile when the baby gets here. I did a lot this past week cleaning wise... there's just clutter of stuff in our apt that needs organizing. I'm also going to pack my bag for the birth this weekend =)

We finally got a bedframe and it is amazingly so much easier to get up out of bed now as well as into bed. May be the reason why all I want to do is sleep and eat. Couldn't be sure. All I know is I love my bed!

So much to do and so little time!

Talk about the due date creeping up! I have three weeks till the baby is grown enough to have a safe delivery without complications and less than six weeks until the little guy's due date. Baby shower is the 25th of this month and we have countless things to get ready at home...

I'm going to make a big fat list for my husband of things we need to get done in the next three weeks. I'm having trouble knowing where to start with it all. Yesterday we went and bought a car seat. I loves that classic style winnie the poo! Cute! I really am praying hard for all of this to go as smoothly as possible. It'll be great.

Yesterday was mother's day. I called my mom to wish her a happy one. I wonder if my brothers paid the same respects. We took Lee's mama out to lunch which was a lot of fun. I got really tired and overheated and swollen and felt like I wanted to die by the time I got home. Working nights + being pregnant + staying up all day + a hot car ride + swelling = a very cranky me that loves the comfy bed filled with pillows. Lee was very proud of how tough I was and I got a shower, a back rub, and he read me the bible till I fell asleep. Talk about a great husband!

Today I plan on going back to bed as soon as Lee goes to work and sleeping all day long. =)

6 weeks to go!

Six weeks to go until the due date now... and boy am I ready for it. I have been so tired this week its unreal. This weekend me and baby are going to play catch up. I had one of those baby dreams today. Baby boy was about 3 years old in it and he had bright red hair. He was jumping around in front of a window and telling me he wanted to go outside and help daddy with the yard work. I told him we'll make daddy a drink instead cause he's working so hard he must be thirsty. So baby watched while I made a drink then we brought it to my husband together and baby said "here daddy I made you a drink". Great dream =) Only a matter of time till it's reality.

On the radio I was listening to BBN and they were talking about the role of mothers. Very encouraging. According to the guy speaking there is no statistical evidence in an average family that when the mom who has kids (dependants) is working a "real job" is making the family's financial situation any better unless they make over $50,000 a year. If you ask me, being a mom is the biggest and best job a lady can have. Our financial situation as of now is so where I am going to keep my "real job" until our debt is under control and then stay around for insurance for some more babies and then be a full time mom. Who knows how long this may take... perhaps ten years? It's in the Lord's hands. I really like my job and want to stay as long as possible, not just for the benefits. Once all the babies are school age we may be looking at homeschooling and family comes first always. In the short life and array of jobs I've had if I've learned anything it's that jobs come and go and it's your family and friends through the years that are much more important in your life. I trust that the Lord will provide what we need. He has so much already. A great testimony of that has been this past year. People thought me crazy to just pick up and quit my job in Ohio and move to Florida and get married like I did. But it is what the Lord led me to do. He stirred my heart. Once in Florida and settled we got pregnant when we were just getting by enough for the two of us and I was without insurance. There were a few tough months there but we stayed faithful and prayed diligently about it and God provided us with a job that would provide extra income and insurance for me that would cover the delivery of our baby boy. I could not have asked for more. And on top of that it is a job where I am using my college education. God keeps his promises and takes care of us. He doesn't give us what we can't handle by trusting in Him. =)

6 weeks and 2 days!

Today I did not sleep well at all. My back hurt almost as bad as right after that bus accident, my tummy was upset all day no matter what I did to fix it, there's too many fluffy pillows in my bed, I lost my teddy bear, and everything smells like a dumpster! And my belly is filled with a baby that kicks my bladder, squishes my tummy, and makes it hard to breath and impossible to lay down comfortably without my arms going numb. I must be pregnant. Not trying to complain... just saying how it be. Fortunately I have an amazing husband that has been cooking me dinner and doing dishes and giving great back rubs. Just over six more weeks and I'll be as sore as they come and I can sleep as much as possible between taking care of the baby. =) Can we say anxious?

And counting and counting and counting...

7 weeks until the due date. Yes! Let's do a baby update... according to the experts...

Baby is over 4lbs!
Baby is about 19 inches long!
Baby's room measures around 5 inches over my belly button!
There's a lot of fluid in my body... most there will be all pregnancy!
And maternity cloths are worth the investment!
My back is all kinds of twisted!

Other than that I'm not in the mood to write a novel tonight.

Praise be everything has gone well so far and I pray we have a strong finish.