Showered with love

Today, the choir at my church threw me my first baby shower. Brandon was invited to come--there were a handful of choir men there, too--and he was my staff photographer, right hand man, and scribe. (He wrote all the gifts on the back of cards so I can write thank you notes.)

My jack-of-all-trades hubby

 Our shower was held in the fellowship hall. A balloon marked which door to come in...

And the food table had some yummy goodies to share!

Can you see that these are pacifiers? Ms. June stuck two Life Savers together, put a blue jellybean on the front, and tied each with a ribbon. I thought they were SO cute!

And, since we are keeping the baby's name a secret, they improvised with personalizing the cake...

I LOVE it!!! And they added jellybeans to the top!

Check out the super cute cake topper the decorator made. =)

I can easily say we were quite overwhelmed. By the end of the day, about 25 people had "floated" by our shower. We got so many sweet, thoughtful gifts! Over 30 people helped to welcome our Jellybean with cards and goodies! Little guy got onesies, blankets, pillows, diapers, wipes, a stroller, a Bumbo seat, pacifiers...so many things I cannot even recall. Here's a picture of the bags and boxes after we got them home...B's truck was full, so my dad had to load up the Blazer with the other presents and leftover cake to make it to our house.

Wow!

I went through everything to make sure no one gets left out when I write my thank you notes...and I can reiterate that our Jellybean received so many wonderful gifts today!

Tara gave JB his first personalized onesie, lol

 And as we ate goodies and opened gifts, of course our guests chatted.

Brandon and I feel very loved. What a wonderful afternoon shared with my choir friends. I am so uplifted and grateful that Bean has a caring, supportive family in Christ. =) I cannot even explain how we felt as more folks dropped in and brought us gifts for our son. A huge thank you goes out to each and every person who made our afternoon so very special.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:6-8

Who says Fairy Godmothers can't do their job while pregnant?

This week was the Fairy Godmothers of Virginia 6th annual prom dress sale. This organization collects dresses, shoes, handbags, and various accessories and then sells them for super cheap to young women who need a little help affording the prom outfit of their dreams. I had wanted to help last year, but by the time I got the information and figured out how to sign up, it was too late.

Well, this year, one of my DZ girls (Krissy!) was on the dress collection committee and mentioned collecting dresses as an alumnae group project. I got the details from her, signed up to work the event online, and then organized a dress drive at my elementary school. Altogether, I got about 35 prom dresses and two big shopping bags of shoes, bags, jewelry, and scarves. (Go CRE Dolphins!) B and I met Krissy at Towne Center and put the goods in her jeep just in time for the sorting party.

Sunday of this week, February 20th, was the opening day of the event. I couldn't wait! I got to MacArthur Mall at 11:15 and ended up working until almost 7pm. I was, needless to say, completely worn out. But man, what a day! The mall let the FGofVA take over the old Champs store and set it up. The girls checked in at registration, chose a few dresses with the help of their Personal Shopper (which is what I did for most of Sunday), headed to the back room to try on their gowns, then after choosing the perfect dress they headed out the other side to pick out all their accessories--scarves, shrugs, handbags, undergarments, shoes, and jewelry. There was a HUGE table of donated makeup, most of it from The Body Shop, and the Body Shop had employees helping the shoppers to find good colors and then offering them free makeup appointments the day of their events. From there, the Personal Shoppers escorted their girl to the checkout, where they paid a minimal fee for their goodies. Gowns, many of them brand-spanking-new, were $10. Everything else was $2 a piece.

Here's how it looked...

Girls had preregistered to attend. They lined up and waited outside in the mall hallway for their time appointment. There were 25 appointments every half hour.

When they came in, they had tons of dress racks to go through. Dresses were sorted by size and then by color. They looked, handed the dresses to us, then we took them in the back and helped them try everything on.

Still more dresses--this photo is from Saturday!

After choosing their dress, they hit up the accessories.

There were tons of almost-new shoes from which the girls could choose.

Last stop before checkout--makeup. I was trying to help my girl find an eyeliner. You can see the News Channel 3 guy in the photo; they volunteered, too.

It was pretty awesome. Sunday, I helped about 12 girls shop and find dresses. I had some girls who were totally delighted with their purchases! I had one girl with a really obnoxious friend who tried talking her out of all the things she liked, and another girl with a Momzilla who was just plain ugly to the girl, but everyone else was so grateful and excited! I got so toasty hot doing all that running around, I had to borrow a FG shirt to wear.

My last girls were with the Commonwealth Challenge group, a group of at-risk youth who basically participate in a ROTC-like program to promote healthy choices and good decisions. I managed to help two girls before I just couldn't make it any longer...7 hours on my feet and I was pooped!

Me with my group of Commonwealth Challenge girls.

Today (Saturday) was the last day. I was surprised at just how much was left! They obviously rotated stock every night. The 3 founders who ran everything remembered me from Sunday (I mean, honestly...how many pregnant women would be nuts enough to work 7 hours on opening day? Much less come back?) and graciously let me work the accessories table from 8:30 until 2:30. I was only a Personal Shopper for an hour today, thank goodness!

Me and the jewelry, after my OCD kicked in and I reorganized it all by color and metal type, lol.

It was a nice change to help the girls find the perfect sparkles to dress up their dresses! I was also in charge of the volunteer snackbar...hey, who better to pawn off sugary food than a pregnant woman who could basically live on carbs? I did eat an orange...and a few of the other goodies, lol...

Godmothers eat healthy food!

But, despite my swollen feet and complete exhaustion, today provided me with one of those "AHA!" moments where you know you're doing something good. There was a group of girls brought in from St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children. It always makes me a little sad to see children (and adults, for that matter) who are so helpless...wheelchair bound with the inability to care for themselves. These girls came in during a lull and their nurses (God bless all caring nurses!) helped them find dresses for their special "prom." The nurses obviously knew their girls; they could read their faces and, even though the girls couldn't talk, they were able to see by their reactions whether they liked the items they were shown. It just warmed my heart.

Here were 3 of the St. Mary's girls and their nurses looking at dresses.

And the tears just came to my eyes when one of the girls wanted a dress I had donated. I know some of my dresses and handbags had come through and been sold, but this was the first one I'd actually seen get looked at. The little girl loved it, and it was the most beautiful feeling to witness my dress making someone else happy. That is what service is all about...

She kept looking at my light green dress (in the center) that I wore when I was Miss Congeniality of Virginia. Wow, what a surge of love in my heart!

Her nurse ultimately got her a green dress that was short, since it would be easier to get the girl in it; mine was long and had a small train on the back. But to see a dress I'll never fit into again make a sweet little special needs girl's eyes sparkle...yeah. That's it. I knew I was supposed to stay late today and see that.

So, it was a long day, but a fulfilling one. Beautiful. What an honor and a pleasure to be a part of an organization that helped over 700 girls make their prom dreams come true this year. I'll gladly take the swollen feet and puffy hands if it means making a difference. I cannot WAIT to help again next year!

New guests in our home...

This week, I feel like I spent the entire time from Sunday through Saturday on my feet. Sunday was an all-day shopping experience with the Fairy Godmothers. Monday, thank goodness, I rested. Tuesday and Wednesday were busy at school. Wednesday I went from school to the doctors, then to early supper, then home for a few minutes, then off to church to teach GAs and then go to choir. Whew! I got home around 9, took off my shoes and socks and screamed.

I have cankles.

If you're not familiar, cankles are when your calf blends into your ankle. You are unable to distinguish where one ends and the other starts. I know I have ankle bones in there somewhere, but they are currently hidden under a lovely puffy cushion. Holy water weight, Batman!

Thursday and Friday, I tried to sit a lot at school, but somehow I feel like I walked ten times more than I normally do. I actually lived in my ugly Mary Jane crocs and swapped them out for my bedroom slippers by Friday.

So, today, I was lucky enough to spend most of the day sitting at the jewelry counter at the Godmothers sale. Thank goodness for understanding women! =)

But, alas, my cankles are still here. I'm afraid they have become a part of our family this week. Tonight they aren't as bad as they were, but they're not pretty, friends. No pictures of those bad boys. Not yet, anyway. I did show them to Brandon when we got home from dinner, quite a lovely sight to behold. And my caring, thoughtful, always sensitive husband announced that since they were obviously here to stay, he was naming my right one Juliette. He insisted I name the left one and gave me until I was done with my shower to have a name chosen.

So, as further proof of our maturity, I welcome Juliette and Hercules as semi-permanent guests in our home. I would appreciate it if they'd kindly leave soon, but I give them through April to wear out their welcome. In the meantime, I plan to continue to prop them up and pamper them during their stay. Buh-bye, sodium. No sense adding to the problem.

Enjoy your stay, kiddos. I can't wait to see you go!

Surprise for me!

I got home from the Fairy Godmothers event today, hopped in my jammies, and curled up on the couch. Brandon came out with 3 wrapped packages. The first one was a memory card, the second one was a camera bag, and the third one was a new Nikon digital D-SLR camera! He knew how much I wanted a new camera we could adjust on our own to take a million pics of our new Jellybean. So as I headed out at 7:30 this lovely Saturday morning, B headed out shortly thereafter to hit up Best Buy and surprise me when I got home. 

Not the most flattering picture, but I'm holding the "open me last" box that B gave me with our new camera in it.

Now I cannot wait to practice using it! B has been messing with it and has re-adjusted the camera bag a thousand times until the sound of the velcro is about to make me rip my hair out. =) But what a wonderful gift! I'm so excited to have a nice camera beyond our point-and-shoot.

So prepare yourselves! As if I didn't put up enough photos, I'm about to get super obnoxious with the pics! Thank you, Bubba!

Spoiled Jellybean

We continue to be blessed by our friends and family with sweet gifts for our sweet baby boy.

Brandon's high school soccer coach, Coach Wecht, has a daughter at my school. His wife, Leslie, is super-PTA-mom. She surprised me at school with a package adorned with a soccer rattle...I sent a pic of it to Brandon and we opened it together when he got home.

We opened it and it was filled with super-cute future soccer star outfits! What else would you expect from B's soccer coach? And, for my personal enjoyment, a precious Disney outfit with footies (yay! I LOVE footies!) and a book to read to my little guy.

The coach onesie cracked us up! The others say "born kickin'" and "boys will be boys," all soccer themed, of course. And the bottom right is the little Disney outfit. =)

A few days later, their daughter, Morgan, brought me a present in my classroom before school. She gave us two super cute Christmas shirts for Jellybean...

So cute! And my obsession with Snoopy holiday movies can now be shared with my little one! LOVE the Snoopy shirt, especially!

And, Jellybean received his first official mail today. Auntie Marcie sent him a package!

And in that package was a precious little dinosaur outfit...

And the sweetest little baby boy blue onesie I've ever seen! Just look how cute it is! I can't stand it!

So, we continue to thank everyone for their kindness. JB is a spoiled little booger already!

Jumpin' bean

Two Fridays ago, Brandon came home in an absolute rage following an email he received at closing time at work. An absolute rage. I haven't seen that Brandon since we first got married. He couldn't talk straight, he couldn't calm down, he was just not himself. Needless to say, it stirred me up.

Starting that night, I couldn't sleep. I mean, I've hit the point where I am having a hard time getting comfortable at night anyway, but I couldn't get my mind cleared long enough to rest. By the middle of the following week, I was dead at work by noon. I'd get home, curl up in the chair (with a handful of pillows and my dog, lol) and sleep til Brandon got home. And even after nearly a week, I hadn't come back down to earth yet. The email, B's irritation, the conversations we had about life...it's had my mind in a hot frenzy.

So by Monday of this week, I'd noticed the baby wasn't constantly beating me up like he normally does. He was still. I didn't think too much of it the first night, just figured I'd been so busy with work and cleaning and grading papers that I hadn't paid attention. But by Tuesday morning, I realized that Bean wasn't really moving at all. Not wanting to panic Brandon, I didn't mention it before work on Tuesday. But when he got home, I finally spilled it. I tried to stay calm, but I know B could read the panic in my eyes. I went to church and came home...and by bed time, when the baby hadn't moved, I was on the verge of freak out mode. B could tell. I don't know why I even try to shelter him sometimes, he can read me like a book. He offered to take me to the ER, but I refused; I didn't have the sick gut feeling, I just felt like maybe I was so stressed out it was affecting the baby. He went on to bed, I drank a giant glass of cold orange juice in the hopes of stirring JB up a bit. No luck.

So I headed to bed, propped on my 50 pillows, and waited for him to stir. All I wanted was a punch in my ribs, a kick in my bladder, a stomach morphing stretch. But alas, nothing. So I laid there for about 20 minutes, contemplating what to do. So I prayed. I prayed so fervently. I poured my heart out to God, asked Him to hold my little guy in His hands. I just wanted one sign he was okay, and if I didn't get one, I would wake B and go straight to the ER. And less than a minute after I said my Amen, I felt it. One single thump, low in my abdomen...just once, but enough to let me know that JB was okay.

Thursday, B texted me at work that his mom and stepdad were coming over and we decided to ask them to talk with us. I was back to my wreck-tastic self all day. Bean wasn't stirring. I told the teacher across from me and she said she'd experienced that once and had actually gone to the ER...and they made her eat a huge glass of ice. So, bless his heart, I spent my entire day doing everything I could figure to stir him up. I ate a lunch of Thin Mints. I had two giant thermal tumblers of ice. I drank an orange soda. I had cold water until I felt like I was floating. Nothing. He moved one time all day. Just once. I ran through a million "what could be wrong" scenarios in my head. Still no sick gut feeling, but just a worry.

After a really good talk with B's family, we showed them the nursery and hugged them goodbye with the prospect of an ice cream date next week. As they drove off, I held the dog at the front door and B hugged me. We shut the door and hugged again. We felt such relief, hope. We returned to the den, talked about the night, and finally felt like things were changing for the better. What a weight from our shoulders!

And, just a few minutes later, a thump. Followed by another one. Then a wiggle. Then a stomach-morphing stretch. Then the unmistakable sucker punch to the bladder. Oh, thank you for beating the crap out of mommy, little Jellybean!

Looking back over the last two weeks, I realized that I'd let a stupid email that upset Brandon upset me...and it flipped my world inside out. It consumed me. I worried about family. I worried about what I could and couldn't say. I worried that B was so easily stirred to his old tempermental self. I worried. How many times do I have to remember that worrying solves nothing? How many times do I have to remind myself to give my worries to God? And once I give away those worries, to NOT take them back? I'd worried so much it had made my own child feel my stress. Mommy lesson number 1928329817...you cannot let your stress affect your child. It is not fair to them.

And so we headed to bed. I, propped on my throne of pillows...B, struggling to find enough room to sleep comfortably...and I sat there enjoying the fact that Jellybean's thumping and kicking and flip-flopping was keeping me awake. How pathetic I'd let myself worry myself into a tizzy over a stupid email. Honestly. Was it worth it in the end? Did getting all stirred up to the point of endangering my child do a darned thing to help? So. completely. ridiculous.

Lesson learned. And never again will I complain about how JB likes to tickle my hipbone (my most ticklish spot) until I literally jolt up, nor will I get irritated at losing sleep over his wiggles and jiggles. I welcome them as a sign that I'm doing my job right and that he is happy and healthy.

With a grain of salt...

I have blogged for years. To me, there's something beautiful about putting your thoughts down and letting others into your head. I love the free thinking, how you write just what's on your head and heart at that very moment. It's therapeutic. It's uncensored. It's just the rambling words and drivel floating around in my head. It's my fears and hopes and thoughts. So when I discovered I was pregnant, of course I was going to start a prego blog!

I've never really had anyone express issues with what I have written. I think it's understood by most of my blog friends who read my entries that everything written is to be taken with a grain of salt. I'm pretty sure that all bloggers just write what their hearts tell them. And what I love about this pregnancy blog is that my friends and family around the entire country are able to keep up with what I'm feeling and experiencing, even though we may be hundreds of miles and multiple time zones apart.

I will admit that I have been very caught off guard lately with a few comments about my blog. When B and I chatted with his mom and stepdad last night, I couldn't believe that his stepdad expressed how completely offended he was by some of the things I had written, and his mom was really defensive about my religion posts, feeling that I had been making digs at the way she raised her family. I have never written anything in the hopes of stirring up drama. Between work, family, and life in and of itself, drama comes on its own. Why would I want to add fuel to the fire? When I write, I never intend to offend anyone. The posts I've shared have been beautiful expressions of my feelings in regards to this pregnancy. I've written about the people who have done specific things to help us, about the things I want for my son, about my fears, about the stupid things I've done and heard, and my hopes for a child who values his place in God's kingdom. Those are my thoughts and feelings. Quite frankly, I don't care what anyone else thinks about what I want for my son. The way I live my life and raise my child has absolutely nothing to do with how anyone else is doing or has done their own child rearing.

At this point in my life, if I've got something to say, I will eventually just tell you to your face. I do not like the passive aggressive facebook/email/internet wars. I think they're ridiculous. Adults can just talk. And with that said, let me say a few things in the hopes of promoting a little peace.

If I have offended anyone with posts in my blog, I apologize. I have never left someone out with the intention of hurting them. I haven't shared my own heartfelt words in the hopes of taking a stab at someone else. If you have felt offended, I'm sorry. But please know my words on here have nothing to do with anyone who reads it. Those reading my words are catching a glimpse of my heart. Period. No one else amounts to a hill of beans as far as that goes.

The things I write are to be taken at face value. Please don't look for a deeper meaning. Please don't try and read between the lines. There's no need to find hidden nuances and passive snide comments. They are not there. Anything found and believed to be a purposeful stab is just not legitimate.

I welcome anyone who is interested in my Jellybean to read and enjoy this blog. But remember you are reading the feelings of my heart, no one else's. I like to avoid drama, not start it. I love sharing my excitement (and anxiety!) with my loved ones. I am honored to have so many "followers" who tune in regularly to keep up with our journey to parenthood. And keep reading--I plan to update the world on our Jellybean when he's here and keeping us up at night!

So read on, dear readers. Take my words for what they are worth. Laugh at my stupidity, cry at my fears, and smile at my happiness. Share in my joy. Empathize in my pains. May my entries bring a little bright spot to your day.

Time to move on...

"It's time for healing, time to move on.
It's time to fix what's been broken too long.
Time to make right what has been wrong,
It's time to find my way to where I belong.
There's a wave that's crashing over me,
And all I can do is surrender.
Whatever You're doing inside of me,
It feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace."
~Whatever You're Doing (Sanctus Real)

So it's been on our mind, especially since Christmas, that the baby is bringing changes to the dynamics of not just our little family, but also our extended family. B and I have been concerned about how holidays will work, and the closer we get to the delivery, we've been discussing how we will handle all of our parents welcoming our sweet little guy into the world.

It's no secret that for the last three years, we've not had the healthiest of relationships with B's family, and as we approach April, we've spent a lot (a LOT!) of time discussing how best to welcome all the parents and step parents in at the hospital. We definitely started figuring our logistics when we saw the tiny waiting room during our stork tour. I think there were only like six chairs in this teeny, tiny little waiting room. I had told B that I didn't want to call anyone until the baby had arrived, that way there'd be no drama about who saw whom first. All of these thoughts and worries have been mounting up, and we finally hit a breaking point.

We were so glad that B's mom and stepdad accepted an invitation to chat at our place last night. It was one of those things that was well overdue. We all got a lot out on the table, and you know...it felt good! We want a better relationship with them. We want everyone to get along for the sake of Jellybean. We want to know how everyone feels. We want to communicate in person rather than via email. After a pretty crazy week of stressing, it felt so good to finally just talk, plain and simple. Ahhhhhh! Funny how the most common sense of actions sometimes take a long time to figure out. Why didn't we do this months ago?

Did we talk about everything B and I had hoped to? No, not everything. But we talked a lot. We told them how worried we were about everyone coming together for the baby. We were a little caught off guard at the quick, emphatic reaction we got in regards to everyone getting along. It makes me a little sad that we may still have to juggle scheduling more than we'd hoped. I can't help but feel like it's just not fair for a brand new baby to have to pay for drama that happened decades before he was born. But we are very hopeful. After B's parents had left, he and I talked...and I said that perhaps when Jellybean was "real" and in our arms, rather than just a hypothetical "when he's here..." conversation, maybe attitudes would change and everyone could put their differences aside for an hour at a time for his sake. We'll see.

But regardless, I think all four of us are glad we finally talked. I like to think that we will all have a more open relationship...that B will be better about calling and checking in on his mom...that we will actually go to dinner together rather than just talking about it. It's been three years. It's time to move on.

...and I am proud that B and I made that first effort and insisted we all talk. It felt very much like we'd kicked into parent mode. And I pray that this is the beginning of a whole new era for our family.

Valentine's Day

Anyone who knows me knows I have a personal loathing for Valentine's Day. I hate the pressure of finding the perfect gift...how Hallmark sucks you in for cards...and how single people and attached people alike find things to complain about. Valentine's is exhausting.

Brandon and I had talked about this and we'd promised to not get each other gifts. Just cards. We love to do the card thing...even when we were dating, we'd leave cards hidden in each others vehicles, under pillows, in our work papers.

Well, of course, Brandon got me something anyway. (grumble grumble, I know.) Let me illustrate how my sappy husband works.

I walked into the kitchen and, where I usually toss my lunchbox, I found this beautiful bouquet of flowers. (And B pointed out that he'd ordered them in advance, left out roses since I'm not a fan, and picked the pretty flowers to go in it.)

From the counter, I found a trail of lines from a poem Brandon had written me, leading through the kitchen...

through the dining and living rooms, down the hallway...

and ending at the baby's crib...

and inside the crib, I found a gift certificate for a prenatal massage and a letter from Bran, explaining he'd gotten me this gift because he knew how sore I'd been lately and he hoped a massage would help me to feel better since there was nothing he could do to help.

So do I still dislike Valentine's Day? Yeah, I do. It's my least favorite of the mainstream holidays. But, I have to say, this one was the best so far. Brandon is so thoughtful and loving. What a perfect gift, especially since my back and hips have gotten so sore from sleeping on my side every night. I am, without a doubt, a very blessed girl.

...and B likes to joke about his dad being a sap. =)

You know you're pregnant when...

So as I contemplated picking up a tube of lip gloss I dropped in my classroom today, I realized that there are some things that change when you're pregnant that the non-preggers might not fully appreciate. So, in the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy, I present...

You know you're pregnant when...

• you contemplate the importance of the item you drop because it's just so much easier to leave it on the floor. Honestly, is it worth the hassle to retrieve it?
• if you add one more pillow to your "support system" in bed, your spouse will be forced to sleep on the couch.
• if you are single-handedly keeping the toilet paper industry in the black. Seriously, buy stock in it. Now.
• you drink enough water to warrant walking around with a Camel-Pak on your back so you can stay hydrated at all times.
• you can no longer put on your own socks. Or shoes. Or pull your pants up without leaning against the wall.
• you long for the day you can sleep on your stomach.
• hearing a screaming child in a restaurant no longer makes your hair stand on end.
• you could live on chocolate milkshakes. (Maybe this is just me...)
• rolling over takes a crane and an act of Congress.
• you can no longer keep your knees together when you sit down.
• you get the "look of pity" when you're in public.
• you have to be careful when you laugh. (Just trust me!)
• you hit a point with the "mommy books" that you just shut down. Anymore advice or information and your brain could well explode.
• you're afraid to take a bubble bath because you may never get back out of the tub.
• you can identify a fragrance from 2 miles away.
• your hair looks better than it has your entire life.
• every time you get perfectly comfortable...you have to get back up for a bathroom break.
• it's not even worth it to fuss with putting on your PJ pants. Just wrap up in a blanket until bedtime.
• you realize that you couldn't walk (waddle) any faster, even if your butt was on fire.
• (from April) you become an expert at picking up dropped items with your toes.

I'm sure I'll think of more as I go along. Feel free to leave a comment with your own addition to the list!

Nursery update!

So...an unexpected snow day today meant productivity in the Sawyer household! I worked until I couldn't stand up any longer. (Literally!) I got the nursery all done...well, for now...
B put all the furniture together this week, and I asked him to move it where I wanted it last night when I got home from choir. Today, I put everything together as far as decorations and setting things up. I went through the bags of clothing Jenny and Charlie gave us--again, let me express my thanks and share how overwhelmed I am by their generosity! I went through the box of goodies from Marcie--and I am pleased to report that Jellybean is the proud owner of some fantastically cute turtle outfits. (Gotta love hand-me-downs from a fellow Delta Zeta!) And the toys, books, and baby gear that Mindy and Jonathan sent me have all been sorted and are ready to be put to good use.

Of course, the nursery is turtles. (Was there any doubt?) I had picked out a wall color months ago...and over Christmas break I found a bedding set online that matched perfectly, so I ordered it. I'm super excited and so very pleased with how everything looks! All that's left is to hang a few things on the wall, but I didn't have the energy to finish that today. And besides, Brandon would have had a fit if I'd gotten on the step ladder and hammered into our wall, especially since I'd have to slide the furniture out of the way. It's not worth stirring him up. =)

So, without further adieu, here is Jellybean's future palace...

Welcome! Y'all come on in!

Dresser, already filled with lots of clothes from Aunt Jenny, Uncle Charlie, and Aunt Marcie.

The turtle lamp was a rush gift when I joined DZ...funny how it fits in perfectly with the colors. =)

Wise quote from Winnie the Pooh, next to my childhood Snoopy bank.

The rocker and ottoman, ready to go with blankie and Goofy (of course)

Changing table, lots of dipes and wipes underneath (they'll probably last a week, lol) and B's childhood stuffed animal.

Turtle bedding on the beautiful crib. (Yeah, some frogs in there too, lol) Won't be empty too much longer!

Stuffed friends from Mom and Mama Todd, waiting for a baby to keep them company!

Bean and I dress up

It's been spirit week at school. Wednesday was "Dress like a star" day. I'd originally planned to do something either rocker or Hollywood...but I quickly realized all my ideas were no good because the belly can no longer be contained in most of my clothes. So, plan B...baseball star. I wore my Red Sox jersey and Bean got in on the action. I took a shirt I'd ordered him and pinned it to my belly, so he could be dressed up too.

Tired teacher, ready for the day, as Mags looks on

Jellybean's already a Sox fan--he's born into it! A little attitude, but he's got spirit!

Farewell, restful nights!

So I'm now big enough that getting comfortable when I lay down is a challenge. I have to put something between my knees and then prop my belly up, too...and by the time I get everything just right, I have to get up for a potty break again. =) This week has been really rough. I don't know if it's because I've not slept well since a family situation last Friday--my mind has been racing continually since then--or if it's just a fun side effect of the baby bump. I have a hard enough time clearing my brain so I can rest, but I'm having a harder time falling asleep. I miss sleeping on my belly so much! I like to lay on my belly with my head under the pillow--it puts me out in no time. It's been a long time since I could do that! I can no longer lay on my back for more than a couple of minutes without my back hurting, and besides, you're not supposed to because of the way your baby compresses one of your major arteries and affects your blood circulation. So, that leaves the hips. And my poor hips are so sore from alternating left and right all night long.

Sigh.

I know I shouldn't complain, but sleeping poorly is starting to effect Brandon, too. Poor guy--I don't know if he remembers or not, but I feel like I'm waking him ten times a night now. And when he does sleep, his snoring is keeping me up. It's a vicious cycle, lol. But the sleepless nights are starting to wear on me at school now. I have spent much of this week teaching by sitting on the back table. My kids are awesome and never complain, but I'm used to walking around 99% of my day, so I feel lazy. I'm having a hard time with how doing the little things drains me of my energy.

I guess the sleeplessness and frequent wake-ups for potty breaks are God's way of prepping me for the multiple wake-up calls from the Bean! I should be well-rehearsed by the time he arrives!

Rhogam Fun

So today I headed to the doc for another visit. Everything was great--I'm back up to exactly what I was when I first found out I was pregnant. (So the weight I've gained was just making up for what I'd lost! Not bad!) Jellybean's heart rate was 140. I told the doc about JB measuring ahead according to EVMS, and when he measured my belly, he said the baby was right on track to be just the right size. That would be much better than worrying about a 10 pound chunk, lol. =)

I also got my Rhogam shot. B and I have different blood types (I'm negative, he's positive) so I had to get the first shot today and will get the second one after I deliver. Of course it was a hip shot, and my hips are sore from sleeping on them at night, but not too bad. The shot had a nice burn to it, lol. By the time I got home, I felt kind of icky and spent the entire night an itchy mess. Yay for reactions! But everything else checked out, so no complaints. I texted our personal family nurse, Aunt Heather, who calmed us down and told me as long as I wasn't swelling or having any trouble breathing, I should be good to go. Nice to have a nurse in the family!

One step closer to welcoming the bean!

Big ol' belly

So here I am at 28 weeks, 4 days (which I know to the day courtesy of a pregnancy tracker I downloaded to my smart phone...and which helped spark my panic mode a couple of weeks ago!) Let me say that I am getting bigger, no doubt, but this is what I call my "uber prego shirt." The gathers on the side make it snug across my belly, and the horizontal stripes definitely add to the roundness of my baby bump. I'm not quite as big as I actually look...

Craziness! And look how long my hair has gotten!

See, I even look wider from the front, when I have actually gotten smaller in the waist and hips. Oh stripes, how I love thee...

I will also add that I have officially lost sight of my feet. B thought I was joking, so I made him stand behind me and look over my shoulder. Yup, they were gone. I'm having trouble getting my socks on; I have found it's easier to lean against the bed and balance on one foot to get my socks on than it is to sit down and try to lean over my belly and cross my leg over my knee. I may be investing in some stylish slip-on shoes here before long, lol. (I always wondered why so many of my prego friends lived in Birkenstocks for the last two or three months of their pregnancies!)

Bean has also gotten bigger (remember the 3 pound post from a few days ago?) and he makes my belly jump now. He's been pretty stirred up since B got home from work last night, and so today when I was laying on the couch I told B to look over. My entire stomach bounced and B hollered and came running over to look up close. JB gave Daddy quite a show of bouncing and poking around in there.

So, that's our latest updates. More to come soon!

Nursery Progress

Well, after our Stork Tour, I think we both hit panic mode. We came home that Monday night and started discussing the million things we need to do...beginning with the nursery.

We went out to dinner on Thursday, and when we came home, this was waiting for us in the den...

Our crib was waiting in the doorway...

with the mattress by our back door.

B can't wait to open it up and take a peek!

My parents had come by to surprise us, but since we were out to dinner, they brought in the crib and mattress and left it for us in the den!

So...operation Get-the-Nursery-Ready-Now began! Here's the before...

Farewell, daybed. Now I have nowhere to hide when B's snoring keeps me awake at night. =)

So we had to begin painting the walls. I had already picked out some colors, and it just happened that they matched the bedding set perfectly!

B, hard at work, since he refused to let me smell the paint. I was only allowed in for quick pictures.

One wall trimmed out. I pay my painter in Chick-fil-A, obviously.

I think the fumes were starting to get to him!

Beautiful!

So, once we were all painted, the furniture could be put together...

Yay! I love it!

Won't be empty too much longer!

He's so meticulous =)

And by Thursday night of this week, we had a changing table (from B's Gramma) and glider rocker/ottoman (from B's Mom), so he put that together today.

Of course, poor Mags had to test the rocker, too. That poor dog is gonna hate us by April!

B rubs his baby bump (sympathy bump?) in the rocker.

So, we're off to a good start. Obviously, we've gotta clear all the boxes and junk out of the room. Then we can put the baby furniture where we want it and I can begin decorating and getting organized! Yay! More pics will be posted as more progress is made.