24 Weeks and Goodies

Once again, I'm late getting the weekly post up, but I did actually take the picture at the start of my 24th week, so that's an improvement.

For some reason, I always look really tired...I hate to see what I look like after the first week of school!
I'm still feeling pretty good, just taking lots of naps. Although I've been feeling Ellie Grace move off and on for a while now, she has really started getting active this week. Her movements are much more exaggerated and Chad can see when she is moving/kicking now because she moves my stomach. It is so neat to see!
In other news, we've been house hunting this week and I wish we could just skip all the looking,paperwork, etc. and just move into a house that we like! Hopefully, this week we will find something.

Ellie Grace has also been very blessed lately with some wonderful gifts. Her cousin, HC, gave her tons of baby clothes and we are so grateful! She had some of the cutest stuff and I can't wait to see Ellie Grace wear it! My mom also went to a Bailey Boys outlet this past week when she was traveling and got the cutest stuff for both girls! We are very blessed to have such a giving, loving family!

Booties and Bows

Love these...for church and Christmas

All 3 of these are packed with clothes...we are so blessed!

These are also packed with clothes and shoes

It seems like time is passing by way too quickly! Hopefully, we'll find a house soon and get settled before Little Miss makes her appearance!

23 Weeks and A Trip

I feel like I am way behind on this little family blog. I haven't done as good as I wanted to with taking a weekly picture and I'm hoping to correct that from here on out. Here I am at 23 weeks...let's just hope the heat is making me look so swollen!

The bump is definitely bigger, but I'm trying not to let myself worry about it. As long as my doctor's happy, I'm happy.
I'm still feeling pretty good, although by the end of the day if I'm been doing a lot, my feet and ankles are pretty swollen. I haven't really been craving anything lately other than sweet tea (which I really try to limit) and apple juice...both of which I never really drank a lot before I was pregnant. We finally decided on a name and I went a little overboard buying some things for Ellie Grace this weekend when I went to Birmingham to visit my sister, brother in law, and sweet niece. We went to the Carter's Outlet and I couldn't help myself! She is a lucky little girl already because her cousin, HC, has let her borrow all of her baby clothes and keeps giving her more fun stuff.
My mom went with me to Birmingham, and when we were there, we all took a trip to Steel City Pops. If you live in Birmingham, or are in the area, you have to go to Homewood and try them. They are so good and made of all natural ingredients, so they're good for you. Definitely a good treat to cool off!

Ready for her 'poppy'

Trying the green apple...I'm sure everyone thought we were all crazy because we all tasted each other's popsicle!

Yummy!

Peach, Coconut, Green Apple, Strawberry Balsamic, and Watermelon

We liked them so much, we all got one to go for later at home! Next time, I really want to try the sweet tea flavor!

I have a doctor's appointment Tuesday, along with my glucose test, so I'm really hoping all goes well with my blood pressure this time and that I don't fail the glucose test and have to take the 3 hour one. Hopefully this week we're also going to look at houses...say a little prayer that we'll find something soon :).

It's A...

GIRL!!!

We were so shocked yesterday when we went for our ultrasound and the tech informed us that nugget is a girl! For some reason, we all had it in our heads that it was a boy and even the tech said when we walked in that her guess was a boy. We didn't "want" a boy or girl, just a healthy baby, so we were happy either way. All of her measurements look good and she weighs 15 oz., which is ahead of the average weight for 20 weeks. She was moving the whole time, waving her arms and crossing her legs. Here are a few more pictures:

I love this one...it looks like she's giving us a thumbs up!

I know it's hard to tell since the perspective is off, but her legs and feet look so long!

Let's hope her feet aren't as big as mine!

We are very happy and feel extremely blessed to have a healthy, growing baby! It is amazing to see everything on the ultrasound that shows she is healthy...we were able to see all 4 chambers of the heart, umbilical cord, leg bones, etc., which was really neat.

 My blood pressure was high again, so I am having to do a 24 hour test and hopefully that will give us some insight on why it's high. The doctor and I both think that I just get stressed thinking about the possibility of it being high when I get in the office, so it is.

I'm going to *try* to post one of the videos we got from the ultrasound...I'm not sure it will work :)

In the first one, her head is at the top and you can see her moving a little bit as well as her heart beating. The bottom one is so funny because she kept reaching down like she was trying to move her feet!

Thanks so much for your prayers...we are definitely blessed!

Halfway There

I can't believe we're already at 20 weeks...it's crazy to think that we'll have a baby in just a few months!
My belly is definitely getting bigger and I've now resorted to wearing mostly maternity clothes. Thankfully, my sister sent a me a lot :).

I'm still feeling really good and only start feeling sick when I don't eat (maybe that's why I've gained so much!!). I've taken my blood pressure a couple of times and it was lower, so hopefully Monday it will be good. I definitely don't want to be on bed rest...I'm way too ADD for that! I am soooo ready for Monday to get our ultrasound...it feels like we've been waiting forever to find out what we're having!

We've been pretty laid back the past few weeks. I've been working at school at little bit and trying to get ready for a new school year. I have a feeling after Monday, we'll be a lot busier!

Family Beach Trip

Last week, my mom rented a house in Panama City for all of our family to vacation in for the week. We were really lucky and had beautiful weather most of the days. My sister, her husband, and our niece were able to come the first weekend as well as my grandparents and my aunt and 2 cousins stayed most of the week. It was a great trip and we are very grateful to our mom for allowing us a free vacation. Now for lots of pictures :)

HC and Chad hanging out on the beach. She loved playing in the sand and water once she got used to it.

Mimi and HC

Granny, HC, and Mimi

Having an early 2 year old celebration

Reading with PaPa...I love listening to him tell stories!

Putt Putt with Aunt Laurie and Newt...of course, Chad brought his own putter and he won!

Newt found a message in a bottle on the beach...they didn't leave any contact information though.

We all got a little obsessed with digging for shells, but Granny and Aunt Laurie did more than anyone...they found a ton!

I am so thankful we got to spend time with our family and it was so nice to relax at the beach and celebrate summer!

18 Weeks

It's hard to believe that this pregnancy is almost halfway over. It feels like it's going so fast and I feel like I have done nothing to get ready for Baby Plant (or Nugget as our family calls him). I think I'm just waiting until we know for sure whether it's a boy or girl and then it will seem more real and I'll get to work on all that needs to be done. Here's an 18 week picture {from the beach, where we're vacationing with my family this week}.

I seem to be a lot larger from this side for some reason!

Going out to eat

This past Friday, I had a doctor's appointment. I LOVE my doctor, especially since he is always ready and you never have to wait in the waiting room. We actually got there about 15 minutes early and he called us back as soon as I signed in. It was the usual - vitals, weight {my least favorite part}, and listening to the heartbeat. Dr. Gordon did tell us that my blood pressure was elevated, which was a little concerning because it is usually on the low normal side. Hopefully it will lower before my next appointment so that I'm not in danger of having preeclampsia. Here's a little recap of the 18 weeks so far:

Sickness: I've been extremely lucky and wasn't sick at all other than being nauseous a few times. I do get really light headed if I let myself get too hungry

Weight Gain: More than I'd like, but my first trimester was strange in that I wasn't sick and was hungry all the time

Cravings: Carbs, Watermelon, Sweet Tea (which I only drink sips of)

Aversions: Jelly

Energy: I was wiped out everyday after school until about 15 weeks. I feel pretty good now, but get a little out of breath doing certain things and I still like a little nap every now and then.

We get to find out if Baby Plant is a boy or girl at our next appointment and I would love to hear your predictions! My friend Elizabeth did the needle test and it was definitely going back and forth for a boy. Dr. Gordon said the heartbeat was pretty fast, which according to old wives' tales, means a girl. What do you think? 

A New Blog

Welcome to our family blog! I have been blogging on my teaching blog since January, and have decided that it's time to start a family blog. Since this little sweetie is on the way, there's no better time!

Baby Plant at 9 weeks - due 11.7.12

I have not done a very good job of taking weekly belly pictures, mainly because I was trying to wait until I had an actual baby bump and not bloat. Here are two that we have taken.

Easter - 9 1/2 weeks

5.20.12 - 15 1/2 weeks

We are looking forward to sharing this great experience with you. After last year, we're hoping this year will bring lots of joy and happiness.