Blogger's Block

Well, I'm not sure it's really blogger's block, more a case of not having time to blog. To get things up to speed, Meredith and I finished our Planning for Parenthood classes at St. Vincent's this past Monday, and were highly disappointed that we weren't rewarded with some sort of certificate, diploma, plaque, or trophy. How will we prove to our child that we are certified to parent? All in all, the class was very valuable, and also allowed me to improve my vocabulary, which will come in handy when I work on my crossword puzzles. Did I mention that I am obsessed with crossword puzzles? Words that are associated with childbirth are very interesting and unusual. For instance, vernix, lanugo, meconium, milia, lochia, colostrum, and the list goes on. Some more pleasant than the others. The highlight of the class had to have been when all the expectant dads put on the "empathy belly", which is a 26-pound suit consisting of boobs and pregnant belly. Yes, there are pictures to prove that I volunteered, and I'm sure Meredith will post them soon, and I am mentally preparing myself for that.


In other news, Meredith had her Dothan baby shower 2 weekends ago, and her Gadsden shower last weekend, so our house is now overflowing with baby gadgets, which is exciting! I will let her give the rundown of gifts, but thanks to everyone who has attended. it means very much to us, and we are thankful for all of our friends and blessed to have such good people around us. This week Meredith and Sandi have been in Auburn with her Cougarettes dance line for UDA camp, and from what I hear so far, her girls have been awesome. She returns to the 'Ham today for some much needed R &R!

Perfect Date!

Yesterday, Hays told me that he wanted to take me on a picnic! I was afraid it would be too hot, but he waited until about 5:00 for us to go, so it wasn't very hot at all. He spent about an hour getting everything ready, and then we drove out to a nice park in Helena with a lake and a lot of shade! He had asked me what I would like to eat, and he packed a great variety of food and drinks in the cooler and picnic basket. He thought of it all! Fresh strawberries and pineapple, cheese and crackers, sandwiches, etc. It was SO nice, and I was so impressed with Hays for being so thoughtful. It really was a perfect date! He brought our fishing rods and I fished a little, but mostly I sat in the shade and rested, and took a few pictures. Hays caught several fish, I got a picture of the biggest bass, and of this beautiful heron that was not scared of us AT ALL.

Thanks Hays! I love you!

Last Weekend

Last weekend I was lucky enough to have some girlfriends come into town that haven't seen me since I began growing a person! It was so nice to have them here! It also makes me realize how different my life is than it was 5 years ago! It is just as great, I just have different priorities now, and I definitely feel the effects worse if I don't go to bed until 2 am! We had a great time when they got here. We went to lunch at Momma Goldberg's (yum!), got manicures and pedicures, stopped by the Homewood 2008 Olympics which was definitely a sight to see (Joey's freestyle gymnastics performance alone was worth going for)! Then we came back to the house and rested a while before dinner at Jackson's and then the SATC premiere, which was great and I hope someone comes along who hasn't seen it because I want to see it again! They spent the night and then we went to brunch at Open Door. I love all of these girls and am so glad I got to see them! Here are some pics:Trey in his "Hot dogs with Jalapenos" relay event

Joey getting ready to begin his "Freestyle Gymnastics" performance. Yes, he is wearing a skirt!

Us at the Homewood Olympics

At the movie, before we could go in

And finally, we are in and waiting on the movie to start!

It was such a great night, and I am glad we could all get together! It felt like old times (plus about 25 lbs!).

Bird's Eye View

For the past couple of weeks, we have had a bird's nest on the top of one of the columns on our front porch. Whenever I walk in the front door, I usually check the nest, and not much is going on, but when I checked it the other day...this is what I found. See how many you count, I count 4

Special Day!

Today we had our 4D ultrasound, and it was so much fun! I highly recommend it to anyone! At first, Margaret Anne did not want us to look at her, she had her hands in front of her face most of the time. After the very sweet ultrasound tech poked and prodded her, and had me roll onto my side a few times, she finally moved her hands. I have to say that she may be the cutest 4D baby that I have ever seen! Here she is:
In the first picture, she has her hands in front of her face, which is what we saw for about 25 of the 30 minutes that we were there. I also had the nice tech look and make ABSOLUTELY sure that she is a girl, and she is! I would just feel so bad making a boy sleep in that girly room. It was a really great experience, especially since we hadn't seen her in about 12 weeks. I am so excited, and I feel a little more bonded with her now that I have seen her little face. I can't wait for her to get here. 10 more weeks!

What is the 4th Dimension anyway?

I got the exciting news that Meredith scheduled a 4-D ultrasound for Friday! But I have to ask, what is the 4th dimension? Time? Sound? I can buy into the whole 3-D concept (length, width, height), but 4? I have my doubts. Maybe it's because on a 4-D ultrasound you can see what the baby looks like, facial features and all, so it is considered "looking into the future". That's a stretch though. On Monday night, we attended our first or four "Preparing for Parenthood" class at St.Vincent's, and it was about as expected. No surprises, except some of the women in the video, which I will not discuss in this medium or any other for that matter. I did learn alot about how the actual labor process works, which made me more appreciative of what Meredith has to go through (love you)! We both left with a renewed confirmation that an epidural was without question in our "birthplan". Actually, we don't have a birthplan, except for Meredith getting an epidural. To me, the highlight of the class was when we were supposed to name out loud one characteristic that we wanted to have. Meredith offered a suggestion to me, which I approved because i thought it would get a laugh, and I'll do anything for a laugh. So people began saying really generic, safe answers like "I hope (s)he is athletic", or I hope (s)he is intelligent. Meredith then said, "I hope she has Hays's nose!", which of course resulted in a room full of laughter. Strategically placed humor is one of the joys of my life, which explains my love of shows like The Office and Family Guy. I was told that we will get to keep a DVD of the 4-D ultrasound, so I may attempt to post it here if I can figure out how. I'm just now figuring out this "internet" thing, so no promises.

"I am too excited to sleep!"

Remember the commercial, where the kids are going to Disney World, and they won't quit giggling because they are so excited? That is how I feel right now! Last week, amidst all the end of school/cousins' graduations (congrats Tori and James), our nursery furniture came in and it was very exciting! Also, I have several friends coming to town this weekend to go to the SATC movie with me and I can't wait to see them! I haven't seen any of them since I got pregnant, and I have missed them terribly. This may be my last childless girls' night with them all together, and I can't wait!!!

Also last night I made some tiebacks for my curtains, and they really helped make the nursery a cuter! It is still a work in progress, but here are some pics.

I absolutely LOVE this curtain rod!

Here are my homemade curtain tiebacks! They turned out much cuter than I expected, and much cheaper than buying them!Last but NOT least, this is the infamous ceiling fan that Hays installed. It REALLY helped change the look of the room!

I could not be more pleased with how everything is turning out in there. The crib and dresser are from Pottery Barn, and the glider is from a little store in Rainbow City. It may be the most comfortable chair in the history of the world. We obviously are slowly getting everything together, just don't have things on the walls yet or the bedding, but Margaret Anne is going to end up with the best room in the house!

The doll sitting in the glider is a little ballerina doll that I recently found while going through some of my old things. My late grandmother Rosalee McCool knitted it for me many years ago. It looks perfect in the nursery and I was so excited to have found it. I definitely teared up when I saw the tag that said "Made with tender loving care by Rosalee McCool."