Baby Shower number one

My wonderful friend Renee decide to throw us a baby shower. Since I don't live in a neighborhood, I'm always attending their block parties and neighborhood get togethers. I'm an official adoptee of their neighborhood. She invited everyone from the neighborhood over and had a shower for me. We had a great turn out and I got so many nice thing! These ladies are so much fun! I'm glad that even if I don't live in a neighborhood I can still have great friendships with all of the ladies in Renee's!

Baby Update

My doctor's appointment went well. He's definitely still a HE! No question about that. LOL! =) He's measuring a little over a week larger than my actual due date. His estimated weight is 4lbs 14oz. He's almost a 5lb boy already! He's in the 74th %tile for his size! He's definitely going to be big! I told Britt on the way to the doctor that I wish that the sonographer would just turn on the 3D/4D machine for just a few seconds so that we could get a good look at him. Well to my surprise, she told us that she was going to turn on the 3D machine to let us have a better look at him, but unfortunately he wasn't very cooperative. He had his hands in front of his face the entire time. We didn't get one good picture of his face........Little STINKER!
After the sonogram I had a non-stress test. They hooked me up to a monitor with wires to measure movements in my uterus and his heart-rate. I was hooked up for about 30 minutes. Every time that he moved I had to press a button. The point of this test is to make sure that his heart-rate goes up with his movements and then comes back down when he's lying still. He moved the ENTIRE TIME! The doctor came in and chuckled. He said that usually there will be a few movements through the test, but rarely THAT MANY! =) No worries though...........He told me that we just had one very healthy baby! That was great news! Starting next week I have to go back 2 times a week, every Monday and Thursday, for this non-stress test! =( FUN FUN! My blood pressure was a little high today, but he wasn't too concerned about it yet. He told me that they would just keep a check on it. All in all everything looked great! He told me that they would not let me go past my due date, so at least I don't have to worry about going past April 14th! I really believe that he's going to come early. He's already head down, so he's in the right position whenever he does decide to make his Grand Appearance.

How the good cancels out the bad

I know that we all have those days where we just throw our hands in the air and think.......can anything else go wrong today? Most of the time it's nothing serious. It's just the little things that go wrong and build up to make 2 VERY UNLUCKY human beings (Britt and myself). About 2 weeks ago Britt bought a new truck. Well, it was used, but new to us. We were driving home from church last Sunday and guess what.......the darn thing dies on us at a stoplight right by our house! We both looked at each other with that 'why do things like this always happen to us?' look. We called a friend to pick us up and take us home. Come to find out the alternator had gone out. That was a small problem to fix compared to the other 15 problems that this P.O.S. truck had been taken to the Ford dealership for prior to us purchasing it. LOL! And no we didn't know about all of the problems that the owner had out of it or we would have NEVER purchased it! The carfax report came back clean, but since it was still under warranty Ford had what seemed to be an endless list of problems that it had been brought in for over the past 2 years. Britt called the car dealership where he purchased the truck and the salesman told him that if he wasn't happy with the truck to bring it back in for a full refund. Well not only did he refund Britt the full amount, but he also reimbursed him for the new alternator that he had put in. We were both floored when we heard the news! I mean what car salesman in today's day and time would refund someone for a car after it's been driven off of the lot? Not very many! Britt had already sold his other truck to his dad, so he's without a car at the moment. It's not that big of a deal though because he can drive any of his dad's vehicles whenever he needs one without even having to ask. Hopefully we'll find something soon!

I'm at that stage in pregnancy where you're just plain uncomfortable. I really can't do any heavy cleaning anymore which leaves me in a fowl mood when I come home, because you all know how much of a neat freak I am about my house being picked up and cleaned. I finally talked Britt into having someone come to clean our house every other week. EJ Cornelius' mom cleans houses now, so we met with her and decided to have her come and clean for us. Yesterday was the first day and she did an AWESOME JOB!!!! I came home to a spotless house and I was in the best mood! I swear.......that was the best money that I've ever spent!! It will be well worth it. I can cut back on going out to eat 1 or 2 nights to have her come clean the house.

Isn't it great to have little perks in life? One of my perks is having friends that are massage therapists. Ginger, Holly, and I are all pregnant together. We all worked at Rockbarn together. The spa at Rockbarn is holding a pregnancy massage class in March and they asked the three of us to come be bodies for the class. How cool is that? So I get a free mother-to-be massage! YAY!!! I couldn't be any happier! I just hope that I don't get too hot during this massage. When Kellie and I went a couple of weeks ago I got way too hot on the massage table and had to stop and have her go get me some water. I honestly thought that I was going to pass out! Thank goodness I had Kimberly as my therapist and she was very understanding. I think that I scared her more than I scared myself. =)

Tomorrow I go back to the doctor for another sonogram. I can't wait to see my little man again! I'll post a pregnancy update tomorrow. TTFN!

Whoa Momma!!!

Super Bowl Girls

The Circus

Coming Together

I finally feel as if things are starting to come together. Hallelujah!!! The bedroom for the nursery has been cleaned out, and Britt started painting on Wednesday. He finished the first coat last night. I must say that it looks pretty good! We are hoping to get the nursery furniture moved sometime this weekend. I cannot wait to see the finished product! I'll try to post some pictures along the way. I should have posted a before picture, but I didn't want y'all to think that we lived like pigs. The room before we made it into the nursery was an extra bedroom/Britt's closet/junk room/storage room. It was MESSY!!!

The pregnancy is moving right along. I'm getting bigger by the minute! =) I was looking at a maternity portrait that Moriah had taken when I was pregnant with Ashlyn. I was about 6 months pregnant in the picture and I hardly even had a belly. I look at myself in the mirror now and I'm at least double, if not triple the size that I was then. LOL! I truly believe that he's going to be one big baby! He moves constantly. Ashlyn was my calm baby, so I'm thinking that this one is going to be my wild child. I think that he sees my bladder and thinks it is either a kickball or a punching bag. It literally takes my breath away when he kicks/punches me right in the bladder. He's a strong little guy!

My body is going through all sorts of changes. Pregnancy isn't so easy on your body the second go round. I've got vericose/spider vains on my butt and thighs that I'm just PRAYING will go away after he's born. It looks awful! I told Britt that if they didn't go away I was having that procedure done where they put some sort of solution in your veins to make them disappear. Gas is TERRIBLE! You can definitely tell that there's a boy inside of me that's for sure! =) Acid reflux is an occurence after every meal. That's on my list of things to ask the doctor about when I go next week. My belly is getting so large that after I eat I have shortness of breath and get really light headed. I was really concerned the first time that it happened, but considering that it happens after EVERY meal, I think that my stomach must be pushing against my diaphram or something like that causing me to feel like I can't catch my breath. I'm also back to the EXHAUSTED stage again! As soon as I come home from work all I want to do is go to bed. By the way, I'm NOT complaining! Things could be MUCH WORSE!!! All in all this has been a piece of cake pregnancy.......so far! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things stay in the normal range. During your third trimester is usually when your blood pressure can sky rocket, so fingers crossed that mine stays low! So far so good!

Ashlyn is doing well. We had a freaky situation last weekend with her. She woke up Saturday night running a fever of 103. I gave her some Tylenol and put her in the bed with us. Not even 2 minutes after turning the lights this happened:

Ashlyn - Mommy what's her name?
Me - Who?
Ashlyn - That little girl.
Me - What little girl?
Ashlyn - (pointing up to the ceiling) That little girl right there with the blood on her face.
Me - (silence)
Ashlyn - Mommy what's her name?
Me - (still silence.....I don't want to talk about a little girll with blood on her face!)
Ashlyn - (again) MOMMY........WHAT'S HER NAME???

Britt was sound asleep and heard no part of this conversation. I woke him up with a quickness and was FREAKING OUT! Was she really seeing a ghost, was she hallucinating from the fever, or was she just dreaming? Britt told me that I was crazy for getting so worked up over a 3 year old's vision, but HELLO............would that not scare the pee out of you?
I slept with Ashlyn until about 5. I didn't get a wink of sleep. She was tossing and turning all night long. The Tylenol didn't do a bit of good. Britt slept with her until about 11 the next morning. It was weird because by Sunday afternoon her fever had gone away. She must have just had a nasty 24 hour virus.

On the bully situation, she's going to a different classroom in the early morning, so that's been a huge help! He hasn't bothered her since. Tuesday I picked her up and another kid had pushed her down. I'm not upset though because these sorts of things are going to happen to any child and any daycare. I just don't like the same kid bullying my kid day in and day out. Wednesday Ashlyn tells me, "Mommy, I had to go to time out today because I pushed Kalen down." WHAT?!?!? Ok, so now how do you tell your child that it's ok to push if the other kid pushes you first, but it's not ok to push someone down for no reason at all. UGGGHHHH!!! I'm glad that she's at least showing some aggression, but I wish that it was towards the bully and not one of her friends! Oh the joys of parenthood! LOL!

Tomorrow Mom and I are taking Ashlyn to the circus. I haven't been to the circus since I was a kid. I'm sure that we'll have a great time! I'll try to get some pictures posted sometime this weekend.

Holly's Baby Shower

Ginger, Holly, Me, and Lydia

All of us except for Lydia are expecting. Holly is due

before me, but you sure can't tell it from our bellies.

Look at my whopper!!! LOL! Holly's due in March.

I'm due in April, and Ginger's due in July. These

three girls are amazing friends!!!

This cake was the BEST cake that I've ever tasted!! DELICIOUS!!!!!

My Little Angel

VERY INSPIRATIONAL

While working for Metal Roofing Systems I have met some wonderful people not only at work, but also outside of work. The ladies at Peoples Bank and I have really gotten to know one another and I love going there daily to chat with them. One of the tellers has a niece who has a truly amazing story. She was updating me on her situation today and I had to check out her blog! If you have a chance please check out her amazing story! It will give you cold chills. It's one of those stories that will give you hope in even the darkest moments of your life. God is Great!!!

http://www.babydellinger.blogspot.com/

Update on the Bully

I broke down yesterday and called the director at Ashlyn's preschool. I kept telling myself to give it a few more days to see if things were getting better, but so far this week Ashlyn has cried every morning when I drop her off in fear of the little devil child. I expressed my concerns and let her know that it's hard to make a child aggressive if he/she does not have an aggressive personality. I've told Ashlyn everyday to stand up to him and tell him to LEAVE HER ALONE, but I think that he bothers her everyday which makes her that much more scared of him. She gets her feelings hurt very easily. That's just her personality, and you can't do much to change it. The issue that needs to be addressed is the physical and emotional harm that this boy is doing to my baby!

We decided that it would be best to keep Ashlyn and Dillon seperated, especially since they are only together maybe one hour each day. Ashlyn is going to go in a different room for about 30 minutes in the mornings. I think that she may be ok in the afternoons with him. Mornings are the hardest since she wakes up knowing that she has to face him first thing each day.

This morning when I dropped her off the assistant director was also walking in. She told me to bring Ashlyn into the office with her and her daughter for a little while. I sat and talked with her for a few minutes. I explained to her that I hope that they don't think that I'm overreacting, but that it's terrible for a mother to hear her child say that she's scared to go to school because of another child's actions towards him/her, ESPECIALLY at 3 years old. She completely understood and told me that she wanted not only Ashlyn to feel safe, but for me to feel that my child is getting the attention that she needs and feels safe while at preschool. I feel much better about the situation today than I did yesterday. At least I've expressed my concerns, and the director is fully aware of the situation at hand.

Baby Bedding

I have decided on this fabric for the crib bedding.

The sports fabric will be used for the bumper and the striped for the crib skirt.

I'm also using a few other fabrics, but these are the primary fabrics for his nursery.

A lady that lives in my friend Renee's neighborhood

has offered to custom make the bedding for me since I'm so

picky and can't find anything in the stores that appeal to me.

So Much to Blog About, So Little Time

First off let me start off with Ashlyn. She is such a little princess. All girl for sure! She is growing up so fast! I can't belive that she will be 4 in June! WOW! She is the sweetest little thing, most of the time. =) Of course she has her melt downs, but for the most part she has really grown up this past year. I think that alot of it has to do with her starting preschool back in August. She loves everything about it except for 1 HUGE THING. You see there's this little boy who's in the 4 year old class. She's only around him in the early mornings and late afternoons when all of the teachers haven't gotten there yet. He is such a bully. This is the same little boy that pinched Ashlyn on 2 seperate occasions at the beginning of the school year. I'm not just talking about a little pinch. He pinched her so hard that it left marks on her arm and hand. Starting back around November/December she would come home EVERY AFTERNOON talking about how Dillon pinched her, hit her, pushed her, etc. I figured that these stories were made up since this incident happened earlier in the year. I hadn't been getting any notes sent home with a message of my child being harmed. Finally about a week and a half ago I took her to school and she has gotten to the point where she won't even go and play due to her fear of this little boy. I talked to her teacher that morning about the situation and she informed me that he is very MEAN to my little girl. Why has nothing been done before now about this situation? The very next day I went to pick Ashlyn up from school and I talked to her head teacher about her FEAR. That day the little boy had shoved her out of the doorway and nearly knocked her down. I know that kids will be kids, but when this is going on day after day, and Ashlyn is fearing going to school because she has to be the target of a bully EVERY SINGLE DAY, something needs to be done! Ashlyn does absolutely NOTHING to bring this on. He targets her because she's the smallest and he knows that it bothers her big time. I'm heartbroken for my little girl to fear going to school at 3 years old. These should be the best years. She shouldn't have to deal with this at 3! It also PISSES me off to an unimaginable level! I finally told her to hit him back. This is her response - "But mom, I'm too little!" How pitiful! I also told her to tell him that her daddy's a policeman and if he doesn't leave her alone then he'll come and arrest him. Hey........whatever works! I really want Britt to drop her off one morning in his uniform. That would probably scare the you know what out of him.

The baby.............He's doing great, I'm doing great! I really couldn't ask for a better pregnancy. I went for my glucose test last week. I remembered that drink being bad, but I didn't remember it being THAT BAD! YUCK!!!! I nearly puked drinking it, and then after I drank it I was light-headed, hot, sick, and just felt HORRIBLE!
Still no definite name yet for the baby. So far we've narrowed our choices down to 3 - Walker, Locke, or Brynnan/Brennan. The middle name is definitely going to be Reid. How is it that we have his middle name but no first name? lol!
He is definitely a kicker. I think that he may be the next big punter for the NFL! =) He kicks and punches SO HARD! Sometimes it actually hurts. Ashlyn was very gentle while in the womb, not this little guy. It's funny how you can already tell a little about their personality from their actions and movements inside of your belly.

Life is good!

My sweet, sweet baby!

Christmas Memories

Ashlyn, Alaina, and Reid

Christmas Family Photo

Another with Britt's sister Kerry, her husband Ryan, Reid, Alaina, and Britt's mom Joyce

Silly cousins

Ashlyn finishing off the half eaten cookie that Santa had left behind. ;)

Ashlyn and the drunk Santa that Pappaw Lewis got her. LOL! (He didn't know that it was really a drunk Santa.) We lauged sooooooo hard Christmas day at this gift!

Ashlyn didn't like the drunk Santa. Notice she's holding her ears. =)

She LOVED her My Little Pony!

How did I get so far behind in blogger world? I guess it starts with being sick with a stomach bug the week before Christmas, and as for Christmas on...............well, let's just say that we've been running here, there, and everywhere up until today. Christmas was wonderful this year! Ashlyn is finally at the age where she truly understands what Christmas is all about. It went by way too fast, but other than that it was great. Ashlyn got SO MUCH STUFF! I was a little stressed trying to figure out where in the world we were going to put everything. I ended up going and buying one of those storage shelves with the containers that go on the shelves. That helped take care of alot of the little stuff and all of her baby dolls. We've finally gotten everything in it's place. The tree came down today along with all of the other Christmas decorations. sigh............it's over until next year, which shouldn't take that long to get here considering how fast this year flew by!

I hope that everyone had a very happy New Year! This was the first year since Ashlyn's been born that I've spent the New Year without Britt. He worked this New Year's Eve, so Ashlyn and I went out to eat with Mom, Dad, Pam, and Mike. Then Ashlyn and I went to watch Enchanted. What a great movie! We both thouroughly enjoyed it! After the movie we went grocery shopping (yes on New Year's Eve) at Wal-mart. That was the best experience that I've ever had at Wal-mart. NO ONE was there....Well mayble like 2o other people, but for Wal-mart that is D-E-A-D!!!! We made it home just in time to watch the ball drop.

Now for making my New Year's Resolutions and trying to stick to them. I'll post more about them later. Ta ta for now.

oh.............I'll try to get my Christmas pictures posted this evening!