My Grandmother...

Jeff came in from work about 3:00 AM and told me my mom had called him on his way home to let us know that my grandmother passed away a couple of hours ago. Please be in prayer for my family today especially for my mom, aunt, and granddaddy. Grandmother had been sick on and off again for a long time. She had endured a lot of pain and suffering and had many bouts in and out of the hospital. About a month ago the family made the decision to bring in Hospice to her home in Ft. Worth. She was at home tonight with my granddaddy where she wanted to be. It is truly a blessing for my grandmother as she is pain-free and in a much better place tonight.

P.S. At the sonogram yesterday, the doctor said he thought Hayden weighed about 5 lbs 9 oz. I go back to my doctor and to get another sonogram next Thursday.

Ankles, oh Ankles, Where Art Thou?

The swelling has officially begun and may I say how attractive it is! It actually really began in my feet about two weeks ago. And for my hands, about three weeks ago. But instead of it happening in my feet at the end of the day some days, it now makes its presence in the morning everyday! What a beautiful thing it is. UHK! I have about 3 pair of shoes I can wear these days (brown reef flip flops, black reef flip flops, and some ballet slipper shoes).

I definitely can't wear any any rings on my hands. :-( The swelling in my hands has recently caused a lot of joint pain in my hands and wrist. My left wrist is even swollen and is probably the most painful of it all. At night it hurts so bad that I literally feel like it is broken! I can't even use it to pull up covers in the night. I am guessing the swelling has put pressure on tendons or something. Has anyone else experienced this? I talked to my doctor about the joint pain in my hands and he said he had the perfect cure for me! I was excited! Then he said, "In about 6 weeks, you will be good to go!". Thanks Doc, really!

How do I feel otherwise? I am making it! I am definitely to the point where I am ready to have him here! Not sleeping real great, much more tired at the end of the day, much more pressure, waddling all the time, and some braxton hicks contractions. 5 weeks to go, so I guess in reality it could be any time. YEA!! I don't see my doctor for another week. At that point, I am guessing he will check me to see if there has been any progression. SO EXCITING!!!

I go tomorrow to get a sonogram. I haven't had one in three weeks, so I am super excited to see how big he is! I feel like he is 10 pounds, but I am sure he isn't quite there although it is definitely my biggest fear that he will be really big at delivery time! Jeff and I were both 8 lbs, so maybe not! :-)

And...I just had to include some new pictures of Skooter and Chloe with their new "Summer/Get Ready for Hayden" haircuts.

Doesn't he look sad? I think he might have an idea that his life is about to change!!

Maternity Pictures

My best friend Jen came in from South Carolina this past weekend for my shower. She had recently been to a photography class and we wanted to try out some of her new skills! :-) So, we took some photos in our apartment with a black sheet and then went to downtown Point to take a few more! We were big timing it! :-) You have to work with what you got!

Here are a few of my favorites after all her great editing! I love them Jen! Thank you!!

Shower # 2 with Friends and Family

Our second shower was on Sunday at our church. It was given by my best friends Jen and Shauna, and their moms Cindy and Karla, and my Aunt Barbara and Aunt Mary Helen. Many of our friends, family, and church family attended our shower and were so generous! There were so many gifts! All we need is for Hayden to get here!

My 4 year old twin nephews were there to help! They took care of all the trash for us! Such big helpers!

Yum! We had cupcakes, cake balls, chocolate covered strawberries, punch, nuts, and chocolates! My kind of treats!!

So many presents! The three big ones are our pack and play, car seat, and stroller! YEA!!

Do you notice the toy box on the left on the floor? One of my cousins made it. It was stuffed full of all kids of good stuff like, germ-x wipes, shout wipes, an oxy-clean pen, toys, sun glasses, clothes, a blanket she made, and so much more! I love it! We have all Hayden's little books and toys in it now.

We also got a basket full of a new mom's favorite things. My friend Kelly stuffed it with things that she loves as a new mom! It included bedtime bathing cloths, boogie wipes, little noses stuffy nose kit, and much more! Thanks Kelly!

I could be here all night telling you more about all the great things we got!!

Thank you so much to our precious friends and family! We are truly blessed!

Shower #1 at School

Our first shower was at school last week. It was more than I could have ever imagined!! The staff was so generous! We got tons of great things!! One of my favorite things about the shower was the staff and several kids had created a video for us. It was a "fairy tale" theme with Jeff and I's story along with sono pictures of Hayden and many teachers and kids giving their advice. It was so sweet! Thanks girls!!!

Here are a few of my favorites:
One of the teachers made the sweet blanket and a super cute burp cloth to match! I know Hayden will love this blanket! It is so soft!

These size 1 diapers are sooo cute! These were from Jen's mom Cindy. What a fun gift! We will have to save these for special occasions!

This is another one of my favorites. It was a tackle box stuffed with all kinds of great things!! It even had Hayden's name on the top. So cute!!

One of the many super cute outfits we got!

One funny story...I am unloading tons of awesome things out of a bath tub in this picture. Between our two showers, we ended up getting three bathtubs. :-) He might be one dirty boy!

Part of the spread! We had tons of great food! A mom donated all the flower arrangements for all the tables. So sweet!

Big decision...

Today I revealed a big decision at our staff meeting. I have decided to stay home with Hayden next year!! I know it will not be a decision I regret, one that I am VERY excited about, but it is hard to leave what I love doing each day. I feel very blessed to have the job I do and to be at the school I am at. I feel like I have worked really hard to get where I am and I am just walking away from it all! It is quite scary to go to one income, but I know it will all be SOOO worth it!!

My due date is April 30th. If everything goes as planned, my last day before maternity leave will be April 17th. I plan on going to work my last contract week in June to tie up loose ends.

Out of the double digits!

It is official, we are out of the double digits. In fact, only 8 more weeks! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday I was making the big reveal on our blog about us being pregnant! Well, maybe a little longer than just yesterday, but you get the point! :-)

I went to the doctor today for 2 1/2 hours!! UHG! Not because something was wrong, but because it took an hour and a half for the doctor to see me. It wasn't my regular doctor that I was seeing today and I dreaded this appointment because he seems to be notorious for running late. I seriously just wanted to say, hand me the tape measure and the heart monitor and I can take care of this visit on my own! One funny thing...I noticed today that it is getting a little harder to "pee in the cup". You sure can't see what you are doing and you are just hoping you hit the mark! Any advice?

Then, I went for the sono. First, I had to be hooked up to the baby heart monitor for 15 minutes. While monitoring, they said he was asleep so they wanted to wake him up. I know this sounds crazy, but they used this vibrator/sound wave thing to wake him up. It was the loud buzz with a vibration that they put on my belly for just a second. Wild! Anyway, sure enough...it woke that precious baby up! As far as the sono goes, everything looked great! They said Hayden is weighing in at about 4 1/2 lbs...right on track. I go back in two more weeks!