Kara's Kolumn

Check Out Her Wheels!

2012-02-15T06:20:00.000-08:00

Mommy and Daddy gave me a car for Valentine's Day!

My Unky came over and gave me $56 worth of quarters so he sat and helped me put them all in.

My mommy's friend made my hat. I'm quite a big fan!

One of my Valentine outfits...from Nonna and Poppa! Yea, they spoil me just a little!

Me and my Valentine, Jonah!

Holding her card

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T12:50:00.001-08:00

One year ago we found out we were having this sweet little girl! She's the best Valentine's present ever!!

We have continued to pack the house. The moving truck comes Thursday:)

I will post pics of Mariah's Valentine's gift later tonight

So We're Moving!

2012-02-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

So I had to wait and write about this until we announced it to our church family tonight. So here we go!

For a couple of years we have been praying about the next step in our ministry the Lord would have for us. After Mariah was born we started looking for a church for Larry to pastor. We spoke with several different churches and to make a long story short... the last one we ever thought we would go to-that's where we're going!

We are moving to Raphine, VA where Larry will be the Pastor at Marlbrook Baptist Church. It's about 2 1/2 hours away from here. The Lord provided a renter for our current townhouse in one week! We put our house on the market on a Saturday and the following Saturday while Larry was out of the country, we got a contract. We have already packed 40-some boxes and will continue to pack this week and move over this coming weekend.

Our first Sunday there will be March 11th. We are looking forward to taking a mini 3-week vacation with going to the beach, visiting my parents and doing whatever we feel like doing!

I'm looking forward to raising our Mariah and future children there. I'm excited about the slower paced life. I want to plant a garden, I want to decorate my house, I want to make things I've seen on Pinterest...I want to enjoy being a mom and yes... a wife who supports her husband 100% as he pastor's this church.

We will definitely miss Temple Baptist. It's where Larry and I met, fell in love, got married and had our sweet little lady. We have made some life long friendships there and I am so grateful for what the Lord has taught us while being at Temple. While saying goodbye is never fun, we're thankful for the Lord leading us to a place where we can better serve Him!

As we take this next step in our lives may we never take for granted God's goodness in choosing us to lead this wonderful group of people in Raphine.

4 Months!

2012-02-09T16:53:00.001-08:00

Happy 4 months to our sweet, happy little baby girl. Days are just flying by but I'm enjoying every second I spend with you. I love how you recognize me and you know who I am. If someone else is holding you and I walk up, you grin from ear to ear and just start wiggling! We are so proud to be your parents and strive every day to teach you how to be happy and so far... you are!

We took Mariah to get her 4 month pictures taken on Tuesday. It was so fun but it definitely wore her out. I try to take her just after she eats but it still makes her tired having to grin so much :)

Mariah loves her bath time... especially at Nonna & Poppa's house!

Yesterday we went to visit my orthodontist and I also use to work for him. He's the greatest and I haven't seen him in over 5 years so I had to bring my pride and joy for him to see.

Yes I Promise!

2012-02-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

Ok I know I have been out of the blogging loop lately, I have a REALLY good reason but I will explain that later in a couple of weeks!! So until then, I will post this really cute picture of Mariah. Tomorrow she will be 4 MONTHS!!! Wow! Unbelievable. I find myself not wishing she would slow down growing up but looking forward to the new things she learning and her personality just forming more and more every day. I can't believe how much she laughs and smiles. Even in the mornings she's such a joy to wake up. She's grown out of the crying stage in the morning until I feed her and just smiles away (but I don't push it for too long).

Tomorrow she's going for her 4 months photo and Valentine's photo. Valentine's Day last year was the day we found out we were having a baby! So that day will always be extra special to us. I am picking up her Valentine's gift tomorrow, I can't wait to show it off! We are in NC with my parents this week while Larry is in Brazil. We are having so much fun!

So above is our little lady at almost 4 months! I promise to be back and into my normal groove of blogging here very soon. I need to start documenting everything that goes on so I will never forget it! Happy Monday to all!

Silly Girl

2012-01-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

This just cracks me up... I think she had enough getting her pictures taken :)

That Little Toosh..

2012-01-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

It isn't so small anymore. My mom reminded me of how you could fit her little toosh in your hand when she was born. Now it's getting some meat on it!

She's Now 3 Months Old...??!

2012-01-09T17:57:00.001-08:00

Watching football with Daddy

Ready for church!

It's so hard to believe Mariah is 3 months old. We went Friday and had her 3 month pics taken. The lady was trying to get her to smile by blowing in her face. Ummm NASTY! Hello-it's the dead middle of winter and people are walking around carrying who knows what kind of sickness!!

Anyways.. .I'm convinced Mariah is already a 12 pounder. She hit a growth spurt last week and she's eating so much I can't keep up with her. She's still sleeping through the night though! That is SUCH a big blessing. She goes down around 8-8:30 and gets up at 7:30 every morning. She's an angel in that department. Now that we're done traveling (at least for a little bit) I have her on a schedule and she's been doing great with taking good long naps in her crib during the day. I'm convinced it's the 3 month mark when they start getting it... or maybe that's just my case. I'm sure other kids get it sooner.

I made a joke with Larry tonight talking about when we have our next kid... IN TEN YEARS. He said "yea right, a year from now you'll be wanting another one" I said "yea you're right, I already do now but not really." I miss being pregnant. My friend Loretta is pregnant now and it just makes me miss it even more.

Being a mom is SO rewarding. I count every day a blessing from God to be her mom. I love walking in her room in the mornings and getting her out of bed, I love feeding her and love seeing her smile back at me when I smile at her.

There's nothing like being a mom :)

Mariah's First Christmas!

2011-12-31T18:02:00.000-08:00

I finally received the disk from all of our pics we had taken over Thanksgiving. So I'll be posting them this week. I'm glad to be back to blogging :) Christmas vacation was a nice breather for me and I feel like Mariah grew so much!

***Mariah is going on her 5th night of sleeping all the way through without waking up. Now that we are home... I curious to see how she does tonight!***

We spent the past two weeks (almost) with both of our families. Usually the family we aren't with at Christmas we try to spend the days after Christmas with. So this year we were in FL for Christmas and NC Tuesday through Saturday. I will admit, there were times where I didn't think I could make this trip. 2 dogs and a baby which the dogs stayed in NC while we went to FL. I do know this-I will try to time it next time (meaning when I have our 2nd child, that will not be next Christmas LOL!) to where I will be pregnant when we go to FL. Taking an infant that far was just a lot for me to handle. She would not take naps at all during the day but would sleep great a night. It was toasty hot down there! Whew was it toasty. But we had a great time in FL.

Mariah was absolutely spoiled over vacation. She got SO many cute things which you'll be seeing in future pictures I'm sure. I was not ready to come home at all. I enjoyed being with family and relaxing.

So enjoy the pictures. Unfortunately, the pictures except for a few that we took in FL were on a memory card that will not allow me to transfer them. Which stinks. He just bought me some new memory cards since I'm notorious for losing them :(

Here we are with my grandparents.

Our 4 generation picture! So very very special to me.

All Smiles :)

My grandmother made this sweet little outfit. I can't wait to put it on her. She also made a matching hat!

This was the night we did Christmas with my family.

Getting some sugar.

Hanging out in Florida. This was the outfit we bought when we found out we were having a girl!!

Here we are Christmas morning.

Just chillin'

She got her a cute little hat from Nonna & Poppa. I couldn't stand it. I had to go and get her picture taken in it. So that's what we did yesterday. I didn't buy the cd so this is the best I could do was just take a pic of it to post. Believe me, they were adorable!

Our goal is to take her to get her pic done every month for the first year. Let's see how we do with that :)

After church we always like to go to Las Palmas. We did this growing up and so we're getting Mariah into the habit too :) You can see she really enjoyed her first experience!

2 Month Check Up...

2011-12-19T18:16:00.000-08:00

Mariah had her two month check up which I was SO excited for-you know why??? (yes my mom is going to kill me for this) She can now get her ears pierced! Yaaaaay!

My friend told me of a cream that you can put on her ears before going that would numb their little lobes so they don't feel it as much so the dr. gave me a prescription and I picked it up today. I thought about going ahead and getting them done today but I couldn't make her go through that after she had her 3 shots and then had a ultrasound done.

Mariah weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs. 6 oz. and 22 inches long! She's just a growing!!

Mariah's been doing FABULOUS at night. I finally figured it out. Put her down with a full belly and she doesn't cry. She just lays there and eventually falls asleep. She'll wake up once during the night to eat-usually around 3:00 or 4:00 and then she'll wake up after we do around 6:30.
THIS IS A WONDERFUL THING FOR MY SLEEPING HABITS. Thank you Lord for the sleep I now get!!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

This Sweet Time in Our Lives...

2011-12-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

When we were home at Thanksgiving we had Mariah's pictures done and I was so pleased with how they turned out. Amy with Your Still Life Photography spent 2 hours with her over at my parents house capturing our precious Mariah. Here are 5 of them. The rest of them I will show in groups as the weeks go on. I've seen them all and it's SO hard to pick so I'm just going to have a book made of all of them. We had our Christmas photos taken as well so I gotta get the cards ordered and in the mail!

It's Time to Catch Up!

2011-12-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

It's been a complete world wind ever since Thanksgiving! We went to NC this year to spend it with my family and had a great time. My whole side of the family got to meet her including both sets of her great grandparents!

It was a little challenging this year with SLEEP. Mariah didn't want to sleep at all-being in a new environment threw her off. Finally the last night my mom kept her in their room and she slept very well. This makes me EXTREMELY scared about Christmas in Florida.... I'm not going to lie. Honestly, I wanted to never go anywhere again for the holidays and let everyone come to us! The lack of sleep is killing me!! She does well most nights with only waking up once, sometimes twice but not being in her own crib makes her not sleepy :) We'll see how Christmas goes......YIKES.

When we got back from NC I noticed Mariah had a fever and since she's so young they wanted me to take her to the ER. They did blood work, a spinal tap and XRays and came to the conclusion that she had pneumonia. I then took her to her pediatrician on that Monday and he said she DID NOT have pneumonia. She just had a virus.

And things just keep on rolling. This week will be crazier let's just say :)

Just a Couple of Pics...

2011-11-29T18:45:00.001-08:00

I will write more later.. until then, here's a couple of pictures. We had a couple of trips to the ER with Mariah. She either has a bladder infection or a virus. We've been to the dr/er for 4 days in a row and hoping we're done :) All is good now! So we decorated her little tree today and put it in her room.

How's It Going With 2??

2011-11-21T12:12:00.001-08:00

It's going great! Each week gets easier and easier. Yes it is like having twins but really, Jonah is such a good baby and I continue to figure Mariah's needs and "wants" out which makes it for a great day.

She slept through the night on Saturday night which was PERFECT for Sunday. It seems that we've had more bad Saturday nights than any other night making it for a rough Sunday just getting out the door. She slept from 11:00 pm until I had to wake her up at 5:45 yesterday morning. I am blessed. I know every night will not be that way but it was nice to get a full night's sleep.

Saturday Mariah and me went to the mall for about 5 hours. I spent about 2 hrs in Macy's they have some of the cutest little dresses. We ended up getting several Christmas outfits and a cute little hat which we will use in her pictures this week!

Just Nothing Like It...

2011-11-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

She just started smiling this week and it ABSOLUTELY MELTS EVERY PIECE OF MY HEART.

There's just nothing like being a mom to a sweet little baby girl.

Things I look forward to:
Going and getting her out of bed in the mornings

Feeding her

Changing her diaper and getting pee'd on ALL the time :)

Picking out her outfit for the day

Rocking her to sleep

Kissing her on her chubby little cheeks

Giving her a bath

And so on it goes...

Happy 6 weeks Mariah Leigh! Every day my love for you grows deeper.

The first few weeks into motherhood I wasn't sure I wanted 3 kids.

Then last night I told Larry I wanted 4. We shall see... just as long as they don't come in multiples :) Last night she only woke up once to eat-I have to say I never thought that could happen this early in her life. I know every night will be different but I was thankful to get more sleep than normal. Tomorrow Larry's going out of town for the day and I'm braving it and going out just Mariah and me to the mall. I think we'll have fun!

New Kicks...

2011-11-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

I will go ahead and admit: Mariah has over 20 pairs of shoes already. Yea that's kinda bad but it's SO fun. Here's one of the only pairs that fit her right now. Her feet are just so skinny, they're long but they don't fill out the shoes yet. But since I could put socks on her and tie the tennis shoes, they fit!

We went out last night to the mall and then grocery shopping. We do the "I'll drop you off and I'll stay in the car" runs a lot now. Not at the mall though :)

I am so thankful I can stay home with Mariah. I can't imagine having to leave her with someone or a daycare. I would give up food before having to leave her with anyone.

Almost Thanksgiving??

2011-11-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

Somebody asked me yesterday if Mariah wears flowers and bows at home... no I don't torture her at home, just when we go out the door :)

Seriously it wasn't until this past weekend I realized Thanksgiving was less than two weeks away! I'm really excited!!! My family is going to get to meet Mariah really soon! We'll be in NC for Thanksgiving and Florida for Christmas!

We had a great weekend with my parents. Did some shopping and some good eating. Mariah got 3 more pairs of shoes. I think she almost has as many as I do.

We went to Red Lobster for the "all you can eat shrimp". Larry did that a year ago and ate 130 some shrimp. This year he stopped at 100 considering he only had a short window between Mariah's feedings. It takes them forever to bring the shrimp out. Last time we were there for 2 hours.

Ok well the babies are waking up! Better go :)

Meeting Dr. Martin

2011-11-11T15:04:00.001-08:00

Today I had my check up appt. and since Dr. Martin wasn't on call when I had Mariah she hadn't met her yet. So we took her in to make her debut!

She is the GREATEST. I hate hate hate that she wasn't on call that night Mariah was born. But I'm over it... I guess :)

All Her Daddy

2011-11-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

I definitely see Larry in this picture!

Will try to blog more this weekend. My parents are coming in so I'm planning on getting out of the house a little bit and doing some Mariah shopping!

I'm ONE Month Old Today!

2011-11-07T05:10:00.000-08:00

One month ago today I was heading to the dr. for my 37 week check up! Hours later, I held you in my arms for the first time and I fall more and more in love with you every day!

Happy 1 month Mariah Leigh!

Almost Friday:)

2011-11-03T05:12:00.000-07:00

Seriously, how can you love something so small SO much??? I look at this picture and I tear up I'm just so smitten by her.

This week has gone MUCH MUCH better. I'm figuring out Mariah's cries-they're all "hold me and spoil me" cries! Little rotten booger. I won't give in! I won't give in!

Last night marked the start of a busy rest of the week. It makes me nervous because we have something going on every day or night until Monday and that's going to be a challenge for me. This weekend is our couples' conference. Thankfully it's not at a hotel this year, it's just at our church Friday night and Saturday. She's going to stay for her first time with a baby sitter. It's a sweet lady in our church who's going to keep her on Friday and Saturday I'm bringing her to the church for their baby sitting since it's through the afternoon. The feedings will be a challenge but it'll get done somehow:)

Mariah's been doing great with sleeping at night... then last night she woke me up every two hours so I'll be taking a nap today for sure.

All dolled up ready for church!

I feel like I have FINALLY cought up on my sleep. I'm a happier person, more patient with my little goober even when she's not happy. Believe me, the other night I wanted to get in the car and drive somewhere... if the mall had been open, I would have gone AND SPENT MONEY.

They say that having a baby costs you $-well, my husband informed me the other day that it's actually saved us a lot of money because I'm not going out shopping during the day-with two babies are you kidding me?????? He use to fill up my car every week (SUV's are so bad on gas UGH but I still love mine :) and we're almost on week 3 of my gas tank being 3/4 full! I gotta say I'm a little proud of myself ! I'm going to have to make up for that when my parents are here next weekend :) :) I can't wait for them to come back and see Mariah.

It's Addicting...

2011-11-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

I can't stop buying Mariah clothes. It's SO addicting....

Anyways... Here's her Christmas dress I ordered today from Carters!

I also got her a red cardigan to go over it. I like the red and black colors together. Now I just gotta find her red shoes and she'll be set.

I May Not Feel the Best...

2011-10-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

But I'm still a happy baby!

Well... most of the time :)

My little bear booties that still won't stay on my little tootsies

I already know how to wink :)

Sedona takes good care of me

Sick Little One...

2011-10-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

I have a sick little baby girl here :( She has a cold and last night we got all of 2 hours of sleep. I slept in her room on the floor and let her sleep in her bouncy seat to keep her elevated so she could breath. I knew it was going to be a rough night, poor little thing.

So we stayed home from church today to get better and catch up on some sleep. She seems to be doing a lot better and I'm hoping it won't last long. She's pitiful but she just keeps on smiling. We haven't been out of the house since last Wednesday so I'm hoping that'll help her get better.

I didn't expect her to catch a cold this early but with the crazy weather we've been having, I'm not surprised!

Meeting MawMaw & PawPaw

2011-10-29T04:51:00.001-07:00

This past Monday Mariah's MawMaw and PawPaw came to see her for the first time!! We had so much fun spending time with her even tho we didn't really get out of the house much except for church Wednesday night and a short trip to Kohl's and Babies R Us.

Our special night out to dinner was ordering Boston Market and bringing it to the house. I just didn't want to spend all the time getting myself and Mariah ready. Pathetic huh? Yep that's my life right now :)

I can't wait to see ya'll at Christmas!

My Nonna makes all of my bows :) Thank you Nonna for my new box of bows you sent to me yesterday! I can't wait to show them off!

My furry sisters! I think they like me!

Happy Saturday! We're getting snow today-crazy!

A Mariah Video

2011-10-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

Look who's trying out their new toy!

Am I Surviving?

2011-10-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ummm yes :) I will say that week 2 was harder than week 1. Week 3 is going better. It's funny that tomorrow was my official due date-October 27th! So weird that she's been here almost 3 weeks now. She's out of her preemie clothes and trying to fit into newborn but they're still a little too big. Her hands are always lost in her sleeves. It made me sad putting away her preemie clothes knowing that she'll never wear them again :(

**Sniffle Sniffle**

Here are just a few pictures. I've been bad at taking any this week. Don't get me wrong, I've taken plenty of phone pictures and sent them to her Nonna and Poppa. I started back keeping Jonah so I'm trying to juggle both of their schedules and keep my head above water.

These are from this past Sunday. She's wearing her first little dress :)

I have found that me eating first no longer matters... it's funny how before kids your life revolved around... well, US but now it's meeting her needs. The hardest thing I'm having to get use to now is it taking her an hour to eat. By time we're done, it's time to feed her again! But we're working on making that shorter.

Our First Sunday Morning...

2011-10-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

This was our first Sunday morning at church as a family of 3!

Now it's nap time :)

When Dog Meets Baby

2011-10-15T18:59:00.001-07:00

We got the dogs back today and Sierra did great... we didn't have any worries with her but Sedona is a little nervous every time she cries but we're slowly working with her. It's a work in progress. I think Mariah liked her tho :)

I could eat her up!

I guess she likes naps like her Daddy??!

All 6 lbs of Her :)

2011-10-14T05:11:00.001-07:00

We call her our little burrito :) Mariah is one week old today!!

We went to the doctor for the 3rd time yesterday to check on her jaundice and her numbers went down so we can GET RID OF THE BILI BLANKET :) Yay!!!! She had gone down to 5 lbs 12 ounces and yesterday she climbed up to 6 lbs. Almost her birth weight again!

She slept the entire night last night only to be woken up for her feedings. It was the best night of sleep I've had since my first trimester. I didn't have to go to the bathroom 5 times in the night. I'm feeling great! I have 10 lbs left of baby weight to lose and yes it's killing me that I can't get out and walk but my body thanks me for not :)

My parents have been here all week and they're having to leave to go back home tonight. I can't tell you how much of a blessing it has been to have them here to help around the house, cooking and cleaning, and driving me to dr. appts. and well.... yes little bit of shopping was thrown in there too! Larry is taking a week of vacation next week so it'll be nice to have him home with us so I'm not all alone yet. Then his parents will be here the following week!

Happy Birthday Mariah!

2011-10-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Mariah's Birth Story:

Friday morning I woke up and my stomach was unusually hard like I was having longer braxton hicks and I didn't feel Mariah moving quite as much but I just thought I would mention it since I had my I had my regular 37 week appt. that morning. Larry almost didn't go with me, he was just going to stay home with Jonah but he decided to go. We got there and I went back for my appt. and Jonah had been upset so Larry just took him out to the car and waited for me to be done. My doctor came in and I told her that the night before I had been having more braxton hicks than usual so she just decided to check me. She told me that normally she wouldn't check me until the next week but since I mentioned that she went ahead. So as she was checking she went on to tell me that normally at this point her moms may be dilated to a 1 but usually walk out with a sad face not being dilated at all. I told her "oh that's fine, I had no plans of being dilated at all" and I hadn't even really thought about it.

So then it all started... she finished and said "well, Kara I take everything back, you are almost a 4!" I said "REALLY??" She said "yes, at this point you're normally at the hospital with an epidural!"So they hooked me up on the monitor to see if I was having contractions and to what degree and they were coming pretty regular but they thought her heart rate had dropped (which it didn't) so they sent me to the hospital for them to monitor it more closely. We stopped by the house, grabbed my hospital bag but I didn't grab everything because I really didn't think this was going to be it. We went to the hospital, met Jonah's dad to hand him over and got settled into a room. They monitored her heart and did a sonogram and everything was great which I knew. In the meantime the doctor came in to check me before sending me home and I was dilated to a 5 and 100% effaced. She said they were keeping me that we would have a baby by midnight! REALITY JUST SET IN HERE!!!!!!!!!!

We called our families, my parents hit the road and 2 hours later the doctor came in to break my water. At this point with being dilated to a 5 I was only feeling MINOR back pain, I was seeing the contractions on the monitor but wasn't having any pain. The doctor kept asking if I wanted a epidural yet and I said "no, I don't feel anything". Honestly, the back pain I was having didn't make me flinch! I had far worse in my first trimester!

After my water was broken, about 10 mins. later I had my first REAL contraction and told Larry that after the next one, go and tell them I wanted the epidural. He went and told them and they said the anesthesiologist was busy somewhere else that they would keep their eye out for him. I started to freak out a little bit but didn't say anything. I only almost passed out once which is a miracle considering I pass out VERY easily with stomach pain anyway. That was a big concern of mine with labor anyways.

So I waited..... and waited.... and waited for that precious epidural. I finally told them he had to get in there that I couldn't take much more. Then the dr. came in and said I could still get it but it would be better for me to go ahead and push if I felt like I needed to. Well, I said I could push and about 15 seconds everybody was in there ready to deliver my little girl! They handed me some oxygen and I started pushing. THEN THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST came in and said "I'm here" I wanted to smack him LOL! UHHHH! Hello, TOO LATE BUDDY I'M PUSHING!!!!

18 minutes later, 8 pushes, our little Mariah Leigh was born at 8:48 pm at 6 lbs. 2 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long (at birth she measured 20 1/2 because she had a cone head from being suctioned out). I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. Larry stayed at my head the entire time and was the BEST supportive husband I could have ever asked for.

What was a normal doctor's appt. turned into getting to hold my little Mariah 3 weeks early and I can't complain about that! I'm so thankful for a safe and fast delivery! I did learn tho to go ahead and ask for the epidural even if I don't feel anything. I was just afraid I would get it too early and it would wear off. Boy was I wrong :)

I told my mom yesterday it seems like we just found out we were having a baby and I blink and she's here. What a responsibility the Lord has given us to raise this little girl to honor, love and serve Him. I have a lot to learn being a mommy but I sure am glad He gave me little Mariah.

Thank you all for your sweet comments and prayers during these last 9 months! I can't wait to do it all over again..... LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I can wait :)

My First Dr. Appt.

2011-10-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

This won't be a long post but wanted to post a few pictures. Mariah had her first dr. appt today and she's got jaundice so she's currently on the billy blanket. We go back tomorrow for them to see what level it's at after using it tonight. But here are just a couple of pictures! We're doing great. I still have pictures I need to post from our coming home day but that'll have to wait :)

Here's I am after getting weighed :) I weighed a whopping 5 lbs 12 ounces! So I lost a little but doc says that's pretty normal.

Here we are after a little while from getting back from the doctor's office!

Here I am with my billy blanket :) Nice and warm!

Thank you all for your sweet words during Mariah's arrival. I can't explain to you the love I have for this little girl... of course all you moms out there understand :)

Our Family of Three!

2011-10-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Day Two

2011-10-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

She has been sleeping like a baby! The pediatrician came in a few minutes ago and gave Mariah her first check-up. All is well and she is already dreaming about cupcakes...I wonder why.

Bright Eyed, and Bushy Headed

2011-10-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone is doing well.

Spoiling her already

That was some check-up appoint today Doc.

Her first Video

Mom's Happy Too

2011-10-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

Look Who's 3 Weeks Early!

2011-10-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

My NC Shower...

2011-10-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

LOST
Well I'm so disappointed because I LOST my memory card that had all of my pictures from the shower that Larry took on there. I'm still looking and praying I can find it because it had all the CUTE little details of the shower decorations. But here are some that were taken my friends and family so I thought I would upload a few! My shower was unbelievably sweet. We had friends and family come and it was a special time of getting to see people I haven't seen in a while and catching up with them along with celebrating little Mariah.

THANK YOU
I would like to thank my mom and daddy for hosting the shower for me. They put so much into it and everyone enjoyed such a yummy meal! They hosted it at the same place they hosted my daddy's retirement party a year ago which is next to the Durham Bulls baseball stadium. The building is just beautiful and I'm REALLY hoping I can find my memory card. I lost it in the midst of bringing all my goodies in and organizing everything.

Thank you so much Mom & Daddy for giving me the best baby shower! I love ya'll!!

The sweetest most YUMMIEST cake!

Ha! Look at us, we matched and I didn't even notice :)

My Sunday school teacher from when I was in elementary school made this BEAUTIFUL quilt! I went crazy over it! She has been waiting ever since we got married to have a baby so she could make one and she doesn't make many of these so I felt EXTRA special!!!

I liked this cute little dress so much I went and got it in another size so I have it twice :)

I'd like to thank my in-laws for coming all the way from Orlando too so they could be at my showers!

My Choice in Bottles

2011-10-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Although I'm not planning on bottle feeding, I know I still will need bottles for certain times-church, vacations, etc. so after researching (ok not a whole lot of time spent on researching) I decided on Dr. Brown's glass bottles and ordered the silicone cases for it. I do really like them. Jonah's mom uses them so since I've used them with him I just stuck with them!

I'm 37 Whopping Weeks!!!!

2011-10-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

And I DEFINITELY feel like I'm 37 weeks! The past 3 days I have felt HUGE!!!! But I keep walking my 3 miles:)

Probably the most frustrating part is DROPPING EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!! Tonight I dropped my Bible during church and it was SO loud and embarrassing. I drop stuff all the time and I'm TIRED OF IT!!

But I can't wait to meet Mariah! I have my 37 week appt. this Friday. I seriously can't believe how fast this has gone.

Our predictions of when she'll come:
Larry: October 17
Mine: October 21

Fun Stuff!

2011-09-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

I honestly don't know where to begin with blogging about my baby showers... it was SO overwhelming-in a good way-I just don't know where to start. So I'm blogging just a little bit tonight and then as I get the pictures in order, I will blog more. This week has been non-stop busy. After Larry's parents left I went to several stores yesterday and today and did more clothes shopping for Mariah. Then tonight after the football games Larry and I went to the mall and got her more stuff-yes MORE clothes. We have ALL we need but when you find good deals on clothes, it's hard to pass up :)

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is OCTOBER 1!!!! Which means, I could have a baby anytime this month!!! Or it could drag on into the next month :)

This picture was taken before my shower on Monday night at church. Larry went to his softball games while I went and opened all my goodies!

And this is when we brought everything in (actually I see Jonah's carseat so it must have been the next day)

I have to say, this is one of the neatest ideas my friends had for a gift. They bought a bunch of baby books and put them in a basket for me. I was so excited about this gift along with SOOO many others!

Our revival starts this week so I will do what I can with blogging but I'm STILL going through everything and trying to have Mariah's room completely in order in the next few days.

I thought since I haven't done one of these the whole pregnancy, it would be fun to do one now :)

How Far Along: 36 weeks

Size of baby: 18.5 inches/6 lbs (I really don't think she's 6 lbs considering the dr said that's what she'll probably weigh when she's born- just got that off the internet)

Gender: Baby Girl-Mariah Leigh

Maternity Clothes: Oh yea-for the most part. Some normal shirts I still wear

Weight gain: 27 pounds

Belly Button: Still in :)

Movement: Tons although it has slowed down some recently due to lack of space-she likes to stay close to my ribs

Sleep: Great except when I wake up to go to the bathroom 3 times a night

Symptoms: Ligament pains, lower back pains (but definitely bearable, nothing terrible)

Cravings: CARDBOARD!!! I'm not even joking!!!!!!! So weird but I really want to eat cardboard. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of Lowe's. I asked Larry tonight if he needed to go for any reason :)

Best moment this week: Having my baby showers and setting up our hospital tour for October 12th. I'm sooo way late for that but I'm just not on top of things like a first time mom should probably be :) Let's just hope nothing happens before then!

My next dr appt. is this coming Friday and I'll be 37 weeks!!

36 Weeks!

2011-09-28T18:36:00.001-07:00

A month from yesterday she's due to arrive :)

Shower Picture...

2011-09-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Things have been VERY busy but SO much fun around here. I'll probably get to posting my pictures from the showers on Friday. My living room is still full of stuff although most of it has been taken to Mariah's room and I'm still trying to sort through stuff. I never realized how much time it takes to go through little baby things.

My showers put it all in perspective and made it seem so real... I can't believe we're only 4 weeks away from my due date! WOW!! The next time we see our parents will be when Mariah's here. Crazy thinking that.

This picture was taken from my shower in NC. I'm pale as a ghost but happy as a lark :)

I will be back soon to post pictures :)

Another Rainy Day...

2011-09-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

I'm going to keep this short... maybe. I've still got a lot to do to get ready for our trip to NC this weekend although I am packed for the most part!

I got my hair done last night completely forgetting the fact that hormones right now can make my hair do crazy things. Well, I told him to put more blond in it that I wanted it lighter which he did and it totally came out VERY toned down. I even have a strand of RED in my hair! WHAT???????? Yea! Never had that color in my hair before! Of course he had to put toner in it so I'm thinking I'll wash it today (which I normally let it set it a day or two) to let the toner start coming out. I still liked it tho. But I also had about an inch and a half cut off. It was so dry and nasty from me straightening it all the time, I needed to do something. I just love how good it smells and feels when I leave the salon....ahhhh!

I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to post from this weekend showing my "do".

Took my iron pill on a semi-empty stomach this morning=BAD IDEA. I haven't thrown up since my first trimester and let's just say iron pills have got to be one of the nastiest things EVER to throw up.

Larry is working today since he's taking off next Monday and Tuesday while his parents are here. I'm missing him but I'm able to get ready for the trip for both of us so that's good.

It's just another wet day here so I'm not sure if they'll have their football games this afternoon or not...maybe not :)

Did I mention that surprisingly I can STILL shave my legs and paint my toenails all by myself??? Yea buddy! My doc said I must have really good genes since I have yet to get stretch marks... I'm keeping my fingers crossed :0

Just Hanging Out Today....

2011-09-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

Had my dr appt. and all is well. She's just hanging out. Her mouth was moving A TON, it was so cute to watch!! She's guessing she's around 4 lbs right now. I was able to stretch out my next appt to go back in 2 weeks instead of 1. It's getting so close!!

And we're just hanging out the rest of the day until my hair appt. this evening!

This Week...

2011-09-20T05:23:00.000-07:00

GETTING THE LOOK
It is funny every time I go out, I get the stare down from women. How is it that I have a belly and a 2 month old baby in a stroller? So if they stare for quite some time, I'll say "he's not mine, I keep him for my friend." I had another lady thinking Jonah was mine and said "so what is he, 4-5 months old??" Well, that still wouldn't be possible with the size belly I have! Come on people!!

SECOND CHILD
I told Larry the other day I wanted to wait until Mariah was 3 before having another kiddo... he said more like after she turns 1! AGH!!!!!!!! But I'm sure everything will change once we actually BECOME PARENTS :)

IS LIFE SOON "OVER?"
Some people say our life is over once we have a baby-I understand what they're trying to say but no! It's not over, it's just a new phase of life beginning and our previous days of going somewhere on a wham without diaper bags, strollers, car seats and poopy diapers are gone. That's one of the reasons we chose to wait 5 years before having a child. So that we could get to know and spend time with each other, and establish our own "beliefs" in child raising. I honestly feel like we are "ready" as ready can be for this BIG change in our lives. I'm excited and just glad I only turned 29 yesterday instead of 30 before having my first child.

29
Friday was my last birthday in my 20's. Not too sure how I feel about it but like Larry said "that's one thing in life you can't do anything about" and he's right! He brings me back to reality on a daily basis LOL So Friday we woke up, Jonah came over, we went to CFA for a late breakfast and he took me shopping. I have been wanting for a long time a BIG WHITE BLINGING watch. Why? I have no clue. I just wanted one. So that's what we set out to get. We went to 5 different stores before finding the one I wanted. Then Larry had football games at church, we went out to dinner with Kenneth and Samantha then came back to his house and watched RIO.

RIO=HILARIOUS
I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time. Cute movie :) There were parts of it we just kept rewinding and watching over and over again. When Kenneth and I watch a movie together, we just find the silliest things in it to laugh about that nobody else gets... but that's ok. We're silly "Hurseys"

THIS WEEK
This week is going to be crazy fun. Softball games Monday night, football games Friday, getting my hair done Thursday, going to my dr appt. on Thursday (gonna see Mariah again... HOPEFULLY) , and Friday after the games we leave for NC for my shower, Larry's parents are driving up from FL, meeting us there and coming back to VA on Saturday with us for my church shower on Monday. PHEW!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy fun times :)

FALL
Saturday I decided to get up in the attic and pull down my fall stuff. Larry wasn't home and I knew if I didn't do it then, I wouldn't at all. I haven't decorated for fall in a couple of years that I can remember and well, since I stay at home I thought it would be fun to do. I didn't go out and buy anything new although I wanted to, I just stuck with what I had this year.

I can't WAIT to decorate for Christmas. I really want to get a pink tree and put it in Mariah's room. I'm so glad she'll be here for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Nursery Pictures Are Up!

2011-09-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

So FINALLY! We have a finished nursery... ready for sweet little Mariah to arrive. I had a lot of fun doing this considering it'll be the only one I go crazy nuts over. I'm sure the next kids' rooms I won't care as much about... or at least that's what I keep telling Larry.

The MOST important thing I wanted in her room was the tree. That was the first thing that went up a couple of months ago. I got it off of Etsy. It was originally $85 but when I received it, it was smaller than what the picture portrayed... so I emailed the company to "complain" and they refunded me $50. So! It only ended up costing me around $35 including shipping. Don't get me wrong, I think the size actually ended up being exactly the right size for the wall, but it was still misleading in the picture. I LOVE THE TREE. It was SO easy to put on too! It took a while but I didn't care, I enjoyed every minute working on it.

Bird Cages-Ross-they came in brown and I spray painted them pink, put ribbon on the top and stuck little birds and nests in there (kinda hard to see that)
Rug-Marshalls (the dogs LOVE laying on this rug for some reason :)

The rocking chair as you remember I got at a thrift shop that I just went nuts over. It worked perfectly in the room. I just laid the comforter from her set over it since I didn't like it on the bed.

The wreath I just kinda accidentally ended up making. I bought just a "twig" wreath just to tie a ribbon on and hang but I had all this pink ribbon and decided to try something and this is how it ended up... I guess not too shabby :)
Table-Ebay
Chandelier Lamp-Ebay-I bought the lampshades and made the ribbon to go on them
Brown Window Panels-Kirklands (I was CRAZY about these-they have rosettes at the top of them)
Sconces-Ebay
Pillow-Kirklands
Flowers- I used the vase from our wedding to put the flowers in and bought bright pink flowers just to make it pop when you walked in. It's the only thing in the room that's that bright but to me, it' catches the eye and I love that :)

I kinda went with the "chabby chic" look with some things which ended up giving it the look I was wanting.
Chabby Chic Frames-Ebay-her newborn pics will go on these
Lamp-Kirklands
Bird-Marshalls (I ended up having to paint a lot of my stuff to make it all in the same pink family.

This is a little hard to see with how light the picture is but we made her initial's frame. I bought the letters from some company online and painted them then made the board for them to go on. This was the project that took the longest... meaning a couple of hours but Larry finally broke down and finished it yesterday for me :)

I bought the bow pillow at Kirklands and bought her monogrammed pillow from a lady on Ebay that makes them. I have to say Ebay was my best friend while decorating her room.

I have a mobile to go on her bed but with the way her bed is made, we're having to make a little piece to add to the mobile for it to work on her bed.... who knows when that will happen :)

My New Vera...

2011-09-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

Our Vera Bradley outlet gives you a $20 gift card on your birthday so last week when my parents were here mom and I went to the outlets and picked out a purse. Of course I really don't need anymore purses since I won't be carrying one for much longer but I HAD to use my gcard, right? They were having a 25% Labor Day special too so I ended up getting my purse for $10! I'm crazy about the colors... it's very different from anything I have :)

I'm crazy about the gray center I had for the flower :)

Today's the Day!

2011-09-10T02:33:00.001-07:00

(As I took this picture of Larry, he said "I probably shouldn't be so silly in these pictures knowing it will probably end up on your blog :) OOOps oh well, got it now!

And they're off! This morning at 4:30 Larry and Kenneth took off towards somewhere (I have no clue LOL, all I know is they had to drive 1 1/2 hours somewhere) to ride their 100 mile race they've been training for for what seems EVER.... I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I asked Larry if he could at least not ride on my birthday this week :) He agreed.

Good luck Larry and Kenneth! Happy 5-6 hours of riding! Glad that's not my toosh on a bike seat for that long!!!!!!!

Yesterday as I was doing a few odds and ends in Mariah's room I decided to make the hanger her little onsie is hanging on a little fancier-why not? So above is the after picture and below is the before pic of the hanger. I thought it turned out pretty cute!

And why is it that I'm posting this at 5:30am? My sleeping is TERRIBLE these days. Waking up every other hour going to the bathroom!

So Tired...

2011-09-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Of All this RAIN!!!!!!!! It's been raining since Sunday and hasn't stopped since!

I need to get out and walk but can't!!UGH!

But at least Larry's bringing me home some sweet tea to drink for dinner! Ever since Junior camp I've been drinking sweet tea for some reason!

33 Weeks Preggo

2011-09-07T18:22:00.001-07:00

So hopefully I'll get back on my weekly schedule of my photos instead of half weeks. Here's Mariah at 33 weeks! I just bought this skirt and seriously, I could sleep in it... it's so comfortable.

One of My Faves

2011-09-07T07:33:00.001-07:00

This outfit at Babies R Us FINALLY went on sale for $5... I knew it would make a cute matching hair flower with a navy center stone:)

I got in the mail all of her Kufi hats and the rest of her headbands. I wanted to make sure I had every color for Mariah just in case!

I've been busy making hair flowers to match her outfits and they just keep coming! Can't wait to put a flower on that little head!

Our Long Weekend

2011-09-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

My parents came into town for Labor Day weekend. We stayed very busy... SHOPPING :) We got a lot of good deals, lots of flowers, ribbons, clothes etc. for mostly Mariah. I found some stuff for myself too of course! I got all of this for $22.50! Target was having a awesome sale on their summer stuff :)

Here are just a few more pictures we took after church Sunday night.

This my brother's girlfriend, Samantha :)

We will go to NC for my friends and family shower in a little over 2 weeks with my brother, Samantha and my in-laws so I'm really excited to see family I haven't seen in a while!

32 1/2 Weeks!

2011-09-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I feel GREAT! I haven't had any swollen ankles, hands etc. so far!

So hard to believe that in less than two months we'll be parents!

I have my showers this month and my in-laws are planning on coming up in just a couple of weeks for them!

My parents have been here for the Labor Day weekend and I'll post some pics later :)

Coupon Day & Cuteness!

2011-09-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

So I'm learning how to coupon with a baby... and then in a couple of months I'll be doing it with two. I have the stroller ready to go-which I got for FREE off of Craigslist. A double snap-n-go! Go me :)

Anyways, Jonah was GREAT today! I went to 3 different stores. The first Bloom I hit I was not Happy at all with the way they acted but anyways, I went to two other ones and it was great. Here's the break down. I didn't do nearly as much as I have in the past but I'm trying to break in having a baby with me and I couldn't have asked for a easier baby to bring with me. I'm just hoping Mariah will be this easy :) I'm already spoiled!

37 rolls of paper towels-
4 bottles of Herbal Essence
2 packs of napkins
20 bottles of cleaner
TOTAL SPENT: $5

I even saw my couponing partner in there-she started back teaching this week so I'm on my own even though she is still being a BIG help to me which I am SO grateful for :)

How cute is this center for Mariah's hair flower?

Today's Dr. Appt.

2011-08-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

You can't tell anything from this picture but she's looking at me with her chubby cheeks :)

I had my dr. appt. late this afternoon and my primary physician wasn't in the office so I had to see a new doctor. She was great! She actually did another ultrasound for me. The last one I had was my sonogram so it was neat to get to see her. It wasn't as clear as the past ones since she was lying facing inward but I still go to see her!

The doctor said she's got big cheeks and you could SO see how chubby they were! The good thing is she's moved back into head down position-hopefully for good until she arrives!

I've also lost 2 lbs! I'm back down under 130 which I was excited about. So far my total weight is 24 lbs.

I go back in a little over 3 weeks (Sept. 22) and have my last tests done that's required-I'm guessing I start going every week after that but not sure. I'll then be 35 weeks. So hard to believe!

Yep and Mariah's is STILL a girl :)

I leave you with this picture of Sierra. She loves to rest her head on Mariah.

Call Me a Freak!

2011-08-30T04:53:00.000-07:00

Sooooo guess who has changed their mind for the third time on their baby's car seat???? ME! Yes I know, I'm crazy, nuts, out of my mind... maybe it's pregnancy brain. But they just came out with this one...yea I should have listened to Larry when he told me to just wait and let the store "store" it until it gets closer but I didn't listen. But I'm only having to take back one in the midst of changing my mind for the fourth time. I didn't buy all of the ones I liked LOL! Here's the one I have right now that I'm taking back... at least for the time being. LOL! You never know, I may eventually end up with this one.

Today...

2011-08-29T05:51:00.000-07:00

As today is the first day of school for our school and most schools around us, I am just SO thankful that I am able to FINALLY stay home... and keep this sweet little face :)

I am learning a lot about babies and now I won't be so blind sighted going into having my own!

A "Minor" Sneaky Peeky...

2011-08-27T08:51:00.001-07:00

Here's just a little peek at Mariah's nursery :)

I'll Be Back!

2011-08-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

JONAH
This week I started keeping little Jonah who is 2 months old and just trying to get use to things and his schedule. I've been keeping his brother who starts K5 next Tuesday so I'll definitely be back sometime next week. I'm learning lots of things with babies which is GREAT practice for me. The dogs are having to get use to having someone different in the house which is good practice for them as well. Sedona cannot for the life of her figure out what a baby is so we're working at that. She constantly paces around the living room table.... she's a freak, no joke :) If I can, I'll get a video of her doing this.... so crazy.

MARIAH'S HICCUPS
Yesterday I finally figured out Mariah's hiccups. She's had them several times before but they were SO faint and really low but yesterday was the first time her whole body shook when she hiccuped and I think she was getting a little frustrated and kicked the fool out of me-and Larry said she must have MY personality??! OH WHATEVER! It was cute tho!

31 Weeks!

2011-08-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

I think she hit a growth spurt this past week-WOW :)

I'm finally into the single digits!! 9 Weeks to go (or maybe less :)

My mom sent this picture to me today. This is my dad holding his co-worker's little girl... I have to admit, it made me tear up :)

EARTHQUAKE
So I'm sure you've seen all over the news about the earthquake that hit from NC all the way up to NY. I guess it originated somewhere around Richmond here in VA. A lot of people felt it but Larry and I were on our way back from Costco and had no idea. He had come home for lunch and we went out to grab a few things, then he dropped me off and called and asked if I heard about it. I was cracking up at the news reporters. I just have to say I hope no one from Haiti was watching. I mean seriously, after the earthquake they went through, ours was A TOTAL JOKE!! Nobody was killed from it and how many thousands upon thousand were in Haiti. Not to mention the one in Japan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Her First Bible...

2011-08-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

When we found out I was pregnant, Larry told me he wanted to get each of our children a Bible and during their first year use it and make notes in it. Then on their wedding day, he would give it to them. I thought that was very sweet and so special.

So today, Mariah's Bible came in...this made me smile :)

We pray every day for her but most importantly her Salvation-to be saved at an early age understanding and believing what Christ did for her on the cross.

So Sweet...

2011-08-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

Every time I go in her room and see her name I just can't wait much longer to meet her :)

My Birthday Man

2011-08-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my husband! I'm so grateful God blessed him with another year of life. I can't wait to see what our future holds and next year he'll be celebrated with 4 girls instead of 3 :) How fun will that be?! I love you Larry!

Tonight we went out to eat then ran to the bike shop. I got him 4 ties, a new helmet and a couple of riding jerseys since his current hobby is biking.

I wanted to be a little silly and so I stopped by the dollar store today and got some decorations and balloons. I've never been home all day on his birthday to where I could have fun with it so I just decided to.

He's so crazy :) My parents got him the UNC tie and jacket!

I googled chocolate cake recipes and this one was by the Pioneer Woman and it turned out really good! Made all from scratch :)

30 Weeks!

2011-08-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

This is the best I could do today with my 30 week picture. I was on the way out to meet Larry for lunch and thought I would snap one really quick. I notice my inch and a half roots :) I'm waaaay past the time of getting my hair done but wanted to wait another month so I didn't have to have it done right after Mariah was born and it would look somewhat normal in pictures.

Look at these sleepy girls :)

NC Trip & Dr. Appt.

2011-08-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

NC TRIP
I noticed it's been a week since I blogged. Last week me and Sierra took a trip to NC to see my parents. I had planned this about 3 weeks ago since next week I'm starting to keep my friend's baby! It was the only chance I had so we loaded up the Saab and took a trip from Monday-Thursday. We had so much fun! We shopped EVERY DAY which is what I just LOVE to do. I came back with a CAR LOAD of goodies! I had cupcakes twice, ice cream once and peanut butter pie too! I ate some healthy stuff in there too but don't really remember it :) We'll be going back in September for my shower with friends and family and can't wait to see them again! I did miss Larry tho. It was my first time leaving him instead of him leaving me to go on a missions trip!

DOCTOR APPT.
I had my dr. appt. today. I gain about a 1lb a week which I guess is normal now ?? Who knows what normal is anymore... all I know is my body ain't normal looking LOL! I'm starting to notice some discomfort in my back but I just keep telling myself 10 MORE WEEKS!!! Mariah is laying sideways-head on my left side. At night when I lay on my side her little feet will just kick away. I love feeling it tho. I sure am going to miss feeling her move after I have her! I have felt her since 14 weeks so it'll be so weird not feeling her anymore :(

DOCTOR ON CALL
The best part is I found out my doctor will be on call October and November! So if I go past my due date, she'll still deliver me. I was so excited when I heard that.

PICTURES
I'm hoping to have pictures of the nursery by the end of the week. Don't hold me to it tho... I'm waiting on Larry to build the last thing and well... if it was up to me and I knew what I was doing-I would just do it. I did my part that can be done and he's gotta finish it. It involves using a tool and well, I have no clue how to use tools! So don't hold your breath BUT I'm hoping this week I will have some pics to post.

Diaper Stash & Nursery...

2011-08-07T13:04:00.001-07:00

DIAPER DEAL

This morning my friend told me of a good diaper deal Wegman's had. The coupons you can get at the end of the aisle in the store had a $8 off a box of 48-96 count and they were on sale for $12.99! So I ended up getting each box of 76 count for $4.99 total! So we went to lunch there with some friends and my brother and they each got a box for me too since it was limit one coupon per person. I grabbed a load of those coupons since they're good through the end of September so I'll just keep making trips here and there picking up more at such a good price! Yay for starting the diaper collection... where are all these gonna go??!!

NURSERY
Ok, no joke... the nursery is almost DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I said Larry wasn't going to hang anything on the wall until after his bike race in September but he hung everything except one thing (that I'm waiting to come in) over the weekend-I was shocked. I have a few more things I ordered that I'm waiting on as well and then it'll be finished. So MAYBE I'll be able to show it to you in a week or two!

28 Weeks and Counting

2011-08-03T18:12:00.001-07:00

28 weeks!
I'm officially out of the teens! Only 12 weeks left to go!!!

As you can see, I ordered my diaper bag and I really do like it! I've just left it hanging in there cuz I like to look at it when I go in there :)

This skirt I have on is a normal skirt but I'm finding that it's getting so tight, every time I wear it, Mariah moves a lot more... probably cuz I'm squashing her! LOL Poor kid.

More Thankful...

2011-08-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

About a week before we left for camp, Sierra got really sick. This happened a year ago but this time it was much more extensive than before but I was still determined not to take her to the vet. Well, she ended up getting better and I was so glad for the timing since we were leaving for camp the in next week and a half.

Then Sedona got it a week later. I was a lot more worried with her since we were leaving in 4 days. She didn't seem to knock it as fast as Sierra did and hers just seemed worse. Without going into detail, IT WAS NOT NORMAL WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO HER or what happened to Sierra. I stayed off the internet when Sierra was sick because I knew what people would say on there but when Sedona got it, about the third day, I broke down and looked up on the internet what it could be. It could be something really simple as a virus or something really bad like eventually.....DEATH.

Yes, I cried-just once in front of Larry :) He forced it out of me. I didn't want to leave my dog here sick not knowing what was wrong with her. I know they're just dogs, but they're my LIFE as I have said before.

Finally the morning we left Sedona had gotten A LOT better. That made me feel better and honestly, I didn't ask Kenneth the entire week how she was because I just didn't want to know if she was worse... there was nothing I could do about it being 7 hours away. But she ended just having the same thing Sierra did...a stinkin' virus.

I can't tell you how much that made me more thankful for even just my dogs. I know right now the hormones are flying high and anytime I see a dog or some animal, I'm so sympathetic it's pathetic. I enjoy getting to be home with my dogs and that now, finally they can stay out all day instead of pinned up like they were for the past years that I worked.

I LOVE my dogs....

Yay!

2011-08-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

TEST
I just found out I passed my glucose test! Yay!

Michelle, you were SO right. When I drank that nasty stuff, I have never felt her move so much. It was making me want to vomit she was moving so much. I guess I got a hyper one in there... no sugar before bedtime for her :)

APPOINTMENT
My appointment went great. I'm starting to go every two weeks now. I'm measuring a week ahead of schedule but I know that really means nothing when it comes down to it. Dr. Martin was amazed at how long my torso is and that's why I'm carrying so low. She's got a lot of room to move around in there and she's not up high which is REALLY good for me!!

ICE CREAM
I'm going to get some ice cream :) Okay, not really...I gotta go to the grocery store.... our cabinets are EMPTY!

I'm starting to see these in stores and that only means one thing... it's getting closer and closer to Mariah's arrival. Come on October!!

Tomorrow...

2011-07-31T17:35:00.001-07:00

SUGAR TEST
Please pray that I pass my sugar test tomorrow...I don't want to have to go back for the 4 hour one and let them stick me multiple times!!!! My doctor says she's not worried at all about me not passing it but she doesn't know how much I LOVE food!

MORE WORK
I did a lot of work on the nursery yesterday and today. It's coming right along! Unfortunately Larry told me he wasn't going to hang the crown molding until AFTER his race in September. So I won't post any pictures until that's up and it's 100% complete.

Maybe I can change his mind on that-I really want it up. If not, I'll get over it. Eventually

STROLLER
A couple of weeks ago my stroller came in and I thought I would try to put it together myself while Larry was at work and here it is! I'm really glad I picked this one!

Little Tarheel Fan...

2011-07-30T12:05:00.001-07:00

I found this when I was in NC this past week! I was so glad to be able to find Tarheel baby stuff. Everything around here's Redskins! I'm sure I'll be buying more when I'm back there in just a couple of weeks!

We had a great time at camp! We got back in last night and it's ALWAYS good to be back in my own bed!

27 weeks (early)...

2011-07-24T09:12:00.001-07:00

I'M A WHOPPING 27 WEEKS! HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm gonna go ahead and post my picture a couple of days early... we have junior camp coming up this week and I know I won't take one down there. This morning when I was getting ready I look in the mirror it looks like she dropped-I'm sticking way out at the bottom compared to last week. It's like it happened over night!

YOU'RE PREGNANT??
I'm still getting the "you're pregnant? Oh I didn't know that" EVERY week at church... I just laugh. Every Sunday morning when Pastor preaches she moves like crazy! Maybe it's conviction starting really early LOL! She knows she's a little sinner in there!

DRESS DEAL
I found this dress at Target for only $6!! And the best part, IT'S NOT MATERNITY AND IT'S AN EXTRA SMALL!!! I just had to say that... it keeps me mentally feeling small :)

SO MUCH MOVEMENT GOING ON IN THERE
I now feel her under my ribs, stretching as far as possible from the left to my right side. I have my sugar test next Monday (August 1) so I better be good while we're at camp-(and when I say "camp" I WILL NOT be out in the hot steamy sun-jr. camp is VERY relaxing for us, at least once we get there it is!) For some reason, I just don't think camp food will be a problem in eating too much! Dr. Martin said she would do a ultrasound this time... we'll see, hopefully she remembers!

NURSERY PICTURE
I took this week's picture in a odd spot in her nursery because I'm not wanting to show any of the decor just yet. I know her bedding will come in this week while I'm gone and the rest of the stuff I've gotten so far will too but that's ok, it'll give me something to look forward to doing when I come back!

I find myself walking past her nursery all the time, making extra trips in there just to look at it... I'm crazy about it. It seems like it took me SO long to figure out just how I wanted to do it... the juices just weren't flowing like they normally do and then BAM! There it was :)

The fact that I'm having a girl still amazes me JUST AS MUCH as it did the day we found out...I still can't believe my dream of having a girl is coming true! It's definitely hurting Larry's wallet but mine's loving it :)

Our New Table!

2011-07-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I've been searching Craigslist night and day-day and night. I sold my two person table at our yard sale we had a while back wanting to move up to a 4 person table and I'll eventually put Mariah's booster seat in one of the chairs.

So finally I found this one on Wednesday and got it for $100! It does have an extension in the middle that comes out which is nice for when we have people over. It's an espresso color which goes really well with the flooring.

I tried to put place mats on there but it just looked way too crowded so I just found this centerpiece at Kirkland's today and thought it fit nicely!