Yesterday was the shower my grandmother and aunt threw for my dad's side of the family.  Even though it was rainy, it was a lot of fun.  They made some great food and made the place look really nice!  Luckily, it was just family, and they didn't mind that I propped my feet up during the shower.  For some reason, my whole body was sore yesterday.  My feet and hands especially hurt yesterday, and surprisingly, my butt was sore as well (it felt like I had fallen and hit my butt bone on something--but I hadn't).  And it didn't help that Kaylee Beth was trying to jump out of my right side yesterday.  I started wondering if she was long way across my belly b/c there was constantly some body part poking out of my side.  At first it was funny, but it started getting pretty uncomfortable and I rubbed and begged her to change positions.  The family gave us TONS of great stuff for Kaylee Beth!!  They gave us a lot of necessities like diapers, wipes, lotions, etc. that are much needed!  She also got some cute outfits, some toys, a popasan seat, and a bumbo chair. My grandmother had a lady at her church make a christening gown for Kaylee Beth. It is absolutely gorgeous!! She smocked the top and hand embordried the rest of it--it took a total of 40 hours to make!!  It's so pretty I'm gonna be afraid to let her wear it!!  haha.  We'll definately have this one preserved after she's christened. 

I had another Dr appointment Friday.  My bp and weight are doing great--only 1 lb gain.  So it looks like now I have my weight back in check.  She's measuring right on track and he said she's about 3 1/2 lbs right now.  She's getting so big!!  I also asked about me travelling in a couple of weeks to Missouri to look for a place to live in August and then going to NC to pick up Homer.  Homer had wanted me to stay in NC with him for 2 weeks after he got back, but my Dr would rather me be back a week early.  Since he's advising me being back, I think I'll listen to him-Sorry Homer!    I can't believe he'll be back in 3 weeks!!  I'm so excited! He wrote me an email yesterday saying that the closer it gets to him coming home, the more excited he's getting about feeling Kaylee Beth kick.  I started tearing up when I read it.  I'm starting to think that I'm going to have to pry her from his arms just so I can hold her for a minute.  I know he gonna be wrapped around her little finger from the second he sees her!  I can't wait for us all to be together!! 

I can't believe how booked up I am until she's born!!  This week I'll be at the beach, the next my mom is working and we have a breastfeeding class to go to, the next week we're going to Missouri and straight to North Carolina, then I'll be in NC with Homer for a week, then back to B'ham until she's born.  The weekend after that is mine and Homer's childbirth class. Then we have a couple of weddings and events that we're invited to depending on a) if we're in the hospital b)recovering from birth or c) if I am too big and miserable to even leave the house.  So we may have to skip out on a couple of those... We'll just have to wait and see.  I'm sure that during my last month I'll busy myself by organizing the nursery, yet again, washing linens for her to sleep on, and folding clothes--building my "nest." 

There's been a few more symptoms I've been having lately.  The swelling of the hands and feet are the same or a little worse, and now they hurt as well.  I am still leaking colostrum at night, which is getting to be more as well.  My breasts may be filling up with more and more of this b/c I've had to go up another bra size--this one I'm not complaining about!  It's also getting more and more difficult to sleep through the night.  I can't seem to get comfortable and once I do fall asleep, I have crazy dreams and wake myself up. (This morning I woke up after Scotty kept barking for over 30 minutes at the balloons from the shower yesterday--apparently they are scary b/c now Murphy keeps barking at them, too).  Hopefully, a week in the sun will help me to feel better!

I've been feeling pretty good for most of the time.  But I have been having a few discomforts along the way.  I've been doing yoga for about a month now, and I have had a pain in my right leg/hip joint.  I thought it was just a pulled muscle or something, but since it hasn't gone away in over a week, I'm starting to think it's some sort of pregnancy pain.  Also, since the ultrasound tech pointed out that I was having a contraction, I've started noticing them.  My whole belly will get really hard for about a minute and then it'll go away. It doesn't hurt, but it's weird to think it's already starting to get ready for labor.  I've also been having more period-like cramps that have been pretty painful.  Sometimes it'll just be on my right side. But they never seem to last long. Brittany has also had some of these and so we were thinking it may be some form of contraction or something.  Maybe I'll bring it up during my dr appointment tomorrow.  My parents and I are leaving Sunday when my mom gets off work and going down to our Condo at the beach.  We are so excited! My dad was able to take off work the entire week and so it'll be a good break for the 3 of us and give us time to all spend time together. 

I've also been feeling better about my body (aka extra fat) lately. Since I've been going to the gym and eating better, I not only feel a lot better, but my face has thinned out a little.  Also after yoga we were all putting on our shoes and talking about the yoga workout and someone asked if it's as good as doing weights for toning your arms and legs. The teacher said it's slower results, but is still really good at building strength and toning.  Then I noticed that my arms doing spread as much as they did last month!!  Just noticing these small changes gives me hope that I'll be able to return to my pre-pregnancy body, or at least close to it. 

I've also been working a lot lately on scrapbooks. I'm trying to get all caught up for when she comes.  I still have a lot more to do, but it's slowly coming along.  My mom and I also have some sewing projects that we need to get done, but I try to wait until my mom is off work in case I get stuck and don't know how to do something.  I've been trying to take it easy this week and not push myself like I did last week, and even though I'm not as productive, my body seems to like me better.  In less than a month, Homer will be back! We are all SO excited about that one!!

Last Saturday, my friends hosted a baby shower for me.  It was a lot of fun! I got to see everyone and get tons of cute presents!!  I got lucky and my feet weren't swelling much that day. However, my hormones were really going and I thought I may die of a heat stroke while I was opening presents!  I told my mom that either I was sweating between my legs or my water broke.... luckily, it was just sweat that went away after I stood over a fan. haha.  As you can tell in the pictures, we got a LOT of stuff for Kaylee Beth. My parents bought us a travel system w/ the infant car seat and stroller. The hostesses bought the monitor and Homer's aunt and uncle bought us a pack-n-play, so most of the big stuff is taken care of now.  Everyone else gave us burp clothes, bibs, outfits, blankets, toys, bottles, etc., so there's not much little stuff we need either.  Plus, my grandmother and aunt are hosting us a baby shower this Saturday, so this will probably cover most of the other things we need.  We are so grateful for everyone and their support for us and Kaylee Beth.  She's already very blessed and is coming into two great families and wonderful friends!

She has been VERY active the past few days.  The Walkers came into town and kept trying to feel her move.  She was still all day Saturday, despite my proding and poking.  However, on Sunday, we were able to wake her up so they could feel her moving around.  She has not stopped moving since!!  I'm not even sure if she's slept. haha.  She's getting much stronger.  When she kicks sometimes, it hurts--like when she takes her foot and rams it into my ribs!  I love to just sit and watch my belly move all over the place.  It makes me feel so good knowing that she's safe in there. 

Homer and I have been talking about the next few months a lot lately.  I think we finally decided that we are going to rent an apartment and that he is going to take a few night classes.  This way he can watch Kaylee Beth during the day while I'm in class and I can be with her while he is in class.  It'll be rough not getting to see each other all that much, but we're willing to sacrafice a little of together time for our daughter.  I'm so releived that we won't have to put her in day care at 2 months of age!  What makes it more do-able is the fact that even getting to share a bed every night is more time together than we've ever had throughout dating and our marriage (not counting the 3 months before his deployment).  It'll be wonderful just to have our family together at last!!

Today I had another dr appointment and the 4D ultrasound done.  The visit with the dr was very brief; we spent most of the time doing the ultrasound.  I maintained my weight, not gaining anything! Yay!! So I'm still at 21 lbs total weight gain.  I was so excited I told him I had been eating better and pointed out to him that I didn't gain anything when he was looking over my chart.  His reply was "It's cuz you didn't eat all those french fries!!"  But Homer called right before he walked into the room, and dr robinett said I could talk to him since he was calling from Iraq. He was also very impressed that we were able to talk and told the nurses he got chill bumps. (I guess I'm just used to it...). 

I drank a diet coke on the way to the dr to make sure she didn't try to sleep through the ultrasound and waste our money.  When we got there, she was facing inward (good for delivery, not for a 4D ultrasound!). So the lady shook her up and kept tapping my stomach.  (She pointed out that I was having a contraction even though I couldn't feel it.  I must have looked worried b/c she quickly said, but that's normal and good. Who knew?) So we finally got Kaylee Beth to turn around, and wouldn't you know it, she had her foot covering her face!  So with a lot of me turning on my side, stretching out, and moving the chair to where my head was going downhill, we finally got her to put her foot down.  Then she brought up her hand in her face!  With more gouging and annoying her, she moved it and we got some good pictures.  Then she decided to snuggle up w/ the placenta. So we had to try to get her to move some more. Then she pulled the cord into her face.  The child did not want us to take pictures of her!! haha.  But she was SO cute!!  We got all kinds of facial expressions, some smiles and some frowns (cuz we were getting on her nerves by shaking her).  But she is precious both ways!!  I just hope this doesn't mean she's gonna be difficult from here on out!!  The ultrasound lady kept saying how beautiful and cute she is.  When I asked her if she saw a lot of ugly babies she said, yea, and when I do, I just don't comment on the baby, I just say, "here's your baby!"  So she must really think she's something!!  We broke the ultrasound up into 2 times to try to get her to roll over while I visited with the dr.  So we got to go back and get more pictures afterward. I got a total of 40 pictures and a dvd showing her moving around.  I'm gonna send a copy to homer and hope he gets it before he comes back. 

Even the ultrasound lady said she looked like me.  She looks like she has my nose. But we can't tell who's lips she has--In some pictures it looks like mine, in others homers.  She doesn't have my shape of a face, but this can change when I squeeze her out.  She has hair already, but we can't tell what color until she's born.  I'm ready for her to be here now since I know she's cute!!  It was just so great getting to see our little girl!!

Then my mom and I went to babies R Us and looked around. I changed a few things on my registry and my mom bought her gifts for me... I helped pick them out, so It won't be a surprise, but I guess I have to wait to get to "play" with them and set everything up.  Even though my feet were hurting from walking around all day, I had so much fun!