Well I had my shower a week ago! It was great! I got so much stuff that I needed and I feel so much more prepared for Alyssa. She has enough clothes to last her through most of the first year.
I went to the doctor last Wednesday, and everything is still great. The doctor said Alyssa was laying sideways, and I already knew that because all of her kicks are on my side, and she pushes her head in to my other side. The doctor is hoping she will turn head down soon, so she won't get stuck in this sideways position. Bless her little heart, I'm so short I don't think she has much room to go up and down. She'll really be in there tight once she does. I was glad about my weight gain progress. I weighed 124, so total I've gained 16 pounds. The doctor said it's perfect! She said that from here on I should gain about a pound maybe a pound and a half a week. And I have about 6 or 7 weeks to go. So total I'll probably gain 22-25 pounds, which is what they recomended for me. I'm glad because I don't want to gain too little and not give the baby everthing she needs, but I also don't want to gain too much and make it difficult to lose after I have her. My blood pressure is still good, and I'm still not swelling. So I have to say things are pretty good, I can't complain!
This past week I was on a break from work because the schools had spring break. It was a nice time for me to get stuff done. I packed and boxed up all mine and Nick's stuff for the move. I organinzed all the baby stuff, and got it ready to be moved in to the nursery in the new house. Speaking of the new house.... we are getting things settled with the loan and stuff. We will hopefully close early next week. It's a little later than we wanted, but it's okay. I'm trying to be patient and just know that it will happen when it happens, and to keep my mind occupied with other things. And for now that is working pretty well.
Nick and I took a little vacation to Alapaha, GA. (very south Georgia). We went with his family and had a great time down there. The weather was beautiful. The temperature stayed in the 80s, and we stayed on about 200 acres of land. It was gorgeous! The men mostly hunted, and the ladies laid out in the sun and went on walks to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. It was very nice, except for a slight sunburn that I got and some allergies that are still bothering me. (that happens every spring)
Now it's back to the grind. Today I'm off work because the teachers have an inservice day. So I may be back tomorrow if they call me in, or I might not get too much this week since it's their first week back from break. I guess we'll see, but I have plenty of work to do around the house, so I will be working no matter what. I'm looking forward to next weekend, my mom and I are going to Alabama for my cousin's shower. That should be lots of fun! I can't wait to see everyone again. I wish our families got together more often than we do cause I miss them. Well I'm sure I'll have more to write about soon! Hope everyone had a nice Easter!
2008-03-14 (32 weeks)
Excited About Tomorrow! I'm so excited about tomorrow... for my shower! I know I've had two, but this is one that I've really been looking foward to. I don't know if it's because this is the one that I've invited my girlfriends to, or because of the family coming in town, or because my mom is going to this one and has got a ton of stuff for the baby. haha Actually there's no possible way she could bring it all, people would think she was crazy. I can honestly say out of everyone involved including myself, my mom has bought the most stuff for Alyssa. When she gets older and watches herself on video tape, I'll be saying "Mi Mi bought you that". I think that's what my mom wants to be called. Now I can't remember what she said she wants, I'll have to ask her again. At any rate, I'm so excited about the shower. I know I don't really have the space for the stuff yet, but I'll figure something out. Nick and I are hoping to close on our house on Monday the 24th, hopefully that will actually happen. We need to get started on putting the floors in and painting the walls. We have to do all that before we move. Everyone pray for Nick, I think he's a little stressed about all of this. And he's probably a little more stressed because he really wants to be done with it all so he can hunt for turkey season. I don't know if it's possible, but I won't ask questions or discourage. Hopefully it will just work out. And if not hopefully he won't be too upset about it. After all there will be other weekends to hunt for turkey season that aren't the very first days it opens. Well all I know is soon I should have room for all the awesome baby stuff that I'm collecting down stairs in my living room. Our house is in total disarray right now. We have boxes everywhere and baby stuff everywhere. Next week I have the big job of packing it all up. If anyone wants to come over and help, or even come over and talk and hang out while I pack.... I would appreciate it greatly. I'm starting this weekend and my goal is to be done and only have out our basic needs by next Friday. We'll be going out of town to Alapaha, GA so we'll just need our bags packed for that, and a few other things left out so we can get by until the move which should be before April. It's a lot of stuff to get done so wish us luck. Hope everyone is doing well. And I can't wait to see some of you at the shower tomorrow! Yay!!!
2008-03-13 (32 weeks)
My Old Dress The other day my mom dug out a dress that I wore when I was a newborn. It is so cute... pink and soft and lacy. I had the idea that it would be special for Alyssa to wear my old dress home from the hospital. It looks like new, and in fact it's much cuter than most of the dresses I've seen in the stores, especially the ones I can afford. My mom found some shoes, bloomers, and a pink blanky that will match it all at a consignment sale. All I want to get to complete the outfit is socks and a pink head band. I know it sounds like a lot, but she will only be wearing it for pictures at the hospital and the ride home then a few more pictures. Then I can change her in to a comfy one piece outfit. Nick is concerned that she'll be really uncomfortable, but I think she'll be fine. My sister McKenzie wore a cute little dress home (we all did in fact, but I just remember her because she's so much younger than me) and she slept through everything. She didn't seem phased at all by having on a dress, bonet, socks, and shoes. And after all... Alyssa did come from her mother....she will surely love to wear cute clothes like her momma. I'm very excited about her adorable going home outfit. I can't wait to see her in it.
2008-03-12 (31 weeks)
It's Mid March Already? Last night after Teddy Bear University I sat down at the table to help Nick fill out his big calendar. He asked me to get him one to lay on the desk so he could keep track of all that's going on because things are so crazy for us right now. So I wrote down the things to come for both him and me. For me it's a lot of baby showers and work related stuff, for him it's a lot of stuff about his second favorite time of year (his first being deer season), Turkey season. Turkey season opens March 29th, so it seems that at these times no matter how many things are going on (baby, house, etc...) we will center them around this very important time. haha Which I really don't mind this, in fact I think it's good for him and me. When we first got married I was a little shocked at how much time went in to hunting for him, but now I like it probably as much as he does because it gives me time to schedule fun stuff for me to do. And that is so important in a marriage, I think, for us to still enjoy the things we did before we got married, and not feel like we had to give those things up. So anyway, as I was writing in the calendar I put big X's on the days that had passed, and suddenly reallized "oh my goodness! It's already mid March". Meaning in a month from this time, I will have to have my bag packed for the hospital because Alyssa could come a few weeks early. I know that's not likely for a first time mom, or so I've been told; but you never know. I mean as much as I have exercised and stayed active even to this point, and since I've already had contractions start on me, I wouldn't be surprised if she did come early. I wouldn't mind it either way though. I'm not one of those pregnant women that get in to their last trimester and complain the whole time about how bad they want the baby out. Really, I'm still feeling pretty good. I mean sure, there are a few things like back aches and heart burn, and not being able to put on socks and shoes the way I use to; but for the most part things are still fine. I've just recently been having to go to the bathroom more often than I consider normal, and when I go on my walks or do exercise I feel more pressure down in my lower abdomen and on my pelvic floor muscles. But to me this is not a discomfort... this is a reason for excitement because it means she's almost ready to come out! So I really can't believe how fast the time has flown by. This pregnancy seems like it has happend in just a few weeks, not months. I think I can attribute this to how busy and active I have stayed. I honestly prefer to be busy over being bored, even if it does mean a little extra work. Looking back I've done so much during this pregnancy. I did my student teaching, graduated from college, travelled for Christmas, consistantly exercised, looked for a house, found a house, and now we are getting ready to move, and we are planning lots of other events. The rest of the month will look something like this for us: I've worked every day this week, this weekend is my shower at Angie's, next week is spring break so I will be off work and at home packing up all our stuff to move, hopefully we'll close on the house during spring break week or the Monday following, we are going to Alapaha, GA for Nick to do some turkey hunting on Easter weekend, then hopefully the last week of March we'll be fixing up the house and moving in, then that Saturday I'm going to Alabama for my cousin's shower and Nick is going turkey hunting. So that is the game plan, of coarse some things may change and that would be okay. The bottom line is, we are very busy, and that's good because the time will pass even faster that way! Before we know it, Alyssa will be here!
Well I had my shower a week ago! It was great! I got so much stuff that I needed and I feel so much more prepared for Alyssa. She has enough clothes to last her through most of the first year. 
The other day my mom dug out a dress that I wore when I was a newborn. It is so cute... pink and soft and lacy. I had the idea that it would be special for Alyssa to wear my old dress home from the hospital. It looks like new, and in fact it's much cuter than most of the dresses I've seen in the stores, especially the ones I can afford. My mom found some shoes, bloomers, and a pink blanky that will match it all at a consignment sale. All I want to get to complete the outfit is socks and a pink head band. I know it sounds like a lot, but she will only be wearing it for pictures at the hospital and the ride home then a few more pictures. Then I can change her in to a comfy one piece outfit. Nick is concerned that she'll be really uncomfortable, but I think she'll be fine. My sister McKenzie wore a cute little dress home (we all did in fact, but I just remember her because she's so much younger than me) and she slept through everything. She didn't seem phased at all by having on a dress, bonet, socks, and shoes. And after all... Alyssa did come from her mother....she will surely love to wear cute clothes like her momma. 
I'm very excited about her adorable going home outfit. I can't wait to see her in it.