1 Month

I can not believe I am writing his one month post already.  This month has definitely flown by but has been SO great!  Things we have learned:

• We definitely learned from day one that this is a team sport and that we could not do this without each other.   
• We have learned that we can not just go to bed when we are ready to, haha Braxton calls the shots on this one. 
• It's hard to even get a shower when you are here alone, let alone do the dishes, laundry, etc. 
• It takes a long time to even get out the door to go anywhere. 
• Even though we only added one more person to our household, the laundry has multiplied by about 4. 

Now onto Braxton:

• He is filling out VERY VERY quickly.
• At his appt at a week old he was back up to his birth weight and at his appt at two weeks old he was up to 8lb even. 
• When we first put him down at night he will sleep for about a 5 hour stretch, then will sleep for another 3 hours after his bottle, then will doze for a little while after his morning bottle. 
• He is very active when he is awake.  He kicks his legs and swings his arms A LOT!
• He acts like he wants to talk when you are talking to him.  He opens his mouth but acts like he can not figure out how to make sound come out. 
• He is still in newborn diapers but will soon be in size 1.
• He has outgrown most of his newborn clothes. 
• He will lay on his play mat and look around for 10-15 minutes. 
• He takes 5 ounces most of the time. 

I can not believe how much he has changed already! 

Teamwork

Raising a baby=teamwork.  Tomorrow Braxton will be one month old and I honestly can not even begin to think about what this first month, or any month for that matter, would be like without a supportive husband.  Before we had Braxton, I loved the feeling of cleaning the house and cooking dinner for my husband, but since Braxton I can barely find time to even shower.  This has made me rely more on my husband to help with these things.  From the time Braxton was born November 30th, it's almost like a part of our relationship changed.  Sure, we were a team before but it was in a different way.  I can truly say that we are a TEAM now, we have to be a team or I do not think that either one of us would survive.  I went into maternity leave thinking this is going to be a breeze, I am going to get to enjoy time off of work, be with our baby, take care of the house, etc but I quickly learned that taking care of a newborn for 12-1/2 hours a day while my husband was at work was hard, exhausting work.  In the beginning I felt so bad asking my husband to do anything after he got home from work because I knew that he had a long day too but he is so willing to do anything that helps!   He has cooked numerous dinners, has helped clean numerous times,done lots of dishes, done laundry, and the list goes on and on and on and on.  I remember one night I needed a burp cloth and I asked him to please hand me the one off the couch and he got it for me and then I began to cry (what's new right?).   He asked me what was wrong and I just sat there and thanked him over and over for all of his help.  He has been so great with telling me to get out of the house in the evenings, even if it is just to the dollar store or the grocery store.  We (my husband and I) are falling into a night time routine so that we are able to tackle everything that needs to get done. I have quickly learned that our house will never be completely clean, the laundry will never end, and there may be dishes sitting in the sink for a day or two, but eventually our "team" will get it done!   I am truly so blessed to have a teammate like him!

10 lessons of 2010

I got this idea from a friend on facebook and I thought that it was a great idea.  These are in no particular order.

1. This first one I love so much I am going to repost from the girl on facebook (Kaelin).  "Don't compare your journey of life to others, they have a different journey."  I have been guilty of this but have learned that we are all different and the Lord has different journeys planned for each and every one of us. 
2. During the months of us trying to get pregnant it truly felt like the whole world was getting pregnant around us.  Month after month we were let down and it was very hard to keep any faith at all.  One day a dear friend of mine sent me a poem from a book called Just Enough Light for the Step I'm On.  Part of this poem says "...God gives us just the amount of light I need for the exact moment I need it.  At those times I walk in surrender to faith, unable to see the future and not fully comprehending the past.."  Then later on in the poem it says "...I must determine to be content where I am, and allow God to get me to where I need to go."  This was all so fitting during this time and was a great lesson!  (PS if you have not read this book, it's a good one!)
3. NOBODY, no matter how many times they tell you how bad it hurts, how they try to explain it, etc can ever prepare you for the pain of labor. 
4. I continue to realize day after day that my husband was placed in my life for SO many reasons, big and small. 
5. Motherhood is the most emotional and exhausting, yet rewarding, amazing and wonderful thing I have ever experienced. 
6. Nobody is perfect.  We have to learn from our mistakes, work on those things, stay strong, and move on. 
7. Buying a house can be a long stressful process that can change at any moment. 
8. Sometimes the best advice comes from someone you least expect it to. 
9. There is no reason to stress over things you can not change.  "It is what it is" (I am still working on this one)
10. You can't make everyone happy.  (This is a hard one for me... still a work in progress).

Update

So if I would not have let myself get so far behind on my blog I would have loved to update each week  but since I am three weeks behind I will just try to quickly clump them all into one post.  Where to begin....

• I felt like our first week home went as smooth as it possibly could.  Every since Braxton was born our whole life has changed and although we used to be a "team" now we (hubby and I) really are a team.  We really could not do this without each other.  For the first week we slept in the living room on the couches.  Our bed is too high for me to climb up in with my incision so, we camped out in the living room.  We moved the pack-n-play into the living room also, since that is what Braxton sleeps in for now.  Every night I would bring enough diapers in the living room for the night and I would also bring the little formula bottles in so that we could easily get up and just change him and feed him and not have to scurry around the house.  It worked out really well for the short time that we did it.  Braxton would wake up every 2-3 hours to eat and we would alternate as to who got up with him.  Then during the day we pretty much sat here, haha.  I was so thankful that my husband was off for the first two weeks or I might have gone crazy just sitting here alone.  The Monday after we got home we went to his first check up at our pediatrician.  Everything was perfect and he was already back up to his birth weight, which meant that we did not have to wake him up anymore to eat at night.  She said that we could just let him sleep.  This week was very emotional for me.  I could and would cry about everything.  I could look at Braxton and cry or I could just get tired and cry.  It was never ending.  Night time seemed to be worse than the day time. 
• Last Monday, my husband had to go back to work.  This was something that brought a lot of anxiety to me.  Not that I did not think that I could take care of him but it was a LONG day just me and him.  My husband has been working ten hour days, but with drive time and by the time he gets home at night it ends up being 12-1/2 hours a day.  Now if you know me, I am not a sit here all day kind of person.  I am a cleaning addict but I literally could not find the energy nor the time to clean even though I was here all those hours.  I felt like I should be doing something around here so when my husband came home and I had not done anything but take care of Braxton I felt bad.  BUT, thankfully he knows just how hard it is to get things done with a baby here.  He has praised me over and over for taking care of Braxton for these long hours.  At night once my husband gets home I usually pass the baby over to him and then I get things done.... laundry, dinner, bottles washed and steralized, etc.  He has tried to get me to just sit down and do nothing but I would rather be doing something around the house. 
• This week has been busy.  My mom has been off work so she has been my team mate seeing as how we had not completed our Christmas shopping and hubby was still working these horribly long hours.  So I got all of the shopping done!!!!  And I got the presents wrapped!!!!  I felt so much better after that was done.  Buddy is off Friday and we have a very full two days worth of Christmas's (is that a word?).  I already know we are all going to be very worn out and ready for Sunday to just relax at home! I did find out tonight that Buddy is going back to eight hour days starting next week.  This means that he will not be off on Fridays but I am SOO excited that we will have SO Much more time together in the evenings!!!  It will make things so much easier and once I go back to work he will be able to pick Braxton up after work even earlier than I was going to be able to!  This makes me SOOO happy. 

This has definitely been an adjustment for us.  It is no longer just me and him with no care in the world.  We are now establishing a night time routine of dinner, bottles, baby baths, diaper changes, lots of rocking, talking, and cooing, etc.  Braxton has already changed so much in these three weeks and it makes me sad but then again it makes me happy.  Santa came early to the Carney household and brought him a play mat for the floor.  Yesterday he didn't last that long playing on it, but this morning he laid there and looked around for about 20 minutes.  I was impressed.  Ok, so sorry for another long post, I promise I will get better at updating once things settle down and continue to become a routine. 

PS if anyone knows someone that works on blogs, mine is really messed up, please let me know. 

Please excuse...

Please excuse the two pictures on the previous post.  For some reason they are showing up HUGE and when I go into edit the post they will not delete... it keeps giving me some error. 

Happy "Birth"day Braxton: His birth story

So I know it has been WAY too long since I have posted but SO much has gone on and continues to go on.  With a brand new baby and Christmas less than a week away things are CRAZY around here!!!  So I have a lot of catching up to do.  Yes, I should be wrapping the few presents that we have bought while everyone (the hubby and Braxton) are still sleeping, but I want to update this first!!!  Where to start...
DUE DATE was November 28 (Sunday) but I am going to start on Saturday....

• Saturday November 27th... I woke up about 5 and immediately noticed a few pains.  I really never had braxton hicks, never had any early labor, etc so I really had no idea if these were contractions that I was having, all I knew was that the pain that I was having was SEVERE.  I didn't wake my husband up though because they were so far apart.   I laid on the couch until he got up and told him what was happening.  This pain was like NONE that I had ever experienced.  I can't even explain it. There was no one spot that I can pin point as to where the pain was but it HURT LIKE CRAZY!  Anyways... he got up and I told him and he kind of started timing them, but I told him that I was not going to the hospital because I could handle this pain and I was not going to go there and be sent home to continue to labor.  So we got up and ready for the day (he was still wanting to take me to the hospital right then).  I told him we needed to get out of the house and get some things done because I thought that things were going to start happening.  Anyways,  we ran some errands and I continued to contract (still not close together and not consistent).  We got home from our errands and we tried to nap and by 6 that night they were consistently 9 minutes apart.  Hubby starts pushing harder for me to just go "get checked out" to make sure that things were ok, but I was still not going to go because I knew that I could still handle this awful pain and they were not close enough together.  By 10pm they were still coming but not as consistent so we went to bed.  I slept in our guest bedroom because by this point our bed was SO uncomfortable to me.  So I put the phone in the bed with me and I somewhat tried to keep track of them throughout the night.  Sometimes they would be really far apart and I could sleep in between then and sometimes they were as close as six minutes.  
• DUE DATE: Sunday, November 28th:  Woke up and the same thing was happening as on Saturday.  Severe pain, not consistent and not too close together.  So we showered and decided to walk around walmart (it was TOO cold outside to walk outside or we would have, haha).  We walked and walked and walked, and I am sure looked like creepers because we walked the same path over and over and over.  I was determined to make this labor become consistent.  We probably walked for an hour, minus the time that I had to stand in a side isle and breath through contractions.  After that we came home and just watched football and laid around and let things continue to happen.  Again on this day hubby was ready to pack me up and take me to the hospital to get things checked out.  I was still not having it.... my worst nightmare would have been to go to the hospital and them send me home.  I just think that would have been so depressing!  So, I just continued to breath through them here and take a LOT of baths.  I think I was averaging 5 a day at this point!  So that night they again got to be consistent, but still only 6-9 minutes apart.  So we did the same thing as the night before, just went to bed waiting for something dramatic to happen.  (By this point I was exhausted, tired, over it, done, haha)
• One day past my due date: Monday, November 29th: Hubby got up to go to work.  I was home this day alone.  My sister wanted to come over but all I wanted was for my husband to be home and for us to sit here and I guess continue to contract.  That morning they were coming about every 7 minutes apart.  Still VERY painful!!!  This pattern continued all day and all I could think about was how I needed my husband home.  I know his thinking at this point was that I was very going to let him take me to the hospital, haha.  I was in and out of the bathtub (6 times this day, haha) up and down off the couch, walking around the house, etc.  The pain was horrible but I still was not at a point that I felt like they could keep me at the hospital.  The same thing happened that night, we started timing them but this time they were coming every 6-8 minutes consistently.  I really am not sure what made me snap but we tried to go to bed and I finally just got up and said "ok I can not take this anymore, we need to go to the hospital now."  So we jumped up and got dressed and headed to the hospital.  Let me tell you the pain of contractions while you are sitting in a car is unbearable.  I don't know if it is the change of position or the pressure but it is awful!  At this point we still had not called our family (it was about 1130 when we got there) because we did not want to "alert the media" incase they sent me home.  So they got me in a room in "triage" and I got changed and the nurse came in and of course was asking me all of these questions.  She told me that I could stop at anytime to breath through the contractions but at this point it was taking all I had not to SCREAM through them. HAHA.  So we finally got ALL of the information filled out and she put me on the monitor.  I asked her if she could give me anything because this pain was horrible and she said she would "ask a doctor" which NEVER happened.  So in triage they watch you for an hour and they monitor your baby's heartbeat and your contractions but the tell tell sign is if you dilate.  When I got there I was a 2-1/2.  So we sat there and all I just kept telling my husband, I can not go home... they have got to keep me.  I can not go home with pain like this.  So I laid there and laid there and laid there and the pain was getting more and more and more and more intense.  So at about 12:40 she came in and I told her "You can not send me home, I can not go home with pain like this" and she said well I really do not think that I am going to have to but let's check you.  I WAS A FOUR!!!  So this meant that I was in labor and they were going to admit me.  Since I knew this, I asked again for some medicine and she gave me my options and told me that if I just waited until I got in a room that the epidural would not take that long.  So I told her ok, BOY OH BOY the wait for the epidural felt like HOURSSSSSS!  Anyways, Buddy got on the phone and called our parents to tell them that they were admitting me.  They got me moved and then had to wait on some "lab work" before they could get me an epidural.  By this point I was telling them "You need to hurry I really can not take this anymore and I can not do it." HAHA.  
• To make this long post not go on forever.... I will just say that our parents got there, I got the epidural, by 6:20 I was a 6 and by 8:00 I was a 10.  BUT then..... the baby's heart rate kept dropping.  They were flipping me side to side, which was an adventure in itself because I literally could not move from the epidural.  They were having to hoist me over from side to side to try to get pressure off the baby and help the heart rate.  We did this for over and hour.  The baby had descended so quickly and was trying so hard to come through the birth canal (which come to find out I have a VERY small pelvis and he was NOT fitting) and we found out that the cord was around the neck one time so everytime he moved or descended his heart rate dropped.  At about 9 or 9:05 the doctor and about 5 nurses were in there and they just said they had no option we had to go in for a C-section.  Now, let me tell you, once they say those words there is a parade of people that come in like an assembly line and get your prepped and taken back.  We "rolled" into the OR at 9:13 (I only know this because they said "checking in at 9:13) and our PRECIOUS BABY BOY was born at 9:27.  

So I know this post is extremely long but I labored for three days HAHA... so I guess it deserves to be long.  I will update more about the hospital etc later on, I have got to get some things done around this house!!!! 

The "Watch Pot" never boils

My title says it all!  I feel like the pot of water that you sit there and stare at waiting to boil so you can throw the noodles in but it feels like it takes FOREVER!  HAHA.  Today I entered my 39th week of pregnancy and that is truly ALL I can think about.  It could be any day now that we get to meet this little bundle of joy that I have carried for these 40 long weeks (technically not 40 but you know what I mean).  We get to see if Baby Carney is a boy or a girl, who he/she looks like, etc.  For the most part I still feel pretty good (slight swelling of my feet and fingers but nothing the dr is worried about)... I think the hardest part is the anxiety and anticipation/ this waiting game we have now entered.  Yes my feet swell and last night my back was killing me but that's minor compared to what some people go through.  At this point anytime I say anything about being done with being pregnant I feel like people think that I am ungrateful and that is not it at all... HAHA... I am just tired of being pregnant.  I keep getting comments about "be lazy now, you wont have any time to be lazy after the baby" "rest now because soon you won't get any rest" "don't be so hard on yourself, the baby will come when it's time." I get what these people are saying and value (almost) any advice that people want to give me but I can honestly say that I am probably (actually I know I am not the only one) not the only one that has these feelings near the end of their pregnancy.  It is not that I have not loved being pregnant, actually pregnancy has been VERY easy for me.  No morning sickness, never threw up a single time... no high blood pressure, no bed rest, no scares, etc.  I still love feeling my baby move, all of the hiccups, punches, stretches, etc  But after 39 long weeks of being pregnant, not knowing if "its" a he or a she, not knowing what they look like, etc I can honestly say I am 100% ready for this baby to arrive!  It is not me being ungrateful or griping about pregnancy it's just me being ready!  So here is to the waiting game..... here is to the over sensitive woman that has come out in me this week where I pay close attention to EVERY movement, pain, twinge, etc just hoping that means "its time." HAHA  I have this week off school for Thanksgiving break so I have plenty of time to lay around and rest, be lazy, etc if my mind will stop telling me that there is SO much that I could be doing.  HAHA.  I can not wait for Thanksgiving... I have been craving Thanksgiving dinner for weeks now!!!!  and I can not wait for this baby to be here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weird Feeling

So it's a really weird thing to wrap my brain around that the next time I come back to work I will be  MOM!  I am leaving my classroom probably the cleanest it has been since the first day of school but my desk is filled with a binder FULL of lesson plans, schedules, etc, literally 6-7 bring pink sticky notes, and the Teacher's Edition of the textbook.  I feel silly looking at my desk with all of the sticky notes but I just want to make sure that everything is taken care of or that the sub does not feel completely out of order come Monday the 29th.  One of my team teachers was not at school today so she wrote me an email yesterday reminding me to let her know when something starts happening and good luck, etc and it almost made me cry.  I have been waiting for this week for so long and in nine short days is my due date... but thinking about how I will not see my co-workers for atleast 6-7 maybe 8 weeks makes me sad.  I guess it just comes to show how truly blessed I am to work with such great people!  Of course I will miss my kids too.  They made comments today like "so when are you coming back?" "is this the last time we are going to see you?" haha.  I remind them that I will be back it just won't be until January sometime.  I keep thinking about leaving school today and not coming back when everyone else comes back on the 29th and it just feels so weird.  I know that once this baby gets here all of these feelings will subside considering my days and nights will then be filled with feeding, diapering, bathing, soothing, cuddeling, and caring for a newborn.  I am so excited to see what this next week brings and what day our baby decides to arrive.  I am excited about Thanksgiving and getting to be with family... I am excited for so many things!!!!! 

37 weeks

Ok, so let's just say that I am so ready for this baby to be here! Not only to meet our little one but honestly I am ready to have my body back. Now I know that I will have to work this weight off and it is not going to just fall right off but just to be able to bend over, get out of bed, off the couch, put on my shoes, etc. Went to the dr yesterday for my weekly appt and he ordered a sonogram. I have no progress and the baby has not and is not attempting to drop at all. I know that at 33 weeks he started asking me about my mom's births and her size/height etc so now I think he is trying to figure this little one out. At first he said he wanted to check the size but then he said he wanted the sono to see why this little one is not wanting to come out. At one point during the appt he was feeling my stomach and he felt a part of the baby on one side then went to the completely opposite side and said well here is part of the baby also. SO needless to say my whole stomach is FILLED with baby. I am anxious and excited to go tomorrow to be able to see the baby again and to hear what the dr has to say. At 30 weeks the baby was measuring a week ahead on the growth charts and at 33 weeks he told me to expect an 8 lb baby so we will see how this all plays out. I really was not worried about the size until my sister had her baby and it was only 6lb 12 oz and the delivery dr told her that it was a very tight fit and that if Madelyn would have been any bigger she would not have fit. I told my dr this yesterday and his eyes kind of got a little big... so we will see what comes out of all of this. Anyways... here is a picture just so you can see how enormous my stomach is... LOL... its a stomach full of baby.

19 days....

Yes, we are still waiting... HAHA. I feel like I should remind myself everyday that the "watch pot never boils." I go to the doctor today and have been walking and making myself continue on with life so hopefully there will be some progress to report this afternoon. You never know though. My sister finally had her sweet Princess Baby, Madelyn, Friday evening, which turned out being two days past her due date. It was a very long labor but things are going great so far! Kris and Alicia definitely blessed us with our second adorable and perfect niece. We are so happy for them. I would post a picture if I had one but they are all on my phone and since getting rid of my Iphone I am not sure how to get them onto the computer, HAHA. I am still feeling good physically most of the time but I Have noticed that I am VERY irritable, moody, emotional (crying a lot), and yesterday my feet were VERY swollen. I know these things are probably just a sign of my patience wearing thin so I just keep reminding myself that it will literally before we know it. Yesterday all day I had this intense feeling to get EVERYTHING done right then. I made sure my classroom was cleaned, grades were entered and ready for report cards (which aren't even due until Thurday), my lesson plans were set out just incase I did not return today, etc. and then on my way home I went straight to the grocery store (for groceries and some things we will need at the hospital), went home and did laundry, and vacuumed.

Tonight I am making dinner for Alicia and Kris and we are going to take it over with them and get some snuggle time in with our niece! Ok... off to my field trip. We are hiking 2 miles in the wilderness. I am not complaining though because I am deteremined to get this baby out, HAHA.

The waiting game....

So I wake up every morning and think two things.... well mainly one.... We are one day closer to meeting our little one. The second thought, when is this going to happen, crosses my mind a lot but considering as how I am having no symptoms of labor (that I know of) this one is put on the back burner a lot. Every day I think about how it really is getting closer and closer and the thoughts of where we will be, where I will be, how it's going to happen just continue to flood my brain!!!! I guess this is truly the waiting game!

36 week update

Well... I have made it to NINE months. I can say that most of the time has flown by but now I it seems to be crawling by. Literally all I can think about is this baby and getting him/her out of me, haha. I have had some anxiety but many many books and websites have reassured me that this is totally normal. I used to have a lot of questions as to how will I ever get everything done before this baby comes, will I have it early, will I have my lesson plans done, etc. BUT now all I can think about is where will I be when I go into labor, will I know it's coming, will someone need to come pick me up from work if that's where it happens, will my water break during class, how long will it take my husband to get to me if he is coming from work, will this baby be on time, etc. These are all things that I constantly think about now. I am just full of anticipation. The dr has said that I have a big baby and that is also something I think about. Will I go to my appointment one week and him tell me that we need to induce labor due to the size?!?! I guess these are all questions we will just have to wait and see about. At this point I am feeling even more huge then I ever thought I could possibly feel. I look about two feet wide, my maternity clothes are getting tighter and tighter, etc. In the last three days the movements of the baby have slowed. They are still there but its definately not tossing and turning like it had been. I do not know whether this is a sign of labor or what but he asks me at every appointment if the baby is still moving alot so maybe its just sign that it is near. I am still suffering from heartburn, to the point that I have on many occasions felt the need to throw up (like right now), which I think would be totally disgusting! HAHA. I just keep reminding myself everytime I feel huge or uncomfortable that this IS all worth it and that it will all be over VERY VERY soon! All of my co-workers, friends, and family do not think that I will make it to my due date (honestly I think they gauge that on my size, haha). Sometimes this makes me feel really good, like they know what they are talking about, but then sometimes it makes me realize that I am not quite ready to leave school yet. I have a couple more things to get ready and then I will be set to go. I am going to hopefully complete the lesson plans for my last class tonight and then make the copies tomorrow, then I will be COMPLETELY ready! I work closely with my team and I know that they will take care of whatever is needed while I am gone! Here is a picture of me at 36 weeks.... ready to POP!

On a side note.... my sister is due this Wednesday and has made no progress as of last Thrusday. She has been having contractions but nothing to progress her. Her dr (which is also my dr) said that he would let her go until the 10th to see what happens and then induce her if nothing has changed. Hopefully little Madelyn come this week!!!!!

A few weeks of updates

So, I have not updated in a few weeks and I never even took a picture for my 33rd week of pregnancy =( BUT I have lots of pictures to share for week 34 and one to share for almost week 35. So what's been going on.... let's see. I am huge and getting to that constant state of miserable. It's hard to get comfortable at night. Some nights I end up moving to the guest bedroom because it's easier to sleep alone then trying to toss and turn and move all of my pillow with someone else in the bed. At my 33 week appt, the dr started asking about my height and how my mother birthed us because I am so short and obviously Baby Carney is a biggin'. At week 33 he estimated that Baby C already weighed 5 lbs and would be 8lbs or more at birth. I proceeded to then almost fall off the table, get tears in my eyes and ask him if there was anything else we could do. HAHA. He didn't show much sympathy but said "well we will just have to see when you actually deliver." At this point I would be happy with the baby coming in two weeks! haha. I go back to the dr this coming Tuesday and so I will see what he has to say about the weight and size then. My sister, who is due 3-1/2 weeks before me is having no progress and he told her that he would let her go 7 days past her due date. Well after she told me that I have thought out the conversation that I would be having with our dr if he was to tell me he would let me go a WEEK past my due date and I do not think that it would be a very nice one. HAHAHAHAHAHA. I have really loved being pregnant and still love to feel he/she move around in there but I am so ready to get some kind of body back that does not waddle, have a constant urge to go to the bathroom, continuously grow or swell, etc. HAHA. I took the day off from work today and rested (yes the exhaustion is still here) and I worked on my maternity leave plans. I have feared since my dr appt at 33 weeks that this baby would come early or that he would take the baby early or that I would have to go on bed rest so I decided it was time to get my booty in gear for my maternity leave. I got 5 weeks done today and will complete the rest before Monday. My mom and I are going to make the list and go shopping for the rest of the things that we need for the nursery, which isn't much. This is one plus to not knowing what we are having because people couldn't buy us the massive amounts of clothes!! So we have received a TON of the essentials and do not have that much more to buy. I did order the glider today. This was something that I didn't really know if I wanted to spend the money on but after talking to a friend who doesn't have one she suggested that I get one for the late/sleepless nights! So it should arrive next week and I am so excited about it! We have the pack-n-play set up in our bedroom now, just to get used to it in there and I must say that I am ready for there to actually be a baby in it!!!! I still do not think that the dog knows what is going on but he has been really good at leaving all of the baby stuff alone. My father in law did some work for a woman that gave him a swing that was still in the box. The only thing that looks even remotely use on it was the chair cover and even it doesn't look like it has been used more then 5 times, so we got a FREE swing!!! My sister in law and I put it together and it has made its home in the living room. Our bags are packed with everything that we can pack right now and they are just sitting there... waiting... haha. My sister and I had a joint shower with mainly my dad's side of the family last weekend and it was fabulous!!! We both got LOTS of great things! My wonderful team at work also through me a school shower and I got EVEN more great things!!! This baby will not need anything for a very long time! PS My team is AMAZING!!! I LOVE THEM ALL! ok, so enough rambling... I guess I shouldn't wait this long between post... now to pictures. For my 34 week pictures my mom had my camera so I asked Buddy to take it with my iphone and here is the series of pictures that I got....... (PS all I could here was him clicking it... over and over. He never counted, he never said ok are you ready, he just kept clicking... so in actuality there were more but I didn't want to completely overload this post HAHAHA.)

Here is my 35 week (well almost 35 week picture) I had to buy new jeans and I had to take the picture myself in the mirror because I still do not have my camera and hubby wasn't home.

Wanted to share

I read a blog called Kelly's Korner just about on a daily basis. She has been through a lot in life and at points that thought she would never be blessed with a husband or with children. Today she shared a little bit about her struggles and how she relied on God and prayed to him but also let Him know that if he chose another life for them then that was ok too. I just loved reading this post and thought you might like it too.

32 weeks

Let's see what is going on this week. I am feeling HUGE and starting to grow out of my maternity clothes (depressing)! Sometimes I sit and wonder how in the world I am going to make it 8 more weeks (or actually since I am a litte late 7 weeks 4 days), then I start thinking well maybe Baby Carney will decide he/she is ready to come a week or two early. My whole family (including my husband) thinks that we will be sitting around on Thanksgiving or the couple of days after Thanksgiving STILL waiting on this baby. I am hoping that that will not be the case.... but I guess whatever Baby Carney decides is what he/she gets, haha. I think I have reached the point in pregnancy when nothing is comfortable. My maternity clothes are getting snug (depressing), after I eat I feel like I can't move, my range of motion is so small because I am so big (haha) but at the end of the day I always try to remind myself that this will all be SO worth it. Not to be a BAHUMBUG about Thanksgiving but I Have a feeling ours is going to be drastically changed this year and we might not do anything but enjoy a nice day at home or in the hopsital. I only say this because either the baby will already be born and it will be itty bitty and we will be exhausted, or it will not have made it's debut and I will be miserable. I guess we will see.

I have my fall decorations up all over the house but I am already thinking about Christmas. When we first found out we were pregnant and due around the time of Thanksgiving I immediately started game planning our Christmas shopping, haha. We are usually pretty good at getting a few gifts a week so that we are not left getting everyone's gifts at the same time and giong broke. Well the time has come and we talked this morning about how we are going to start shopping this weekend. I have a couple of people's gift ideas, so I guess we will start with them. The others I have a feeling do not know what they want or they are going to say that they do not want anything... but I am going to have to start getting pushy, HAHA.

My sister's baby is due in 27 days and I am SOOO excited to meet little Madelyn! I think the thing that I get so impatient about is seeing what the baby actually looks like. You know we (women) carry these babies for what seems like a year and some people find out the gender so they know whether to expect a girl or a boy but the best surprise is actually seeing the baby and see who/what they actually look like. We have talked/thought about doing the 3D/4D sonogram and I think that would be really neat but then again I think that we have waited this long to find out the gender of the baby why not wait to see what he/she looks like until his/her birthday!?!?! So that's that!

31 weeks

My 31st week of pregnancy has brought on many uncomfortable moments. Don't get me wrong I have LOVED every minute of being pregnant. My pregnancy has been SO easy thus far but I think it's because all of my uncomfortable symptoms have held out on me until now. The last three nights, I have not slept very well at all. My back hurts, my legs hurt, my stomach hurts, etc. Last night I got TWO charlie horses in my calves which hurt so bad I literally wanted to scream, but I held off. The dr said that the baby is head down and in position so now we just wait..... but with this turn, comes alot of hard places on my belly, I assume it's from Baby Carney's little feet or bottom but it's not always comfortable. I have made up my own conclusion as to why this is happening and it all stems from my extremely short stature. HAHA. I rub the hard places (not poke them) and the baby will move trying to get a way from I think, it's kind of fun! This weekend I am going to start gathering things for our hospital bag. I need to get a few things so that I am presentable for our visitors (after just giving birth, ya right, haha) but still be comfortable, and I will pack Buddy's things too just to make sure he is ready too!!!! Last week the baby was measuring a week ahead of schedule so it really leaves me with the anxiety of what if this baby does come a little early. Don't get me wrong I would not mind one bit if he/she came 1-2 weeks early because we can not wait to meet Baby Carney but I guess that puts the thoughts back in my mind that we need to be getting everything in place. I can not believe that tomorrow starts the beginning of October which means that our baby is due NEXT MONTH!!! haha ok really it's still like 2 months away but I can think about it as being NEXT MONTH!!!!! Ok well enough rambling I will leave you with a picture of my 31 week pregnant belly.

First Baby Shower

This past weekend we had our first baby shower! I still can not believe how many people came and how many things this tiny little "mystery" baby got! We ended up getting a TON of the essentials: car seat, pack-n-play, boppy, multiple diaper bags, bathing essentials, and even a few clothes. We got a lot of diapers and wipes too, which I know will help out a TON! Buddy and I had originally gone and picked out gender specific coming home outfits but my mom bought a few girl outfits and a few boy outfits and I actually ended up falling in love with one of the girl outfits that she got. It's not pink, it's a light purple, which I LOVE on little girls! I have some pictures of my shower but I did not get any of us posing so I will have to get those from my mom. The ones I have are mainly of me opening gifts and I look awful!! HaHa. After the shower I wanted to get everything washed, organized, and put away so my sister in law, Sarah, came over and helped. It made things ALOT less overwhelming and we actually got everything done! I even put together the pack-n-play!! Pretty soon we are going to bring this into our bedroom so that we can get used to it being in there and also the dog. We also need to get another base for our car seat for Buddy's truck and go get those installed at the hospital. I know many people do this themselves but this might be one thing that I am paranoid about it and want it to be done 100% correct! Anyways.... our shower was GREAT!!! I still have two more, one at work that is being thrown by my AWESOME team and a joint one with my sister that is being thrown by my step mom and her friends! I am looking forward to both of them and looking even more forward to the time continuing to move right along because before we know it this little one will be here!!!!

Fall

So I have always been a HUGE Christmas decorator and LOVE doing it, and this year with the baby coming and all I thought what the heck I want to decorate our new house (well not so new anymore) with fall stuff. So one day after work I headed to Hobby Lobby, who by the way had ALL fall decor 50%, and I got A TON of stuff! Well I thought it was a ton of stuff until I got home and realized I could have used more. Anyways, I wasn't feeling well the day that I got my stuff but I still wanted to get it set out (I knew it would make me feel better, haha) so my mom came over and helped me get it all set out! I LOVE it!!!! I have also already started thinking about Christmas and how I will probably need to decorate the tree in mid-November to assure that it gets put up because I have a feeling that if I wait until after the baby it might not get put up. BUT that brings me to another situation..... the fact that I put our Christmas tree out on the curb the day I took it down last year leaves us with NO Christmas tree. I looked at Hobby Lobby but they were SO expensive... so I am going to check out some other places and watch the sale ads. After Christmas last year, I got all new decor for the tree so I do not have to worry about that, we just need a tree, HAHA. Anyways.... there is so much to write about and I need to post a 31 weeks picture but for now I am SO tired and ready to just sit down (ok really lay down). Here are my fall decorations!

Just a thought that is weighing heavy on my heart

Sometimes unexpected things happen that you are not at all prepared for. Most people step up (grow up) and take responsbility and realize that there is nothing they can do to change these things, but sometimes people choose not to face the facts and choose to continue living life as if nothing has changed. It breaks my heart but all I can do is pray for them. The end.

Lots of stuff....

Peyton and Me rooting on the Cowboys

Let's see where should I start???? Well I guess I will start by saying that we are completely 100% head over heels in love with our niece. I know it sounds cheesy to say but we love her so much that we can not imagine what it will be like when our little one makes it's entrance. This little girl has made us SO ready for our little one to be here and we often find ourselves just talking about her over and over. Yesterday we were so excited that they came over to watch the Cowboy game... well the boys watched it and us girls passed the baby around, looked at her, watched her, etc. Little Miss Peyton has already turned a new leaf for my husband..... he went from not wanting to hold a baby to asking if he could hold her (yes, I caught him asking yesterday). He ALSO fed and burped her and changed her diaper. I believe this was his first diaper ever. After they left we just sat here and talked about everything and we are just SO excited and ready (I know I keep saying this but it's just so true....) Ok, so here are a few pictures of the little one yesterday and some of the mile stones that Uncle Buddy hit (they make me smile)

On another note, we did a lot of nursery work this weekend.... well as much as we could considering our first shower is not until this Saturday (which I am SO excited about)!!!! Here are a few sneak peeks of the nursery

******NOTE- the paint and fabric are NOT that color..... everytime I take a picture it turns out a different color. I was very nervous to pain the wall that color (which doesn't truly show up here) but it turned out so cute!!!! *******

Ok and onto my weekly belly picture.... THIRTY weeks!!!! As I write this I can not believe that I only have 9 weeks and 6 days until my due date (I would be happy if maybe this baby made an entrance in 8 weeks or so, but we will see....)
Ok, well i think that is all. I hope you enjoyed the 100 pictures that I posted, haha.

Just wanted to share something beautiful!

My niece who is now 10 days old got her newborn pictures taken this morning and the sneak peeks that the photographer has put up are BEAUTIFUL! I just can not express the love I have for this little girl and she isn't mine, hehe. Take a look here. I will update more late on, I just needed to show that off!

Feel like my energy has been stripped from me

I guess the third trimester of this pregnancy has literally stripped me from ALL energy I had in the second trimester. I felt SO good in the second trimester and I still feel really good but I am just SO tired, like I am reliving the whole first trimester over again. This has all come about in the last week and the only way I can describe it is as if I wake up in the mornings feeling like I have not slept a wink and then I get home in the afternoons and want to be in bed by 8! My sister in law (who got to bring Miss Peyton home Tuesday) said to enjoy this while I can because not much sleep is to be had once the baby comes, haha.

This post is short but sweet haha, Just thought I would document this huge energy change that has come upon me this last week!

29 weeks and a new addition

Last Sunday, the 11th, marked my 29th week of pregnancy. This for some reason has been a HUGE marker for me because that means that in just two short weeks I will be in the SINGLE digits of the number of weeks left. We are both getting EVEN more excited and ready for this little one to make its debut! If we knew that the baby wouldn't be underdeveloped we would be really wishing that it would come on and come out (yes we are VERY anxious), haha. Although, the nursery isn't done and we haven't even had our showers yet. I keep thinking about how this Sunday will mark only 10 weeks left and then Monday will officially start my 9 week countdown... ok so it will be 9 weeks and 6 days BUT hey it's still in the single digits right?!?!?!

We (the whole family) had a very unexpected but WONDERFULLY precious surprise last Thursday night/early Friday morning. To try and make a long story short my best friend (who was due October 5th) since sixth grade who also happens to be my sister-in-law fell Wednesday evening and hurt her ankle. So Thursday she went to Care Now but in order for her to get an x-ray she had to have consent from her dr. Well her dr. sent her to the hospital to be monitored to just make sure that the baby was ok. Long story short, the babies heart rate dropped in that time so they ordered a sonogram in which they found that her amniotic fluid was low. They told her that she would be delivering THAT DAY! Totally unexpected!!! They started her on the drip and she was in a labor for a short while then the heart rate dropped again so they took her back from a C-section. Our little niece was born Friday morning at 12:59 weighing 5lb 14oz with a head full of hair! Due to her being early she had to learn how to eat so that took a couple of days but we are so proud to announce that they are on their way home as I type this!!!!! She is the most beautiful baby girl and we both love her OH SO MUCH! Buddy and I think that it is neat that our child will have a cousin (actually two) so close in age. Which brings me to another point... My sister is due in less than two months so we are getting anxious about that precious addition, ANOTHER NIECE!!!!



This weekend I have declared it a "nursery working weekend!" I really want to get the nursery set up as much as possible. So far we have not been in any kind of hurry but I think that the whole incident with our sister-in-law has kind of opened our eyes that something could (hopefully it won't) happen and this baby could be early, you just never know. Which brings me to my next freak out moment, maternity leave, HAHA. I did meet with the benefits office yesterday and everything they had to offer was a huge benefit for us, so I am very thankful for that.... but then I think about the dreaded lesson plans. I do not even know where to begin thinking about that. HAHA. It's so hard for me to leave MY students in someone elses hands anyways but to know that I need to have everything clearly laid out for someone else to walk in my room on any given day in November and be ready to teach for me for 6 weeks is a scary thought. The questions start going through my head :what if I am a month early, what if I Have to have a c-section, what if, waht if, what if.... what if I do not have my lesson plans ready in time. SO, this weekend I will be starting this process. Not really sure where to start but I have to start somewhere right?

Anyways.... enough of me freaking! It will all get done and in almost two short months we will be enjoying our beautiful gift from above!