29 Weeks

I had my week 29 doctor's visit today and it went well. My blood pressure is still a little high but not bad. I met with the final doctor I hadn't seen yet and she was wonderful! She spent a long time talking with me and made me feel confident that I'm doing a decent job in the baby growing department :) She let me listen to the baby's heartbeat a little longer than usual and it was wonderful! The heartbeat is still in the 150's and it always sounds so great! The most exciting news that I got was that the baby is FINALLY head down!!! Hopefully she stays that way! She has been breech the entire pregnancy. The doctor confirmed that I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions which has been a little uncomfortable and makes it feel like her birth is that much closer.

I have tried not to be too much of a crazy person with first time Mommy questions at the doctor's office but I gave in to ask a few today. My friends will be happy to know that the baby indeed can't grab an internal organ and I am not hurting her by laying on my side when she is kicking. AND... the doctor didn't laugh too hard when I asked. Overall, it was a happy appointment. She wants me to have another ultrasound in 2 weeks and Kimberly will be in town and able to go which is very exciting for both of us. After this next appointment I have to go every week and have ultrasounds to make sure the baby is doing okay with the slight rise in my blood pressure. I don't mind at all... I get to see this little girl on a regular basis until she is born! (And hopefully get a couple more opinions on the fact that she actually IS a girl!)

More Pregnancy Whining...

OH MY GOODNESS!!! I have decided that every negative thing I've ever heard about the third trimester of pregnancy is TRUE! Last week I went to my first OB appointment by myself. I have been really lucky that Michael has been able to go to most of my appointments and until last week, the one he couldn't make, my Mom went with me. Well... my blood pressure was a little bit high and there were a few other things that were a little off. They monitored me closely and did a little bit more testing for about a week to make sure I wasn't showing some early signs of Preeclampsia. Other than my blood pressure still being a little on the high side everything seems to be okay. I'm very happy about this because this baby girl is not ready to come out and I'm definitely not ready to be off work yet! I go back to the doctor again Tuesday so hopefully everything continues to go well.

This little girl has started being crazy at night. She seems to sleep a lot during the day and when I'm relaxing or trying to sleep she decides to have a little dance party. The movements are so strong now that I'm having trouble sleeping. She also is reacting to Michael's voice which I think is adorable.

Adam and Katie finally closed on their new house last week and we got to stop by and see it Saturday afternoon. The house is great and I can see them having a lot of very happy years there. I know this has been a long time dream for them and this holiday season is even more fun now that there is another thing to be excited about and celebrate.

Isabella and Adelyn spent the night with Michael and I on Saturday night. We put our pjs on and drove the Sharon Woods for Holiday in Lights. It was a great idea because we were able to stay warm in the car but do something festive. We loved every minute of having them but I think Michael really saw the difference between a 4 year old (Adelyn) and an 8 year old (Bella)!

I have tried to upload some pictures to the blog but my memory card is not cooperating. Hopefully I will get that worked out and be able to post a lot of pictures soon! Hope everyone is staying warm and has a great week!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Wow... I haven't posted in a month! Things have been busy and I went on a bit of a roller coaster ride of emotions there for a bit. Things are much better now and I'll try to catch up the month's events briefly!

After another frustrating experience at 25 weeks pregnant trying to find out the gender of our baby we were able to have a 3D/4D ultrasound where we found out we are having a little GIRL!!! The ultrasound technology in my doctor's office is very outdated and this other experience was MUCH better. They spent a long time with us going through each organ and watching it work in 4D. We saw our baby girl yawn and move around. It was amazing!!! Since the ultrasound we have celebrated knowing we're going to have a baby girl in our lives and started on the nursery... finally!

On November 20th, Michael's family had a fabulous baby shower for me. It is so much fun being around the women in his family... I'm so lucky to have married into such a great family (I know I say this a lot... but I mean it!) We had a lot of fun hanging out, eating some good food and I got some fabulous presents for Baby Lee... she is spoiled already! I'm really excited that Michael's cousin, Lindsey, is due next month and his cousin Brandon's wife, Kim, is due at the end of April. It will be so fun to watch them grow up together and be so close in age! Baby Lee has LOTS of cousins on both sides of the family and for that I am incredibly thankful because I have enjoyed having so many cousins that I am close to myself!

This Thanksgiving weekend we have spent a lot of time with family and just hanging out. Thanksgiving day was unfortunately spent apart which is kind of sad considering it was our first Thanksgiving as a married couple. Our family's celebrated at the same time an hour away from each other so after MUCH debate we decided that instead of skipping one we would just go our separate ways and then spend Thanksgiving evening at home just the two of us. It was a wonderful day, minus the weather, and we both had a lot of fun and lots of great food!

Saturday night we had a bunch of Michael's family over to hang out and it was great. We don't have people over often enough! The boys were able to play pool and the girls hung out with the adorable kids. We also played Apples to Apples which I hadn't played in a long time. It was a lot of fun even if Michael kicked our butts!

Today we attended a brunch for Michael's Aunt Robin's surprise 60th birthday! It is sooooo much fun being in on a surprise! It was nice seeing everyone on his Dad's side of the family since I wasn't able to make it to Thanksgiving. It was a great ending to a great weekend!

We didn't do any shopping this weekend and I was wanting to get out of the house this evening so we went to Meijer to walk around and pick up a few things. Man am I moving slow already... Michael was very patient as we slowly strolled through the store. It blows his mind that I am always wanting to go out and do something but am so miserable once I get there. It is going to be a long 13 more weeks! :)

Overall this pregnancy really has not been bad! It is a lot harder than I thought it would be but I am so thankful to be experiencing it! The baby has been moving a ton and I am loving feeling her move on the inside and outside! It has also been fun to have Michael get to feel her moving around too.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving and that you are enjoying the holiday season!!!

Missing in Action...

So I have slacked off the past few weeks and haven't updated. Sorry guys! We had my 21 week OB appointment where we got to have our big ultrasound! It was so amazing to see our little baby and to find out that he or she is healthy!!! That is all I wanted to see... but the stubborn little stinker decided not to show mommy and daddy what gender he or she is! I was disappointed because a lot of planning was riding on that day but I guess we will just take this as a lesson in patience... thanks Baby :)

I have been traveling a lot these past two weeks for work and there is more to come. I've been trying to attend as many meetings and conferences all over Kentucky as I can because I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do next year with a newborn! Work has been going really well with the help of my favorite co-workers. I even got the 2010 Outstanding Employee of the Year Award this week. Man was that embarrassing... Michael came down to Louisville to have dinner with me at Ruth's Chris which is our favorite restaurant. It was a perfect time to have our favorite meal one more time before the baby gets here!

We started a baby registry at Babies R Us last weekend and that was an adventure! We stuck with mostly neutral things. I think it sunk in a little more with Michael that a baby is actually on its way between registering and the ultrasound. We are both very anxious and excited!

I'll try to update again soon!!! Have a great weekend everyone.

Bella's Special Day

Bella decided for her 8th birthday (September 19th) she wanted to have a special day with Michael and I instead of a gift. Because we've been so busy it took almost a month for us to figure out when to have this special day but it was worth the wait!

I picked Bella up on Friday and we went to the grocery store to pick up some goodies for a slumber party. Michael's birthday was Sunday so we made him homemade chocolate chip cookies as a surprise for when he got home from work. After the cookies were finished we watched a Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen Halloween movie- I thought it was hilarious to watch and even more funny that she doesn't know the Olsen twins from Full House... just their movies.

After hanging out for a while Michael finally got home and we went to O'Charley's for dinner. When we got home we all put on our pjs and watched another movie... Paul Blart, Mall Cop. It was pretty funny but Bella and I were doing most of the laughing.

We woke up Saturday morning and Bella and I made a big yummy breakfast. I think it is much more fun to cook for more than just Mike and I! We got ready and headed out to the Conservatory... Bella has never been. The waterfall was her favorite part and she made a special wish underneath. We took lots of pictures!

Next it was time for the Florence Mall for the main event... Build-A-Bear. Bella and I had a blast picking everything out and her bear turned out adorable... Michael even managed to stay patient throughout all of our indecisiveness! Bella and I took a ride on the carousel and then we headed to the Art's house to take Bella home.

It was a great day... we love Miss Isabella so much!!! Happy Birthday!!

Bella and the butterfly chair at the Conservatory.

The waterfall was her favorite part!

Two of my favorite people :)

Today is Michael's 27th birthday! Last night we went to Morton's Steakhouse downtown (THANK YOU MICHELLE AND TONY!!!) for a really nice dinner and then today he woke up to a bunch of presents and we went out for breakfast. Mike's mom came over to surprise him this afternoon with a huge bundle of big balloons and homemade meatloaf and cheesecake! It was so nice to have her visit and it made Michael's day special! She also brought a onesie and stuffed animal for the baby. The onsie says "if you think i'm smart, you should meet my dad". So cute!!

In pregnancy news... I'm 20 weeks today!!! Halfway there!!!! My pregnancy email that I get at the beginning of every week said that the baby is about 10 inches from head to heel. I think that is insane and hard to comprehend! We have our ultrasound in a week from Monday and we couldn't be more excited! I'm feeling very nervous though... I just want him or her to be healthy and I'm very anxious to see if everything is okay! Everyone think happy thoughts for us!

Walton Verona Bearcats!

Michael and I went this afternoon to see Ethan play football and Bella cheer. I knew that Bella and Ethan have been practicing more than 4 hours a week and spending their entire Sunday afternoons at games but I had no idea how serious this was until we got there!

Michael had gone to a game earlier in the season but being pregnant and not loving the heat I stayed away until it was cooler... and man was it cooler! It was somewhere around the mid 50's so we bundled up and took some warm blankets and headed to the Walton Verona Sports Complex.

Ethan's game had already started when we got there so we found Tony, Michelle and Adelyn and got our seats. Ethan wasn't playing but he was doing an amazing job cheering on his team and getting the crowd up and out of their seats. These 1st and 2nd graders mean business on the football field. There is seriously some major tackling and competition going on out there. Ethan's team ended up going into double overtime and the Bearcats pulled out a win!

Next game was the 3rd and 4th graders and Bella took the field very timidly at first because she was freezing. She quickly warmed up and was adorable. She is a fantastic cheerleader and is really growing up so quickly. I loved that she was taking the lead and starting some cheers and the interaction between her and her little friends makes me so happy. I explained to her later how a lot of the friends that I made at her age are still some of my best friends today.

Next, came Bella's halftime show. I've been trying to upload the video but have been having a ton of problems. It is too big for the blog and it keeps cancelling out on facebook. I'll figure it out eventually! The halftime show was 4 minutes long and very high energy and those girls can really dance and cheer! It got me kind of teary eyed watching her dance so well and know what she is doing out in the field. And seeing her as a "flyer"(sp?) was so fun because she has worked really hard!

This was such a wonderful day and I'm so glad we went to their last home game! Hopefully we'll be able to go see them at their playoffs in the coming weeks.

`Pictures were posted on my Facebook page from the game if you'd like to check them out!

Girl's Day

Today was a great day full of some great girl fun... with family and friends!

Early Saturday afternoon I was headed to Michael's cousin Lindsey's baby shower. I went to meet up with Kim S. and Kim G. and the little guys so that we could go together to the shower. When we arrived it was so nice to see all of these people that love Lindsey and are excited about welcoming baby Mia in December. The house was packed and everyone was having a great time eating some food and spending time together. It was fantastic watching Lindsey open ALL of her gifts... there were so many! I don't know if it was my pregnancy hormones but Lindsey teared up a few times while opening her gifts and I would start crying right along with her :) Lindsey and Tony are going to be fabulous parents. Lindsey is so fun and outgoing... I hope Mia gets those traits from her mommy. It was a wonderful shower!

Saturday evening was reserved for Libby time!!!! It was Libby's birthday and she wanted to meet down on the river for all of us to have Don Pablos and then part of the group were going to go out to some haunted houses. You can guess which part of the group I was in... (i know, I'm a wimp!) Dinner was so much fun. We gave Libby a hard time but it was all in good fun and I think everyone enjoyed spending three hours laughing very hard! Everyone loves Libby so much and I really hope she felt it on that day! Happy Birthday, again, Lib!!!