Third Trimester!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of my third trimester...only 13 weeks until we get to meet Will! I could not be more excited. I'm starting to get slightly uncomfortable - my stomach feels like it's stretched to its max (which I know is far from the truth!) and my back gets achy if I sit or stand for a long time. Plus Will has decided to stick his feet under the ribs on my right side and kick...hard! Not so pleasant for mommy! But aside from all the uncomfortable parts, it's fun getting bigger! Strangers have been asking me when I'm due and an HEB employee nearly knocked me over to keep me from picking up a case of water. And I really do enjoy feeling Will moving around nearly constantly...his movements are becoming much more defined and much more noticeable!

He also officially has the most ornaments of any unborn baby ever ;) My parents got him one, Greg's parents got him one, both of my grandparents got him one, and my aunt got him one. Greg says we're going to have to get a bigger tree next year to fit all of them...I agree ;) Speaking of Christmas trees, here is a really horrible picture of our Christmas tree from this year. I took some with the nice camera, but I don't feel like searching through the memory cards to find it right now!


I can't believe it's almost 2009! Time is flying by so fast. My weekly baby email said that Will weighs about 2 pounds this week and is about the size of a head of cauliflower. His lungs are developing and maturing a lot and if he were born now they would be able to function fairly well (with lots of medical help). He's also started opening and closing his eyes...not much to see in there, I'm sure! I can't wait to see what color they are :) Here's a tummy picture for this week, plus a few other fun ones!

Sammy trying out the sling that one of my mom's friends generously gave us...She approved!

Greg and the girls...Riley is showing just how fond of having her picture taken she was!

I hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful start to 2009!!

99 Days Left...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I was sick all last week, then I had graduation this weekend and Greg and I finished up (most of) our Christmas shopping. Let me just say this - being sick is not fun at all, but especially when you're pregnant! I don't know if I had a mild version of the flu or some other stomach bug, but I'm so glad it's gone! I ended up going to the doctor just to make sure everything was okay with Will since I'd been running a fever. He's doing great (and is as wiggly as ever!) His heart rate on the doppler was 155bpm. There was a moment while listening to it that I could hear two heartbeats and I think the panic must have shown on my face because the doctor laughed and assured me that it was just MY heart beating on top of the baby's ;) Whew! I go back in on January 7th for my last monthly appointment before they move to every two weeks. I also have my one hour glucose test that day to see if I'm developing gestational diabetes. Before that I have to drink a sugary orange drink they gave me and then they'll draw my blood to see how my body handles the sugar. I'm a little nervous since I've had some issues with low blood sugar in the past and hoping that I don't have gestational diabetes...Even if I do have it, though, it would only mean that I'd have to go on a restricted diet and check my blood sugar levels for the remainder of my pregnancy. Not too bad!

I graduated from UMHB on Saturday with my BA in Education. I can't believe it's over, but I'm very thankful that it is. I learned a lot through all the hands on experience I was able to have being in classrooms, but I'm definitely not itching to get into graduate school or anything like that! I'm also very thankful that I have a job and that I don't have to begin subbing after the holidays. God is wonderful and He truly has a plan for my life that is greater than anything I could ever imagine!

We almost have the nursery all put together! We bought an upholstered rocking chair from USA Baby (and got an awesome deal on it!) and a bookshelf from IKEA in the past couple weeks. Our JCPenney bedding finally arrived and I love it. Now I've just got to get the decorations in there and it will be completely ready for Will. Here are some pictures:




I don't have a belly picture yet for this week...I'll try to get that before we leave for Christmas! But here's what is going on with Will this week. The nerves in his ears are becoming more sensitive and he's beginning to be able to pick up on the sounds of other people's voices; not just mine anymore. He seems to love when I'm listening to music too - no matter what kind it is, he'll start to wiggle around. He's still gaining all that baby fat and practicing breathing with amniotic fluid. He weighs 1 3/4 pounds and is around 14 inches long. We're hoping to get a 3D-4D ultrasound in the next month, so we'll have some good pictures of him and hopefully some video too!

I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Christmas!

Happy Viability Day, Will!

Today marks 24 weeks of being pregnant...the special thing about that is that Will is now considered "viable" outside the womb if he were to be born today! All his major organs are functioning, and although his lungs aren't working properly, he could live with a respirator. His mommy definitely wants him to stay in there and cook for awhile longer though...no early appearances, please!

Will weighs about 1 1/2 pounds this week and is the length of a foot long hot dog. My baby book said that he looks pretty cramped in there now...I can imagine so! I can feel him moving around very often! It's pretty fun if he's kicking to put my hand over the spot and press down a little bit. He usually goes into a fit of kicking as if to say, "Hey! I'm cramped enough in here already. Please don't make it any smaller!" He also looks like an infant now and the next 16 weeks will be spent accumulating fat (for cute, chubby cheeks!) and continuing to perfect his breathing/organ functions.

This past weekend we painted our Craigslist find dresser...It looks great! It was an exhausting, all day affair, but we managed to get it completely painted, clear-coated, and moved into his room! The silver knobs we bought for it look great too. Now we just need a rocking chair or glider and a bookcase. Our bedding should be here any day (provided JCPenney doesn't mess up our order again!) and his room will really start coming together. I have a bunch of cute decoration ideas and I have a friend who is an interior decorator to help :)


I started my job at Robertson last Wednesday and was in a math training today. I'm slowly getting my room set up and will start teaching my kiddos on Friday! I'm really excited about working there and I'm really enjoying everyone I work with. I think it's going to be a great fit...God is so good to me!

Big news!!

I have some big, exciting news...I got a job! It's all been a crazy, fast experience, but I am now the newest 5th grade teacher at Robertson Elementary. I'm so excited to not have to worry about finding a job next August and to have a position in the district I want to be working in.

God is amazing and he takes care of our every need so well! I wasn't seeking this out at all, but it seems like it's going to be a perfect fit. I got to observe today and see my room...I'll fill out paperwork tomorrow and observe for the rest of the week...I'll actually start teaching on Monday. It still seems very surreal - yesterday I was a student teacher and today I'm a teacher! UMHB was wonderful and released me from my student teaching early to go to Robertson (and they all say that they're very proud of me!) They are alright with me leaving in April to have the baby and then coming back in August for the following school year. I know that it will be stressful at times, but it's such a huge weight off my shoulders to have this job.

23 weeks

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did. Lots of time with family and great food! On Friday, I braved the crowds and did some Christmas shopping. I got quite a few things accomplished (although I still have to shop for Greg - he's so hard to shop for!) and found some bargains on maternity clothes and baby clothes for Will...he's growing quite the wardrobe of sweet little boy clothes!

On Wednesday, Greg and I found an awesome dresser off of Craigslist. We'd been looking for something that could double as a changing table and found a great, sturdy one that was selling for a great price. It's an ugly green color that I'm not too crazy about, so next weekend we're going to be spray painting it white. We got some brushed silver knobs for the dresser that will look great on it once it's painted! When we got there, the lady wouldn't budge on the price but she did throw in a changing table. We'll have to paint that white too, but Will's nursery is definitely coming together! We're still searching for a rocking chair...but everything we've found so far is about $200 more than we want to spend!

Yesterday we spent the day doing some Christmas shopping and then put up our tree. It looks awesome and it's so exciting to have all our decorations up. I love Christmas time :) We also found some icicle lights in the attic of our garage that Greg is going to put on the house next weekend. I'll put pictures of everything up later.

As you can see, it's been incredibly busy around here! I graduate in three weeks (hooray!) and I'm trying to get all the last minute things tied up with my student teaching. I had a job interview last Tuesday that I should be hearing back from sometime this week...it would be an amazing opportunity and I'm really praying that it works out. Even if it doesn't, I know God will take care of us and that's all that matters.

I'm 23 weeks along this week...only one more week until his "viability date," or the day when he has a greater chance of surviving outside the womb than not. He's now weighing in at over a pound and is about the size of a large mango. He's able to hear talking and music from the outside and can even feel movement now when I sway from side to side! He gets so active at church when the music gets loud...it seems like he really enjoys it! I'm enjoying all his kicking and moving around too. He's getting so much stronger. Last night I could even see my belly moving from his kicks! I really can't believe how fast everything is going - we're going to be meeting him so soon, which is very exciting! Here's my 23ish weeks picture, taken tonight before church. I had many people commenting on how it looked like I'd "popped out" and was really starting to look pregnant. I'd say so!

Bedding Ordered!

This afternoon, Greg and I ordered Will's bedding from JCPenney! I had actually picked out a few weeks before we found out that he was a boy...and in the meantime changed my mind and decided to keep looking. Well, I kept looking and kept looking, just sure I'd find something else I liked better. I think I've looked at every single baby bedding available on the internet! After talking to my mom for a long time this afternoon, we decided to order it! It's on back order until December 5th, but I'm very excited to have it picked out (finally!)

Yesterday, I had my last wedding until after Will gets here...and boy am I thankful it was my last one! I've been in tons of pain all day today. I think being on my feet for 10 hours combined with the weight of my camera, lenses, and bag caused something in my lower back to get strained. I've spent most of the day laying on the couch with a heating pad on my back. I also took a hot bath. Everything helps temporarily, but the pain is still lingering. I'm planning to go to bed early (read: after I write this post!), take some Tylenol and hope that a good night's sleep fixes the problem.

He better be a kicker for a pro football team...

Will seems to be quite proud of his new-found ability to kick me right as I'm about to fall asleep. He then proceeds to wiggle around for awhile, making it impossible for his mommy to go to sleep. I'm hoping that all that kicking inside there is practice for when he becomes the kicker for a professional football team. Then he can repay me for lost sleep ;) He also enjoys wiggling around for me right after I get home from school. I usually have a little glass of orange juice and lay down on the couch for a few minutes. The orange juice really seems to get him going! It feels like pieces of popcorn popping all inside my tummy. It's very fun!

Our good friends Aaron and Veronica had their baby boy, Bryce, last night. We went to see them at the hospital tonight and it was so fun! It definitely made me want April to come fast - and I know it will be here before we know it! I know that before long, Bryce and Will are going to be causing chaos at church! It's really fun to have friends who are having kids around the same time we are - it will be neat to watch the boys grow up together.

Here's a 20 week belly picture. Will's getting bigger by the day :)

(On a side note: I hate the fact that my bellybutton is growing with my tummy. It is stretching and getting shallower, and I fear that soon it'll no longer be an innie. And I hate the fact that despite it being covered by TWO shirts in this picture, you can still see the indentation of it!)