Ready, Willing, and Waiting...

Just some pictures to give you an idea of how huge I am! This was actually several weeks ago on our babymoon at Disney World!

This picture is last Saturday at my precious friend, Sarah's, baby shower. She is 25 weeks pregnant (in this picture) with Triplets!!! I would have guess I'm the one with triplets! Doesn't she look amazing?!

OK! I have been very nervous and hesitant about actually having this baby, but all that has gone out the window. Well, that's an exaggeration. I'm still nervous, but I'm very ready! I think part of that is helped by the fact that my mom got here Wednesday night. We've had a nice couple of days together, and it has been fun to watch her work furiously to get my very cluttered house in order!! It's just nice to have her here, and she's staying for a while to help us out! (Thanks, Daddy!).

I've made some progress, which is good. I won't go into all the details about that, but at my last appointment on Thursday I was 3 cm dilated! I'm almost all the way effaced already. And I imagine I'm dilated more now because I have contractions the past two nights. We really thought last night was the night, but then they just kind of fizzled out all of a sudden! On the bright side, after staying up for a while waiting to see what they would do, I had the best night's sleep I've had in months! That was great!

My doctor said that, if I'm having some contractions, I can come in tomorrow morning, and she won't send me home. So if nothing happens before then, it looks like we'll go in tomorrow. I guess if absolutely nothing is still happening, we may have to wait until Monday night, but we'll see!

We are so excited to meet our little baby boy! I can't believe he's almost here!!!!

Sorry no pictures, but here's an update...

Hi, Everyone! Once again, time has gotten away from me and I haven't updated in a while. Things are so busy right now! I'm still working, dragging myself in day by day, and that takes up most of my energy! And then we're trying to manage the chaos in our house as we get ready for this new arrival! Anyway, we're having fun and excited, but it's quite busy!

So I'm doing well, and so is little Baby Rock! Did I say little? Well, that's not quite true. Last week, at 36 weeks, I had an ultrasound, and he measured at 7 lbs 1oz already! Yikes! I know that isn't always completely accurate, but it's still a little scary! So, with our doctors counsel, we decided to schedule an induction for one week early, on April 1! Yes, two weeks from today. That was actually the latest date she offered, but we decided to give him a little more time to come on his on. I'll be honest, though: I'm having second thoughts about that! I'm so swollen and uncomfortable that I don't know if I can make it! I know I will, though!

I'm feeling lots of different emotions! I'm excited, but SO nervous! I knew my anxiety would increase at this point, and it most certainly has. Thankfully, I've had a lot of good encouragement from friends and family! I'm glad that this is my last week at work. Between dragging myself around, feeling tired, and not having anything that fits, work is quite an ordeal!

Well, just wanted to keep any readers updated on how things are going! I can't believe that I have two weeks or less! Wow! I'm so thankful for a good pregnancy, even if it is hard now!

Finally, some pictures!

Baby Shower!!!!

The Rockefeller Women!

Two Mommies To Be!

My friend, Anne Poss!

My mom!!!!

My "sister", Melanie!


Here's my latest monthly, it seems, post! I realized last night, thanks to Dan, that I don't actually need software to be able to download pictures to my computer. I just need the cord. So now I can share some pictures from last weekend when I had a baby shower up at my parents' house in NC.

But let me back up. Things are going well here! I'm slowing down rapidly, much more than I wish I was! I know Alli is very frustrated by our walks/waddles these days! I'm 32 and a half weeks, and I'm quite big, I think! Some people talk about how big I am, and others talk about how cute I look, and maybe it's both, but I'm certainly big! I'm still doing well overall, but just dealing with some swelling, restless legs, moodiness, and stuff like that! I'm still working, and I hope to until the last minute, but I'm starting to realize that I may need some days off here and there. This week, I only saw 13 clients, and I felt like I saw 40!


So last weekend, Dan's mom, our sister-in-law, Amanda, and I flew up to SC/NC for a baby shower that my sisters-in-law gave for me! It was so much fun, and I had a wonderful group of friends there! The weather was pefect! It made me want him here now so that I could start using all of the fun stuff!


Today, I had another shower thrown by girls from my Life Group. It was also a lot of fun, and, again, I was overwhelmed by the turnout and the wonderful gifts. Dan and I are so blessed to have some great friends in our lives.


I go back to the doctor this week, and I'm hoping they will start keeping track of how big he is! It seems like he's a big one, so I'm curious to find out! I wouldn't mind being a little early, but I know that's unlikely with the fist, so I'm not getting my hopes up. Besides, I feel like I can really use all the time I can get!

OK, OK...

Well, I officially am one of the worst bloggers ever! Maybe once this little boy arrives, I'll get better since I'll want to brag on him all the time! It looks like his pictures are my main motivation lately anyway! I did want to post some Christmas pictures, but they are all on Dan's computer, and I haven't had a chance to blog from his. Anyway, I'm sleepy and waiting to pick Dan up from the airport, so there's no time like the present!

Dan has been on his "pre-daddy" trip to Breckenridge to go snowboarding! He loves snowboarding, but he hasn't been able to go since we got married. He had a great time, and his brother, David, and two of his cousins were also able to go! He's been gone since last Wednesday, so I'll be very happy for him to get home.

While he was gone, my mom came down, and we worked on the nursery! It was lots of work, but so much fun and well worth it! It's incomplete, but it looks so cute already. I'll post pictures (hopefully) when we get it all finished! On Friday, Dan's mom came over too to help us. We really did have a nice time, and it was so nice to have my mom here while Dan was gone!

As far as baby goes, he's doing well! I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday, and since my mom was there, she did a short ultrasound for us. It wasn't the clearest thing, but we got some good shots of his little nose and lips. If I had to guess, I'd say he has Dan's nose and my lips, but we'll see! My belly is getting very big! I think I'll end up gaining a little more weight than I had hoped, but I guess I deserve it. I have been faithful to walk very regularly, but I've also eaten quite a bit too! I'm now 28 weeks pregnant, and I really can't believe it. It's all going by so fast, and I know that April will be here before we know it!

The new year has certainly been full of baby stuff! Dan and I have been going through things and rearranging to make room to fit this little guy. Then, of course, my mom came and we worked. And next will be the showers, which is definitely exciting!

Well, I guess that's enough for now! I want to post about Christmas and put some pictures up, so hopefully I will do that before Easter! All in all, we're doing well and feeling very blessed these days (unless we're talking about budget)! I hope you are too!

Our Baby Boy!

Well, here he is!!! At least, here he is at this point in the process! We had our 19 week ultrasound last Wednesday, and it far exceeded our expectations. We had no idea how long it would be or that it would be 4D. And we certainly didn't know if he would cooperate. Notice how freely I'm writing he? We have absolute, 3D confirmation that he is a boy, but we chose not to add that picture on here! But it was so wonderful. We saw all his toes and all his fingers, and he moved all around and showed off for us! It makes it feel even more real. And on top of that, Dan was able to feel him kick last night! It was just one little thump, but that was neat for both of us!

*****

We haven't heard any news back from the ultrasound, so we are assuming that everything looked normal. But one interesting thing is that he was measuring about a week ahead of where he should be with my due date. It would be odd if he's farther along since we know exactly when our procedure happened, so maybe he's just a big boy! Both Dan and I were pretty big babies! We'll see. So I guess I'll just refer to my due date now as the beginning of April!

*****

We continue to do well! Last weekend was really special because Dan was ordained as a Deacon at our church (First Baptist of Orlando). Dan's parents came and my mom flew down at the last minute (for 24 hours) to come to his ordination. It was such a special time, and we're both excited for him to serve in that way!

*****

And we're both looking forward to Thanksgiving! We'll be in Leesburg this year, so there will be more food than we can imagine! And on Friday, Dan has promised to go shopping with me for a little while! I never go when we're down here because I don't have my mom to go with me. So this year will be a first for us down here!

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for, and we hope that you do too!

Fun in SC! (And NC and GA!!!)

On Fridays, I work half a day at the counseling center and half a day at Dan's office. Today I finished my work here early, so I'm doing a little blogging! Things continue to go well here. We don't have any baby pictures to share this time, but we do have pictures from our recent travels. Early in October, we took a little trip to Savannah, so I'm including a couple of pictures from that trip. And last weekend, we went up to visit my family in SC/NC. My parents now live in Tryon, NC, but we spend a lot of our time still in SC! We have had a fun month of travel!

Here are some pictures from Savannah. We didn't take many.

Our first night at dinner!

The historic Savannah Trolley tour! (By the way, I like Savannah, but it has nothing on Charleston!)

The view from our hotel room!

Now here are our pictures from last weekend. Oh yeah, I also started feeling the baby move last weekend! I love those little flutters!

The view from my parents' deck!

Family picture (minus Chris, who was working)!



Dan and I with Megan, Dan's sister!

The kids with Happy and Snappy (aka Elvis and Jerry Lee), my parents' newest additions!

Ross, Zach, Heather, Me, Dan, and Megan at the North Greenville football game!

Sweet little Happy and Snappy!

It was a great weekend, and a great way to ring in turning 31, which I did on Monday!

Sorry for the delay...

Here are our latest baby pictures! These are from last Monday, the 15th, right before 15 weeks pregnant! And guess what? Our doctor says she's 90% sure that we're having a boy! We're so excited that Baby Rock cooperated and let us get a good shot! I didn't include those pictures! He was shy at first - all balled up as you can see in the picture above. But we took a break and Dan gave him a little pep talk, and he moved for us! The second picture is his little foot! Dan likes that one because he's already hoping he will be a great soccer player!

I've been feeling great! My first trimester was not bad at all, and now most of the little things I experienced are gone. I still get tired more quickly and go to bed around nine, but I feel really well overall. I'm showing just a little bit. I've already made the transition to maternity clothes. It may have been a little sooner than I needed to, but let's face it, I knew that would happen!

We've been doing well. Work has been busy for both of us. I have been facing a lot of challenges with hurting clients at work, and that has been quite draining for me. I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and strength during this demanding time. One thing I pray is that my stress level won't get too high because I want to keep this baby boy safe and healthy!

We celebrated our third anniversary on October 9th! It's been a great and really fast 3 years! We were able to go to Savannah to celebrate. We stayed downtown in the historic district, and after a very rainy day and a half, we had really nice weather on the last day! After that, we went to visit with my brother, Ross, and his family and also went to see my grandparents! It was a very nice long weekend!

On Thursday, we're headed up to the mountain! Hooray!!!! We're going to visit with my parents and also with Dan's sister, Megan. She's a student at North Greenville, and it's their homecoming this weekend. We're really looking forward to it!

OK! That's all for now! So sorry that I'm not a frequent blogger!!!!