Week of the Eggplant

Weeks 25-28 supposedly make up the window where our baby is the size of an eggplant. I think I'm gonna beg to differ. There has GOT to be more than an eggplant in there! :)

Whew! Needless to say, I am starting to have a little more difficulty moving around and getting out of bed. A lady came into the hospital the other day at 40 weeks, ready to have her baby. I kid you not, we looked like the same person. Hmmm... maybe God, Grant and I need to recalculate this whole "due date" thing!

Megan and Michael Time...

One fun activity during this 26th week was that our dear and closest friends, Megan & Michael came to visit, as they are on a nationwide tour of their newest alternative country album, "Over the Bones." Go to www.meganbirdsall.com to check her out - she's amazing! You can follow their tour live on Youtube. It was so fun to spend some quality time with M&M and the perfect closure to my second trimester. That's right folks, the THIRD trimester has arrived! We're closing in on the finish line and have lots yet to prepare. Things are getting exciting around here!

A Day to Celebrate!

Many things are happening today. Early this morning, I was awakened for the first time out of my sleep by Naomi kicking. She is getting so much stronger! I proceeded to lay awake for about another hour as she played around, obviously having no awareness of it being 5:30am. It was so sweet.

Then I woke up to discover that around that time, 5:55am exactly (according to the tracking website), UPS was loading up her crib bedding to bring it to our house today! She must have just been excited. :) So, it has arrived. I jumped up and down like a kid when the UPS guy drove down the street. It's kind of the one thing we splurged on and I have no regrets - it's so cute!

I'm considering it a gift to myself and Nay for making it to 26 weeks. It's so amazing to me that at this point, if she were born, there is a 70% chance of survival with no major problems. That is just amazing to me. Not what we're looking for... I'm all about a 40+ week baby! But it's amazing, nonetheless, to think that she is that developed!! Grant wasn't here at the house a bit ago, so I just took today's picture myself. Grow, baby, grow!

But the most special thing happening today is that this precious baby below is turning 18. My "baby" brother is an adult. It is kind of hitting me harder than I thought it would - it's just taking a while to sink in. I loved that sweet baby and getting to play being his second mommy (I was 12 when he was born). This picture just makes me want to squish him back down to that chunky little thing. Okay, he was more chunky than he was little. ELEVEN pounds, 8.5 ounces at birth. Cheers to you, Mom.

Anyway, it's a nice reminder to me to really cherish every minute that Naomi is a baby. Because pretty soon, they turn into this:

Will, I am so proud of you. You are one of the most mature, respectful, God-fearing 18-year-olds I know. I hope you have so much fun today! You deserve the best - happy birthday!!!

Childbirth Class - Check!

For the last ten weeks, Grant and I have been attending Bradley Method childbirth classes. We both learned a lot - and we have proof! We were the winning couple of "Childbirth Jeopardy" at our final class last night, winning a cute telephone rattle for Naomi! It feels good to have finished these classes, but strange at the same time... On September 25th, we will all reconvene for a class reunion with our BABIES. It was so strange to leave their company and know that the next time we're together, we'll all be official parents!

This is me at 25 weeks. Grant is trying to teach me how to be a barista. He is gaining a lot of self-confidence through this endeavor, as I am not very good at it. Maybe the baby will pick up on some of this early training though and make her dad proud with a career in coffee...

The other exciting thing that happened this week - I received two invitations for baby showers that friends/family are throwing for me and the baby! Another reality check! These upcoming events really make Naomi's birth seem as though it is right around the corner. We are getting so excited as we watch her grow and I continue to be blessed with quite the uneventful pregnancy. Cheers to 26 weeks on Friday!

A Room in the Making...

One thing for me that has been so exciting lately is the planning of the nursery! I picked out the bedding a long time ago, but the rest of the room has seemed to spring together in the last couple of days, thanks to online shopping! My mom visited this last weekend for fun and we had the BEST time. We shopped, stayed up late, slept in, and talked and talked. And the last, unexpected activity was finding an INCREDIBLE furniture buy on Craigslist. I am so thankful and feel so blessed, because we were not planning on going out and buying an entire set of nursery furniture. In fact, I was resigned to using my little brother's crib that has sat in my parent's basement for the last 15 years! And I was excited about it! :) Anyway, long story short - we got a bookshelf, crib, glider, and changing table for a wonderful price. My mom proceeded to find the perfect rug to match the room and I'm just getting so excited to see it all come together! Here are some pics of some of the furniture and Naomi's bedding... obviously, none of these are taken at our house, but I will post more pics as things move along!

And I know. No pink. :) But I LOVE it. And I figure - she'll have pink toys, pink clothes, pink tutus, you name it! The green and yellow will break it up nicely and it's still cheery and girly. Crazy to think that in 15 weeks, there will be a precious little baby sleeping on those sheets... oh, I cannot wait to meet her!

24 Weeks and Growing...

Well, things are trucking right along! Sweet baby "Nay" is growing and growing, kicking all the time, and I'm starting to pick up on some little patterns of her activity. Knowing that she is almost a foot long and weighs 1 1/3 pounds really makes it hit home how much she has grown since she was just a cluster of cells! Grant and I attended our second to last Bradley Method childbirth class tonight, where we learned all about the postpartum period. Should be quite the adventure to have together... I seriously could not ask for a better man to go through all of this with.

The picture above is a great girlfriend and coworker of mine, Whitney, and I at a work get together. That belly sure is poppin'! Though I still feel wonderful, there are days where I'm also feeling quite large and in charge for not even being able to say that I'm six months yet. :)

I also wanted to post a pic of my best friend's wedding a couple of weeks ago. We had so much fun that weekend and cannot wait to hang out more with them soon!

TOO CUTE!!!

One day last week, I walked into work to find this PRECIOUS onesie hanging in my locker. (Sorry for the odd picture angle - it was taken on my cell phone...) My coworker, Mary Beth, found it for Naomi and said she just couldn't resist. :) love. it.

It will be perfect for her first little St. Patrick's Day next year. And maybe she'll even have her dad's beautiful red locks to go with it! Only 17 more weeks of waiting to meet this precious little Irish princess!!!!!

Changing Every Day...

Last weekend, Grant felt the baby move for the first time. :) It was the most precious thing. His eyes bugged out, as big as saucers, and then he looked at me and said, "There is a BABY in there!" Yesterday, her kicks became visible! I was sitting on the couch, leaning back with my computer, when I felt her kick and a simultaneous tummy flutter was seen out of the corner of my eye. My eyes bugged out, as big as saucers, and I thought to myself, "There is a BABY in there!" I showed Grant the tummy movements tonight and we are just in awe. And so the time begins where we are completely entertained and visually captivated by this child. We are gonna be THOSE parents, and proudly so!