Trying to Be a Cool Wife

I was having a gifting dilemma involving Andy.  I usually do have gifting dilemmas when it comes to him.  He's hard to buy for, especially if I want to surprise him.  Even if I do "surprise" him he usually always ends up guessing exactly what I've bought him.  He's no fun when it comes to gifts.  Our anniversary and his birthday are a week apart.  Father's Day follows about 3 weeks afterwards. I thought I could do a gift for each one, all lower in price, so he'd have a separate gift for each occasion.  I racked my brain for three gifts, all in the price range of around $50.  He's an avid knife collector so I thought about doing that for our anniversary.  For our first anniversary I had one engraved and he really liked that.  I was headed down that road when I changed my mind.  I looked at watches for awhile.  I found some really cool ones, the only problem is he doesn't wear a watch.  I didn't want to spend $100 on a watch he wouldn't wear.  I then switched gears to basketball goals, golfing stuff, and other odds and ends when an idea hit me.  I don't know if I was looking at Craigslist or Dick's Sporting Goods when I thought of a kayak.

I know that may sound crazy but Andy has mentioned several times in the past that he would love to have a kayak.  Kayaks are expensive so he never really followed up on it.  Several of his family members have kayaks and he always says he'd like to go with them.  Well, I looked at online stores and knew I couldn't afford a brand-new one.  I then turned to my old, trusty friend, Craigslist.  If I think something is a good deal and looks like it's in good shape I have no opposition to buying it used.  We've had some really good buys from Craigslist (I know you're probably thinking of Clarks furniture right about now... it ended up being a good find, though).  I'll be the first to tell you that I don't know a thing about kayaks.  I wasn't going to spend the amount of money the seller was asking without some help.  I didn't want to ask Andy so I sent the link to our brother-in-law, Josh, who knows a lot about kayaking.  He said it looked like a good deal so I felt comfortable with it.  I tried to talk to seller down on the price... he came down some but not as much as I was hoping for.  Now we just had to arrange for a time and place for me to purchase and pick up.  Since I still didn't want to let Andy in on the scoop (he knew he was getting a big present, he just didn't know it was literally a big present) I was planning on picking it up alone, in the minivan.

I was meeting the guy in Chattanooga.  He works where my brother works so the original plan was for Justin to come with me.  Ever since the whole "Craigslist Killer" thing I don't want to meet people by myself.  I also knew I'd need help maneuvering the thing into the car.  Justin ended up sick the day I was supposed to pick it up so I broke down and told Andy I needed his help.  He originally thought I was buying him a gun (no way, no how) but when I told him I needed help because of the size of the gift (9 feet, 6 inches and 41 pounds) he was flabbergasted.  He kept guessing that it was a basketball goal.  He usually figures things out pretty quickly so I was shocked he didn't guess it when I told him the size.  After a little while and a few more hints he finally figured it out.  He looked at the add on Craigslist and got really excited.  We headed downtown to pick it up and he loved it!  He even went out and bought a paddle so he could use it this weekend.  I usually am not good at surprises for him but this time I think I got it right.  He even called me an awesome wife for it on Facebook.  : )

 The kayak took up the whole length of the van, right down the middle. 

 My sweet "shout out" on Facebook.

Another sweet note... I think he liked his present!  : )

Photo Friday - The New InstaFriday

I have very few things that are a regular on my blog, like InstaFriday.  I've been doing it since last summer and have really enjoyed the format but feel a little limited.  Often times I've got a lot of photos from the week on my phone, I just haven't formatted them in Instagram.  So... from now on I'm calling Fridays "Photo Fridays."  That'll take some of the pressure off of creating all my pictuers in Instagram (even though I'm sure I'll still use that a lot) and allow me to use some other formats and apps that I like.  I found a new one, Pic Stitch, that's really neat that I'll be using some, too.  Here are my pictures from the week... enjoy!

 I had been eyeing this little craft on Pinterest for awhile now but never got around to making it.  We made it at our MOPS meeting last week and I love it!  Andy left me this week little note after I cleaned the bathrooms Saturday.

 Clark's furniture - before & after.

My first Pic Stictch!  

 Someone's nursery is coming right along!

My sweet, sick boy.

 The Fray concert.  We had really good seats.

Someone was sleepy on the way to eat.


My newest pregnancy bling.  The other ring was turning and had lost a diamond.  I also had to bump up a size due to swelling.  I'm much happier with this set, thankfully Walmart sells them for $8.88!

*I'm also 25 weeks today!  Clark is as busy as ever and seems to be doing wonderfully.  I've been fighting off heartburn this week like crazy.  I think I've found out what triggers it for me... chocolate.  That's the 1 thing I want the most, too!  I found the medicine I took for heartburn with Cooper so any time I want some chocolate I just take that... solves the problem!  : )

Melanoma Madness

This past Thursday Andy went to see the dermatologist.  I had been trying to get him to go for the last 3 years without any luck.  His older sister, Paula, has had several melanoma spots removed since I've known her.  Some of them have been rather serious, almost to the point of requiring radiation or chemotherapy.  Andy has the exact same complexion as her so I thought it was important that he get checked out.   A couple of people we have known through friends have had a very rare type of melanoma that doesn't give you much time so I think he realized the seriousness of it as well.

We use the Chattanooga Skin and Cancer Center and it can take weeks to get an appointment there, especially for a new patient.  Luckily, we have a close contact there who was able to get him in on a day he had off.  He has a lot of moles and dark freckles on his back and torso so we were both a little nervous before he headed in.  I think he was mostly nervous about getting something taken off.  I told him I was sure he wouldn't have to anything cut off but, of course, I was wrong.

The one place he was concerned about was the one place the doctor was concerned about.  It was on his lower neck, close to his shoulder.  It was a more recent mole with an odd color.  She reassured him that if it was anything it was in the very early stages.  They cut it right off (he said it didn't hurt) and are sending it off to have a biopsy done.  It was a rather large chunk that we've been doctoring up.  We should know the results within 7-10 days.  Keep us in your prayers until then... as you know I'm a natural worrier, even though I'm sure it's nothing.  I'm just glad he went and after Clark is born I plan on going in myself!

The Fray Concert

The Fray concert got off to a bit of a rough start but ending up being amazing!  Mom and I pulled out of Flinstone about 3:10 and were in Atlanta for dinner by 4:55.  We made great time and didn't hit any traffic, that is a big deal for Atlanta.  We ate at Cracker Barrel and was very thankful for that since I finally had my appetite back from being sick.  After a few wrong turns because of one way streets we made it to our parking garage and in line at the venue.  We got in line about 6:30, pretty close to the front, and were ready for the doors to open at 7:00.  About 6:50 a man came around saying they were having some sound issues and that the doors would open about 7:10.  Well, at 8:15 (the show was supposed to start at 8:00) we were finally let in.  Needless to say, I was ill from being outside and tired since it was almost my bed time.  To make our 2 hour wait even more miserable, we had to stand in front of 2 of the most annoying girls I've ever heard in my life.  I'd guess they were juniors in high school and they never shut up.  They talked about the most ridiculous things and at a noise level that made sure the whole city block was going to hear them.

Once we were inside we headed straight for the lower balcony and ended up with really good seats.  They had a band open for them but luckily they only played about 5 songs.  After much anticipation, the band took the stage at about 9:15.  I forgot how loud concerts were and got worried about Clark's ears.  They sang for almost 2 solid hours and they sounded great.  It was a really small venue so you could see great and the sound was wonderful.  I knew all the songs and mom knew all but 1 or 2.  They played a ton of them and were really great with the crowd.  I think Clark really enjoyed it, too.  He seemed to be dancing the whole time!  I'm sure he recognized all the songs, as well.  I know his big brother would have!  That was the farthest away I've ever been from Cooper and it made me anxious, I didn't like knowing he was two hours away from me.  He was in good hands, though!

That was definitely, by far, the best concert I've ever been to.  I've never liked a band or singer as much as I like them so it was well worth the 6 year wait (remember my shower story and the Chattanooga let down).  They played all of my favorite songs and put on a great show.  They're coming back on tour this summer but I'll probably sit it out due to the pregnancy.  That won't be the only time I see them, though!

I took several videos on my phone so here are a couple.  These are parts of my 2 favorite songs (the 2nd one is the song from the shower that I heard my freshman year of college).

Here is the playlist, straight from The Fray's website.  I'm not sure why they didn't add it but in the middle of the 2 encore songs they played "Be Still and Know."  Now I can always look back to help me remember what all they sang!

It's Finally Here!

Tonight is the night for the much anticipated concert I've been waiting 6 years for.  Yes, we're going to see The Fray tonight!  I'm so excited!  We've been so busy lately and since I haven't been feeling well it hadn't really hit me until yesterday that I'm finally getting to see them.  I can't wait!  My mom and I are headed to downtown Atlanta this afternoon.  The gates open at 7pm and the show starts at 8:00.  I don't know if I mentioned it in the original post about this concert but our tickets are general admission and there are no seats on the floor level.  There are two balconies that have seating so we're headed up when we get there.  There's no way I can stand through the whole concert.  I had a dream last night that the seats we happened upon were really good... maybe that's a sign of things to come!

Several of my coworkers have said they are anxious to see my Thursday morning since I'm going to have such a late night.  I'm figuring the concert will be done, at the latest, by 11pm.  That should put us home around 1am.  I was out later for The Hunger Games and still went to work the next morning so I'm hoping I'll be alright.  It'll definitely be worth it, though!

Springtime Sickness

This past Thursday night I started getting a sore throat.  By the time I went to bed I had a stuffy nose to accompany it.  I figured it was just allergies but according to the allergist I don't have allergies.  I think they got that wrong but what do I know?  Friday it was pretty much just my nose and throat but by Friday night I was feeling bad all over.  Andy had a 5K early Saturday morning that I had been planning on going to for weeks.  Since he's been doing triathlons/races I haven't missed one and I wasn't planning on letting a little congestion stop me from going.  I didn't get hardly any sleep that night so with some firm convincing from Andy I stayed home.  The only thing keeping me from feeling super guilty was the fact that Cooper is a late sleeper and it wouldn't have fun for anyone if we had to wake him up to go.  Well, guess who woke up at 7:45 that morning?  Yep, 10 minutes after Andy left Cooper was wide awake.  I thought about trying to make up to Lula Lake in time for the race.  Andy had said there would be limited parking and if you've ever been to Lula Lake you know it's a rough drive back to the property... one I didn't want to make alone.  I couldn't get ahold of Andy so we just stayed home.  He was back by 9:30 and we spent the rest of the day working on the house.  He pressure washed, I painted, cleaned, and tried to get some rest.

Saturday night we had my nephew's, Silas, 2nd birthday party and there was no way I was missing it.  I've only missed one nephew birthday party in 7.5 years and that was because I was in the ICU after giving birth to Cooper... I didn't have much choice in the matter.  We actually had been invited to three birthday parties this past weekend and quickly learned at Silas' that Cooper is not at a good age for parties.  He wants to be super independent and run wild.  That's not a good combination when you're at other people's houses.  He also wants to open presents.  He had no interest in this on his birthday or at Christmas but now he's all into it.  We made it through that party with minimal accidents (he knocked over a coke and did a dive down the deck steps) and headed home.

Saturday night, once we got home, I was feeling pretty awful.  I was beginning to feel nauseous from all the drainage and couldn't keep my cold medicine down.  I had another awful night of sleep.  Cooper woke up a few times crying, too.  I'm not sure what was wrong with him.

Sunday morning we hit it full force and headed to church.  We came home so Cooper and I could both nap before heading out to another party.  We had conflicting party times that day so we went to the one we had been invited to first.  We only lasted about 30 minutes at that party because Cooper was ill.  He wouldn't eat, wanted to be outside, and kept pitching fits.  He didn't eat well the rest of the night.  Once we got home I was convinced my allergies had turned into a virus.  I felt bad all over and had a bad stomach ache.

Once we got Cooper to bed I quickly followed.  Every time I fell asleep Cooper woke up screaming.  It wasn't a whiney cry, it was a "something's wrong with me" cry.  At 9:45, 11:00, 2:00, sometime in between, and 6:00 he was up crying.  We took turns rocking, soothing, and giving pacifiers throughout the night.  Finally, at 6:45 we just got him up.  At first he wouldn't let loose of me but Andy turned on Curious George and I was able to get ready for work.  I had no idea what was wrong with Cooper.  He felt a little warm but wasn't registering a fever.  I still felt awful and kept thinking "I really need to stay home from work today" but couldn't take that luxury.  We started CRCT testing at school and I had to be there, unless I was dying or in labor, to help cover classes during testing.

Once I got home Cooper still had slept any.  His nose was pouring and he was fussy.  I gave him some allergy medicine and tried for another nap.  After about 45 minutes he was awake.  He laid on my chest for about 30 minutes once he was up.  He never does this so I knew he wasn't feeling well.  He ate better than he had been and went to bed at normal time.  I'm still fighting my congestion and now have a nasty cough to go along with it.

I slept okay and Cooper only got up at 3:30am so I'm hoping he's feeling better.  We don't have time to stay sick this week!

Refinishing Clark's Furniture

.::. This post is very long and about a month in the making from purchase to nursery move in.  Sorry it's so lengthy... I just wanted to share how we refinished both dressers if anyone else was looking into it.  Feel free to just look at pictures.  We're very happy with the outcome but let me tell you... it was a JOB!  If you're not wanting to do a BIG project than I wouldn't suggest redoing two large pieces of furniture.  It was worth it in the end, though! .::.

As you know, we recently purchased some furniture for Clark via Craigslist.  We bought 2 dressers that will provide a ton of storage for his nursery. The seller told me it was in great shape, which I guess in her mind it was for $75.  She told me it had a couple of scratches on it... that was a small understatement.  It had scratches, it had hearts drawn on it in pen, it was missing a ton of knobs, and it had a small chunk of wood missing on one of the dressers.  It wasn't horrible by any means, it just had to be painted, something we wanted to avoid.  It had been sitting in our garage since before we left for our trip, taking up Andy's parking space.  He'd been having to park outside so we wanted to finish it soon.  Here is the original... I know you can't tell much from it.  I really wish I had thought to take a close up picture but I'm going to blame that on pregnancy/mommy of 17 month old brain.

This was the post picture from the ad so we couldn't tell much either.  It had a dull, shiny, veneer finish over it that we didn't know how to tackle before painting.  We assumed sanding would work but I've had some unpleasant furniture painting experiences so we took a drawer to Lowe's and asked.  They told Andy that we would need to sand it down (until the shine was gone), paint on a bonding primer, and use latex paint to finish it... probably 2 coats.  We also had to buy all new knobs... 25 in all.  We've put around $155 into this project.  I keep trying to tell myself that we would've spent a lot more on 2 dressers like this brand new but it's still a little discouraging.  

The Monday after we got home from out trip Andy got busy sanding down the drawers and doors.  It took him a couple of hours and all the sandpaper but they were done and ready to paint.  He didn't do the body of the dressers at this point because we had used all the sandpaper.  We decided to leave the mirror off.  It was really rough looking and it would have been a pain to paint.  Plus, I really wanted to hang some vintage travel posters over that dresser so I didn't want it, anyways.  We decided that if we want a mirror for his room later that we'll just buy one... simple enough!

The next step was in my hands - priming the drawers and doors.  I hate painting but so does Andy.  The sanding was a little out of my league so I volunteered.  Here is what the drawers/doors looked like before I began priming.  

As you can see, the bodies of the dressers weren't sanded so I didn't prime those.  It took me about an hour and a half to prime all the drawers.  By the end I was rather tired of painting and you can tell.  I forgot to take a picture of all the drawers after they were primed.  You're not missing much... they just had a thin coat of chalky, white primer on them.  

Next came the first coat of paint.  When we moved into the house we used Valspar on the whole thing and were really pleased with it.  We decided to go with that for paint and primer and it hasn't disappointed.  When we picked out the paint Cooper was screaming, we had groceries in the car that were quickly thawing out, and Andy was rushing us out the door.  I quickly chose the first ivory/cream color that I came across and hoped it would be pretty.  So far so good!  I was really pleased with the color.  It isn't too white or too yellow.  His room is a bright green (almost lime green) color so I didn't want anything too bright.  Here they are after one coat.

The next steps were a second coat of paint and sanding down the bodies of the dressers.  The Saturday after I started painting we went out and got the rest of the supplies we needed.  Andy got busy sanding the dressers (with an electric sander so it went much faster) and I got busy painting.  I think the second coat looks fine, despite the brush marks you can see, and I'm throwing in the towel on the drawers and doors.  (At this point I was so sick of painting I was dreading painting the dressers.)

The following Monday I got the dressers primed while Andy cleaned up excess paint on the drawers, put on the new hardware, and basically just cleaned up any mess I had left behind from painting.  Once again, I forgot to take a picture of the dressers primed.  It was still just a chalky, white coat of paint.  Since there weren't so many different pieces to paint this time around it went a little faster.  Each coat on the drawers took me about an hour and a half and I primed the dressers in an hour.  

I took that Tuesday off, I was sick of painting and exhausted, and got back to work Wednesday.  It took me about an hour to paint the first coat on the dressers.  The sides and tops weren't bad, I knocked them out pretty quickly since I could do large brush strokes.  The tedious part was the sections/holes between each drawer.  I had to be careful that I didn't use too much paint and cause it to run.  I also had to paint several little lips that come out.  Those aren't fun because I had to paint the underneath side of them, too.  I ran into some issues with this because my paint got too thick in places and I didn't notice until it was dry.  I had to do some sanding before the second coat went on.  There are also some carved details in both dressers.  It's a vine/leaf design.  Some sections of it soaked the paint right in while others didn't.  That little area was a pain to paint.  Here is one of the dressers, up close and personal, with one coat of paint on it.  You can see the detailed leaf part here... not fun at all to paint.

This past Saturday morning Cooper woke up super early and was back down for a nap by 9am.  This gave me some time to get the second coats on both dressers.  About the time I started on the second dresser I heard him through the monitor.  I didn't paint it as neatly as I should have since I knew he was awake and waiting on me.  That afternoon Andy cleaned them up and was able to move one of them into Clark's room!  The larger one had some uneven spots on the top that he sanded down and repainted.  It got moved into his room Sunday!  Here are the finished products in his nursery.

This piece was an added bonus because I wasn't originally looking for a dresser like this.  I'm glad we have it now!

This is the kind of dresser I had set out looking for.  It has a ton of storage.

This is exactly why I bought it.  I didn't want to get a second changing table.  My mom had the changing pad at her house, which she never uses, and donated it to a good cause!  I'm really excited about this little changing area/dresser.

The lighting in his nursery is really odd... it's hard to capture the exact color of his walls and of the furniture.  The dressers are very ivory... I'm happy with the color but it almost has a yellow tint because of his super lime green walls.  It doesn't look girly at all though, and Andy was worried about that.  Also, any area of the nursery that doesn't have a dresser is covered with toys since it's still being used as Cooper's toy room.  That's all about to change though.  He likes to pull out drawers and slam them so all of his toys are about to be transferred... I'm not sure where to yet.  We also picked up his crib yesterday!  It is a hand-me-down that's a little beat up in spots... it was free so I'm not complaining.  I'm hoping to find a wood marker or something of that sort and polish it right up.  I've got to start buying some decor for his room and then it'll be ready.  Moving in his furniture has made it all seem more real.  I know he's in there... he's extremely active but getting his room ready makes it hit home.  We're going to be parents to another precious baby boy in 16 weeks or less!  It's crazy to think but I absolutely cannot wait to meet him and see his beautiful face!

Photo Friday - Pregnancy Edition

I thought it would be fun to look back over both pregnancies and compare my pictures up to the 24 weeks point!

 Cooper's pregnancy tests.

Clark's pregnancy tests.

 The day we found out about Cooper.

The day we found out about Clark.

 Cooper's 1st ultrasound.

Clark's 1st ultrasound.

 Early 1st trimester with Cooper.

Early 1st trimester with Clark.

17 weeks with Cooper.

 15 weeks with Clark.

18 weeks with Clark.

 Finding out Cooper was a boy!

Finding out Clark was a boy!

21 weeks with Cooper.

23 weeks with Clark.

One of Cooper's 3D ultrasounds. 

One of Clark's 3D ultrasounds.

 A family photo with Cooper.

A family photo with Clark.

MOPS... Mothers of Preschoolers

I know I've mentioned MOPS before in some of my posts but I don't believe I've ever gone into detail about it.  MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers.  It's a national (and I believe international) program specifically designed for mothers of young children.  One of my sister's childhood friends started up a MOPS program at her church about a year and a half ago.  Summer and I were there for the first meeting and have rarely missed one since.  Cooper was right at 2 months old when I started going to the meetings.  I was in a bit of a "baby blues" slump at that point in time and MOPS helped pull me right out of it!

It's women only and nursery care is provided if you need to bring your children.  We meet at Brainerd United Methodist Church (you don't have to be a church member or Methodist to go, I'm neither) twice a month for great fellowship.  It's on Thursday nights from 6-8pm.  We often have guest speakers that specialize in young children, we make crafts, eat food, and have a lot of mommy talk!  We also do some community projects.  I know at the end of this month some of the moms are participating in the Choices Pregnancy Center Walk.  I had planned on participating but with my steady swelling increase I think I may just go and root them on from the sidelines.  We also have get togethers that involve the whole family.  They've even started having little meetings for the dads at the same time, right down the street at a wings restaurant.

Most importantly, it's just a great time for Christian women to get together and share their everyday stories and struggles surrounding "mommyhood."  You may think your child is the only one who acts a certain way, that you're the only working mom who is struggling to leave her children at home, or your the only one who feels like you're not parenting the right way, but all these women have similar stories. It's so nice to know that you're not alone in the scary world of being a mommy.  One of my best friends has joined and I'm trying to recruit a few more.  If you're interested in coming I'll give you all the details or you can contact our fearless leader, Megan Honeycutt (who by the way has been fantastic from the beginning) and find out what it's all about.  There's no pressure to join... I love it and I think other young mommies would, too!

Cooper Up-Date

Yesterday Clark got all the blog attention so today I'm giving it to Cooper!  It also happens to be his 17 month birthday!  I can't believe how fast time is flying with him.  I'm afraid it's going to go even faster once Clark gets here.  I'm going to try my best to savor and cherish the next 3 or 4 months with Cooper before Clark makes his arrival.  Let's see... where do I begin with this little stinker?

Yesterday he formed his first sentence!  Whenever he hands us something or closes a door he says "Here you go!"  My mom says that to him all the time and I think Andy and I say it a lot, too, so it was only natural that that was his first sentence.  His new favorite past time is playing chase/wresting/hiding from Daddy.  As soon as Andy walks through the door from work Cooper takes off flying in the opposite direction, forcing Andy to chase him.  He gets so hyper doing this!  Even when we have "calm down" time he just stands there, looking at Andy, bouncing up and down waiting to take off running.  Of course, he expects mommy to do this, too... at 6 months pregnant.  I don't think so!  I can only chase him for a minute or two before I'm worn out.  He's also into rolling trucks and cars across the floor now.  I'll make him count, then we roll the trucks, he chases them, and brings them back.  I start with one and then he'll say two and sometimes three.  Yesterday, he did the counting all by himself one time.  He just said some sounds in a really high pitched voice, and drew them out.  I guess that's how I count!

Instead of playing in his playroom he'd rather pull out all of his cups, spoons, bowls, and utensils from his drawer in the kitchen.  Then, he throws them all over the kitchen and living room.  He usually has a meltdown at some point during this game because he can't get a lid to fit on a cup.  He's also hit a growth spurt.  He can reach the top of the cabinets and can almost reach the stovetop... very scary!  We're having to adjust to that.  He loves closing doors, even though he can't open them back up.  He'll shut himself in his room or playroom and then start crying until we run and open the door.  He still loves Curious George and squeals in delight anytime he hears the theme song.

Physically he's changing, too.  Like I mentioned, he's hit a growth spurt and can reach all kinds of scary things.  We're having to keep things pushed back, handles turned, doors locked, and valuables out of reach.  He's cutting about 4 or 5 molars all at once.  I can see them cutting through and it looks so painful!  I'm shocked he isn't ill all the time!  He can run.  He can run fast!  He loves running from Andy while playing, from me when he's in trouble, and with his cousins to feel like a big boy.  Yes, he runs from me when he knows he's in trouble and then goes limp when I try to pick him up.  It's a fun stage of life, let me tell you.  He's also taken up jumping on the trampoline with his granddad.  He loves this!  He looks so sweet and little when he jumps, too.

On the talking front - he's picking up so many new words I can't keep up with them.  A few I can remember are hot (which he always says in a hissing voice), the end (when we finish a book), here you go, nice (when we're telling him to be nice to someone or easy with something), and hey.  I love when he says hey!  He knows when to use it, too.  We were walking around a store the other day and he waved to someone and said "Hey!" really loud.  It was so cute!

I can't believe how fast the time is going but I'm so glad God chose Andy and me to be the parents he gets to spend it with!

Baby Clark Up-Date

Today I had my first prenatal appointment in 4 weeks.  I usually go every 3 weeks but my doctor was out of town last week.  To be honest, I was dreading hitting the scales once I got there.  I feel like all I've done the last few weeks is eat.  I know I haven't been that bad but I still didn't want to see the numbers.  Chocolate seems to have become my best friend here recently.  I was also concerned about my blood pressure.  I've been swelling more recently and I was nervous about those numbers, too.  At this point in time my fingers are staying swollen and my hands have gotten so puffy I can't get my normal bracelets on anymore.  I tried on my wedding rings the other day and couldn't get them past my knuckle.  It wasn't like I could force them either... they weren't budging.  A little discouraging!  Everyone says I look great and that it's all in my belly.  For the most part I agree that the majority is just my belly but I think I notice the swelling more than most.  Work has been hectic getting ready for state testing and we've been working like dogs on Clark's furniture so I'm really feeling the last few weeks.  Needless to say, I was a little anxious about this appointment for many reasons.

Well, like I expected my weight gain was a little more than I was happy with.  Over the last month I've gained 6 lbs.  I keep telling myself that those past 4 weeks included vacation, spring break eating, and Easter eating.  Plus, I am growing a human so I guess the weight couldn't stay low forever.  Remember, I'm starting my weight gain count at pre-pregnancy weight (I lost some and then got back to my normal weight), unlike my doctor.  He's counting it all... no fun!  So, in my book I've gained 6lbs at 23.5 weeks.  That's better than I was doing with Cooper at 24 weeks and better than I had hoped for at this point so I guess I'm happy!  As long as Clark is at a good, healthy, (and hopefully beefy) weight then I'm really happy!  I would love a fat baby this time around instead of a little 4.15 pounder. 

My blood pressure was good, thank goodness!  He said everything else looked great, too.  Clark was busy when we listened to his heartbeat and he said it sounded wonderful.  Even if I gain 15lbs between visits (which hopefully I won't!) as long as that little heartbeat is going strong that's all I care about.  The swelling is minimal so he wasn't concerned about it.  My next visit I'm due for my glucose tolerance test.  I'm dreading it!  I had a bad experience last time around.  I passed it with no problem, it just wasn't a pleasant visit.  When I had it done last time (around 26-27 weeks) all of my problems hadn't started yet.  I'm praying and keeping my fingers crossed that everything will continue progressing smoothly with Clark and no major issues will arise even though I haven't hit that "worry" time yet.  Hopefully everything will stay calm until my next visit!

Photo Forgetfulness

I've been bad about getting my InstaFriday pictures up the last few weeks so this post is just pictures from my phone. Hope you enjoy all the photos I've been forgetting!





Picking his nose in Washington. : )






I'm hoping he'll become the next Nadal and I can use this photo when he wins his first grand slam.






He's been more interested in eggs now that Easter's over.






Resting in Daddy's lab after a long day.






I subbed for a 4th grade class last week at work and desperately needed chocolate by planning time.





My progress so far on Clark's dressers.






These pregnant feet are rough, puffy, and desperately need a pedicure. I was trying some home remedies that didn't quite cut it.





23 weeks & 1 day. Clark is growing & extremely busy these days. This isn't a maternity dress so that's why it's so unflattering.