Pregnancy Dreams.

I have always heard that pregnancy gives you crazy dreams. I've definitely had a few weird ones now and then, but nothing too terribly crazy. Until last night! Let me just tell you about this dream I had...

I was living in this really swanky apartment in some big city. I walked out the front door and there were these two girls standing outside. We figured out that we were all going the same place, so I offered to drive them. So we all get in the car and head out to wherever it was we were going. A little while into the car ride, we were all of a sudden walking down a busy street. We walked for awhile and then one of the girls said "Oh, we need to get our bikes. We are getting to all the bridge construction." So then we were magically riding bikes. We got to the "bridge construction" and started riding across through all of these cones and areas covered in black plastic. Well then magically I was no longer on my bike and I was climbing this bridge (that was somehow upright now) and it was covered in spaghetti. Yep, spaghetti. A guy behind me yelled "Hey! You lost your bike!" so I stopped and he climbed up and brought my bike to me. So then I had to continue climbing through the wall of spaghetti with my bike in tow. When I finally got to the top, I was wearing a really nice cocktail dress and heels and definitely didn't look like I had been climbing through spaghetti. We were at a party for the president of Russia. Now, I have no idea if there is even a president of Russia, and if there is what he looks like. But he was certainly there. And he had a crown and a superhero cape and a giant boil on his neck (nasty). Aaaaand then I woke up because I had to pee. I so wish I had stayed asleep to see what else was going to happen.

So there's a fun story for you for the day. Happy Thursday! It's beautiful outside!

34 Weeks, A Wedding and A Baby Shower!

34 weeks...seriously?! Oh my goodness, oh my GOODNESS! Just typing that out seems crazy. In 6 weeks or less (as big as this child is, I'm so not going past my due date...even if I have to beg and scream) Knox will BE HERE!! I am so exited/nervous/scared/ready/ecstatic...I feel like I go through every emotion there is every single day when I think about him being here so soon.

We started childbirth classes last week. It was interesting to say the least. Everyone had forewarned us that they show really graphic videos. Yeah, that was no joke. Clayton informed everyone that he saw a woman poop (he used a different word) out a baby. That was seriously what one of them looked like. I had to explain to him later that every video we watched was of a women going through natural, drug free childbirth. I have no intentions of even trying for that...I am totally pro-epidural. So it won't be like that for me. I think that made him feel better. I am terrified of needles, but I am so much more terrified of horrible pain. At the end of the class the lady told us to bring 2 pillows and a blanket next time so we could practice comforting techniques. Clayton asked if we had to go to that one. I told him we didn't...I have a Junior League meeting anyway. I think he was quite relieved that we didn't have to go practice things we won't even use in front of a room full of strangers!

We went to a wedding this weekend and had so much fun! The bride was a friend from high school and she was absolutely beautiful! We had so much fun dancing at the reception. I got tired really quickly, but it was fun to be able to act like my normal self! I am so thankful to be feeling so good. I even wore heels! And danced in them too! Okay, they were really wedges...but close enough for a pregnant woman! I, of course, took like 2 pictures...none of which show anything about the wedding. I have got to be better about taking pictures. Here are a few for you!

I also had a baby shower this weekend! It was SO much fun and now our house is full of baby things! It is so weird and so exciting to see all of Knox's stuff everywhere. I have loved putting all of his things away in his room. We got so much great stuff and it makes me that much more excited for him to be here!! One thing that has made me laugh so much...we got this video monitor that I registered for. A friend of mine told me it was the very best so I just went with it without even really reading about it. Yesterday when I was unpacking everything, I figured I should open it and make sure it worked properly. Well, it took me about half an hour to figure out if it even worked at all! It is so fancy and I had no idea how to work it! I even read the directions! I finally figured out and I know it is going to give me so much peace of mind when he is sleeping in his own room. It's almost like I'm in there with him! Technology amazes me.

Last but not least, here are today's 34 week 2 day pictures for you! I know you can pretty much tell in the pictures from this weekend, but figured I should have my regular picture too! Not the best pictures...my clothes today aren't great picture taking clothes but it will have to do!

Thankful.

November always reminds me of everything I am so very thankful for. Most people do something they're thankful for every day on Facebook or something. I'm too ADD for that. So I'm going to share the things I am thankful for with you all at once!

I am so very thankful for a loving, merciful God. He teaches me new things every day and loves me unconditionally even when I don't get it or mess up. I have truly come to view him as my Heavenly Daddy.

I am thankful for my amazing husband. There are so many things that I would never make it through without him. I didn't post about our anniversary, but I can't believe we have been married for a year! The past year has been crazy and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Everyone told us that the first year would be the hardest. If this is the worst we will ever have to go through, we should have a pretty stellar marriage!

I am beyond thankful for our precious Knox. I am thankful that God chose ME to be his mom. Some days I still can't believe it. I ask God all the time if he's sure I can do this. Of course, He knows I can. He wouldn't have given Knox to us if he didn't! WE get to raise one of God's children...how awesome is that?! I love this little boy so very much already and I know my heart is just going to be so full of joy when he gets here!

I am thankful for my family. My immediate family and my in-laws. They do so much for Clayton and I, and they are all going to be the very best grandparents and aunts/uncles!

I am thankful for wonderful friends. I am truly blessed with the best friends a girl could ask for. I can call any of them for advice about anything or even just to vent. They are always there no matter what!

These are the things in my life that I am most thankful for. Here are a few more: my job. Claytons job. our home. our country. our animals. our church. beautiful days. rainy days. our small town. my life experiences, good and bad. our health.

Okay, I'll stop there. I'll do a pregnancy update tonight night after my baby shower (YAY!)!

Brace Yourself.

This is going to be an insanely long post! If you make it to the end, I'll be impressed. But don't say I didn't warn you! Last week was slightly insane, so I will catch you up on my exciting life starting last Sunday.

We had our very first shower...a diaper shower hosted by some dear friends of Clayton's family. We had such a wonderful time and got TONS of diapers!! (I apologize for the poor quality of all the pictures in this post. They were all taken with my phone.)

It is all really starting to seem real. Knox will be here so soon (more on that later). We are so appreciative of all the diapers and I know they will prove to be invaluable! I wish I had more pictures from that night...but it just didn't happen!

Monday and Tuesday weren't terribly interesting, so I'll share this cute picture of Tucker instead.

I'm thinking there will definitely be some jealousy issues with a baby in the house. He is definitely used to being the baby. He was abused by a man when he was a puppy, so he's a little skittish around men anyway, but I'm surprised Clayton hasn't given him a heart attack this week. Yes, Clayton is one of those sports fans who yells at the television. So with the World Series going on, you can just imagine. Tucker has been scared out of his mind, and I found him in our bedroom like this one night while we were watching the game!

Wednesday was a wonderful/sad day. How can a day be wonderful and sad all at the same time you ask? Well, let me tell you. Our precious family friend, my mom's best friend Lynne, fought a very valiant battle with cancer for 9 months. She went home to be with Jesus on Wednesday evening. The selfish part of me was sad because I can't imagine her not being here. The Christian part of me was praising God because she is sitting on his lap living the good life in Heaven. She was one of the most phenomenal women I have ever known. She wanted more than anything for everyone to know how much Jesus loved them and how much SHE loved them. My brain is going crazy with all of the things I want to tell you about her. She was kind, genuine, funny, loving, supportive, a great listener and the last to pass judgement. My precious mom spent every one of Lynne's last days by her side. We were talking Saturday night and mom said "You know, one of the hardest things for me is that she won't get to know Knox." I held it together then, but as soon as I got in the car to drive home I just lost it. That has been the hardest part for me, but I've felt so selfish about it. I can't imagine her not being a part of my son's life, as she has been such a huge part of mine. I want to be sure we always tell him about her and I can't wait for him to meet her in Heaven one day. Lynne's husband, Robert, passed away unexpectedly five years ago. They were such a great example of a Godly marriage. They loved each other so very much, but most importantly they put God at the center of their marriage. They were such a fun-loving couple, and I can't help but smile knowing that Lynne is up there dancing with Robert. It's so bittersweet for us left on earth, but Lynne WON her battle! She received the ultimate healing and is celebrating with her groom, her heavenly Daddy and all of those who have gone before her! And as my mom put it, she is enjoying the best party of them all. (:

Jessica was reading Heaven is for Real a couple of weeks before Lynne passed away. She was talking about how it made such a difference in her view of Heaven and how personal it really is. So of course I had to read it. Oh how right she was! If you haven't read it, you definitely need to. It is a short, easy read and I finished it in 2 nights. It gave me such an appreciation for what is truly means to have child-like faith. I've always known that as I've gotten older I've been more and more jaded by the things of the world, but to see Heaven through a child's eyes makes me realize just how jaded I am. One of my very favorite parts of the book is when the dad asks his son if he knows why Jesus died on the cross. The dad was surprised when his son nodded his head and said "Well, Jesus told me he died on the cross so we could go see his Dad." How simple is that? All God wants is to have a relationship with us and for us to join him in Heaven when our time comes. Why do we add so much to that? After I finished reading it I was laughing and talking to Jessica about it and I was telling her how funny I think it is that we think of Heaven as this very proper majestic place where God sits on his throne and we stand in front of Him and have a very serious conversation. In reality, Heaven will be the most beautiful, amazing place we have ever seen and God wants nothing more than for us to run and jump in his lap and tell Him how happy we are to see him! I definitely read this at the right time and I know Lynne is sitting up there in God's lap laughing and asking Him if her outfit is the cutest one in Heaven (which I'm sure it is).

Jess and I have also talked a lot about the difference in sadness about death between believers and non-believers. How do you explain to someone who doesn't know Jesus that you are thrilled for your brothers and sisters in Christ when they leave their earthly bodies without sounding hard-hearted? Believers are sad that they are without their friend. Non-believers are sad because the person has died. I've thought so much about this over the past week, and I still haven't come up with an answer. I want people to know God and be able to rejoice with me when someone goes to Heaven! It's a GOOD thing! In fact, it is the BEST thing! My mom has shared a verse from 2 Corinthians a lot over the course of the last few weeks. It says this:

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

How amazing is that?! God has our perfect body waiting for us when we die. I want everyone to be able to celebrate a friend getting their perfect heavenly body! Okay, are my thoughts scattered enough for you yet? I have so many things running through my head and my ADD is making it so hard to write out!

Moving on now.

Thursday was the Power of Pink luncheon. My mom's one year anniversary of her mastectomy was in August. It's been so difficult for her to celebrate being cancer free when her best friend was battling terminal cancer. It was a hard morning to be at a cancer luncheon with Lynne having passed away not even 24 hours before. They showed a video of so many people around town who cancer has affected. I guess the actual video isn't online anywhere, but it was to this song:

Of course our whole table just boo-hooed like babies. Jessica and I were laughing about the fact that we used our cloth napkins like snot rags before we even ate our lunch! Nasty, I know. The luncheon was great and the speaker was amazing! Her name was Mary Pierce and she has written a few books that I definitely want to read: When Did I Stop Being Barbie and Become Mrs. Potato Head?, When Did My Life Become a Game of Twister?, and Confessions of a Prayer Wimp. She was hilarious and such an inspiration!

My mom also had her seasonal furniture upstairs at the store starting Thursday. If you've never seen any of her pieces you can see her blog Beautiful Things Out of the Dust or find her on Facebook Beautiful Things.

By Friday I was totally worn out from the rest of the week and all I could think was "Dr. Moyers would kill me if she knew what all I had done this week." So, I took it easy Friday. I worked for a little while and then went home (or at least that's how I remember it...I'm sure I managed to keep myself at least a little busy somewhere in there). Friday evening was the visitation for Lynne. Her precious daughter Blaire has been such a trooper. She is such a strong young woman. She has been forced to grow up so quickly and she has done it with such grace. I had to laugh Friday night though because I hugged her and said "You doing okay?"and she said "Eh, you know." I said "Yeah, I'm sure you are so tired of people asking how you are." and she said "Well yeah. I'm not going to say fine, or good. What am I supposed to say: shitty?!" To say she has been amazing through all of this is such an understatement.

Saturday morning was the funeral. I had prepared myself for a long, emotional morning. I was quite surprised when it was anything but that! My father-in-law put it perfectly when he said "At first I felt weird saying this, but that was probably the coolest funeral I've ever been to." And it was! It makes me laugh because everyone keeps mistaking the word "wedding" for "funeral." But how fitting? Lynne was reunited with her earthly groom and got to meet her heavenly groom! The service was perfect. My mom spoke and I was ready with my tissues because I just knew she was going to lose it in the middle of talking and then I would follow suit. But she didn't! I know Lynne was so proud. Mom's words could not have been more perfect and more fitting and they honored Lynne so well. The whole service was so Christ-filled. I don't know what else to say except that it truly was perfect and exactly what Lynne wanted!

Sunday afternoon Clayton and I worked more on the nursery. It is ALMOST done! I got his quilt this weekend and I absolutely love it! I can't wait for the rest of his bedding to be done! My wonderful friend Aubree also brought me a tub FULL of clothes from when her son was younger. I am pretty sure Knox's wardrobe has now doubled in size and he has some new adorable things that I can't wait for him to be able to wear!

Aaaand that brings us to this week (finally)! I took the day off yesterday (thanks Jess) and attempted to rest a little since I have a doctors appointment this week. That didn't really happen...but it was nice to be able to get a few things done and go at my own slow pace.

Today I had another elective ultrasound at AC. I have loved getting to see my little boy so much! And by little, I mean HUGE. His head is still measuring big (ginormous). Thirty-six weeks to be exact. Yeah, I'm only 32 weeks. Oh my! He is 4lbs 7oz (give or take a little), his ears still stick out and he has even more hair! My mom and Clayton both got to go today, so that was special. My mom hasn't gotten to feel him move yet (he is so stubborn) so I was so happy she got to see him! The instructor was trying to show mom his face before she had to go back to school and she just couldn't get it. She said I am "wall to wall baby" and he had his face buried in my hip. Yikes! Their estimates show that he will arrive December 5th. Oh my!!! She did say that as you get further along those estimates aren't as accurate, but still! That is just a little over a month away! I guess that's about it (sigh of relief...my rambling is over). I have a doctors appointment Thursday. Say a little prayer that my blood pressure is still okay! Oh, and I've had to stop wearing my wedding ring. It's driving me nuts! I feel so naked. But at least I made it this long with it. Here is my 32(ish) week picture for your enjoyment!

If you made it to the end of this, congratulations! I'm impressed. (:

Doctor's Appointment

I went for my LAST monthly appointment today! Knox's heartbeat is good and I am still measuring right on track. Most importantly, my blood pressure was down a little from last week-so that was good! It is still elevated, but it's not going up so she seemed satisfied with that. She told me I still had to slow down though and that I couldn't take that as a cue to pick back up where I left off a week ago. It's so hard with the store. I hate putting things on other people, and knowing that I'm going to be gone during the very busiest time of the year right before Christmas makes it so much harder. But it is what it is! As my good friend Katie just told me, I can either give up a little bit now and be okay until he gets here, or keep going and end up on bedrest and have to give it all up! Good point Katie! (:

That was really all I wanted to report...but I did want to document this conversation I had with Clayton last night so that I can look back on it and laugh:

Clayton: I might miss a playoff game this weekend!
Me: You're missing one right now aren't you?
Clayton: Yes, but I know you want to watch your shows so it's okay.
**Fast forward 2 hours when a news commercial comes on saying they will have highlights from the game on the 10pm news.** 
Clayton: WAIT...they really did play tonight?!
Me: Uhh yeah...I wasn't joking earlier!
Clayton: I just thought you didn't know what you were talking about and I was trying to make myself look better than I actually when I told you I didn't want to watch it!


He was so mad at me for posting it on facebook but I just couldn't help it! I was cracking up! I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

There's Nothing Better Than Out-Eating Your Husband.

Yes, you read that correctly. I have officially started to out-eat Clayton. We had Chinese takeout, and after I finished my entire meal in 5 minutes I looked over to see this:

Yeah, that's right...Mine is the one on the right. I have no shame.

We worked all afternoon yesterday on the nursery. And by we, I mostly mean Clayton. The walls are almost done and we got his dresser moved in. I hung up the rest of his clothes and cleaned up a little bit. Hopefully the rest of it will come together pretty quickly!

Also yesterday afternoon, I discovered just how white trash we are. Awhile back Clayton kept teasing me and telling me that he was going to start cutting Tucker's hair himself because he thinks it's ridiculous to pay $60 to have the groomer do it. I kept telling him he better not. Well, one afternoon I got a text that siad "Well, I think Tucker feels a lot better. I gave him a haircut." I couldn't wait to get home to see what he had done to my poor dog. I was pleasantly surprised...it wasn't THAT bad. He's cut his hair one other time since then (which wasn't so bad either), and decided yesterday that it was time for another haircut. Well, I guess Clayton got some confidence in his dog grooming abilities because he went to town.

Oh, and yes-that IS our kitchen island. I told you-white trash. He doesn't usually cut the hair on his face, but like I said, he gained a little confidence. This was the end result.

I just can't even help but laugh! This picture doesn't even do it justice. He looks absolutely ridiculous. And of course Clayton thinks it is hilarious. Poor baby dog.

You can kind of see the rest of him here...but still, doesn't do it justice. You can also have a little sneak peek at the color of Knox's room! (:

I can't believe Knox will be here in 10 weeks or less! We had a little "scare" (it scared everyone else more than it did me) last week. I'll spare you the details, but I ended up at the doctors office last Tuesday with a UTI and "elevated blood pressure." She told me I'm doing too much and I have got to slow down. I told her that was easy for her to say, and she informed me that if I don't and my blood pressure continues to go up that she will put me on bedrest. So I just keep reminding myself of that. I'm still feeling great other than not sleeping much. I figure that's just getting me prepared for when he gets here. I go back to the doctor Thursday for my monthly appointment and hopefully my blood pressure will have gone down. After that I start going every two weeks! Craziness. Here I am at 30 weeks!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

29 Weeks!

Look at that, I'm actually remembering to post at the beginning of the week! I'm on a roll lately. I can't believe I am 29 weeks pregnant! I feel like I repeat myself over and over again...but I honestly cannot get over how fast time is flying.

I don't really have a whole lot to share. I am still feeling great, but sleeping is starting to get really uncomfortable and I get SO hot at night. It's ridiculous. I am such a cold natured person, so that is completely foreign to me. We left a few windows cracked last night because it was so cool out and Clayton got up in the middle of the night and turned the fan down. I was so mad because I was sweating! Then I realized how cold it actually was in our room. I'm definitely not a fan of all this hotness.

I think my hormones are really finally started to get all out of whack. I have definitely been emotional my whole pregnancy, but I'm having hot flashes and some mood swings and that sort of thing. Clayton just loves it. But I think I've been pretty good through most of my pregnancy...surely we can survive these last 11 weeks!

My weight gain has leveled off at about 14 pounds, which I gained pretty quickly, but then I kind of stopped gaining again. If I can keep it under 30 I'll be happy! Even if I gain the expected pound a week for the rest of my pregnancy I'll only be up to 25...so I'm not too worried about it.

My next doctor's appointment is the 13th and then I start going every two weeks. It's really starting to sink in that Knox will be here SO soon. We have GOT to get his nursery done. Hopefully it will start to come together soon.

I guess that's it! Here's a 29 week picture for you. I don't feel like I've really changed very much over the past few weeks!