A few of my favorite things...

I thought I would share with you some of my favorite outfits you can expect to see Grant in this fall! He has quite the collection already thanks to both of his Grandmothers! I received a couple of gowns and outfits from my sister-in-law, Lesley that Ron's Mom had sewn for my nephew George. My Mom-in-law, Jody, amazes me with her awesome talent for sewing and smocking. Grant is going to have some beautiful one-of-a-kind garments thanks to his "Mimi!

Take a look at all of Grant's clothes! We haven't even had the first baby shower yet, this is going to be one well dressed kid!

This is a bubble that Jody made for George and was passed down for Grant. I'm in love with it and the smocking detail. All the clothes that Jody makes have a tag on the inside that reads, "From Grandmother With Love."

This little sweater Jody brought us on her visit Memorial Day Weekend. It has a puppy face on the front and notice the puppy dog ears on the hood. I love it and the fact that it zips up the back to make it easy to put on and take off.

This is the first outfit that I bought for Grant. As soon as I found out we were having a boy I rushed out and splurged on this jon jon for next Spring/Summer. I went with the construction theme in honor of his Daddy.

Baby Shower #1 on the Way, Yay!

I'm so excited for my first baby shower on June 14th in Clinton. It is being hosted by two of my best friends from High School, Jessica Rouse Martin and Emily Griffin Greene and also by some of my Mom's friends. It's going to be held at a Bed and Breakfast in Clinton, The Shield House. Check out their website, www.shieldhouseinn.com I received the invitation in the mail this week, isn't it precious? I'm also very excited to visit with friends and family who have not yet seen my baby bump. Can't wait! Ron and I are going to a wedding in Auburn tomorrow for a couple we befriended during our time there. On Sunday morning, I'm getting up and driving once again to NC and will be there for the entire week! I plan on visiting friends in Greenville and Wilmington and spending the majority of my time in Clinton. My sister Beverly, is flying in on Friday the 12th and I'm estatic to see her! We have not seen eachother since Thanksgiving. She is currently living in Philadelphia, PA and her busy schedule does not allow her a lot of time off. Thank you to all of my wonderful family and friends who have gone to great lengths to make this shower possible, Grant, Ron and I are truely grateful!
Riley is finally acting like his old self again. He's still a little sluggish and hopefully he's recovering from whatever was wrong. I told him this morning that we would be visiting "Tessa" (My Mom's Pomeranian, that he's loves!) very soon and he perked up!
This past Wednesday marked the beginning of the third trimester for me! I'm 2/3rd's of the way there!! Grant and I are doing very well. My last doctor's appointment was last week. I had to endure the glucola test which is when they test you for gestational diabetes. Diabetes is very prominent in my family so I was a little concerned. Testing positive for gestational diabetes can make your pregnancy quite difficult. Luckily, I passed with flying colors! Woohoo! The test consists of drinking this thick syrupy red drink which is FULL of sugar. You then have to wait an hour for them to check your blood sugar levels. The doctor checked Grant's heartbeat during the one hour waiting period and it had sped up to 154 BPM, it's usually around 140BPM and his response was that the baby reacts the same way to sugar that we do. He was on a sugar high! My belly is getting bigger by the day and is starting to get in the way of my everyday activities. Painting my toenails and even shaving have become increasingly difficult. I've been very lucky to not have any trouble sleeping, I do have one pillow though that is an absolute neccessity to have at night and I think the pillow is the reason I've been so comfortable. I've been experiencing some pretty strong kicks lately, sometimes Grant will kick so hard that it's almost like a tickeling sensation and it will make me laugh out loud! Ron continues to encourage me to read to Grant, and he has conversations with him at night about all the cool places they are going to visit together without Mom. One being, Easter Island, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island. He reads to Grant often from the book, "1,000 Place to See Before You Die. " We are having a great time daydreaming about our little boy and being parents.

Happy 4th Birthday Riley!

In the spirit of blogging about our first baby I could not dare leave out Ron and I's first fur-child, our beloved dog, Riley. I adopted Riley from a military family in November of 2005 when he was six months old. He instantly won my heart and the time I have had him has just flown by. Last Wednesday, Ron and I helped Riley celebrate his fourth birthday with a trip to the local PetSmart for some excitement and a new treat/toy. He had a wonderful birthday and we thought we might as well do up his last birthday before the new baby arrives as best we could, because we all know how chaotic life with a new baby will be.
Last Thursday, I start noticing that Riley was not acting like his normal high spirited, happy self. He was hiding under our bed all day, not eating and when we took him on walks I pretty much had to pull him along. I noticed he was also whimpering and seemed to be in pain. Not being able to find any physical signs of a broken bone or anything wrong I thought I'd keep an eye out for the next couple of days for any changes and not rush to the vet right away. Saturday morning the UPS guy rang our doorbell and Riley, the great guard dog that he is went balistic barking. Almost instantly, Riley triggered what had been bothering him the past couple of days and fell back like he was having a seizure. He was screaming in pain, his body was shaking and he went stiff. I went to comfort him and protecting himself, he bit down HARD on both of my thumbs and would not let go! (This is completely out of character for my fur-baby, he would never hurt anything or anyone!) I got my left hand loose and used it to pop him to get my right hand out of his mouth. Talk about scary. I immediately got on the phone with a local friend to ask about area vets. I have not found one yet because of the move. I called around and none of the local businesses were open. So back we went to the local Banfield animal hospital in PetSmart. This visit was much different than the one a couple of days earlier. Being in my pregnant emotional state I was a wreck. I was balling crying worried about my little one and shocked about him biting me! We met with the vet, took x-rays of his spine and neck and go figure, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with my little one. After an injection of pain-killers, a pain killer perscription a high vet bill and peace of mind that nothing was broken we walked away from PetSmart none the wiser. The vet and I believe Riley must have just pulled a muscle or he might have a pinched nerve, so we're still watching him closely and taking it easy. This episode with Riley has truely been indicative of how Ron and I will be as parents. Ron wants to keep Riley in his kennel all day so he can rest and not risk hurting himself again and I want to get him out to hang out with me and keep me company. Ron will definitely be the disciplinarian in our relationship and I'm going to be the feel sorry-for-you pushover. Riley is still hiding under the bed and only coming out to use the bathroom and still acts like he's in pain. Hopefully in a few days he'll start to feel like his old rambunctious self again. I'll keep you posted but for now say a little prayer for our fur-child that everything will be ok!

New House Pics

I thought it was time that I shared with all of you some pictures of the inside of our new home! I still have tons of decorating and projects I would like to take on and the bonus room is a disaster. The house is starting to feel more and more like home everyday. Enjoy!

This is our living room

This is the bonus room which we still have not touched.
Guest Room

Grant's nursery has a long way to go! :)

The office upstairs

Kitchen

Dining Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Memorial Day Weekend

Ron and I enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend with his parents! They flew into Pensacola, FL on Friday night from Charlotte and flew out this morning. We had a fun packed weekend and managed to do and see so much while they were here. They loved our house and Spanish Fort, it's nice to have family and friends visit. During their stay we visited Ron's workplace, downtown Mobile, Fairhope, Daphne, Orange Beach, Ono Island and Pensacola Florida. Jody surprised me with tons of clothes for baby Grant, we really racked up. She also taught me how to crochet! Thank you Jody and Jim for a wonderful weekend!

24 Weeks

This past weekend Ron and I went to Orange Beach, AL and stayed with our friends Kimmy and Nathan. This is my very skinny friend Kimmy who just so happens to have a seven week old people. Doesn't she look amazing??!! In fact I don't think I'm going to take any more pictures next to her for the remainder of the summer! Anywho, we went to see Sugarland on Friday night and enjoyed a relaxing weekend away from it all! While at the concert I had a couple approach me, the wife mentioned her husband had been watching me since we arrived and that he wanted to rub my belly and she asked if it was ok. Very strange couple in deed but I let the guy "rub" my belly nonetheless and he did so in a "wax on, wax off" sort of way, I'm not talking a gentle pat here. Weird!
Grant and the pregnancy are going well. Grant is becoming quite the kicker, I think we have the world's next great soccer star on board. Last night while reading a magazine in bed, he kicked me a couple of times, causing my magazine pages to jump up. It was the wildest thing! Other than the constant kicking, I feel the amazing energy I've been enjoying the past 10 weeks slowly slipping away. I'm getting tired more quickly these days and have not been able to accomplish as many projects in a timely manner as I did when we first moved. I'm relishing every moment of the second trimester with the third right around the corner. Oh and the newest and most dissapointing development... my wedding ring and band will no longer fit on my finger! I can force it on when I know we have a social situation to go to in which I do not want to look like I'm simply "knocked up." The same goes for my watch and all of my fabulous clothes. All in all, I'm enjoying every minute of being preggers and watching my constant growing belly take on a life of its own. Ron recently has become very protective of me and his little boy. He's constantly worrying if my day-to-day activities are safe. I stayed behind this weekend while everyone enjoyed time on the boat and he was a nervous wreck Friday night when we visited the famous Flora-Bama, I was the designated driver of course. It's all very sweet and comforting and I'm lucky to have such a loving and doting husband. We're looking forward to Ron's parents coming to visit this coming weekend for Memorial Day. Stay tuned!

Grant's Nursery

Since we are finally in our new home I can start putting Grant's nursery together! Sorry the pictures are above this post, I don't know how to post them below... anywho, I purchased this Young America crib and dresser in Auburn so it made the move down with us but Ron just put it together two nights ago and I'm in love with it! It's a converter crib so it will grow with Grant and extends out to a double size bed. I found his crib bedding online from Serena and Lily, it's the tatum collection and is simple and beautiful. I found the adorable sea creature wall art above while visiting friends in Wilmington a couple of weeks ago at Baby Swank. I think this will add the punch of color the nursery needs and currently I'm taking advice on colors you all think I should do for a rocker/glider. So far, the nursery has been so much fun to work on, I bought the crib mattress yesterday at Babies R Us and now all we need is baby!

I had my first doctor's appointment today with my new doctor in Mobile. His name is Max Rogers, and he was referred to me by my friend Kim who has a six week old. I waited for about an hour to meet with the doctor and finally they called me back and told me the doctor had been called away to a delivery. They gave me the option to wait or reschedule. All of a sudden the doctor popped back in, I was able to meet him in person and he apologized to me for the inconvenience. He offered for his ultrasound tech to do a complimentary ultrasound for the inconvenience. I was delighted!! Another chance to see little Grant! This practice actually had a LCD screen on the wall so the ultrasound picture was projected larger than life for my viewing pleasure. Grant was facing my back, we never did get to see his little face. The tech said he was being stubborn. He now weighs 1 pound seven ounces and his heartbeat was 140 BPM. I took home one picture from my ultrasound of his foot. Random I know, but that's what she gave me and I didn't want to complain! Anywho, being in a new home and unemployed, I'm anxious as ever for this time to fly by so I can meet my little one, I think he'll love his nursery, what do you think?