Rock-a-bye-baby

Grant's Rocker has finally arrived! I ordered it a couple of weeks ago from Storkland in Pensacola, FL. Would you believe there are zero baby furniture stores in all of Mobile?! The one they did have went out of business about four months ago. Ron and I drove to Pensacola (it's only about 45 minutes away, yep I'm only 45 minutes from Florida!) on Saturday and picked it up. Ron put it together after a very frustrating couple of hours and here is, the finished product! I couldn't be happier and can't wait to rock my sweet baby boy to sleep in it. :) It needs a pillow, what do you think?

30 Weeks

Only 10 Weeks left! Can you believe it! The time has flown by since moving to Spanish Fort! The pictures above were taken yesterday of Kimmy and I in Fairhope, AL. We met her family there for lunch and a bit of site seeing! This picture was taken at the Marriot Grand Hotel, we couldn't resist the scenery. Kimmy decided this week to not return to her job as a mortgage broker and to stay at home with her little girl, Savannah. I'm thrilled with her decision because now I'll have a Mommy friend to get together with during the day with Grant! Grant is getting bigger and bigger by the day. All of my books say he should be gaining about 1/2 a pound each week from her on out and I should be gaining about a pound a week, oh boy! Last night, Ron and I actually felt a body part move across my stomach. Probably an arm or leg, this movement was much different from Grant's usual quick kicks. It was unreal and exciting! I will be visiting the doctor every two weeks now. I had a dissapointing doctor's visit once again this week, being that I never saw him... he was once again called out to labor and delivery for an emergency and I had to settle for the RN instead. She took my blood pressure and listened to Grant's heartbeat. Doing so she stated, "Happy Baby!" Grant's heartbeat was 165 BPM. He must have been very active at that moment because his heart was racing! I look forward to going back to the doctor next Wednesday, hopefully this time he'll be able to make my aquaintance. Fingers crossed!

Clinton Baby Shower

On Sunday June 14th, I was "showered" with gifts galore by some of the best friends a girl could ask for! Jessica Martin and Emily Greene along with several of my Mom's best friends hosted a baby shower for me at the Shield House in Clinton. Below are some pics from the afternoon. It was great seeing everyone and catching up, it had been too long!

Here I am with childhood friend, Rebecca Hales, and the hostesses with the mostess', Jessica and Emily

Here's another photo outside of the Shield House with the majority of the hostesses plus my Mom, Sister, Beverly, Mom-in-law, Jody, Aunt Jean and cousin, Natalie.


Check out the spread!

The most amazing diaper cake given to me by Pam Griffin. It came complete with two monogrammed blankets, John Deere Tractor toys (which were Ron's faves!) Baby Rainbows, Baby booties, Teether Toys, Peter Rabbit and much, much more...

Here are all the gifts before I tore into them...

And after... Grant sure is a lucky little boy. We got some great stuff!

Monogrammed burp cloths from Mrs. Patsy Rouse

Beautiful Monogrammed Blanket from Mrs. Jan Butler

Decorative "G" Canvas made especially for Grant's nursery by my friend Kim Chapman

Catching up with best friends, Jessica, Ashley and Ms. Nancy

The shower was a blast and I still can't believe all the wonderful things I received! Grant will be very well dressed his first year of life and even has his own set of luggage! We also received a lot of the baby basics, bath stuff, diapers, wipes, bibs and burp cloths! Thank you to all who were able to come to the shower and to all that helped host. I truly appreciate your kind generosity and for helping Ron and I prepare to welcome Baby Grant in a few short months!

Sweet Carolina

I returned late Tuesday night after spending a week in NC. Riley and I got started on our roadtrip in Auburn after attending a wedding the night before. Riley loved his new carseat his Grandma sent especially for the trip. He was able to sit up high and look out the windows and didn't go flying into the dashboard everytime I slammed on brakes!! Eight hours later we arrived in Clinton where I spent a few nights with the folks...

Tuesday of that week I headed to Greenville, NC to visit all of the lovely Pi Ladies who still live in the area. I was able to meet my friend Lauren's new addition, Ivy Caroline, what a doll! Ivy is seven weeks old and looks just like her Daddy!

That night I met the girls out for dinner at our fave restaurant, Chico's. We had a great time catching up and talking about the good 'ole days! They all mentioned after we took this photo that it would probably end up on my blog. You're right ladies! Here it is, sorry Jackie and Meagan for blocking you in the pictures. I'm large and in charge these days! Later, I spent the night with Brittany and managed to go out to lunch the next day again with a majority of the girls. Oh, how I miss you all...

On Thursday I cruised to Wilmington as planned to visit with Brooke even though Maggie had chosen to not yet make her appearance. Brooke's due date was June 9th and I visited her on the 11th. She called me right before I got to her house and asked if I could please go get her a reese's blizzard from Dairy Queen. Gotta love those cravings, I obliged and of course, treated myself! Here is Brooke at 40 weeks and me at 28, the difference in our bumps is amazing. Ron said, Wow, I thought you were big. (Thanks, Dear.) Brooke ended up going into labor later that night and welcomed Magaret Grace Hooks into the world at 1:10 am on June 12th. If only she could have come one day earlier! After visiting Brooke I had a blast shopping around Wilimington with my great friend, Kim. Check out her blog, Chapman Chattings on the right side of this page.

One must see store in Wilmington for the expectant Mom-to-be is Peanut Butter and Jelly. They have great baby furniture, clothes and maternity boutique. Imagine my shock when I decided to try something on and walked into the fitting room to find this...

Yep, that's Brooke all right! Brooke, please don't get mad at me for posting, you're beautiful! Brooke agreed to "model" for the photographer who took her son's first year pictures, he's trying to break into the maternity photo biz and thought Brooke was the perfect candidate to lure in all those expectant Mom's. I have to agree! They turned out so great, he's put her pic all over town! You can check out her blog as well on the right side of this page.

On Friday, one of my childhood best friends, Lauren, came to visit me at my parents house. She was in town for her younger brother's high school graduation and was not going to be able to attend my shower on Sunday. I got to meet Lauren's little girl for the first time, Claire. Claire is 16 months and her son Ethan is 4. It was great seeing her and her Mom and catching up on the last few years!

On Saturday my brother, Jeffrey and sister, Beverly both came to Clinton. It was the first time in a long while we had all been together. We celebrated Jeffrey's birthday and Father's Day early that night. It was great for all of us to be together again. We took a ton of photos on Beverly's camera which I shall post later, once she sends them out. My baby shower was on Sunday and what a fun time that was! So much so, it deserves it's own post. Stay tuned... Grant is one lucky little boy, he really racked up!

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!