This and that!

So many random things I have not blogged about lately....just trying to keep up my weekly updates going has been hard.  Tonight I finished up my last round of grades for school for a while, crazy thought!  Now, I finally feel free to blog about all those random things I haven't had time for or felt bad about doing over school stuff!

Let's see where to start Baby Prep:  Okay so Chris and I have not really had that much baby/labor prep!  The funny thing is every time our hospital offered a class we were out of town!  YIKES...makes for a little nervousness on our end, but what can you do really.  However, I do have to give big props to the one thing we DID do for our sweet baby.  When I nannied my sweet niece back oh 7 years ago (wow she is so big..and I am so old) there was a local Target that would hold car seat safety checks.  Remembering this I made a few phone calls over Christmas break.  I called up the Hurst DPS and asked if they still had a car seat safety program.  They passed me right along to a wonderful State Trooper.  Officer Haschel was AMAZING!!  He actually came to OUR HOUSE on CHRISTMAS EVE to take us through all the INS and OUTS of the infant seat.

He came in and did about 20 minutes of the safety features for us.  He showed us how the car seat works in an accident and such.  The whole thing was very informative.  Then he took us out to our cars and showed us the best way to instal the seat.  He installed it and then uninstalled it....then making us do it.  After we installed it he checked and approved.  He said the number one reason babies get hurt in an accident is because the seat is not installed properly!  Check that off our list!!!  We can put that sucker in  like no ones business! Whoo whoo if nothing we are at least ready for the car. (if you live in the area I would love to pass along his info)

Baby R's room is pretty much complete! Check that off the list too.  Oh and have I mentioned the NESTING that has been going on. Nesting, nesting, nesting....like crazy!  The funny thing is that the nesting has not all been done by me either.  I swear if I didn't get the nesting bug, Chris sure as heck did. He has cleaned the garage, we sent the pod back to the pod place, got a new dinning room table, and fixed the office up.   The list goes on and on!  I love that everything is coming together and ready for the next few weeks.  Chris did a great job of making sure all our handy work got done too!  Got to love a handy sweet husband!!!

Okay so I would love to add pictures of all the changes, BUT the camera is packed and ready to go!  Sorry!!!  Guess I wasn't thinking about the blogging I would do :-)  After the baby comes I'll show you for sure!  P.S. Be on the look out for a BOY or GIRL post coming soon!! Sorry for the random long post about nothing too crazy fun...just random thoughts.

Watch me grow, week 39

Pregnancy Highlights:

I'm feeling rather large at this point...YIKES!

How Far Along: 39 Weeks

Size of the baby: All my pregnancy updates tell me it is the size of a watermelon! YIKES!  I am hoping it is really in the low 7 lb range.  

Total Weight Gain/loss: Back to 36, as of last week. I head to the dr. today so I hope no more weight is gained! 

Maternity Clothes:  Just enjoying it while I can...and hoping that soon I'll be back to normal.  

Gender: SURPRISE!! We are not going to find out till Baby R arrives in January! 

Movement: Heavens the moving is out of control.  Chris and I sat in awe on Sunday at church as our little one was moving like a maniac.  My stomach just went up and down like crazy! I am pretty certain this baby will be a wiggle worm.

Sleep: I snuck in a few naps this weekend.  Still sleeping great minus the 3-4 bathroom breaks needed at night.  I hope that means our little one will sleep good too, well one can dream right!

What I miss: Okay don't laugh...I miss being able to CALL SOMEONE and not get an immediate "ARE YOU IN LABOR"  I mean heavens people am I not allowed to call unless I am in labor.  Yes, everyone is on pins and needles but I do sometimes just want to call and chat about nothing! HA However, I am thankful that everyone cares enough to freak out when I call them.  :-) 

Cravings: No true cravings...just wanting to do somethings prior to baby.  Like eating at certain places for the last time just us and such.   

Symptoms: Swelling still, but I hear that is par for the course at this point in life! Braxton hicks also...oh and did I mention that I guess I finally have 'back pain"  My lower back kills me now, I have been living on my heating pad!  

Best moment this week: Well today we head to the Dr for our LAST visit!  Crazy how the past 9 months have just flown by.  I have a few moments this week some that are exciting and some that are sad.  

Sad moment of the week) Knowing that this is my last week with my sweet kids at school!  I am really sad to be leaving them for a while, and yes everyone says I wont once I see this baby....but for the past 6 months those kids have been my kids.  I will miss seeing the daily progress from them.  I just adore my class so much this year and I don't want them to fail because I have stepped away.  I know I am crazy...but it's the teacher in me! 

Exciting moments) Everyone family wise has booked or planned their trip.  I feel like we have a great plan for all to be here to meet Little Baby R!  Knowing we will meet our sweet baby in 5 days is AMAZING!!!  The excitement in our house is out of control you have no idea.  

Last weekend as 2!

Chris and I can not believe it is our last full weekend without a sweet baby!  Next weekend on Sunday (if Baby R sticks it out) January 15th we have planned our induction to meet this sweet baby.  I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  Chris is excited too!!

Of course if Baby R would like to come before that we are really fine with that...but it looks like he/she will need some talking out!  Since my last appointment not much has changed, other than the head moving down more.  I of course enjoy being able to plan some of this out...especially for school and family.   I have had a fear of my water breaking at school, I mean really I don't think 7 year olds should have to see that...ha ha ha  So this information makes me feel a little better about my next 4 days of teaching.  However, many of my co-workers think it would be great if I went into labor there! HA

Also since Chris' parents are all the way up in Minnesota I was worried they wouldn't make it for the birth.  But now we have a plan so that helps out and allows them a chance to get here before anything big happens.  That makes me feel better too.  Also my family can plan there travels easier so they wont be driving like crazy people and risk tickets, they both have drives through small speed trap towns!

If all goes as planned my family will arrive on Saturday and Chris' Sunday morning very early!  Then we will be GO for BABY R to arrive.  Of course I am a little nervous about being induced for various reasons.  A) I hear the contractions suck more B) I may not dilate enough to have he/she naturally C) it tends to take way longer than "spontaneous" labor  Chris quizzed our Dr. last week and she said it is fine and being induced does not harm the baby at all.  He was so cute to be worried about that, but come on I am the one carrying this thing...let's get him/her out and meet them already!  :-)

Until then, Chris and I are going to enjoy our last weekend just the 2 of us.  We had fun with friends last night!  Today I am sure we will try to squeeze in a movie, dinner, or something.  What a bitter sweet feeling this is!

Watch me grown, 38 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

Here I am as we went out to celebrate New Year's Eve! 

How Far Along: 38 Weeks

Size of the baby: Well we have an estimate on Baby R's size this week since we had our sono last week!  Baby R was 6 lbs and 14 oz! Since the baby gains approximately .5 oz a day...I am guessing we are in the 7 lb range for sure!  YIKES  

Total Weight Gain/loss: Back to 36, that lb I lost last week came back this week, plus with a friend. GRRR...at what point can you get NO FATTER?

Maternity Clothes:  Just enjoying it while I can...and hoping that soon I'll be back to normal.  

Gender: SURPRISE!! We are not going to find out till Baby R arrives in January! 

Movement: Although I am still sad about my whole belly button being KICKED out!  I have noticed the kicks that use to be under my right boob have moved down to my tummy area more.  This was confirmed when the Dr. declared our baby's head had moved even further down!  I don't know how much further down it can get....without popping out!

Sleep: Well sad to be back at work, so no more naps! Sadness!! But I seem to be sleeping just like normal, which is great.

What I miss: Well, this week I have begun to miss more stuff.  I think its because we are so close to the end :-) I miss tying my shoes normally, my kids help me out so much ha ha.  I have also started to miss my kids at school.  I know that is silly and not part of pregnancy, but the past few days knowing I am leaving them makes me sad.  I see how far they have come and grown as students and will miss it.  Plus I know they will miss touching and talking to the baby, since daily I have at least 18 pairs of hands on my tummy.  This baby has no idea how many people love it already!  

Cravings:Well...I went to the store to buy our "snacks" for the hospital bag!  HA HA, I walked away with tons of snacks....trial mix, sour patch kids, m&m.....guess I was in a snack mood that day. 

Symptoms: Swelling still, but I hear that is par for the course at this point in life! Braxton hicks also, not too bad but enough that you stop and wonder when the next will come and if it's the REAL deal!

Best moment this week: I have 2 this week!

1) Our weekly Dr. visit going as planned but most of all setting our induction date.  There is just something about knowing your baby will be here NO MATTER WHAT by Jan 15th that makes life good.  We are so excited only 8 days.

2) Coming home the other night to Chris who was on the phone with an old friend.  I of course went about my business...then I hear them chatting about pregnancy and all the ins and outs.  It is so cute to hear Chris talk about what he has enjoyed, the changes he didn't expect, and how he can't wait for the baby to arrive. Of course he has no idea I was listening to his conversation from a far...but it made my heart melt!  

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Amazing that another year has come and gone!  2011 was full of so many memories!  Let's take a look at what our year was all about!

January:

Claire and I enjoy a quick trip to pick up an award for the Arlington Tennis Association Adopt-a-school program

February:  

I won tickets to the best Superbowl concert ever....Blake Shelton!  It was Chris' first country concert and what an amazing one it was.

SNOW/ICE-CATION:  We had a huge snow/ice storm allowing us to have the ENITRE week out of school. Plus it allowed us to enjoy all the super bowl fun going on around town! 

My sweet wonderful grandmother joined my grandfather in heaven on February 21st.  Thankfully I had gotten to spend a few days with her prior to her arrival there.  However, it was still one of the events we could have done without this past year.  We love you Grandma and Grandpa!

March: 
Axa Awards banquet in Houston.  We had a blast staying at the Four Seasons being spoiled to death!

Winston ready to go to the Doggie Dude Ranch

Our goodies as we got to our room.

Ready to go out and enjoy our night!

SPRING CLEANING!!!  Yes, we spent most of spring break cleaning up the house getting ready to put in on the market.  Little did we know we would be living that way for a while now!

Good Bye house and hello POD!

We even cleaned up the flower beds and put down a new walkway!

April:
Chris and I got to enjoy a nice little vacation to San Diego thanks to his work! We had a great time there checking everything out.  Plus we hung out with many wonderful friends!

Bobby's annual Crawfish boil and Chris's family came to town!  We always enjoy heading over for a little backyard fun at Bobby's.  This year Chris' mom and sister joined us too!

 Following her big brothers lead! Ha Ha

May:
Oh sweet May!  May ended up brining our house more GOOD NEWS than we would have ever thought!  We began this month with A RUN TO REMEMBER the OKC marathon.  Our whole family ran in memory of my Uncle who passed away the year prior! It was amazing to see us all come together!

Here is the whole family gathered the night before the big race!

Of course Chris and I found out there was something else going on in our worlds! This little thing was a very nice surprise on MOTHER'S DAY!  It is a Mother's day I will never forget!

June:
HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY to US!  Chris and I got to spend our fist anniversary married together.  It was a very nice low key event, but we enjoyed every moment of it. I cannot wait for many more to come!

Chris got to enjoy his first Father's Day knowing that he actually would soon be a father!  We finally got to see our sweet baby too for the first time!

Baby R at 9 weeks!

July:
July was finally the month we TOLD the WORLD about our new bundle of joy!  First we told my parents then his on the family cruise!  July ended up being a very exciting month.  I was so happy to finally not be hiding such amazing information from our friends and family!

Here we are heading out for the Roberts' family Cruise!  It was a blast and I can't wait for next years trip!

Our first public up date about our sweet baby!

August:

August proved to be a very busy month for tennis! Our team made a trip to Little State and we had a blast!

SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL!!!  I began preparing my room for those sweet wonderful kiddos that would soon arrive!  

September:
September brought on great memories of traditions we have!  First off Chris got to enjoy our annual Labor Day trip to Arizona without me this year!  Sine I will need maternity leave I opted out, but the guys had a blast still.  I enjoy some R&R here are the house!

Also this marked our 2nd anniversary of our ENGAGEMENT!  Yes, 2 years ago Chris asked me to join him for the rest of his life on this wonderful adventure!

October:
October brought another year in age for me! Guess we can't stop that from happening right! Of course Baby R has continued to grow, causing me to really look prego this month!

We also had a little Halloween fun, or at least Winston did! Chris and I realized this was our last Halloween without a baby! Crazy

Oh and my wonderful tennis team made it to sectionals! Whoo Whoo! Thus allowing a quick trip to Waco and a nice family visit from my Sister and Co!

November:

Ahhh now it is Chris who grew older!  Yes, I married a younger man, ha ha!  Not only that but Baby paloza began at our house!  We really started to see gifts and goodies roll in the door for sweet Baby R!

My tennis team gave me my first baby shower! It was amazing and they did to much like normal.

Chris was just in awe of the goodies we got

THANKSGIVING FUN!  I got to spend the first part of Thanksgiving with my family, then rounded it out in MN with Chris' family.  We had a blast and enjoy our holiday with family. 

How could we forget that such a sweet little pup turned 3!

December:

Baby R had another shower, of course full of way to much stuff!  Chris' family and mine headed down to attend the shower. We enjoyed getting to spend time with the family since we were her for Christmas!

Oh and did I mention we FINALLY FINISHED the baby's room!  Here are a few pics of it in transition to the final product!

Here it is today!

 Those are our bags packed and ready to go!
  Sorry Iphone pic is not the best

Wow, what an amazing year! I love looking back and seeing everything that we did!  Hope you have a wonderful 2012!