Waiting game....

It seems to me that once you hit that last month of pregnancy you start to play the hurry up and wait game. I had my baby shower in mid November and got a lot of great stuff! I went to the Dr that Tuesday and my blood pressure had jumped, my weight increased more than usual and my swelling was significant. Dr. B put me to bed an extra 4 hours a day until my next appt. It really put into perspective that at this point, Devin could enter the world at any time! This freaked me out a little, so Chris and I went that night and exchanged some things and finished the items that we needed on our registry.

He has been such a good sport. When told that I had to be in bed an extra 4 hours a day, I wanted to burst into tears. (If you have ever been pregnant, you know this is a pretty normal occurrence near the end.) So when I got in the car I did just that and called Chris. Of course, me being such a planner, I had so much left to do, and there was no way to get it all done if I was in bed! He had promised to go to BRU to help with some of the heavier items but kept telling me not to worry, I could give him the list and he would go if he had to. Anyway, we went that night and he escorted me...2 shopping carts+ later he told me he was glad I went b/c he never would have been able to get all that stuff in an hour! hahaha...at least he knows his way around there now. That place overwhelmed me the first time I went to but now I know where everything is! He has since been back with me b/c apparently I am the most indecisive person in the world now...and to think of all the reviews I read, and I still keep changing my mind! Or maybe it is just my way of shopping.

Anyway, my blood pressure and weight had stayed about the same by the next week and my swelling wasn't quite as bad so the Dr told me that I didn't have to do an extra 4 hours a day but that I do need to be sure I am taking the time to rest and not pushing myself the way I tend to do. This was music to my ears! I was so worried she would put me on full bed rest which would have been one of my worst nightmares....besides a C-Section!

We had a nice Thanksgiving at my parent's house. Mom kept asking me to do things and I put my foot down b/c she had told me before I came she just wanted me to take it easy and rest. Thankfully my cousin was there to pick up the slack and take care of the things my mom usually has me do for her! We spent the rest of the weekend taking it easy and hanging out with my Aunt Bird and Cousin Awol.

I have just about finished my Christmas shopping now. I am still feeling the pressure of time and would rather have the shopping outside of the house done. I have a few more gifts to get but nothing Chris couldn't handle for me if needed.

Chris put the tree up last weekend and put on all the lights and ornaments. I just don't have it in me this year but I always really enjoy it so I am glad he did it. And he did a great job!

I went to the Dr yesterday again and my blood pressure is still about the same. My swelling is still pretty excessive but there aren't any other changes or signs that make my Dr think pre-eclampsia anymore. She did check me and I am 90% effaced and fingertip dilated. Last week I was NOTHING. This doesn't necessarily mean anything other than my body is starting to get ready which is better than it continuing to do nothing. I have been having a lot of braxton hicks lately and Devin has definitely dropped and entered the birth canal. It literally all happened over night. I took a pic of my belly the other night and by the next night everything had changed.

I have about 100 lists of things I need to get done going so I have been busy resting and doing those things for the past few weeks. I am feeling pretty good and not completely miserable, although I am increasingly more uncomfortable. The only thing that really bothers me is when I am getting dressed and none of my shirts are long enough to cover my belly! I am having to get creative these days and I had to give in a buy a few long sleeve shirts last weekend. My friend let me borrow some but she was early in her pregnancy in the winter so none of hers are long enough either!

I feel like I have written a novel. Time to go pack my hospital bag!

Here are some of my belly from this week. These are of my bare belly...oh my!

This is before I think I dropped:

From Sono and Belly Pics

And this is after:

From Sono and Belly Pics

Boy time is flying now....

I find that the closer that I get to the end of my pregnancy the faster time seems to be flying by! I am 35 weeks today which only leaves me approximaely 5 weeks before Devin makes her appearance. More and more people, especially strangers, are asking me when our baby will be here. It is always the same types of questions. When are you due? Is this your first? How long are you taking maternity leave? Any weird cravings?

Week before last my boss and I went to a technology conference that we go to every year. Fortunately it was here in town at the Gaylord, or I would have had to miss it. It is always a wonderful conference and I am really glad I didn't have to miss it! We went a day early and visited the spa and pampered ourselves a little bit which was much needed after the October tax season we had this year. We met up with some of our local CPA friends and also saw some of the CPA's that we see every year at this conference. All in all, it was a wealth of information, a welcomed break from the office, the most enjoyable CPE that we get, and a lot of fun!

Yesterday a group of my friends and family threw my baby shower. I had a wonderful day and can't thank each of them enough for the things they did to make it special for me!

I didn't really get any pictures on my camera so I am waiting for some friends to email me theirs still. One that I got was of Chelsea and I. She is two weeks ahead of me and it has been nice to have a friend to be pregnant with and so close in our progress. We talk pretty often and compare what is happening. Here is a pic of us together.

From November 08

We got a ton of clothes and lots and lots of adorable girlie stuff! I went home afterwards and my aunt, cousin, and some friends came over and we went through all of the gifts again which was just as much fun as the first time. Chris got to see everything that time around and I got it sorted into some piles as you can see from the pictures. Now I have this fear that she will be a boy!

Me and my hubby

From November 08

Blankets, bibs, burping and bath

From November 08

Clothes and toys

From November 08

Travel and laundry

From November 08

And the most adorable dress from my mother in law

From November 08

I can't thank all of my friends and family enough for making it such a special day for me! Thanks to all involved in the planning as well as those of you who came to share our special day!

I will update more when I get more pics. For now I need to get dressed and run to my aunt's house to see my cousin off. Have a good weekend!

Some favorites of the dogs...

I haven't posted a lot of pics lately of the dogs but there are a few really cute ones from Austin.

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

Look how cute Harley and Lance are in the sun spots

From september 08

And Izzy is the only one with long enough legs to get on the bed herself

From september 08

I adore this pic of Lance...

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

Maternity Pics

The first ones are a few I took.

Almost 27 weeks

From Sono and Belly Pics

31 weeks

From Sono and Belly Pics

Now for the maternity pics we took in Austin! I have to give many thanks to Tali for taking the time to do these for me. They are so wonderful to have and we ended up with a lot of really wonderful pictures. Here is her website: www.wildhousephoto.com. These are just a few of my favorites. These were taken at 27 weeks.

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

For the entire album click HERE.

And there are even more pics...all of them in fact if you click HERE. The password is devin. These are all pics that Tali took....like I said, there were a lot of great ones so it is hard to choose favorites!

Nursery Pics

A few pics of the mostly finished nursery..

View from the doorway

From October 08

From October 08

From October 08

Chris and I made the collage with Devin's name on it. We both are really proud of it and had a lot of fun making it together. It was one of the projects though where we both really wished Kortnee where here to enjoy it with us.

From October 08

Elaine's Arrival

Here are some pics from Elaine's arrival at the airport.

Edward waiting for her...for what seemed like forever!

From October 08

Finally here!

From October 08

From October 08

From October 08

Everyone at the airport...me behind the camera

From October 08

At dinner the next night

From October 08

Elaine with Harley....she loves holding him and from the expression on his face he loves it too!

From October 08

Finally a little free time....

So that past few months have been extremely busy to say the least. With the end of tax season, which was probably the worst October 15th deadline we have had in years, came a lot of long hours and no free time what so ever! We managed to meet our deadline though somehow. I am just glad it is over! We needed someone to help us with some of our easier returns last year but Chris and I pulled together and worked a lot of extra hours and managed to get them all done between the 2 of us. Once I found out I was pregnant though, it became obvious to us that neither of us wanted to or would be able to work those kinds of hours every year so we hired a new person to help us with the taxes and learn a lot about everything else while in the process. He has been a great addition to our team so far and I think we both feel he will do a great job in the coming months in helping us keep the workflow moving while I am working more minimal hours in the first months of Devin's life.

So since I last posted we have had a lot of happenings. I had my 30th birthday which was spent working but was a great one. Chris came in that morning with flowers, a card and even got me a cake. I worked that night at home b/c that weekend Chris took me to Bonnell's which is a restaraunt with a lot of wild game on the menu. It was wonderful! I had the pepper crusted buffalo and Chris had elk. He was suffering from a sinus infection and started to not feel well while at dinner so he didn't enjoy his until the next day, but the food was fabulous and neither of us can wait to go back!

The next week came both the long anticipated arrival of Elaine as well as our 4 year wedding anniversary. Chris and I celebrate both of our anniversaries b/c we put in almost 6 years before we ever got married....I can't believe that this March we will have been together for 10 years! An entire decade!

My dad and I went to the airport with Edward to pick up Elaine. It was a great experience and I am glad I wasn't too exhausted from the long night before at work to go. Elaine's family here was at the airport as well. It was an exciting night for all of us! I will post some pictures in another post.

The next night was our anniversary and my parent's took all of us out for dinner.

Then I took Thursday and Friday of last week off to do some personal things, a little nesting included. I had been dying to get some work done on the nursery so I spent a good deal of the day on Thursday and Friday working on it. Although I haven't bought any baby stuff yet, the nursery is done with the exception of a few minor details. I LOVE it in there. I will post some of those pics in another post as well.

Then this weekend Chris and I hosted a welcoming party for Elaine at our house. It was a chance to get her and her family here together with all of our family here and for everyone to meet Elaine. I was so busy doing everything else that I never quite remembered to get my camera out. I think Elaine's aunt may have gotten a few pictures though so I will have to see if they can send them to me.

I am sure I am leaving out a ton but this is probably a long enough post for now! I will post some pictures in seperate entries.

Technology is amazing!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks for me! It feels like I have been working nonstop which for the most part I have been. I did manage to take a weekend off and go to Austin to visit my cousin Awol. We had a great time together and it always nice to be with my seeester. Her friend Tali came over on Saturday and we did a maternity photo shoot along with some of Alison and some of the dogs. It was a lot of fun! I have only seen a few of the pictures and will post my favorite of those, but I know there will be a lot that I love whenever I get the rest!

From Maternity Shoot @ 27 wks-9/08

Hopefully by the next time I am able to blog, I will have the rest!

In other news, I went to the Dr. last Friday and had my glucose test. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and everything came back great. No gestational diabetes for me which I am happy about. While I was there Dr. B asked me if I wanted to get a 4D sono and I told her I had been thinking about it and asked how much they are. She said it was on her! I had really been wanting to get one but it just didn't seem practical to spend the money on it with all of the other baby expenses we have coming up. Now that we have had one, I am not sure we will be able to not get one for our next child. Chris and I have both been a baby haze ever since. He wasn't as excited about it as I was beforehand, but man did that change afterwards. The sonographer said we got some really good shots, and that most babies don't cooperate and tend to cover their faces. I have since found out, many people are lucky if they get one or two good shots. I guess Devin was ready to be the star of the show that day! I can only imagine what this will mean when she is here. ;) Watch out daddy!

Here are a few of my favorites where she is smiling or it is just a really good view:

From 4D Sono @ 28 weeks

From 4D Sono @ 28 weeks

From 4D Sono @ 28 weeks

So who do you think she looks like? We can't wait to meet her and see if she actually she looks like the sono.

I hope she is as peaceful and happy when she gets here. I just can't get our precious baby girl's face out of my head now. Click HERE for the full album.

Well, time for bed. It has been a long week of working late and I have a long weekend ahead of me. Less than 2 weeks though and this tax season will officially be over.

Another week down...

Today I am 26 weeks along today. I guess that makes me about 6 1/2 months.

Last weekend my parent's came over and saw the nursery for the first time. They both loved it! My dad asked me if I had a glider yet or not and I told him no, it was something I was going to get soon, but hadn't done it yet. He told me that I was welcome to take the glider that he had at his house. Wow! This is a hospital grade glider and much nicer than anything I could ever afford to buy! I think at one time he was selling them and this was one of the models he had that was just being stored at the house. The baby kitties have been working hard to destroy just about everything in their house, including the glider, so he was glad to put it to good use as well as protect it from those razor sharp nails. I went by there this week to look at it and sit in it again. It had been a long time b/c it is usually covered by a fleece blanket that Mr Yaller and Whippy Lee slept on. They both passed away last year and the new kittens don't have the same appreciation for a comfy cozy spot I guess. Well, he wanted to load it up in my car right then and there, and I let him! I am going to find something to cover it with b/c the color really doesn't mesh well with the colors in the nursery, but it is a great addition to our room. We even considered putting it in the living room, but the setup just didn't allow for it.

Last weekend I went to Gallery Night with Mara. I have always loved Gallery Night even though I tend to visit all the same galleries numerous times throughout the year. Although I couldn't drink this year (there is free wine and snacks at all of the galleries), I enjoyed looking at stuff and seeing people out and about that I never see otherwise. That is one of the wonderful things I love about Fort Worth, the rich arts district. After we had been toa few galleries, Chris, Todd and Bianca met up with us for dinner. That little Bianca is so cute and she was so well behaved. Everytime we have gone out to eat with her she has always been pretty well behaved but Todd and Mara tell us otherwise. It kind of reminds me of my own childhood. Edward and I were perfect angels anytime we got the chance to go to a friend's house, but then when we got home, all hell broke loose! I think we both liked to get out of the house and be with other people and so we made sure to maintain perfect behaviour so we would be invited back again. I bet she has already figured out this trick!

Last night we met some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. This is by far my favorite wings place and I am so happy they are opening one down the street from where we live! We stayed there for a long time and had a lot of good laughs. I always have a great time with this group of friends. We realized last night that one of the guys there loves to hunt, and a lot like Chris, hasn't in years b/c he doesn't have a place to go to or people to go with. Chris was so excited to find this bit of info out and was already trying to set up a weekend for them to go to the lease. Hopefully that will work out b/c I would love for Chris to have someone to hunt with from time to time. I hate for him to go by himself, it is just so dangerous to be out in the woods with no one else around.

Here are some recent belly pics:
This is at about 25 weeks:

From Sono and Belly Pics

And at about 26 weeks:

From Sono and Belly Pics

Just for kicks, here is a video of the princess Izzy. Little does she know, there is about to be a new princess ruling the roost! I think she was trying to get a blanket. She is a cold natured little thing and not very good at sharing so she wanted the blanket Chris has to herself. She is telling me about it here.
Is she not the goofiest thing? I tell you what, this dog has a personality all her own!

Well, I have rambled long enough. It is time for me to start doing all of my Sunday chores!

Lots of Things!

It is hard to believe how fast he time is going by! I am already 24 weeks. That means I am officially in my 6 months of pregnancy which is hard for me to wrap my brain around.

I have been falling behind on my updating and it will be more sparce for the next few months with the end of tax season upon me. I am already working an extra hour or two here and there during the weeks.

Edward got back from China last weekend. He went there for Elaine's interview and she got approved! He tried not to get his hopes up too much b/c there are so many technicalities, but Elaine got approved! They are both really excited as are the rest of us! As of right now, the plan is for her to be here in mid October.

So, in preparation for Elaine and the baby, Edward and I trecked out to Ikea yesterday. I wanted to get a few decorative things for the nursery and Edward needed to gets some storage for clothing. His apartment has really come along nicely, but he needed those drawers badly. I got some cool lamps and a great lamp shade that goes with the nursery perfectly. I also got a new rug for the nursery and a new one for the living room. Then we went to his friend's new store in the mall just a few blocks from there to check it out. It is a fabulous store and I will most definately be buying some clothes there after the baby is here.

Chris happened upon a deer lease that was priced so incredibly low that he decided to get on it. We have discussed it for years, but he has always chosen to wait and buy some land someday. That is still in the plan, but at least he has somewhere to go in the meantime. He went down to it this weekend and checked it out and picked out his spot. It is 1400 acres and has Wildlife Management Area on both sides of it, which means there is a TON of land for him to hunt b/c he also got a public hunting permit this year. It is quite a drive, so he won't be able to go every weekend, plus, it is too far for him to be from me as my due date gets closer, but he will get to hunt it a couple times this year for sure.

In baby news, things are going really well. we have decided on Devin for her first name. We are still discussing her middle name. My weight gain is right on track with what all of the websites I visit and books I read say. It is hard to believe though b/c I feel huge! I had another appt last week and a sono and got the see the baby for awhile. At one point, we were looking straight at her face, and I saw her opening and closing her mouth and drinking amniotic fluid which was really neat. She is still measuring about a week earlier than my due date but that is never set in stone. Devin will most likely decide what her true due date will be. She is starting to move a lot more frequently and last week I started being able to see it from the outside. It is especially neat in the tub b/c it makes the water trickle around my belly when she is kick boxing! My mom was able to feel her the other day, although, I know that it was subtle movement compared to usual, so she hasn't felt how hard that girl can kick yet! Chris' mom is out of control. :) She sent a package of baby clothing and said she has more to send. That is hard to believe b/c I swear she bought out every store she went to. There are a lot of really cute outfits and that is something I haven't bought any of, so it is fun to have some clothes now too. I feel like my belly button might be trying to push out, b/c it has been really sore for the past day. My Dr is really happy with how things are progressing, and assuming the most recent test they did comes back negative, she will start treating me like a normal pregnancy. That is both exciting and scary. It also means I won't be getting as many sono's. :( I trust Dr. B completely and know she has both Devin and my best interests in mind so all in all, that really would be good news. It is just scary to think they won't be micromanaging my body anymore, which does put some of my worries at ease. Other than getting increasingly more uncomfortable, I am feeling really good and have enjoyed being pregnant so much!

Here is a pic from last weekend at 23 weeks:


Here is a pic of the sono from last week. I haven't posted one in awhile. It is always so much clearer when you see it on the screen and can be hard to tell what it is that you are looking at. This is a view of Devin from the front. You can see her two eyes looking at you.



Well, I have rambled enough for now. I find I am doing that a lot lately!