23 Weeks, 142.5 lbs - WOAH!

I know I am late yet again with my weekly update... I promise I am trying but it is SO busy right now. Soon, school will be done and the Girls' Ministry will be on a break...and maybe then. For now, you get a short post with pictures :)

New Symptoms: My whole stomach area is flaking/peeling. What is that about? Never read that in any of my baby books or heard any other pregnant woman talk about it. But, every morning I lube up with Tummy butter and every evening when I undress, flakes are everywhere. It's like I'm shedding my skin...weirdness.

Her kicks, are now officially visible. I don't spend much time just staring at my stomach but during certain times when I'm forced to be still, you can see her. I was sitting by a little high school girl on Wednesday night at church and she kept looking at my belly...haha, I finally acknowledged to her that "Yes, that was the baby she was seeing!" haha, I think she was a little freaked. Not only that but, her movements are now so big that she physically wakes me up at night. You know when you wake up because you are startled and you KNOW something just happened but you aren't sure quite what it was...that happens over and over again now. It scared me at first because I thought something was wrong, like my water was breaking or I was having contractions or something...but, I guess it's just her doing her gymnastics as 3 am!

Pictures from my Teacher Shower:Brandy, Me and Mom (Mom Wow, I didn't have any of you...where were you during pictures?)

All the Teacher Hostesses

GIFTS!

And Food!

22 weeks, 139.5 lbs (Holy, busiest weekend ever...Batman!)

What a week! It definitely had it's ups and downs...I'll just go through it day by day!

First, as I was getting ready for school on Wednesday morning (running late as ALWAYS) I get a call from Mrs. Sessions (she's the one I do SGA with at school). She informs me that the front office has "all-called" for me and that I need to hurry up and get to school. So, I stop the process of applying my makeup and jump in the car, all the while trying desperately to remember if I was SUPPOSED to have a parent/teacher conference I forgot about...So I skid into my illegal parking space, jump out and power walk toward the front office. Mrs. Sessions sticks her head out the side door and hollars at me. She said, she found out what they wanted so I didn't need to go to the front office. Just follow her. She was a good ways ahead of me so I started power walking in her direction. I saw that she headed for the SGA room so I followed suit. I walked in to a pitch black room, where she flipped the light switch and all 81 of my little SGA babies yelled SURPRISE! The waterworks started. (turns out those kids had been sitting in the dark for 20 minutes before I showed up...aww) They had decorated the room with streamers and balloons. They had a layout of food, good food, and a big chair set up and surrounded by presents that THEY bought themselves! It was the BEST surprise EVER! I'm glad I hadn't applied my eye makeup because it would have been streaking down my face I'm sure...but, I wasn't so thrilled that the pictures would be indicative of my naked face. I got the cutest little gifts, a pink bumbo, a hot pink beach tent (which will be used until it falls apart!) and my favorite gift of all...a sweet scrapbook that the kids put together (well, mostly my little sweetheart Weston). She got everyone to trace their hands and on them write a piece of advice for Charleigh. Then she decorated the pages, with cute scrapbooky-type things and adorable, sweet sayings. It was the MOST precious thing. Just to read what these kids had to say to my darling angel, before they even knew her :) It was a perfect day.

They surprised the "begebbers" out of me...I cried.One of my SGA boys...

They even had a great spread of food!

This is my sweet little Weston (which we almost named our kid)...she was the mastermind behind all this!

That night Jus and I went to Big Mama's house to eat dinner with Jon, Ang, and Jack. I wore my first "real" maternity shirt. Jackson is so cute. He asked if he could teach Charleigh how to walk when she gets here...of course we said YES! Justin loves that little boy, he took him to WalMart to get a new Star Wars Lego set, they spent the rest of the night putting it together....it started off with Jack in the driver's seat, but somehow ended up with Justin hovering over it until it was done. For some reason Jackson acted really shy around me this visit. He normally will throw his arms around you and give tons of kisses, but this time, every time I asked for a hug or a kiss, he just blushed and ran for one of his parents...I think he is finally starting to realize the difference between boys and girls, and he realizes I'm the "girl" one.

Oh and just when you thought Wednesday was over...NOPE! Late that night my mom, Brandy (my oldest sister) and my little neice Tatum came. I showed them my loot from the surprise shower and we hit the sack. Tatum walked in the door with a present she picked out for Charleigh. A little onesie that said "Does this diaper make my butt look big?" I love to hear her say Charleigh's name..."Chaw-lee".

So, finally, Thursday was here and I woke up excited to go to my Teacher shower. A few close teachers organized and invited the others to this shower and I had a great turn out! My Mom, Brandy and Tatum got to attend and Mrs. Joy came over from Avalon too! Wish you could have come Rachel :) but work is work! My Mom and sister kept saying how pretty all the teachers at my school were. I mean, they just KEPT saying it. So, if you are one of my fellow Pace teachers reading this right now...know that you are beautiful! At least my Alabama kin were impressed! (I'll have to post pictures of this shower once my mom sends them to me...) After the shower mom and Brandy had to head back to Bama and I had to head back to work. :(

That night we again had dinner with Jon, angie, big mama, and jack. But this time it was at La Ha. I spent the rest of the night STRUGGLING to get all my Prissy Pink Polka Dot orders done for the next day...whew!

Then comes Friday, I went to work like usual and as soon as I pulled in the driveway, so did Jessica (my youngest sister) and Trey (her boyfriend). They came to spend the weekend with us! I was invited to be the guest speaker at the Florida Baptist Children's Home Banquet so I directed Jess and Trey to the Melting Pot for a romantic dinner without Jus and I that night. The banquet was the sweetest. I love those kids, even though I don't know most of them. The girls are involved in our Chosen Girls' Ministry at the church so, I've grown to know and love them. It was a blessing to address that kind of crowd...people who just...love...

Well, while I was speaking it up, Trey took Jessica down to the beach after dinner, where he wrote "Will you Marry me?" in the sand! They got engaged! They have already set a date for exactly one year from now , May 15th.

So, after all the excitement, it was finally time for bed...praise the lord, I was tired.

Saturday, Justin took Trey fishing while Jessica and I went to the beach. The last two times I have gone to the beach I have gotten NOTHING...this angers me as I am pastey! Well, it was at the beach that my psycho-ness started. I told Jessica that my left leg had been hurting me for two days now. I thought it was just pregnancy cramping and such, but, it was consistent for a very long time, and getting more and more painful instead of less...I decided not to worry and enjoy our beach day. I had told Justin about the pain and he too thought we should just give it time. Not too long later Jess and I left the beach on our way to meet the boys for lunch. The only thought that kept running through my head was about my leg. My family has a SERIOUS history of blood clots, my mom especially. So, I started to get really worried. The doctors are constantly telling you that "pregnant woman are more suseptible to blood clots". So, I remember being so worried on the car ride home that I didn't say much at all. I couldn't focus on anything else. If a blood clot broke loose in my leg and traveled up to the baby...she would die. I just kept thinking...I couldn't live with myself if something happened to her and I could have prevented it! So, all these thoughts are swirling and I am SURE I am not good company at this point. But, we finally made it to lunch where again, I sat very quietly. I tried to force myself to be social but there was an overwhelming worry that I could not shake. It was then that I broke into tears and realized that this girl was going to do this to me for the rest of my life. Nothing else in the whole world mattered except keeping her safe. I didn't care about the pain (although it was pretty bad) I just wanted desperately to know that Charleigh would be okay. Justin realized this and was worried as well so we sent Trey and Jessica on some more "alone time" and headed to the emergency room. After three hours, ultrasounds on my legs, and checkups on Charleigh, the doctor diagnosed me with Sciatica. Which just means that the baby was lying on my Sciatic nerve (yeah, that's the big one that comes from your back and runs down your legs). I was so relieved to know that our baby girl was not in harm's way. The bad news...doc says there is absolutely NOTHING we can do about the pain, tylenol doesn't touch it, and we can't make the baby move! So, we shall suffer. That night and the next were the worst nights of my life, sleep-wise. I didn't. at all. Except for the two hours that I dozed off in a scalding hot bath tub...I think my burning skin took my mind off the nerve pain...haha. **Update on this: She moved! PTL! the pain started getting a little less and less, and finally now it's almost non-existent, I hope it doesn't come back!**

Good news about his whole thing is that we got a 3D ultrasound out of the deal! Bad news...she had her head burrowed in my left hip bone (hence the sciatic nerve pain thing) and we couldn't get a clear view of her face. But, I'll post the tiny bit we got. We plan to schedule a better 3D ultrasound in about a month or so :) Can't wait to see what she looks like!

That's her finger curled up under her nose...not some weird growth. And the ultrasound tech said that it is not her hair that you see in these pictures (sure did look like it to me) but the dark spots are amniotic fluid. He said all baby's hair is white at this point in the pregnancy (weird fact of the day). So, even though she looks like a balding old wrinkly man...he assures us her skin is smooth and her hair is light (at the moment).

It's hard to see much on the one above. I told you she was wedged in there! But you can see a little bit of her nose and lips! Plus she ALWAYS has that hand by her face, both of them most times.

So, that night we decided to invite Ben and Sam and their two little boys over for dinner with Jess and Trey too! Cade fell asleep and Samantha put him in Charleigh's little bassinet, he filled it up completely! it was too cute. I loved seeing a baby in there!

Sunday was church, lunch with our Sunday School friends and then Jessica and Trey had to leave :(. I spent the remainder of the afternoon working on SGA stuff for our awards banquet on Tuesday. That night Frank Lay, our principal at Pace High spoke at our church. He has had such a hard year...the ACLU keeps bringing law suits against our school for "pushing our Christian religion" on our students. Frank has been so gracious and strong through all the persecution and threats. I wish I could go into all the details and just HOW bad it is. But anyway, all the locals know. It was the only time I have seen someone get a standing ovation BEFORE they even spoke! I love that man! Please pray for him, as the storm is getting really thick right now. Maybe I'll write more about that later...

Monday was our last bible study for the Girls' Ministry for this year. It was bitter sweet. We all need a break, I work my leaders to death without any pay! But, I just love meeting with these girls every week. But, we have some GREAT things in the works for this summer!

Next week at a glance:

- I have a MILLION Prissy Pink Polka Dot orders to fill, I'll be working on those in my down time, wait, I don't have down time...on to Plan B.

-Tuesday morning - teacher bridal shower to attend, SGA banquet that night...So GREAT!

-Wednesday - errands and church

-Thursday - ultrasound ** update: we went to our appointment. Here are some pictures!**

I know the one below looks kind of like she is making a scary sound but, she was in the middle of a cute little yawn, this is just the picture we captured. It was way less creepy looking in person...haha!

Look closely at her little mouth...she's doing that sucking thing I love!

Here is her slow motion yawn...

-Friday - dinner with Mom Wow, I need to try to hang out with Kristen and Viv while they are in town. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN

-Saturday - work on more PPPD orders, more cleaning, UFC party

-Sunday - church, lunch, nap, church

-Monday - Work on our end of the year banquet for the Chosen Girls' Ministry!!

-Tuesday - Chosen Banquet!

21 weeks, 139 lbs

Alright, the weight is officially coming in buckets! I'm not too worried about it except for the fact that my husband looks at the scale this morning and proclaims, "Geez you weigh almost 140lbs!" To which I gave him an evil stare...then he tried to defend his comment by saying "You have an excuse, you're pregnant." This did not help. I explained to him that he might as well have said, "Geez your a huge heifer!". haha, oh well, I'm enjoying every minute of it. Hopefully P90X will help me after little Charleigh is here! (Joanna, I really hope I can do this!)

Well, as for symptoms: Nausea is a long lost friend. Sunday was a dizzy/nauseous day but other than that, I haven't had to take my medication in a while :) Yay. I am up a lot more at night now, with the whole back pain thing and now the peeing thing has started back again. Prissy has always slept with me at night and even SHE is getting annoyed with my constant movement...she's over there with Jus most nights now, or under the bed completely. Sad :(

My first Pre-Mother's Day was Sunday. A lot of people remembered me on Mother's Day which I considered very sweet since I haven't technically gone through the perils of motherhood yet. I am so excited to stand up with all the mothers next year on Mother's Day! Charleigh left me a card (thanking me for giving her so much maccaroni) and a basket of flowers on the counter. Yes, I said a BASKET of flowers...haha, you know the kind you get for your grandmother?? Justin and I laughed at Charleigh's taste in floral arrangements...she needs to take lessons from her daddy who always sends mommy the BEST arrangements (from a floral shop of course)...I think it is the whole "going to the store and picking them out yourself" that threw her off :) Needless to say, it was a perfect gift on a perfect day!

So, I was looking back through some of my pregnancy pictures and realized that I didn't have ANY of my full body, like face and all. haha, I never realized that it might be nice for my child to see my smiling face along with my fat belly! So, here is one at 21 weeks!

Charleigh's first craft!

So, I've been wanting to do something crafty for my sweet little girl but have had NO time these days. It is so hectic every minute and the orders have been flooding in to the Prissy Pink Polka Dot (www.theprissypinkpolkadot.com). So, as I've been laboring to get everyone elses' orders done, I just kept thinking of all the things I would and should be making for Charleigh. So, I got my first chance when my mom bought her this cute little diaper bag. I love the damask print and I added her name in hot pink! I couldn't get the best pictures of it but, these will do. The cool thing abou this bag is that is is a cavas type bag inside of a clear vinyl type bag. That way the canvas doesn't get dirty and it's waterproof! Pretty nifty :)

Halfway There! 20 weeks, 137 lbs.

I can't believe I am halfway there. I remember thinking I would never get this far, and if I ever did, the world would be my oyster! And it is! I am well into the 2nd trimester and am just now realizing why people say this is the best time of pregnancy. The nausea is almost gone completely! I haven't tossed my cookies in weeks! I have an episode or two in the middle of the night sometimes but, they are few and far between now...yayayyay! I am really starting to show, all my co-workers and the kiddies at school comment on it every day. They keep calling it my "little belly"...which is endearing, it doesn't seem so "little" to me. I look down and BAM there it is, just sticking out there. I've found that I fit through tight places better facing frontward rather than turning to the side like most people do, that's weird to know. I'm starting to reap the public benefits of pregnancy now, like, common courtesy stuff...people rush to open doors for me (like I'm a little helpless being...I'm for it!), if there are lines in the bathroom, lots of people will let me jump them (no I don't ask!), and I am NEVER allowed to lift heavy things...even if they really aren't that heavy! I hate lifting things, so this means a lot to me personally. I'm looking to really enjoy this time when I am not so huge that it makes me physically uncomfortable, I can still wear all my normal clothes and it doesn't look terrible, and my growing belly is starting to make my thighs look smaller! - added bonus! One other cool thing that has been happening lately is that my tummy gets lop-sided now. I can sometimes tell which side she is on because one side of my belly is harder or sticks out a little farther...so weird, yet so cool.

Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some negative things going on. Like...back pain. Oh, nighttime is not my favorite. I already woke up nightly with back pain from my scoleosis (sp?) but, it's not the same. Before I could always pop my back and relieve the ache, reposition, and go back to sleep immediately. Now...my muscles in my back are so tight, that they won't let my back pop. So there is no relief, I try to reposition but, I just wake up in more pain an hour later. Some nights are better than others so I won't complain.

Anyway, I went to see Dr. Mehta on Tuesday. He measured and listened to her heartbeat and said everything seemed great. I had been feeling this weird feeling lately and it started again while I was sitting there with him. I described it to him and asked what it could be. He got back out the little doppler thingy and started listening again. Every time I felt the weird twinge he said she was rolling over and doing flips! I didn't know that's what it was...He actually commented that she was one of the most active babies he's seen...I believe it!

I have my first baby shower a week from today and am SO excited! I'll post pictures!