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!