4th of July Weekend!

Wow! What a packed, fun weekend! So many pictures to tell the story so, I'll keep it short. On Saturday we started our celebrating by heading over to Ben and Sam's house for a little fun in the sun and steaks, grilled to perfection (until Ben and Justin had the "pepper accident"). Aren't they a cute little family?

Justin and Ben spent most of the time playing with little Hayes in the blow-up water slide. I REALLY don't think this was made for grown men but, try telling my husband that.
Jus thought it was hilarious to pull Hayes's pants down as he was climbing up the slide, do boys EVER get over hinny-humor?
After we wrapped up there we headed to a get-together with most of our Sunday School friends at Jaime and Adam's.

I guess it would have been good to get my belly in this picture? Just know, I get wider on the way down these days ;)

I just love Titan and Tacoma (combined they weigh less than Prissy...they are the tiniest/most agressive pups I know...they've got little dog syndrome and they hate Justin! haha)

We stuffed ourselves again (especially me with Jen's banana pudding...I ate three, rather large, helpings ;) So worth it! Then we broke out the Trivial Pursuit...we ALWAYS play Trivial Pursuit, Boys vs. Girls, but this time we had the new Wii addition. Pretty cool I must say. The boys spanked us (I'm sure this was the first time EVER!) haha

And after we got tired of using our brains we had to get the Band back together:
Jen on Bass

PePe (whose real name is Felipe but we like to make him "extra mexican" at times) is killing the vocals and Adam on Guitar.

Master of all drumming (Justin was taking all the pictures :) and I'm not sure where Jaime, Charity, Jonathan, Shaun, or Chris were? (By the way, Tyler and Susie...where were you Sat. night?)

So we recovered enough to make it to church this morning and then were so excited to go out on the boat with Jaime, Adam, Jen and Felipe...

Check out PePe. I took this picture as my husband says, "Dude, he seriously got at least 6 inches of air!"

Jen, killing the wake board

Jen and Pepe

Yes, Adam is kind of the man on the wake board and yes, everyone hates him for it.

And Jaime, with her signature move we like to call the "T-Rex"

Jaime and Adam

The boys are so silly, every time someone would fall off the wake board Justin and Felipe would go into "Bay Watch" mode and jump in to save them...looks like Pepe has Adam, Justin...who exactly are you saving?...the board?
And our feature performer of the day...Jus! it was his first time wake boarding and things were looking grim at first. (check out the slack in that line)But it wasn't long before he got up and going...
Even trying a few daring tricks on his first run...He's so manly!

And, Charleigh and I just did what we do best, relaxed and tanned :)

28 weeks, 148 lbs. THIRD trimester!

The revenge of the "charleigh" horse! Seriously, I had never had a charlie horse before, those suckers are painful. I've actually been getting them for a few weeks now, just like everyone warned me I would. To be honest I remember thinking, "Yeah right, how does a baby growing in your belly cause your legs to cramp..." And now, I know.

Craving update: Everyone keeps asking me what I'm craving and to be honest, nothing. I craved a LOT more at the beginning of my pregnancy but lately, I'll just eat anything! (except vegetables of course, oh poor Charleigh, good thing I take my vitatmins religiously :) But, I will say that this week, I've definitely been craving chocolate! And I know it seems like EVERYONE craves chocolate (pregnant or not) but not me. I like chocolate, and I'll eat chocolate at any time but, I've never been sitting on my couch and had this strong, urgent desire to down some Reeses' or make myself some chocolate milk...Oh I am going to gain SOO much weight this trimester!

So, as you can see in our previous post, we had our 3D/4D ultrasound and got to see our pretty little girl. 3D ultrasounds are a bit creepy but you just can't help yourself...to be able to get a little glimpse of your precious offspring, you'll do anything! After just watching her in 3D moving, sucking, sticking out her tongue, smiling, kicking, etc. you are just amazed that this little perfect person is growing inside you. How can you not praise our Creator? Even though it's my body that is "making" her and constructing her at this moment, my body can't do THIS! My body can't tell her fingers where to form and her eyes how to blink. It can't instruct her little lungs how to breath even though they've never felt air...it's just all so amazing, and I really can't believe it's happening to us :)

My prayer for our daughter:

O Lord, search Charleigh and know her. Know when she sits and when she rises; percieve and direct her thoughts from afar. Discern her going out and her lying down; Be familiar with all Charleigh's ways. Before a word is on her tongue, know it completely, O Lord. Hem her in-behind and before; lay your hand upon her. Such knowledge is too wonderful for her, or me, too lofty for us to attain. Where can she go from your Spirit? Where can she flee from your presence? If she goes up to the heavens, you are there; If she makes her bed in the depths, you are there. If she rises on the wings of the dawn, if she settles on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide her, your right hand will hold her fast. If she says, "Surely, the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created Charleigh's inmost being; you knit her together in my womb. I praise you because she is fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are WONDERFUL, I know that full well. Her frame was not hidden from you when she was made in the secret place. When she was woven together, your eyes saw her unformed body. All the days ordained for her were written in your book before even one of them came to be. How precious to her are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were we to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When Charleigh awakes, she is still with you. Search her, O God, and know her heart; test her and know her anxious thougths. See if there is any offensive way in her, and lead her in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139)

Well, we also had another doctor's visit this week, with my regular OB. He is not optomistic about this placenta previa. He says he is 75% sure we will have a C-section. The good news is that instead of it having to be 2 or 3 weeks early, it will only have to be 1 week early (since my previa is marginal instead of complete). I know that we would LOVE to have her 2 or 3 weeks early but I want to make sure she has plently of time to grow and mature in there. Doc is estimating that she will be close to 8 pounds (but not over 8)...I was 7 lb 2 oz and Justin was 9 lbs!! Charleigh is measuring in the 66th percentile (means a little big for her age) but luckily I'm tall and she has lots of room in there, my belly is measuring small for this stage, Woo Hoo, let's stay away from those stretch marks! My mom never got any through ANY of her pregnancies so I am hoping I'll take after her :)

This week Big Mama and I plan to start construction on the bedding and window treatments! I am really hoping that all I have planned for Charleigh's room is going to turn out like it looks in my head...I'm scared it may be a bit busy but...we'll see! So, by this time next week, I should have more updated nursery pictures.

Exciting news, for those who want to know...SHOWERS are in the works! My love language is gifts, those who love me, know this...so when someone offers to throw me a shower, I cannot describe how loved I feel. It really means so much to me for people to take time, money and effort out of their lives just for me (oh and Charleigh). So, July 26th we'll be enjoying a shower up in Bama with all the fam and old friends. I am so glad I get to share this with my sisters and all my Aunts and cousins and friends from back home. My "old" church is throwing it for us, all those ladies are just so sweet and babies are their FAVORITE! I have to go by my mom's Sunday School class every time I am in town to model the growing belly...they just ooo and ahhh. I know that they were prayer warriers in our time of need. I am so thankful for that. And then all my girlfriends here (with their powers combined) are throwing a shower the very next week (Aug. 1st)...this is going to be the mother of all showers. I don't know how they are going to do it but they are amazing so I'm totally excited and honored. Instead of doing a couple smaller showers here in Pcola they decided to roll all of them into one (which I must say is a blessing to me!) and invite EVERYONE in our freakin' church...well of course not everyone but, a large number of folks. Thank you girls with all my heart for the hard work, cooking, decorating, invitation mailing, etc that I know you will do for this. You are my heroes! Since the guest list is continually growing please let me know if you don't get an invite and would like to come. Is that weird to say? I just don't want to forget anyone that I know and love and it turns out...that is A LOT of people!

*Update* I got a picture of our changing table in the construction process so far... it's perfect! Thanks Trey for all your hard work so far!

**Update Update** I just had a sobering realization. If you scroll down to the very bottom of our blog you will see a little baby ticker. It shows where we are in our pregancy and says some witty thing below it. I just scrolled down and saw that we are almost at the end! I remember through 4 pregnancies now, posting one of those tickers every time and just yearning for the day that we would make it to the 3rd one, you know, the one where the baby actually starts looking like a baby, and every time, we wouldn't, instead we would have to start all over again with a new ticker but....oh joy, God has given me great blessings and and overflowing heart today :)

Our Sweet Little Charleigh

I'll post my 28 week update and belly pic tomorrow. But for now, I couldn't wait to share our 3D pictures!

Here is her sweet little face. The tech kept saying how she has big pretty lips...were did she get those from?:

For all my family out there, doesn't she look like Tatum in this one?? Check out the dimple on the right cheek:

I like to think she is praying here:

There is one of her "boats" we like to call feet. She had her foot right in front of her face again, she likes that position it seems:

And here is her face with her hands and feet in front of it...this is why her butt is ALWAYS in my ribs!
Sooo, who does she look like?

27 weeks, 146.5 lbs

Good news: nausea is seriously few and far between so, I'm happy. I also got a belly support band that is WONDERFUL! It helps relieve all that pressure and those "ripping" muscles that I talked about earlier (I don't know why I put the word "ripping" in quotation marks, as if that makes me feel as if we are talking about something hypothetical...maybe it's a mind game?)

More good news, with all the chaos that is our lives these last few months we haven't done a THING to Charleigh's room. I mean, the dead animals (i.e. deer heads and mounted fish) were still on the walls, my treadmill was still in there, TONS of hunting stuff including a nice oak gun cabinet filled with rifles. It was SO not my little girl's room! So, luckily on Monday, my mom came down and we got to work. I do have to give Justin credit, after a stressful week at work he still managed to get all the furniture and heavy stuff out of our way just in time :). We spent the next 4 days running errands to get everything we needed (plus just the regular bazillion errands I have to run everyday...why does it seem that every day I have a full list, even though I DO get things accomplised the day before...it just doesn't make sense) and, of course, we PAINTED!

I want to warn any of you traditional, "calm-type" people out there that you may not be a big fan of Charleigh's nursery. I just figure she is going to be quite the sassy girl and wanted to give her a nursery to match! I'll post some pictures of our work so far but, keep in mind, the window treatments, bedding, and furniture (which is all being MADE right now) will bring it all together! Speaking of furniture...the one piece that we are not having made is the round crib...which I wanted desperately for Charleigh's nursery. So, I am so excited to announce that Paw Paw and GrandMaMa are getting that for her! Actually, they already got it, but when we started unpacking the box, it was damaged soooo, now I have to send it back and order a new one...sigh. But it should be here soon anyway! I am beyond happy about my child having a place to SLEEP!

On the far wall we decided to do an argyle print, and when I say "we decided to DO an argyle print" I mean, we decided, for some reason to paint my child's nursery by hand with tiny craft brushes. Haha, okay, so we were able to use regular paint brushes for some of it, but we kept getting deliriously giggly and would keep going back to the fact that NO ONE in their right minds would use tiny craft brushes to paint a room but...we did for a lot of it! I love how it turned out, just preppy and pretty enough for my taste. (Those colors were pink and brighter pink,

in case you can't tell by the pictures)

Across the room, on the opposite wall, we did black and white stripes. A little bold for a nursery but so cute none-the-less. We will definitely be having some pink accents on this wall for sure. Hey, I've also been reading and apparently the bold contrast of black and white, stimulate the baby's vision so, this wall may just be good for little Charleigh!We also took the door off the closet and painted it pink as well, She already has a closet full of clothes (and another bin full that I didn't have room to hang up yet...don't worry, Jus is installing another shelf in there for her)
Also, I do realize that we had an ultrasound last week and I STILL have not posted the pictures but, my scanner at home is broken (has been for a while now) so, I was using the one at school to scan my ultrasound pics...now that I am not in school anymore...I'm having a problem. I just need to go buy a new printer/scanner...sigh. Until then, here is a small video of our little girl. It's not the most interesting of all her videos, she was actually pretty chill this visit, I think she is just running out of room these days.

Big Mama got to come to this ultrasound and see baby Charleigh moving and kicking and doing all her tricks for the first time! I already see her sweet (and as I mentioned before, sassy) personality. I just love her. High risk doc says I still have that darn Placenta Previa but he thinks it still has time to move. Charleigh weighs 2 lbs and 5 oz already, a little big for her age but, healthy says the doc. Next on my list is Childbirthing classes and all that good stuff!

Also, it has been brought to my attention that I do not post ANY full body pregnant pictures on this thing and to those who are hurt by this...I am very sorry :) My mom is definitely one of those people so she made me do a small photo shoot in my kitchen after our day of running errands...

The traditional pose...

As you can see, cotton dresses are my FAVORITE these days. Maybe because it's been over 100 degrees all week long...man it is sooo hot!

The last drama I've been dealing with this week...my iphone. I just got one less than a month ago, paying full price might I add. And then, I see on TV that they have come out with a new improved iphone...for the SAME price I paid! What? Why didn't anyone at AT&T warn me they were about to reduce mine to half price and introduce a new one...I would have waited! So, I had to take mine back (you have 30 days to return it) and order one of the new ones. So, until it comes in, I am back to using my Palm Pilot. So, if you are a follower of mine on Twitter or my friend on Facebook/Myspace, sorry, the updates and emails will be reduced significantly until I get it back :( The good news is that I get upgraded from 8 gigs to 16 gigs, get the new features of the iphone and a brand new phone, for nothing basically, just a little inconvenience really.

Mom just left, sad. I'll post more pictures of the nursery as our window treatments and bedding get finished!

26 weeks, 145 lbs.

Well, the week started off with me and my prissy little dog getting some much needed pampering, I took her to the grommer and got myself a mani and pedi...much needed people. I feel like I am always writing the horrid things about pregnancy on here, but there are definitely some good points too! So let's discuss: My nails grow out of control these days, and they are nice and strong, I now get my REAL nails done, not the fake kind! My hair is getting thicker and longer, still not thick or long enough, I don't think it will ever be though. People give me their chairs for no reason, well, besides that I am large. I like when people touch my belly, I'm not offended, or creeped out...at first I was embarrassed because it really just looked and felt like a fat roll that everyone was staring at and rubbing on but now, it definitely looks and feels like a baby...i have grown to like it :) And mostly, I am so happy to be having this baby. No matter what this pregnancy throws at me, she is so worth it. I have longed for her so much. So, ignore my complaining and know that deep down, this is the best thing that ever happened to me (besides you Jus, oh and Jesus of course!) haha!

So with that said, I will briefly mention that the nausea has peeked it's ugly little head again. It is not as constant as it used to be, but when it hits, it is stronger than ever. Again, totally worth it but, as you can see in the weight area, I was making some steady progress until now...that is all I will say about that :)

Today, we go to see Charleigh again! I can't wait, I just know she is doing fine because she is constantly moving, all the time, non-stop. Pretty much everyone in our immediate families has gotten to feel her. It's not hard, you just push on one part of my belly for a few seconds and BAM, she kicks you...she does NOT like people invading her space or disdurbing her sleep (she is SO going to take after her daddy). Justin's new favorite thing is to WATCH her kick, or roll. He thinks it is the funniest thing when my whole stomach is just jumping away or totally deforming as she switches sides...it's pretty weird feeling too I must say. He also likes to put is ear up against my belly and see if Charleigh will kick his face...I'm not sure where he got that from but he just laughs when she does it...he's so cute! By the way, he is now training for a marathon. He really wants to accomplish this by next spring, so he started training early. He doesn't seem to think the whole, having a baby thing, is going to effect his training patterns, I'll be anxious to see how no sleep and running several miles a day will add up on his already high stress level. I'm praying for his sanity already.

This weekend we headed up to Bama for the Annual Shrimp Boil. It was a lot of fun. It was the first time a lot of my extended family got to see Charleigh, you know, sticking out there. We had it in Sharry and Josh's new spacious back yard and Grannie didn't bring anything that had been in her freezer for a year so...all in all, it was one of the best! While there we celebrated my mom's bday...Happy Birthday Mommy!

Tuesday was our first GMCGR Bible study over the summer. My friends Leah Taylor and Rachel Traylor came and said, "Hey, we'd like to work with the high school girls!" To which I thought..."Hmmm, someone else wants to disciple MY little babies and I get to sit back and watch?" OF COURSE! I agreed! So we worked hard and fast and started the Bible study that basically tells these girls what they believe and why they believe it...we are teaching them how to use a concordance with the bible in order to find out the Greek and Hebrew meanings of the words they are reading, how to find scripture and archeology to back up what they "think" they know...we had almost 80 folks there Tuesday night! I was blown away that they are so willing to give up a part of their summer to just, dig deeper. This ain't no flowery, feel good bible study...it's grunt and work and dirty. Keep praying for these girls, we are trying to prepare them to lead evangelistic bible studies with their friends as they learn. I am so blessed to get to just see them in their pursuit...it's very motivating on my part as well.

Wednesday we had a little surprise party for Jon's 30th bday. He was definitely surprised. We took pictures that I will post someday...Ironically Jon isn't IN any of the pictures, just the girls...haha. We aren't self absorbed or anything...

Since Jon, Ang, Jack AND Joanna are in town this week, Paw Paw and Grandmama rented a beach house for us all to stay in for a few days. Jus and I didn't get to go last night but we will be laying our heads there tonight! yay!

I'll post pictures of Charleigh's ultrasound today when we get back!

25 weeks, 144.5 lbs

Well last week started with a doctor's appointment with my regular OB, Dr. Mehta. These are usually the quick appointments, a little measuring here, a little chatting there. And sure enough that stuff went down, he said I measured 22mm and had gained 14 lbs. The 22mm part made me feel a bit better, I feel as if my stomach is 2 feet in front of me (maybe because everyone keeps saying, look how big you're getting!)...so to know that it actually measured just a bit small, assured me that it is a very "normal" belly. As for the 14 lbs., I think he is wrong! According to my measurements I've gained more than that! haha, I guess we weigh at different times of the day, maybe that is where the difference comes in?? Well, while we were there I let him know that my Sciatica had died down once again and the only complaint I really had was this sharp pain in the "middle of my butt" (kind of to the left). He felt around and as I pointed out the EXACT spot of the pain he said that my S1 joint (I think he called it a joint) was out of place. My dad had surgery because of this and he called it a vertebrae in his lower back...the one that had to do with the sciatic nerve...hmmm, it's all coming together now. So, even though I KNOW what the cause of the pain is, there is nothing I can do about it (of course) and when it really gets to hurting, I have to put pressure on it with my hand, which makes me walk funny and I really feel like one of those old ladies who walk around holding their backs...haha, a pregnant old lady at that! At this same visit my fears were realized as well, through all these ultrasounds and check ups they have always told me that my placenta was very low lying (too close to the cervix - where the baby comes out). I knew that we were looking for it to move, and it has...but only 1.5 cm. Dr. Mehta let me know that he was concerned that it hadn't moved more, and even though there may still be some time, I need to prepare myself for a possible c-section. As a matter of fact, he would schedule the c-section probably 3 weeks before my due date because he cannot risk me going into labor as the placenta would cause me to bleed profusely. Also, since she is SO LOW in there, he is afraid my labor would be very quick and there wouldn't be time to stop it before she shot out. haha, sooo...be praying about that. I don't know what is best for me, but whatever is best for Charleigh is what we will have to do :)

Well, as if that were the end of my painful adventures this week...for at least 7 days I've felt this weird kind of pain in my abdomen (all you moms out there stop laughing, it's not just pregnancy I promise). It wasn't the regular round ligament pains, or aching because my belly was growing. It was much stronger and wouldn't go away for a while. I felt as if I had done a million sit ups the night before and now couldn't move any muscles in my abdomen without moaning in pain. I just assumed this is how pregnancy goes and didn't do anything about it. Well, it's gotten so bad that I can't even roll over at night (which I have to do because of the stupid scoliosis) without tremendous pain! So, I finally called the high risk doctor and what do you know...it's just my luck...they diagnosed me with diatasis recti. Here is how the nurse explained it to me,

Nurse: "does it hurt really bad when you try to sit up from a laying position?"

Me: "YES!"

Nurse: "Does it feel like you worked out really hard and are so sore the next day?"

Me: "YES!"

Nurse: (asks about a million other questions to which I answer YES!)

Nurse: Well....(long sigh)

Me: (Oh crap!)

Nurse: This is not too common but some pregnant women do get this. It seems that you have diatasis recti. (of course I have no idea what that means) You know how your stomach muscles meet in the middle of your stomach and they stretch as the baby grows, well, yours rip instead.

Me: WHAT! My stomach muscles are ripping apart?

Nurse: Unfortunately, yes...but they are likely to go back together after delivery.

As comforting as that was, what could I do about this right now!!?? Nothing, of course! ahhh...is it just me or does it seem like my body is weirder than everyone elses...I've always got a new ailment to write about...this is not good for my paranoia.

Well, in other news we finally had our end of the year Chosen banquet for my bible study girls. It was awesome! The place looked great and we fed about 150 folks! I am going to miss those girls SO much but, our summer bible study starts on Tuesday...so I'll get to love on some of them there :)

Among all that chaos, I experienced my last day as a school teacher. I could tell that my kids wanted me to be sadder...but I was just so happy. I think I am not too upset because I live one stinkin' mile from the school, and you KNOW i'll be up there next year showing off my baby girl! I just feel like I'm still connected you know...Anyway, Pace High school is the most amazing place of work. I LOVE my co-workers, I love how things are run there, I love the passion that goes into everything they do, sports, clubs, academics...it's all just top notch. I am going to miss that place :(

On to better news...I finally got a mommy car! Here she is:

Seriously, I didn't realize how great it was to drive without your knees in your chest, having to change gears every 3 minutes and your legs at times falling asleep...but now, none of that. I have plenty of room, it's automatic and black with black leather interior (I love black on black because I secretly like to pretend I'm in the CIA).

Yesterday was beach day with Whit and Tiffani. As you can see in my belly picture above, I got a little crispy. Oops.

This week is one of the busiest of my summers...We head up to Bama for the Annual Shrimp Boil, I'll stay there a few days and go to my sister's ultrasound to find out if Charleigh will have a little girl cousin or boy cousin to play with, then mom and I come back to Pcola to start construction on Charleigh's nursery. In that time period, Joanna, Jon, Angie and Jackson are coming to visit and Charlie and Rachel are renting a beach house for all of us to stay in...whew! I seriously doubt I can pack all that excitement into one week! We'll see!

24 weeks, 143.5 lbs

Still too busy to write...one more week, okay who am I kidding, then I have VBS, then a visit to Bama for the Annual Shrimp Boil, then mom comes and we work day AND night on Charleigh's nursery (the dead animals are still there!)...Then youth camp, then...July! Oh well, at least I won't be going to school every day :)

Okay, so I am too excited about my recent purchase for Charleigh...They are little Sperry's! Her daddy LOVES Sperry's, he goes through them like toilet paper...so I thought in honor of him I would get her some, not to mention, look how cute they are! They have them in the "big girl" section too so I might just have to get me a pair (Jill, I'm sorry but I AM that corny...)

On another note, the last week I have been bombarded with Francis Chan. A few people mentioned him here, and a few more quoted him there. My first thought was "who is this guy?" but I just brushed it off. Then my pastor talked about him on Sunday...I leaned over to my friend Laura and informed her that I thought God was trying to tell me something through this Francis Chan character...and decided that "when I have time" I should read his book, Crazy Love. So, no joke, this morning I got a text from Justin's brother, he wanted to know our address so that he could mail us a book...I asked him what book it was and he said "Crazy Love"! What the heck, I get it God, I'll wait for the mail to come and I'll read it...I'm a little scared because I apparently REALLY need to hear what he has to say...