38 weeks (weight to be updated later, sorry forgot)

Well, this may just be the last update before our beautiful baby girl is born! So weird! I can honestly say, I'm getting nervous. As I sat in the exam room yesterday at my last OB checkup on that oh-so-familiar plastic bed/chair I got a little scared. The next time I'll be in that hospital will be to get poked and proded with IVs and Spinals, then sliced open to become a mother, the scariest of all the realizations I had that day. It was sobering to say the least. I'm so excited. Justin and I try to prepare ourselves daily..."what would we be doing if Charleigh was here right now?" We always try to imagine how our lives will change with her here. But we KNOW that we can never truly imagine how "inconvenient" a little needy baby will be until she arrives. I'm ready to be inconvenienced...so ready. I'm about to start my new job...I can't wait!

This last week has been full and fun. Happy Birthday to...well, EVERYONE! Justin's mom's birthday was on Thursday so we had an honorary steak dinner. My husband likes his steaks pretty raw and tries so hard to cook ours until it's brown, they were delicious and Justin assured us that if we turn off the dinning room lights, they don't look red at all ;) haha, we got a laugh out of that!

Here is Jus helping Big Mama blow out her candles...which he does at everyone's birthday parties, unfortunately he usually blows them out before the guest of honor can (sorry for all those years Jo). I'm going to make sure I train him before Charleigh turns one.

Here is the Coffee Cozy I made her. It fits perfectly on any Starbucks coffee cup. Now she doesn't have to use those crappy paper ones that come on the cups, like they work anyway!

I wrote a birthday message on top an added a gift card to Starbucks.

After that excitement, we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating some kiddie birthdays. Jeremy and Kristen's little boy Nathan had a GI Joe party with giant water slide and cute camo cakes! I am really crudy at taking pictures unless Justin is there to remind me so...sorry bout that. But later that day we went to Ben and Sam's boys' birthday party too. Hayes turned 4 and Cade turned 1. Justin was back by this time and took over the camera, so we DID get some pictures there!

I made Nathan and Hayes Bama pillowcases since their families are hardcore Alabama fans. I just LOVED the houndstooth accent on these, so cute, yet so Bear Bryant!

And for Cade I made a homemade bib with houndstooth on one side and Alabama fabric on the other. And he had to have a sippy cup to match, so I appliqued a houndstooth "C" on the Bama fabric as well.

Charleigh is picking a busy month to be born in. All these cute little boys have September birthdays plus our friends Matt and Kristen have a little girl, Vivian, who will be turning 2 just days after Charleigh is born as well! WOOO! Happy Birthday everyone!

On to CRAFTS! Here is the finished "clothing organizer" for Charleigh's room. I'm hoping to be organized enough to use it :)

We've also decided NOT to do the canopy in Charleigh's room. I just wasn't feeling it. So, I'm going back to my original plan...we are going to upgrade to a nicer, slightly bigger chandelier and hang it in the middle of her room instead of over her crib :) We are still looking for the perfect one. My husband calls me the other day from work (where they also sell lighting) and tells me he's found the PERFECT chandelier for her and that I have to come see it. It was the most sparkly thing you have ever seen! And so cute...and also $3000.00...really Justin, you shouldn't dangle sparkly things in front of me like that :(

For Labor Day Justin and I decided to spend some time together, just us before the baby comes. He loves to fish and well...I'm not loving to do ANYTHING right now because of discomfort soo...we went fishing! Well, I just sat there trying to catch some sun, eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches and browsing on my iPhone. Plus, I was the photographer for our little outting. Here is Justin in action:

First catch!
Second catch!
Third catch!

And then, Charleigh reminded us of her presence and I had to go to the bathroom...badly! So we called it a day...well, we stopped by Paw Paw and GrandMaMa's to drop off the boat, then headed home for a long nap, then put on our college football apparel in order to get a free chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-a! I wanted to wear FSU gear as we were headed to watch the game but none of my Florida State clothes fit me at the moment sooo, the longhorns, by default, got my support that day ;) I DO love the Longhorns! So, anyway, we headed to Ben and Sam's to watch the Fl. State/Miami game...which I would like to NOT comment on at the moment...except to say, COME ON SECONDARY!!! Gosh! At least Texas and Auburn got wins under their belts :)

Okay, so to end on an exciting note (exciting to me is not necessarily exciting to you). I've become obsessed with these little pettiskirts (thank you Rae Leytham!). They are basically like TuTu's but WAYYY better because they are sooo full and soft and just darn girly! I knew that I HAD to learn how to make them so, I set out yesterday to the fabric store...bought my supplies and calculated and re-calculated the appropriate measurements for a newborn baby. And Ta Da:

It's hard to tell the size and deminsions of it in the picture but just know, it's REALLLLL little for baby Charleigh to wear in her newborn pictures!

The only way I could be sure that it would be perfect on her was to find a model approximately her size....hmmmmm....well, Prissy IS 8 lbs!

Woo Hoo! It fit! I can't wait to make more, even fluffier!

Okay, so Dr. Mehta said I was about 50% effaced but not dialated at all so, that means we are pretty sure little Charleigh girl won't be here before Monday :) We go see Dr. Maher on Friday to get her last measurements!

37 weeks, 161 lbs

Say hello to i'msotiredican'tfunction. Say hello to icouldnotpickmyfeetoutofalineupifitried. Hello idrinknon-stop. Hi thereissomuchtodobutican'tmakemyselfdoit.

I tried to paint my own toenails his week. I thought I could do it with my patented rocking motion, but I ended up just throwing nail polish at my toes and hoping it would land on "non-skin". Most of it didn't. So Whit and I headed to get a MUCH NEEDED rub down from our friends at tip-n-toe...they fixed my masterpiece. I also got my roots done this week...oh my, I was trying to save money by holding off as long as I could but, brunettes who are falsely blonde do not have that pleasure :) Another accomplishment on my list...I shaved my legs! If I missed any spots...I certainly can't see them, so, it doesn't count!

Alright, alright, since last week we've had a few doctor's appointments, but nothing to talk about really. Our c-section will be at 7:30am on Monday the 14th but we have to be there at 5:30! My doctor must know that I can have a vain streak at times because at this last visit, he made sure to tell me, in a loving, "you'll be okay" kind of way, that they will be pumping at least 5 bags of fluid into me and I will not need to look in a mirror for at least 24 hours...I think he then used the term "Marshmellow Creme Puff". I'm glad he warned me because my feet, ankles and hands are really freaking me out right now. I really cannot recognize them and it's just weird. I guess that's how my whole body will be in the hospital (and a few days after I hear). Joy.

I did get to meet our pediatrician. I scheduled a "get to know you" appointment with the most recommended baby doctor in Pace and I see why she is...she was great! She answered all my questions and acted like she was really glad I wanted to meet her early :) I was feeling a little dumb about it so I'm glad she reassured me.

Justin joined me for our last newborn parenting class and it was pretty cool. They had a pediatrician there who taught us all about the immunizations, what they were, why people worry about them, and when our baby would get each one. It was nice to know. He also answered all the questions everyone had. They didn't make Justin change a diaper but don't worry. I got one of Charleigh's baby dolls and made him practice on her changing pad...I also taught him all the tips and tricks on how "not to make a mess" and how to use the Diaper Champ. He was impressive. But, I think when it comes to actually changing Charleigh's diaper he is going to be too busy oogling about how cute her little butt is...he's a sap about stuff like that. I am too!

Mom and Dad came down this weekend to hand deliver some artwork for Charleigh's room...my mom loves making canvases and what not, especially for babies. Her company is called Officially Spoiled. She makes them to match any room! If you need any for your bundle of joy, let me know or email her at officiallyspoiled@gmail.com. I think one of her best sellers are the wooden wall letters that people get to spell out their baby's name. She is making some for Charleigh too, but wasn't finished with them quite yet :) I'll post pictures of those later!

Here is the canvas she made to go on the outside of Charleigh's nursery door...just so you don't forget what a miracle she is to us:

This one was given as gift to me

This is my favorite of the ones Mom made. Everytime I look at my sweet girl, I will be reminded of the sweet, undeserved Grace of my God. Isn't the gift of a child such a representation of being given something we DON'T deserve?? I think so...

My latest dilema...to canopy, or not to canopy? I knew I wanted to hang a chandlier over Charleigh's crib (yes, other's have done it, and yes, it is secure and safe :) But, after we hung it, we decided it was kind of dinky, I didn't want to get one any bigger though, for safety reasons. So, even though I said I didn't want a canopy over her crib, I started seeing some displays with chandeliers AND canopies. So, I decided this is how we should do it as well...what do you think? Does the canopy make it tacky? One minute I really like it, especially how the chandelier shines through it...and the next I want to take it down.

Well, either way. The nursery is pretty much complete. As soon as my mom finishes the letters for her wall, and I hang back up her "clothing organizer"...I think we are done :) So, here are some pictures: See my sweet little puppy in the doorway?? She got her hair cut for Charleigh's arrival too...she's excited to meet her little sister!

1 week and 6 days!

36 weeks, 160lbs

As Charleigh's arrival gets closer and closer, I can't help but remember the three times prior to this when I imagined this would have happened already. The three times I pictured myself holding my sweet babies. I guess Sunday kind of got me thinking on that topic. Sunday would have been Baby Butterbean's 1st birthday. Now, I am not one to celebrate death more than I celebrate life, I am TRULY focusing on the new life of my sweet baby girl in the next 3 weeks! But, I do want to share what I (with the help of the Lord) have been pondering lately on this topic.

I don't want to forget where I've been. Where I have been makes me indescribably thankful for where we are about to go. Sunday morning, as I'm am briefly thinking about little Butterbean, Leo gets up in the middle of worship and reads from 2 Corinthians. I leaned over to Justin and said, "I bet he reads from chapter 12". I am going to tell you right now, that I have NO idea why I said that, or why I knew that...and sure enough he followed with, "chapter 12, verse 7". I was tuned in now, I needed to know what this said, apparently God was trying to get me to pay attention. And here is what he read:
"...even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud. I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."
2 cor 12:7-10

Well, I've read these verses before, and no one really knows what Paul's "thorn" was, some say a sickness of some sort. But, I KNEW what my "thorn" had been...these miscarriages. And when he went on to read how he begged the Lord 3 times to take it away, wow, I'd definitely say that after all three babies were lost, I got on my face and begged the Lord. 3 times.
Okay, so, I'm making my own parallels here but, it's just that it fit so perfectly with my thoughts for that morning. In those dark times he did teach me that his grace is sufficient, he is ALL I need, and no child will fill my voided heart, yes, even my precious child will let me down at some point in her sweet life...and that is okay, because he has taught me that only HE is all I need, and that he works BEST through my weaknesses. It's just a beautiful revelation to my heart right now. I am so grateful that the Lord has removed my thorn...and that we will be holding a sweet child of our own very soon. I celebrate Charleigh's life!

But, this too got me thinking...A couple weeks ago we had a guest speaker from Romania. It is a man whom our church has prayed for, done fundraisers for, and followed for the last few years. He was told that his little 2 year old daughter had a cancerous tumor on her spine and, as you can imagine, probably wouldn't make it. I had heard their story before, like I said, our church was VERY involved in trying to get little Tori well, and tons of prayers for the sweet little girl. But, to hear it in his broken English, coming from the mouth of the father of that little girl...you could NOT hold back emotion. And I could not help but think of my husband having to tell that story about our own daughter, I could feel my heart breaking for this dad, all over again. But, it was the next story that he told that really meant something. He said, that day, he and his wife took little Tori out to a field. They both held her up to God and prayed. My natural prayer for this girl would be for healing, of course, but, that is not what they prayed. He said, "God, you gave us baby Tori. But she is not ours, she belongs to you. If you want her back, it will be hard for us, we don't want to lose her but, it is okay with us. Thank you for letting us have her for the short time that we have..." Woah, I mean, we ALL would like to think that we would react in such a humble, classy way but...man. I started thinking about all the worries I have for baby Charleigh. I guess because of so many letdowns in this area, my heart keeps bringing up thoughts of what MIGHT happen...stillborn, rare illness, SIDS, cancerous tumors...etc. I try to immediately squash these thoughts but, I know that I am not promised September 14th, and neither is Baby Charleigh. I know that my father in heaven WANTS to give me good things, and loves to shower his blessings on me, but, I have to remind myself that Charleigh is not mine, she belongs to God and whatever he chooses to do with her life, is something I will choose to accept.
Well, there is so much more in my heart about this that I can't find the words to describe. So, I'll leave it at that for now...

On to less "deep" conversation. Have you heard of the hormone Relaxin? It is released during pregnancy in order to relax all the cartilidge in your body. The reason cartilidge needs to be relaxed is so that the cartilidge that holds your hips and pelvis in place can stretch to make room for the baby to be born. So, Relaxin is doing it's job on me these days. Many of the times I wake up in the night are because my hips are aching...they don't stay in their sockets very well anymore because of this darn hormone. But the funniest thing is that it affects ALL the cartilidge in your body, that is why a woman's nose will "spread" at the end of her pregnancy (it relaxes because it's made of cartilidge) and why their feet get bigger (the cartilidge in their feet spreads out), and it is apparently why I wake up with ear pain! I know, what? Yeah, If I lay on one ear too long, it starts to hurt really bad, bad enough to wake me up in the night...haha, I just think that sounds so funny. Did anyone else experience this during pregnancy? So weird.

Well, Charleigh, Justin and I got some maternity pictures made last week. Amy Harrod (http://amysangle.com/) is a young photog in our church who has recently started up her own business. So, we got with her and loved what she was able to do in her cute little studio. She was very easy to work with, and took what I said to heart (even though she is the professional and I am NOT), she didn't just dismiss my ideas...she tried them all! I just thought that was sweet. So, here are some of our favorites :)I posted even more pictures on facebook if you want to see more :)

Well, this week mom and dad are coming for their last visit before Charleigh gets here. My mother cannot stand to stay 3 hours away, she needs to check and make sure everything is done and ready for her grandbaby...haha, she's crazy. And she's bringing all the artwork Charleigh needs for her walls :) Can't wait to post pictures of that next week.

Our c-section is officially scheduled for September 14th early morning. So, I've let the fam know and everyone is making their travel arrangements...exciting! I guess there are a few good things about having a c-section. The extreme "planner" in me is glad to know exactly what will happen and when, our family will all have time to take off work and travel to be here for the event, and I won't have to get all sweaty and endure labor pains...I'm trying to focus on these positive things. Our appointments are now once a week but only for the next couple of weeks because in 2 weeks and 6 days....we'll have a BABY!

I go visit our pediatrician tomorrow. It will be my first meeting with her and I have a LONG list of questions to ask. Any moms out there have any I should make sure to work into the conversation??

I finished my hospital gown! I'm pretty proud of it since I went in clueless on what I was doing. I just pinned and measured a million times and hey, it turned out fairly cute :) It looks like it's mainly red but, oh no, it's definitely HOT PINK!

I added snaps all the way up the back so that the doctors and nurse could have access...you know for epidurals and what not. Then I made sure it overlapped in the front so that I could just untie one side for breast feeding.

I also whipped up a new pillowcase to take with me to the hospital :)

I also managed to make her a hair bow holder!

I added two pegs in the front to hang her headbands on.

So, I survived our newborn parenting class solo. Yes, I was the only one there that was alone...boo. But, everyone was so friendly. I didn't learn too much information that I didn't already know but there were a few things the nurse cleared up that had been puzzling me. Like, you are NOT supposed to use baby powder at all, or...you can clean the umbilical cord with alcohol or not (apparently it really doesn't matter if you mess with it at all), and she suggested NOT using vasoline during diaper changes, which I had heard was a good idea...hmmmm.

I am definitely looking forward to taking Justin with me this week :) muahahahah!

Any expecting moms out there (Joanna and other friend I cannot name), I'd have to suggest the book "The Baby Whisperer Solves all Your Problems". It was suggested to me and I LOVE it so far. This little English lady answers all my questions before I think them. I had planned to read and follow "BabyWise" but I couldn't find it at the bookstores I went to or at the library. So, I got the Baby Whisperer book and everyone I've talked to basically says it's a lot like Baby Wise anyway. I love this woman's ideas and concepts, anyway, thought I'd give you a heads up on that one!

35 weeks 158.5 lbs

So, this week was supposed to be the BIG week...no, not when Charleigh is due, but the week we find out, for sure, if we will need to have a c-section or not. We waddled into Dr. Maher's office (well, I waddled, Justin just walked) hoping for the best. So, here is the deal...I have a low-lying placenta (that's the little organ type thing that attaches itself to the side of the uterus in order to nurish the baby with blood, food, nutrients, etc.) Well, in most pregnancies, the placenta knows to attach itself to the top of the uterus, mine attached down at the bottom. This doesn't hurt the pregnancy at all, it just make delivery complicated. You see, if the placenta is too close to the cervix when it starts to dialate, I could start bleeding uncontrollably. Or if it is delivered before the baby, it could mean bad news for Charleigh. Huh. My regular OB, the one who will be delivering me says he doesn't feel comfortable having a natural delivery unless the placenta is AT LEAST 5 cm away from the cervix, the high risk doc, who will NOT be delivering me says it only has to be 3cm away. Well, mine measured 3 cm away this week. What that means......??? I guess since Dr. Mehta is delivering me, I'll be having a c-section. I thought I would be totally okay with this verdict, especially if it is the safer way to go. But now, a little part of me is sad that I won't get to try it the natural way, that I'll have all that recovery time and that maybe, just maybe...I COULD do it the natural way if we tried...

Well, I just want to be safe. I don't want to push for natural and then have something happen to my baby girl...or myself I guess. (sigh)

So, Dr. Mehta told us last time that if we scheduled a c-section it would be on Sept. 14th. Now that, my friends, makes me happy. To have a date! woo hoo! And if she decides to make her appearance before then, I wouldn't be mad at her :)

At our appointment this week we also got to see Charleigh again :) I love watching her. But, the ultrasounds are getting much less interesting, she can't move as much cause she is packed in there (I don't realize how tightly she is packed until I see it sometimes), and you can only fit very small parts of her body on the screen, so, they are getting harder to make out. Not to mention her head dropped way below my hip bones so we couldn't even get a good picture of her face this time, no profile picture at all :( So, all that was to say, we have ultrasound pictures but, they aren't very good. But the good, and scary news is...she weighs 6 lbs!! And the entire time she was practicing breathing, the tech was very impressed with her. Don't all parents think their kid is advanced (I know better, I taught high school ya know).

About the nursery, I did decide to cover the closet. (Thanks for all your input blog readers) I made a polka dot curtain. Instead of a regular curtain hem at the top, I added ribbons for tying so that it would have a little pink in it.
So, I've also been busy making my designer hospital gown, me being the designer. haha. I love it so far! I'll post pictures when I'm done. Not that I'll be wearing it out on the town or anything but, I figure it may make me feel better when I'm laid up in bed. Plus the pictures will be much more colorful don't you think :)

Well, this weekend we are going to have a garage sale! We HAVE to get rid of some stuff before Charleigh comes...and a little extra cash wouldn't hurt either. If you're in my area, stop by :)

Oh, another purchase I am pretty stoked about is the Angel Care movement monitor we got. I am the queen of all paranoia and I understand that having a child is only going to make this worse soooo...we got a video monitor. But, that apparently wasn't enough. I started worrying really badly about her not breathing, and just horrible things like that. So, I heard about these mats you put under the mattress that detect the slightest movement (like the baby breathing), and if there is no movement for 20 whole seconds it sends an alarm to the monitor in my room. It really works! Justin and I tried it over and over and it seems pretty sensitive.

Okay Okay, I have to tell you about the Mother/Daughter Retreat our ministry put on for the high school girls this last weekend. It was a blast. Well, Satan was seriously trying to mess with us (I guess he knew it was going to be good!). The first night, all the girls start to arrive and our speaker shows up too (Ruth Geertz from Atlanta...she's awesome in case you wanted to know). But our musician, who was supposed to be there an hour earlier is still no where to be found, and we can't get in touch with her! I was really worried something bad happened to her but it turns out, her calendar just got out of whack and she was still up in Bham! haha, from what I've heard that is just NOT like her at all...so, I am sure it was a little trick by the devil to mess us up but...he must not know bout us...

So, I called in some favors from some local talent who ROCKED the weekend! Test #1 passed!

Then one of our church vans wouldn't start..what? Oh, and once we got it started, there was no AC!! but we perservered! test #2 passed! Sooo, we load all the girls into the vans and relocate them to our amazing beach house...um, it sleeps like 50 people...the coolest! I had all the girls gather in the living room and just let them have a discussion about the night's topics...I just love sitting there listening to them. They have hearts for Christ, they want to help each other and they are ALWAYS looking to learn more. They inspire me to keep learning more too. So, after an hour and a half of discussion on Purity and waiting for the man God has in store for you...our conversation ended and they all headed out to the beach for a late night walk and pictures. And queue the streaker....seriously, a naked college boy runs by...luckily he was pretty fast and the girls didn't see much but still...really Lucifer? So, they all ran back in screaming, haha, test #3 passed! After syrup fights, the hugest pancake breakfast, and awesome mother/daughter time and workshops...it just turned out to be a sweet weekend.

Tomorrow I head to our first newborn parenting class...Justin will be out of town with work so I have to waltz in there alone :( My baby is going to look like a bastard child...