6 Months Pregnant, time to shower him with gifts!

Well we are 6 months into this pregnancy and as Becky tells me, I need to be thankful for how well it is going. And I am! This past week was full of excitement and our family got to share a HUGE milestone with my dad….. he announced his retirement from Exxon!!! After 37 years with the company he is finally going to enjoy the nest egg he has worked so hard for! I see traveling, relaxing runs, and lots of grandchildren on his agenda! Another piece of fabulous news that we can finally share is they are planning to move to Natchez in June. They are looking for a house to rent for a year as they decide when and where to settle for good. Baby Jex is so happy he won’t stop kicking! Now, all 4 of his grandparents are within either a few minutes or a few hours of him.

Tomorrow I am heading to Houston to see family and friends and to have my first baby shower! I am dying to see my best friend Lauren and her sweet babies (one here and one on the way!) and all my grandparents! It is incredible to think that in 3 months our little man will get to meet his 3 grandparents and 3 great-grandparents! I can’t wait to see what adorable things our little man gets! Hope they have a huge box of Kleenex ready, I’m a crier these days!

25 week Update

How many weeks/days remaining: 15 weeks (105 days)
Expected Due Date: July 15, 2011
Next Dr. Appointment: April 13

Size of baby: almost 2 lbs and 9"- an eggplant.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 13lbs

Workout: none last week due to stitches but I am not back in my routine

Movement: This little guy is all over the place especially when I am laying down at night or when music is playing, he especially likes Dancing with the Stars (as much as his daddy hates to admit it)

Pregnancy Highlights: Okay I’m gonna say it, I love being pregnant. It is the most fulfilling feeling you can imagine and you are constantly reminded that you are creating life each time you feel a kick or move.

Symptoms: Forgetfulness and Clumsiness! I actually forget how clumsy I am until I attempt to do something and hurt myself or break something.

Best Moment this week: Natchez has become an episode of Lifetime’s ‘One Born Every Minute’. On Monday our friends Jennifer and Scott welcomed Reene into the world and on Tuesday our friends Amanda and Ryan welcomed John Zachary. Now we are awaiting the arrival of Miss Stella Roberts (Bettye Jane and Charlie’s little girl) and Molly McLemore (Laura and Scott’s little girl). We visited Reene when she came home and she is just amazing and Scott and Jenn were so comfortable like they had been parents forever. There are going to be so many little ones in Natchez for our little guy to play with. We feel so blessed to have wonderful friends being blessed by healthy babies.

No good, very bad week...

I am an all around happy person and a positive blogger and I want to keep the blog that way so I won't bore you with the details of my crappy week...well except for one because it was all my fault. One of those, "Shannon, if you would have just taken your time this never would have happened" moments.

So I got really inspired Monday night, probably since my uber trashy tv show addiction to the bachelor came to an end with the finale the previous Monday. I decided I wanted to redecorate the entire upstairs. Yes, I have a tenancy to be overly ambitious. I am a fan of eclictic homes and I have never been too matchy-matchy. I think if everything in my home came from 2 stores I would die of boredom. Hey but some people are totally into that and to each, his own. Let me take my statement one step further, I appreciate eclecticism to a point but too much variety might make you want to scream or crawl into that one, safe room that Pottery Barn did give birth to 80% of it's contents. This is the feeling I get when I walk upstairs. Thank goodness I only have this feeling 3 times a day since a full time job, a bum knee and my new stitches (keep reading) have kept me away from the stairs at all costs.

A+ Eclectic

Verging on too eclectic for my tastes but still very pretty (I think...how would you dust all of it)

Eclectic gone wrong

Eclectic gone way wrong (what our upstairs is starting to look like)

The feeling started when we cleaned out the entire contents of one of the guest rooms in order to create the nursery. Now the furniture and accessories from that room are homeless. Some found comfort in the arms of the other guestrooms and some found comfort in the trashcan, but most of these items are either in the sitting area at the top of the stairs or in the back hall near my art studio. Insert freak out. Literally. Zach can vouch for how many times in just 3 weeks I have uttered one of the following phrases (in an overly-dramatic, hands thrashing in the air, 6 months pregnant kind of way) "throw it all away, get it out of my site, it's making me crazy, uhhhhhhhhggggg, light a match, this piece serves no purpose except stressing me out", etc. So Monday night, it was on like donky kong. My plan started with the art studio being overhauled. Now that the nursery is right next to it, I want it as calm, classy, and beautiful as the nursery (pictures to come in the next week or so!) I accomplished my mission in about 3 hours and was taking a bag of trash outside when all of the sudden....SLICE. The sound of my calf encountering a shard of glass in the trashbag. Have you ever seen a pregnant girl take off running, hurdle a staircase 3 steps at at time, and basically cartwheel into the shower...well my across the street neighbor now has. I got my leg into the shower just in time for the bloodfest. Wasn't pretty nor did it feel pretty. After about an hour of talking with Dr. Kellen and sending him pics of the wound he decided I needed to go to the ER and get stitches. So I spent my Monday night from 11pm-2am in the ER getting my first set of stitches. The comical doctor said, since you are pregnant you are bound to get them this year anyway. Not funny Doc. If you don't like to see exposed tissue don't look...

Pretty good stitches for a small town ER!

So my lesson is learned...slow down and ask for help. I am now on Daddy Zach's Prego Probation for the 2nd time in 3 weeks. He said only delegating from here on out...hahah we will see how long that lasts. I will wear him out will all my projects in no time!

Doctors Visit and other news

What a week, we have been home 3 days and we are getting ready to hit the road again. Today I had my 23 week appointment and may I just say that when you hear your doctor coming from a mile away because he is whistling The Beatles, you can't help but smile and forget how long he just made you wait. I have a fabulous doctor who is perpetually happy which I am sure isn't easy after hours of delivery and surgery (like this morning). Our little man is measuring right on schedule and has begun to kick and punch like he's doing the Elaine. I am loving every second of it because it put's me at ease to know he's up exercising and practicing his moves for when he arrives. If his moves are anything like his mommy and daddy...watch out ladies! I have my glucose test for gestational diabetes next appointment as well as my RhoGAM shot since myblood type is Rh negative.

Here is a little background on what I am talking about. Each blood type is classifies according to the presence a protein that indicates the Rh factor. If you carry this protein, you are Rh positive. If you are like me and don't carry the protein, you are Rh negative. Most people are Rh positive but if a woman who is Rh negative and a man who is Rh positive conceive a baby, there is the potential for a baby to have a health problem because the baby growing inside the Rh-negative mother may have Rh-positive blood, inherited from the father. During delivery, my blood and the baby's blood can intermingle. If this happens, my body recognizes the Rh protein as a foreign substance and can begin producing antibodies against the Rh proteins introduced into my blood putting our little man in serious danger. So I receive at shot at 28 weeks and right after delivery to prevent my body from harming the baby.

In other, non-baby news:

Sydney got a sassy new spring haircut...

And we are headed to Houston in the morning for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to see the Zac Brown band and to eat all kinds of artery-clogging treats. My mouth is watering just thinking about all the wonderfully sinful food. My friend Jennifer said they have fried oatmeal cream pies.... OMG, count me in. I can justify it just by the word oatmeal in the name! Also on the agenda for the weekend: nursery furniture shopping, Ikea, Elle's 2nd Birthday Party, and I am sure a lot of good mexican food in-between. Why is it that every thought I have of Texas revolves around food?? I plan to gain my remaining 15 pregnancy lbs all in one weekend!

Also the baby's bathroom is coming along! It just got a new ceramic tile floor. The wainscoting on the walls will be installed either this weekend or next week and then the vanity is scheduled to be delivered for the second time in a week or 2. The first delivery was damaged, but Home Depot was great and sent a replacement to be here in 7-14 days.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

22 Weeks

It's hard to believe that 22 weeks have already gone by and our little bugger is already the size of a small doll. I can just imagine the little guy swimming laps around my my tummy like he is in a zero-gravity spaceship. He's just big enough where we can feel him but he is still small enough to have a lot of room in there to move around. Zach and I have been working so hard and the nursery is coming together quite nicely. The bathroom connected to the nursery is currently getting a big renovation (not by us...don't worry). The old vanity and flooring has been ripped out...good riddance laminate counter tops and vinyl flooring! Ceramic tile is in the process of being laid and a new vanity, fixtures, and lighting will be installed after that. So our little guy will have a updated bathroom in a few weeks! Zach and I are gearing up for a big trip to Oxford tomorrow. He has a second round of meetings at a certain cellular company concerning his new app and then we are headed to God's Country! Dinner tomorrow night with our hilarious friends Ashley and Robby at TwoStick with start the weekend off right! Ashley is a few weeks ahead of me and also having a boy so we can't wait to swap stories and catch up. Then the remainder of the weekend is dedicated to one of our favorite couples...Lauren and Madison. It's gonna be fabulous weather for an Oxford Wedding and we are so excited about seeing all of our friends and parents! I have our cameras charged so let's hope I do better than usual at snapping pictures this weekend!

22 week Update!!!

How many weeks/days remaining: 18 weeks
Expected Due Date: July 15, 2011
Next Dr. Appointment: March 16

Size of baby: 1 lb and 8"- size of a small doll.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 10lbs

Maternity Clothes: I mix maternity and non maternity

Gender: IT’S A BOY!

Sickness: I feel great!

Workout: 3-4 days a week. Turbo Kick and walking downtown

Movement: Small movements at night while I am lying down

Sleep: Good!

Pregnancy Highlights: Lots of energy and great moods!

What I miss: nothing really. Pregnancy has been great!

Cravings/Aversions: This week I wanted Pearl Street Pasta Primavera all the time...and I had it twice (so far)

Symptoms: I get short of breath very easily, random back aches

Best Moment this week: Feeling him move around and Zach able to hear him and feel small movements. Also we finished painting the nursery and we have all the furniture in place except the rocker that we still have to buy. Now I just have to start all the artwork and a few sewing projects.