One month to go!

We are officially 36 weeks and the countdown is on. We have one month until we reach Addison's due date and I am so excited I can't hardly stand it. The anticipation is starting to get to me. I am so ready to meet her!! I think every little ache, pain, cramp, etc is labor starting. We are on pins and needles over here!

Here I am at 36 weeks

And here are some close up shots of Addison

Size of Addison: This week Addison is compared to the size of a crenshaw melon. Again, I have no idea what that is, but here is a picture of the melon compared to a quarter. It's a pretty large piece of fruit!

She's continuing to add about an ounce a day to her weight and should be weighing in around the 6 pound mark. From head to toe she is measuring anywhere from 18-22 inches. I say she is going to weigh about 7.5 pounds and be around 21 inches long. That is just me thinking about how much Mike and I weighed and how long each of us were at birth. I took the average of our weight, but I estimated that she will be long and take after her daddy. 

Movement: WILD child!

Sleep: Not so good as last week. I am really uncomfortable right now when I sleep. I think that when I lay on my side it is uncomfortable because Addison is starting to weigh so much and it pulls on my stomach, which makes it ache and cramp. I have propped a pillow under my belly while I sleep, but it only helps so much. It's also becoming harder and harder to roll over because my stomach muscles are nonexistent right now. Hopefully I can figure something out for this next month! 

Symptoms: I am continuing with the Braxton Hicks and I've been a little swollen this week.

What I'm looking forward to: Tonight my mom and sisters are spending the night after Addison's shower that is being thrown by her Nanna and Aunt Rachel. Then tomorrow we are headed to school to get my classroom set up for next year. This makes me excited because I am scared I'm gonna go into labor and not have everything ready for my long term sub and the start of the school year. The last thing I want to happen is to be adjusting to life with Addy and be worried about sub plans. I want everything ready to go so I don't have to worry about school at all!

Memory from the week: Mike and I went to some yard sales yesterday morning and a lot of people asked me when I was due. It was crazy to say," A month from today." WOW! In the words of Frank from Father of the Bride," 4 weeks, not much!" (Surely you know the accent that goes along with that line!) We are getting so, so close!!

Couples Shower

Friday night Mike and I got showered again by our friends. We are blessed with the greatest friends anyone could ask for! Here is what I noticed; either everyone at the shower had a baby under the age of 1 or was expecting a baby in 2 months or less. There were babies EVERYWHERE and I loved it!! I think it's safe to say that we are all on the same life path! At one point in the night the girls were in the kitchen and when we turned to look in the living room the sight was precious. On the couch there were all the men holding, feeding, rocking, playing with or talking to the babies. It was cute! I told them I should have taken their picture, but they would have killed me. Mike was a baby magnet all night long. He read a book to RubyKate, fed Bennett Grace and rocked Tate to sleep. He's gonna be one good daddy! Here are some of the pictures from our celebration on Friday:

 Hannah, Austin and baby Tate. Tate is 3 weeks old and absolutely adorable. The best baby...she doesn't cry at all and she smiles all the time!

 RubyKate

 Travis, Courtney and Mike. Travis and Courtney are due exactly 4 weeks after our due date with their first little boy. 

Bennett Grace and her daddy. 

Mike and I watching the video of Yolanda shimmy underneath the garage door that was left cracked for their dog. Hilarious! 

 Opening gifts. Thanks everyone! The goodies you gave us were perfect and we feel blessed to have you all as friends!

 Babies everywhere!

 Mike had trouble opening gifts because he was attached to Bennett Grace. 

 My hubby and I

 RubyKate had so much fun with the tissue paper and wrapping paper. She played for a good hour with it.

 Kami Parker. How adorable is she?!

The hostess and I. Thanks for all you did Meg; it was perfect! We are so blessed to call you and Nathan our friends and we really appreciate everything you did!

My prayers for you, Addison

Dear Addison,

I am sitting here thinking of how my life and your daddy's is about to change so much in such an amazingly great way. God has trusted the two of us to be your parents here on this earth, and as much as I am excited beyond belief, it's kind of a scary thing for me. I want me to be everything that you need in a mother and more and I want to make God proud of the decision that he made to give us you. Since we found out that we were going to be your parents, I have said many, many prayers for your little life and the way that we will raise you. I know that your dad and I can only raise you to be the person you are supposed to be if we put our faith in God, talk to him daily and rely on his guidance. After all, he knew you long before he decided to make us your earthly parents. I want to share with you some of the prayers that I have prayed for you while we have been waiting on you to join our family.

-I pray that you will follow your heart and you will have a good sense of judgement of what is right and wrong. I hope you you feel confident in your decisions.

-I pray you find your "niche" and do what you love to do. God gave you so many unique talents. You can do anything through Christ who gives you strength. Put your trust in him.

-I pray that you know that no matter what, we are on your side. Even when mommy and daddy are frustrated or we discipline you, we are doing it because we love you. Discipline is a Godly thing and we are raising you to be ultimately obey God's commands for you.

-I pray that you will look back at your childhood with joy. I pray that when you think of your childhood, it will be filled with great memories, good friends and fun that we've had together.

-I pray that you will accept Christ into your life. I hope that your dad and I can be the examples that you need to see of a Godly relationship with each other as well as a great example of our relationship with the Lord.

-I pray that you will be a lady in all situations. I pray that you will use your manners, be kind to others and be the bigger person in situations when you are required to be.

-I pray that you will set big goals for yourself and strive to reach them. You can do anything you want to do if you put your faith and trust in Christ.

-I pray that you know that I believe in you and support you 100%. I know you can do whatever you set your mind to. If you are struggling or need help, all you have to do is ask and I will be there to help you.

- I pray that  you will not be afraid to stand apart in a crowd. It's ok to stand up for what you believe in, even if it is different from what others believe. In fact, when you are a Godly person, you will be put in situations where your beliefs and actions will be different from others. Don't conform to the patterns of this world, but stand strong in what you believe and what you have been taught. 


-I pray that you know that I am always here to talk with you and will not judge you. Even in the conversations that you think," I can't talk to my mom about this," You can! I will help you with anything that you need help with, struggle that you have or anything you need to get off your chest. Whatever it is, we will get through it together. I hope you trust me enough to come and talk to me. 


-I pray that you know that things don't come easy and your must be a hard worker to make it far in life. God gave you special gifts and talents that only you have. Use those to bring glory to God and work hard.


-I pray that you will continually be joyful in all situations.


-I pray that when the time comes for you to start dating  you remember what your mommy and daddy taught you. Don't waste time on silly boys that don't treat you right. Don't be afraid to tell them that you deserve better. I hope we will be the example that you need to see of what a solid, Godly marriage looks like. I hope the example of our marriage will be a good reflection on the type of men you choose to spend your time with. And if a boy is mean to you, just let your mommy know and I'll take care of it!


-I pray that you know that you are perfect in my eyes. There is never anything that you could do or say that would make me love you any less. I am amazed by you already and can't believe that you are part of me!

-I pray that you will always remember that family is the most important thing. There will come a time when friends and other things in life seem so much more important, but one thing I've learned is family is always better than what is cool at the moment. Cherish your family and know that we love you for who you are.

-I pray that you know you are always welcome to come home. No matter where you are, how old you are or what you are going through, you're always welcome to come home. Even when your grown and married, maybe with your own kids.

-I pray that I can build a relationship with you so that when you are older we can be friends. When I say that I also hope you understand that friendship comes after the discipline. When you are small and learning, my job is to be the one who molds and shapes you so that when God calls you to do something in your life, you are obedient.  As you grow older, our relationship will change and hopefully when you are older you will find a good friend in me.

-I pray that you know that mommy and daddy are shaping you to follow God's will. We discipline you out of love and obedience from God, not to be mean.

-I pray that you will never settle. Keep your standards and goals high. At times they may seem that you can't reach them, but you can! Never, ever lower your standards or take the easy road. It will pay off in the end!

-I pray that you will be kind to other children. Mommy sees other kids being mean to peers everyday, but I hope you will be raised to have a kind and loving heart. I pray that you will include everyone and make every person feel special. Always put yourself in their shoes.

-I pray that you never settle in your relationship with God. You relationship with him is one that you should never be content with. I hope you strive to grow and learn more daily by reading your bible, praying and living in a Godly way. I also hope that I can be an example for you of how to do that.

-I pray that you will see your mommy and daddy set a good example of a marriage and friendship with each other.

-I pray you realize there could never be a more beautiful you. God made you perfectly to fill a purpose only you can do. I hope when you see other girls or other people you do not become discouraged with yourself or envious of how they look or act. I pray you know that you are incredibly special, unique and amazing! A perfect person in my eyes, your daddy's eyes and most importantly God's eyes.  

- I pray that you will always understand just how important and special you are to me. I love you with all my heart and just from looking at your ultrasound pictures, think you are absolutely beautiful and perfect. I am going to make mistakes. I am going to kick myself sometimes for how I handle things with you, but I hope you always know that I am trying my best. I want you to have the best of everything, even myself. Even when I do mess up and you are upset with me, I hope I can teach you how to forgive. Please know that I thank God for you each and everyday and I can't wait to meet you in just a few short weeks.

Addison Dawn, your daddy and I love you more than anything in this world and I can't wait to become your mommy! I LOVE YOU!

35 weeks

Today marks the start of week number 35 and this morning we had a doctor's appointment on the progress of Addison. More on that in just a second, but here we are this morning before heading to the doctor.

 35 weeks

I am please/relieved/happy/joyful/thankful/etc... to say that Addison is no longer breech! (This is where you see me smiling from ear to ear!) That's right ladies and gentlemen, the handstands in the pool worked! In fact we told the doctor that we had done them while on vacation and her response was, "Good girl!" I thought that was a funny response. I was really nervous about finding out if she was still flipped the wrong way, so today was a day that I was dreading and looking forward to at the same time. It's always nice to get a check up on Addison, but I was scared to death that she was still going to be flipped and they were going to have to flip her themselves. Good thing we had those handstand contests!!  At first, Dr. Johnson couldn't tell if Addison was flipped by pushing on my stomach. Her exact words were, "She sure is cramped in there." This made it hard to tell what was her butt and what was her head. Basically I'm running out of room! She did a couple of other checks and was pretty sure she was head down, but wanted to double check by doing an ultrasound. She got the hand held ultrasound machine to check and it was clear as a bell that she had flipped.  WOO HOO for Addison!

Her heart rate was also great. It started out in the high 150's and then jumped to the 160's when she got excited. Still very strong. Everything is also great with me. I love when the doctor says everything looks perfect. That will make a first time pregnant woman feel so much better! Basically at this point, it's a waiting game until Addison is ready to make her grand entrance. 

Which brings me to this:

Yesterday at the Father's Day dinner that mom had for my side of the family, everyone decided to take a vote on when they thought Addison would be born. The picture above shows the predictions that everyone made. I think it's safe to say that hardly anyone thinks I'll make it to my due date. Mike says he thinks she will be punctual, so his guess is right on the 23rd, but he originally said he thought the 20th or 26th. I find this next little fact a bit odd. My mom asked me yesterday when I thought the baby would be here. I told her I thought that I would make it to the 17th, but no longer. My Papaw immediately said," Right on the due date!" I told him that I wasn't due until the 23rd and he was confused because he thought this whole time I was due on the 17th. Coincidence? Maybe she'll be here the 17th!

Size of Addison:  This week Addison is compared to a honeydew melon. She is measuring around 18-20 inches and is weighing in at about 5 1/2 pounds. She shouldn't get very much longer than what she is right now, but she will continue to accumulate weight. Luckily, the website I got this information from says that she should be so snug in there that she is no longer flipping around, but should still be just as active by kicking. She's head down and will stay that way fingers crossed! The doctor said the same thing. Her kidneys are fully developed this week and her liver is functioning beautifully. Her brain is also doing a lot of developing this week.  

Movement: active, active little girl! We knew that already though :)

Sleep: Still the same as it was before. I'm getting up a lot to go to the bathroom, but when I'm asleep I am getting a good night's rest.

Symptoms: Nothing new really. I am continuing with the Braxton Hicks, which I get about 3 times an hour. My doctor says this is fine as long as they don't become consistent or about 6 times an hour. In that case, we better get our booties to the hospital!

What I'm looking forward to: We actually have another baby shower coming up in about 5 days. It is being thrown by my mother and sister-in-law and I am excited about that. We are in the process of finishing our basement as well and this week they are finishing up the drywall. It's almost done!!

Memory from the week: Mike and I got to spend lots of quality time with our niece on Friday and Saturday. My sister-in-law had to work and her husband was going out of town to camp with some friends, so they needed some help. She asked us if we would be able to keep Olivia overnight since she works night shifts and I don't even think Mike and I thought about it before we told her we'd love to! Rachel was a little nervous because it was the first time that Olivia had been away from her or Chris overnight, but I am so happy she trusts us enough to leave Olivia for the first time in our care. We were so excited to have her spend the night with us and she did great! She slept almost through the entire night. She woke up once at 3 and took a bottle, but then went right back to sleep. We played, read books, took a bath, napped, ate, laughed and had a great time! Olivia is seriously the cutest, happiest and fun baby. It really makes me look forward to when Addison gets here and I get to do that all the time. And guess what?! Pumpkin did great with her! I was really worried about how she would act once Addison gets here, but I am now a lot more confident in her. She became buddies with Olivia and didn't try to nip at her once. That's a sigh of relief! I can't end this post without showing you some precious pictures of my adorable niece!

Isn't she the cutest?!

ahhh....babymoon!

We are back from our vacation and we had a wonderful time! To say we needed a vacation might be the understatement of the year. Between Mike's busy work schedule, completing my master's, preparing for a baby and not having a vacation in 2 years, I think this one was well deserved! We ate great food, took walks on the beach, shopped, relaxed and had an overall great week. It was really so nice to get away for a little while. The first couple days were great... We had fantastic weather and were able to enjoy some outdoor shopping and the beach. On Saturday, the storm hit. Literally. Pensacola had a record amount of rainfall while we were there. If you don't believe me, here are the pictures to prove it:

Told you! These were taken from the car while we were at a stoplight. Mike and I left the hotel on Saturday morning and it was raining lightly. Mike was going to work the GPS and I volunteered to drive. We had decided to head to the naval academy museum since it was a nasty day. Well as we left the hotel, the flood gates opened! I've never been so scared driving in all my life. Luckily Mike talked me through what to do and we made it safely to the museum. Afterwards we went to see the movie What To Expect because it was still POURING and loved it. I had originally thought I didn't want to see it because the previews made it look kinda dumb, but I really liked it and so did Mike. After the movie the rain let up enough and we went out for a great dinner. 

On Sunday, we had another rainy day. Here was the map of Pensacola via The Weather Channel:

That's right...rain, rain, rain! This day was nice an relaxing because we had lunch together and then hung out in the hotel and watched a movie on TV. It was nice to just chill!

Rain was not the weather the entire time we were gone though! We had a couple of beautiful days at the beach where we read our books, relaxed, played in the water, talked and took walks on the beach. Here are some pictures I took throughout the week:

 The hubby and I on the boardwalk. In this picture I am 33 weeks along. 

 Here we are again with a better view of the belly

 Beautiful!

 Our view from lunch one day is Destin. Not a bad way to enjoy a meal!

 Handsome hubs at the beach

Addison and I on our last night at the beach. This picture was taken as the 34 week update picture. I wonder where in the world I will have any room to put her in the next 6 weeks. My stomach is HUGE already!

For those of you who are wondering, yes I did stand on my head while in the pool. I
 did manage to have some fun while doing it though. Mike and I made friends with this little boy named Thomas in the pool and we did some handstand contests. Mike won and Thomas and I tied. If you're going to be almost 9 months pregnant and doing handstands in the pool, you might as well make a memory (as if that won't be one in itself!) It was quite a sight really, but I think I got Addison to flip back around. We will go back to the doctor and see on Monday. 

Again, we had a great week at the beach and I loved spending some quality time with my Michael before Addison is here! I'm a lucky, lucky girl!

weeks 33 and 34

Well hello! Remember me? You know, the pregnant girl? Well...I'm back! I have been HORRIBLE at updating you the past couple of weeks on the progress of Addison and myself. I am blaming it on the craziness of the end of the school year and the wonderful vacation that I just returned from. Luckily I have a picture from the beginning of our babymoon when I was 33 weeks and one that Mike took at the end where I was 34 weeks. I will have to jump back into the swing of things now that we are home from our trip and things are getting settled down around here. I will update you on the babymoon soon, but I wanted to make sure I did an update post first. Week numbers 33 and 34 were great! They were busy, but great. I was finishing up the school year during week 33, which was insane. It was really tiring to try to get a classroom packed up, moved out and finalized while 8 months pregnant. Luckily my kids were great and helped me out more than they realized! Toward the end of the week Mike and I left for our babymoon in Florida. I will have to say, we had such a relaxing week and it was great to get away for a little while. It had been 2 years since we had been on any sort of vacation, so we really enjoyed slowing down and spending time together. Here are some of the stats for weeks number 33 and 34:

Size of Addison: She is continuing to add pounds/ounces weekly and is now the size of a pineapple. I was completely blown away when I read this on my app. A pineapple?! To me that seems huge!


Movement: She continues to move a ton, especially at night. In fact right now I am watching my stomach move and roll and it's 12:45. Where she is getting bigger and the amount of fluid in my stomach is at its max, her kicks and punches are getting harder. Sometimes she kicks and it literally makes me jump out of my chair. 


Sleep: Still the same as it was before. I'm getting up a lot to go to the bathroom, but when I'm asleep I am getting a good night's rest.


Symptoms: Well for the first time my feet were swollen this week. I think it had to do with the heat in Florida, the fact that I didn't really get sunscreen on my feet and they were burnt and then we went to dinner and my feet were dangling for 3 hours. As soon as a put my feet up, the swelling went down so that's good!


What I miss: I realized this past week that I can not jump into a pool right now. I also realized that walking on the sand is a little harder while you had a big belly. I will be glad to be able to do both of those things again! I also can't wait to be able to shave my legs without having to squish my unborn child. I know you have a great visual right now!


What I'm looking forward to: We actually have another baby shower coming up in about 6 days. It is being thrown by my mother and sister-in-law. I am excited about that. Also, our niece is spending the night with us tomorrow night. I'm excited to spend time with her and get some practice!


Memory from the week: Oh gosh! There were so many! One that really stuck out was one day while we were on the beach. It was one of those moments that your husband steals your heart all over again. We were setting up our beach chairs and there was a family to our right. They had the CUTEST little girl who about 2 years old and she had a balloon. The wind caught the balloon and she was crushed when it blew toward the hotel and got stuck in the fence. The little girl's dad didn't jump at the opportunity to go get her balloon, but my knight-in-shining-armor did! He went and got the balloon, brought it back to the little girl and her face was absolutely precious! She looked at Mike like he hung the moon. Not that I didn't already know, but he's going to be a great dad!

Addison's shower from Mimi and her aunts

Before we left for our babymoon, my mom and sisters threw a shower for Mike, Addison and I in Lexington. Let me tell you, they did an amazing job! The little details and all of the goodies that they made for us we amazing! Their hearts are huge and I know you will be able to tell from the pictures the time and effort that they put into making this celebration absolutely perfect. I've added a few captions to explain some of the pictures, but for the most part I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

32 weeks pregnant at the shower

That's right, all of the men in our lives are equally as excited about Addison as the women are. How many men do you know that attend baby showers with a smile on their faces? We are blessed! This picture is of my dad, papaw and Congo.

We are only missing Alex. He was on his way.

We had to sneak a picture of our adorable niece. You will see in the pictures to follow, Olivia made a new friend at the shower. 

Mike and Rachel

The smelly diaper game. Mom put various candy bars in diapers and melted them. The object of the game was to smell the diapers and name that candy bar. Whoever got the most right, won the game.

Decorations from the shower

Told you Olivia made a new friend. My dad fell in love!

Love her to pieces!

Mike and I opening presents

 Yes, my sisters made me cry. Their card was really, really sweet.

 She isn't right :)

 Uncle Billy got Addison her first purple outfit to wear to his soccer games this fall. She'll be there to cheer him on!!

 Uncle Alex bought the cutest little dress for her to wear this summer. It's adorable!

 Mom's stork that she's been working on for quite some time now. I loved it! How amazing does it look??

 Aunt Madi painted this sign for Addison's nursery. 

 There's Olivia and her new buddy again!

Mom, Dad, Madi and Brit, THANK YOU so much for everything you did to give us the perfect baby shower. I couldn't have imagined a better planned and well thought out celebration for Addison. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. I love you!