New Arrival!

I am proud to introduce you to Little Miss Daisy Dobson! She arrived December 17th, 2010 at 12:24 AM. She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long! What can I say? She's perfect and she's MINE! We are happily home and I promise to share all the details soon! Don't worry I'll spare the gory ones! In the mean time, meet Daisy......

Snow bunny

Looks like the weather man was right! We got about 9 1/2 inches of snow at our house! I'm still saying a constant prayer that I don't go into labor until the roads are clear! We've spent a fairly lazy day at home just relaxing and enjoying the snow. I made Belgian waffles for breakfast and then we got all bundled up and went for a short, slow walk! Nothing strenuous enough to bring on labor (Thankfully!). I figured if God intended for today to be Daisy's birthday walking or not wouldn't change that. I know she'll come when she's ready, I just hope she realizes it's a lot warmer inside mamma than in the 18 degree mountains! Later this afternoon my parents came over and I helped mom get started on a little hat she wanted to crochet Daisy. My dad and I made chocolate covered cherries which were a little messy but turned out great! Then dad rolled marshmallows in the leftover chocolate! They taste just like the marshmallow eggs you get at Easter! The snow finally tapered off and I'm now spending the evening curled up wishing I had a crackling fireplace in my living room!

Almost 38 1/2 week appointment update!

Houston we have progress! I'm about 2 1/2 cm dilated! The doctor said it could be 3 cm but I'd probably kick him into the wall, so we'll just be pleased with 2 1/2! I'm 75% effaced and he said he doesn't know how I am still walking because she is very low! In order to not get my hopes up too much he said 50/50 chance I won't make it to my next appointment on Wednesday! This is awesome news except that when I heard we may be getting 4-8 inches of snow here in the mountains I went into a bit of a panic! I have no desire WHAT-SO-EVER to have a home birth and the possibility of being snowed in and maybe or maybe not going into labor has my head spinning! I am trying my best not to be a worry wart but the snow storm that is moving in tonight is all I can think about at the moment! I've even considered calling someone I know with a snowplow and telling them they need to be on a moments notice to plow my road if the need arises! With this new obstacle that could be standing in our way my hubby said "Well at least you already don't want an epidural!" Lets just say I thought of a few ways I could inflict pain on him without the use of an epidural! Just kidding!... or am I? Needless to say I am going to be spending quite a bit of time in prayer until my road is clear enough to make it to the hospital in case I go into labor.

I'll be sure to post a picture if we do in fact get the snow fall they are calling for! Until then I'll just keeping biting my nails hoping I can think of someone I know with a helicopter!

Baby Bump 38 1/2 weeks!

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have done a baby bump picture! So I bring to you the mother of all bellies..... We have another checkup tomorrow so we will see if I have progressed any since last week! Fingers crossed!

Pregnancy pictures and Christmas/Holiday card!

My husband and I have the privileged of living on the outskirts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and about 30 minutes from our house is one of the most gorgeous photo locations called Cades Cove. Trust me, we took our engagement pictures and even got dressed up again and took some post wedding pictures one this 11 mile loop. It seemed ever so fitting that we also take our pregnancy pictures there! My parents both have a love for photography and they conveniently are our neighbors, so my mother offered to take us out the weekend of Oct 30th and get a few shots. Needless to say when we woke up that morning it was FREEZING! One of the coldest mornings so far this fall! Seeing that I have not invested in any maternity sweaters I had to rummaged through my closet for one with enough stretch to cover my ever expanding belly. Once we got out to Cades Cove it had managed to warm up a little and as long as we were in the sun it was comfortable to take our jackets off. It was a lot of fun posing for these pictures though getting myself into some of them was rather difficult, like posing with a bowling ball strapped to your abdomen! Here are a few of our favorite shots from that day:

Making progress!

My poor neglected little blog! What can I say? There's no excuse! (Other than I'm pregnant!) I'm 37 1/2 weeks along and had some very exciting news at my check up yesterday! I'm 1 1/2 cm dilated and 50% effaced! I asked if that gave us more of a time frame of when little one would arrive and the doctor assured me she would be here within the next 3 weeks.... hardy hardy har we already knew that! :-) The doctor said everything looks great and I'm right on track! I guess part of being 'right on track' would include the anxiety that has suddenly set in that I will be giving birth to a little girl, MY little girl, sometime in the next 3 weeks! It feels just a little surreal!

Definitely not "Blogger of the year" material!

As I stated in my last post, that was so short I can barely even call it that, I have once again sunk back into the extreme exhaustion caused by pregnancy. Not only have I wanted to immediately go to sleep after dinner every night, which is generally my only time to blog, I find it more and more difficult every day to type as my growing belly keeps me from positioning my hands as I usually do on the keyboard! This has proven to be quite the task at work as well as I am on the computer all day long, not to mention I'm having a harder time reaching up over the counter to hand people things! Now that I'm here again and making an effort I will try and update on all the minor details I can remember from the last few weeks! *Warning! This may be a long post!*

Let's go back to the weekend of Oct 15th- 17th, even though I was 31 weeks pregnant I thought it would be a great idea to go camping for my husband's birthday which is the 18th! We packed up our things, along with Daniel's best friend, Caleb, and my parents and stayed 2 nights at Greenbrier Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains! The weather was amazing, pretty chili at night, but really there is nothing better than camping in the Fall! We had a feast all weekend! Hamburgers, hot dogs, steak and baked potatoes, brownies, smores, pancakes and bacon, cinnamon rolls and sausage! This pregnant girl was in heaven! I got quite a bit of exercise in that weekend thanks to my many trips to and from the bathhouse! Speaking of bath trips.....*Warning! TMI*...... Knowing full well that I was going to have at least one middle of the night bathroom trip my mother brought along an old chamber pot to put outside the tent so I wouldn't have to trudge through the woods to the bathroom in the dark. This came in very handy! Since it was cold those 2 nights I was probably up 3 and 4 times a night having to pee! After I used it the first time Daniel asked "So how'd that work out for ya?" My response, "You try squatting 7 months pregnant!" My mom said "well why didn't you sit down?" I informed her I would have if I thought I would have been able to get back up again! Needless to say this was a humorous challenge every night as I crawled out of my sleeping bag to relieve my bladder. Other than 2 rough nights of sleeping on my ground our camping trip was a success and a nice break from the norm!

Oct 29th my work dressed up for Halloween since we were not open on the 31st. I was a pumpkin! I wore all black and had a jack-o-lantern style felt pumpkin I made attached over my belly! I ended up having to my a quick trip to my doctor's office that afternoon. Around noon or 1ish I noticed I hadn't really felt Daisy move that day. Generally she started stirring after I have my breakfast and then even more once I have a little coffee. As I began to think about it I couldn't remember if I had felt her more all day. I figured I'd eat something and drink some ice water, both of which normally get her going. Still nothing! I began to get a little worried and basically started chugging ice water! After 30 minutes still no movement so I called my doctor's office. The told me they could see me at 3:30. Around 3 o'clock I got a swift reassuring kick and instantly felt more at ease! I obviously still wanted to keep my appointment since never before has she stopped moving for so long. I went in, all the girls in the office loved my pumpkin belly shirt, and they strapped me in for a nonstress test. The nurse who hooked me up said I have a beautiful belly and to trust her, she's seen many that aren't near to pretty! I got a good little chuckle out of this! Daisy's heart rate peaked 3 times in the 20 minutes I was hooked up which was great! They said as long as she had 2 peaks in the allotted time period she was happy and good! What a relief! I also learned that while I was hooked up the machine was picking up some minor contractions! I found this very odd as I was completely unaware of them! The doctor wanted to check my cervix to make sure I wasn't dilating. Thankfully my cervix was still completely closed and they sent me on my way and said every thing was fine!

Also that weekend my mom took mine and Daniel's pregnancy pictures! I'll have to upload those later as I need to go get ready for work now! I promise it won't be long before my next post!

Absent

Sorry I have been so absent from the blogging world. Now that I'm in the home stretch with only 6 weeks to go I have hit the unbearable exhausted stage. A lot has happened over the last few weeks since I blogged and I promise I will update soon!

The big 3-0!

I can hardly believe I only have 10 weeks left in my pregnancy before I get to meet my little girl! 10 weeks that is if she decides to arrive on time, no earlier, and hopefully no later! I am constantly having people ask me how I am feeling and how everything is going and I must say I feel amazing! In spite of the fact that my back aches, I rarely sleep through the night with out at least one bathroom break and I can no longer see anything below my belly button I LOVE being pregnant! It's a good thing that I love it too since Daniel and I are wanting 4-5 kids! Early in my pregnancy as I was vomiting on a daily basis Daniel would ask me "Are you sure you still want 4 kids?" Absolutely! Morning sickness and all the other unusually "normal" symptoms that come along with pregnancy are only minor speed bump on this amazing road to motherhood!

As of last week I have gained 14 lbs and from here on out should be gaining about a pound a week! Most of it has located itself on and in my ever expanding abdomen but the stray pound or 5 has made its was to my butt and thighs! I have to keep reminding myself that all of this is for the baby and as long as she is healthy a few extra pounds on me are no big deal! I'll be running my butt off chasing her around in no time anyway!

We had our first baby shower this past weekend thrown by my sister-in-laws, Betsy (my brother Jonathan's wife) and Kristal (Daniel's sister)! It was such a wonderful shower and Daisy got so many adorable gifts! As I got home my husband stared in awe at all of the gifts and said "Where on earth are we going to put all of this?!" We truly have been blessed! We got the Evenflo Aura travel system from my mom and dad and our washing machine officially looks like a cotton candy machine with all the pink and pastel clothes swirling around! Here are a few pictures from the shower:

My niece Hannah helped me open Daisy's presents and made sure to show them to everyone as she squealed "So Cute!"

The delicious food Betsy prepared! Including made from scratch cupcakes with raspberry butter cream frosting!

All of the adorable clothes Daisy got! And a "diaper cake" made by Kristal!

Goodbye skinny jeans. Hello 3rd trimester!

Today marks my 27th week of pregnancy and boy am I beginning to feel the weight of it on me, no pun intended! The last few weeks I've marked several milestones in this pregnancy. I now need to take a breather between rolling from my left side, to my back, then eventually to my right side. I can barely tie my tennis shoes and the weight of my stomach feels like I've swallowed a bowling ball! In fact one of my customers, an elder gentleman who ironically nicknamed my formerly very small stature "fatso," informed me I now look like a bowling ball stuck to a telephone pole! Last night I even woke up every 2 hours to pee and roll over in hopes that that position will be more comfortable than the last.

I'm pretty sure Daisy's head down now! She had been breached, with her head to my right and butt to my left, but the other night as I lay down to sleep she was being quite the acrobat and ever since I have mainly only felt kicks above my belly button instead of below like before. I should actually be able to find this out on Tuesday as the doctor wants me to have another ultrasound because I am measuring small. She said it's nothing to cause concern or alarm right now, she'd just like to get another look at her and be reassured. She said it very well may be that I am measuring small just because I am petite. I certainly don't feel small at the moment, I've gained a total of 12 lbs so far and needless to say it's not all belly! Though hair ties have been my BFF and new accessory for every pair of jeans I wear sadly they can no longer keep me in my skinny jeans, not because my belly has out grown them no, but because my rear has! I wore them a few weeks ago to church and my husband informed me that was probably the last time my butt was going to fit in them for a while and being the stubborn girl that I am I wanted to prove him wrong, so I squeezed myself into them for a dreadfully long and uncomfortable day at work on a casual Friday. Needless to say I have come to grips with the fact that I will not be wearing those jeans for a very long time!

I've began to notice it takes more of an effort to stand from a seated position, and getting up from laying down is an exercise routine all on its own! My "waddle" is progressing at a rapid pace and as I get bigger the days seem to be getting longer.

Nothing like a night in the ER to wear a girl out!

I had my 25 week check up yesterday which included my glucose test. I thought the most excitement I'd encounter that day would be the nasty orange drink I had to keep down on an empty stomach. Boy was I wrong! Let me start off by saying baby and momma are fine and I passed my glucose and hemoglobin test with flying colors! All the drama started about 2 hours after leaving the doctor's office. My husband and I were on our way home from the chiropractor and I had to pee really bad! Nothing new there, except when I got home and went to the bathroom I wasn't able to urinate near as much as I felt like I needed to. I got up and a few minutes later felt like I was going to bust again! For the next 30 minutes I kept running to the bathroom feeling like I wasn't going to make it in time and pee all over myself and nothing but a few drops would come out and the pressure wouldn't release. I got a cramp in the lower right side of my back which made everything that much more uncomfortable. There is nothing I hate more than having to pee and not having a restroom to go in, let alone having one to go in and not being able to go! I tried drinking water and cranberry juice hoping that I would just overload my bladder so much that I wouldn't be able to help but empty it. No such luck. I finally called my mom and she said it sounds like a bladder infection. She suffers from them and in fact the first one she ever had was when she was pregnant with my older brother. So I called my doctor's office and left a message for the doctor on call. In the mean time I drew myself a warm bath hoping it would help with the pain in my back. The doctor called about an hour later and after I explained all my symptoms she told me it sounded like a bladder infection and she would call me in a prescription. She said if they're not caught soon enough it can lead to a kidney infection, so if I started vomiting or the pain in my back got worse to call her back. About 15 minutes later I started throwing up and was very uncomfortable. I called her back and she told me to come on in to the ER and she'd run a urine and blood test. And then the fun really started....

I threw up a little on the car ride to the hospital and winced at every turn we had to make on the curvy mountain roads between our house and the hospital. Finally Daniel and I get there and explain to the lady at the ER entrance that the doctor told us to come in here and be sent to labor and delivery where she could check me out. After a long trek through the hospital and up one floor we then get redirected back down to the ER to be admitted there. All the while I'm hunched over in pain and holding back vomit. Once we're back down to the ER they want us to fill out all sorts of paper work and then proceed to tell us we probably won't be going to the labor and delivery floor where the doctor told me she would see me. With this news I told the lady behind the desk I either needed a trash can or to be pointed to the nearest restroom because I was going to throw up! Once back at her desk to fill out the remainder of the paper work I had to answer all sorts of stupid questions like "when was your last menstrual cycle?" I wanted to scream "Lady I'm 25 weeks pregnant! Does it really matter? You do the math?!" After coming back from the bathroom a second time from throwing up Daniel told me they agreed to go ahead and take me up to labor and delivery where we could finish the rest of the paperwork. The tech that was to take me up thought the wheelchairs they had right there were too big for me so she wanted to find a smaller one. As if I wouldn't fit in the one of the big ones!!! Finally we get off the elevator on the second floor and there are 3 doors to choose from, one straight ahead, one to the left and one to the right. The tech informed us she wasn't quite sure which way to go! Not what I wanted to be hearing right then! So after door #1 to the left being wrong she left us in the hallway while she checked door #3 to the right, which thankfully turned out to be the right door! Thank goodness! Once to my room they gave me a gown to change into and hooked my belly up to the monitors so we could hear little Daisy's heart beat and see that everything was OK with her. Daniel filled out the rest of the paperwork and I managed to sign a signature that looks nothing like mine as the pain in my back got worse. They asked for a urine sample and they're lucky they got the teaspoon that they did. The nurse then drew some blood and was going to put in an IV except my vain blew. Attempt number 2 wasn't any better and just left me squirming on the bed as she wiggled the needle around in my arm and blew that vain also!

The doctor came in and let me know that my urine test came back perfect and I in fact didn't even have a bladder infection, but that didn't explain the pressure on my bladder, back pain and vomiting. She tapped on the back and told me the pain I was experiencing was too low to be my kidney, so that was good news, except that it didn't explain why I was having such terrible back pains! The pain was constant and they said I was right, I wasn't having contractions, but they wanted to check my cervix to make sure it wasn't dilating. My cervix was fine, no sign of dilation and the doctor did an in and out cath to see if she could release some of the pressure from by bladder. Amazingly enough my bladder was practically empty, nothing but a few drops came out! She said the baby may have just shifted positions and be sitting lower on it causing the full sensation. They gave me a shot of phenergran to help with the vomiting and hoped when it kicked in I'd be sleepy and not notice the back pains. After a few minutes of shut eye as the meds kicked in they decided to keep me over night just to monitor me and to keep an eye on Daisy. Once they got us to the room they'd keep us in overnight I was actually able to go to the bathroom normally, but still felt some pressure on my bladder. Thankfully we were able to get a decent nights sleep and by morning I was feeling much better! So even though we don't know what was wrong or how I could have all the symptoms of a bladder infection without actually having one, it is nice to know that nothing is alarmingly wrong, except that I might be just a little bit CRAZY!

At least now Daniel and I know our way around the hospital and best of all we got to fall asleep listening to the sound of our little girl's beating heart!

The belly ring vs the baby bump

I made reference in my last post to my nephew pointing at my belly ring and calling it "ouie!" and I figured this may be a helpful post to those mamas-to-be out there that have their belly button pierced and would like to keep it that way. I got my belly button pierced when I was 18 and that is something I never want to experience again! I am NOT a fan of needles! I am being optimistic in hoping that my belly will one day take a shape similar to it's pre-pregnancy growth spurt and a belly ring won't look completely ludacrous. Being that I do not want to get it re-pierced and am afraid of taking it out and risking it growing back together I searched for alternatives.

I found a couple pregnancy belly rings with cute "It's a boy!" and "It's a girl!" charms online but they ran upwards of $25! That seemed a little pricey to me, I figured there had to be a cheaper option. I went to the local tattoo parlor my husband and I use and I asked the owner if they carried anything like that or if they could order something from one of their catalogs. She had just the thing for me! It's a maternity belly ring kit! It cost $25 but gave more options than just one single ring for the same price! It took about a week for her to receive the order and it was well worth the wait! She cut me off a few loops of this flexible tubing and gave me several colored stone and solid silver balls. You just cut the tubing to the length you need based on how big your belly is, usually one length for 2nd trimester and a longer length for 3rd. Once you cut the tubing you use the balls to make the threads. Thankfully Daniel ingeniously thought about using a pair of flat nose pliers without the teeth to hold the tubing while threading the balls on. If you just tried holding the tubing while threading the balls on they both just seemed to slip and progress was very slow!

Ive been using this pregnancy belly ring since about 4 months as my belly started to get a lot tighter and my belly button quickly started turning into an outie! I'm pretty sure by the time I'm 9 months pregnant my belly button is going to look like the end of a balloon!

Neglect

I realized I have neglected my poor little blog! My husband and I have been fighting off some sinus/cold/allergy thing this last week and we're both just now starting to come around again. I have always had unpleasant sinus problems (thanks to my dad!) and having drainage in the mornings was always the biggest cause for my "early morning" morning sickness. The doctor has me on a low dose allergy medicine at night to help dry me up through the night so I don't have to deal with near as much drainage in the mornings. What ever this thing is that I am fighting rudely woke me up about 2 week ago with a terribly sore throat and a nose that couldn't decided if it wanted to be stuffed up or run! Thankfully I am on the back end of it now and feeling better every day! I'm trying to think back on all that I have done since I last posted...Sorry about that last little rant about baby registry and such! Daniel surprised me and painted the nursery before I got home from work one evening and it looks amazing!As I have posted before we wanted a rug for our nursery because we have wood floors. We came across a rug last week that is different from what I first had my heart set on, but one feel of this rug and I quickly changed my mind! I imagine this is what walking on a cloud will feel like! It is the most incredible shaggy goodness and I can't wait for Daisy to get a feel of this between her little toes!Even our dog Tinkerbell approves! She instantly laid down and started rolling around as soon as we unrolled it! I've even caught her playing in the nursery and snuggling up on this incredible rug!

We had a follow up ultrasound on Wednesday of last week and everything looked great! Daisy is weighing in at roughly 1 lb 6 oz and we double checked that she is in fact a SHE! Afterward Daniel and I went and registered for baby stuff and it wore us out! Nothing like looking at baby item after baby item and being in a daze the entire time. By the end of the day we found ourselves scanning everything we might even remotely be interested in so that I could edit the registry online at another time when I felt like I had a few more brain cells!

Last weekend my sister-in-law Betsy brought my 2 year old niece and nephew to town and my mom and I went with them to a local water park. I wore a bikini and graced everyone with my bulging belly and enjoyed every moment of it! If we asked Hannah where Daisy was she would pat my belly and Eli would point at my belly ring and say "ouie!" We had so much fun playing in the kiddie area, floating the lazy river and getting smacked by a few waves in the wave pool. After just a few hours there I was ready to sleep my afternoon away! Nothing like sun, water, pregnancy, and 2 year old twins to wear a girl out!

Baby Registry...even more stressful than my wedding registry!

I have slowly but surely been working on our baby registry at Walmart. In a week and a half we will be going to Babies R Us and Baby Depot to register some more, but in the mean time it is nice to be able to get a general list of some of the items we are going to need for this new addition. My brother and sister-in-law have 2 year old twins, a boy and a girl, so they have about two of everything in any color, size, shape or form and they have graciously offered to let us borrow any of it that we need! That means we don't have to register for items such as a swing, infant car seat, bouncy seat, walker, bath tub, Bjorn, etc. They're even giving us their changing table in a few weeks! Needless to say we feel VERY blessed!

In light of all the items we will be borrowing from them I am trying to focus on the other array of items we need to register for. It just so happens there are a gazillion baby items of different variations with reviews written by hundreds of consumers who are all very convicted from their experience with said product, whether it be good or bad.

I find myself sitting on the fence most of the time while reading these reviews. What is that saying? "Take everything with a grain of salt." Most of the people that review items are the 'love it' or 'hate it' type. There are very few that say this product didn't work for me but that's understandable seeing that they were making an item trying to fit the wants and needs of thousands of mothers and fathers. Very rarely do you come across reviews were people list their opinion of the pros vs cons, most just rant and rave over why they love or loathe that particular product.

This being said, for those of us new moms who have no clue what we're looking for we find ourselves being pulled in different directions based on the reviews we read. I do believe one thing we can all agree on is that our child's safety is our greatest concern! And this brings up the list that frightens all parents and parents-to-be, Recalls! Heaven forbid I get passed down an item that has been recalled and I know nothing about it! It is a comfort to know that once a product is recalled it is no longer sold, but how on earth do you keep track of everything you buy along with all the products being recalled? This subject is overwhelming to say the least.

So my question is, how have other moms tackled their baby registry and fear of recalls?

22 Weeks!

Where has the time gone? How is it I'm over half way through this pregnancy and I feel like we just found out! We had a check up this past Wednesday and it went great! Daisy's heart beat was strong and I can't help but turn to mush every time I see Daniel's face light up at the sound of his little girl's beating heart! So far I've gained 7 1/2 lbs and I asked the doctor when I should expect to start putting on weight steadily. She told me I'll start noticing the pounds increasing more rapidly in the third trimester and over all I should gain between 35 and 40 lbs. 35-40 lbs?!?!?! I was only expecting about 25 lbs so I'm guessing according to them I started off underweight. How I'm expected to gain roughly 28 lbs in the next 4 months is beyond me! Apparently I need to up my pickles and ice cream intake!

Speaking of pickles and ice cream I don't feel like I am experiencing the normal (or normally bizarre) cravings I have heard of in some pregnancies. Granted I have had my fair share of pizza and Taco Bell since getting pregnant and my mother's spaghetti sounds good on a regular basis!

Project Nursery!

After weeks of looking at countless crib bedding sets Daniel and I finally agreed on one! This proved to be a harder task than I thought it would be. You see, I am a fan of loud obnoxious colors! Daniel is not. I love and adore polka dots, Daniel on the other hand loathes them. As we looked over picture after picture of bedding I began to realize that if I pointed out one I liked and it caused Daniel's eyes to bug out and his lips to pucker as if he ate something sour, it probably would not be one added to his "favorites list." We also had a few other curve balls thrown in on our decision making process. The nursery is rather small so we wanted to pick a paint color that would not be dark and "shrink" the room and at the same time not be too loud and overwhelming for such a small space. We agreed that if it was a girl we would paint the room lavender. We had to consider this as we narrowed our list of bedding. Again, harder than it seems. So for our little Daisy's crib bedding we chose: Plum Blossom! We ordered the bedding right away so we could have it in person to compare paint colors to. We didn't want to risk choosing a color and then the bedding showing up looking a different tone than the picture! We had a book of paint swatches with sticky note tabs marking our favorite colors. As soon as the bedding came in we sat down with it and our book and narrowed the colors down, eliminating the "too blue"s and "too pink"s. We settles on Lavender Lane by Pittsburgh paints. Instead of installing blinds in the nursery we are hanging a pair of sheer white curtains over the window. On a separate curtain rod we are hanging this adorable pair of Purple Berry curtains that we can close to filter out the light when little one is sleeping! During the day we will probably have them pulled back with a tie of some sort. *Note to self: a daisy chain tie back may be a nice little accent! If you haven't notice yet, my head is overflowing with ideas of this nursery! I'm still figuring out ways to pull it all together, and it's happening, slowly but surely. Once we get the room painted, (which will hopefully take place this week!) I will be painting a mural on the wall next to the window. I haven't nailed down the exact design but it will be something similar to this one: I plan on having only one dandelion though and it will bend a little towards the crib and the petals will be blowing over the crib. I'm not sure if I am going to paint it white, off-white, or more like the real thing with a green stem. Another "must have" for the nursery is this fabulous lamp shade! I will be attempting to make this shade to go on an old wrought iron lamp that I have painted black to match the rest of the furniture. This is another one of those ideas that has caused my husband's eyes to bulge and say "Wow that is a lot of flowers!" He did mention that he would welcome the idea a little more if it was broken up a little bit, so we discussed throwing in a few pink daisies and he calmed at the idea. In another corner of the room I plan on hanging a few of these paper lanterns. I have one above my nightstand acting as my bedside lamp and it cast the softest glow to our bedroom. It's a lot calmer than the harsh lighting of an ordinary lamp or over head light, especially if it has to be turned on in the middle of the night. I have 2 small white decorative ones that I will be hanging along with a large one of an undecided color. I'm choosing between pink, purple, or a pale green. This is the only one that will have an actual light in it so I want to choose a color that will cast a nice hue over the room when turned on. And last but certainly not least on my "must have" list is a chenille shag rug! We have hardwood floors throughout our house so a rug for the nursery is a must! We have two of these already, one as our bath mat and another in front of our kitchen sink. They are AMAZING! You have never felt something so wonderful beneath your feet unless you've wiggles your toes in this! We're deciding between pale pink, black, or a soft green for the rug. If it's pink it will forever have to be in a girls room. If it's black or green we can use it in our next baby's nursery, so it will work for a boy or girl. Decision, decisions, decisions! All I know is I have to have one!

What's in a name?

I realized that in all my excitement I forgot to announce the name of our precious baby girl! Her name will be Daisy Gail. I have a funny story to go along with her name, but first I must explain my LOVE for the name Daisy! Daisies are my favorite flower, they are perky and simply "happy" flowers! My husband knows he doesn't have to go out and spend tons on roses because a $5 bouquet of daisies will make me smile just as much and they live weeks longer!

Now as for the story, I have been determined to name my first daughter Daisy for as long as I can remember. My mom told me I was crazy if I ever thought I'd find a guy who would be okay with me naming my daughter that, as it is not a common name. But being the stubborn redhead that I am I told her that who ever i married would just have to deal with it! When my husband and I were dating we were sitting on the couch watching a movie and out of the blue he said "What do you think about naming our daughter Daisy?" I gasped and fell off the couch! I don't have a clue what movie we were watching or what would have even triggered such a question but needless to say other than the day he asked me to marry him I have never looked at him with such wonder and amazement in my eyes! I asked if he was serious and he said yes, why? I told him about how I was never-in-my-wildest-dreams going to be able to find a man who would let me name my daughter Daisy and there he was sitting on my couch!

So there you have it! Little Miss Daisy Dobson!

It's a......

GIRL!!! A little baby girl! I was sure as of yesterday that it was a boy! Little bit was all scrunched up and the ultrasound tech was having a hard time seeing everything. At one point she said "Well this baby is stubborn and not wanting to cooperate!" The first thing that popped into my head was Oh It's a girl! And low and behold baby turned out to be a girl just as stubborn as her mama!

Right after our appointment we made all the necessary calls (and texts) to family and friends and then headed straight for one of my favorite thrift stores, Diane's Resale Shop! Diane buys clothes from Carter's and The Children's Place when they're going out of season and then sells them at an incredible price! Almost 75% off the ticket price! Jackpot! I've had my eyes on a number of little pieces for boys and girls and was anxiously awaiting the verdict so I could snatch up these fantastic finds! I even caught Daniel admiring a pair of little boy converse shoes and frowning a little, so I promised him I'd keep my eyes open for a pair of little pink converse shoes! Here's the loot I scored today...

17 1/2 weeks!

Sacrifice

I know as parents you will do most anything for your kids, and most of the time it comes with a great deal of sacrifice on your part. I'm sure my parents sacrificed more than I will ever actually know for some of the things I want and most of the things I needed. I am beginning to believe that the 9 months of pregnancy is really the slowest, most gradual way into this sacrifice called Parenthood. It all starts with your sanity the moment you learn you're pregnant, whether that comes with great enthusiasm or fear. Over time you sacrifice your meals, if you can even get them down in the first place, your ability to sleep long comfortable hours, even your "fat clothes" become obsolete as you have to buy a new wardrobe. And if you had anything like my java-a-day habit, you sacrifice your addiction to caffeine even though the need for it feels stronger than ever.

In many ways I look forward to the sacrifices that come along with becoming a mother and at the same time I am terrified of not being able to sacrifice enough to provide for my little ones in the ways I would hope. Though I'm sure as a mother the joy you have from loving your child to the greatest of your abilities greatly outweighs the sacrifices that come along with it.

Rule Breakin' Rebel

I don't know how much of a rebel it makes me if I break my own rule, but to better describe my rule to you I must first explain my problem. My addiction is more like it. What addiction you ask? SHOES! Not just any old shoes either, I'm talking one-wrong-step-you'll-break-your-neck Shoes! The rule I set for myself was not to buy shoes I won't be able to walk in easily my last trimester. And with my taste in shoes that means I basically can't buy anything other than flats! Well when I go into TJMaxx or Ross I can't help but make a bee line for the shoe section. This was my first mistake. Second was the moment I put the shoes on, which happened to be half a size too big. I told myself, this is good, you shouldn't buy them anyway! But then there on another shelf sat the perfect size 6 1/2 split leather black heels to die for! I snatched those puppies up and lost all self control! Being that I work in a bank I get quite a bit of use out of my heels, not a whole lot of miles, but as i rotate between my painfully adorable 4 inchers and my more reasonably, not so racy, pumps I get to enjoy my "collection" that has taken over our guest bedroom.

Boy vs. Girl

In two and a half weeks we will find out if we are having our first son or first daughter! July 28th can't get here fast enough! I have been itching to get the nursery started so in the mean time I have been saving lots of pictures and ideas! We've narrowed down a few options of bedding we like for boys and girls. If it's a boy most likely he'll have a safari or monkey themed bedding. I've just got to say, boys decor is not nearly as cute as girls is! I've got ideas coming out my ears for a little girl! We're going to try and keep most "big" items, stroller, high chair, etc, gender neutral since eventually we want one of each. It makes no sense in needing to turn around and buy pink stuff if you have all blue stuff. Well enough rambling for now, I'll blog more on the nursery, strollers, and more later!

Wiggle room

I have began to feel the baby move! The first time it just felt like a little bubble rolls over as I was laying on my side in bed. The second time I felt it was at work, it was a little more obvious and a little strong. I'd compare it to when you're stomach gurgles, there's just no noise! As I read about it in baby books they all referred to it as flutters and that's a pretty good description. My stomach has this fuzzy feeling, like when I'm nervous or my blood sugar is low. I saw a masseuse a few weeks ago and she said that when she began to feel the baby move but it was too early for her husband to feel it on the outside he could hear the vibrations if he laid his head on her stomach! I think that's pretty awesome! Daniel has tried it a few times and thinks hes heard some swishing.

I had a check up last week and since we weren't going to have an ultrasound Daniel didn't leave work early, so my mom went! She got to hear the heart beat which was a lot stronger and louder this time! It sounded just like a galloping horse. So far I've gained 5 lbs and all the ladies in the doctors office were commenting on how unfair it was that I am so tiny and pregnant!

The nurse practitioner prescribed me Reglan to help me digest my food faster because I was still getting sick at dinner a lot. She said because my digestion has slowed down drastically my lunch is still sitting on my stomach when I eat dinner and it's just too much food on my stomach that's making me sick. So far since taking the medicine before lunch and dinner I haven't gotten sick!

I have officially reached the "I look like I have a beer belly" stage

I believe the morning sickness is coming to a swift end! It has occasionally reared its ugly head this past week but not near to the extent it had been in the past! Thank goodness is all I have to say about that! I've gone about 3 days with out any Phenergan and I've kept most of my meals down!

A new pregnancy symptom made its appearance this week though, the ever dreaded dry, itchy skin! Holy cow I might as well be overcoming a horrendous sunburn for the lack of moisture in my skin these days! And ironically I hate lotion! I don't mind it on my body, just not my palms and it better dry fast because there's nothing worse than feeling sticky all over! I have had to lather lotion on at least once a day and my skin is still a dry flaky mess! (not a pretty picture I know!)

And to top it all off I now have a gut! Not a large one by any means and it's not causing the dreadful "muffin top" effect, but a gut none the less. I even have to unbutton and sometimes unzip my pants just to sit down comfortably, which fuels a chuckle from my husband every time!

I realize I haven't updated since we had our second appointment! (I=Bad pregnancy-blogger!) We got to hear the heart beat! INCREDIBLE! It is still so mind boggling to me that there is a little baby growing in my belly. I can't help but quote the movie Juno "Your baby has fingernails!" My baby has fingernails! And beautiful and strong heart beat! Surreal, pregnancy is very surreal. Since I haven't been blogging as often as I had hoped I'll leave you with a few "baby bump" pictures we have taken over the last few weeks.(13 weeks)(11 1/2 weeks and a very full belly)(8 1/2 weeks)

First trimester coming to an end!

I can't believe I'm already 3 months along! Times is going by so fast, except when I'm nauseous and vomiting, then it goes really really slow! Tomorrow is our second appointment and hopefully we will get to hear the heart beat! Sometime this week I'll get our ultrasound pictures uploaded from this appointment and the first one! I am praying that by the end of this week or next my morning sickness will come to a close and I can go on to live a (semi)normal life again.

Last week I, the hubby, my parents, brother and sister-in-law and their 2 year old twins went to New Smyrna Beach, FL and had an amazing time! The beginning of the week I was actually feeling SO much better! My nausea had almost completely gone away and then ironically the vomiting got worse! I lost 2 of the 3 lbs that I had gained up to that point. I honestly believe I survived the week on potato chips, ice cream, bagels, and cinnamon rolls. But man oh man I want normal food!

Even though I now only weigh 1 lb more than I did before I got pregnant my belly has developed a little bump and I can no longer sit comfortable with my jean buttoned. My mom has even asked a time or two "Are you sure they just saw one in there?!"

I'll post some ultrasound and belly pictures soon and updated about tomorrow appointment!

Morning sickness remedies

For those of us dealing with morning sickness you know it DOES NOT by any means only occur in the morning! If you're like me it last all day long. Even when I wake up in the middle of the night to pee I notice myself a bit queasy. So far I haven't found the "miracle cure" to this constant nausea but I thought I would list a few remedies that have been suggested to me by other mothers. Hopefully some of you will find one that works for you!

1. Chick-fil-A lemonade.
2. Crackers before getting out of bed.
3. Cheerios before getting out of bed.
4. Peppermints.
5. Cinnamon Discs.
5. Preggie Pops (or Preggie Pop Drops)
6. Ginger Ale, Ginger Snaps, Crystallized Ginger, etc. You get the picture, apparently GINGER helps!
7. Eat lots of small meals to not allow your stomach to get too empty.
8. No big meals! You don't want to be over stuffed.
9. Grapes
10. Cold foods and drink.

I have had a terrible time with the after taste of EVERYTHING, so I found sucking on peppermints or cinnamon discs after eating something small helped sometimes. I use Preggie Pops Drops after eating whole meals to help keep it down a little longer. Some things help one day and then prove to be no use the next and vice versa, so i recommend trying things multiple times because one day they might work!

Two Pink Lines!

April 13th
Daniel and I found out we are PREGNANT! We weren't necessarily trying to get pregnant, we also weren't doing anything to prevent it. We had been praying about it and decided to just trust God and his timing and that he would allow us to get pregnant when he thought we were ready. Though I am nervous and anxious about being pregnant it is a comfort knowing it is all in God's timing and that he is protecting this little one growing inside of me!

April 21st
Today I am roughly 5 1/2 weeks pregnant! Sunday we celebrated our one year anniversary (I can't believe it's already been a year!), and a week and a half away is Daniel's sister, Kristal's, wedding. Our first Dr.'s appointment is May 12th, 3 weeks from today! Since I'm so anxious to learn more about this little one I went and got a $1 pregnancy test from Dollar General just to hold my self over until the appt (I even got a "Good Luck!" from the cashier). Trust me, those two pink lines are the only thing keeping me sane right now! So far I haven't been sick, a little nauseous but not much, I am exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open past 9pm, and my hormones are beginning to make me weepy.

Daniel and I are so excited about this journey into parenthood and constantly praying for our future little boy or girl that we'll be meeting (hopefully) by Christmas!

April 26th
As of Monday the morning sickness has begun. I was woken up at 6 AM feeling like I was going to be sick and it's only been down hill from there! I've lost one dinner and gagged my way through packing lunch every morning. I'm nauseous from the time I wake up until I'm sound asleep again. This is like being on a never ending curvy car ride and I am know in my family for being able to puke at barely a moments notice when car sick!

May 5th
Our first appointment is in ONE WEEK!!!! I am so excited I just can't stand it! The morning sickness hasn't let up and I'm trying everything I can to keep my food down. I'm having a really hard time with the after-taste of everything, I have found that if i suck on a peppermint it helps some. I went to Motherhood Maternity this week and bought the sour Preggie Pop Drops and they also help out quite a bit when I'm nauseous.

We had a little scare this past weekend when I started spotting right before bed. After a frantic call to my mom, I talked to my doctor and he said with my description it seems perfectly normal and not to worry unless it increased or was accompanied by pain. I had a good cry and Daniel said a long prayer for the baby. He was so under-control and comforting to me, but I had to tell him he didn't have to always be so strong and that's when a few tears streamed down his face and he buried his head into the crook of my neck. I have such a wonderful, amazing, protective, and fantastic husband. I am so truly blessed!

Daniel has already began talking to my belly, rubbing and kissing it, and telling the baby "you're daddy loves you!" I can't help but smile and feel warm fuzzies all over.