Week 30

Wow! Here we are officially in the 30s. Again, I seriously cannot believe how quickly this is all going.

**This started out as another busy week. Monday night Matthew and I had our first (of 4) prepared childbirth class. It was quite an eye-opening evening. We were not quite prepared to watch a birth. I thought they might save that for a later class. Instead, we jumped in with both feet the first night. This is definitely going to be an interesting experience. I hope the birth is a good, interesting experience and not a scary one.

**Tuesday night was my last b-feeding class. I am glad I attended this class and feel like I learned a lot. Now if only I can remember it all.

**Matthew's aunt, cousin, and cousin's soon-to-be 4 year old daughter drove down to see us Sunday afternoon (4 year old girl asked if they were going to Max's house). We had a wonderful time visiting. His cousin brought us a package of clothes that Matthew's mom had given her with the birth of her daughter as well as a mobile from Matthew's grandfather. What treasures! We are so thankful she shared with us.

**Matthew started painting the nursery a lighter yellow yesterday. I am so excited for it to be done so we can get started putting the furniture together. One slow step at a time.

Weekend Visitor

We had a visitor over the weekend. Some friends from church left their chocolate lab Toby with us for a long weekend. The husband returned home in February from a 15 month deployment in Iraq. So they went home to visit family and friends. Max had SO much fun having a buddy his size around to chase and play with. I'm pretty sure he was at least a little bit depressed yesterday since Toby went home late Monday night. It was fun to see the dogs play together and to be reminded, yet again, that we do indeed have the perfect dog.

Aren't they cuties?

Week 29

I'm a bit late with this post. I just haven't made the time to get this posted before now.

The last couple of weeks have felt very busy. I hope I can remember some of the highlights of the week.

*I had my first (of 2) b-feeding class Tuesday, March 17. My neighbor who is expecting a baby April 21st and I went to this class together. After reading about b-feeding, I have been nervous because I have read how frustrating it can be if the baby does not latch on correctly. This class was very informative, and I think I feel more comfortable with the idea of it all now. Although she definitely covered some topics I hadn't thought of before...and hadn't been worried about before. I am not worried about this now. I just understand that it is important to have a good start.
*We received a couple of packages in the mail of baby clothes from friends in Austin. The following picture is stuff my friend Angie sent me. I wish you could see how cute these clothes are. I am excited to see them on Baby Girl at some point. I still need to take pictures of the package we received from some other friends.



*Matthew painted over the yucky yellow walls with white primer. There was no time to get the new paint on the wall this week.

Max's Adventures

I think Max has had a fun couple of weeks. Actually, I think he's had a pretty fun life, but he might possibly argue with me.

Since Matthew has been out of work, he has tried to take Max to the park each day for some fun and exercise. Max LOVES to retrieve as I have mentioned time and time again.

Last week while at the park, a couple of families came up with kids who wanted to play with Max. He was fine with them throwing his toys, but he was not so interested in being petted and loved on. He is one focused retriever.

Last Friday, Matthew went to play frisbee golf with a guy from church. Max went along and apparently did not understand that he was not supposed to retrieve the frisbees. It sounded like he had a really good time.

While at the park another day last week, Matthew was curious if Max could climb stairs. Since there is playground equipment at the park, Matthew climbed up the stairs on the equipment and Max followed suit. He even climbed down them a couple of times. He also ran down the slide. He could not figure out how to run up the slide although that was entertaining to watch. (By the way, no playground equipment - or anything/anyone else for that matter - was harmed in this experiment.)

One day this week while at the park, a guy was there working with his yellow lab on retrieving birds. This lab was a good 30 pounds heavier than Max. Matthew said he was not interested at all in retrieving the birds. So the guy would throw a bird, and Max would bring it back to him. For some reason, the retelling of this story just tickles me. Obviously Max doesn't care who is throwing what, he just wants to run and bring something back.

Last night we had some friends over for dinner with their 4 week old son. Max was extremely curious about this little guy and his car seat/carrier. Every time the baby would make a noise, Max would go over there and sniff him. I don't think he ever figured out what that little guy was. It was good to see even for a few hours how Max would behave around a baby. He has no idea what he is in for!

Week 28

Week 28 is almost over, and I'm just now writing a bit about it. This is how this week has felt. I have been busy and feeling behind with things. I am tired and so glad that tomorrow is Friday although we have a busy weekend ahead of us.

If you have known me for long, you may recognize this dress. My mother gave this to me one Christmas when I was in college. I have always really liked this dress and have been thrilled that I have been able to wear it during pregnancy. I have been wearing it with pants though because it is a bit short and since it has been cold here that works out just fine in my opinion.

I have something to confess to you all. Last Friday at work I decided that I needed a snack. Mind you, I wasn't hungry but I definitely had the munchies. I will just state right now that working at a grocery store is dangerous at times like this. Because while I could have gone into the store and purchased a piece of fruit or something else "healthy", I ended up buying a pint of ice cream and eating the ENTIRE thing! I didn't plan to eat it all, but boy was it tasty. Oops! Thankfully, that is the only time I have displayed such a moment of weakness (to this point anyway).

Saturday we finally got the last items moved out of the nursery so we could start painting. It was a cold and snowy day and we both had the blahs so we postponed painting because it just didn't sound like a fun way to spend our Saturday.

Monday the baby furniture was delivered. It is still currently in the boxes in our foyer until the room is painted and ready for furniture.

Last week Matthew purchased the paint for the room. We did our due diligence in purchasing a couple of samples of paint to make sure we picked the right color. We learned a LOT when we picked out paint for our dining room and master bedroom a couple of years ago. Well...it appears that our due diligence did not help us out much. Matthew spent yesterday painting the room which turned out to be a really bright school bus yellow. Not exactly the look we were going for. So today he started painting the room with primer so we can start over with a lighter color. How frustrating - he has already spent a lot of time and more money than we hoped to spend on the paint!

Since last Saturday, Baby Girl has been moving quite a bit more. I have actually been able to see the movement which has been amazing... and weird. I still haven't seen what I recognize as a hand or a foot yet.

I had my 28 week appointment yesterday. It was quick as most of the others have been. Baby Girl's heart rate was 135. The doctor said everything looks good. My next appointment will be in 3 weeks instead of 4 weeks.

I think that's about it!

Overwhelmed

This has also been an overwhelming week. Matthew and I have had a zero-based budget since attending Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey when we were first married. We reviewed our budget Monday night for really the first time since Matthew was laid off. It was eye-opening to say the least. We definitely cannot afford our current living situation on my salary alone. This wasn't necessarily surprising to find out, but it was a bit depressing and stressful.

Talk about stress. I can tell you that this pregnant woman does not need stress. I am quite emotional without even thinking about all these unknowns.

We are praying about many things right now regarding our future. We know that God has a plan for us. At this moment, we just aren't sure what that is. We trust Him but are also wary of making the wrong decisions. And we recognize that sometimes you have to step out in faith...not being sure of the right path. Our hope is that if we do that, He will make it clear that we should be moving in a different direction.

No decisions have been made as of today. And I'm not sure when any will be made. My hope is that we can feel a little more settled by the time Baby Girl arrives.

Week 27

I am embarrassed to post these pictures, but I guess not too embarrassed since I have done that very thing. I won't do these again without makeup on. I was hoping it wouldn't be obvious, but it certainly is. I also don't like taking pictures with my hair curly. For some reason it makes me feel like I am trying to be too young or something.

This has started out as an exciting week.

*Saturday Matthew and I picked the color we want to paint the nursery. We have yet to buy more paint in order to do so, but I hope we can get that done somewhat soon. It is going to take a lot of paint as we are using a light color to cover some already beige walls.

*Sunday morning before I got out of bed, Matthew felt Baby Girl kick for the first time.

*Tuesday evening a friend from church met me at Babies R Us to help me register. I still need to go back at least one more time, but I feel like I made good progress last night. And it was fun to have some girl time and hear about her experiences with her 3 kiddos.

*Today when I checked the mail, Baby Merritt had a package. My mom sent two outfits and some socks. They are really cute! And it's always fun to get non-bills in the mail.