Thanksgiving weekend & 4D Ultrasound

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend and ate lots and lots of good food! If not...I am sure I ate enough for everyone!! That is one advantage of being prego during the holdiays...no guilt when I eat too much! :) We went to Riley's Aunts for a short visit and meal #1 and then headed to my Grannys for meal #2. Mom, Dad, Riley and myself headed down to Fairhope Thanksgiving night for the rest of the weekend. We got in a little shopping (not on Black Friday...wasnt up for that!), some football (Roll Tide!), more eating and lots of relaxation.

Today I went for the 4D Ultrasound. We got lots of pictures of Anna Riley. She had her arms crossed most of the time and seemed to be sitting "Indian Style." She is still head down and her heartrate was 143. She weighs 4 lbs. 4oz and the nurse said I was measuring 31 weeks rather than 29. I think most babies at this time usually weigh about 2 1/2 -3lbs. So I am guessing she will be a bigger baby or be a little early. As long as she is healthy and fully developed, I dont care!

arms crossed

sticking out her tongue

Baby update

I went to the doctor today and it was actually quite eventful. They strongly recommended that I get the H1N1 vaccine so of course I did even though I was a little unsure about it at first. I also had the gestational diabetes test which was really not that bad and I passed it! I have always heard how awful the stuff was you had to drink but to me it taste similar to a Sunkist with a little more sugar...it was not bad at all! I am just glad I passed because I really wouldnt want to spend 3 hours at the doctor! They also drew blood and I had another ultrasound and we finally confirmed that she was a she! But she still wouldnt open her legs very much. But I had two ultrasound techs looking this time and they both said it had to be a girl. And especially since this was the 3rd time to look and they still didnt see any "sign" of a boy. I had held off about ordering the bedding until we got a definite yes so I am ordering it tomorrow! I feel like we are waiting so late to get things done but that is just how I am and its been really hard to get started when it still wasnt confirmed. I know it will all get done in plenty of time with the husbands help! haha.

I cant believe that I am entering the 3rd trimester!! It feels like just last month I found out I was pregnant. I still feel pretty good but I can tell I dont have as much energy as I did. I do pretty well though after being with Kindergartners all day that are just so excited about the holidays and it is getting harder and harder to keep them calm! I have someone everyday come up almost everyday and tell me they dont know how I do it and especially pregnant! Lets just say...I am looking forward to the week off! haha

Side note: One of my best friends, Becca just had an adorable baby girl..miss Zoe Jane! She is precious. I cant wait to meet her!! It makes me sooo ready for February so we can meet our little Anna Riley!

Calling all Prayer Warriors...

Our family really needs your prayers! If you read my blog, you know that my mother-in-law has been in the hospital since August after her 2nd liver transplant. She had so many setbacks and had to go back to the SICU 5 different times. She finally got all of her organs working again but has lots of PT to do because her body was so weak from laying in the hospital bed that long. She still hasnt been able to stand by herself or walk. She had gotten where she could eat some the past couple of weeks and only had the feeding tube at night. They were getting ready to move to the Spain Rehab Center to finish her recovery. However, last night they noticed something that makes them think that she might have a whole in her intestine. They did a CT but it didnt really show up in that. They plan to run a few more tests tomorrow. They said that sometimes wholes in the intestine will heal on its on in a few weeks to a months time but if not another surgery will have to be done! I know she is such a positive person but it is hard to stay positive right now. She is so ready to get home and be with her family and we are ready to have her back!! We were really hoping she might be out of the hospital by Christmas and I know it can happen but if she has another surgery, her recovery will be pushed back even more! Please, please say a prayer for her that whatever is wrong will heal without surgery!

LS Who?

We had so much fun Saturday tailgating and going to the game. LSU always brings a big party with them but it is always much better when we win!! So excited about Bama going to the SEC championship again...maybe we can beat Florida this year!!

Ashley, me, Cyndee & Bethany

26 1/2 weeks

I am really bad about remembering to take pictures! I am so sorry Kimberly! :) I havent had really any new symptoms. She is kicking a lot more now and really hard and I love it! It gives me the reassurance that she is ok. The only thing that is driving me crazy right now is the Carpal Tunnel because I have to pretty much just sleep on my left side and I am one that likes to change positions often! I have had the 2nd trimester boost of energy but as that is coming to an end, so is my energy. I am noticing myself being more tired in the afternoons when I get home. I also just feel like I have a lot to do but I am a procrastinator! I said I would start early but with everything that has been going on since I have been pregnant, I really havent had a lot of free time to do it. It will get done soon though! The main thing we are working on in the next few weeks is opening up another closet in our master bedroom for my clothes. That is one thing I dislike about our house...not enough closets! But do you really ever have enough?? I plan to purchase the bedding and chair for the nursery after the appointment on the 19th. Hopefully we will get a for sure yes on it being a girl!

Its official

Its official...I will be a stay at home Mom! I told my principal Friday that I would not be coming back after the Christmas holidays. I will really miss the faculty and my sweet little class this year but I know when February gets here I will be happy to be at home with my baby! This was kind of a big decision (more for me than Riley) because I am not tenured in Tusc. Co. so therefore I am having to resign rather than take a leave. I know without a doubt that I want to be at home but it was the fact of letting go of something I was so close to and would have if I had not transferred systems (my tenure). If the pregnancy would have been planned (which really how many times are they perfectly planned, anyways?!) I would have loved to finish out the year and get my tenure. But, after talking with my principal, she made me feel much better about it and come to find out she did the exact same thing.

Thankful to a 5 year old

I have loved reading all of your posts about what you are thankful for. I am a bit of a slacker with the blog sometimes, but have been thinking of what I am thankful for daily. Today I ask my Kindergartners to think about what they were thankful for and we would share one thing each day until Thanksgiving break. I first told them how I was so thankful for the little baby growing inside me. We went around the circle and I got a lot of "my mom, "my cat," "my sister" and then I got to this little girl and she said "MY LIFE." Wow! That is pretty deep for a 5 year old. Sometimes we forget to be thankful for just being alive!

Kids say the darndest things!

A couple of weeks ago I had to be out a lot due to a training that I only had for 1st grade and not K. Workshops and trainings are usually somewhat boring but the one thing I love about them is hearing other peoples stories. One of the ladies shared a story that I thought was just too cute!

One of the ladies, a K teacher from Shelby Co., said she was doing her beginning of the year assessments and ask this certain child to tell her what the letter A said. She said the child looked at the letter and then looked at her kind of funny and stood up beside her chair, holding her hands down to form an 'A' she said in a high pitched voice "hello how are you today?" The teacher just stopped the assessment right there! But think about it...you are asking kids that some dont know what a letter is to tell you what it "says." haha! It is just amazing what goes on in their little heads!!

Tuesday, Riley and I went to our 2nd 'baby' class. This one was on Breastfeeding. This is probably what I have the most questions about so I was looking forward to it. The class was very informative but I can tell you this...I have never seen so many breasts in my life! We watched a lengthy video and of course that is what you are going to see if the topic is breastfeeding! The person teaching the class was so funny (and without meaning to) that is just made you feel almost like you were in 6th grade again snickering everytime someone said the word "boob!" But all laughter aside it was a good class and I am glad we went. I always knew there were pros to breastfeeding but was not aware that there were so many! I really hope that I will be able to do this!

1st Award

Thanks for the award Candace @ The Strickland Family! Maybe one day I will be as good of a blogger as you! :)

Here are the rules for the award:

1)You must thank the person who gave the award and list their blog and link it.

2) You must share "10 Honest Things" about yourself.

3) You have to present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.

4) Last, you must tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

10 Honest Things About Me
1. I love cooking but it just really isnt as much fun when you try to make it healthy!!
2. I talk to my Mom at least once a day but usually more.
3. I really have enjoyed pregnancy thus far (well the morning/all day sickness wasnt too fun) but I am so ready to see my sweet girl!
4. I love teaching children (especially those that are underprivelaged) but its not an easy job! If you think so, come teach for a day!
5. I am so happy I will be able to stay at home with my baby and witness all her "firsts"
6. I spend WAY too much time on Facebook doing nothing!
7. I am addicted to online shopping.
8. I HATE Walmart and probably only go in there about 3-4 times a year!
9. Sometimes I still can't believe that I am married to Riley! Seeing that I crushed on him for about 5 years while working at the Rec! haha
10. I do not do much laundry...I hate it! My husband usually takes care of that department! :)

You've been awarded!
Krisha @HouseDivided
Mrs.Joy @Things Remembered
JoAnna @TheFitzgeralds
Kim@lawsonparty of five
Margaret@The Worrell's
Amanda @ McCrory Moments
Angie @ Frog, Snails & Puppydog tails

Baby furniture

We finally ordered the baby furniture this past weekend. I am glad we didnt wait any longer because it might not have been here in time! We were trying to wait a little bit in hopes that his mom would be out of the hospital because the furniture was a gift from them and I would have loved for her to go with me. But she warned us that it takes a while to get in and we needed to go pick out what we wanted pretty soon and she was right. We knew kind of what we wanted so the decision wasnt too hard. We went with the 3 in 1 convertible crib set. Cant wait to get it and put it together!