Weekend project

This was our weekend project. Once mom and dad get here, we are building a brick walkway up to the house from the driveway. I can't wait!

We are also putting in a DRAINAGE system since that area floods all the time. The ground has always been uneven there and when our rain barrel gets full up, it just goes everywhere. So we are going to be burying some pipes underground to let the water get to the street. Including the run off from the rain barrel. I am going to be watching from a nearby air conditioned area. I am a good provider of anyones water/lemonade needs!!



If you can't see the slideshow, click
here or here

Most days...

This is me...most days after work! Today I came home to a super clean house (I puffy heart our cleaning ladies)
so I just relaxed as you can see...

HOLY CRAP! Does that spinning baby over to the right really say 10 days remaining?
I am feeling fine, just moving a little slower.

Mat and I got to see my parents yesterday morning. They were on their way back from Hawaii and had a short layover in Atlanta. So Mat and I got up early and went to the airport to eat some breakfast with them. They were full of stories and good times from Hawaii. Their pictures are amazing! They are coming next week, Baby T or no Baby T. They are going to be here just in case. Can't wait to see them again!

I got to meet a new friend yesterday. Antoinette and her son Will came to CNN to meet me. It was great to finally meet Antoinette since she has been a great support to me. She got Baby T a cute outfit and a toy. Siler already got ahold of the pink toy but she must have liked cause she just left be and didn't chew it up.

Siler vs. Baby T toys has begun!!

More nursery pics

We are just waiting for little Courtney to be done with her crib. We should get that in the fall. For now we are going to be using the Pack N' Play. Probably upstairs actually because we will be getting a smaller cradle for the immediate use.

When Mom and Dad get here next week, we are going to start looking for a carpet rement that might be soft for little knees to crawl on.

Other than that, we have a truck load of stuff coming from Ohio. Hand me downs from my friend Katie and sister Kari. They are giving me the final things that I might need. After that and a final trip to Babies R Us...we could possibly be done shopping....for now!

38 weeks & doctor's appointment

I'm still all closed up. Cervix not dialated -- at all --and only kinda soft but not really. Which basically means she is still cooking for awhile longer.

So our next appointment (39 weeks/5 days) was July 18 -- which seemed FOREVER away. So we bumped it up to July 17 (39 weeks/4 days) . Not much of a difference but she said at that point, if my cervix is still closed, we can discuss options. I will be sooooo close to 40 weeks at that point. So maybe I can schedule an induction for July 20 (my actual due date) or a couple days after. It seemed like, after that 39 week/4 days appointment, whenever WE really wanted, we could induce...if we wanted. However induction = increase chance of a c-section.

Of course, you could be all closed up now but you could leave this office and go into labor. Or your water could break (which I am learning is NOT the norm). So nothing is for sure. But this is going to be a loooong wait till our next appointment. Not sure what would be worse...Dr. Sun said she had a couple patients who are 2 cm and have been for weeks! So I am not sure if it would be worse to be a bit dialated and just be that way for weeks, or to be like this...all closed up. Hmmmmm.

My parents are still on vacation in Hawaii so I am hoping to hold out till Wednesday after they get home to Ohio. At least when they get home to Ohio, they are within driving distance.

4th of July Slideshow

Braves game Friday night. Out of the 65 people who went, over half were in costume so it was really fun. We didn't get as much jumbo-tron coverage as in years past but it was a sell out game. The 3 Founding Fathers did get to play the Sam/Hammer/Drill game on top of the dugout. So they got plenty of face time on the jumbo-tron. The fireworks were fabulous and the Braves won so it was a great time!

What a difference a year makes...

July 2007...














July 2008...

Baby Factory!

Okay, so far, from Mat's friends, we have.........

Winnie/Ant = Emily, March 2008
Allison/Jeremy = Austin, May 2008
Missy/Roy = Blake, May 2008

Next up.......
Kenzi/Mat = Baby Tainow, July 20
Elaine/Ed = Baby Quigly, August 5
Erin/Kevin = Baby McG, August 13
Courtnay/Mike = Baby Walsh (their second), September 20
Betsy/Chris = Nardi Twins in November-ish
Michell/Edison = Garzon Triplets in Nov/Dec-ish
Pavan/Jose = Baby Navarro, December 21
Misty/Rick = Baby Chaves, February 2009

Adding another!

Next up: Misty and Rick are expecting! Adding to our football team of babies in Febdruary!

Happy Birthday Jonathan Bryson Ashe!

Jonathan Bryson Ashe was born Wednesday, July 2nd at 8:45pm. He weighs 7lbs 8oz, measures 22 inches long and looks like he'll start out with red hair like his mommy! Congrats to Margie, Alan and sister Lillian.

Margie told me that the patience you learn now, while waiting for Baby T, is just a small test to all the patience you will need as a mommy. She also told me, since she knows having 2 babies herself, that having baby at 40 weeks, they are so much more advanced in development. So that gave me some hope!

Weekly Check-up

We had a doctors appointment today. Everything seems to be going well. She checked me and my cervix is still closed. No dialation. Baby is still head down but hasn't dropped. I thought she had dropped so I was kinda disappointed but oh well. Everything else looked good. I am to call if my water breaks or I get more than 6 contractions in 1 hour. I don't know if I have had many contractions at all. Guess I will know once they start coming. I told Mat that we are going for a walk tonight. Maybe we can get things moving. I am feeling okay. Only uncomfortable at work. So I brought in a little pillow to sit on. My tailbone is killing me by the end of the day. I am sleeping ALOT but so is Mat! The day before yesterday was a rough night of sleep. I couldn't get comfortable. Last night, we both slept so hard. I don't think I moved all night. I think I might have caught a cold so I am trying to rest to feel better.

37 weeks!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, yeah! Never thought I would make it this far but certainly happy I did! 37 weeks was my goal and I can't believe it is here already! We get to the doctor tomorrow which I am excited about. It's our first appointment since Dr. Sun returned from maternity leave. Hopefully I she can give us an idea of Baby T's position, weight, etc.

This past week was a rough one for me. My hormones are all over the place so I am really emotional and a bit crazy. Mat is very understanding. I have no doubt that he is the best husband in the world. We have been enjoying our time "just the two of us". I could hang out with him all day and never be bored. Other than feeling a bit nutty, my feet and hands feel very swollen. Don't know if they really are but boy, the feel like it. Every morning I step out of bed and feel like I have been at 6 Flags the day prior. Everything hurts until I get going. I think the extra weight is catching up to me. So I have been laying around with my feet up. Trying to drink as much water as my body will hold. Today it seems that I have a bit of a cold. Hopefully I don't get worse and can drink lots of water to flush it out. I don't want to deal with a cold!

We did lots of baby clothes washing this weekend. We are almost done and now we just have to put everything away in a logical manner. We are soooooo grateful to have so many donations from everyone. I don't think I have bought a single item of clothing for Baby T. Everyone has been so generous.

Mat had Daddy Bootcamp this past Saturday and seemed to really like it. I figured he would. He came home with lots of great suggestions and stories from other dads. I think it would be beneficial for anyone. Maybe they have a bootcamp for mommies too!

While Mat was at class, I went to BRU to spend more $$$$$$$$$. I used the rest of our gift cards and I got almost everything on my registry. The rest of items we can pick up after Baby T is here. If not, we can pick them up next time we are near a BRU.

My hospital bag is getting packed. I can't say that I am ready to go but I am very close. Could be any day now!

Fabulous news for a Fabulous Couple!

Fabulous news for a Fabulous Couple! Michell and Edison Garzon are friends of Mat's from college. They were married in March of 2005 in a beautiful Florida wedding (click here for pictures). They are expecting triplets!! We can't wait to meet them around late November/early December. Maybe around my birthday!! We couldn't be more happy for these two. They are going to be fabulous parents!

Happy Birthday Vijay!

Email from Renee...
ladies,
i just got a call from a drugged up Sonal telling me that she gave birth to a tiny little boy about 45 minutes ago!!! he weighs 3.4 lbs and came out screaming and crying, so it sounds like he's going to be a feisty little thing! He's on his way to the NIC unit, where the docs and nurses will take special care of him for a while (not sure how long at this point). Sonal sounds great and she had a super quick and easy delivery (thanks to the marvels of epidurals). I'm sure she'll send out a more descriptive email later today, but she wanted me to spread the news! Oh, and his name is Vijay (there's a middle name too, but in all the excitement I forgot it!)
Very exciting!
xoxo,
renee

Email from Sonal...
Bruce and I proudly announce the birth of our son, Vijay Kadakia Stokes at 8:11 this morning, June 25th, the day after his daddy's birthday:) Vijay is a wee little thing weighing 3 lbs 14 oz but came out crying and screaming.
Vijay is currently in the NICU, is doing very well so far. They have him on iv fluids and are checking his blood sugar, temperature, etc. We will send out a picture in the next few days. Thanks to all of you for your support during
this difficult time. We look forward to introducing Vijay to all of you soon! Love, Bruce and Sonal

Went to another doctors appointment today...

Went to another doctors appointment today. I am measuring right on and they listened for the heartbeat. All sounded really good. Our doctor is back from her maternity leave and so hopefully we will meet with her soon. I didn't pass my GBS (Group B Strep infection) test but they said it's okay. I will just have to have antibiotics after my water breaks.

Next appointment is a week from today.

I'm feeling good this week, 36 weeks! I really feel like the baby keeps dropping and dropping. When I went for my walk yesterday morning, I feel pressure on my pelvic bone right near the top of my legs. I was having what I think might be braxton hicks contractions on Saturday night. But that is after I was at a Bon Jovi cover band concert, with my girlfriends, standing for like 3 hours. I left the concert and couldn't wait to sit in the car. On the way home, I felt some tightness pretty low in my belly. It went away after I went to bed. That might have been my last night "out". One more week until I hit my personal goal of 37 weeks! After that, she can come any day.

The nursery is about 95% done. Mat and I worked alot on it this weekend.
Here are some pictures...

We took a childbirth class over the weekend and that's my last class. Mat has Daddy Bootcamp next week. Daddy Bootcamp is supposed to be really fun. Childbirth class had lots of good info. Kinda scary seeing all those births but it information we were given was really good. Less than a month to go now!

Baby T's Birthday Hat!

Siler will be waiting for Baby T's arrival in this fabulous hat from Jon and Judy Brown!

Nursery Updates

Take home outfits

Newborn outfit that we can take baby T home from the hospital in...













If the baby is a little bigger, we will take her home in this one...

New Nursery Pics

Bed Rest for Sonal

This is an old pictures but I just wanted to give a shout out to my friend Sonal who is laid up in a hospital bed right now in Raleigh. She is trying her hardest NOT to deliver. She is due August 20 but her water broke over the weekend, 9 weeks early. Baby Stokes is just chillin for now and seems to be happy. Sonal is trying to keep herself entertained by catching us all up on the celebrity gossip. We are hoping that Baby Stokes stays in there for a couple more weeks. We might end up delivering right around the same time!!

Doctor's appointment today

So today's doctors appointment went well. We are seeing all the other doctors in the practice because Dr. Sun is on maternity leave for another couple weeks. Anyway, we saw a great doctor today (Dr. Houston). She was super sweet. We did that Group B streptococcus (GBS) test and we will get the results next week. My cervix is still closed and the babies head is down which is fabulous. She just wants me to stay pregnant for 2 more weeks! Just till I hit 37 weeks and I am 35 and 3 days today. So my legs are closed!!

Soooooooo, we then we mentioned to the doctor we think it's a girl. We told her how we weren't sure but one tech had told us they thought it was a girl. The doctor asked if we wanted her to double check and she totally did!! She whipped the ultrasound out and we saw our little girl! CONFIRMED!! Woohoo! Mat could not stop smiling and singing some song about a little girl being in my belly. It was fabulous!

We start going every week now. Next appointment is next Thursday. Can't wait!!