Skinny us. . .

I HAD to share this! Kristen sent this to me today. . . Kate has been looking through Kristen's old photo albums (apparently she thinks it's funny that Kristen was actually young once. . . ) and they came across this one! Wow! Kate told her we looked "skinny", and I have to agree! We were HOT!! This was taken in June of 2003, on of my many trips to Ft Walton Beach, Fl. After I graduated from Harding my mom and dad bought me a plane ticket to go see Kristen who was visiting her parent's (pretty sure she lived in Little Rock at this time) it was a fun week! So, I am definitely growing my hair back out, wasn't it pretty?! [Thanks, Kristen! I needed a pick-me-up today!!]

Something else to look forward to!

 

MY FAVORITE PLACE TO BE. . . . . THE BEACH!!!!

THE WHITE SAND, THE CRASHING WAVES, THE OCEAN AIR        & THE SEAFOOD!!!

We are going to the beach!! On June 4th-8th, just three weeks away!!  We decided over the weekend. Jarrod's mom and dad and Jennifer and Daniel are going too! We are all going to split a 3 bed/3 bath condo in Perdido Key. I am so excited! I just knew we wouldn't be able to get away before the baby came, but we are leaving on a Thursday and coming back on the following Monday, so it will be a short trip. That should still give us 3 whole days, so I think 3 days is better than no days! 

We are staying at the Beach Colony in Perdido Key. I have never stayed there before, but the pictures look really nice. I hope we are not disappointed. The condo is larger than our house! I am looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing and laying on the beach with a good book, that to me is the most relaxing thing in the world!!  Hmm. . . the only drawback, finding some swim suits that fit my ever expanding belly?!?! Yikes!!

Mother's Day weekend

Friday after work I ran home and packed for the weekend, then we started our tour in Hickory Ridge. We went by and visited with my Nanny (my Mom's mom) since we wouldn't be able to make it to the Mother's Day party for her Saturday night. Then we headed to Searcy. Saturday morning Kristen and Kate came over to Jarrod's parent's house and we had a nice little brunch and got to visit. It was so good to see them and just hang out. Kate is too too funny. She sure does like to sing! Like mother like daughter I guess! ha!

Kate's "cheesy" smile

Saturday afternoon Jennifer and Daniel came over to Jarrod's parent's house and we gave Margie her gifts and then we all went out to eat.  Jarrod and I left to go back to Hickory Ridge to stay there Saturday night around 7:30pm and had just enough time to swing back by my Nanny's house for a little while before it got too late. We gave my mom her mother's day present Saturday night. I got the family picture that we had made at her birthday party printed and framed up. Sunday morning we got up and went to church and then had lunch at my Aunt Kay and Uncle Doug's house for Mother's Day lunch with my grandma (my dad's mom). Sunday afternoon we got back to Jonesboro just in time for me to make my food before church started. Then after church we went to Ryan and Erica's house for dinner with our friends forever group. It was a busy weekend, but fun. I have learned that I think I like Mother's Day! Jarrod got me a new NorthFace rain jacket (from Stratton), and I got an hour massage from my mom & dad!!  I can definitely get used to another holiday like this!

Week 24

This past week was definitely less demanding! We really didn't do a lot, but that was mainly because of all the rain. The guys didn't have any ball games, they were all rained out, which ended up being a bad thing because the league had to rank the teams based on the first and only gamed they played, which means Jarrod's team were put in the A-League. He is really afraid that they will end up getting beat really bad every week. I think they are better than they think, so hopefully it won't be a repeat of last year. I have faith in them!!

We went to Who Dat's with my mom & dad and Dillon & Brandye Saturday night. YUM-O! I love their crab cakes! Then Jarrod and I went to Searcy and stayed the night with his parents since they were having a b-day party for Jennifer and Daniel Sunday afternoon.  We made it back to Jonesboro Sunday evening  just in time for church and went out to eat afterwards with some friends.

We also found a new rocker/recliner for the living room on Saturday afternoon. We are having it custom ordered from Harris Furniture here in town. I am so excited to have a rocker/recliner that doesn't resemble a huge stay-puffed marshmallow. It's very clean and tailored and we picked out really cool contemporary fabric that matches the rest of our furniture. I was surprised that Jarrod liked it as much as he did. I really thought I would have had to do more convincing, but luckily he liked it and had no complaints! And it should be in just in time for Father's Day!

Now that I am 25 weeks, I am not as energetic as I would like. I am still feeling relatively good. But along with being tired, I am starting to feel a lot of stomach and back discomfort, especially at night. It's really hard to get comfortable and I am not sleeping well these days. By about 8 pm I am pretty well spent. But even when I go to bed early, I toss and turn all night and usually have to get up at least twice to visit the bathroom. {ugh}. I really miss being able to get good, uninterrupted night's sleep. . . .and I know, I know. . . it's only going to get worse!!

I think my appetite is slowing down some, too. [Whew!]  I haven't been very hungry at night lately. I am glad, since I didn't want to gain more than 25-30 lbs all together and I'm already over halfway there!! My poor feet and ankles are feeling the pain (or the "gain" I guess I should say). I think I am going to have to break down and buy some comfortable [aka: ugly and boring] flip flops. After a day on my feet my "cute" flops or sandals aren't worth the swollen ankles and sore feet that I have to deal with. {ugh, again}.

On the upside have started feeling the baby move and kick. Saturday night I was woke up about 4 am from all the kicking and moving going on! I was so surprise at how strong it was that I woke Jarrod up to see if he could feel it too, and he could! I guess it was the Cajun food?! I haven't felt anything quite that strong since then, but I can definitely feel something rockin' & rollin' around in there! 

I am really excited about the upcoming weekend! Brett, Kristen and Kate will be in Searcy for a wedding! We are going to Searcy Friday night and hopefully will get to spend some time with them! They live in Tampa right now and I haven't seen them since November, I know Kate has changed so much since then! Also, Kristen and I are both pregnant, so it will be fun taking some pictures with our big bellies!

We will also be celebrating Mother's day with both sides of the family; Saturday night in Searcy with Jarrod's mom and Sunday at Hickory Ridge with my family. Good times!!

Week 23

The past week wasn't so bad. Other than a few projects I had to work on and a softball game, the week was pretty much uneventful! Which is a welcome change from the fast pace we've been used to the last few weeks!

We had our monthly Doctor appointment Friday. It went well. I learned my lesson, though. . . no more late afternoon appointments for me!  Everything still looks good. It was just a routine appointment, they checked my weight and I saw the Doctor.  I have gained a total of 18 lbs, which makes me want to fall out in the floor from shock, but Jarrod keeps reminding me that I am supposed to gain weight. . . he has to tell me over and over and over. . . Dr. Layton asked if I was feeling any movement yet, and I told her I didn't really know. It's hard to tell with all the stuff going on in my stomach (I am constantly having heartburn and indigestion). When she was listening for the heartbeat she said "You didn't feel that?" and I said "no, what?". Evidently the baby had kicked hard enough that she felt it against the monitor. She wasn't concerned because there was a strong heartbeat and she could feel him moving. She told me that after eating a meal I needed to lay still and concentrate and I should be able to recognize the movement. What she doesn't know is that if I lay down for more than 2 minutes, I fall asleep!!  They also gave me my "drink" for my next appointment, when I have to do the glucose test. I am really dreading it.  When we left, I called my mom to tell her about the appointment and she brought something up that I hadn't thought about.  What if I can't feel the baby's subtle movements because I don't have a lot of feeling in my stomach to begin with? I have little to no feeling where the scar is across my stomach and that may be why I can't feel anything. I didn't think about this until she said something, so I haven't mentioned it to my doctor, but it makes sense!

After we left the Dr. office we ran a few errands before heading home. Since the Taylor Swift concert was that night I wanted to get out of town before the traffic got too awful.  Jarrod grilled us some burgers while I took a short nap. We sat out on the back porch and ate supper. We sat outside for awhile, it was so nice. Then we watched a movie. It was nice to stay in and take it easy and relax. We haven't got to do that in a long time! 

Saturday Jarrod went to the farm and I stayed home and did some laundry and a little cleaning, and. . .oh, yeah, I took a nap!  We had dinner with a group of friends from church at Pizza Chef Saturday night. Our good friend Amanda was in town visiting from North Carolina with her little boy. Brian didn't get to come with her, I think he had to work. We haven't seen them since they moved around the first of March, and Landon has already grown so much! He was pulling up and crawling all over the place! It was so nice to get to see them and catch up.  Then we went to Dustin and Amy's house for dessert. Amy make a Ding Dong cake that was awesome!  Amanda gave me a cute basket full of all kinds of baby necessities! It was so nice of her to think of us!  Since she won't be able to some back for any of my showers she gave it to me now. I have no idea what to do with most of the stuff she gave us, but I guess I will figure it out! ha!

Sunday morning after church Jarrod and I cleaned the house (Oh, man did it need it!) and then he worked on servicing the lawn mower while I took a nap (see a pattern here, I nap a lot!) After church Sunday night we had dinner and one last good visit with Amanda and Landon and the rest of the group from church at Chili's.  It was sad for Amanda and Landon to leave us again. We really miss them a lot! I wish I would have remembered to take a few pictures of all of us, but of course I didn't think about it until after we were leaving. Oh, well!

They're off to a great start!

Church league softball has started! This year there are more college age guys playing on our team and while that means that Jarrod and the rest of the guys his age are the "old guys" they still all played so great together! They actually won 17-6!! Jarrod covered second base, of course, and he hit one single, two doubles, he had a strike and a walk. They just need to get those younger guys to quit showing off and trying to hit it out of the park and focus on getting on base! I am excited at the prospect of supporting a winning team this year! The good news is they played really great, the bad news is if they play that great at their next game they might actually get put in the A- League, which could be a bad thing, especially if all the college guys don't show up one night!

Please pray that all the guys playing stay safe and avoid injuries this season. A guy, only 47 yrs old, actually died a couple of nights ago from a seizure and heart attack right there on the field. So scary and so, so sad!

So fun. . .and addictive!!

While "researching" (that's what I call any shopping I do for baby related necessities) dressers and changing tables today on the internet, I came across this web site where you can plan your bedroom layout! I could play with this all day, it's so fun!

The web site is for Baby's Dream baby furniture, and while I wasn't as impressed with their furniture selection, I thought this "nursery planner" was worth passing along. Click on the icon below to take you to their homepage and there should be a link at the bottom to take you to the planner application. You can do more than just nurseries, too.

This is the layout that I came up with for Stratton's room.

It's pretty much to scale, except the wall that the door and closet is on is actually not a straight wall. . .it's hard to explain, but the closet comes out a little further in the room and the door is recessed.  As you can see we have a crib, a glider/rocker, a small table with a lamp, a twin bed, a floor lamp and a small dresser/changing table. We are FAR from having any of this in place, but it's nice to have a plan!! The closet is huge with a nice organizer and shelves so we don't need much storage in the room, which is a good thing because I can't see where we would put a large dresser or armoire.

Also, what are your feelings on a glider vs. a rocking chair. I don't think my initial idea of converting our rowe chair we have in the living room to a rocker is going to work, the back is really angled and it's going to take up too much space in the room. I think a glider will be more space efficient, but I have heard from some that they didn't like the "gliding" motion. Any opinions??  I actually found one on the JCP web site that I kinda liked (I know!! You're as surprised as I am huh?!) and it's less than $200 for the glider and the ottoman. So, at the moment I am leaning towards that. I sat in a lot of big plush rocking chairs this weekend and they were all just too big and cumbersome to me and some were hard for me (the short girl) to get out of!