Griffin is head down!

Today we had our 37 week checkup and Dr. Holton did a quick ultrasound to ensure that Griffin was head down and ready to come out... and he is! He said everything looked great and now its only a matter of time before he will be meeting us at the hospital :)

Griffin's heartbeat was 142 bpm and my blood pressure was 112/72. I am up to a grand total of 22 pounds now in total weight gain and up until today I could totally brag on my husband for not saying anything crazy about that. Yea well he ruined it with this remark, "You almost weigh as much as me now." Pretty sure he was totally joking b/c I am far from his weight but nonetheless he knew he stuck his foot in his mouth after he tried to make a joke. All you other soon to be dads out there... make a note to self that this is what you DONT say to your 9 months pregnant wife :) I still love you sweetie but you do have some sucking up to do now haha!

Afternoon with the girls

Today we had one last girl outing before Griffin comes. I am sure we will see each other again in the next 3 weeks but we just wanted an excuse to get together and catch up over coffee :) Thanks Amy, Rachel and Laurie for a fun afternoon!

Maternity Pictures

We have been so blessed to have such a great photographer friend who is AMAZING! BJ took our pictures for us last Saturday and I just couldnt wait to see them. He is one talented man that is for sure and we love them so much!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

To view all the pictures you can go here.

Thank you BJ! And for all those who want to contact someone to do your pictures that is awesome just email him at contact@fourfeetandraining.com or check out his website (it will be up next week) at fourfeetandraining.com.

Week 36

ALREADY SIX POUNDS??? Whew ha! Of course I know this is an estimate, however I can definitely tell he is getting bigger and bigger as each week passes. Dr. Holton will do an ultrasound next week to confirm that he is head down (from the outside feeling my stomach he says he is about 99% sure he is, so thats good!). He will also do some guess as to his weight thus far and he said he would put me in the small-medium category on that so far. As the mom who will be pushing this baby out.. small sounds GREAT to me :)

I am doing my best to stay active, however it has become difficult to do just about all normal every day tasks. I have been spring cleaning and lets just say that is REAL interesting! I have to take a lot of breaks in between because my back gets sore and Griffin also loves to remind me that he is in there and some of the positions I am getting in he doesnt like ha! It is not uncommon for him to kick so hard that I can feel his little foot pushing out on my left side. Again we are hoping for a punter or field goal kicker haha! Still walking every day, but I will admit that I am sleeping in more often now and instead do it in the afternoons.

I never thought this day would get here but I am so excited!!! 28 days!!!!

Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is a little under 19 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy hair that covered her body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. Most likely he's in a head-down position, but if he isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where he'll try to turn your baby by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.

Week 36 check up

Dr. Holton came in with all smiles today because he said we are now at a great point being 36 weeks along! At this point they do not worry about Griffin being premature and they will not stop labor if it starts.. yahoo! My blood pressure was good at 112/78 and Griffin's heartbeat continues to be strong at 152 bpm. I have now gained a whopping 21 pounds!!!

We now go back every Monday at 9:15am until he gets here and are simply just on the waiting train :) OH AND WE ARE JUST A LITTLE EXCITED ha!

Spring has sprung!

Back in October when my mom came to visit us here in Wake Forest, she decided to plant some daffodils in our yard. She did that when I was at work and surprised me when I got home because she knew I had always wanted some in my yard. I remember her saying, "Now they will be here when it is baby time!" Well sure enough.. they have officially bloomed and of course I couldnt help but think... man it is really time ha! We are one calendar month away today, can you believe it????

Our bags are officially packed so now all there is left to do is WAIT :)

Thank you Lindsey!

Just when we thought we had been MORE than blessed at all of our showers, we received this beautiful hand-painted canvas from a sweet friend! Lindsey is very talented and creative so we were so thankful that she thought of us. Lindsey and I go way back to KA days. You see her husband and JR were fraternity brothers and therefore we saw each other at all of their functions. No we werent super close, so that makes this even more sweeter b/c she totally took the time to do this for us! It is up in his window seal right now and we LOVE it!

Thank you Doby's for your kindness!!!!

Jail birds

Yesterday was just one of those not so good days...

Major and Maddie had gotten out of the fence the day before and JR and I had spent about 2 hours driving around looking for them. Well since they still had not shown up, we decided to call the dog pound to see if they might be there. First of all I know that I am just spoiled with the small town pound but who would guess your LOCAL pound was over 3o minutes away! And not only that but they were not able to give us a good description of the chocolate and yellow labs that they had there.... SO it was off to the pound just to see what we could find.

And here is what we finally found-

The main villain who was so ashamed he wouldnt even look at his momma

And Maddie girl, who was so excited to see her mom but knew she was in trouble for following Major's lead!!!

So good news was that we found them.. but that was the ONLY good news. Soon after we went to "reclaim" them at the counter we got the worst news possible. Again I am still thinking small town pound where like in Rockwood you just go and pick them up.. NO CHARGE! Yea well that didnt happen here in the big city of Raleigh. First we had to pay a $50/dog reclaim fee, and this was just the first offense fee. Another $8/per night for each dog for staying the night there. AND GET THIS........... $100/dog fee because the dog catcher caught them. Did you get that??? Yea thats a total of $316 to get our crazy 2 dogs out!!!!!

Needless to say we thought this was a bit ridiculous and when I called JR to tell him what was going on he was NOT very happy. He asked to speak to the manager and told him how ridiculous the fees were, especially since we could have gone to the same place and adopted OUR dogs for just $120. How does that make sense??? Well we will be heading to court in a few weeks to fight for our rights to let them know this was a BIT ridiculous. And on top of all of that we found out that they picked them up right outside of our neighborhood!!!!

Arghhhhhhhhhhhh..... so mad!!! And you better believe if they go there again we will probably just leave them ha!

Week 35

As the update says, because Griffin barely has room to move in there now... I am feeling it EVERY time he does move! And believe me that is often :) I am having more back and rib pains now and continuing to feel uncomfortable, but I dont think that is anything unusual for a woman as pregnant as I am ha! I can tell you that he is loving my bath times at night, just kicking around like a crazy man! I cant wait to get him out so he can have his own bathtime soon! 35 more days.. WOW!!!!!!

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 pounds plus. Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Griffin's Memory Book

Liz is putting together a Memory book for Griffin from our Family & Friends and we’d love for each of you to be a part of it! We don’t know the details of the book so please don’t tell us, but please email Liz at Secarden@gmail.com to be included! Thank you!

The joys of a 16 year old brother...

I do love you Moose.. even though you think I have an alien inside of me :)

Wake Forest Shower

Saturday my sweet girlfriends here in the seminary community threw Griffin an amazing shower! Since arriving here over 2 1/2 years ago, I have been to MANY a baby showers here ha... so it was very surreal for it to actually be my turn this time :) We had an amazing time together and I honestly was just wishing that I could hang out with all of them even longer. It is fun to have all of the girls you love in the same room.. but sad when it has to end!

Elizabeth, Amy and Jordan were the lovely hostesses. The shower was held at Elizabeth's house and it was just perfect! I promise they thought of EVERYTHING. Just wait you will see....

First of all, I always love diaper cakes and normally am the one giving them. Isnt this one the cutest?? Thanks Aunt Elizabeth!

AND there was also a special diaper wreath too! Aunt Jordan you are the best!

The cake was AMAZING! Aunt Amy made it ALL by herself and I was so impressed! I loved the stripes, polka dots and all the colors. And she even made little booties out of icing for the top too! If you remember she also made my birthday cake and did a great job on it as well. Anyone need themselves a cake made soon? I think I know someone you should ask ha!

These were my absolute favorite and the only special thing I had requested. Amy makes the best fruit pizza ever and she made these little minis that were YUMMY!

We played 3 very fun games- the first was guess how big around the momma is. Miss Rachel won this one.. she took my advice that I wasnt really THAT big ha!

Game #2 was "Guess the Poo"- Who can guess what candy bar is the poo in the diaper? Well let me tell ya it was sure fun to watch everyone try to figure it out haha!! Check out the montage to see everyone's faces as we played the game.. it is hilarious!

And the last game was a quiz about Griffin that was so fun!

We had a time of prayer for Griffin that was a very sweet time...

and there were prayer cards for everyone to take home.

Last but not least.. the lovely favors!

Also, as you can probably tell, these pictures were not taken by me. Instead I had my very own professional photographer there to capture every moment in a special way! It sure pays to have such talented friends.. thanks BJ!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thank you friends for making me feel so special and spoiling Griffin so much! I am so thankful for each of you and cannot wait for you to meet him :)

Want an adorable Yorkie?

He is CKC registered, Born Dec. 20, 2008, Very playful and great with children. $500.00. He is up to date on shots and dewormed. Email Robin at nuclearbird10@yahoo.com for more information!

Happy Birthday VDiddy!

Happy birthday Dad! I love you and you officially have the vote for the best father-in-law from JR too! And of course we know that Griffin will do nothing but love his VDiddy too :)

I was so thankful to get to celebrate his birthday with the family last week when I was at home.

And here are his special grandpa gifts... doing my best to get him ready :)

Union View Church Shower

Today the sweet ladies of our church gave us a shower. It is definitely a family that we have there and it was so special to have them celebrate Griffin with us! And he was spoiled yet again :)

Christina, the woman in charge, and I- thanks for everything girl!

Kelsey and I

my favorite little girls- Maisy and Lily

To view all the pictures you can view here.

Griffin's new personalized outfits!

My sweet friend Heather sent Griffin 2 of his very own personalized tees! They are absolutely adorable and the best part is that she made them!!! She has started her own business called Doodlebug Designs and she can make clothes that say anything for you too! Heather and I go way back to high school when we worked at Cracker Barrel together. She now has a precious little 10 month old girl named Paisley who is the cutest!

Thank you Heather so much for your sweet gift! Cant wait to take tons of pictures with Griffin in them soon :)

Practicing with Jackson

Thursday I had some wonderful QT with Mr. Jackson as his mommy went to the eye doctor. It was great that we now have toys and such that he can play with when he comes over.. and we were even able to try out Griffin's new umbrella stroller! We took a walk and he loved it! He is such a good baby though that I think I am a little spoiled... his best buddy Griffin might have to have him over more often to take some notes on how to be the best baby ever :)

It was a definite fast forward into my very near future having him over here. WOW is all I could think :)

Reuniting with friends!

I was going through my camera and realized I hadnt had the chance to post about getting to see some wonderful friends while I was back in TN. Andrea and I had the chance to get dinner one night and catch up. It was so great because we had not seen each other in person in about 2 years! Andrea and I were sorority sisters at UT and she was also a fellow sports fanatic like me :) Her and her husband still live in Knoxville and she was looking as fabulous as ever!

I was also so very excited to see Constance Coomer, soon to be McGregor! Constance and I met at MDA summer camp when I was 18 and she was 16 and she was also a bridesmaid in my wedding. Now it is her turn, as she just got engaged last week! I am so excited for you sister and it was wonderful to see you again in person :)

My little lumber jack!

While I was at my shower this past Saturday, JR went over to hang out with my dad. Well what do these 2 men do when they get together??? They always find some sort of "project" to do outside. They are 2 of a kind for sure :)

All Jenn and I heard about on the way back from the luncheon was, "You just gotta see it! I made an awesome stool! From free standing trees in the woods to a piece of classic country furniture!"

Oh I just love my little lumberjack. He definitely knows how to take joy in the simple things and it ALL boy at heart :)

Additions to the nursery

While at home we were finally able to get Griffin's bible verse ceiling tile that we had been waiting for! JR and I really wanted it to be over his bed so that he will always be reminded to walk in the way of the Lord, and that we too as his parents will constantly be reminded to pray for him. Carrie Helle did an amazing job on the tile.. and it matches perfectly :)

We also got more things from Carrie's Ella Minnow Pea shop that were too cute not to set out. Carrie herself sent Griffin the brown frame with his name and ABC's on it... and I was so surprised and happy when I saw what she had come up with special for us! She also made the "Its a boy" frame that my mom gave us and the Griffin piggy bank too, which was a present from the Lemons family! Needless to say Griffin's room is now an Ella Minnow Pea advertisement!!! Check out her blog at http://ellaminnowpea-giftshop.blogspot.com/.

My blogging BFF Brandi also got Griffin his personalized bucket from Ella Minnow Pea... and of course it matches perfectly as well. You girls know me all to well :)

You will also notice the new picture above Griffin's UT memorabilia. Aunt Missy made him his family tree and had it framed! She has writes beautifully in calligraphy... and the thought and love she put into it meant the world to us! One thing for sure Griffin will know that is important is family and now he will always know exactly where he came from. Thank you SO much Mish!!!

Week 34

This past weekend we were totally blessed! God used our family and friends to shower us with amazing gifts for our sweet little one.. and we truly were blown away! Thank you so much to everyone that has given their love, support and gifts... you have no idea how much it means!

6 more weeks!!! Wow that really makes me so excited. Now that we are all set up from our showers, it is only a matter of getting the little man here! I am feeling more and more uncomfortable with my extra large belly and really just wander every day how I can grow more for these next 42 days ha! Griffin is still a mover and shaker. Sometimes I have to stop what I am doing because he is causing so much rucus in my stomach :)

Gotta run.. plenty of gifts to put away, laundry to do and thank you's to write!!!

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which he'll need to regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Church shower in Rockwood

JR and I were tremendously blessed by family and friends back in our home church on Sunday. Mimi rallied all of her troops and man did we get spoiled by them :)

Thank you to all of these special women who were our shower hostesses!

Vance came and was my lovely assistant :)

Aunt Rachel, Cici, me and Great Grandma Mimi

and the cutest attendee was our little nephew Tristan. I cant wait for Griffin to get here to play with him!

I was so excited to see everyone again from back home! For some it had been since we had gotten married that we had been able to see them, and it was funny b/c some people didnt even recognize me with my dark hair ha! It was excellent to go back now that JR and I have been full circle with all of these great friends and family. They have all watched us grow up, get married and now become a mom and dad!!! Thank you to all those who worked so hard to make this day special for us and thank you as well to those who attended... I cant wait for you all to meet our little man soon :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

To view all the pictures you can click here.