Luncheon with Family

JR and I were so blessed to also have a luncheon with my Dad's side of the family on Saturday. It was so much fun to have everyone together and celebrate the soon to be newest member of the family! Sue held it at Celebrations Cafe in Farragut and it was such good food!!!

Thank you for making us feel so special :)

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Shower with girlfriends

It became very surreal to me that I was going to be a mom when I was able to celebrate with a shower with all of my best girlfriends from Tennessee! My mom hosted the shower at her home and she worked so hard to make it extra special for me.... and it was nothing short of that to have all of the girls I have shared so many memories with over the years all in the same room!! I really just wish it could have last longer ha!


Missy and JD were so wonderful to help my mom host, along with Jessica, Cyndy and Leann! Thank you to all of you who made it so very special for me :)

It was so sweet of my Phi Mu girls to travel so far to share this day with me!

Thank you to all who came and showered Griffin with amazing things!!! I loved seeing each of you and your cute little babies too :)

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Week 34 Doctor's Visit

Today we had another doctors visit and everything was great! He confirmed that Griffin is still head down and said we would do a quick ultrasound next time just to make 100% sure. My blood pressure was 118/78 and Griffin's heartbeat was a strong 148 bpm.

We had an amazing time back in Tennessee this past week and were completely blessed beyond belief at our showers! As soon as I get all my pictures organized I promise to put them up asap :)

Week 33

Griffin and I are spending week 33 in Tennessee! It has been so nice to get to spend time with family and friends... and of course I anticipate the next time we come back and he actually gets to meet everyone :)

My little 4 pound pineapple is pushing on my rib cage pretty bad and I am often in pain on my right side, so that must mean that is his hiding spot. I can feel my stomach stretching as well and it is itching like crazy! Dont worry I have been lotioning up every day religiously so its not that.. I just think he is in a major growth spurt again. Another thing I have noticed this week is that I am OBSESSED with ice! Man I just cant get enough of it... and I apologize to all those around who have to hear me crunch on it all the time.

We are now past the 50 day mark... WOW!!!

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Birthday Celebrations in TN

We had a wonderful girls weekend in Pigeon Forge! Lots of good food, great cabin and of course lots of shopping... it was a very fun and relaxing time :) Sadly this is the only picture that was taken the whole weekend and the only reason it was taken was b/c I told Jessica I was afraid there wouldnt be any at all so we took advantage at a break during shopping.

Tonight I had the chance to celebrate with Dad, Sue and the brothers and also was very happy that Tyler's girlfriend Miranda joined us too! Miranda actually went to high school with me so I knew her beforehand.. but this was the first time meeting her as my "brother's girl" ha! We had a great time at PF Changs.. yum yum :)

arent my bros so handsome?

Dad and the kids

Tyler and Miranda

cute little socks Susu got Griffin. Anthony this picture was taken especially for you and Brandi b/c when she saw them she thought of you guys :)

A wonderful day of celebration!

I woke up this morning to this wonderful homemade cake made by the sweetest husband in the world! And yes that means we did eat birthday cake for breakfast too ha :)

I was so happy to NOT have to work on my bday for a change and instead spent the day hanging out with friends. Christina, Jen and Amy- thanks for making this birthday girl feel special!

After JR got off work we headed to TGI Fridays, compliments of Momma Isham's bday gift card to me. Thank you.. it was DELICIOUS!

I definitely wont ever forget this birthday of turning 26- not only was I 8 months pregnant, but I was showered with love from all around! Between cards in the mail, a special gift from the best friend who always makes me feel special on my big day, tons of texts and phone calls, and of course about 100 facebook wall HAPPY BDAYS.... this girl is blessed :) Thank you everyone!!

Girl's birthday weekend!

I have been looking forward to this day since about October when we planned our girl's weekend! My mom, my sister, my other mom Leann, Jessica and her mom Teresa, are all headed to stay in a cabin in Pigeon Forge this weekend! I LOVE me some girl time and so it is going to be so nice to just get away and relax with everyone for an entire uninterrupted weekend :)

On Sunday when we leave I will be heading back home with mom and Rachel for an entire week! That next weekend we will have 3 showers with our friends and families in Tennessee and I cant wait! It will be so nice, but so surreal... especially since the NEXT time I come back to TN after that.. I will be bringing my SON!!!! Wowzers :)

26 on the 26th!

Today is my official golden birthday... 26 on the 26th :) And oh what a year this will be for me: becoming a mom, first year as a stay at home mom, JR graduating seminary and us figuring out what next for our family.. it should be an exciting year!!!

As I think about the day that Griffin will arrive, I wanted to find out more about my actual 'birth' day. Here is what my mom had to share:

I was a week over my due date and she decided to walk as much as possible to try and get the labor going. She took many laps around my Mimi's subdivision and sure enough it worked! Suzanne Shelton, a neighbor friend, then took her to the hospital and once she got there she was at 2 cm dialation. She didnt have an epidural, because back then they thought it stopped or slowed down the labor. Several hours later she had finally progressed to a 3, however it wasnt moving past that. They decided to do an ultrasound to see what was going on inside and found out that my arm was up and around the back of my head and therefore I was not able to move down further in the birth canal. My mom's blood pressure began to rise and mine also dropped so the doctors called for an emergency c-section to get me out fast. My mom had to be knocked out for the procedure, and after about 36 hours of labor I was born at 2:00am. There were 20-25 people waiting in the waiting room who ALL got to see me before she even woke up... poor Mom! And to make matter worse, the whole time everyone thought I was a boy since ultrasounds were not accurage enough back then to tell for sure and my heartbeat had been in the "boy range." So once my dad brought me into her room when she was awake she could not believe that she had a baby girl! Of course she was happy and it was a wonderful surprise :)

So there ya have it and I have included the youngest picture I have been able to scan. Once I go back to Tennessee I hope to find my actual newborn picture so that we can compare them to Griffin's soon!

Happy 1st Birthday Isaac!

I had the best birthday present ever last year when Isaac was born! I cant believe it has already been a year.....

and I am sure his mommy and daddy think time has flown by too! Isnt he a cutie? :)

Dont be silly!

I have heard a lot recently from some of my sweet friends, "Man, Griffin is so hard to buy for because you can make him everything!"

HAHA! Well that is really sweet of you to think so BUT I promise you can still get/make him homemade or crafty things! #1--- I dont have all the time in the world it would take to make him everything there is out there and #2---- I love receiving crafty/personalized things just as much as I love giving them :)

So there.. dont be worried ha! By all means.. make him something!