Caution Speed Bump Ahead

I can't tell you how many times I've told myself that I needed to update this blog this past month. I feel like so little has happened yet so much has happened! I am officially in the third trimester which is dumbfounding! Andrew is definitely becoming a reality.. especially with less than 10 weeks left everyone is telling me  to pack the hospital bag. Woah. It's definitely time! I mean only God knows when it will be Andrew's time! Well today I am 31.5 weeks and counting. Our baby shower (details to come shortly!) will be next Saturday. I've given myself the deadline. By Saturday night I will have my hospital bag packed just in case! He continues to move allll over the place. My nurse told me to start counting kicks. It seems almost dumb to count with how often he is moving. I love it though, I can't wait to meet my baby boy. It actually makes me a little sad to think how much longer I have, but I know time will fly. I just need to think there are about 3 week

I have been blessed so far to have a fairly smooth pregnancy. First trimester I was nauseous but did not get sick. I also had to limit what I ate because my stomach was a little sensitive. Second trimester started really smooth with an ever increasing appetite! It wasn't until a few weeks ago I've truly started getting some side effects and its about the time my belly has really started showing. I do feel my hands and feet swelling often (not super rough but enough to sit me down!) I am also out of breath very easily... even just from talking! I'll catch myself lecturing in my classroom and have to stop talking for a second to catch my breath, and I'm sure the kids are thinking 'what in the world'! I've started getting lower back aches in the afternoons.. looking for some free online prenatal yoga videos if anyone can suggest one! Sometimes my shoulders will hurt too.. though I think that's just from sleeping on my sides.  The worst one though is having

Of course everyone is asking about the baby shower... that is tba shortly (still working out some final details!). However we are registered at Target and Babies R Us! I keep adding items as I figure them out or some suggest but I'm not the type to keep checking if someone purchased stuff.. To be honest, I think it ruins the surprise and fun of the shower! Anyway, we are doing his nursery to a sort of night theme. The fan has spaceships and stars. The walls will have stars on them and several of the crib items we selected were stars as well. We are looking at blue/light gray/red as our colors. There are some baby animals around the room but it is not a zoo/jungle theme. Andrew does also have several red DAWG items.. Be prepared UGA to have a baby Dawg cheering for you! As far as the bathroom is concerned, we are looking to design it sort of an ocean/whales theme. It will simple and cute!

It's so crazy to think I have been carrying this baby for six and a half months! This past week I went with a friend to a consignment sale for baby items. I lucked out and got several really cute toys, books, and a few items that I hadn't actually thought about putting on the registry! So that night as I sat showing my hubby the prizes I had acquired it only added to our excitement. Its a very intimate time, especially if you are close with your spouse. Scott and I are truly enjoying each others company and growing our love for Andrew. I have no doubt Scott will be an amazing father! So as we were leaving his nursery I was looking down our little balcony at my dog below. Scott made a comment regarding how big my tummy has grown. I looked down admiring God's work. Scott then said, "How long has it been since you last saw your feet?" I totally started laughing! I had no idea! I had joked about it with him when I found out I was pregnant but who knew time would fly

It all started in middle school... It was in my 6th grade class so many years ago that I picked up what would be a major part of my life... My viola! I played in orchestra through high school, college, and even a community orchestra for a few years. It has been just about a year since I last played with a group but very rarely do I go a week without having the urge to play my viola. I pulled it out this afternoon so happy to see it still ready to play! After some tuning I decided to play it a little different. I had decided recently to play some classical music more often to expose Andrew even in the womb. Don't know if he can comprehend but maybe it will help him later, who knows!? Anyway, I sat reclined and placed my viola with the back laying across my belly.   Then I played. I played some scales to remember how amazing it feels to make music, I played an old favorite from JC Bach to remind myself that I can still play flats and sharps, then I broke out my Disney book. I mean...

Any other momma's have a wiggle bug in their tummy? Andrew has a tendency to be a wiggle worm at the craziest times.. like 3:50 AM every night! or 10:30 am in the morning while I am trying to teach! I read an article that says a baby will sleep roughly 12-14 hours a day in the womb. Sometimes he is moving so much that I think it may only be 6-8 hours! I've figured out too which side he has his feet and arms.. His feet are on my left side and I can tell because they are usually very far left when he starts kicking. Likewise, his arms are just to the right of my belly button. They are much closer to the surface. When he is jabbing his arms it is felt more prominently. I told Scott that Andrew is all ready practicing his martial arts trying to be like mommy and daddy. :) I have also noticed that he tends to move more whenever Scott is talking. Maybe he is recognizing his voice frequency?! (You know I have to over analyze since I am a science teacher!). But let me tell you the co

What an amazing few weeks it has been! We found out our little munchkin is going to be a boy, and boy does that make shopping easier! I've all ready purchased a few larger onesies for next summer (larger sizes) as now all the summer clothes is on sale. And let me tell you they are so stinking cute!! Scott and I are about 95% done with our registries too. We decided on Target and Babies R Us to provide a good variety of items at various prices. Mom has also started planning the baby shower!! Details to come later... I also finally told my students. It was inevitable seeing as my tummy is sticking out so much :) They were all cheering and very excited asking if it was a boy or girl. For the most part they are all being very sweet about it!  This past Saturday we also went to the Yellow Daisy Festival in Stone Mtn, GA. To be honest, Scott and I get most of our gifts at these festivals because they are unique and more meaningful. Well we went with his parents and found some

The Reveal was a HUGE Success!! Our closest friends and family were at the house all trying to sneak a peak at the cake... I overheard many "If I take a pearl out of the side, then maybe we'll see the cake color..." Let me tell you that I wrapped that fondant around the bottom so you could see nothing! It was really funny with everyone asking if we could have cake first then dinner, but we made them wait :) We even had a technique planned to cut the cake with 2 knives and Scott was going to lift the slice so no one would get a glimpse of the cake. It was so cool though when we lifted the BLUE slice and everyone cheered! What made the night too was surprising everyone with the name. Scott and I had been debating on names. If it was a girl she would be Ellie Marie, and if it was a boy we were between Luke and Cameron. Well to be honest I really liked Cameron and Scott didn't. BUT at the same time, he really LOVED Luke and I just liked it. So I told him to make a li

This is it, today is the day! Scott and I found out on Thursday morning. I was so thankful that baby cooperated.. AND they were perfectly healthy :). We saw the 4 chamber heart, a healthy digestion tract, and even a silhouette of the face. Baby was trying to cover the face at one point with its hands! The cutest part was when she (the nurse) zoomed in to see the lips, to ensure no cleft lip, and baby yawned! My heart melted. It's still so surreal that little sweetheart is inside. I have finally reached 5 months (21 weeks) this week and there is no doubt I am prego! No more hiding or wearing normal clothes either. As I sit here typing we are within 1.5 hours of the reveal party. It is so exciting and everyone has been trying to guess the gender. We've asked everyone to wear pink or red. Scott is wearing camo colors and I am wearing white/pearls (to go with the theme). We were up until 2am last night making the cake.. and trust me when I say I will NEVER use fondant again.

What a wiggle worm!! Baby is constantly moving (and all those experienced mommas have told me that however the baby is inside is typically how they will be when they come out!) The cool thing is baby has moved enough that Scott has been able to feel it a couple of times! I've actually woken up every night around 2:45am thinking that I need to use the restroom when its the baby dancing around! Listen... we need to start teaching it night time hours ;) I have also noticed that baby wiggles a lot just before I need to eat.. come on mom, feed me too! So needy all ready :)

Countdown is set for August 21, that is... if baby decides to reveal their parts! Scott and I are so excited about finding out the gender. We are both heavy planners and truly cant imagine a big difference between waiting til now or waiting until the baby comes out. We did start our registry though and it was definitely difficult to pick out things seeing as there were such limited number of neutral items available. (I'm not going to list the registry locations until we have completed the registries!) It's been fun trying to joke about the gender. We both wanted a girl, and I truly wouldn't mind one but something just makes me feel like its a boy. Who knows?! Regardless we have been mad planning a mini reveal for close family. We've asked the guests to wear pink if they think its going to be a girl or blue for a boy! It should be lots of fun too with our theme of Camo or Pearls (and we mean military camo!). I won't reveal too many details now though.. you know how

It's truly amazing to think about how loved this baby is going to be! I need to publicly say thank you to some really awesome family and friends.. After we came from Puerto Rico we had 1 week to empty my old office. My nursery furniture had all ready been ordered and the room was still full of well crap! Needless to say my week long cleaning frenzy was shortened further. What would be the point of receiving the nursery furniture if the room was not painted? Fortunately I had some help from my brother and cousin to empty out my office in a matter of a few hours! Then, the entire rest of the weekend was spent painting the nursery from a bright, bright red to a nice neutral light gray! The furniture, (purchased by baby's grandparents!) is ready to go. I'll post some pictures but you'll have to wait a few months for the baby shower :) Along with the furniture, Baby's collection of onesies are growing! A good friend of mine bought one that says I Heart NY, our Aunt s

My grandmother and a majority of my mothers family is in Puerto Rico! I wanted to fly out while I was still early in pregnancy to visit them. Scott and I found tickets to go the second week of July. The flight was not bad, I think the worst was the landing... You know the feeling when you are descending and the pilot takes a quick drop and your stomach goes into your upper chest?!? Well.. that feels even more weird with a baby in there! I just began my 2nd trimester and just starting to show a little bump. Only those who know my petite size would know I was not fat! Needless to say the whole trip was an experiment. Up until this point I was having trouble eating, not keeping it down but eating a lot of food. My doctor even told me I needed to eat more to gain some weight! It was a request I could not deny with all the delicious home cooked meals! After my return trip, I can safely say I had gained 2 pounds :). Several days I lounged around on a porch hammock, drank fresh pineapple ju

I planned my second doctors appointment for when Scott returned from training. I had no idea what was in store just crossing my fingers we would be able to see more than a sack in the ultrasound. It was a treat! baby was around and had a big head! Only thing was the baby was still so small it was hard to distinguish specific features. I think for Scott it finally became real. The most amazing part.. we heard Baby's heart! wow talk about surreal, you can't make that up! It was so fast and shocking. I have been talking and thinking about baby for almost a month at this point but it was so real hearing that heart beat, especially because I couldn't feel anything but first trimester symptoms. I was happy.

Just as everyone wants to read about how we revealed to our friends and family about Baby Shearon, Scott and I kept this at the forefront of our discussions while he was away. It was the perfect plan to tell them at a potluck dinner upon his return to celebrate completion of his training. Of course parents have to make it more complicated!! One of our good friends (actually in the hospital right now delivering an angel of their own!) works for an embroidery/shirt printing company. Between her and I we designed shirts to use for the reveal. The shirts were blue to match our wedding colors, and baseball style lettering to embody a team spirit for the baby. Each one had the respective persons title (like ours to the left). Now after having everyone agree to a potluck, my parents decided to go camping that same weekend Scott was returning. They pleaded for us to join. So here's what we ended up doing... Friday night we went out to eat with his parents. I had rolled the shirt

Let me tell you how hard it was to keep this baby a secret for nearly a month. First off, I have a strong bond with my parents, and in some cases I had to lie (a first since I was a young kid!). I think the hardest parts were during the weekends when I would spend a majority of my time with them. I will say though, Kim stayed with me through the month and supported me both physically and psychologically! I may have gone crazy without her! Let me tell you about some of the interesting conversations I had... My mom has a formal living room that is sort of a talking room, in the sense that people always sit around and have good conversations. So one Saturday we are sitting in the room and she tells me her friend was asking if I was pregnant. I'm pretty sure my ears turned red, but I played dumb. They had just planned a baby shower for a co-worker and were talking about the next one being mine! I laughed and said she will need to wait for Scott to get back before even thinking abou

Following the story from the last post, Scott left Thursday morning for Army Training and I was stuck with this incredible secret I couldn't tell. It would be 23 days before he returned AND one of the most important months of the year because I would pass mothers day and my mom's birthday before Scott's return. But before I get ahead of myself and share the rest of the month lets rewind. Thursday morning I go to work and I am feeling nauseous. I requested to leave early. By 10 am I was on route home calling my best friend Kim. It had to be a God sign that Kim happened to be at home also because her car would not start and she could not get to work! I picked up Kim and drove to my house. I told her I wanted to grab lunch and see if we could find a doctor. She had no idea! The entire time I am planning scheme in my head of how to tell her without giving it away but in a cute manner. If you don't know Kim, she is very logical and figures things out quickly :). So I decid

One of the first questions I am asked... was it planned? Well, lets just say we weren't actively trying but we weren't not trying if you know what I mean! But Scott and I believe everything happens on God's time... let me tell you my story... I was working at a pretty rough middle school in Atlanta. Needless to stay even with the stress I brought home I even endured a 1.5 hour commute each way. I knew it was time for a change. Scott and I decided to take a pay cut by me transferring to the local school system. I applied on December 27, 2014 when I saw a newspaper article saying the district would hire almost 800 science and special ed teachers for the following year. March 7, I received my renewal contract for my school in Atlanta. We were given 10 days to sign and return the contract or it would be void. My interview for the new district was scheduled for March 22. Scott was pretty stressed! If I didn't return the contract I would not be guaranteed a job, but if I re