Long time, no post....

Sorry for my long absence, I promise, in the last few weeks of my pregnancy to do better about posting, especially pictures as we make progress on the nursery, and other preparations.

I can't post like we haven't been busy or like the end of 2008 ended on a good note. The truth is we've been busy and the end of 2008 didn't end so happy.


Due to the baby's arrival in February, Thad had to rearrange his schedule so that he could be off when she actually gets here. That meant 3 months of grueling months at the hospital and between November, December and January 32 nights of call, that's a month of sleeping at the hospital and not coming home at night, not so fun for me and definitely not fun for him. We are at the tail end though and as of this posting we've got 7 nights of call left and then, while he might not be taking call at the hospital, I have joked with him that he'll take call at his own house. He's more used to staying up all night than me, so he'll take the night shift...yeah right!


On the Monday before Thanksgiving we lost my Nana, suddenly. She had been having some heart problems and spells of dizziness over the summer and was under the care of both her regular internist as well as a cardiologist. She got a stomach bug over a weekend and by Monday morning had passed. Thad consulted with her internist and both agree her heart condition cause her to go into A-Fib (?) due to the electrolytes in her body being out of wack due to the dehydration likely caused by the stomach issues over the weekend. Ultimately, it was her heart condition which put her at high risk for any type of "cardiac event". Needless to say, while Thanksgiving wasn't completely ruined, it wasn't as happy and fun as normal.


So we moved on to December, where we learned my mom's sister and my dear Aunt Martha wasn't doing well after a long battle with cancer. The day after Christmas her battle was over and she went home to be healed forever. Mom, dad, Nat and I all traveled to Williamston, NC to be with our family and to remember and celebrate her life. It was a beautiful service and it was so good to be with my mom's side of the family and to grieve and celebrate with them. We were all broken hearted, it's still hard for me to think about let alone talk about without getting emotional. She was a special, special lady and a wonderful, mother, sister, aunt and grandmother and will be greatly missed by all of us. I could write many more posts about her and her journey, and someday I will, but it's too much for today.

So that's what has been consuming our lives on top of the busy holiday season, normal work, and getting ready for a baby. It's why I never got Christmas cards out, I bought them, but just never had the chance to sit down and get them addressed. I figure next year, we can send one with the baby and make up for this year.

Stay tuned for more pictures and pregnancy updates!

Showered with Love

This past weekend was our first baby shower. It was given by friends here in Charleston, one living in GVL and one living in Raleigh. Mom came and Nat came from Chicago, Thad's mom came too. It was a fun afternoon, women really do like to get together to eat and socialize! Thanks to everyone for coming and to the hostesses for hosting a wonderful shower!

The hostesses!

The cake! It was delicious! Baby carriage theme!

The cutest pink tree decorated the table with little socks, bows and pacifers!

Nat, Mom and I

Crib bedding update

So after searching high and low, and experimenting with the idea of having bedding custom made, I have finally found some bedding I like. You can see it in the link below, just beware that when you look at it, it's a little overwhelming with all the various pieces and with a cranberry painted wall. I got just the bedding, a couple of pillows and the valences, none of the other stuff. If you zoom in, you can see the pattern, just pinks and greens. It should be here in 4 to 6 weeks!

http://www.cocalo.com/item.asp?id=183&brand=6&g=1&coll=&cat=1

I have also ordered a chair from Baby Bloomers in Mt. Pleasant from the Best Chair company. I can't wait for it to get here, it's 8-10 weeks! Let's hope baby girl Tuten doesn't come before that!

Ice Cream at work!

So I work for a pretty cool company, they had a ice cream truck come to work yesterday afternoon. Everyone got to pick either a sundae, a cone or sno cone as a afternoon treat...for FREE! I love soft serve and my chocolate and vanilla swirl cone hit the spot! Our event coordinator snapped this picture as she walked by my desk.

Belly pic and THE shed

Sorry I have been a little slack with the bloggin recently. We've been busy, I have been out of town on the weekends quite a bit for weddings and Thad has been hunting and working on his shed. I've posted some pics for you to see what he's been working on. The idea is we'll clean out the garage and the move some stuff in the house out to the garage to make room for baby girl tuten, who is going to be here in what seems like no time.

Here's a pic of me at 24 weeks, although now I'm 25 weeks. Making some progress...

And then here are some pictures of Thad's shed. I'm proud of him, he's never built anything like this before, he drew out the plans and has done all he research on how to build it. Yes, it's bigger than I thought it would be and No, it doesn't have electricity or running water, although he might change that once the baby comes home :)

Securing the foundation...this was several weeks ago.

This was two weeks ago, it now has tar paper on the sides and roof and doors, which Thad custom made. Next is siding and then shingles, hopefully he can wrap in up in just a couple of more weeks.

Working in GVL and Crib Bedding

So I'm here in Greenville, SC for a couple of days for work. Once I get home I promise to take some "tummy" shots, maybe you'll think I look more prego these days, the bump is still small but it's growing. I'm in the search for crib bedding or should I say a nice bumper and some sheets, as I'm not sure if I'm going to get the comforter, as it seems a little useless, someone out there correct me if I'm wrong. I went to this store in Charleston and the bedding, while beautiful, was outrageously expensive, I'm talking $350 for the bumper alone!! I've found these choices online that I like, experienced moms out there let me know if there are other resources I should check out. I haven't browsed Target yet....

Land of Nod

Womb with a View: http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=167&f=122&pc=67

Full Circle: http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=167&f=3907&pc=67

Pottery Barn Kids

Sophie Nursery Bedding: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/su442/index.cfm?pkey=cgirls-nursery-beddingb

Organic Floral Matelasse Bedding: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/nb150/index.cfm?pkey=cgirls-nursery-beddingb

It's a Girl!!

So much for my motherly instincts, I truly thought we were having a boy, but when the tech told me I was wrong, I said, "Really, are you sure?" She laughed and said she was! The tech was able to get all the shots she needed of her heart, stomach, kidneys and spinal cord that she needed without much trouble. Our baby girl was facing my spine, so she wasn't able to get great face shots with the 4D ultrasound and when she poked and tried to get her to move then she just covered her face with both her arms, it was really cute! By the end she was sucking her thumb and still had the other arm over her face. It was amazing and flew by so fast! I wanted to stay and watch her longer, but our time was up.

The biggest question seems to be "What does Thad think?" He's excited and says he's looking forward to having a girl, although he says girls require more "supervision" longer than boys. I guess he means until she's married off for someone else to take care of! He has also said we are having children until we have a boy!!

Thanks for your prayers and excitement for us during this time! Here are some pictures!

This is the one where she covered her face:

In this one she has her hand over her nose and is sucking her thumb!