Black Friday...

Confession: I really do enjoy Black Friday.   Crowds, deals, excitement and all. I don't really like the fact that stores now open at 8pm on Thanksgiving... taking away from workers' and shoppers' Thanksgiving day... but that is another issue entirely. I talked to my dad while we were on our way to Target the other night for the midnight rush (okay really the 9 o'clock rush).  I could hear his shock and disbelief when I told him that Andrew and I were heading over there... just for fun.  There were no TVs or game systems that we were rushing to get.. nothing that we really needed, but over the years Black Friday has just become something that we like to do together.  For us, we have realized that we would rather have the time spent together picking out a present or gift for the other person than the surprise Christmas day.  Just a personal preference, but it works for us.  This year, like most years we did not buy much. What we did buy was mainly baby stuff...

How could we resist something so cute... hopefully she will be using it before next Black Friday :).

Like I said Black Friday is like a date for us but, we have to be careful of spending on unnecessary things... or I guess really highly necessary things.  We have to be careful of really "good deals."  This year we had one such experience.  We were at the Coach Outlet store in Gulfport.  I don't even usually go in there, not usually me, but someone told me they had good diaper bags.  So in we went.  One of the people working there showed us a "good deal" on a diaper bag that usually costs $550 (or somewhere close to that amount) that we could get today for $200.  I am not sure what came over me but I actually thought about buying it.    When we left the store I couldn't believe I seriously considered spending $200 on a diaper bag.  There are about 1,000 better ways we could spend, share or give that money. So in the midst of the holidays, enjoying every moment, we were reminded to make sure not to get too caught up :)

23 weeks...

23 Weeks...

And the view of my toes...

How far along? 23 and a half weeks
Total weight gain- did not weight myself this week. Saw lots of relatives that said they could barely even tell I am pregnant. I can honestly say at 5 almost 6 months I would look more pregnant. But I guess it is good that the weight is not going everywhere? I keep saying I have this feeling that that I am really about to pop... then  2 day after I visited family, people are noticing that I am pregnant.  Maybe I popped in the last 2 days?  Maybe I just wore different clothes???
Baby Related Purchases- We had some purchases and gifts this week!!! My dad, Deena, the girls and my grandparents threw us a little surprise shower. It was so sweet! They got Bailey Drew lots of cute outfits and the crib!

Andrew's parents got us the travel system with an extra base and a couple more adorable outfits. I am starting to think this precious little girl is going to have more clothes than me soon!

Stretch marks- nope
Movement- movements and kicks all the time, but still inconsistent when they happen. Sometimes I feel a lot and sometimes not so much. Also it is weird because I pretty much only feel movement on the right side. From her last ultrasound we know that she likes to rest with her hands on her feet... So guess usually all hands and feet are that direction. I also can feel her from the outside!)
Also, we have started to watch my belly from the outside (weird I know)  because we can see the movement!
What I miss- coffee
Cravings- Nothing specific.
Anything making you queasy or sick- Still feeling a little sick after I eat.
Gender- Girl!!!!! Check out our thoughts on our little girl :)
Labor- hopefully not until March... Less than 17 weeks until the due date!
Symptoms- tired, a little nauseous but really I feel pretty good! I have also started to have weird and often bad dreams... Not sure if this is pregnancy related.
Worries- Since I have been so small... That has got me worried... And confused. The doctor keeps telling us how big she is... And I keep thinking where is this baby hiding... If she is big I feel like I would be showing more. I should probably be thankful... But it makes me worried!
Best moments this week: So many good moments this week!
*Family time at Thanksgiving

*Surprise baby shower...

*Black Friday Shopping
*Our babymoon to the wonderful Gulfport, Mississippi :)

*Getting things for Bailey!
Looking forward to...
*is it too soon to already be looking forward to Christmas break?
*Still ready to feel like I have really "popped"!
*Shower in Atlanta is in a month!
Everything I am looking forward to is a month away... I am going to have to find some time to do some fun things in between now and Christmas!
Size of baby- weighs as much as a mango... maybe more :)
What the baby is up to-
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Get Caught Up!!!

Thoughts on our little girl...

22 Weeks

21 Weeks

20 Weeks

19 Weeks

Gender Reveal

It's a...

17 Weeks

16 Weeks

12 Weeks

11 Weeks

Announcement 

Thoughts on our little girl...

This is my favorite picture, because it reminds me when we found out.  Girl?  Really?  Shock and excitement :)

When we were in the ultrasound room 5 weeks ago (has it already been 5 weeks???)… Andrew and I were so excited.

So much anticipation leading to that moment.

Anatomy scan to find out the development of our little NOLA baby. And then of course to out the answer to the question everyone had been asking us since day one… boy or girl?

Andrew was so sure baby S was going to be a boy, and I have to admit, I always thought I would have boys. I think something about both of us growing up with brothers made us feel like having a boy would feel normal. As we got closer to the ultrasound I became more and more unsure of the prediction.

That day, we got to the ultrasound room. The technician asked if we were ready to know… and I said wait, I haven’t even heard the heartbeat yet. So to build the suspense some more I made her show us that baby was healthy with a beating heart before we found out. Then she said, “It’s a girl.” And I think Andrew’s response was, “A Girl???” Now I assure you this shock was out of disappointment, but out of surprise. He was really so sure it was going to be a boy… lol.

So since then we have had so many thoughts about this precious little girl that we have named Bailey Drew. I don’t think Andrew has written for the blog before… so this is exciting!

Thoughts from Andrew:

My first thought was total shock. I was almost 100% sure that we were having a boy for some reason that I just had to ask her again if I had heard her right. After a minute of letting the realization sink in, I felt two very strong emotions: excitement and nervousness. Excitement because I am ecstatic about experiencing having a little baby girl to care for and look after. I never had a sister so this is my first experience with a baby girl and I can't wait to know the love a father has for his daughter.


I also felt a a lot of nervousness. I am afraid of raising my daughter in a world where she will experience pain and hurt. Where she will have times when she is afraid and vulnerable and when I will be powerless to help her. Many of my friends know that I am protective of the people I love, so knowing all of this causes a feeling of uneasiness to creep into my mind. Also, I don't know a thing about Barbie or American dolls (which are popular apparently?). I've never done little girl things and I have no clue how to raise a girl in a way that honors the Lord. All of these things cause me to doubt myself and my ability to be a good father to my daughter.

However, I know without a doubt that God will give me the wisdom to lovingly raise a God-fearing daughter. With each passing day I grow more and more excited to meet my little girl. I will probably always experience some fear and uneasiness just like any other parent, but I look forward to watching Bailey Drew grow in the Lord alongside my best friend, Stasia.

Thoughts from Stasia:

This may be silly, but one of my first thoughts was that I am just not that girly. It may have come form growing up with brothers; I was always the girl playing football at recess with the boys. I have come a long way in terms of my “girliness,” but I would still rather toss the football outside than chill in the kitchen. This sounds silly but I worried that my lack of girliness be a detriment to our little girl. As I prayed through this idea of being a mother to a little girl, it was more about teaching our daughter about being a godly woman than about whether I could teach her to be “girly” enough. So my prayer for each day is that I can become more like Christ, so I can be a Proverbs 31 woman and pass that to our daughter.

The second thought that plagued buy thoughts, and honestly still does is this idea of a mother-daughter relationship. For some reason the mother-son relationship does not scare me as much as the mother-daughter relationship. It probably should, but it doesn’t. Maybe it is because I am a girl and I know the ups and downs of a mother-daughter relationship. I know how hard it can be. This all hit me as I was driving around running errands for our gender reveal party thinking about our little girl. To be honest I was brought to tears as I though about how much I longed to have a positive relationship with our daughter. How do I become one of those mothers who is a mother and friend? One that as my daughter grows will come to for advise? Nurturing this relationship just scares me! And I am just brought to my knees about it, that God will help us build a relationship that is healthy and glorifying to Him.

So after all of that, my honest concerns, my heart is SO excited to meet Bailey Drew in March, to have this journey with our little girl that we already love so much!

30 Days of Thankful... Update 2

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

November 19

I am thankful for each movement of baby Bailey!!!! :)

November 18

I am thankful for family.  Not always easy or simple, sometimes messy, but the care that we always have for each other.  I love seeing them, even if it is only a few times a year.  Makes each moment more precious!

November 17

I am thankful for the opportunity to just have fun and enjoy life!  The Color Run today reminds me how to just enjoy myself with fun people and not waste my time worrying.

November 16

 As much as I love teaching my kiddos, I am thankful for the much needed break.  As a teacher, I am not sure if I could keep doing what I do if I did not have these breaks!

November 15

I am thankful for moments that break me and bring me to complete humility (as much as they hurt).  The kind that remind me that I should not do anything for my own glory, only for God’s glory. 

November 14

I am thankful for our small group.  It is a group that truly supports each other, pushes each other toward Christ, and has a heart for reaching St. Charles Parish.

November 13

I am thankful for BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries).  This is a ministry that has the heart to reach and disciple college students in their relationship with Christ!  Not to mention where I met my husband, some of my best friends, and had some really fun times! Now it is where husband works and prepares to possibly do ministry with in the future.

November 12

I am SO thankful for this school year.  I would be lying to say that the last 2 years of teaching have been any sort of cakewalk, in fact they have made me question my choice to be a teacher.  Through this year (despite the many difficulties that have still come with it), my kiddos and my growth as a teacher, this year has been exponentially better.  I am so thankful that I go home feeling like I have had a good day even if it was difficult.

November 11

I am thankful for Vintage Church New Orleans and their heart for truly reaching people with the love of Christ, treating the church as a body and not as a building.

November 10

I am thankful to be a Georgia Bulldog.  I loved my experience there, how I grew as a person, and how UGA prepared me for the future… and I do miss it in Louisiana with all the LSU fans.  I just have to say, GOOOOOOO DAWGS!:)

November 9

I am thankful for much needed rest!  I must take more time to rest in the Lord!

November 8

  I am thankful for so many sweet girlfriends.  I am never without a godly girlfriend that I can grow with or have fun with!

November 7

I am thankful to have our own washer and dryer in our own apartment, and even a laundry room!  After using coin laundry for so long I can’t express how much I enjoy the convenience.

November 6

 I am thankful for our new apartment that feels like a mansion compared to where we have lived for the past 2 and a half years!  It amazes me how much you can appreciate something when you are given it after you learned to get by with less.  It really also makes me thankful for our old apartment and how it made us realize that we don’t need much stuff or space!

And from last time... November 5

I am thankful for my taste buds, good food, and the fact that I am enjoying it again :).

mmmm... crabcake :)

November 4

I am thankful for Bailey Drew, this precious miracle baby that is growing inside me right now!  

November 3

I am thankful for our first baby that would have been due a month from today.  I am sad that we never got to meet this precious child, but thankful that we will meet this precious one again in heaven :).

November 2

I am really thankful for my wonderful husband.  Really the past almost 6 years we have been together, including our almost 4 years of marriage have been amazing... I am so blessed!

Enjoy our first picture EVER together... we weren't even dating yet... and I think Leah was somehow cut out of this picture LOL

November 1

I am thankful for the unexpected moments that I get to spend in intimacy with the Lord.

What are you thankful for today? :)

22 weeks...

Not the best pic... but fun nome the less :)

How far along? 22 and a half weeks
Total weight gain- 15 pounds... And I think at this point I am suppose to gain a pound a week. That means 17 more pounds? We shall see!
Baby Related Purchases- No purchases thus week. But a dear sweet friend Becky from school gave us a bunch of adorable smock dresses and jumpers. We are so thankful. I should post a pic of some of my favorite but we are already on the road.
Stretch marks- nope
Movement- right after I wrote last week that I had not felt district "kicks" just movement... I felt a kick! It is not consistent right now but it happens. I have even help a kick from the outside! Andrew has never been around when it has happened so he has not felt e kick yet.
What I miss- Feeling normal after I eat. Right now I want to eat but I always feel a little sick after.
Cravings- Nothing specific.
Anything making you queasy or sick- Like I said before I feel sick after eating.
Gender- precious little girl Bailey Drew!
Labor - hopefully not until March.
Symptoms- tired, a little nauseous but really I feel pretty good!
Worries- many of the worries have subsided! I am doing better at trusting God in all of this :)
Best moments this week- So many good moments this week!
*Doctors appointment and seeing our little one with an ultrasound :)
* Color Run with Charlotte and Leah

*Beginning the week off of school with friends and family.
Looking forward to...
*Spending more time with friends and family over Thanksgiving.
* Black Friday shopping.
*Our babymoon to the wonderful Gulfport, Mississippi :)
Size of baby- spaghetti squash
What the baby is up to (from babycenter.com)- At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment.