Race for the Cure

My boss, Dr Buzz ,sponsored a team for this years Race for the Cure 5K in Brentwood. Chase and I of coursed signed up to be a part of the team.

We had a pretty good size team of co-workers, family members, and even some patient's familes.

 Complete with matching team shirts that we were "Buzzing for the cure." How cleaver right?!?!

It was fridged 31 degrees that morning, but we toughed it out. The place was PACKED! It was awesome to see so many people out there supporting such a great cause. It was vertually shoulder to shoulder while we walked the 5K (Chase walked it with me and Mary Claire :) what a good daddy!). By the end of the 5K it turned out to be a beautifuly, warm fall day.

I am very blessed to work for such a wonderful, giving boss and great team members!

Tummy Tuesday

Week 21

Mary Claire now weighs approximately 3/4 of a pound (we aren't going to talk about where is other 9 1/4 pounds I gained is) and is 10 1/2 inches long. In the last 2 weeks she has gone from little flutters of movements to real kicks and now she is turning full blown somersaults. Chase is the only one who has felt her acrobatics besides me. But if you put your hand on my belly when she is moving; you can feel her not just kick- but you can feel her little body roll across the palm of your hand. It is so cool! It's really hard to believe she is so active in there.

No real changes for Momma P this week. I am feeling really good these days, and have officially entered the so-called "honeymoon stage" where I finally feel good all the time and I look pregnant, but am not so big that I can't move. But in all honesty- I can not complain at all about my pregnancy (beside my skin looks 10x worse then it ever did when I was a teenager). I have been very blessed and have felt pretty good the entire 21 weeks thus far. I just hope it continues. :)

This week I changed out my regular fall/winter wardrobe to a maternity one, and thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, Chassity, it is almost fully stocked!!! I can still fit into most of my non-maternity shirts, but I don't want to stretch them out and not be able to wear them next year. And my pants laugh at me when I try to put them on. So everything is boxed up and in the attic awaiting next year. 

Next up... Week 22!

Chase's Birthday

Today Chase turned the Big 2-5... You know what that means? Insurance goes down! WAHOO!!! :)

His birthday weekend fell on the same weekend as Loretta Lynn's ride. Yes- the same ride that he got life flighted from in the Spring.... What great memories! :)

No, but really- It is a Peeler bonding weekend, so we loaded up the car EARLY Saturday morning and headed south. When we got there Chase had to work on his bike for a little while because it was not running right, but don't you worry-right after lunch he it the trails. And let me add here- he made it back in one piece! No injuries!!!!

That night was the banquet where they have all kinds of give aways. Between all of us there we got some pretty good prizes. I would tell you what they are but I am not exactly sure myself? Just trust me- it was good dirtbike stuff.

*Sorry- I neglected to take any pictures at Loretta's???*

For Chase's birthday-day I got tickets through my work (Thanks Dr Buzz!!!!) to the Titans game.  So we left on Sunday morning to meet Chase's friend Hutto and his fiance Kristy and head to the game. We had not seen them in a really long time, so it was really good to catch up with them.

Go Titans!

Titan Up!

It wasn't a very good game but we had a great time anyway. 

It is hard work being the birthday boy.... :) HA!

Eating his yearly cookie cake

Happy 25th birthday to my best friend!

Tummy Tuesday

Week 20 Belly Shot

I am starting to run out of room to write what week it is! Guess Chase will have to start backing up. :)

WAHOO! This week is the 1/2 way mark! It is crazy to think my pregnancy is half way over?!?! Seems like just yesterday we found out I was pregnant. Well actually, it seems like just last week we were dating in highschool, but in a matter of weeks we will be blessed with our very own child. How time flies...

This week Mary Claire is around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel, and SHE weighs about 10 1/2 ounces (approx the size of a banana). If you are thinking anything like I was, just last week SHE was only 5 1/2 inches long and now SHE is 10 inches... how does that happen? It is because for the first 20 weeks, HER legs are curled up against HER torso and hard to measure, so measurements are taken from the top of HER head to HER bottom "crown to rump." After 20 weeks, SHE's measured from head to heel.

SHE's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for HER digestive system. SHE is also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in HER bowels, and I will see it in HER first poopy diaper. And yes- I have googled stages of baby poop.

***Can you tell I am so excited to not have to write he/she or him/her? ***

This weeks highlights:

Highlight #1 Chase got to feel Mary Claire move for the very first time! I have been trying and trying to get him to feel her for about the last 2 weeks, but I guess she is just now strong enough to kick hard enough to feel from the outside. His face just lit up! It was awesome. :)

Highlight #2: We had a lady come in the office this week who has a little girl named Mary Claire, and she said she has tons of stuff with "Mary Claire" embriodered on it because she has an embriodery machine and she wants to give it all to ME! JACKPOT!!!!!! Her Mary Claire was born April of last year and mine is due in March so all the sizes should match up! Man O Man... how awesome is that!??!?!?!?

Highlight #3: We (I) bought a stroller, car seat and extra base. I had been doing my research on the safest  infant car seat on the market and Britax kept topping the list. So I ran to USA baby over my lunch break on Wednesday to test drive it. And by test drive it I mean buckle and unbuckle, car seat in and out of the base, car seat in and out of the stroller, fold up the stroller, steer the stroller, etc. I think I was getting on the lady's nerve. But long story short- they were having a sale and I got the car seat ($180), stroller ($199), and extra base ($90) all for $250 plus tax!!! I just couldn't pass up a good deal. Here is a picture of Mary Claire's ride.

Highlight #4: Baby girl clothes are REALLY cute. This could be dangerous, very dangerous... especially if the outlets are having a sale.

Love it!

 This was only $2 so I got it in 2 sizes

 Who doesn't love ruffles?

 Umm, how cute?

And it was so cute I got it in the next size up in short sleeves

 And my favorite...

And I am creating a Monster.

 I don't even own a "real" Coach bag, but now Mary Claire does. Oh, golly- she is already rotten...

Tummy Tuesday

Week 19 Belly shot

Still don't think I really look this big?!?!?!

So this week we got our first look inside my belly and it was by far the most amazing thing I have EVER seen! For goodness sakes- there is a living being INSIDE my belly... WOW! Just so surreal...

Our ultrasound appointment was Friday at 11pm. They told me to be there at 10:45 for some reason? Well we showed up at 10:42 checked in a sat in the waiting room and tried to be patient. 10:45 came and went... then 11 came and went... still waiting at 11:15... man I was so excited and they were keeping me waiting!!!! They better be glad I was in a good mood cause this pregnant lady could have very easily gotten hostile with the staff if I was in a momma bear mood.  Not to mention, they told me to have a full bladder and I had to pee really bad. Finally at 11:24 we got called back!

AAGGGGHHHH!!!! just steps away from knowing if baby P was a girl or boy....

We got settled in the ultrasound room and the technician asked us if we wanted to "know the sex of the baby if she could tell". I said YES!!! very excitedly, and was thinking in the back of my head, "lady- you better be able to tell"

And off we go...

At first we just sat and stared at the screen in shock at the first few glimpses of the little miracle moving around in my belly.

Isn't it the most beautiful thing you have every seen?!?!

She started by checking the umbilical cord, then measuring the cervical fluids, the space behind the brain,  some vein in the brain, and tons of other critical things but all I was kind of in shock and was just taking in every little movement our baby made. 

Then she checked the fingers and toes...

4 fingers (in a fist) and the top of her head

And my favorite picture of all... our tiny baby's little foot.

When the lady stopped and got this still shot I immediately looked over at Chase and said, "THE BABY HAS YOUR FEET!!!"

Look close... All of Chase's toes are really long except the pinky toe. Look close at the baby's feet... It is the same way! How cool is that?!?!?

Next it was on to measuring the length of the long bones, spine, and checking the bladder and kidneys...

 

I kept cracking up at the ultrasonic technician because she was getting very frustrated with the baby because it would move every time she tried to get a still shot the baby would move. We heard a lot of "Come on baby", "Be still baby", "Work with me here baby", "WOAH! Baby"

She said everything looked good and normal. Now on to find out pink or blue.... (still not sure why she didn't do that first?!?!?) :)

"You've got a girl baby"- Ultrasonic Technician

I immediately looked over at Chase with tears in my eyes with a HUGE smile on my face and said... "We are in trouble... Little girl stuff is really cute!"

"Oh, Yeah... It's DEFIANTLY a girl"- Ultrasonic technician

This will be the first granddaughter on either side of the family. Mary Leigh has 2 boys and Chassity has 2 boys too, this little girl is going to be rotten! I am so excited to have a daughter!!! Chase is terrified. At first I thought he was disappointed, but it turns out he is just scared... "I don't know what to do with a girl?", "Raising a girl is so much harder", "I know how a boy thinks, but I still can't figure out how a girl thinks"

Guess we better just start praying now for the wisdom to raise a wholesome daughter with christian morals. I hope we don't mess up too many times.

Some specs from the visit:

- First and Foremost we have a healthy, happy, ACTIVE, baby girl

- She is a little over 8 ounces

- 5 inches long

- 151 beats per min (I could have watched her heart beat all day)

- still due March 2nd

All most half way there... Hello week 20... :)

Gender Revel Party

We invited our family to a gathering via the invitation below to find out the sex of Baby P. I wish we could have invited close friends too, but there were 38 people with just family... How blessed is this little baby?!?!?!?

Chase and I had "our" very first ultrasound on Friday afternoon. It was sooooooo neat to see the baby squirming around in my belly, but more on that in a later post... So we found out what Baby P was around 11:45 on Friday afternoon and had to keep it a secret until Saturday at 1pm. That was the hardest 25 hours of my life!

We left the Dr.- called the baker- and headed to Covington. I wasn't even out of the parking lot and I had people texting me asking what the baby was. Notice I didn't say "us" I said "me" because everyone knows I am horrible at secrets and they knew that they had a better chance at getting me to crack then Chase. Man was it hard!

We got to NaNa and Pops' house around dinner time and set some ground rules that we could not talk about the baby because we knew one of us (me!!!) would slip up. Chase's parents did great! They did not try to get it out of us... my family on the other hand was a different story. Here are a series of text that I got- All with the caption "If I were to get one of these which one would Baby P like?" (in no particular order)

I GOT 19 TOTAL!!!!

It was so hard for me not to tell anyone... but I did it!!! I was so proud of myself!

We got up Saturday morning and started getting ready. We decorated in ALL pink and blue. And I made sure that all the pink and blue items were equal so no one got any ideas :)

Pink & Blue m&m's with Baby P on them 

pink or blue????- Chase isn't telling :)

Food table - "What Baby P is Made of" AKA Anna Marie's cravings

The CUPCAKES!!!!!!

And the infamous Gender Poll

We asked everyone to come in pink or blue depending on their guess

TEAM PINK

TEAM BLUE

TEAM DOESN'T WANT TO BE WRONG

Libby even got to guess (before the ultrasound)

What Lab doesn't want a brother?

Some of my favorite rationals:

TaTa- "Most all the male Peelers have had girls first- PeePaw, Dane, Rick, Mac, Uncle Dennis, etc"

Mary Leigh (after the reveal)- "Well I was really thinking girl, but I wore blue because everyone else was wearing pink and I didn't want you to be disappointed if it was a boy and you thought everyone wanted a girl." - Thanks sissy :)

And my favorite by far...

MawMaw- "I am mostly pink with a slight chance of blue"(pointing out the colors in her shirt)

Me- "MawMaw, that sounds like a weather forecast" :)

Once everyone got there, I could not wait for the reveal! So we had dessert first! Everyone got their cupcakes... with only one casualty during the hand out.

DON'T TOUCH IT!!!

READY? 

ONE

....

TWO

....

THREE!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Let me just take a second to give you a side note:

This is how D'D found out

She squeezed the cupcake open. That way she could immediately see the color and not have to bite into it and pull it away from her mouth to see. INGENIOUS!

And the next question "Do you have a name?"

Come one people... look at who you are talking about here... I have had a little girl name picked out for YEARS and lucky Chase loves it too!!

World- Let me introduce you to...

Mary Claire Peeler

And yes, she will be a double namer... Mary Claire.

I can tell you love it! I can just see it in your eyes while your ready this. :)