Tummy Tuesday

Week 35

And we are down to a mere 4 1/2 weeks... Gulp!

Mary Claire doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and weighs approximately 5 1/4 pounds, about the size of a honey dew melon! Because she is so snug in there, she isn't  doing many somersaults anymore, but is just pushing really hard. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete which makes me wonder what those physical features look like. :) She'll spend the next 4 1/2 weeks really just putting on weight. Although she would still be considered "pre-mature" there would be no long term effects from being born 4 1/2 weeks early. Kinda scary to think about considering how unprepared we are!

Daddy P and I are both very anxiously awaiting her arrival. On one had we are sooooooo ready for her to be here. We can't wait to meet her and hold her in our arms. But on the other hand hand we are sooooooo unprepared. There is so much that we need to / have to do before she can come. My MawMaw (hi MawMaw!!!) asked me if we had our hospital bag packed... Ugh no, no we don't as a matter of fact. She can't come if we don't have a hospital bag packed right?.... Right?!?!? I haven't even googled what I need to pack? So that is defiantly on our to-do list- along with- put the last coat of paint on the crib, put the crib together, hang the floating shelves, get the car seat out of the box, etc. I could go on and on but it kinda stresses me out...

Daddy P seems to think she is going to come early because I "won't stop." But the doctor hasn't given me any reason to slow down, and I can't just sit around when I feel so good and have so much still to do. I'd go crazy!!! I guess we will see...


My scrub pants are beginning to get a little (read VERY) snug in the butt/thigh area. I really hope I can hold out on having to buy any new ones. I just keep telling myself, "You only have to wear them like this 4 more times." (we have a different pair of scrubs for each day of the week- thus 4 weeks- 4 more wears).

Starting this Friday I go to the doctor every week. Wowzers.... that must mean it is crunch time! 

Tummy Tuesday

34 WEEKS

6 WEEK TO GO!!!! And I am not going to lie- I'm getting a little anxious about it. I mean, seriously, in a few short weeks we will be given the greatest gift on earth, but it comes with so much responsibility. During the first part of the pregnancy I was hoping for a "February Baby." But now that February is a few days away- I am to hoping for a "March Baby". I am so not ready- there is so much to do, and buy, and plan, and paint, and pay for, and decorate!!!! I just need more time! I have so many "nesting projects" that are 1/2 complete or that aren't even started!!! (not to mention all the "house projects" that still need to be done since we just moved into our new house last week and there are so many things still in boxes)

Nesting Project #1: The Crib- 

Sorry no picture but we are painting my childhood crib, and of course I can't paint- so Daddy is working really hard on getting it primed and painted but it is just so time consuming!

Nesting Project #2: Hair Bow Organizer

I still have to attach the hooks to the bottom to hang the head bands from, but I (Daddy) needs to drill pilot holes in the frame before I can screw the hooks in.

Nesting Project #3: Shelves

Because her room is also going to serve as our guest room. There is not any room for a book shelf so I (Daddy) is hanging floating shelves above the guest bed to put all the baby nik-naks on.

Nesting Project #4: Wall Decor

This frame used to have a lovely mirror in it, but it fell off the wall a broke :(. So now it is an empty broken frame that I am going to repurpose because I LOVE the frame. I just need to prime and paint it white (or Daddy does since I can't paint) then piece it back together, then hang it above her crib, then buy a vinyl monogram to put on the wall inside it. 

And there are other projects that I have in my head that I would love to do as well, but I am running out of time to finish the projects that are 1/2 done, much less start new ones.

The only nesting project that is complete is her ruffled crib skirt... so cute right?!?!?! Just imagine it on her crib not on the side on our unmade bed.

But ready or not here she comes... And if she is anything like her momma she will come whenever she is good and ready, and not on anyone else's schedule.

So Friday I had another good check up. I gained 4 lbs, and she was again "perfect." My visits have been very uneventful thus far, but after this next Friday's visit I go every week and she will do a clinical exam each visit to get a better timeline of her arrival. So maybe things will liven up!!!

Oh!!! And remember the lady who also has a Mary Claire that is almost exactly 1 year older than mine that wanted to give me all her embroidered stuff???? She came through!!! Check out the goods!!!

SWEET!!!

Tummy Tuesday

33 Weeks

(Please notice the subtle change in the khaki wall color and the light switch...We are at the new house!!!)

Just 6 and a half weeks left! Wow... I better get nesting seeing as the nursery currently looks likes this:

Do not be offended by that yellow- it is not as SUNSHINE YELLOW in person. 

A good yellow is hard hard paint color to find. :(

Mary Claire now weighs a little more than 3 pounds and is over 17 inches long. She is rapidly loosing her wrinkled, alien look by packing on the pounds. Her skeleton is continuing to harden, but many bones will not completely fuse to make her passage through the birth canal a little easier. She must be running out of room because I have been feeling a lot of pressure lately. I think I may have even told some people, "I think she is trying to come out my belly button." She doesn't really kick and punch still- it more of just a constant push for 3-5 seconds that can be a little uncomfortable.

Moving this past weekend I discovered that it is very hard to bend down and pick something up off the floor. It not just that my belly is in the way- it just takes a lot of energy to get down and back up.

I am still sleeping GREAT! No complaints at all in that department. I usually fall right to sleep and only get up once to potty- then quickly fall back to sleep. I've heard by this point in a pregnancy a lot of women have a hard time getting comfortable, so I am counting my blessings. :)

Really the only new pregnancy symptom this week are cankles. By the end of the day my feet and ankles have swollen, not too bad- but "noticeably thick." So- I have taken off my rings as a precautionary measure. I sure don't want to have to get them cut off!

And the last bit of news from this week- I have officially become a "ya'll" and no longer a "you." Chase says things like "Ya'll don"t need to pick that up", "When are ya'll going to be ready?", or "Where do ya'll want this picture hung?" It is really kind of funny.

Tummy Tuesday

32 WEEKS

8 WEEKS TO GO... AUGH!!!!


And this is what was going on right blow where the picture cuts off....

"Take a picture of me too daddy...I'm so pretty"

Has this pregnancy flown by or is it just me?

Mary Claire now weighs approx 3.75 pounds and is 16.7 inches long. She has toenails & fingernails (that I can not wait to paint!!!) and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz I can stick a bow in). :)


Another great check up for MC and Momma P on Friday! All my measurements and her heart rate were very normal, actually the doctor said she was "perfect"... WELL DUH! And- I didn't gain any weight in the last 2 weeks! (well, if you want to be technical I probably gained 1 pound but the girl last week rounded up and the girl this week rounded down). I should be putting on about 1 pound a week from now on- and half of that weight goes directly to her as she is beefing up to join us in the outside world.

Funny story about my weigh in... Chase was at the doctor this visit and he saw my weight and said "Wow... you weight more then I do." I must have given him a look that could kill because he quickly rephrased it saying... "Wait, I meant Y'ALL weigh more then I do." Not much better dude... but I'll take it. From now on lets keep those comments to a minimum :)

I thought I would really like moving while I was pregnant. I would get to sit back relax and just give directions... WRONG! I can't handle it! I am way to much of a control freak. I defiantly live by the saying "If you want something done right, then do it yourself." Poor Chase... I am this horrible control freak that can't do anything, so he can't do anything right. He packs the wrong boxes in the car... I wanted this painted first not that... I want the furnature here not there...etc. I have found a way to help out though- Put empty boxes in the car then carry handfulls of items out of the house and put them in the empty boxes. That way the stuff I want to move first gets to go... Genious!!! Chase would beg to differ since I packed ALL of our dishes in ONE box... apparently it was really heavy. Sorry Hunny! :) I am so ready for this to all be over... I am ready to be settled in our new house with our new baby and have all these headaches (and back aches in Chase's case) behind us.

And just in case anyone is wondering... I still HATE maternity pants. I am so ready to be in real clothes again!

Movin' on up... Well kinda

Since our house has been on the market we have been looking at places to rent for about the next year or so until we decide where our lives are going to take us. Originally we planned a move straight to Alabama, but after weighing LOTS of pros and cons (many of which I discussed here- http://peelerplaybook.blogspot.com/2011/11/life-changes.html ), and shedding LOTS of tears (mainly just the crazy, hormonal one of us) we made a family decision to move to Spring Hill. 

The biggest deciding factors was not only did we NOT want to be in limbo between houses and be giving birth to our first child, but it would also be terrible to try to keep a house show ready with an newborn baby and lots of family in town.... not to mention I love my job- and I would take about a 1/3 pay cut to work in AL (on top of licensing expenses). 

So thus began the look for a place to rent in Maury County.

We decided on Spring Hill because it is closer to my work (about a 25 min drive) and about the same distance for him (about an hour drive) compared to Columbia. But we wanted something close to the interstate since we will both be taking it into work- just in opposite directions.

Road Block one: Price Range... Seriously people?!?! Why in the world would I want to pay anyone hundreds of dollars more than our mortgage to RENT there place? Uh- I think not!

Road Block two: Libby. Yes she is a dog, and yes, she does in fact weigh 75 lbs... but she won't tear anything up! She is better than most children!!! But no one will listen if you say you have a dog over 35lbs, even if you offer to pay more for a pet deposit.

Road Block three: The GM plant in Spring Hill is opening back up so we were on a time crunch to find something before everyone moving back to work at GM took all the good rentals.

The pressure was on....

We found this cute little 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condo on a golf course in Spring Hill that was reasonably priced and we both liked. Plus they let us have Libby no questions asked (with a substantial pet deposit) AND they have a community pool! So we crunched the numbers and we could afford to pay our mortgage and the rent at this place- so we jumped on it. I mean it was the ONLY thing we had found that even allowed a dog over 35lbs, so we could not pass it up... otherwise if our house did sell we (well just Libby I guess) would have no where to live.

We decided to sign the lease starting January 1... that way we could do a slow move in. After all we would have 2 months or so to get settled before Mary Claire arrived. I was so excited to finally have some definite plans, and a home we could bring our new baby home to.

So the Friday before Christmas we did the walk through and signed the lease. On the way home from the condo my phone rang. It was our realtor... we had an offer!!!! 

Let me just stop here--- tell me that is not a God thing?!?!?!?!?!?! We had been praying and praying for God to lead and guide us to make smart decisions for our expanding family, and man did he deliver! Not 2 hours after we signed a lease to our new home we got an offer on our house! It was/is so hard to make the conscious decision to give up "control" and pray He will provide, but He can- and He did. GOD IS GOOD! 

So after 5 counter offers and LOTS of number crunching we have a contract. We knew we would have to pay an arm and a leg to sell our house, but man it hurts seeing it on paper! The market has gone even farther south since we bought the house and we only have 2 years of equity in it. So between what our house has depreciated and realtor fees we are looking at bringing A LOT of money to closing. God has gotten us this far in all of this, and he has provided us a mean to pay for closing, so we are very grateful... but it just hurts. It hurts to know that we have not made any bad decisions, but are still getting the short end of the stick. I would say it's a lesson learned, but what lesson? We didn't do anything wrong, Chase just got transferred. I wish we would have had a crystal ball 2 years ago... but It's just the way the cookie crumbled.

So for this reason I will be glad when January 30th rolls around and we close on our house. It will feel good to put all of this behind us, and lick our wounds before we start a new chapter in our lives as parents.

But on the flip side I am an emotional mess about it all. Moving is stressful in itself and add to that the fact you are loosing 100 square feet (although the way that condo is laid out feels like we are loosing more), a 2 car detached shop, a yard, and a guest bed room BUT gaining another person WITH all of their stuff.... I am a little stressed. I sooooo want to make this place nice and feel like our home, but it is just so hard. It is not ours, and it's just temporary- so we don't want to pour a lot of money into it. I want to have room for all of our stuff and all of her stuff too- but that just isn't happening. That is a hard pill to swallow for me. 

I keep you posted (and share pictures) as our story continues to unravel...

Tummy Tuesday

31 WEEKS!

Man! I can really tell she is in the growing phase... she/I am getting so big!

Mary Claire is now approximatly 16 inches long and 3.3lbs. And boy is she active! Still no real blows that hurt- but she rolls and flips and turns any time I eat or lay down, and sometimes just for no reason. It is really the coolest feeling. Her skin is beginning to fill out as fat accumulates under her skin. I hope she has some serious rolls!!!

As for Momma P- I feel great, just some occasional heart burn, and nightly leg cramps maybe just once a week. Other than that (and the fact that I move like a fat person) I feel great. In less than 2 months she will be here and We are just so excited. I think her daddy put it best when ringing in the New Year. 

"2012 = my daughter... I can't wait!!!"

Speaking of Daddy.... Funny Story- So we are laying the bed the other night and apparently my belly was on his side of the bed and touching his back. At first he liked feeling her move around on his back, but after a few minutes he said "Can you roll over the other way. I can't fall asleep with her moving like that." SERIOUSLY DUDE!!! What do you think it feels like when it is inside your belly? :) Gotta Love him!

8 1/2 weeks and counting!!!!