36 Weeks!

36 weeks today and the countdown is on! I had a check up yesterday and Mr. Brennon had finally decided to turn, head down- halleluiah! Everything else is great; my blood pressure, his heart rate, and we’re still measuring right on target. However, this little man is in absolutely no hurry to get out… no dilatation and no thinning of the cervix. :o( So, we wait...

Our house however is 100% baby ready, I think... We recently went and picked up the remaining needs for the baby, and let me just tell you, babies need a lot of stuff! This may come as a shock to some of you, but I have become quite the coupon collector. Yesterday we saved $95 at Babies R’ Us, thanks to my coupons! Also a HUGE THANK YOU to my Head Start friends, we bought our pack and play with the gift card from you all!

I would include actual photos, but we sold our cameras in anticipation of this…

Isn’t she beautiful?!? I’m so excited to have a camera of this caliber!

Anyhow, we currently have a play yard, travel system, bouncy chair, and swing all in our living room. Tomorrow we’re doing a small closet overhaul to add more storage and hopefully be able to actually put things away!

Baby Shower and Dad's Day!

We had our second baby shower last Saturday, June 19th. My Aunt Leslie and Bridget, Mother-in-Law, graciously hosted another shower for us in St. Joe. This location was more convenient for the majority of our families and we had a Sussical time!

Lisa, my Step-Mom and my Sister, Annelise had Dr. Seuss cupcakes made that were adorable and delicious. Annelise also found some baby shower games that I had never played before. The pictures below are of Play-Doh babies that everyone constructed and then I had to pick my favorite. (Please ignore the hamster with the mohawk, thank you Conner...)

Play-doh Baby WINNER!

My cousin Emmy made this adorable diaper wreath for us. It had blankets, bottles, spoons and bibs attached. I love new and creative ideas and this was one for sure! The tag even said “Made with Luvs!” TOO CUTE!

Overall, the day was amazing. Let me just say, Mr. Brennon is a super spoiled little man! At this point, I’m not sure that there are any baby boy clothes in Northwest Missouri, which this child doesn’t have. We are so thankful and appreciative to everyone who loves our Little Peanut already! :o)

After the shower, we went out for a Father’s Day family dinner at Whiskey Creek.

We're pretty adorable.

I'm not really sure what to call this...

We are lucky enough to be able to say that Brennon is going to have 2 AMAZING Grandpas! My Daddy and my Father-in-Law are honest, respectable and hardworking men that we are proud to have in our family. Brennon will be able to learn all things manly, and more than I even want to know about, from both of them. Although Justin doesn’t think that Father’s Day applies to him yet, I think he’s pretty amazing.

Thanks Mom for the Seussical daiper cake!

Bridget, the Mommy-In-Law

LOVE my girls!

My Granny, my Aunt Tracie, Me and my Mama

My updating is getting a little better. Things have been VERY busy for us. We finished the nursery, had our first baby shower, celebrated Mother’s Day, I had my last week with students, a 29 week doctor’s appointment, and I had my last day of work- HELLO SUMMER! (I’m already struggling to find things to occupy my time, but that’s beside the point…)

Our shower was AMAZING, thank you Mom and Aunt Tracie! My Granny got to fly in from Nevada and we spent time with other family and friends whom we don’t always see. We were overwhelmed by the amount of stuff people brought for our Little Man! He is already very well taken care of and will be the most handsomely dressed guy EVER! We are truly blessed and very loved. My first Mother’s Day was the following day, and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t even realize it applied to me. We spent the day with family and A LOT of food!

My last doctor’s appointment was May 14th. The doc suggested that we start thinking about a pediatrician and birthing classes. Everything else was great; my blood pressure, his heart rate, and then I made the mistake of saying that I don’t feel Brennon kick or move 10 or more times in one hour. The doctor sent me to fetal monitoring, within the hospital, where they attach two small monitors and belly bands to your tummy. Brennon is just fine, maybe a little lazy… His movements were right on target, after being shook and poked. But, I still didn’t feel a lot of them. The nurse mentioned that maybe at my next appointment the doc would check to see if he’s still breeched and/or the placement of my placenta. Both could be affecting his movements and my lack of feeling.

My last day of work was Thursday, May 21st and the AWESOME GIRLS I worked with surprised me with baby gifts. I’m so thankful for my experience this year at Head Start and appreciative to the ladies I’ve met and built relationships with. Thanks again! :o)

Nursery; finished at last!

For those that don't know, I wanted a Dr. Seuss nursery before we knew the gender of our baby. I had some what of a vision and tried my hardest to make it perfect. And yes, I did do all of the murals myself! :o)

The crib in a million pieces!

My Cat in the Hat sketch on the wall. All of the characters started out this way.


The finished product...

Horton

Thing 1

Thing 2

The Cat in the Hat

My favorite book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

28 Weeks

Yes, I have been a lackluster blogger mommy, but I’m back! Today was a big day. I had my 28 week check up and all is very well. My blood pressure was 128 over 70, Brennon’s heart rate was 140BPM and I got a physical therapy referral for my sciatica. For those that haven’t heard, I’ve been fighting some sciatica and swelling in my left hip and leg. It basically feels like a pinched nerve, and then my hip gives out kind of randomly. So, I’m excited to see a PT and see if they can give me some tips to help get me through the next 80 days!

After that, we headed to Prenatal Imaging for our 3D sonogram. Justin's parents, his sister, his Grandma, my parents and my sister ALL joined us. Brennon was even broadcasted live in Las Vegas for my Granny via the internet. I’m glad we had the experience, but even after laying on my back, my side, sitting up, shaking and poking my belly, and jumping up and down, our son was less than cooperative. He kept his hands, elbows, feet and knees in front of his face the entire time. We did learn that he is currently breached, he has no hair, and he has his face pressed up against my belly. Conclusion; he’s either a hardcore sleeper (like both of us) or just a plain brat like his dad! He is pretty handsome though. :o)

HI GUYS!

Angry eyes

Foot on face...

Hand on face...

Hand still on face...

It's a BOY!

WE DID IT!

We finally agreed on a name! Our sweet little boy will be named...

Brennon August Judd

Brennon is of Irish origin and means "prince" (which I love!) and "teardrop." Not really sure how the two meanings coexist... We did a lot of name searching, advice seeking, and family name consideration. For some reason, I am more drawn to names that begin with B and K. There seem to be a lot of B names in both of our families; our mom's Becky and Bridget, Justin's dad's middle name Blaine, Justin's sister Brittany, my brother's middle name Bryce, Justin's grandma Beverly, my uncle Brad and my cousins Benjamin and Bailey. Plus our Schnauzers Buster and Bella... I'm kidding, but it's true. August is a family name from Justin's Grandpa Marsh. August is of Latin origin and means "great magnificent." Kind of perfect for our first baby. August was also Justin's Grandpa's middle name and the connection is important to both of us. For those hoping for another Ray or Rae, we're considering it if we decided to do this craziness all over again.

So, we did it! The hard part is over, right? :o)

Oh BOY!

My 20 week sonogram was Monday, March 8 and all is very well! The tech confirmed, very quickly that we are indeed having a BOY! Justin's reaction was SO priceless, I will never forget it. He had this mixed, but elated look of genuine shock and excitement. She then measured the baby's spine, femur, the top of his head and took photos of his heart. His growth measured to be right on target and she estimated that his weight was 13 ounces. He did not seem to enjoy the sonogram very much- every time she took the wand over him, he would kick or punch me in retaliation. It was pretty amusing! I was a little disappointed in the quality of the sonogram photos, but I tried to sharpen them on my computer. Enjoy!

This is the "gender" photo... I'm still not sure that I see it. :o)

Handsome's profile!

HELLO! This picture cracks me up!

We're working on a name... for those of you that know Justin and I, it will come as no surprise that we are having a hard time agreeing on names. Stay tuned! :o)

...good morning?

3:29AM. I'm writing a blog at 3:29AM, because I am WIDE awake. Ah, the joys of pregnancy. First you feel like you can't sleep enough and then, you're an insomniac. Life is beautiful.

The nursery is in progress. The marvelous in-laws painted for us. Picking a paint color only took us 3 trips to Lowe's. Justin was being VERY meticulous about the perfect shade of blue- not too green, not too gray and definitely not too purple. The baby's gender doesn't affect the nursery's design. Dr. Seuss decor is coming along! Stay tuned for photos.

We also ordered a crib, on a really great sale, from JCPenny online. It's antique white, convertible, and it's broken. My wonderful husband, father and brother were in the middle of assembly when I noticed a small crack in one of the headboard rails. My wonderful husband, assured me that it was nothing, but my dad said, "No grandkid of mine is sleeping in this bed." So, now we're waiting in hope that they will be able to send us a replacement piece. Did I mention that the crib is no longer available online? Just our luck! :o)

Check Up!

Hey All!

We went back to the doc for a check up today and all is perfect! Our AFP blood panel came back negative, which is great. The panel screens for Spinal Bifida, Downs Syndrome and other chromosomal problems. My blood pressure is perfect- the doc actually said that mine is better than hers, the baby is measuring on target, AND the heartbeat was 150ish. For all you Myth Busters out there, girls typically have the higher heart rate, but we'll just have to wait and see! :)

My 20 week sonogram has been officially scheduled for Monday, March 8th at 2:30PM! I'm starting to get more anxious, and I definitely have a feeling about the gender... what do you think?

Is it a boy? Or a girl?

Boy

Girl

View Results

Myspace Polls

Oh Baby!

Most followers already know that we're expecting our peanut! This blog may or may not turn into a mommy-blog, but I have been wanting to try it out regardless. I follow a lot of other mommy-blogs and I enjoy the knowledge and the sense of being connected to other people experiencing the same things as us.

I'm officially 17 weeks today and persevering back to a sense of normalcy. I personally, am still waiting for the fabulousness that is supposedly pregnancy. I'm not going to get all National Geographic, but my first trimester was awful! I am super thankful for today being my 10th day in a row (since NOVEMBER) of non-throwing upness-YES! I'm also finally recovering from a 3 week chest cold. As if being pregnant isn't enough, I have also been blessed with allergies to most approved medications for pregnant women- double YES! All is well. I am anxiously awaiting first movements or flutters. I think I may already be having them and not recognizing it.

The sonogram picture is from our first OBGYN appointment way back on December 11. The x's are NOT multiple babies, but the measurement from crown to rump. It's cute, right? :o)