A few more thank yous

I want to take a minute to tell everyone, again, about my awesome friends! Last weekend while I was worrying about Kita and the arrival of Brielle my friends were busy doing good deeds.

First on Saturday my best friend, Lori, came over to help me clean my house. Boy did it need it too! I had baby stuff all over the place! Lori helped me organize the items, get laundry done, dust and vacuum! My house was my own again when she was done! On top of that she spent the day sitting around talking to me. It was just the distraction I needed.

Later that night 4 other friends joined the group. Jennifer, Dan, Shane and Kelly all came over to help pitch in. Shane helped Ben get the chair rail and door trim up in Bri's room. Everyone else painted our upstairs hallway! Wow! With 4 people working on the painting there was no room for me. I sat in awe at the work everyone was doing. Not to mention I kept reminding myself how lucky Ben and I are to have the most awesome friends in the world. We're beyond lucky!

After a hard day of cleaning and painting our group went out for some dinner. We all managed to eat and laugh too much! I personally ate so much that I couldn't sleep! Once I did fall asleep I was out.

I wish I would have got myself out of bed because my friend Erin dropped off a gift for Brielle's room. She made a plaque with Bri's initials. It's beautiful and you'll be seeing it hanging in her room soon.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us out. If I missed thanking you on here I apologize. It doesn't mean we don't appreciate what you've done, it just means I have baby brain!

Things are moving along. Won't be too much longer

I've been busy nesting this week. My dad and I have Brielle's room painted. Ben is working on getting the chair rail and door trim up. The carpet will be another week or so before we have money to buy it and have it installed. Today our friends Kelly and Shane are coming over to help with painting our upstairs hall. Lori is coming over to help me with whatever I need done. I've been up since 6:30 this morning getting things in order. I may not have Bri's room completely ready but I'm not going to bring her home to a dirty house. See.....nesting instinct in overdrive! LOL!

I've had cramping on and off for about a week. Yesterday the cramping was pretty steady and I lost my "plug" (sorry if that's TMI). Not to mention the nesting took on a whole new level yesterday. Yes, I don't think Brielle will be waiting too much longer to make her arrival.

Monday we have our final ultrasound. After that the next time we see Bri will be when she makes her big debut. I'm excited, nervous and scared all at once. Of course those feelings pretty much sum up my whole pregnancy.

I took some time last night to spend time with a group of girls from a chat board I'm on. What a great time we had! There was so much yummy food! I drooled over the bottles of wine and the great looking cocktails. Not too much longer until I can indulge.

This entry is pretty choppy. That's how my brain is functioning right now though. Small, short, efficient clip. Gets the job done and you can move on. Later I have to write another post to brag about my awesome friends some more! Until then, be well!

Beyond thankful!

This last week has made me so incredibly aware of all of the awesome people in my life.

Over the weekend a couple that Ben does some work for every now and then gave us a snow blower. They didn't want any money in exchange. We just had to get it running. We were able to do that so now we have a great snow blower! That will save a TON of time!

On Tuesday a GIANT box full of baby goodies arrived at the house. My friend Sara was so kind to not only allow us to use her car seat since we don't have one but she sent us a bunch of clothes, a play pad and other goodies. We would be completely at a loss without her generosity!

On Thursday I went and picked up a swing from my friend Maribeth. She sold it to us for such a great price! I have a feeling we'll be getting a lot of use out of that swing. To top it off she gave me a bunch of swaddle blankets too!

Friday I as made aware of a stroller that I wanted for sale very, very cheap! After Ben and I looked at pictures of it and talking about if we could afford it we decided that we couldn't afford to pass up the deal. I made arrangements to purchase the stroller and pick it up on Sunday (tomorrow). Today my mom invited me to lunch with her, my grandparents and my uncles. After telling my grandma of my great stroller deal, my Uncle Tom came over and gave me money to buy the stroller. He and Dorothy wanted to get us a gift and they were waiting to find out what we wanted/needed. He felt that a stroller was the perfect gift. I could have cried when he gave me the money. To top it off my Uncle Richard bought my lunch!

If that weren't enough I was on a chat board that I frequent saying how much I wanted a photo screen for Bri's room. Buying one would be a splurge for us but when I went to purchase one it was gone. My friend Kristen was quick to tell me that she had a photo screen that needed a home and she wants to give it to us as a gift to Brielle! Her gift is beyond kind and I'm so grateful that she offered to give us this wonderful gift!

So as you can see I have a ton of amazing friends and family! The kindness of everyone this week has moved me. I don't think I can thank everyone enough. Because of these amazing people preparing for Brielle's arrival has been so much easier! Everyday I am so grateful for my wonderful friends and family. Ben and I are so thankful to each and everyone of you! Thank you for being a part of our lives. Some where done the line we'll find a way to pay you all back!

P.S. Just over two weeks until my due date. I had a doctor's appointment this week and things are moving along! Also painting has started in Bri's room. It should be done in a day or so!

Old Wives Tales

One popular old wives tale is that if you have heartburn while pregnant your child will be born with hair. If this is true Brielle should come out looking like a hair model! LOL! The heartburn I've had this week is unbelievable. Actually its been down right painful! It seems today things are under control but we'll see how long that lasts.

This week we had our final birthing class. During the class we practiced some comfort measures that can be used during labor. While practicing the instructor asked Ben "when you're facing Shana and she has a contraction what can you do to comfort her?" His answer was "give her a kiss and tell her I love her." LOL! That wasn't exactly the answer the instructor was looking for. Apparently it was a very good answer though since all the girls in the class thought it was so sweet. The instructor said "That's a wonderful answer! I'm sure she would appreciate that. What I was looking for was back rub though." You gotta love my husband! He's so sweet!

Ben fired the drywallers this week. He wasn't too thrilled with them so he told them to get out. Ben's dad, my dad and Ben hung the drywall this week. We're getting it finished soon. We were able to get someone to do it that does AWESOME work! We're very excited to have him helping us.

While time seems to be flying things are going along slowly but surely. It would be great if time would slow down a little bit and everything else would get done faster. LOL! I don't know that there's any real happy spot for a pregnant woman though.

Well I'm off to shovel some snow! That has become my favorite activity of late. Yeah, I know I'm crazy. I can't help it though!

Work to be done!

Now that we have an addition to the family on the way, we need to get things ready! Our "spare" bedroom has been a mess for months! We couldn't even allow a friend to sleep in there much less a baby!

So today I spent a few hours throwing junk out, organizing and general cleaning. It took me a few hours but I got most of it done. Dad-to-be (DTB) and I talked about what changes we want to make to the room. We have our work cut out for us!! We're thinking of ripping out all the walls, putting rewiring the room and putting in all new lighting. Good thing we did a lot of work on the rest of the house already. We'll be able to do most of the work ourselves!

Since I was working on the room I started to think about how we will want to decorate the nursery. I started looking at cribs and other furniture. I think we narrowed down what we want and it's SOOOO affordable! We're not going to rush things though.....we need to get through the first trimester first!

I'm feeling good and still in a little bit of shock. It's all sinking in though and I'm starting to get excited!

Gotta get a doctor, read books & prepare!

Since deciding to start trying to get pregnant I have envisioned myself working closely with my doctor. She works in a Family Practice and does everything!

This morning I cheerfully called up the doctor's office to give them the good news! There was a hitch though.....my doctor no longer deliveries! Crap! They offered for me to do my prenatal with her then switch over to an OB at 36 weeks or I could just go to an OB. Decisions, decisions!

After talking it over with Dad-To-Be we decided it would be best to see the same doctor throughout the pregnancy. Off I went to the local baby board that I joined last night (yep, I couldn't wait!). From there I received some excellent recommendations. After doing a little research online I settled on a doctor. She has excellent ratings all across the board. My comfort level was elevated even more when I called the office and a REAL PERSON answered the phone! Holy cow! I didn't know doctor's office actually answered the phone! LOL!

To my surprise I found out that how far along you are is not determined by your ovulation date but by the date of your last period. I'm SOOOOO clueless! So with that in mind I'm actually 4 weeks along, not 2 like I had thought. Bonus for the people in our lives that have to wait! You'll find out 2 weeks sooner then I thought!

My first appointment will be July 1. That's just an appointment to get everything in order. On July 14 we'll be seeing the doctor and going over whatever it is we go over. Doesn't matter what it is. Even paperwork is exciting at this point!

Since I figured out I'm truly clueless about being pregnant I decided to head to the bookstore. I've always been a good student so reading is the best way to go....right? I picked up "Your Pregnancy Week By Week". I figured I can read along as we go through the pregnancy. Dad-To-Be got the "Dad-To-Be" version of the book I got. Apparently it doesn't go week by week but it does give good information. He has another book to read as well to help him prepare.

I thought I should put a little blurb in here about how I'm feeling. I'm hanging in there. Still in shock. I do feel a little sick but that's been happening since Monday (the day before we tested). I'm not sure if it's nerves or just a little morning sickness. Either way I can keep it under control by eating every couple of hours.