Wonderful Friends and Family

So last night we were given a wonderful joint baby shower/party by these wonderful people below. Kevin and I are in a Community Group through Watermark Church and we meet with them every other Wednesday. We have been meeting together for about a year and a half and have been blessed by friendship and community with these wonderful people. The party was such a blessing and we can't begin to thank them enough for their hospitality. Not only do they throw quite a party - they are the amazing hostesses/hosts! Another couple is expecting a sweet baby girl in mid-November - so we had a joint party - so much fun!! Thank you, thank you Community Group!

In the picture above...Far left - Erron and Allie Weig were gracious enough to offer their home for the party. Their house is so cute! Peter & Alicia Dean are the next couple. Clark & Heather Mooty are just to the left of us and are the other expecting couple. Heather looks tiny compared to me! Billy & Nikki Vahrenkamp are to the right of us and Dustin & Ashley Lauderdale are far right. What wonderful friends!

Look how pretty my friends are! They are not only beautiful ladies, they have become good friends and I am thankful to have regular community with them.
A picture of the momma's. I shouldn't stand next to her...I look like a house!

I am so sad that I didn't get any pictures of the wonderful friends and family that came to help us celebrate. There was a wonderful turn-out and were blessed with some amazing gifts for Will. We are completely humbled by the blessings we've been given and can't imagine having to prepare for his arrival without the amazing support of everyone.

Yesterday was also my birthday, so my family came over to our place after the party and we grilled hamburgers. I got birthday presents and tons of shower gifts - so it was so weird to have so much to open! My family is so good to me and am so glad to know that they are all close and excited about the things happening in our lives. I know I can count of them to help me out when I am feeling in over my head! Thank you to my wonderful family!!

37 Week Appointment

So I just got back from my 37 week doctor's appointment. All is good with Will. He seems very comfortable in there. His heartbeat is good and he is actually less dropped than he was last week. How is that possible? Apparently he dropped some and then decided he liked where he was. Silly kid. The scary thing this week is the swelling. It is bad. Like really, really bad. I can't believe I am admitting this to all but I gained 8 lbs...in...one...week. 8lbs! What?!? If you could see my legs and feet you would see that most of that weight is sitting right there. Oh wow. I used to go for appointments every 4 weeks and I would usually gain 4-5lbs a month. And I gained double that in one week! Yes, I am freaking out a little. I asked the doctor how much swelling was too much and he said...I was fine and that he had seen much bigger. He again made the random comment - he's never seen anyone explode. Gee, thanks. That helps.

So, I guess it is what it is. The nurse recommended I eat a lot of watermelon. She swears up and down that it will help get rid of some of the swelling. Seems strange, but right after work I'll be buying watermelon and testing it out. I'll let you know how it goes!

Fun with Dylan

So on Saturday we got to spend some quality time with our adorable nephew, Dylan. They moved back to the area and we just felt like we hadn't seen him much. Plus, soon I imagine we are going to be a little crazy with a newborn so we wanted to squeeze in some time with just him. Dustin was away and Tricia needed to work on her new school room, so it worked out perfect to hang with our favorite little man (until Will arrives)!

He was being just way cute as he ate cereal. And he clearly gets his picture taken often, because he definitely had no problem Cheezing for me!

Look at this face! I mean I love it! It is so fun to be an aunt and we love this kid so much! I just can't even imagine how we will feel about our own child. Wow.
Dylan thinks his Uncle Took is so "punny!"

This video is so funny. He heard some music on a commercial and goes...DANCE! So Kevin found some music on the cable music channel and this kid put on quite a show. I love the moon walk and the fun stand on your head with a leg out move! He then wanted me to dance with him and I did (not on video, though) and wanted me to stand on my head. Ha! I had to leave that move to him. (Excuse the mess...I hadn't put our shower goodies up, yet).

More Treats for Will

We had another wonderful shower last night given by some ladies I work with and a great group of co-workers came. Here is the adorable table. The invitations said "Kevin & Brandi are expanding their team!" I loved it. Sports theme!

Look how cute this cake is! Can't you picture Will's own jersey now?
One of the hostesses, Kacie, actually decorated these cupcakes herself. I think the Cake Boss has some competition!

Me and mom...

The lovely ladies that hosted the wonderful shower. Melissa, Kacie, and Sarah. Thank you so much for such a wonderful evening!

We are so thankful for the fun stuff Will has received. We feel more blessed everyday.

Doctor Appointment

Today I had my 36 week doctor's appointment and today they started checking me for the first time. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't all that exciting. A little surprising, but I am sure things will be way more interesting at the birth! So first he did the usual - listen to the heartbeat. The heartbeat is perfect - 145. Then he checked things out to see if I had begun progressing....and I have not. Not at all. I know this is probably good, but my back has been killing me and sleep is really, really hard to come by so there was a part of me that was hoping he would say...oh look...he'll be here anyday now! Oh, well. Will is definitely head down and right where he should be. I am thankful for that. My doctor is really, really laid back, so we didn't get a whole lot of other info. I need to find a list of questions to ask. He gave me a sheet of paper to help determine real labor from false labor and said we would discuss labor/delivery more next week (though I swear he said that last week). Anyway, 4 weeks to go! Who knows when the little guy will make his appearance!

Blessings Abound!

Today we had our first baby shower for Will and it was in my hometown - Cleburne. These amazingly beautiful and wonderful ladies threw us the shower. Everything was so precious and we had so much fun! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are so blessed by wonderful friends and family and feel humbled that Will is so loved already.

The hostesses were Lori, Tiffany, Martha, Marsha, and Tricia - thank you ladies!
Here are the excited grandmothers - Mimi and Ally!
The pretty table - yummy little cakes!
Adorable decorations that ended up being gifts, as well!

Some of our wonderful friends and family.

What a blessing - some of my old high school friends came! I had not seen Emily and Amy below in years! They were such dear friends back in the day and I am so excited to have reconnected! So much fun!

A neat surprise was that everyone brought a book for Will and signed their name in it. I am so excited to have so many books for Will and a memory of each person that came. What a neat idea! Getting gifts for Will is so much more fun than getting gifts for myself - I can't wait to see him dressed in all his precious outfits!! We also got some of the baby necessities that we will figure out how to use soon!

Nursery Progress

So we have made some progress on the nursery. While it isn't perfectly decorated as we have some open wall space - the big stuff is in and it is looking pretty cute, I think!

We hung the quilt that came with the bedding on the wall. I totally stole this idea from my sister-in-law Tricia, and it works!

My wonderful mother-in-law, Allyson, made Will some curtains. Here is a close-up of the tie backs - footballs...so cute!
Thanks for the curtains, Ally! We love them!

A little tribute to Kevin's alma mater. You can't tell but the baseball on the shelf is signed by Nolan Ryan. Pretty cool!

Here is Will's changing table/hutch.

I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do with this open wall space. Ideas anyone?
Think Will will like his room? I hope so!!

34 Weeks

So I'm not sure what is going on with this blog - I lost my options to format and when I upload pics I can't tell where they separate - I just see a bunch of code. Weird. I'm winging this.

So here's the 34 week belly! It has grown a lot in the last 4 weeks and I can't imagine what it will look like by the end of this thing! I went to the doctor yesterday and amazingly he says I measure exactly 34 weeks. So for those that thing I'm huge...I guess I'm actually right on schedule. That was good to hear. I go back in 2 weeks and that's when they start actually checking out the progress. I can't believe I'm almost to that point. Nothing new at the appointment yesterday. Will's heartbeat was strong and perfect. He's very, very active and puts on quite a show in the evenings. Sometimes it looks like an alien is in my body. My doctor assured me he has never had a patient explode! :) Good to know.

This weekend Kevin and I are looking forward to spending some time with a great group of friends we have made in our Community Group from church. Then next weekend - the showers start! Yay!

Better Week

So my last post was a little negative...this week things have been better. The hormones I think have not been nearly as crazy. Well, I don't think they have been. You might ask Kevin for his opinion. :) I think he would also say I've been a little less crazy. Also, I had been really having trouble sleeping. It started late last week. One night I just laid wide awake after one of the times I got up to go to the ladies room. Then several nights I kept waking up every 2 hrs. on the dot. It was driving me crazy!! Several people told me it was my body's way of preparing me for when Will comes home. What?!? I need sleep while I can get it! Anyway, the last 2 nights have been wonderful! I've been sleeping with the crazy huge preggo pillow and one night I only got up once and last night I didn't get up at all! Glorious, glorious sleep! Yay! Man I love to sleep!

I also have some relief in the feet department. I had been wearing this one pair of shoes to work everyday. They are flats and a bigger size than I normally wear. By the end of the day - my feet were miserable. The swelling just made putting on shoes torture. At lunch on Tuesday I decided to just go buy the most comfortable shoes I could find. I didn't care what they looked like and I didn't really care what they cost - I wanted comfy! I think I found them. They aren't that cute with work clothes, but they are mules and they are super soft! Yay! Relief! Seriously, it is a little piece of heaven compared to shoving my feet into actual dress shoes. Oh the little things in life that make all the difference in the world. My feet have thanked me profusely. :)

So I felt I should post these very positive changes from this week after my not so positive one from last week. I go to the doctor tomorrow - I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow! Wow! Hope everyone else is having a wonderful week, too!