Rock-A-Bye Baby

Well, Tuesday we hit 37 weeks, Full Term!! Whoo Hoo.... we are 3 weeks away from our original D-Day, December 7. But due to my being diagnosed with preeclampsia, the docs say little sweet will definitely be here before then, whether I go into labor on my own, or we induce still waits to be seen. I've been on bed rest since October 24, and for the record, I am slowly.going.insane. Bed rest is no where near as fun as I was expecting it to be. They put me on bedrest on a Monday, by 9 am that Tuesday, I was talking to the dogs and put out that they wouldn't talk back. But as much as I complain about it lately, I know that it has done exactly what it was supposed to do, which was buy more time for the baby to continue to grow strong and healthy, to lessen the chance of underdeveloped lungs, etc... Jason has been so incredibly patient with my mood swings, and the fact that much like the first trimester, where I became a living, breathing bump on a log because of the fatigue, most of the burden falls on him to cook, clean, grocery shop, paint, and put down flooring. This baby is one lucky little bit to have him as a daddy, and I'm incredibly lucky to have him as a husband!

We go tomorrow for another NST, which is a non-stress test they perform on the baby that they've been doing twice a week for the past month. This test is to determine whether or not the baby has been affected by my high blood pressure, which thankfully up til this point, he or she has not. All signs are pointing to an active, healthy, good size baby. So AMEN for that!!! Tomorrow, we will also hopefully set a date for induction. YaY for a plan!!

We still have finishing touches to put on the nursery, so I'm not doing any pictures yet since it's very basic at this point, because I really want to wait til little sweet gets here to finish it up.

I have made some artwork for the nursery.... Nothing is in a frame yet... Still looking for some pretty barnwood frames.

This is a quote I ran across on Pinterest, that makes my heart skip a beat every time I read it.


Jason was born in Texas, and I really wanted to include that somewhere in the nursery, so I made this, and then of course had to represent the great state of Georgia where I was born... so I made this companion piece....
These are a little girly, so if little sweet, is a little sweet boy, I'll probably redo these and use more "manly" colors... and maybe save these and frame them and hang them over the oven in the kitchen.


This is the antique cradle Jason got me for the baby. We've actually had it for well over a year, and I have been in love with it since the moment I first saw it. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in it's simplicity and what it represents. All it needs now is a baby!!

About the Boy....

He...

is a soon-to-be first time daddy.

is Texas born, and North Georgia raised.

loves the Bulldogs, the Braves, buying American, fly fishing, and spending time in the woods.

loved Pat Green even before he “went Nashville”.

opens car doors, restaurant doors, and always lets the girl walk ahead of him.

brought flowers and a card to his girl's mom for mother's day... and nobody asked him to.

has 535,326 baseball caps (give or take a few).

has just as many t-shirts.

would take a bad day of fishing over a good day at work any day.

is as comfortable in a pearl snap and wranglers as he is in a seersucker suit and bow tie.

looks dang good in both.

is the first to grab hands with his girl when they are walking together.

watches Keeping Up With the Kardashians with his girl, and doesn't complain.

hates gas grilling, only grills with charcoal.

gets frustrated when he spends hours cleaning and washing his girl's car, and then she leaves fingerprints all over the door, junks up the car with stuff from work, and leaves candy wrappers & receipts in the cup holders.... but he keeps doing it anyway.

likes reading crime thrillers.

brought his girl a bouquet of wildflowers, and took her to a haunted corn maze for their first date, and didn't think she was a weirdo for freaking out, and climbing all over him in the corn.

called her for a second date,.... and married her.

has a criminal justice degree from the University of Georgia, but wound up in surveying and spends a lot of his time with a machete in the woods.

is great with kids, and they love him, except when he grows out his beard and then they freak out a little because the wooley-bugger look can be a bit intimidating.

buys Dawn dish soap, "because they donate money to save the whales and stuff."

is a much better cook than his girl.

will eat anything she cooks, sometimes he actually likes it.

is the oldest of four, and fits the "oldest child personality" to a T.

plays baseball with an adult men's league baseball team, and he's pretty good. (+ looks super cute in the uniform).

thinks he is always right. always.

usually is right.

has always wanted a dump truck to drive around "just because".

drinks his coffee strong, and black. you could throw a horseshoe in his cup, and it would stand up straight.

is a natural in a cowboy hat, and saddle.

wants to live in Montana, meet Nolan Ryan, and hike the Appalachian Trail, before he dies.

could have played golf and gone to Reinhardt for college on someone else's dime, but chose UGA and doing it "on his own" instead.

irons his own clothes because she is terrible at it.

rescued a dog off the side of the road, that wound up loving him more than life itself.

is no nonsense, independent, strong willed, and honest.

looked like he was 12 until he was 20.

sings along to lady gaga and britney spears in the car.

is affectionate, patient, thoughtful, and kind hearted.

tolerates his girl's ability to make everything more complicated than it should be.

is a firm believer in picking yourself up by the boot straps, and not relying on others to make your life happen for you.

says he doesn't care if his first baby is a boy or girl, but she knows he really wants a boy so "he can watch over the others", (& so there will be another person in the house who will willing watching espn with him all day long).

is as american and southern as apple pie and cornbread.

is the only boy the girl will love for all her life.

About the Girl....

She....

loves anything in a mason jar

is a soon-to-be first time mama

loves eating honey off the spoon

loves Dolly Parton's attitude

will risk snake bites, and scratched up arms & legs to eat a fresh blackberry off the vine

loves her rust bucket '89 Ford Bronco, but enjoys the air conditioning & reliability of the Cadillac

loves people who think outside the box

loves flannel, campfires, & roasting marshmallows for s'mores

loves her mr. butler & tiki-belle (dogs), and crete (cat), and sorta likes petra (other cat, who doesn't like her back)

has a pig (sweet pea) that likes being scratched behind the ears, and loves mexican food, sweet potatoes, and twinkies.

will pick the cupcake over the carrot stick every.time.

loves riding horses with her cowboy.

is not a big fan of summer, or sweating, or exercise of any kind.

loves mixing rustic and feminine elements... if she could live in a barn with crystal chandeliers, she would.

loves shoes, but tends to wear flip flops 24/7

loves bluegrass, motown, red dirt/texas country, & beach music

semi-likes growing a garden.... it's hard work.

loves that her man still opens doors for her

loves country gold saturday nights

likes the idea of fairies, but not aliens.

preferably likes to hear "dinner was good" rather than silence when her cowboy eats the food she cooked.

is not a good cook.

can sing every word to ray stevens' "mississippi squirrel revival"

loves when people adopt a dog rather than buy a pure bred.

loves sunny sweeney.

will choose to read a good book over watching t.v. any day

loves standing in a meadow at dusk, a slow dance in the backyard, and a painted wooden porch swing.

thinks that renee zellweger is a perfect example that if you make a face long enough, it will in fact get stuck like that.

is not a fan of folding fitted sheets, white laundry, and cleaning out the refrigerator

is a big fan of her husband, her family, and her friends.

found ants in the bronco feasting on a bag of candy corn in the glove box that had been there for years, "for emergencies- cause you just never know" - she doesn't know which one she should be more embarrassed about.... the ants in.the.car, or keeping candy corn for emergencies

doesn't like fishing, she likes catching.

loves southern colloquialisms including, but not limited to the following... "haven't seen you in a coon's age"... "knee high to a grasshopper"... "he's nuttier than a squirrel turd" et cetera.

will misspell the words "wednesday, misspell, particularly, guarantee, and conscious" the first time, every time.

can't stand when people misuse, "lose & loose, they're, their, there, and your & you're"

loves a good knee slapper

breaks for cats, dogs, squirrels, and box turtles.

Firefly Nights

I've been meaning to blog about this for 2 weeks now, but since I've been expecting, I've been a terrible procrastinator.... actually that's a lie. I've always been a procrastinator, but I like this pregnancy thing, cause I can blame EVERYTHING on it! And people just kind of shake their head and say you poor thing, whether they believe me or not. It's great.

Anyway, last weekend, J planned a date night that was a total surprise, and absolutely perfect. We haven't gotten out much lately, because for one, I'm not a whole lot of fun lately, and two, I'm not a whole lot of fun lately. At this point, you could give me the option to a) Fly to New York and go shopping with unlimited credit or b) take a nap, and I can honestly say, I'd probably take the nap. no lie. All I can say, is this baby better be worth it, cause it sure is sucking the life out me. I mean, who would give up a shopping trip to NY to take a siesta? Exactly. (just kidding little baby, i love you to the moon and back, so you just keep on keeping on kid!)

So, anyway, we got all gussied up, and went to dinner at Appalachian Grill so I could stuff my face with a grilled chicken salad that is.to.die.for. and listen to the sweet audio flavors of the Appalachia.

J then drove us up to Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville for their summer Firefly Nights in the Ruins Event that they host several times a summer each year. I'd never heard of it before, but can honestly say I'd recommend to anybody. It was especially nice because it's a no charge event. And that's saying something for a resort like Barnsley. They do getcha on the cost of their specialty drinks though. They have a special cocktail called Firefly of course that I obviously couldn't partake in, but it smelled like a jolly rancher and made my mouth water, and it glowed. Pretty nifty. They have the cocktail and wine bar set up inside the ruins along with a live romantic music singing group who sang all the good beach and motown music that I love. And these folks were on.their.game. They made me want to get up and dance, but I didn't cause nobody wants to see a fat girl dancing around looking like a beachball trying to shag. Plus my feet were swollen and about to blow out the sides of my shoes. But, the urge was definitely there!
They have tables and chairs set out inside the ruins and on the lawn, and garden lights strung everywhere. The evening we went was warm and breezy, and there was not a bug in site. We either got very lucky, or they sprayed the heck out of some skeeter repellent before we got there, cause I didn't get not one bite!

I would say it's adults only event, not that children wouldn't be welcome, but they'd probably be as interested in it, as they would going grocery shopping or getting their teeth cleaned.

We actually met a high school friend of J's there who was with her husband and in-laws, and thoroughly enjoyed their company for the evening. There was also some side show entertainment from a small group of 40 somethings acting like they'd never had a liquor drink before, or been out in public for that matter, that got into a heated exchange on whether the candle holder on their table was called a candelabra or a chandelier.... for the record it was a candelabra, but I didn't have the hankering to put my two cents into that particular conversation, so we just listened to them bicker about it every 30 minutes or so, because for some reason it kept coming back up in their conversation.Just in case you were not aware, when you are not drinking, it's almost painful to listen to a group of drunk people try to have a conversation amongst themselves.

All in all it was a fantastic night, and I stayed out way past my 8:15 bedtime, and wound up missing Sunday School the next morning, but it was a perfect evening with my love under the stars.

P.S.- I don't recall seeing any fireflies, but there was one rather large stinkbug that kept crawling around our table, that's kinda the same thing right?

A Woman Blessed....

Well, I suppose we've kept the secret long enough, and it's time to tell the world, that Baby Marrow is on schedule to introduce him/herself to us on December 7!!

This is a baby that I've dreamed of and hoped for and prayed for my whole life, and we are simply overjoyed at being blessed and called on by the good Lord to be Baby's mama and daddy.

Although we could have found out if we have a he or she several weeks ago, we've decided to be surprised. We want the moment of excitement of the Doctor holding up our butter bean and telling us to buy baseball cleats or ballet shoes.

I've been getting my online updates weekly to see what type/size fruit our baby is compared to weekly. It's always fun to text J and tell him, "today we have a beet...today we have a bell pepper" and so on and so forth. For the record, this week we have an... heirloom tomato...? I'm supposing those are bigger than normal tomatoes? When we went Friday, we were told Baby is weighing in at 11 oz., and is measuring in right on schedule.

When the tech took the above picture, she accidentally snapped the image while the forehead was in a shadow, so you can't really see it... which I'm okay with. Jas and I both have rather large foreheads, so I know there is no way I'm getting away with delivering a baby without the family trait. Therefore, I'm totally cool with not picturing it for the next 5 months.

This is the only real good "sweet baby" picture we got on ultrasound day. In the rest of them, Baby is staring straight at us, and looks rather alien like. Cute, but strange. Baby also stuck it's tongue out at us once or twice which was sweet, and made a tear or two run down my face.

For the record, this growing a baby deal is harder than it looks. For nearly 2.5 months I was sick as a dog all day... the nausea and chronic fatigue was indescribable. Unless Jason cooked, he ate sandwiches for dinner for nearly the whole time. Thank goodness the extreme mono like symptoms have abated, and I'm only tired now, most of the time instead of all the time. And I like food again. Love food again. My baby bump is sorta spread out all over. Gonna have to reign in the wild feeding frenzies I've allowed myself over the past several weeks, or they may have to lift the roof off the house like in those Jerry Springer episodes to get me to the hospital to deliver.

So there it is. Our happy, exciting, life changing, no longer "we" but 3 news...

I end this post with some of my hopes, wishes & prayers for our little one...

To Baby,

I hope you learn to..... dance in the rain.
I hope you aren't afraid of... taking chances. Even if you fail or are disappointed... never.stop.taking.chances.
I hope you love.... to read.
I hope you appreciate... your elders... those with "been there, done that" knowledge and experience are indispensable to your life.
I hope you get... your daddy's crooked little grin.
I hope you laugh... at yourself.
I hope you embrace... the differences in people.
I hope you ignore... bullies.
I hope you never... lose the ability to believe in magic, miracles, and yourself.
I hope you become... whatever it is you wish to be.
I hope you respect.... the Earth.
I hope you stand up for... yourself, and for others who are unable to stand up for themselves.
I hope you grow.... in the knowledge that you can change the world.
I hope you always...find a reason to smile.
I hope you have...somebody beside you always that reminds you that you are precious, and loved, and cherished.
I hope you don't...worry, your life and everything in it is going to be amazing.
I hope you never forget... that you were, are, and always will be, God's child.

We love you Baby. You have already changed our lives in ways you cannot even imagine.

Love you for always,
Mommy

p.s.- I hope you aren't a picky eater. Even mommy has food I don't like, but if it's set in front of you, you try it anyway.

Day 16: I'm eating junk and watching rubbish! You better come out and stop me!

Day 16: Something That Stresses You Out

Staying Home Alone.

Okay, to share a bit of an embarrassing side of my personality today, I've finally accepted the fact that the older I get, the more of a scaredy cat I become.

I've always been a bit of a wimp when it comes to staying home alone, but it's gotten progressively worse over the past few years. In college, it didn't bother me much. But it was after I moved back home, met and married Handsome that I have become a full blown, all out pansy when it comes to staying overnight by myself. J tells me about a trip he's going to have to go out of town for, and I turn into a clingy, blubbering, crying, ball of childish emotion. Okay. maybe it's not quite that bad, but it's pretty dern close (J will probably tell you it is that bad.) And then I quickly get on the phone and start calling all my closest family and friends that know I'm a big fat baby, and start scheduling nights that I'm going to borrow their guest room, because I'm a 27 year old, grow woman, who cannot stay home alone without practically peeing in her pants at the thought of it.

We have three dogs, yes. But 2 of them are under 20 pounds, and the big one that's 90 lbs. and would conceivably be the one to "defend our house" is deaf, blind, and dumb and would sooner play handshake with an intruder than bite them in their boy parts and save the day.

We have neighbors, but not the kind that are so close in proximity to us that you could pass a cup of sugar back and forth through the kitchen windows. So there's a good chance, they would be unable to hear me scream.

Plus the house is in the woods. Plus we live right off the highway. Plus we live in America, in the 21st Century, and there are all kind of crazies out there.

We are a household that proudly takes advantage of our Right to Bear Arms. But it's hard to shoot an intruder in the dark. Plus, I'd probably be sleeping when they grab me anyway, so my gun wouldn't be very useful at that point.

I know that this fear is cultivated by the fact that the only shows on t.v. I watch are crime dramas. I'm a big Law & Order (all of them), CSI, and Bones fan. (I also love Jersey Shore... Snookie is a trainwreck, that likes pickles, and bad fake tans, and she cracks.me.up).

I have tried staying home alone. And in fact, have done it on multiple occasions. But, I.don't.sleep. I sit up in bed, with the door barricaded, boobie traps set up, tiki-belle (my 20 lb. dog who has the most ferocious growl of the 3) in my lap, surrounded by various self-defense paraphernalia, (you know numb-chucks, and throwing stars, and all that good stuff), 911 dialed into the phone just waiting on me to hit "send", listening for any noise that means there must be somebody in the house with me. <----Oh good times.

Yes, I'm a big.fat.baby. I'm not proud of it you know. Some people just love being home alone. Nobody to tend to, make meals for, clean up after. Peace, quiet, and solitude. I get it. And I like that too, until the sun goes down.

Have you seen the movie The Strangers? No? Well, let me just tell you. The couple in that movie get tortured and left to die, just...because...they...were...home..... I'M HOME ALL THE TIME. OMG. I feel the hair on my skin standing up as we speak.

Anyway. Today's post is about "something that stresses you out"

Something that stresses me out?

Being home alone. Jason just left for a 5 day fishing trip. perfect.

Day 15: Regrets

Day 15: Something You Regret


I believe in having no regrets. One of the single most things I pray for is that at the end of my life, I can look back and honestly say that some days were good, some days were bad, some were perfect, some were heartbreaking, some were just so-so and easily forgettable, but not one of them do I regret, not one thing would I go back and change a choice I made for me and my life.

Okay. Having said that I do have to confess that I have a few things in my past that if I could take back I would.

There are people that have passed through my life, that I don't care to see again. There are events and circumstances that have happened that have been unpleasant and sad. But those are things that I wouldn't necessarily take back because they have helped shaped me to be who I am today. They have been the people I have met, things I have done and experienced, and the roads that I have taken that have put me exactly where I am in this moment.
Of course, having the knowledge I have now, there would be a few things I might have nudged in a different direction. There are people I have lost, and circumstances that have happened to loved ones, that I would without a doubt change for them if I could, but choices that I have made?

Things I do regret?

I didn't go on a family trip to Egypt my senior year of college. My grandmother has always had a love for Egyptian history, archeology, and culture (& alcohol, not just Egyptian alcohol, but alcohol in general). She has made several trips to Egypt over the past decade or so, and this last time she offered to take my family. Of course they went. I mean, duh. Yes, they went. But I didn't. I might have blamed it on studying for finals, and having to wrap up and present my senior history thesis. But the real reason I didn't go was I was terrified to fly. I have flown many times in my life. My aunt and uncle lived in San Francisco for years, and we went out there occasionally to visit. I've flown to Washington State, once for a cousin's graduation, and once for a skiing trip. I've flown places on various family vacations. I've flown to Europe TWICE. I mean, I've done it plenty of times. Yet, I was 24 years old, my grandmother offered to take me on a once in a lifetime trip, and I turned it down because I was completely paralyzed with fear of stepping foot on that airplane. This phobia seemed to develop over time, and several years after 9/11. I've never had a flying experience that would cause this intense fear. (Side note... we did miss our flight from New York to Atlanta due to weather, and had a random layover in St. Louis, the plane we hopped back home was basically a tin can with wings. The toilet didn't flush, and the cockpit door was broken, and we couldn't hear ourselves talk over the noise of the engines, but overall it was an okay flight). I'd even flown cross country since the day I my phobia started. This fear is not so much being terrified that an extremist with an ax to grind and a hatred of my country would choose my plane to fly through a building (I mean, that would be terrible), but rather it's a fear that one of the any million little pieces that keep my plane in the air for the required length of time, (as in, until our chosen destination was in site and the landing gear down, and seat backs and tray tables in their upright and locked positions). I have this recurring nightmare that I look out the window, and the wing of the plane has just fallen off, the oxygen masks have just dropped out of the ceiling, I can't get my seatbelt fastened, and we start the spinning downward decent of death, and can do absolutely nothing about it, but scream and really regret taking that specific flight <---nice huh? It's that thought that makes my heart seize up, and my chest get tight, and it's what makes me tell my grandmother over the phone when she offers me an all expenses paid trip to visit the cradle of civilization, "um, yeah... no thanks, but y'all have fun!" She was tentatively planning another trip towards the end of this year, or the beginning of next, but that may be shot due to the fact that the middle east is in complete turmoil, and can't get their acts together. So yeah, I completely hate and regret that I passed on that experience with my family.

Second thing I regret? my tattoo. eeeekkkkk!!! I forget I have it most of the time. Usually, until I see one on somebody else, and I roll my eyes until I remember and think, "who are you to judge? you have the most obvious tattoo, in the most obvious place that any teenage girl, drunk out of her mind, at Panama City Beach has" Yes folks, that's right. I (me!), has a tattoo of a butterfly on my lower back. *hangs my head* I'm so ashamed! Haha. I was young, and dumb, and apparently bored. And for some reason what little bit of creativity (and good judgement) I have was taking a day off, when I looked at my best friend, and said "ya wanna go with me to get a tattoo?" of course she said yes. And so we drove down to Marietta, I walked into the shop and up to the biggest, burliest, tattoo covered man there and said "I want a tattoo, but I don't want it to show, and I want it to be different" <---- butterfly on my lower back. Reeeally unique. Anyway, it's not that I hate tattoos. I'm just not a permanent ink drawing, faddish kind of girl, and yet here I am with one and it's forever....Oh the irony! The thing is, I don't even regret getting it. I just really regret where it is, and what it is. If I was going to get one, it should have meant something. It should have been personal. And it wasn't/isn't. Oh well, not much to be done about it now. At least, it may help me relate to my future kids better if one of them goes off their rocker a little bit. Never tried drugs, never been a boozer, don't listen to grudge metal bands, don't wear emo clothing, don't cheat or steel, but hey! mommy's got a tattoo, so she is totally relate-able! *wink*

Thirdly? I totally regret eating those two rows of samoas girl scout cookies I just scarfed down.



xoxo,
asm