35 Weeks...and a trial run at the hospital

Here I am at 35 weeks...I'm definitely ready to meet our baby girl. I know that she will get here when she is ready so hopefully that will be sooner than January 2. :)
This past weekend I was in a lot of pain a decided instead of worrying about it all weekend to call my doctor. She sent me to the hospital to get checked out to make sure I wasn't in labor. It was a little scary even though I was pretty sure I wasn't in labor. We went to the hospital and the nurse met us in the lobby which I thought was really nice. They monitored me and Charlotte for a couple of hours to make sure everything was ok. I was having a lot of contractions and of course no pain while I was there until I stood up to change clothes and head home. Apparently, Charlotte is laying strange and hitting nerves which is causing me a lot of pain. It is definitely pain that if it was constant I would pass out, but tolerable since it just comes in spurts. Oh the joys of pregnancy :) Until Charlotte decides to come meet us we will wait patiently for her.

We have so much to be thankful for this year! Thanksgiving was wonderful with our families and it was nice being with everyone. I didn't get any pictures this year! The day after Thanksgiving Dan and I finished up our Christmas shopping, put up our tree and wrapped all the presents we have bought. I don't know why I have been so crazy to get everything ready for Christmas. It is my favorite time of year and I love decorating my house for the season. If Charlotte decides to come early (please, Charlotte come early!) I want everything to be ready. I hope everyone had a great holiday and spent lots of time with their loved ones!

Charlotte's Room

The nursery is finally finished for the most part! Everything is washed, folded and put away and we are just waiting for our baby Charlotte to be in it. Everyone had a part of working on the nursery. My brother, Kade, painted the room, my mom made the bedding, my father in law put together the shelf. It was definitely a team effort making Charlotte's room perfect.

One of my favorite parts of the nursery is the bookshelf. Dan and I are obsessed with books to read to Charlotte and we have picked up books on all of our trips. Dan's mom brought us books that he had when he was little that we added to our selection. I love this shelf because Charlotte will be able to reach into it and pull out books she wants to read.

We are ready to meet our baby girl and have her in the room we have worked so hard on for her.

A baby shower in Houston

Last weekend we make a trip to Houston to attend a shower that Dan's family threw for us. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up. Dan has a really big family and they were so nice to do this for us. When we got married they threw us a couple's shower too. Dan has some of his best friends that still live there that came to the shower. The family had worked so hard to make our shower special and they did a great job! The cake was fantastic and they used the colors from Charlotte's room and the birds on the top of it were from our blog header! It was all so cute and thoughtful. Charlotte got great gifts and everyone was so thoughtful! Charlotte is truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends when she gets here.

Thank you everyone for spoiling us and our little girl! We can't wait for you to meet Charlotte!

Happy Birthday my love!

Today is my baby daddy's birthday. He is the big 3-1! Tonight we are going out to eat to celebrate and then continue on with the celebrations tomorrow. When Dan and I first met it was right before his birthday. He told me that if a girl wanted to marry him all she had to do was give him salsa and he would marry her. He's obsessed with salsa. It was love at first sight when we met and that year for his birthday I gave him salsa. Now every year in his gift is a jar of salsa. I guess it worked :)

34 Weeks...our last road trip!

Here I am at 34 weeks! I don't feel that big until I catch a glimpse of myself from the side or I see these pictures. These days Charlotte is a moving/kicking machine. When she moves my stomach will move from one side to the other. It's starting to get a little uncomfortable when she moves...however I wouldn't trade it for anything. When she gets the hiccups for the 10th time in one day (maybe not 10 but she gets them a lot) it's a reminder that she's there and growing. Whenever I get paranoid or worried that I haven't felt her in a while she moves. I think she just knows that her mom is worried and wants to reassure me she's ok.

We still don't know when Charlotte will make her debut. My doctor is not giving me any idea when she will be here. Hopefully when it gets closer we will have a better idea. Until then everyone will be on standby waiting. Friday night we took an infant care class at the hospital. I highly recommend this class for first time parents. It was a crash course in taking care of a baby. She went over a lot of basics like changing diapers, bath time, tummy time, etc. It was a great class. Dan learned how to change diapers and swaddle. He was a natural! I know that we have a lot to learn and that will come with time but it's nice to know what to expect. It makes it seem a lot less scary. This past weekend we made our last road trip before Charlotte's arrival. Dan's family gave us a wonderful shower that deserves its own post later this week. After the shower we met up with my friend Tara and her husband Barry. Tara is due any day now! Doesn't she look like a model? It was so fun catching up with her and of course talking about our baby girls. Tara and I talk almost everyday but we hadn't seen each other in almost a year. We can't go that long again! I'm ready to meet Charlotte! Have I mentioned that? She could be here in a few weeks! We can't wait!!

My thoughts on daycare...

It is amazing how many opinions you get when you are pregnant. First, people tell you their birth stories ALL the time and people are full of advice. I feel like I'm a very nice person and I do like hearing what people have to say most of the time but sometimes people offer a little too much.

I cannot tell you how many people have told me that they would never put their kids in daycare or they would never trust anyone else to watch their kids. I appreciate other opinions but people offer this up before even asking what we are going to do with our baby. Today I was getting our carpets cleaned and the man doing them went on and on about how daycare is so bad and he would never trust someone else with his kids. He doesn't even have kids by the way and isn't going to have any. Maybe he thought I didn't work because I was home but still, it's annoying. Even the lady waxing my eyebrows last week told me that her niece stays with her elderly grandparents daily because they would never put her in daycare.

Have these people even looked at these horrible places called daycare? Dan and I have been touring what seems like every daycare in our town to find the perfect place for Charlotte to be while we are working. These daycares are so nice and more like a private school. The women working there have worked with children for such a long time and you can tell that they truly care about these babies. There is so much they can start learning at such a young age that I know I am not prepared to teach Charlotte. She will be in a small class with babies her age and she will be learning so much! Of course it will be so hard to leave her but we know it is best.

I have said over and over, I think that being a stay at home mom is the hardest job in the world. Not only are you caring for your child or children you have to teach them a lot before they head off to school. Everyone has their own opinion on how to raise their children and that is how it should be. Just don't judge me for taking my baby to daycare. :)

33 Weeks!

Here I am at 33 weeks! It's hard to believe that Charlotte could be here next month. I really, really want her here before Christmas. I've been on the lookout for a cute Christmas outfit that would fit a teeny tiny newborn, but I'm scared to buy anything because I don't want to jinx it! This week I feel like Charlotte has dropped a lot. She moves all the time and I actually felt her kick on my side close to my back the other day. I didn't know that was even possible. I'm really wondering if she will have any more room to get bigger! Last night Dan and I went to the movies which is something we love to do. Oh my gosh I was so uncomfortable. We probably won't be doing that again until after Charlotte gets here.

Tomorrow I have another doctor's appointment to check on Charlotte. I'm so thankful that my doctor is close to our house and my job is flexible so it's not an issue me going to the doctor all the time. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

32 Weeks...and another photo shoot for Charlotte!

The weeks are flying by. I feel like I say that every week, but Thanksgiving in a couple weeks away, Christmas is right after and hopefully Charlotte will be here sometime around then. Here I am at 32 weeks! Our baby is definitely growing! Charlotte has been doing less kicking and more rolling lately. I can sit there and watch my stomach move from one side to the other. She is head down and has been that way for a few weeks. She has also decided to pitch a tent right under my ribs which is bringing us much closer. Nothing like a dull pain 24/7! As long as she is growing and healthy I shouldn't complain. Not too much longer before we get to hold her in our arms! It seems really surreal thinking about meeting her for the first time. I can't imagine the feeling of seeing this little baby that is part of Dan and I.

We decided to go ahead and do another 3D sonogram this weekend. I highly recommend this to everyone! Our doctor doesn't do it and we aren't scheduled to have another sonogram until 38 weeks so we decided to go to a center and pay to have it done. Very cool. Charlotte was sound asleep the entire time but we got some great shots. When we first started she had her hand directly in front of her face and the umbilical cord was in front of her mouth. After a little while the cord moved and she moved her hand. She is plump and healthy and that is all we can ask for. The sonogram tech kept commenting on how sweet her lips are. It will be fun to compare the pictures after she is born. Now she will just keep getting bigger and bigger!The nursery is coming together and all we need is a baby to be in it!