This one's for you Alison!

Wow. My last post was titled "37 Weeks and Counting..." Um, yeah. It's been awhile. Honestly, I've been debating for months whether or not to blog again. I mean, where would I even begin after all this time? I feel like everyone who reads my blog, besides my sister-in-law, keeps up with us and all our pictures on facebook so there is really no need to blog anyway. BUT, I decided that I will press on! It is sort of theraputic for me to write about things. I thought about doing a quick recap over the past year but if you are reading this, then you know all that has happened :-) My sweet friend Ashley redisgned my blog for me so I think there's no better time than now!

Ella Kate has had alot of fun outings in the last week. Last week, we went to the fair. I haven't been able to go to the fair in a few years and I was dying for my usual fair feast: A corn dog, roasted corn, funnel cake, fresh lemonade, and a box of taffy! And I got all of the above! YUM. EK was a bit overwhelmed with all the people. We went during lunch because you get in free, but the rides were not running. I had hoped to ride with her on the carousel and the train. Here are a few pictures from the fair:

YUMMMMMMM.

Yesterday, we took her to the pumpkin patch. We were supposed to meet my friend Jessica, her husband, and their little baby girl Piper up there, but they ended up getting lost and we had to go ahead and get on the hay ride without them. I had no idea what all the pumpkin entailed. I thought we would just show up and pick out a pumpkin. Um, no. In the 85 degree heat, we boarded a hayride (which lasted an hour total) and drove to the pumpkin field. Along the way we stopped to look at various animals on the property. We had no sunscreen for Ek, and we are all so hot! She did pretty good. She got overheated and wasn't happy. Lessons learned. Go during a week day, go when it's not hot, and bring sunscreen. And don't bring a 1 year old back to the pumpkin patch! Here are some pictures from yesterday!

Poor baby was melting!!

It's been a fun week for us! Actually, it's been a fun YEAR!! Haha! Seriously, I cannot believe EK is already 1! Where did the year go? I will post pictures of her birthday party at some point! Thanks for stopping by and catching up with us! Alison are you proud of me?! Let's see if I can keep it up!!

37 weeks and counting....

Ok, so it has been a while since I have posted anything. I thought I would be posting at least a couple times a week, and I was doing pretty good there for a while! I feel it hanging over my head to post though, even though there really has not been alot going on. The nursery is still not finished, so I don't really want to post any pictures yet until it is done! It will come down to the wire for sure! I have had a pretty rough past 4 weeks, which is why I have not gotten much done. I have been REALLY really sore everyday, pretty much to the point where getting up from the bed, couch, a chair, etc. hurts. It hurts many times just to walk around my house. There is so much pressure that I can't even explain and it feels like every muscle down there has been pulled and bruised. I am not trying to throw myself a pitty party, because I know it's all worth it, but that is why I have been laying around a ton over the past month. I can't stay on my feet long at all :-( BUT on to some news! I will be 37 weeks on Tuesday - I can't believe it! I have to catch you up on something though. A couple days after my shower I went for my 33 week appointment and sonogram. At that point, the sonogram measured the baby weighing 5 lbs 11 oz! Now, I know sonogramgs can be off, but still! So, I got another sonogram last week at 36 weeks and the baby weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz! WOW!! My doctor and nurse thought it was too funny ( I did too)! I will have one more scan next week at 38 weeks and if she is measuring 9+ lbs, they are going to go ahead and induce me right at 39 weeks. And they are pretty sure she will be at least 9 lbs! I have a big baby girl on my hands! My sister and I were both big babies so I am not surprised! Again, I know sonograms can be WAY off. It's happened to a couple of my friends. I guess we will just have to see when she gets here! This is big news! Ella Kate could be here in 2 weeks!!! Here is a sonogram picture from my 33 week appointment, when she was almost 6 lbs:

A picture of her sweet face! She is looking right at us. Look at those huge puffy cheeks and that sweet hand up by her face! She also has hair!!

I do want to share with you my FAVORITE piece in her nursery. This was an old buffet table that Drew's parents gave us. We wanted to make it into a changing table. A sweet girl that does all of my stepdads faux finishing in his houses he builds refinished it for us and it is beautiful!

Before......

After!!! (Disregard the frames on top - we just set them there to get them off the floor. This will be her changing table).

I can't wait for the nursery to be finished! It is going to be so pretty, of course I am biased :-) That's really all there is to catch everyone up on. I am so thankful football season is here because it helps time pass faster! Although, I may not be able to watch any more Ole Miss games until she gets here because it's no good for my blood pressure. I am really nervous about this year for us...our defense is sad. But I love Masoli! Here's a picture of Drew and me from last Saturday before the worst loss in school history:

We were SO sure we would win this game BIG. Hmmm.... And yes, that is a shark necklace around my neck. I thought we would still be The Landshark Defense. It's been put away for the rest of this season.

I will keep you posted on whether I will be induced for sure or not, but it's looking very likely! I am getting really anxious, scared, worried, etc. so any prayers would be greatly appreciated! We are looking forward to this sweet little blessing in our lives. Love y'all!

Baby Shower!!

Ok, so because there are a bunch of pictures in this post, I won't say much!! I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since I have blogged anything, but there really hasn't been much to say. I hate writing posts without pictures! I haven't really made anymore progress on the nursery than what you have already seen, but in the next couple of weeks, there should be a lot to show. Yay! Drew and I went to Destin last Sunday and came home on Thursday. Do you think we took any pictures? NO. We are so bad about that! Plus, it is hard to take pictures when it is just the two of us. We did get one picture: a picture of myself on the balcony. Here it is:

This is 32 weeks!

Now on to the fun pictures! I had my first shower Saturday! It was so much fun and there were so many great people there. My sweet hostesses went over and beyond - I have the best friends and the best family in the world! Here are a bunch of pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Almost 33 weeks here! I'm not sure if you can see this painting very well. I will post a better picture of it later. My sweet friend Ashley Lancaster painted this to go above Ella Kate's crib. She has the same nursery fabric, so she was able to match the colors perfectly! It is the verse Jeremiah 29:11. I knew it would be beautiful, but it was even MORE beautiful than I thought possible! I brought it to the shower to show everyone! Thanks, Ash. You're amazing :-)

My sister in law made this diaper cake! I thought it was precious.

My mother-in-law carved this little baby buggy out of this watermelon! Too much!

Sweet hostesses :-) There were three that couldn't be there Saturday, and they were missed very much! Thanks y'all for everything. It was a perfect shower!

Instead of giving the girls traditional hostess gifts, I made a donation in honor of each of them to a sweet ministry here in Ridgeland, Sunnybrook Children's Home. It's such a precious place that houses children ages 4 - 18 that are there for many different reasons, and come with more baggage than I can ever image. It breaks my heart. If you want to know more about this ministry, check them out at http://www.sunnych.net/.

My sweet little helper/niece, Callie Grace. How precious is she? She was so proud of this outfit they gave me because Caty and she both have a dress like it!


Love her. Don't think of her as my sis-in-law, just my sister :-)

Blue was the color of the day! My mom and I always have a way of matching, I don't know why!

My sister! She is the best, and I love her so much!

Sweet Sharon....she made these hats for Ella Kate. One of my favorite gifts for sure!

My sweet friend Amanda. She is 5 weeks behind me, and she puts me to shame! She is the cutest pregnant girl ever!!

2 Posts in 1 Day!

I forgot to include something in my previous post, and I really am so excited about it that I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to share it! My sister is pretty awesome and super creative (somehow, I just didn't get that gene). Anyway, she has started making pottery and it's SO good...and I am not just being biased! This is what she gave me last night for Ella Kate's nursery:

How sweet is this angel? She used my silk fabric to make a bow so I can hang it on the wall! I am so excited about this!! Thanks sis - you are the best!

You can check out her stuff at http://www.farriswheelpottery.blogspot.com/

All her pieces are beautfiul and extremely affordable! Personally, I think she is TOO cheap :-)

New Orleans!

We had a blast in New Orleans last weekend! It was SO good to see Brittney...just what I needed! Being around her reminds me most of what a true best friend is in your life. I wish we lived closer! But, the trip was super easy to make so there will be more ahead! Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Right after we got to their house. I am known for having fake smiles in pictures, but this one is genuine people!! I was so excited!


Shopping on Magazine St. was fun! I bought some goodies for Ella Kate!

Brittney made me a "Mommy Strawberry-colada" aka non-alcoholic :-) Yum!

After church on Sunday. I love his shirt - Ella Kate gave it to hime for Father's Day.

It was nice just to get away from the weekend, but now it's back to reality. I feel like I have so much to, especially with the nursery. I'm waiting on all the furniture to get here, and until then I really can't do a whole lot. It's hard to decorate when you don't have your bedding and furniture yet. I have time though, so I am not going to stress about it too much. My sweet friend Ashley is painting a canvas to go above Ella Kate's crib and I cannot wait for that to get here either! She is so talented and I am excited that she is doing this for me. I don't really have any other news for now! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Finally done painting!

YAY! The walls in the nursery are finally finished! My sweet husband has worked so hard this past week getting everything painted. For sure he is the most awesome person I know! Also, a HUGE thanks to another awesome guy, Nick Miller. Lauren and Nick are great friends of ours who have huge hearts, and Nick helped Drew paint the stripes on the wall. That was very time consuming. The walls in the nursery are a really pretty neutral, and then we did the one big wall that the crib is up against with stripes. It turned out even better than I thought it would! Here are a couple of pictures!

I know they aren't the greatest pictures, but it was the best angle I could get from the door. I'm just glad that it is finished!

Tomorrow Drew and I are headed to New Orleans for the weekend to stay with my best friend from college and her husband, Brittney and Jarrod. I haven't seen this girl since my wedding! So hard to believe. This trip was so easy to plan, and I am sitting here thinking why this hasn't happened sooner? Anyway, I am so excited! Brittney and I have been through a ton together. She was and will always be a best friend and sister to me. It's going to be such a fun weekend filled with eating and shopping. I can't wait to eat authentic New Orleans food, but you can bet that Tums will be my best friend all weekend. I will be sure to take lots of pictures! Hope everyone has a great weekend too!

How did that happen?!?

On Thursday I went to the doctor for my last 4 week check-up (yay)!! I will go every 2 weeks now for a while. I had my glucose test where they tested for Gestational Diabetes. I am so happy to say that I do not have it!! To be honest I was so nervous!! I am one of those people that should not be allowed to surf the internet, because I will research every kind of disease and then swear that I have it! I was looking up GD and some of the symptoms were: increase in thirst, gaining too much weight, and having to go to the bathroom more than normal (which I didn't see how that was possible considering I already go every 30 minutes!). Well, I convinced myself that I HAVE been way more thirsty these last few weeks and I convinced myself that I HAVE already gained too much weight... Along with that, I had anxiety about drinking "the orange drink" also known as Gulcola. I had to drink a white substance a few years ago called "Berry Smoothie" before I had a CT Scan. It did NOT taste like Berry Smoothie, and it required several girls on my floor in the dorm to coach me into drinking it while I was dry heaving. This orange drink did not look as bad as the Berry Smoothie, but it should not be called gluCOLA, because "cola" makes me think of something carbonated, so I was thinking it might taste like an orange Sunkist. I took 2 sips and immediately threw it up. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to keep it down and then I wouldn't be able to have my test done that day. Well, enought about that. The point is, it was nasty nasty - but I survived, and I do not have diabetes.

During casual conversation with my doctor, he told me I was 27 weeks and 2 days along. I said, "Can you repeat that? How far along am I?" I have no idea how this happened, but somewhere along the way, I got either confused or just really excited and had jumped ahead of my week count. I thought I was almost 29 weeks! Ha! So needless to say, I was a little disappointed. And I already thought I was in my 3rd trimester. I know it's not a big deal, and most of you are probably thinking "oh well," but to me it is! I'm so ready for her to be here! SO every TUESDAY, my weeks turn over. This coming Tuesday I will officially be 28 weeks, 7 months pregnant, and in my third trimester. Woohoo!

We are going to finish painting the nursery today so I will have pictures to post tomorrow! Have a great Sunday!

"Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love."
1 Corinithians 16:13-14