Thank you mom and dad.

See that rocking horse up there...My dad made that and it rocks my socks. Since becoming pregnant and knowing I have a child on the way that I will be responsible for, I have a new appreciation for my parents. I have always known they were awesome, but seriously I am so lucky. Olivia is lucky to have such great grandparents too. My mom made her some handmade tutu's, outfits, blankets, bows, booties...the list goes on. They already love her unconditionally.

I only hope that I can be as good a parent as they are.

Five years ago today...

Wedding Day, originally uploaded by hairgeek.

I married the man who I am still crazy about. We were married in St. Augustine, Florida at 5:00 in the evening. The weather was perfect and everything went the way we had planned.
We dated for two years before getting married. I remember before I met him thinking that there would never be anyone for me. I didnt know what true love was, in the romantic sense, atleast.

We met in November of 2002 on a blind date that his sister setup. She always said we were perfect for each other. In the first week of meeting we went out several times and then after a couple of weeks of dating, Justin asked me if we could be exclusive.

That Christmas he surprised me with a beautiful diamond ring, that was inside of a huge box. I knew it wasnt an engagement ring, but it was still very special and I was a little taken back that he cared that much about me. I knew he loved me, and I loved him.

For our first Valentine's Day he surprised me by placing a rose on my car in the morning before I went to work. Half way through my work day my friend told me to go look at my car, which was parked on the curb downtown, I immediately thought someone had hit it or broke a window. I walked outside and found it covered in two dozen long stemmed roses. He knew how to charm me, thats for sure! Later that evening, he gave me a big pink rose painting that I had been looking at buying for a while.

All of the things he did made me feel so special, and sometimes I cant believe that someone did that for me. I got to marry him, I get to spend my life with him and start a family with him. I feel so blessed.

Heres to another five years!

Week 30 at Disney World...

Last trip of the year. Very bittersweet. My little dumpling will be here soon though, so I need to stay close to home and not travel anymore until she gets here. Honestly, going when you are due in 10 weeks is not nearly as fun as when your are not pregnant. Who would have thought?! Kidding. I knew what I was doing when I planned to go. My body always senses when vacations are near and it goes into some sort of shock. This year has been rough. Every vacation was filled with some kind of ailment or sickness. Starting with our February trip when I discovered I had a kidney stone. After having surgery, I returned to Disney and suffered a little more with a stent in my kidney. I just love pain. I plan on next year being much better.

Obviously Olivia will be taking her first trip to Disney World, so it has to be awesome. We have decided to take her to the Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom during the fall next year. She will be around 10 months old by then and we can dress her up like a cute little Tinker Bell. :) Our trips will now be planned from now on.

This is where we stayed this time. At the Contemporary Resort, right next to Magic Kingdom. It was SO easy staying here. Hop right onto the monorail, which runs through the resort, and then in a couple of stops you're there! This resort will spoil you and cause you to be extremely lazy. When you're pregnant, this is okay though. If you are planning a trip to Disney, I definetely recommend this resort. The Polynesian and Grand Floridian also connect to the monorail and those are really nice.

Cant wait to go back next year! With my little Olivia in my arms!

Week 28 Begins

Today was the big sugar test I had been dreading, for some reason. Am I pessimistic for thinking I will have all these weird pregnancy plagues? Well, I passed it and I don't have gestational diabetes! That was such a relief. My OB said I am measuring the right size and that everything looks good. When they told me she was measuring "small" at my 20 week ultrasound, I thought that meant that I was doing something wrong nutritionally. Not the case though, he said he would rather see her in the 38Th percentile rather than the 99Th percentile. She is just average and he said to be happy that she isn't huge. :)

As I get closer to week 30 I cant help but think about when she will come. Will she arrive early, late, during the night or will it be scheduled? Every pregnancy is different, which is scary and exciting at the same time. The unknown is whats scary. I cant wait to meet her, however she chooses to arrive.

Week 26 is almost over.

This has been a challenging week to say the least. On our trip to Sea World over the weekend I had stabbing pains in my upper back, which reminded me of the kidney stone pain I had in February. After trying Bengay, heat patches and anything else I could grab- the pain started going away. I woke up the next day and it was practically gone. It returned this week. The doctor said Olivia is probably laying on a nerve or I strained a muscle somehow. Or, it could have been a kidney stone that passed.

Overall, the trip was really fun. I discovered that pregnant women should NOT go down water slides. As good as you may feel, water slides will make you go as fast as they want you to. I screamed like a girl all the way down the slide. :) Then I got off the slide and thought about how stupid I was for doing it in the first place. This was when my back felt good, by the way.

Tuesday I go in for another Doctors checkup. No ultrasound this time. In five weeks I will have my last ultrasound. I cant wait to see how big she has gotten, because last time she was measuring in the 38th percentile. Which is weird, I dont think they should tell you "the baby is measuring small, but DONT worry!" You start thinking of all the things you could do to make her gain weight or that you have done something to create this. Of course, I know she is bigger now. She kicks and squirms everyday to let me know she is okay- or to let me know not to go down another water slide. I listen.

Sleep: Where can I buy some?

I have bags under my eyes. I need some good sleep, like 9 hours worth to make up for these nights where I only get 4-5 hours. If you know where I can find some please let me know.

First Kicks

Last week I felt Olivia kick for the first time. That is such an amazing feeling; I cannot even put into words. It makes you more aware that there is a life in there and not just a "fetus". I hear SO much from people about how horrible pregnancy was and they say "Oh, just wait. You won't like it so much in a few months!". It's horrible that they say these things and more horrible if they actually feel that way about it.



As I go into week 23 of my pregnancy, I feel so blessed that God allowed us to have a child. Sometimes I look at my husband and cannot believe that I have this life. Don't get me wrong, there are ups and downs of life but usually we are very happy people. Mainly because we grew up with simple things and have carried that through our own lives because it works. When I tell people I will be staying at home to raise her, I have actually had people question me about it- like its forbidden.

I tell people that I wont be literally staying at home all day. In case there is any misunderstanding. :) There is work to be done there, and lots of good memories that will be made with me staying at home. We may plant a little garden in the spring. I will be busy taking pictures of her. Trying to capture every little smile. I wish that everyone could experience this one day. Maybe I was born in the wrong generation or something. Or maybe things have just become too complicated with our lives that we have forgotten the simple little things in life that can make us happy.