40 1/2 weeks!

july 9, 2014... baby jay's due date came and went...

i really thought we would be going to the hospital for a scheduled induction last week; however, the Lord had other plans :) i went to the doctor last tuesday, and since jay was still happy and healthy inside the womb, we decided to give him one more week to make an appearance on his own. 

however, he must be very comfortable inside because not much has changed since then. so, at my appointment today, we decided to go ahead and schedule the induction. kevin and i have to be at the hospital tomorrow evening at 6pm, and i will be induced on wednesday morning!

i'm thankful to have carried jay full term (and some), but i'm so ready for him to be here! ...although i will miss my "built in" shelf at times :)

thank you so much for all the prayers! we appreciate them more than you know! hopefully soon i'll be able to introduce you to our sweet miracle! :)

39 weeks!

i went to the doctor yesterday for my 39 week appointment... jay is  measuring 8 lb. 1 oz.! 

everything looks good, even though i haven't made much progress since last week. so, if nothing happens between now and then, i will go back to the doctor on tuesday, and possibly schedule an induction for wednesday (or friday) of next week. 

if you know me at all, you know that i love to have a plan... i thrive off of to-do lists and structure... which sometimes drives kevin crazy! but, i've been claiming the above verse for the past few weeks. of course i would like for jay to come on his own, but ultimately, i know that the Lord's plan is best, and i just need to trust Him. :) 

this is another verse i'm claiming.... i know the Lord has brought us to this place, and we are so thankful! ...my prayer is that i won't be worried or afraid of the unknown over the next week, but that i will rely on the Lord's strength in all things! 

38 weeks!

i went to the doctor yesterday, and i am about 1cm dilated! at least it's a little progress... better than none at all, right?! if nothing happens, i'll go back to the doctor next wednesday to be checked again.

i met my mom in clemson this afternoon for lunch and then to walk... just to send some encouragement to our sweet boy :)

all in all, i'm feeling alright. besides having to frequent the bathroom every 30 minutes and having a hard time getting comfortable, i can't complain. just so very thankful for a healthy pregnancy!

each morning i wake up and think... is today jay's birthday? so excited about meeting our little boy!

signs of baby...

of course when walking into the nursery, one will surely realize that a baby is joining us very soon! however, i love all the other "signs of baby" that are showing up around the rest of our house... :) 

the bathroom is ready for when jay begins having bath time in the tub! 

the kitchen has lots of baby things that are surely going to be put to good use! 

our 2 in 1 bouncy seat/swing is set up and ready...

...even my car has "signs of baby" these days!  

...and i can't help but think of all things baby when i walk past our guest bedroom and see our hospital bags packed and ready! 

can't wait! :)

the finished nursery and an update!

we have finished the nursery... with 4 weeks to go! :) i'm so happy with how everything turned out and can't wait until Jay arrives so we can put everything to good use! 

in other news... i'm 36 weeks today! i had a doctor's appointment this morning, and everything checked out as it should! jay is still hanging out sideways, so we will have an ultrasound next week to continue to check his position. if he hasn't turned, we may go ahead and schedule a c-section, just in case. please pray that the Lord's will be done and that i will have a peace whatever the outcome may be! :)

update!

happy 34 weeks!

(excuse the look of tiredness... i can't seem to get rid of it these days!) 

time seems to be flying, which is good and "nerve-wracking"... good because we cannot wait to meet our baby boy, but somewhat "nerve-wracking" because i feel like we have so much more to do! nevertheless, God is good, and i know that he will order these next 6 weeks :) 

here are some quick updates...

we've made a lot of progress in the nursery! we had the crib and changing table painted, which turned out great!! we got the bookshelves and monogram above the crib hung. now, we are just waiting on a few final pieces, and everything will be set!

i'm so happy with how the nursery is turning out! i love just going in there, and thinking/praying about our lives with baby Jay! can.not.wait.

bring the ocd person that i am, i've been reading all that i can... even though, i'm not sure if we will be completely prepared until we actually bring him home. :) 

i've also started getting stuff together (mainly baby stuff!) to take to the hospital... and i'll be honest, it's kind of surreal! 

if i'm not focused on doing baby stuff these days, i'm working on maternity leave plans... my goal is to get everything complete by the end of the school year (7 more days!) so i don't have to worry about much of anything school related over the summer. we'll see how that goes. :)

30 weeks!

Size of the Baby: jay is about the size of a head of cabbage. 

Movement: he's still in there moving about :) 

Weight Gain: 27 lbs.

Symptoms: i'm definitely taking more frequent trips to the restroom! 

Sleep: about the same...

Cravings: lately, it's been ice cream! 

What I Miss: with the end of the school year upon us, i'm definitely missing diet coke! 

Highlights from this week...

Doctor's Appointment-

i passed my glucose test! praise the Lord! this week was just a routine check, and everything measured right on track. :)

Nursery Progress-

we used some monetary gifts/gift cards to purchase a swivel glider, and it was delivered this week! i foresee many snuggles happening here! 

my mom helped me wash/iron and organize some of the gifts we've received so far (thank you, mom!)... it was so fun going through all the sweet little boy things :) 

Daddy Duties-

kevin has become quite the painter over the past couple of weeks! he has worked so hard to prime/paint various things we're putting in the nursery! i can't wait until they are dry and able to put up! more nursery pictures to come... :) 

first shower!

this past thursday, the kindergarten team at school hosted our first baby shower! the theme was "children's books," and everything was SO cute... and yummy! all the food went along with a children's book, and each table was decorated according to a book as well.

some of the hostesses/kindergarten team...

instead of bringing a card, everyone was encouraged to bring/sign a book to help build jay's library. he got some great books!! some classics... and some new stories. i can't wait for us to read these to our sweet baby!

one of the most special books we received was from my principal. each year on the day we get out for Christmas break, he reads the The Polar Express to the entire school. this year he is retiring, so he passed on his personal copy of The Polar Express to baby jay! i can't wait to tell jay this story and begin our own tradition of reading this classic together!

i'm so thankful for the memories made! we are so blessed!

happy Easter!

we were blessed to be able to spend time with my parents, paul, whitney, and hudson over the Easter weekend! we hung out at my parents' house in anderson on saturday, went to church together on sunday, and ate a yummy lunch at sullivans afterwards! sunday evening, we met kevin's parents for dinner at copper river.

i am so thankful for family time, and cannot wait until baby jay joins in on our family time in just a couple of months! :) 

most importantly, i'm thankful for a risen Savior! praise Him! 

hello third trimester!

it's hard to believe that we are down to the last 3 months (+/-) of this pregnancy! we are getting so excited about meeting our little guy! here are some highlights from the last post :) 

our trip to the masters! 

nursery closet organizing... nesting has definitely set in ;)

glucose test- check... now, just waiting on the results.
for the record, i was way more nervous than i should have been! the drink actually tasted pretty good, and giving blood wasn't bad either. Thank you, Jesus! 

i was told that one day, i would look down and not be able to see my feet... 

that time has come. 

finally, here is our sweet baby jay at 28 weeks! 

he is 2 pounds and looking to be a big boy!
we are continuing to thank the Lord for our blessing, and we pray that God will continue to knit him together into the little boy he has been created to be.

26 weeks.

Size of the Baby: the length of a green onion (according to baby center) 

Movement: oh yes! i love feeling his little kicks! 

Weight Gain: 20 lbs

Symptoms: some lower back pain, but that's about it

Sleep: besides waking up quite frequently to turn from side to side, not too bad...

Cravings: i'm not really craving anything specific.. everything sounds good :) 

What I Miss: being able to fit into my regular clothes, although i am thankful for the warmer weather which allows me to wear stretchy skirts and dresses! 

A couple highlights from the past week...

Hospital Tour-

it was interesting to see the different rooms and "sections" we'll be occupying in a few months... especially, for this girl who has never been admitted to a hospital before! 

Nursery Progress-

Kevin and my dad painted the nursery this week! i'm so happy with how it turned out and cannot wait to get the rest of the furniture in and finish decorating!

pregnancy bliss.

i'm so thankful that i can truly say, i'm loving being pregnant! 

don't get me wrong, even though i haven't been sick at all, there have been some challenges... finding things to fit my growing belly, lower back pain, frequent trips to the bathroom, shortness of breath, and restless nights...

but, honestly, i wouldn't trade places with anyone right now. 

especially, when i feel my baby boy kicking! (which i do believe is my favorite part!) 

kevin and i prayed long and hard for this child, and each day i am overwhelmed with gratitude that our gracious Lord answered our prayers. i cannot wait to meet baby jay, and until then i'll continue thanking the Lord for this awesome miracle he has blessed us with. :) 

week 24 highlights.

--Mom and I met Dad for lunch, and then went to the Spartanburg Switcharoos children's consignment sale where we got some cute clothes for Baby Jay... and a diaper genie. 

--The crib bedding was ordered, and we went with Kevin's mom to pick up the crib mattress, changing table pad, covers, etc. I can't wait to begin working on the nursery!

--Baby Jay attended his first Clemson baseball game! ...although we are already looking forward to next year when he'll be able to enjoy it outside the womb ;) 

the bump progression.

Before becoming pregnant, I had big plans about taking "bump" pictures each week. 

However, after teaching 5 and 6 year olds all day, the only thing I wanted to do when I got home was put on my "comfy" clothes and take a nap... meaning bump pictures during the first half of my pregnancy just did not happen that often. 

Nonetheless, here's what I have so far... 

I've really "blossomed" the past couple of weeks it seems, but the doctor assures me I'm right on track :)

catching up.

I admit, I haven't been good at tracking this pregnancy at all! But, I'm going to try and be more intentional so that after Baby Jay makes his arrival, I can look back and reflect over my "pregnant days." 

20 weeks... Gender Reveal! 

 Kevin and I both went to the appointment anxious to find out if we were having a boy or girl! The ultrasound tech had to push around a little bit to get the little stinker to "loosen up," but it wasn't long until we realized it's a boy! To be honest, I don't think it's what either of us expected, but we know that the Lord has created this precious little boy just for our family, and we couldn't be more thankful! After our appointment, Kevin went to work, and I met up with some girls from work to go to Babies R Us. They were so helpful with tips about registering for the "basics." 

Our appointment was on a Thursday, and on the following Saturday we hosted a little gender reveal party at our house. It was so much fun sharing this exciting news with our loved ones! 

... and just a little side note about week 20... It was this week that I had my first cup of coffee! I consider that a pretty big deal since I'm known to drink coffee every morning and then gave it up when I found out I was pregnant!