Week 32 and 33

We're approaching the final weeks of my pregnancy! If I carry Claudia to 40 weeks, I only have 6 more weeks before she's here! The waiting game begins! This is getting so real...

I am right on track with measurements, weight gain, her heart rate and my blood pressure. Praise the Lord for His goodness! We continue to pray for Claudia's health, my health, and a smooth delivery. I've reached the stage where I'm simply uncomfortable... no matter what. Claudia is running out of room to move around so her movements make me sore and are quite startling these days. My lower back, hips and feet hurt. I'm short of breath (due to Claudia pressing against my diaphragm which then presses against my lungs). Sleeping is becoming more difficult because I toss and turn trying to find a comfortable position. I've outgrown some of my maternity clothes (definitely wasn't ready for that!). Getting in and out of the car is a joke. So is getting on and off the couch. I'm so blessed that I don't have to worry about going to work anymore. Because I don't sleep well at night, I get a couple of hours of quality sleep in the morning and sometimes even get a nap in the afternoon. I'm really just taking everything a day at a time and extending myself a lot of grace. :-)

Being the self-motivated person that I am, I've wanted to get all the home-projects on my list done at once! A lot of times I'll start something then my body will tell me I need to rest, so I do and then I binge watch a few episodes of 7th Heaven on Hulu Plus, usually with a bowl of mint-chocolate chip ice cream in hand. Ice cream is the only thing that keeps my heartburn at bay, so I feel no guilt in eating it whatsoever :-)

Despite the need for frequent breaks and sleeping in quite a bit, we have managed to get a lot done and enjoy this joyful season of preparation for the arrival of our daughter! The nursery is nearly done (I just lack decorating and putting finishing touches on everything), we've had a lovely baby shower in Birmingham, we've gotten some home improvement projects done, I have done some deep cleaning (like washing comforters, cleaning floors, etc.), and I got us completely caught up on laundry and ironing for the first time in our married lives!

The big things that will happen in the next few weeks before Miss Claudia's arrival are: two more baby showers, our Babymoon, pre-registering at the hospital, birthing classes, a breast feeding class, Jessie's baby shower, maternity photos and getting new flooring installed! Then she'll be here!!!

I am continually amazed at how wonderful my husband is. Its so fun hearing him talk about how excited he is for Claudia to come, how he gently reminds me that everything is going to be okay at the hospital and that he won't leave me alone, and that we don't need to worry about doing everything right as parents. He is such a reflection of the Lord's love in my life and I can't wait to see him in that role in Claudia's life. We just started reading "Sacred Parenting" by Gary Thomas and it is already so good! Besides generally being awesome, I cannot count how many ice-cream/dinner/Chick-fil-A milkshake runs he's made without complaining and the other day he brought me home a stack of chick flicks that he found in a discount bin at a local entertainment store! It's been fun watching through those :-) In addition to working full time and taking care of me, he's been working out the past few weeks so he can be a fit dad! And he got a cool new haircut. I love doing life with him!

This entry would not be complete without a rundown of the beautiful shower that my college friends gave for us in Birmingham on August 16th!

The shower was held at my dear friend Emily's parent's home in Leeds. Everything was decorated so wonderfully! It was ice-cream themed with Claudia's nursery colors of pink and yellow everywhere. Emily set up an ice cream sundae bar, complete with ingredients for a banana split and brownies. There were also coke and root beer floats, all in colorful ice cream dishes and glasses!

I enjoyed indulging with a brownie sundae...

These ladies are SUCH a blessing in my life. Becca and Carter came from Atlanta to be there 

Pamela flew all the way from North Carolina to be there! She is such a beautiful friend, inside and out!

Mom and me! So glad she and Larry drove over from Atlanta! 

With Dad and Anna!

With Mary, Mom and Larry!

Beautiful personalized wreath :-) 

Adorable banner made by Carter! 

Sitting in my "Claudia's Mommy" chair :-) 

Such wonderful friends!!!!

We had a great time fellowshipping with our dear friends and celebrating our little girl.

Week 31: Austin's Birthday and a Family Wedding

Week 31. It’s really starting to sink in how close we’re getting to the end of this 9 (ish) month journey! Soon, we’ll be holding little Claudia Grace in our arms. What an incredible and overwhelming reality!

I know that as soon as I see her precious face, I will fall in love and everything will be worth it. I had to keep reminding myself of that as I sat up all night this week with the worst heartburn I’ve ever had. I look forward to my hips not hurting and being able to find a comfortable position in which to fall asleep. I feel swollen, slow, achy and huge! Getting in and out of the car makes any intense exercise I’ve done in the past seem like a piece of cake. I feel like a crazy woman when I inexplicably burst into tears or get way too upset that Chick-fil-A couldn’t make milkshakes because they were out of domed lids! Yet, I know it will all be worth it. I’m getting so ready to meet our little girl.

We had a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, which was quick and normal. We’re going twice a month now instead of just once. We got to hear Claudia’s heartbeat, of course! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing it J.  Her heartbeat was 143 BPM, my tummy is measuring right on point, and her movement is great! We are thankful that everything is progressing so well and pray it continues this way!

This past week was my first week as a “home executive”. It was so wonderful to catch up on rest and really detox from the stress of working full time. I had planned on being much more productive than I was, but just growing a person is work J Thus, the 15 loads of laundry will have to get done this week (you only think I’m kidding!). I did manage to cook dinner for us 5 out of 7 nights which has NEVER happened before! It’s the little things in life…

At the end of the week, we had some very special people to celebrate! On Friday, Austin turned 27! Finally J I was feeling old all by myself with him still being 26. I made him breakfast in bed before he went to work, then we met up at Asahi for birthday sushi (don’t worry, I ate cooked teriyaki chicken!). When he got home from work, I gave him his presents then we headed to Greenfield for Kayla and Brian’s rehearsal dinner.

Opening presents! 

The birthday boy! :-)

The rehearsal dinner was at the church where Austin grew up and where the wedding took place! It was so good to spend time with extended family that we don’t get to see very often. We were both in the wedding party- Austin was an usher and I was an honorary bridesmaid. We were so honored that Kayla and Brian included us in their special day!

In the church foyer getting ready to rehearse! 

The wedding the next day was so special! Kayla was beautiful and the tears in Brian’s eyes as he saw his bride made the moment perfect! The ceremony was totally centered in the Lord and it was so wonderful to be present as Kayla and Brian entered into the covenant of marriage together. We know that the Lord has amazing plans for them as a married couple and look forward to encouraging them in any way we can!

Sunday night, we had some friends over to celebrate Austin’s birthday! I made pizza and snickerdoodle cupcakes and we all enjoyed just hanging out together! Our friends are SUCH a blessing in our lives and we thank the Lord that we get to walk through life together.

Looking ahead to this weekend, we will make our final journey to Birmingham before Claudia is born for our first baby shower! My sweet friends from college are hosting it for us and we can’t wait to see everyone!

My heart is so full! Praise the Lord, for He is the giver of all good things! 

Week 30: A New Chapter

Friday was my last day as a woman working outside the home. It's still sinking in. We made these plans months ago and even decided that I would end my time at Union before the academic year began so I could spend the last two months doing final preparations and resting before Claudia's arrival. Staying at home once a baby was in the picture was a topic we agreed on when we were engaged and its been my dream ever since I was a little girl! Now that its here, as has been the case with so many other milestones in my life, I'm not sure what I'm doing!

For the past 5 years since graduating college, I've been working. The Lord provided me with two wonderful jobs and has taught me so much through them! I know I have been so blessed. I also know that my work-ethic (aka my workaholic tendencies) have kept me feeling torn between devoting sufficient time and energy to work and focusing on things at home. Now that struggle is over and it feels like a huge burden is lifted. Work has been my "normal" for 5 years. It was so strange to kiss Austin goodbye this morning and not head out to work myself.

The Lord's timing has been so amazing throughout my life and I know this isn't any different. Taking these two months to ease into being a stay-at-home wife/mom is exactly what I need. Getting used to change takes time. I think one of the biggest changes is that I will have the freedom to decide what to do during my day! I'm very excited about that. I'm excited about having time to do laundry throughout the day and start preparing dinner earlier. I'm so thankful I will be able to take a nap when I need one (which is more frequently these days!) or even schedule a doctor's appointment any time without having to consider my work schedule. A theme the Lord has been teaching me in recent months is to simplify and that is exactly what is happening.

With this new freedom comes new responsibility. In some ways, I feel like this will be easier once Claudia arrives. Her needs and her schedule will dictate my work throughout the day and will make each day productive. The challenge these next couple of months before she arrives is to still live intentionally. Being intentional was very easy for me at Union because I constantly had opportunities to serve and talk to coworkers and students. At home, it's going to require more effort. I want to find a good balance between resting, working, and investing in relationships. I know that spending time with the Lord is going to be more important than ever. Now that my work outside the home is done, I'm already being reminded that He is the only one that can fulfill me. I pray that I will find so much joy and contentment in this new chapter in my life! I know He has wonderful plans- I'm so excited to see what they are!

I already feel much more physically rested. The days since Friday have been so restful and I'm so thankful for that! Claudia is growing and getting heavier. I feel her move constantly. I'm getting so ready to meet her! Interestingly, I'm getting nervous about the actual delivery and everything that will go along with that. I just want everything to go smoothly and to do a good job. I think I'll feel better after we take our classes at the hospital. Those will start in September.

Now for some updates!

On Wednesday, my wonderful coworkers took me out to Picasso's for my farewell lunch! It was great fellowshipping over good food. At the end, they presented me with an Outback gift card and a sweet card they all signed. For Claudia, they each brought a children's book (either their favorite from their childhood or their children's favorite) to add to her library! I was so humbled by their thoughtfulness and can't wait to read them to Claudia!

Thursday, I wrapped up things I'd been working on for the past couple of weeks, cleaned out my desk and said my goodbyes. It was strange walking out of Union for the last time. I am planning to come back and visit, though! Especially when I can bring Claudia with me! Austin and I had a celebratory dinner at Outback that evening.

On Friday, I joined most of the other stay-at-home moms in Jackson at Hobby Lobby (really, though- it was the first day of school) and bought some fun things for Claudia's nursery! I did some crafting over the weekend :-) I'm getting so excited to do a post on the nursery in a few weeks. It's really coming together! Yesterday, Austin and I organized her clothes by month and started putting things in her chest of drawers. I put pictures in frames and we tied the bumpers on her crib. Her little lamb toy is already waiting for her in her crib!

This upcoming week will be fun! Today I have a doctor's appointment. Once you pass 28 weeks, you begin going every 2 weeks instead of every month. I'll be seeing my regular doctor, who I haven't seen in a while. Friday is Austin's birthday so I've been plotting about that! Saturday is Kayla and Brian's wedding! We're so excited to celebrate them and all the Lord will do in and through their marriage!

Now I'm going to make some lunch and get ready for my doctor's appointment! Until next week!