21 February 2014

My Nashville Trip

“Let love be genuine.” Romans 12:9

Before the airport- we took these to remember each other by.

I had the best time visiting my family and friends in Nashville! Hubs took me to the airport the night of February 3rd and my dad picked me up the next afternoon. The first flight had a two hour delay due to plane maintenance. It was a bit torturous because I had taken a benadryl right before we boarded so I could doze off ASAP. The little girl sitting next to me and her sweet mom made it a little more bearable though. I had less than an hour in Denver airport before arriving in Nashville for a 10-day get-away! Dad was the first to see my pregnant self in person, and he let out a tiny man-squel when he felt the bump!
I have the SWEETEST dad.

We went straight to my grandparents' house so I could hug them and catch up a little. We were there until my Momma was on her way home from work. We met her there, and it was SO GOOD to hug her! She introduced herself to our little joey and then got to work making a spaghetti dinner. The whole fam came- my brother, Anthony, and his wife, Carrie, my sister, Kelcee, and her boyfriend, Ethan.

I slept so well that night. So well, in fact, that I slept most of Wednesday too! I did get another visit in with Maw Maw and Popey, and they were so great to let me borrow the truck for my trip! That night my parents were hosting the 9th grade youth group off-campus night, and I had dinner with Andrew's mom, Lea Anne- complete with free pie!

On Thursday, February 6th, I got to be at the family dinner for my Seester's 24th birthday!! These are the things I miss being so far away, and I was thrilled to actually be there this time! Especially since we ate at Finezza's...


Friday, Andrew's sister, Kari, flew in town for a short weekend. My momma and I met Lea Anne and Kari at J. Alexander's for dinner. We ended up staying three hours chatting away!

Saturday was the big set-up day for the baby shower (post coming soon!). Kelcee, Carrie, and Kari took a break to come get their nails done with me. Later, Dad, Momma, and I drove out to be at a friend's surprise birthday party. Mary Coul and her sweet family had stopped by my parents' house to say hi on Thursday, I got to hang out with them again at the surprise party, and all the girls came to the baby shower on Sunday! Our moms had our baby showers together, and we were born two days apart. So, I've known her my whole life. I know I'll be saying that when we are old and gray! (Ok, fine, older and grayer.)

Sunday, I woke up, packed a bag, and headed to my Maw Maw & Popey's. She makes the most amazing Sunday lunches, and I had been waiting for this for a long time! We celebrated Kelcee's recent birthday, and I crashed it because they celebrated my upcoming birthday while I was there too. It was so fun, the food was delicious of course, and the house was full of family and conversation and laughter. I miss that so much!
My Fave: Lemon Icebox Pie

After lunch, the ladies left to finish last minute details at the clubhouse while I got dressed for the shower. When Kelcee came to walk me in, most everyone was there! I cannot wait to show you pics and share all the deets very soon!

Monday, Momma was off of work. We ran around town: shopping at Lifeway, meeting Kelcee at Burger Up for lunch, and then over to Jeni's for ice cream.
27 weeks
Cedarwood Vanilla & Wildberry Lavender

Joey and I took a ride around town on this bad boy!!! Just kidding. Ethan builds bikes, and I had to hoist my pregnant self up on one just to freak Hubs out. His response when I sent him this pic: "Get him off that death trap!"
Joey Gone Wild!

Tuesday, I drove over to Cancun's for lunch with dad. We had the usual- Jim Nacho's. So good, but I will say, after ACP Nachos at El Cazador in Fayetteville, these aren't as good as they used to be. The rest of the day I ran a few errands and took a much-needed nap!

The next day, I drove out to Lipscomb to have a quick lunch at mom's work. I spent the next couple of hours chatting with Andrew's Maw Maw at her house in Antioch. I went back to my parents' house for a quick nap before I gathered up a delicious meal my momma made for me to take out for sibling dinner. Anthony and Carrie bought their new place late last summer, and Kelcee moved in the second bedroom. This was the first time I was getting to see it! After we ate, I said bye to everyone and stopped by Krispie Kreme on the way back to surprise dad with a dozen doughnuts.

Thursday, I started to pack up a little before meeting Dad and Kelc at Firehouse Subs for lunch. Momma came a little later so we could meet Lea Anne after she got home from school. We had to make a detour trip first to meet Andrew's cousin, Amy, who had made a sweet gift for our baby. I was thinking we were going to make a trip down to Andrew's Nana's house during our afternoon hang out, so I was so thankful when I found out she was waiting with Lea Anne to say hi since we were pushed back. The almost-new grandmas and I went through some of Hubs' teensy baby clothes for me to take back home to Alaska with me. It is so sweet having those two together, talking about us and anticipating this precious boy.

Friday morning, I finished packing and dressed as comfortably as possible for the long journey home. Momma and I met Kelcee and Dad over at Maw Maw and Popey's for my last homecooked meal of the trip. We had a couple of hours to sit together, chat, and eat delicious food before Dad drove me to the airport.
Popey says we have most of the same symptoms haha!

I had a little scare about flight times- I received an automated phone call saying my first flight was delayed, only to receive another about the time we were heading that way saying it wasn't anymore. (Ummm, what?) Joey and I haven't run in a while, but we got a little workout through Nashville International. When I got to the gate, the plane had just arrived and passengers had not even de-boarded yet. I was a little worn-out and said a somewhat-skeptical prayer about the person I had to sit next to for the trip to Denver. A woman about my age and her sweet nine-month old daughter plopped down. We laughed, we cried, we talked the whole way there and exchanged numbers when we arrived. She texted a couple of days ago to get our address so she can send a gift for joey! I love it when you just hit it off and know God gave you to each other, even if it was only for a quick three-hour hop.

I grabbed a quick bite to eat on my short lay-over before boarding for Anchorage. I had strategically placed myself in the last row by the bathroom, only to find the flight was not even close to booked full. There was only one other person besides me in the last four rows of the plane. I put the arm rests up, my sleep mask on, and woke up a half an hour before we arrived. I watched us glide over the eastern mountains and around the whole city before landing on the west-most coast. While it was after 2am in Nashville, I had made it home within the last hour of Valentine's Day! My sweet man met me right out of security with a big bouquet of lilies. He drove home to an orchid (my traditional Valentine's flower from Hubs) and chocolates, a brand new recliner, a stack of baby gifts, and of course, Jessie!!
So Beautiful!
Four's a Crowd. Love getting to fall asleep with these crazies!

I love you all, miss you already, and cannot wait until our next trip back!




19 February 2014

Week 28

I will be writing a new blog post soon all about the precious baby shower my sweet sisters put together to celebrate our little joey. Spoiler alert: each lady spoke Scripture and blessings over me and our baby boy. I'm thrilled to use the blessings they poured out as the opening Scriptures for the rest of my baby bump posts!

"Commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up." Deuteronomy 6:6-7

{I've decided to do away with the board. It's a lot of work, and I basically say the same thing in the posts. 
Just me & joey in the nursery from now on!}

How far along?
28 weeks, 1 day. Hello, third trimester!

Baby size?

Joey is about the size of an eggplant.
2.5 pounds and 14-15 inches from head to toe.

Weight gain?

About 15 lbs now I think! At least 6 lbs of that was from the insane amount of delicious food I consumed in Nashville. 

Sleep?

Sleeping is getting a little less comfortable, but a lot more needed.

Cravings?

No cravings. 

Aversions?

None

Symptoms?

Third trimester came with new symptoms. Aches and pains in back and legs, heartburn (ahhhh, I REALLY hope this means he's gonna have some hair!), and I think I'm feeling some baby hiccups! Still tired and growing…Hubs described me as "extremely pregnant" yesterday. Sigh. Poor guy doesn't even know. 

Mood?

The mood was all excitement in TN, getting to celebrate and enjoy being pregnant with family and friends! But I can get irritable quickly- it's usually associated with heavy eyelids and is how I can tell a long winter's nap is in order!

Looking forward to?

- New blog posts soon about my trip to Nashville, the baby shower, and finishing up the nursery!
- I have a growth scan (ultrasound), glucose test (yuck!), and blood work on the agenda for this week before my next doctor's appointment next Thursday.

What's new?

- Joey can open and close his eyes and has eyelashes.
- Third trimester!
- Holy Ow. Third tri brought heartburn. Never had it before and my throat is on fire and I'm eating my weight in tums. What is this?!! I feel like I'm hungry yet I don't want to eat a thing until my stomach GETS OUT of my esophagus please. Or is this baby trying to crawl up out of me the wrong way?? I don't even care that I'm being dramatic about this.
- Joey is moving a little bit more these days. Feeling more of those subtle movements and can see him kicking away sometimes.
- We have been receiving baby shower gifts in the mail! It was like Christmas morning when I got back to AK- thank you, thank you, thank you!

Prayer Requests?
- Please pray for this next three months. Pray for good health and growth for Joey. Also, pray that Hubs and I are able to get a few things done before his arrival.
- Pray for our sweet friends Nick and Victoria, who is about to start her second trimester! Read her story of their JOYS and PAINS here. My favorite quote from her post: 

"God uses the bad for the good. Everytime."