Weeks 23 and 24 :)

No, I don't plan to start combining weeks, but the past couple of weeks have been quite exhausting for Emersyn's mommy :) Actually, for the second night in a row I am in bed and its 6:00 pm! Don't get too jealous, though, from 6pm-4 or 6 am I may get 2-3 good hours of sleep... baby girl has begun taking over and making it a little uncomfortable for her mommy, but that's fine, Emersyn is completely worth it! 

The past week has been so busy with so many fun things, they have just worn us all out :) My sweet parents came and spent last weekend with us for my birthday.  We had a wonderful time and got many things accomplished. Mom and I are currently working on invitations to Emy's baby shower that is coming up in September AND we found my belly a dress that I can wear for both Dr.Lance's Auburn graduation and the baby shower! Big win :) For my birthday, my sweet parents and husband surprised me with a delicious cookie cake and precious birthday gifts. I got my first card from my sweet angel, Emersyn :) She explained how sorry she was for the uncomfortableness (neither of us are really enjoying this time) but she couldn't wait to get here and see us...such a sweet girl! Along with my sweet gifts, Emersyn received her very first Coach purse, her first toothbrush (from Aunt Linnzie, of course!), and a precious set of Auburn dinnerware :) It continues to amaze me all of the love our sweet girl has already received. One of the sweetest girls I know made her a beautiful wreath with her name, and we got a precious crocheted blanket from another precious girl who works in Lance's lab here at Auburn. All the gifts are too sweet and we can't wait for our sweet girl to get here and use all of her prizes :)

Birthday cake :)

One of my birthday presents- Emersyn's diaper bag :) And Emersyn's present- her first Coach purse :)

BEAUTIFUL wreath made by the sweetest Morgan Fox :) We can't wait to display it!!

Sweet, sweet blanket :) Thank you, Amanda!

I can't believe we are at a 6 month mark now!! Wow, time is flying by! Emersyn is growing into such a big girl. We read to her often, and she has started quite the book collection :) This past weekend, my parents and Lance all felt Emersyn kick. She has gotten so big, that I feel every little movement now from our sweet girl. There is no guessing where those sweet little hands and feet are. This past week, baby girl found her mommy's ribs and has been loving them ever since...mommy tries to get her to move, but apparently that's a nice and comfy spot :) The biggest change we have had over the past couple of weeks is the difficulty to breathe! I don't know if my lungs don't have room to fully expand or what, but I can NOT breathe easily. Yes, Lance still refers to me as "Darth Vader" and it gets worse daily....poor, poor Lance! Pregnancy gives me very mixed emotions :) I just can't wait to hold our sweet girl! Every discomfort is completely worth it and I thank God for it everyday because without the knees to my ribs, lack of oxygen, or expanding belly there would be no Emersyn, and our sweet girl is already our world :) I am also beyond thankful for such a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby, I don't know how I ever did enough good to receive such a blessing, but I am so, very thankful! 

We don't have a belly pic for this blog, when I have energy to wash my hair and put some make-up on, we will get one :) I can explain it pretty well, though. The belly starts at about my chin and extends to my knees- my belly button loses real estate daily! It's about even with the belly around it....bye bye belly button!

22 weeks

Baby Emersyn is growing everyday! She has been a very active little girl, her daddy is still patiently waiting to feel his first kick. She gets shy around him and her brothers (or she is just terrified of some of the goofy sounds she hears when they are around!) We are counting down the days until we get to see our sweet girl again! 

This has been an exciting week for us. We got to visit my very best friend in the whole wide world yesterday, and tomorrow my mom is coming to stay for a whole week! My birthday is Friday, so right now my biggest problem is trying to remember how old I am and how far along I am with Emersyn- I will be 23 weeks on Thursday and 24 on Friday, those numbers are just way too close, I'll never get my age right :) This birthday has already proven itself to be far different from any others! The top item on my wish list is a diaper bag, and honestly I forget how close my birthday is because I am too busy counting down to our big ultrasound in August. I'm very excited for the future birthdays I will have when sweet Emy is here! 

We are marking things off the list to get ready for our sweet girl to arrive, I got her bedding order straightened out after it was put on back order for the SECOND time! Her sweet aunts are making sure she has plenty of headbands, huge flowers, and bows to put on that sweet head the minute she arrives, her Gran has her Christmas outfits covered until she is about 12 :), and everyone is just ready to love on this baby girl! With each day that passes, we get so excited that we are another day closer to her arrival. Today is exactly 4 months from Emersyn's due date :) 

I feel like the belly grows exponentially each second. Workouts are still the same, which I am very thankful for, and I have still been getting the cleaning spurts (Maximus and BoJackson aren't too thankful for those!). I have been so blessed with a very easy pregnancy, I thank God each day for this sweet blessing. The only issues I have are a very achy back and Lance has started calling me Darth Vader because, supposedly, I breath so heavily and loudly....I know, he needs to experience being pregnant! It's amazing to see and feel your body change each day, many times it is not very pleasant but it is SO worth it! Anything for you, Emersyn :) 

We Miss You, Memaw

One year ago we watched one of the sweetest, most humble women make her voyage from this Earth to the gates of heaven. My Memaw was one of the most precious women I have ever know, and that's not just because she was Memaw :) If you ever knew her, you know what a mess she was. Our lives have been a lot more dull since she left us. She was a hoot to listen to, she never got names, phrases, or words right. We called her made up words and phrases "Metzi-isms" (all of her friends called her Metzi and when Luke and I were younger we just thought this was hilarious because it was not her real name at all, so between ourselves, we called her Metzi!) We still use some of her made up words today when we need a good laugh :) Mom used to always take her to the grocery store after she moved to Corner and mom would save Memaw's grocery lists to mail to me when I was having a bad day and needed a good laugh! Figuring out those grocery lists were a great puzzle, very good critical thinking activity :) 

One of the best memories that we will always have of Memaw came after I met Lance. Mom was telling Memaw about him and how I had just fallen in love with him. Memaw of course wanted to know all about him. Mom explained that he was in school getting his Doctoral degree in Engineering. A few days later, mom overheard her telling one of her friends over the phone that I had met this boy and he was so smart, he was in school and when he was done he could be a doctor or and engineer :) Lance loved this, and still tries to claim it to this day!

Oh, she was a mess and not a day goes by that I think of her and it puts a smile on my face. I miss her here, but wouldn't ask to have her back for anything. She suffered way too much on this earth, but she was a fighter and always had a good attitude. She loved us all, and we can't wait to see her again. Until that time comes, in case you missed it before, little Emersyn is going to carry on the Memaw legacy and be named after her. Memaw's middle name is Ruth and that is what Emersyn's middle name is, as well. Memaw's madness has seemed to be hereditary through mom and myself, I can't wait to see what Emersyn is like actually carrying on her name :) We have saved many things to tell Emy about Memaw, and we know she will get so many laughs from her Memaw's stories! Mom has been cleaning out Memaw's old house and saved many of her old accessories for Emy to play dress up in (Memaw was GAUDY- I got a lot of it, I'm sure Emy will be full fledged!) As much as I would love for her to be here to see sweet Emersyn, I know she knows all about her already :)

21 Weeks

Yep, we are just moving along, getting closer each week to meeting our sweet girl. This hasn't been a dull week, a lot of new and interesting things have happened. Pregnancy is full of surprises! 

We spent last weekend in "the country" (Corner, my hometown) with my family and had an absolutely perfect time. We all hated to leave! We celebrated my daddy's birthday and enjoyed a 4 day weekend before heading back to Auburn. Monday night, back in Auburn, Lance, myself, and the puppies all just sat around and pouted because we missed our family and the country so much! We just love that place :)

Then, Wednesday morning Lance flew out to South Carolina, so it was just me, Emy, and the puppies. I was so tired Wednesday and Thursday night that I would come home from work, have dinner, and go to bed. I assumed it was from the weekend, it's always too exciting to get a lot of sleep when we are back home. I just took advantage of the empty house and slept...a lot! Friday morning I had a doctor's appointment and this little girl put on a little show! We were trying to get her heartbeat and she was moving so much the nurse could never find it long enough to get a heart rate. You would hear a couple of little thumps then a splash noise which was Emersyn kicking and moving. She did this for the longest, then finally cooperated for about 5 seconds so we could get her heart rate, then she went to moving again :) The doctor was very impressed with all of her activity! Baby girl is absolutely perfect. I had been a little concerned because I will feel Emersyn all day for one day, she will be moving all over the place, then I won't feel her for 3 or 4 days. The doctor explained this was completely fine, she just likes to sit low and on my bladder more than she likes to be closer to the surface (imagine a sweet girl sitting on your bladder all day, it makes life very interesting!) That made me feel a lot better, however, I explained to Emy I would much rather feel her little kicks than run to the bathroom a million times each day :) She's stubborn, I have NO idea where that comes from! I have another appointment in 4 weeks along with a sugar test, then the appointments move to every 2 weeks.... AHH where has the time gone?!? Also, we scheduled  sweet girl's 4D ultrasound in a little less than 4 weeks, on August 4th :) We are SO excited! I can't wait to see the little angel :)

This week has brought a big new surprise.... after the complete lack of energy through Thursday evening, let me give you a run down of my Friday. I woke up at 4, went to the gym and practiced BodyAttack and did some weights, came home and got ready for work, worked from 8-5, came home from work and made dinner (a new recipe that was absolutely disgusting), I cleaned up from dinner and all of a sudden out of nowhere I had this BURST of energy and this overwhelming desire to CLEAN, and that's exactly what I did- for the next 2 1/2 hours. I vacuumed, I steamed the floors, I dusted every table and piece of furniture in this house, and started cleaning out cabinets. I straightened up and threw away and just kept going! Lance and the puppies stayed in the middle bedroom and every time I walked by begged to be able to go to bed. I just could not quit cleaning, we filled up and took out 3 bags of garbage. Finally, every square inch of my back was hurting so bad, that I had to stop. It was great! This morning after Attack, Pump, and RPM I came home and kept cleaning! I think everything I can possibly clean or clean out at this point has been done. As soon as I find a new cleaning project, I will be on that asap. Early nesting? Possibly. I really don't care, I love this energy. I feel like I have accomplished so much :) 

We are having a relaxed weekend, July is always a busy month with birthdays, and to add to it this year Lance is traveling 3/4 of the month so we are taking these couple of days easy (well, he is, I've spent it cleaning so far!). We are enjoying the peacefulness now, but can't wait to have Baby Emy here with us :)

Halfway point :)

YAY! 20 weeks finally :) We are halfway to meeting our sweet, sweet angel Emersyn and we can't wait! Little girl is flipping and kicking all day long and just as active as her mommy. She really likes RPM and Attack music and I'm convinced she is learning the choreography in the womb. She is definitely a growing girl and her mommy's belly is perfect proof of that! 

We are so excited to finally be at our halfway point, it seems everyday I feel more and more pregnant. My back aches at the end of each day, I feel like I am already waddling, I am trying to get the growing belly down but it seems every time I am almost there, it grows again. I had my first ever experience with heartburn this morning, it began the second I stepped out of bed and lasted for a little over 2 hours. I finally got fed up and decided I was going to put the most recent BodyAttack release in and practice it, so I did. The first 4 tracks were pretty rough because every time I tried to take a deep breath, I felt like I had a knife in my chest, then we hit track 5 which is an upper body conditioning track- BLISS. Push-ups (both chest and tricep) along with crab walks are my new perfect cure for heartburn, it hasn't bothered me at all since. 

Lance and I came home to my parents house for a long holiday (and birthday) weekend and have loved every second of it so far. My daddy's birthday is July 4th, so it is a very special day for us. We have been home since Thursday night and have relaxed by the pool, completed another one of Emersyns' registries, ate at our favorite restaurant (The Fist Market), made homemade ice cream, plus I had a special spin class and breakfast date with daddy. We just love the country. The boys have been running and playing in the huge country yard, this their most favorite place in the world- not to mention their Gran gives them chicken for dinner! We love being here, 2 more days before we have to head back to Auburn, plenty more time to enjoy this peaceful place :)
We took our 20 week picture tonight after dinner. Each week I say I don't see how this belly is going to grow anymore, and everyday it seems to continue to grow more! Emersyn girl, as long as you are healthy and growing perfectly, mommy's belly is pleased to grow with you :)