I'm back....(I think)

Since Greyson' s birth I've deliberated over how and where to blog and post photos. There are so many options and I haven't been sure that Blogspot was the best place for everything I was looking for. However, just as I was about to close this blog, I started looking back at all the posts I made over the last year and realized I wasn't ready to let them all go. So, for now, I'm going to keep this site and continue with our family Shutterfly website for sharing more photos and videos of our sweet little Baby G. The Shuttefly website allows us to share a lot of photos of Greyson as he grows and changes all the time, and also allows people to order prints for super cheap directly from the site. I'll keep this Blogspot site as my own personal playground of randomness (and of course, a lot of Greyson-ness). :-)

One caveat...I've decided to password protect this site. I'm a mother hen that feels very protective of my little chick. :-) If you'd like to continue reading this site, send me an email to let me know you'd like to be added to the list.

39 weeks!!

We're at 39 weeks....HORRAY!!!! I'm feeling really well. The baby has dropped continually lower and feels much heavier now. I'm honestly not feeling miserable or terribly uncomfortable like I hear a lot of women say they felt at this point. We're just super excited and anxious to meet our sweet baby. Every morning we wake up and wonder "is today THE day"? We're trying to be patient, but it's just so exciting!

I'm still doing yoga every morning at 4 am and swimming at least 3 times a week. By 4 am my hips and joints hurt too much to stay in bed, and I've found that if I just get up and do yoga for 30 minutes, I'm usually able to lay back down and sleep for another couple of hours. Swimming is AMAZING!! The weightless feeling in the water feels incredible and allows me to move in ways I otherwise can't. I can't get enough of it. I swim laps and do a lot of stretching in the water. After my laps, I swim on my back and focus on my breathing. I try to meditate and imagine the baby floating along with me in his or her own little water bubble. It's so relaxing and the only time I get to be on my back. My swimming suit is black and white, so I probably look like a big whale when I'm floating on my back, but I don't care. It's completely worth it! :-)

I'm still working and will continue to do so up until the end. I fortunately have my own office and am sitting most of the day behind a desk. Besides that, I work in a hospital and they could just wheel me upstairs if they had to. Each morning my co-workers wait with anticipation to see if I'll arrive to work. When I open the door, I get a big "Heeeyy! You're here!" I usually have the door to my office open throughout the day, and people pop their heads in frequently throughout the day to see if I'm there. If they don't find me, they've learned that I'm probably visiting my second office...the restroom. My office is at the end of a long hallway and the restroom is at the opposite end. I think I've worn a path in the flooring going between the two so often! It's really nice that my co-workers are so excited about the baby too, and I really appreciate all their support and concern. I can't hardly step outside my office without getting a high-five, thumbs-up, an "alright!", or a big smile from someone. This baby is very popular already!

Today I'm really feeling like the baby's birthday is right around the corner....I hope it's not just wishful thinking. We're ready when you are baby!

39 weeks + 1 day

38 weeks + 6 days

blizzard 2010 & nesting

We've just experienced the Blizzard of 2010 and got wholloped wi

th 27" of snow!! I've never experienced so much! Unlike our December '09 snow storm, this one was much more wet and dense. The trees are weighed down and unfortunately a lot of trees and power lines have fallen. We're fortunate that our power has remained on. The trees that haven't fallen are really beautiful and it looks like a true winter wonderland outside. We went for a nice long walk yesterday- it was such a pretty day with gorgeous blue skies. The streets were quiet and calm other than the sounds of neighbors chatting and shoveling. It's kind of refreshing to see everything come to a halt in the city, people being forced to slow down and spend time at home. It wouldn't be very cool though if the baby decided to come early and we couldn't get to the hospital, but thankfully the baby seems to understand that it's not quite time yet. :-)

Yesterday Eddie unburied the truck and it's in prime quick-access location, just in case we need it. The National Weather Service has issued another winter storm warning that is expected to begin tomorrow around noon and dump an additional 8-10" on the area. It will be really interesting to see what happens if we get that much more snow. If we get just 1/2" more snow this winter, it will be the second snowiest winter in DC's history.

I've enjoyed being home the last couple of days and I didn't have to go to work today- horray!! It's given me ample time to finish up my baby sewing projects. I've made girl and boy things to cover the bases: minky blankets, receiving blankets, burp clothes, diapee & wipee holders, and appliqued onesies. It's been so fun!

My good friends Maria and Rachael hosted a baby shower for me a couple weeks ago and it really lovely- thanks guys! I had a great time catching up with friends and we received so many adorable and much-needed baby gifts. It's all very, very appreciated! I've been doing laundry today, washing up all the baby's things and putting them away. Eddie is working from home and carried the laundry for me. It was surreal seeing the baby things coming in and out of the washer and dryer, knowing that they belong to OUR little one. Just 4 weeks to go....wow, it's going fast.!!!

I'm feeling good, but BIG! Here's a picture of me from 34 weeks. I'm already a lot bigger than this picture...seriously! I'll have to post another picture soon.

blizzard of 2009

Usually when the forecast calls for inclement weather in DC, it rarely amounts to much. I admit that I was skeptical when I heard the weekend forecast calling for a massive snow storm. "Yeah right", I thought to myself. "I'll believe it when I see it". Much to my delighted surprise, it really happened. We got 16.5" of snow this weekend in DC!!! Whoo-hooo!! We very rarely get snow that covers the ground in DC and to have this much at Christmas-time is awesome! Waking up to a white winter wonderland on Saturday morning was like a Christmas miracle. I heard on the news that DC hasn't had a white Christmas in 20 years and this was the 6th biggest snow storm in DC's history.

My dad and his girlfriend Lori were in town visiting us this weekend and thankfully made it in Friday before the snow hit. The snow changed our plans for the weekend a bit, but we made our own fun and still had a great weekend. Friday night we visited the National Christmas Tree and saw the White House. The tree is really beautiful and we had fun looking at all the little state trees with their personalized ornaments.

Saturday, Eddie had a killer idea for some snow fun with his snowboard and we all had a blast playing in the snow....check out the video below. We're buffing up on our video skills for Baby G. I have a feeling Baby G is going to be starring in A LOT of movies!

turkey day & 26 weeks

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend in North Carolina with Eddie's family. A lot of food and a lot of laughs- how could it not be fun?! My birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year which doesn't happen too often and it was fun to just be together with everyone. I introduced noodles to the NC family and I think they turned out to be a hit! Having homemade noodles at Thanksgiving and Christmas is a long-standing tradition in my family and it just doesn't seem like the holidays to me without them. I have a lot of great memories of making the dough, rolling, cutting, drying, and cooking the noodles together with my mom and grandmas. It was fun to share the tradition with my new family.

Saturday was really beautiful and a bunch of us headed to the park for a nice walk, geocaching, and playing on the playground. Cute picture of the girls and Edward.

Things are going well on the baby front. We had another ultrasound a couple weeks ago so they could finish up what they weren't able to see the first time. Everything looked great and Baby G is developing just as expected. Horray! It was amazing to see how much baby had grown in the 3 weeks since the previous ultrasound! At our 21 week ultrasound the baby weighed less than a pound, and at 24 weeks the baby weighed 1 lb. 9 oz! Grow baby, grow! And we again stuck with our decision to not find out the gender. :-)

We're now 26 weeks 1 day. Here's a pic of baby this week, courtesy of Baby Center:

and here's a pic of me at 26 weeks...

thankful

It's hard to believe that we're already 24 weeks along in the pregnancy, which means only 16 weeks to go! How exciting!! I'm still feeling great, except for a few minor things. My feet have really started to hurt- maybe it's the extra weight I'm carrying around? I've been feeling very energetic for the most part and really pretty normal, other than the obvious. The baby is growing bigger every day and so am I. The bump is really obvious now and I love it!

The radiologists' report from our ultrasound was good and baby's doing A-okay in there and we're so thankful. Everything was normal and baby was right on target with what they expected. They weren't able to see quite everything they wanted because of the baby's position, so we're going back tomorrow for another ultrasound so they can be thorough and finish up. I'm so excited to see the baby again and how much he or she has changed in 2 weeks!!

Eddie has been super busy working to open another store in Florida. He's been in Miami for the past 10 days and comes home this evening. It sounds like the weather was really nice there, but unfortunately he didn't have any down-time to enjoy it. His hotel was a block from the beach and he wasn't ever able to step foot in the sand...poor guy! Can't wait to see him tonight!

We're really excited for Thanksgiving next week and looking forward to seeing family in NC. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. I love Christmas too, but I love Thanksgiving for it's focus on delicious food, being thankful for our blessings, and just enjoying the opportunity to spend time with friends and family without the focus of gifts. This year, as always, we have so much to be thankful for!

24 weeks 1 day

21 week ultrasound!

We had our 21 week ultrasound Friday, the 30th. Seeing Baby Garrett's little toes, legs, arms, fingers, nose, heart, etc. was incredible! I go back this week to hear the full report on the radiologist's readings from the ultrasound. We were very tempted but didn't peek at the baby's sex. We're looking forward to the big surprise at birth!

Eddie hates having his picture taken and prior to the ultrasound we were joking that the baby would probably take after him and try hiding from us....and it did! The baby was laying head down, face down and was laying with one arm beside the head and the other arm in front of the face. The technician was fortunately able to see everything she needed and we did end up with a pretty good profile shot, despite the baby's best efforts to hide. :-) It was wonderful to see how much the baby has grown and I feel so privileged to have this special little life growing inside of me. It's just so amazing and wonderful.