26 Weeks...

As of tomorrow I will have 26 weeks down, 14 weeks to go...(If I'm doing the math right - Chad will correct me if I'm not). WOW! When I say it like that it seems like Griffin's arrival is just around the corner! We can't wait but we still have a lot of getting ready to do.

Here's a picture of the bump. I've started feeling a little guilty about not being one of those new moms that takes a picture every week to keep track of the progress. Oh well...


I feel like my stomach is huge and can't believe that it is just going to keep getting bigger! It doesn't seem like there is much more room for it to grow, but I know it will. According to "the books" Griffin is about 2 pounds now, so there is a lot of growing left to do! He is becoming more and more active and his kicks and punches are starting to get more and more noticeable. It's weird to just be able to see my stomach "jump" and move. It's pretty neat too. I love it when Griffin moves around because it just reassures me that he's in there and that the miracle of life is moving right along!

Here are a few random photos that I wanted to share...this one is my very first monogrammed gift for Griffin! The cutest burp cloth I've ever seen! (Thanks Mrs. Moody!!)

Then, I wanted to give you all a little "teaser" on the nursery. Chad did a great job painting last weekend and has a little bit to finish up this weekend. I will post more pictures of the painted bedroom and bathroom once he finishes it up. I am so happy with the colors!!

We pick up the nursery furniture this weekend and I'm so excited about that! Not sure if we'll get the crib put together this weekend or not (Chad says no, but I'm so anxious!). I just can't wait to have the nursery all ready to go!

We are going to be busy getting things done in the next few weeks, which means lots of pictures are in your future (I know you people like the pictures...I only get comments when there are pictures) so stay tuned...

Sweet Husband

I've always known that Chad is a great guy - I wouldn't have married him if I didn't think so - but, over the last week or so I've realized just how lucky I am. He has really been great through this whole pregnancy, but lately, I think those hormones that everyone talks about have kicked in. I tend to cry easily over silly things, and I've done some really STUPID stuff in the past week. I'm not going to go into detail, but one example is the speeding ticket that I just got today. Chad gave me a little "talkin to" but took the news much better than I expected. Uggg...I'm just going to blame this past week on my "pregnancy brain." I haven't pulled the, "Give me a break, I'm pregnant!" card much, so I think I'll use it now.

Anyways, I haven't been able to stop thinking about last weekend and what a sweet and patient husband Chad was. It was Saturday and we were getting ready for the big Ga. Tech / Va. Tech game. Chad had been looking forward to this game all week - not only the game, but the all day tailgate before hand. The game didn't start until 6, so that left the entire day for some quality tailgate time. Our goal was to get out there by noon. (We would have gotten there much earlier, but Chad had a tennis match that morning.) While he was off playing tennis, I was suppose to be getting ready - showering, making apple dip, boiled peanuts - so we could leave when he got home.

Well, as you can probably guess, I severely underestimated how long it would take to do all of that and when Chad called to say he'd be home in a few minutes, I had just gotten out of the shower and had not even started the apple dip....and the big issue?....I hadn't picked out what I was going to wear to the game yet. Now, I have a hard enough time picking out the perfect "game day" outfit on a normal day - but on this day - finding a cute outfit that was going to be warm enough AND work with my ever growing belly, was quite the feat. By this time, Chad was home, getting showered and ready, and trying with no success to "suggest" different clothing options for me. After trying on numerous outfit combinations, them not working, and me throwing them on the floor, I broke down into tears. Through the tears I gave up on an outfit and declared that I would just go make the apple dip. Chad knew well enough to just leave me alone.

Now here's the good part. About 10 or 15 minutes go by and I'm down stairs cutting up apples. Chad comes down and very calmly says, "I've picked out two different options for you that you haven't tried yet and they are hanging in the front of the closet. I think you're really going to like them." At the time I'm thinking, yeah right. But, as it turns out, one of the shirts that he picked out worked perfectly! Chad finished things up in the kitchen and packed up the car while I finished getting ready.

(Here's a picture from the game. Turns out my outfit didn't matter at all because I was in a jacket the entire day.)

The more I think about that "act if kindness" by Chad, I realize just how lucky I am to have such a great husband...and how lucky Griffin is to have such a good dad! (Chad already kisses Griffin every night and tells him good night...adorable.)

So Chad - thank you for being so wonderful and so patient with me...especially this past week. I'm giving you good practice for fatherhood, and I think you're about ready! LOVE YOU!

My First "Griffin" Dream

Last night, Griffin made his first appearance in a dream! haha...I will probably sound crazy when I re-tell it, but I figure it might be funny to look back on some day. Like most dreams, I only remember bits and pieces, so here goes:

We were out of the hospital but I was seeing Griffin for the first time. He was all covered up in his Graco, Snugride infant carrier and I had to unzip some sort of covering to "unveil" him. I remember being a little taken aback by him...he looked just like Chad when he was little (or from what I've seen in pictures) and I remember thinking, "Gosh, he has a big head." Once the initial shock of the big head was over I, of course, thought Griffin was the cutest baby ever!

The dream went on to make no sense with me picking Griffin up from daycare but they couldn't find him right away (we are going to tour some daycare next week in real life, so I've had daycares on the brain lately). Strangely I wasn't too worried or upset by this but - good news - they were able to find him! So...we got in the car, which turned out to be a plane (that I was piloting myself) and then we got pulled over by air traffic control...

That's about all I remember. Weird, huh?

On a more normal note, we have started making some progress on the nursery! We've decided on a paint color and I am going to pick it up this evening after work. I'm also going to finish taping up the room (my only contribution) so Chad can start painting this weekend! (Chad won't let me help paint...he's already an over protective dad. I think it's sweet though.) After we get the room painted, we plan on picking up our furniture next weekend!

I will certainly do my best to post pictures of the process. I have vowed to myself that I am going to get better about blogging more often - even if I have no pictures to post along with a particular entry (like this one). For some reason I feel pressure to post pictures with every blog entry, like, that's what "makes" the blog. I need to get over that....

House Divided

Well, while Griffin has been to a few Ga Tech games in the womb already, this was his first FSU game. Monumental, no doubt. It was also his first "house divided" game. Chad and I didn't talk too much during this game, but I think Griffin enjoyed it non-the-less. And, as it turns out, Griffin will probably be at the next house divided game in person! Tech and FSU don't play each other again for another 4 years (or something...I'm sure Chad will correct me).

We had a great weekend hanging out with some of my good, good friends from school. Kristin was the perfect hostess and we loved hanging out with her and Lindsay and Adam. (Lindsay has a bun in the oven too. Won't be long before we know if it's a boy or a girl!)

Chad and I had fun at the game. There is seriously nothing that beats a game in Doak Campbell stadium!

It's even worth it when your team loses. We'll get 'em next time! Go Noles! (I must say, I was a little relieved that I didn't have to deal with an unhappy Chad for the rest of the weekend though.)

Chad thinks that we are going to raise Griffin to be a Ga Tech fan. I think he will have to have a little Seminole in him too, but I know it's going to be hard - living in Atlanta, going to all the Tech games, and the fact that Chad is quite literally obsessed with Ga Tech sports. I'm going to need my friends and family to help me expose Griffin to some FSU pride!

The Nursery: Part 1

While we haven't done a ton of work in the "nursery" yet (for some reason it's weird for me to call it a nursery . . . even the fact that we need a nursery is strange), Chad has gotten us off to a great start with a brand new closet! He designed it himself and went to Home Depot about 13 times to get everything he needed for the project and, if you ask me, he did an excellent job!

The closet just started out with one shelf going across, which left a lot of wasted space - especially since baby clothes are so tiny!

So, the engineer got to work in designing a closet with the most efficient use of space. Here's how it started . . . lots of little pieces. Luckily I was out of town when most of the "construction" was taking place. When I called to check in on how things were going, he was working on getting a blood stain out of the carpet . . . whatever . . . practice makes perfect, right?

We decided to go with two rows of hanging space for most of the closet, a great shelf / storage tower (with drawers and open space) and a small area for long, hanging clothes.

Looks great, huh?!

And, of course, it's not complete without these precious little clothes and goodies that we've already received as gifts. We we so excited to go out and buy hangers so we could put the clothes in the closet.

Chad told me that some mornings he just goes in there to look at the closet. I think part of it is that he's just plain ole' proud of his handy work (as he should be . . . great job Daddy!), but he's also anxiously awaiting Griffin's arrival. We can't wait to actually see him in these precious clothes!