My Valentine

My forever valentine. My hubby. My best friend. My partner-in-crime. My D.

You have shown me, and continue to show me, what love is. And even though it looks different this year than in years past, I am forever thankful for the way you have shown your love through the past year as our lives together have changed. True love this year has been:

- celebrating the first time we heard our baby's heartbeat
- painting a nursery 3 different shades of grey until we found the perfect one.
- delivering more bottles of water and snacks to the couch/bed than I can count.
- making me laugh during hormonal pregnant lady meltdowns.
- constantly reminding me that I am pregnant, not fat.
- spending free time putting together baby furniture, toys, etc.
- staying in on Saturday nights with take out and Redbox.
- picking up and extra box of Kraft Mac and cheese because we are about to be snowed in.
- late night runs to Sheets for Mountain Dew.

I am thankful for you today and every day. Next year, we will both have a new Valentine to shower with love!

Love you always.
XOXOXO

37 weeks & randoms

A few important randoms...


* We found out at my 37 week appointment yesterday that baby girl is breech. I pretty much knew, but the ultrasound confirmed it. Because of baby's size and position, combined with my strangely shaped uterus, we decided to schedule a c-section. Looks like we will be meeting our girl on February 24th! I have mixed feelings about going under the knife, but there is not much else we can do at this point, and it isn't so bad knowing the day we get to meet her. And for those who aren't counting the days, February 24th is only 12 days from now!

* The cradle that we have been waiting for since July finally made its way to NC and in our house! When my mom was pregnant with me, my grandpa hand made a beautiful cradle for me to sleep in as a baby. It was used with each of my cousins as well. Since I am the oldest grandchild and the first to have a baby, it was important to me to have Olivia sleep in the cradle as well. So, this past weekend, my mom and dad rented a minivan and drove all the way to NY and picked it up for us! And now, we have the sheets on and it is ready for use again after 20ish years! So, so special.

* Speaking of special, we are also using the blanket that my grandma made for me when I was born in the nursery. In fact, it is what I planned the whole nursery color scheme around. So, we have two very important and meaningful hand-me-downs ready for use with our girl!

*One of my best friends and old college roommate, Lauren, and her husband had their little girl on Saturday! She was not due until February 22nd, but I guess she could not wait to meet her mom & daddy. She is absolutely precious, and that means our turn is next! 

* After calling my insurance company this morning, I found out that breast bumps are 100% covered as of January 2014. Wahoo! This saves us a good chunk of change so I am glad I finally got a chance to call and talk to someone about it. 

* We got a good amount of snow here today, which meant a snow day from school. Normally, I would be sick of the snow and not excited about adding school days on at later dates, but it sure does feel good to get some things done around the house and take some time to relax. 

* We have had two absolutely amazing baby showers. I can not say enough thanks to the family and friends that pitched in to help with the showers or brought/sent gifts for our little girl. She is so loved already and we are so lucky to have such awesome people in our lives! 

Almost done!

28 days.

4 weeks.

1 month.

That's how long we have until we meet our girl!

I am officially 36 weeks pregnant today. The baby is the size of a watermelon now and could decide to make her appearance anytime in the next month. It has been the longest, fastest 9 months of my life. Really though, the days have dragged at times but it is hard to believe that it has been 36 weeks already.

We pretty much have everything done in the nursery. D installed the car seat. Hospital bags are  packed. Lamaze classes are almost finished. Hospital tour is scheduled for this week. Weekly doctor appointments start this week. We are about as ready as we will be for this whole parenting thing!

I am so anxious to meet her. To hold her. To kiss her. To see what color her eyes are. To see what color her hair is. Will she look like me? Will she look like D? I'm sure she will be perfect. And beautiful.

I can't wait to see D get to finally hold his girl. I have been bonding with her for 36 weeks now, holding her inside and feeling her every move. And while D has felt some of it, he has had nowhere near the experience I have.  It is his turn. I can't wait to see her wrap him around her fingers. He is going to be such a great daddy.

A lot is going through my mind right now, and honestly, I have my fears about the whole labor and delivery process, but it all goes away when I think about meeting her.