A Week of Celebrations!

Tuesday was my 25th birthday. Charley took part of the day off to spend it with me! He got me the most beautiful braclet, and a new jewelry box since my other one was literally falling apart. Then we went to Target (stopping to get me a white mocha on the way! :) and picked up a few things for Eden's room. I forgot how much I like that store. It's on the other side of town, so we don't go there very often. Then, Charley had to go to the office for a little while, so I went and had lunch with a friend. Later that afternoon, he took me out to dinner. Here's the tasty dessert we shared. Apparently, Charley told them it was my birthday...




Then, Saturday, my close friend Crystal, and another friend of mine, Renae, threw me an incredible baby shower! Those two worked for months on this event, and it was truly amazing! The decorations, cake (made by my precious friend Stephanie and her sweet daughter Michelle), devotion (also given by Stephanie), food, games, etc were PERFECT! I was so humbled and blessed by everyone's kindness and love to put so much work into making my baby shower so lovely. It completely and drastically exceeded any expectations I had. I think the best part of all, however, were all my friends (about 30 women) who showed up to share that time with me and celebrate the upcoming birth of this little girl! Having all of those ladies who have invested in my life all in ONE PLACE was overwhelmingly wonderful! I was overcome with gratitude and joy. God has been so good to me and has brought so many precious women into my life to minister, encourage, laugh with and cry to over the past 7 + years. Anyways, it was a special, precious time. Here are some pictures from the shower.




In other news. I woke up the other day with a bad soar throat. As if I don't have enough aches and pains as it is at 36 weeks... please pray I start to feel better and that it doesn't develop into strep or something.

35 weeks!

Charley and I got dressed up and went to a friend's wedding Saturday night. Here are some pictures of us in Eden's room before we left. Can you believe how enormous I am? Don't answer that.

Somehow, this guy still finds me cute... he's a crazy man :)

Papa Preston looking forward to meeting Baby Preston

Thursday was my last day of work. It feels incredible knowing that that I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock anymore. My next 'alarm clock' will be my baby's cry. :)

"Baaaaaaby Baluuuuuga...."

Because Eden is *so* stink'n active, we went in for another ultrasound this week just to confirm that she didn't have the cord wrapped around her neck a bazillion times with how much she jumps/flips/spins around. The good news is that the cord is not wrapped around her neck, even once, and she seems content in her head-down position... which is great. :) The 'bad' news is that her 'said' head, which I get to push out, happens to be on the larger side (apparently in the 90th percentile). This really isn't "bad" news seeing as if she's got Charley's big head, there's a good chance that she's (fingers crossed) got his big brains too - which would be FANTASTIC. I always knew marrying a genius would pay off. My kids have a chance!! whoohoo!

But in all seriousness, we are praising God because she appears to be very healthy and strong- and BIG. Whereas most babies would be weighing in at about 4 pounds right now, my little watermellon head is already 5 1/2 lbs! During the ultrasound, we also noticed that she's got a good amount of fuzz on that head... as well as some meat on her bones. YAY for chubby, big headed babies! We are 34 weeks now... which is nuts. How has it gone so fast?? What's crazy is that she could make her grand appearance as early as two weeks from now (even though she probably won't). I think it'd be awesome if she were born on the 8th of July... cause then her birthday would be 07-08-09. Wouldn't *that* be easy to remember?

So, pregnancy has made me kinda loopy. Yesterday we were driving to church and I leaned forward in excitment, pointed, and said, "Charley!! Look at those awesome fighter jets flying in formation". He glanced up, looked over at me, and then started laughing his head off. Just about the point that I noticed my own airheaded mistake, he said, "You goofball, those are GEESE". um. oops.

Wanna see a picture of what Eden is sorta looking like now? Just don't think that's how my body/tummy is looking right now... cause it's not. My belly sticks out about twice that far.

I can't show you any pictures of her from this latest ultrasound because she flat out refused to cooperate and would *not* show us her face for anything. I guess she wants to surprise us... or maybe she was just mad at us for talking about her big head. However, if she comes out with a nose ring, so help me. It was actually sort of a blessing in disguise because we're so close to the due date now, that deep down, I really didn't want to peek. In only a matter of weeks, I'll be holding her and looking at her chubby little face in person, rather than a fuzzy ultrasound television screen. :)

We've been enjoying some beautiful weather this Summer. It's been awesome to have so many sunny and warm days. Charley made me a grilled chicken salad after church yesterday and we had lunch out in the gazebo. It was so relaxing! I couldn't believe how warm it was! It was down-right hot! We've also seen our mama and baby moose twins a few more times in the past couple weeks. They were laying out, sun bathing in our neighbor's yard yesterday... SO CUTE.

That's about it ... I'll do some belly shots again soon so you can see how huge I am now. I was told at church yesterday that it was 'unbelieveable' that I'm not due sooner than the middle of July because I look like I could pop anyday now. I just thought to myself: "if you're trying to compliment me... don't."

;)

The 'Joys' of Pregnancy

Being 8 months pregnant, there are a few things I miss terribly from my 'pre-pregnancy' state.

1. Bending over/kneeling down. A week or so ago I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day, and dropped my mascara on the floor. Rather than simply leaning over to scoop it up, I found myself just staring down at it. Finally, Charley walked in behind me, noticed the dilima I'd found myself in, and picked it up for me. "uuuuuh, here you go, hun". You'd think he'd just given me a 2 hour back rub.

2. Bathroom Runs. If you've ever been pregnant, you know how annoying it is to go 'potty', stand up, wash your hands and start to walk out of the bathroom... JUST to stop, shake your head in disbelief, and turn around to sit back down on the throne again. Unreal. And they tell you to drink MORE water while you're pregnant... If you ask me, I think they just find it funny. What a rotten trick.

3. Those cute 'little' kicks. Eden has discovered my ribs. They are her new favorite toy and I'm convinced that she thinks they're her personal monkey bars. I'm also convinced that she will probably win a gold medal as a famous Olympian some day. Not to mention the fact that she NEVER sleeps. So much for getting Daddy's 'mellow' and 'shy' genes. She's taking after Mama big time. THANKS JEN. (When I lived with my sister, she used to get so mad at me for how obnoxious and hyper I was, that she would curse me by saying, "I HOPE YOU HAVE A KID *JUST* LIKE YOU SOMEDAY...THEN YOU'LL SEE").

However, even with those 'not-so-great' aspects of being pregnant, over all, I must say that I've thoroughly enjoyed the past 8 months, and am already looking forward to doing it again. There are more 'pros' than 'cons' to being pregnant in my opinion. Like:

1. "When are you due??!". Your popularity goes WAAAY up. Everyone wants to rub your tummy, buy you presents, and find out all about how you're feeling and if there's anything they can do to help. Some people may find this annoying, but I like it. Plus, you can get out of virtually *anything* by saying, "um, I'm really pregnant and just don't have the energy. sooooooorry". *sad face*.

2. You're a victim for getting fat. You can eat almost anything you want, and lots of it, and people just smile and say, "awww...you're eating for two now! How sweet"... while you mow down that double cheeseburger and fries. I'm *pretty* sure that's what heaven will be like. And after you've gained 70 pounds and look like a walrus, your friends tell you, "oh you look soooo good! You're breastfeeding right?? Yeah, it'll come right off... don't you worry." Love THAT.

3. Belly Rolls. No, not those kind. The rolls where you literally see your baby roooooll across your tummy. It's like she's waving at me. "Hi Mom! I'll be out soon!". Feeling her wiggle and move, watching my tummy twitch and bounce... it all contributes to this being the absolute, most awesome experience of my life. Watching Charley get that sheepish, giddy look on his face when he puts his hand on my belly and she bats at it... simply nothing compares.

I've only scraped the surface, but I just can't tell you how awesome these past several months have been - yes, even amongst the frequent bathroom runs, uncomfortable nights, rib ticklings, and now sporatic minor contractions... it's been amazing. And to think that we only have about 6 more weeks before I can hold this little miracle in my arms for the first time. *happy sigh*

:)