Shopping Dangers

I can already tell I'm a sucker for all this cute baby girl stuff! Someone, please keep me away from the stores!! :)

Actually, keep me away from my laptop too. That's where most of my looking is going on.

I've already broken down and ordered the bedding for our baby GIRL'S nursery. Most of the time I would say I'm a pretty practical shopper...not very impulsive. But, I absolutely could not resist this bedding once I saw it online. I seriously don't think I could find anything cuter. So, I didn't try. This is it!!!!!

Hottsie Dottsie by Cotton Tale Designs

I love it because it's got pink in it, but it's not totally pink. I love the polka dots and the elephants too. I can't wait until it comes! I've got a white crib picked out, and I'm looking for a white dresser/changing table combination. Soon it will be time to kick poor Travis out of his study and turn it into the baby's room. Travis is enjoying his room while it lasts though! :) We'll move his desk into our room, and I'm even going to hang his Alabama football prints in our room too. It's all about compromising! :)

We've made it to 19 weeks!! One more week, and we'll be halfway there. So exciting! I'm not sure if it's the leftover cupcakes or what, but when Travis took my picture yesterday, I was shocked at how big my belly looked! So, I did what any other normal pregnant woman would do, and I ate the last two cupcakes last night after church. Oops. For the most part, I really haven't been pigging out, so I guess it's ok to splurge every once in a while :)

19 weeks

Also, here are our ultrasound pictures from last week...

It's a girl! :)

View of her head and torso from the side

Her skull...she's working on her Halloween costume early! :)

Well, I guess that's about all that's happening around here. Now that we know we're having a girl, let the planning begin!! Just tell Travis to keep me on a budget! :)

IT'S A...

GIRL!!!!

We are so excited! It's still sinking though! On Friday at the appointment, it didn't take the tech long to tell us one way or the other. Travis and I were SO sure it was going to be a boy. That's what most people had been guessing, and I guess I just assumed it would be too. I'd pretty much picked out some cute boy bedding, and we'd even come up with a name that we both liked. Whoops! Guess I don't quite have that motherly instinct yet :) Travis was really hoping for a boy, but it didn't take him long to get excited about having a little girl. I may be biased, but I think he is going to be an awesome dad. 

The ultrasound took about 20 minutes, and Baby is looking good. The tech was able to see everything she needed to, and it looks like Baby Grant is developing normally. We were able to see her heart beating, and we could even see the 4 chambers of her heart. Her heart rate was 148. We also saw her brain, bladder, spine, ribs, and different bones in her body. It was really cool! We got to take home a DVD of the ultrasound with the video on it. She weighs 8 oz right now or about 1/2 lb. She's definitely growing...just like I am..haha :)

We hurried home after the appointment, and I got to work assembling the cupcakes. I'd made them the night before, but it was time to put some PINK filling in the middle! :) I had so much fun decorating them...

And here are the finished cupcakes!!

After the cupcake decorating was finished, we headed to Trussville for some time with my family. After we ate some yummy white chili for supper, it was time for the big reveal! Two of my aunts and one uncle were there along with my parents and sister. We asked everyone for their guess beforehand, and there were 4 guesses for a boy and 2 for a girl...

Mom was so surprised!!

Dad and Jenn were the only ones who guessed it right!

PINK! :)

Aunt Gale and Uncle Bill were so sweet. They bought two gifts...one for a boy and one for a girl. We opened the pink bag, of course :)

Our first baby gift...the cutest pink bathrobe!

...and some pink socks, of course...

Welcome sweet baby girl!

Aunt Ann also got us the cutest little lamb for the baby to snuggle with!

It is so soft :)

Aunt Jenn!

On Saturday, we headed to Tuscaloosa for the game. It was great to see the team play in person again! We got to see Jason and meet his really sweet fiance, Ellen. We also stopped by Emily's apartment after the game to see her. We took her a cupcake too! I forgot to ask her what her guess what, but she said afterward that she really had no idea either way.

I think she was pretty excited :)

Yesterday, we got to see some of our college friends at church that we hadn't seen in forever. It was so great to see them! Finally, when we got back home last night, Cheryl, Melissa, Tyler, and Alisha came over to eat their cupcakes. Thanks for being so patient, y'all! I know it was hard to wait that long :) From them, we got 2 "boy" guesses and 2 "girl" guesses. Time to bite in!

I love this picture! 

So, everyone was excited to find out, and now we can tell the world! Yay! We've got one idea for a name, but Travis wants to make a...spreadsheet...of names before we decide for sure. Don't act surprised! I really wish we could change his middle name to "Thorough"...it would be so appropriate. 

I've already had to restrain myself from looking at too many cute baby girl clothes. It could get out of hand very quickly I'm sure! :) But, I'm looking forward to registering, picking out bedding, and decorating the nursery. 

This is such an exciting time! We are so blessed and thankful for all of our supportive family and friends. Y'all are the best! :)

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

We find out TOMORROW!! I am so so so excited!!! Is Baby Grant a boy or girl? Around 10 AM tomorrow, we should know. Yay!!!!

I decided that I definitely just want to find out tomorrow at the appointment. I don't think I can wait any longer. So, here's the plan. I'm making cupcakes tonight. I'm also making a cream filling to go in the middle of the cupcakes. Tomorrow, once we find out if it's a boy or girl, I'll color the cream filling either pink or blue before filling up each cupcake! We're heading to Trussville tomorrow afternoon to see my side of the family, so we'll take some of the cupcakes with us. Then, Sunday night, we'll eat cupcakes with Travis's family. I thought this would be a fun compromise between having a full-blown party and not doing anything at all. Pictures to come, definitely!

Baby Grant is moving around much more noticeably now. I notice some kicks or movement just about every day! It's a pretty neat feeling. He or she is about 5 1/2 inches long and weighs 7 oz. Today marks 18 weeks along. Almost halfway there!

18 weeks

I worked 3 days this week, so I'm glad to have a 3 day weekend coming up! I can definitely tell that my legs hurt more at the end of the work day than they used to.

We've been getting stuff done around the house slowly but surely. Tuesday night, we hung a valence over the window in the guest bedroom. It came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and the colors match the comforter perfectly. It looks great! :)

We also have a little garden flag in our front flower bed now!! So excited about that :) It just makes the entrance feel so homey! Now, I just need an Alabama flag for football season, right?

Welcome to our house!

Yay! Things are growing...slowly :)

Right side close-up

Left side close-up

We're going to the Alabama game on Saturday...our first of this season. It'll be good to be back in Tuscaloosa! Uncle Bill and Aunt Gale will be in town staying with my parents also, so we're excited to see them. They're all going to Auburn on Saturday for the LSU/Auburn game.

We both signed up for the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run this year. That's the race that I did last year to raise money for breast cancer. It's actually on my birthday this year, so it's about 1 month away. It's a 5K, and I'm planning to walk/jog it. Won't be breaking any world records, but it'll be fun! Now that the weather is so nice, it's not hard to want to get out and exercise :)

Travis is working late tonight, so I guess the kitties and I will have to hold down the fort. As long as they don't break any more lamps this week or knock over vases of flowers, we'll be good :) Crazy kitties!!!!!

Cat vs. Baby?

I am still so excited about the great deal I got on Friday!! Travis went with me to a consignment sale in Huntsville with lots of maternity and baby/kid stuff. I was mainly looking for maternity clothes since we're not quite ready to buy baby clothes yet (sigh..). We got there right after the sale started, and I was the first one to hit the rack of maternity clothes! They had a lot of cute stuff for REALLY cheap prices!! I ended up with 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of dress pants, 1 jacket, 1 sweater, and 3 shirts all for $37.50!!!! We were both so excited. Of course, I couldn't try anything on while we were there, but I tried it all on at home, and everything fits! I love a good deal!!

Yay!!

It made me sick that we still don't know if Baby Grant is a boy or girl.....because they had a TON of cute baby clothes. Oh well. They will have another sale in mid-March, and it's already on my calendar! Can't wait for that!!

I'm 17 weeks today and feeling good! I think this baby must really be growing because my bump has really gotten bigger in the past few weeks. Supposedly, he or she is about 5 inches long and weighs about 5 oz. The Lovenox shots are still going well...no issues there. I had my 2nd trimester screening today. It was really quick (just a blood sample), so I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. The test screens for spina bifida, Down syndrome, and trisomy 18. We should find out the results in a few days.

17 weeks

Next Friday (which seems like forever away) is our appointment with my regular doctor. I feel like we've been waiting forever. I am seriously leaning toward just finding out the gender when we go rather than waiting to find out at a party, so we'll see how that goes :)

Apparently, not everyone in the Grant house is as excited about this baby as I am. And, no, I'm not talking about Travis...haha! I came home the other day to find this...

Is this a hint from Miss Gabby that she's not looking forward to this baby??? Who knows!!! She does like to be the center of attention, so it will be an adjustment for her :)

I won my first fantasy football game this year! Usually I start out with a loss, so this is a good sign. I'm still the only girl in the league, and I think it would be hilarious for the pregnant female to beat 11 guys and win the "championship". Of course, I'd get accused of cheating because I had "extra help" on my team :) Oh well...wish me luck!

The weather has been cooling off a little bit, so I took that as a good excuse to get out my fall decorations. I just love decorating! We don't have any outdoor decorations, but at least the inside of the house looks cute.
Now I just need some Halloween candy for the bowl on the foyer table :)

We've got several house projects to take care of in the next few weeks, including fixing a leaky toilet, hanging curtains in the guest bedroom, installing a new ceiling fan in our bedroom, and painting a nightstand. The fun never stops around here!!

Hope you're having a great week too!

Week 16!

Today marks 16 weeks along! I guess my bump is definitely noticeable now because I've gotten several more comments from strangers this week. To me, it's more obvious when I wear certain shirts and less obvious in others. I think it's just been such a gradual change that I'm not noticing it!

It's there!!

I'm still doing the daily Lovenox injections, and it gets easier every day. It's really no big deal anymore. I haven't skipped a day yet, so I guess it's just part of my normal routine now. Baby Grant is supposedly about 4 1/2 inches long now and weighs 3 1/2 ounces. It's tiny heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood per day!!! How cool is that!? I'm pretty sure I've felt some kicks already, so that's been really neat. At one point during the Bama game Saturday night I was yelling at the TV, and I'm pretty sure I felt a good kick right after that! I think Baby Grant was saying, "Let me outta here! I can't see the TV...." Already a Bama fan from the start :)

We're still just waiting (im)patiently to find out whether it's a boy or girl. I'll clarify that...I'm the impatient one. I think Travis would be fine just waiting until the baby is born! I'm still debating whether or not to have the party. Our appointment is 2 weeks from tomorrow, so I've got some time to make up my mind :)

Tonight is our first night at home with nothing planned since Tuesday a week ago...whew. No wonder I've been so tired lately! We had a great weekend! We had a great gospel meeting at church with Dan Chaney, spent time with lots of friends and family, and watched Alabama win their first game of the season! Roll Tide! Our steaks from Earthfare were awesome!! Definitely not something we'll buy every time, but well worth it for a special occasion!! Unfortunately, I didn't get an "after" picture, but here are our "man steaks" before they went on the grill...

Yum!

One of the highlights of the weekend was eating lunch with Alan and Katie on Sunday. It had been forever since we'd seen them! It was great to catch up with them.

This weekend will be much more low key, and I'm looking forward to some relaxing. Tomorrow we're going to go to a consignment sale in Huntsville with lots of baby and kid stuff. Who knows what we'll find...should be interesting! I've started a registry at Target, but I haven't put too much on it yet. I never knew babies needed so much stuff!!! Expensive stuff!!!! Hoping to find some good deals at this consignment sale :)

So, I guess that's about all that's happening around here. Can't believe it's already September! I need to get out my fall decorations soon....yipee!!

Hope you're having a wonderful week so far!