Busy October!

Yesterday marked 21 weeks along, so I guess we're officially PAST halfway there. Pretty exciting! I guess I'll blink, and it'll be February. That's about how fast it seems like this has gone so far.

Other than sleeping and shopping a lot this week, so far I've felt pretty normal. Note: I am normally NOT a big shopper, but apparently having a baby changes that quickly. Since Monday, we've bought a glider off Craigslist, made plans to buy a travel system (car seat, 2 bases, and a stroller) off Craigslist next week, and I've gone BACK to Kids Market for the 50% off sale. This is a terrible time to be shopping so much because I have NOT been working much lately. I know Travis just shakes his head at me :) I'm lucky to be married to a pretty understanding guy! I really am trying to be frugal about all of this stuff...there's just so much to buy! I knew I did not want to pay full price for a glider, and this one was pretty much in brand new condition. I don't think it's ever been sat in..seriously. Hopefully it'll hold up good once we're using it every day! This week, it's been hanging out in our room, but I'm hoping to make room for it in the nursery once we do some furniture rearranging...

The travel system I found on Craigslist is the Chicco Cortina KeyFit 30. According to Consumer Reports, it's one of the safest and most user-friendly car seats out there. Brand new, the system costs around $300-$350, and buying an extra base for Travis's car would be an additional $85. Yikes! So, Craigslist to the rescue again. I know you have to be careful buying things off CL, but hopefully this will be a good decision. It's $100 for the whole system plus an extra base. Now, we won't be able to use the car seat as long because it will expire sooner than a brand new seat would, but I think we'll still be getting a great deal. Here's to hoping at least! We're going to look at it next Friday, so wish us luck :)

And, much to Travis's dismay, I went back to Kids Market today for their 50% off sale. But get this...smart husband of mine decided I should meet him at 11 AM to drop my car off at Firestone for an oil change/tire rotation, etc. Then, he would take me back home on his way to Meridianville for work for the afternoon. He's so sneaky...he knew I would spend all morning and afternoon shopping if I hadn't had somewhere I HAD to be! So....I really didn't have as long as I would have liked to spend looking at everything, but that's probably a good thing. I got MORE baby clothes (oops) and a maternity dress, khaki pants, and lounge pants for me. Baby's closet is filling up quickly, especially since Travis's stuff is still in there! :) We'll fix that eventually...

Speaking of Baby Grant, no (Mom and everyone else who keeps asking) we still haven't decided on a name...haha. Y'all should all know by now how slowly we get things done around here! :) She'll have a name before February though, so as soon as we know, you can all know. She apparently weighs around 0.75 lbs and is about 10.5 inches long. No wonder I've been feeling some pretty good kicks this week! I'm sure she's going to have big feet thanks to her mom and dad, so there must not be much room for them in there anymore :) Our next doctor's appointment is a week from today, so I'm looking forward to that. After that, I think we'll start going every 2 weeks instead of every 4.

Between this weekend and next weekend, Travis and I have been invited to one wedding, and I've been invited to three bridal showers. Whew! I thought wedding season was in the spring/summer, but apparently not this year. We also just went to Andrew and Stephanie's wedding in Pigeon Forge this past weekend. Yep, we drove there and back in a day. It was fun but tiring!

Next weekend is also the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run, my birthday, and the Tennessee game. I guess our weekends won't ever slow down before February, and definitely not after that! :) I've been "running" (if you can call it that) a few times a week lately, so I'm going to attempt to "run" part of the 5K at least. Running = a slow jog for me these days, but that's ok. Maybe it's at least offsetting some of this Halloween candy I've been sneaking...

Speaking of running, Travis has officially signed up to run a FULL marathon in April! That's 26.2 miles!!! He's going to run the one in Nashville...the same race we ran this year when we did the half marathon. I'm excited for him....I know he can do it!

We've also officially decided on going to Orlando for our 5 year anniversary trip/one last "just the two of us" trip. We knew we wanted to go somewhere relatively warm, so that eliminated a lot of places right away. We were looking at San Diego at first, but it got scratched once we realized how much the plane tickets would cost. Phoenix was also on the list, but according to our *spreadsheet*, driving to Orlando would still be cheaper than flying to Phoenix (even though the price wasn't bad at all to fly there). We'll just have to save Phoenix for another time. We're actually going to go on our anniversary trip a few weeks before 12/22 just to be practical about the holidays and family time. We're going the week after Thanksgiving because it turned out to be the cheapest time to get a hotel room. We may do Disney for one day while we're there, but we're also planning to do a lot of non-Disney stuff that we've never done before. We're looking forward to it! :)

I didn't realize I had that much to say! Maybe some of you made it to the end :)

Hope your week is going wonderfully!

OOHH...we're halfway there!

Today marks 20 weeks along.....halfway there already!!! It seems like the time has really flown by. Travis was saying the other day that it has been 3 1/2 months since the day I came home and told him he was going to be a dad. Pretty crazy how fast the days have gone since then. As you can tell from the picture below, I think this baby is going through a growth spurt! I'm definitely getting comments from just about everyone these days. It's hard to imagine how much bigger my belly will get, but I guess it happens so gradually that I'll just get used to it. Anyway, I'm still feeling great! Never had any nausea (minus one day last week when I threw up during my morning jog...but I think that was from not letting my breakfast settle long enough!). I'm feeling a little more energetic these days I think. I'm still doing the injections every day, and they are going fine. I'm really thankful that everything has gone this well so far. I just hope the last 20 weeks go as smoothly as the first 20! :)

20 weeks!

I got the shirt I'm wearing in that picture from Kids Market, a two week long consignment sale in Huntsville that they have twice a year. (By the way...it was $3.00....brand new WITH tags still on it). It started Monday, so of course I got there right when it started at 9 AM. Gotta get those deals, right? Well apparently lots of people are even crazier than me. This was the line 5 minutes before the doors opened!!!

Looks like Black Friday, doesn't it??

Luckily for me, most people headed right for the kids stuff when they got inside. I went straight to the maternity clothes. This store was as big as Wal-Mart and full of stuff....clothes, toys, books, games, baby gear, etc.!!!! It was INSANE! I ended up spending about $45 on 10 items of maternity clothes (dress pants, skirts, shirts). It was awesome! I decided to check out since I was finished before the long check out lines started, and so I put my stuff in the car, and headed back inside to look at baby stuff.

I could've spent all day there just looking at everything! (Travis is sure glad I didn't though....haha). My arms were sore just from moving clothes on the racks..haha. I ended up buying the cutest diaper bag. It looks brand new and it's made of material that can be easily wiped clean. I'm excited about it!

Isn't it cute? :)

I know Travis was hoping for a more "manly" bag than that since he'll be carrying it around too, so I told him I'd be on the lookout for a cheap black one too :)

And, of course, I couldn't leave without buying some cute clothes for our little girl!!! So excited about these! Most of these were $1-2 a piece, so I spent about $20 total. Not too bad since they all look brand new!

Can't wait to dress her in those clothes!!! :) Kids Market lasts through the end of next week, and on the last two days, everything is 50% off. I'm strongly considering going back to see what's left!! I can't resist :)

Hopefully when I go back next weekend, the checkout lines won't be this bad...

This was AFTER standing in line for at least 20 minutes already...

Today was my only day to work this week, so other than shopping, I've been staying busy with a little painting project at home. Several months ago, I bought a nightstand for our guest bedroom from Encore Furniture, a consignment furniture store in Huntsville. (Noticing a theme here? I'm thrifty!!) It was $25 I think. My plan was to repaint it and turn it into something that would match and look more modern. Well I finally got around to painting it this week, and I'm so happy with the way it turned out!!

Not the best quality picture, but this was taken at the store before I bought it...

It had been sitting in the guest bedroom for months, so Travis took it out on the back patio for me, and he took the hardware off.

Ready to be transformed!!

I sanded it all over and wiped it clean before we took it back inside. Then, Travis primed it for me with Kilz. I'd read that you shouldn't paint with oil-based paint while you're pregnant, so he did that part for me. Such a sweet husband! :) Next I painted it with two coats of light blue paint from Home Depot. After that dried, he carried the nightstand back outside for me so that I could sand it again around the edges. Then it was time to distress it with some dark brown paint. This was the part I was most nervous about! When I first started, I did NOT think it looked good. But, I kept going with it, and by the end, it really did look good! I also spray painted the hardware to cover up that ugly brassy gold color! After painting two coats of polycrylic to seal it, the nightstand was finished!! So...check it out!

So excited about it!! Next up...I'm going repaint an old chest of drawers that Mom is letting me have. It will go in the nursery when I'm finished. I'm seriously considering painting it pink or green to match the bedding I ordered. We'll see :)

Anyway, that's about all the news around here. We're heading to Andrew and Stephanie's wedding this weekend, so we're looking forward to that. Monday is Columbus Day, so Travis has the day off. Maybe we can book and plan our anniversary trip this weekend.....and maybe we'll even pick out a name for the baby. Is that being too optimistic?? :)

Hope you're having a terrific Thursday!

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!