Our first baby

I wanted to give our cat, Oreo, some blog time because I figure once Charlotte makes her arrival it is all over for him! We got Oreo in January 2004. He was about 9 weeks old at the time and weighed 3 lbs. He was just the cutest thing we had ever seen! I always thought that people who referred to their pets as their children were a bit on the crazy side, but as soon as we got him, that is what happened. We started to refer to each other as "mommy and daddy" when we were talking in reference to Oreo. We have had hours of entertainment proved by this cute kitty. On a daily basis he makes us laugh and we are constantly fascinated by the adorable things he does. The fact that I can still think it is cute when he bathes himself is beyond me! And, I hate leaving him alone for more than a day or two because I worry he will get lonely. Clearly, I love our little Oreo very much. So, with as much as I love our cat, I cannot even begin to comprehend how much I am going to love our daughter! Here's to you Oreo! Thanks for being such a great cat!

The night we got Oreo He is so tiny!

Oreo is about 5 months old here. There is no way he can lay on me like this anymore!

This has always been one of our favorite pictures of Oreo. In fact, it has been our wallpaper on our computer for years!

He is 1-year-old here.

Here he is when he was 2-years-old and crawling around getting into trouble!

He loves laying on top of things. Here he is on Mark's school bag.

Here he is this past October. He is 3-years-old.Here he is just a week ago in March 2010. He is laying on my purse because he loves laying on things!

In this picture, Oreo was only a few months old. Sleeping in his daddy's lap is still one of his favorite things to do. He used to love my lap too, but as he got bigger my lap became too small for him!

Okie, dokie

I am 37 weeks and ready to have this baby! I know that no one is really "ready" because my future holds things I cannot possibly imagine - good and bad. However, I am very ready to see my little girl and hold her in my arms. I am ready to once again be the only occupant of my body. I am SO ready to sleep on my stomach once more. Oh stomach sleeping, how I miss you! I am, obviously, hoping she comes early. I told Mark that if Charlotte waits until her due date, these could be the longest three weeks ever! Having said that, I will wait for her timing to be ready and healthy to enter the world. But, little Charlotte, if you can hear me, Mommy says you can come now! (P.S. - Daddy is ready, too!)

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37 weeks

The Nursery

Dear Charlotte,

Mommy and Daddy have been VERY busy getting ready for your arrival! In January, Daddy painted your room and put up a chair rail. We couldn't let our little girl live in a blue room! Didn't he do such a good job?



Then in February we had a holiday from school, so Daddy took the opportunity to put together your furniture. You need a place to sleep! You are going to be a good sleeper, right? The furniture is so pretty, but I know it will be even more beautiful when you are laying in it!
Finally, this week Mommy got to do all of the fun stuff! We hope you like your room! Here is what the left side of the room looks like from the doorway.
Here is the right side of the room.
Take a closer look at your crib . . .
and the chair where we can cuddle :)
Finally, here is where you will have your thousands (yes thousands!) of diapers changed!
We are so excited about meeting you, our sweet little angel! Please, don't take too long before you introduce yourself to the world!

Love,
Mommy

Thank goodness!

We are still having a baby girl! Mark and I had another sonogram done yesterday to see how big our little Charlotte is getting. I was so nervous that we were going to find out that she isn't a she after all, but no worries! That is a really good thing since everything we own is pink!

Here is her profile. Just below the exclamation marks is her forehead. Below the "and" is her nose and then you can see her little mouth sticking out.

Here she is looking directly at you. You can see her little eyes, nose, and mouth. You can also see her little chipmunk cheeks sticking out! How cute!

Here is her foot pressed up against my stomach and you can see all her toes.

Finally, the sonographer informed us that she is not going to be a bald baby and we will have to make sure to have bows for her! On the upper right corner of this picture is the back of her head. All the little stringies floating out from it is all of her hair! At another point we were able to see the same thing on the top of her head. Mark and I can't wait to see what color her hair is!

We were so very blessed to be able to see her again and be reassured that all is well. The most beautiful word that we heard over and over again as the sonographer was checking all of her organs was that they were "normal". There is nothing more precious than hearing that our baby is growing and healthy! Her head is measuring 37 weeks and the rest of her is measuring about 36 weeks and 3 days (4 days ahead of where I was in my pregnancy yesterday). So, she is a big headed baby - poor me! She is measuring about 6lbs. 5 oz., but that is give or take a pound. So she could be over 7 lbs. or under 6 lbs. at this point. That is in about the 52nd percentile. She is approximately 17.9 inches long. Her heartbeat was 135. The sonographer actually had a hard time getting just the heartbeat by itself because she was doing so many "breathing motions" that is interfered with the sound. All in all, we were given a wonderful report on our baby girl. Charlotte, we love you and we are so excited to be meeting you soon!

Showered with love

I have been buried in a sea of pink baby clothes for the last 4 days and have finally come up for air! I want to post about my Prestoncrest church baby shower because it was unbelievably amazing! My friends, as always, had the most wonderful decorations and food. I think it is the cutest shower I have every been to if I do say so myself. The theme was bright, bold, sassy colors, and I just loved it! It really put you in a mood to celebrate. I was, am still am, completely overwhelmed by the amount of people who came to show Mark and me their love and support. We have been overwhelming blessed by being members at this church and here is another example of God's love shining through these wonderful people. Thank you so much to my hostesses, family, and friends who all helped me celebrate the upcoming arrival of little Charlotte on this wonderful day!

The beautiful table

My hostesses (from left to right): Hailey, JT, Miranda, Alli, Tami, Amy, Courtney, and Sharon. (Kimberlee also helped out but wasn't able to be there that day.) I love you girls so much!

My mom and sister

Nancy (Mark's mom), my mom, and my sister

My friend Alli who hosted the shower at her home

Here we are checking out the amazing diaper/clothes cake the Sharon made. I also had to throw in this picture because I look ridiculously large!

Ignore my silly expression and check out this gorgeous gown!

The children's Bible and first silverware set that the elders' wives from our church gave us. I can't wait to read Bible stories to Charlotte!

Is this so beautiful?

The tutu my sister made. It matches my 2 nieces so the cousins can all wear them together!

This blanket was hand-knit by Mark's great aunt Callie. It is so pretty and so special.

The amazing display off all of our goodies. Wow!

My sister and mom helping me organize on Saturday afternoon. What a task!

My niece Skylyn is enjoying it too!

And, of course, Oreo had to see what all of the fuss was about.

Finally some belly shots! 33 weeks . . .

35 weeks