28 weeks

Got to see our boy for a little bit today. He was hiding most of the time, with his spine up and the back of his head showing. We really didn't see his face much, just a few profile shots. Even if we couldn't see him very well today, it is so comforting to hear his heart beat and see him squirm and wiggle, and see him do big boy things like swallow and flex his muscles. We did learn that he is growing quite well and is a big boy with a full head of dark hair. He is 2 and 1/2 pounds already and at the 76th percentile for weight, and measures about 10 days larger than his date should indicate. He did have some guns and showed us his big bicep.

It was nice to see him so healthy because I had a bit of a scare today on the way to work when a distracted high schooler rear-ended me while in morning traffic. Thankfully there was no damage to either car, but it scared me and shook me for a bit. I had some sore shoulders in the morning, but most of that was tension stress I think and already sore shoulders in need of a massage. I am even more thankful that the impact was not so hard that myself, my placenta, or the baby had any injuries. So I gave that teen a stern talking to and about scared the bejeezus out of him, and took his info and let him be on his way.

I am really looking forward to the prenatal massage my wonderful husband arranged for me for this coming Friday. He is so good to me, and it will feel so nice to relieve some of the tension in my back. In fact I was in such a need a massage that I got a pedicure last week just so I could sit in that massage chair for a half hour... well not just that, my piggies of course needed work.

St. Augustine with the "Gainesville Family"

I decided to head up to St. Augustine to see Jen and the rest of the Davises for the first time since they moved back from Atlanta. It worked out because Devon had to drive up there for classes all weekend for her DPT school. We caught up in the car on the way there and back, but she was mostly gone at school during the days. So on Saturday it was just a small group of Jen and Milo, Zachary and Joshua, Jaime and Ron, and Brooklyn and Ben... A mildly full house. We played in the yard for a bit, and I took a nap in the afternoon while the kids played *quietly* somewhere.

In the evening the girls had a huge surprise for me. They had put together a small shower for me and were completely generous with their gifts! The decorated a little table with balloons and gourmet cupcakes and had all sorts of other goodies for me. I got a diaper bag stuffed full of clothes, shoes, sleep sacks, bottles, nipples, pacifiers, soaps and creams, and also a boppy, and a cute little stool with old timey car. Then they had a whole collection of things for scrapbooking. The book, stickers and decals, papers, glues, etc. We had some of the cupcakes for an appetizer then headed to Olde Town St. Augustine, walked around a bit and had a girls night out at Harry's for dinner. The men put the kids to bed.

On Sunday everyone let me sleep in and then it was off to the beach to enjoy what was a perfect beach day. The kids played in the shallow surf a bit, the water was perfectly cool. We threw the frisbee for a bit, then had a picnic lunch and the kids build sand sculptures and played in sand buckets. After the beach some of the kids napped and Jen and Jaime and I did 4 pages in the scrapbook. They shared their creative expertise with me, a newbie scrapbooker and rookie mom! When I showed Alex he asked where I got the book and when I told him I made it he didn't believe me. He said Jen and Jaime were crafty enough for that, but not me. I will show him! They are so cute and are all organized and ready to fill with baby pictures in the coming months.

How precious are these children, I ask you?

Baby Boy's first dose of Spring Break

Today was Lori's last day in Tampa and the last day of my mini-spring break four-day weekend. We headed to Clearwater beach with a cooler full of fruit and water and chairs and an umbrella for the preggos. I brought one of my motherhood books that I have yet to crack and read aloud to Lori since she didn't have a book. Propped my feet up on the cooler. It was heavenly.

We had a wonderfully relaxing day. It wasn't hot at all under the umbrella and the most work we did all day was Lori digging a hole in the sand for her belly so she could lie on her stomach. Here she is with her little contraption- sea turtle style!

Here we are belly and all. Sorry if this offends anyone or grosses you out but I really don't think more than 3 people read this blog and I'm not worried about any of you!

Me at 27 weeks.

Lori at 21 weeks.

Strawberries everywhere

When Lori came down for a visit we made sure to hit up Parkesdale Farms in Plant City for their famous Strawberry Shortcakes. They were great and Alex and I brought a half flat of berries and a bag of tangerines home. They are really good... and packed full of folate for my growing boy!

Lori looked more pregnant than me in that dress, but you can't tell from the front.

Then there were 4

Lori came home for the weekend and brought with her her little bun. Here we are, two preggo sisters.

Meeting the newest Hays boy

We went to Longboat Key to Aunt Anne and Uncle John's house to see my cousin Debbie and her two boys who are down for a little spring vacation. Today we met Christmas Baby, Griffin Aaron Hays, who was as sweet as you could imagine. An adorable baby and such a content and alert little guy. Debbie and I got to talk 'baby' a bit, and she brought me a couple of maternity dresses.

Here is Alex, who Griffin didn't seem to want to let go of. Alex is always so good with kids. It makes him that much more irresistible to me as we get closer to having a baby of our own.

Our "Nest" is getting closer to baby ready

Here is a room by room breakdown of our renovations. We still have a few furniture pieces to get and all the decorating in the nursery, but that will get done eventually. Lori was requesting pictures asap, so the lighting is not the best in all of these. 5:00 is what I had to work with.

Living Room

We moved the end table to the opposite side of the couch, rearranged the wall shelving, moved the college diplomas, and moved the chair to face the TV. New flooring and baseboards, new curtains, new bookshelves, removed the large armoire and put a smaller TV stand in the room.

Dining "room" and kitchen

We bought a smaller dinette set to fit off the kitchen. We finally eat dinner at the table like adults... but we can still see the TV while we eat. We removed the tile in the kitchen and put down laminate instead and painted the kitchen walls a darker beige. Still small, but so much more enjoyable to be in.

Den

We moved the armoire from the living room into the den and are using it for our office storage. We bought a new, smaller computer desk, and bought new window blinds. We painted the walls a darker beige and put in new baseboards. We also bought a TV for the den, and Alex is currently sanding and staining the stand for it. We will also be getting a small couch or love seat, which will be my perfect place to cuddle with the baby. We still have to figure out a plan for the computer wires. I hate that.

Half bathroom downstairs

We got rid of the awful baby blue walls in here by painting the same beige. We bought a new mirror and new light fixture and added a few decorative pieces. So much better.

Stairs

We had the stairs rebuilt to get rid of the plank slats type stairs so the baby would not fall through them. Then we recarpeted the stairs and the upstairs with a berber. The under side of the stairs is lined with new drywall, and Maggie got a new dog bed for her favorite spot under the stairs.

The Nursery

We painted a blue and beige combo and Alex hung and painted the chair rail. We also put in new blinds on the window. We had new carpet put in here and painted the baseboards. For now an empty slate, but we are thinking we are going with the Fire Truck theme.

It may not be the stuff out of Better Homes and Gardens but we are enjoying our new spot, which has brought us more peaceful and relaxing evenings, and made the house cleaner and less dusty for baby boy's new lungs. And we are proud of the tight budget we worked with. Big thanks to mom, who helped us by gifting us the flooring, both laminate and carpet.