Sunday, July 24, 2011

Fourth of July in pictures

What? I'm still in the right month...

These are photos of Jade with Jessica's son, Caleb. They had lots of fun but it was impossible to get one of them both smiling and looking at the camera. Regardless, I love the photos we got. Hope you enjoy :)

A very happy Jade.

A somewhat happy Jade that is about to flip out of the wagon. For the record, 
she tucked her head and did a nice roll. No damage done.

Caleb was more interested in pulling than sitting.

Or pushing...

Don't know why I like this one so much.

And they both look somewhat happy :)

Quick life update: Chuck, Jade and I are now down in the Outer Banks, NC at the beach. We drove down last night and are waiting on Jade to wake up from her nap to go to the actual beach. Our house is awesome and we're already envisioning ourselves coming here for years (but bringing more people to make it cheaper! I will try to post photos throughout the week.

Friday, July 22, 2011

It's the little things

Yesterday was not the best day. Miss Jade would not take an afternoon nap despite acting incredibly tired/cranky, so I did what any normal pregnant mama would do. Went on a walk. At two in the afternoon. With 2 dogs. When the heat index was over 100.

Bad idea? Most definitely. For the record, I was fine. Belle, unfortunately, was not. At the halfway point (a little over a mile in), I stopped to give everyone a break and give the dogs some water. Belle wouldn't drink any. When we started to walk again, she starting coughing. Almost a dry heave. Then she started acting like she was going to throw up. Then she spit up foam. All this in addition to some panting that was shaking her entire body.

I stopped. Pulled out the iPhone and checked the web. These were the early signs of heat exhaustion/heat stroke. Everything said to get the dog inside immediately. Only one problem. I was a mile from home.

We stood on the side of the path for 15 minutes. I called Chuck repeatedly- no answer. Not knowing what else to do, I called a friend who offered to come pick us up. I then pushed Jade in the stroller while walking Zoe and carrying Belle so that I could get to a place where my friend would see us. I wish someone had a video camera.

After a quick ride home, I filled up the kiddie pool and put Belle in it. She cooled down immediately and seemed fine after that.




She then proceeded to throw up in the living room twice. Once, Jade got to it first and played in it. Did I mention it was a rough day?

Needless to say, I learned my lesson. No more walking the dogs when it's that hot out. They can't handle it.

Now to the point of this post. This morning, I had a lot to do. The living room still smelled faintly of throw up so I needed to vacuum and Febreeze. We're leaving town Sunday and there is laundry and cleaning and packing to be done. But when I went to put Jade down for her nap, and she snuggled up to me and started to fall asleep, I couldn't just put her down. She so rarely sleeps on my chest anymore.

So for an hour, I sat there with my baby girl sleeping on my chest. I alternated between watching her and sleeping myself. It was wonderful. Did I get my housework done? Nope. Did I do what I needed to do? Absolutely. I felt better, more grounded, less stressed. I needed that time with my sweet girl.

It really is the little things.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The trip- photos part 1

While I will readily admit that a "vacation" with a 14-month-old is anything but restful, I really think that Jade and I had a great time and I would do it again in a heartbeat (although not tomorrow...).

We began by waking up at 3:30 and driving 9 hours to Atlanta. Jade really was good... there was definitely some screaming, but not for too long and we both made it unscathed.

In the rocking chair at the Cracker Barrel in North Carolina

We spent the weekend in Atlanta with my friends from high school. These girls (and their husbands) are awesome. I always love my time with them because I can just be myself... no stress, no pressure. It's wonderful.

I'm very ashamed to admit that this is one of the only pictures I have from the Atlanta weekend. And this is Kristin... and we were at Meg's house warming. But Leah took lots of pictures and has assured me she will send them to me! That was a long caption.

Sunday, we drove to Birmingham and spent the night at my parents house to break up the drive to Mississippi. My brother was very nice (a nice change of pace!) and grilled steaks for dinner and we had fun hanging out with his family that night. Monday, I let Jade get her morning nap, ate lunch with mom and my niece, then drove 3 hours to Mississippi to see my friend Jessica from college. Her and her hubby, along with their little boy, had just moved there and I needed to see their new place :)

At the bounce house in Mississippi.

Jade was GREAT in Mississippi. Honestly, I think she was better there than she is at home. Seriously. She wasn't clingy, whiny, anything. It was amazing. I think that part of it had to do with the fact that Jessica's house is like a toy store and Jade was in love with all the toys and the other part was Caleb. Her 22-month-old son. Jade just loved having a playmate. They were adorable together. Although sometimes Caleb ran away from Jade. What can I say, the boy likes his space?


So much fun :)

He was throwing himself around in the pool and she was laughing at him. It was hilarious.

Baby girl liked the water.

We spent Independence Day in Mississippi and then headed back to Birmingham to spend time with the family. We then stayed in Birmingham through the 11th, drove to Atlanta on the 11th to break up the trip and then drove home on the 12th. It was a lot of driving. 

Whew, I really am getting tired just typing all of that. No wonder I've been so tired lately :)

*I have about 5,000 pictures from Independence Day and also have some from Trussville as well, and I will post those soon :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Pregnancy- 20 weeks

First, yes, I know that I've been MIA and such lately. I'm trying to rectify that... promise. I'm just gonna skip Jade's 14-month post since she's closer to 15-months than 14 now, but I should be more consistent from now on. Not sure if anyone cares, just wanted to throw it out there :)

I'm missing a few belly pictures, but I will post the ones I do have!

19 week belly photo

20-week belly photo


Pregnancy: 20 weeks

Weight Gain: 7 pounds. I was really worried at this appointment because I didn't exercise much and ate like crap while I was out of town, but I only gained 3 pounds. Can't complain about that.

Sleep: I'm finally doing a little better. The trip was rough... 3 different beds, none of which were mine, gave me some serious back issues. But the combination of the chiropractor and my bed is helping and I'm finally starting to sleep better!

Gender: Ready for this? It's another GIRL! We're so excited. I can just picture my girls, growing up as best friends. I'm thrilled.

Name: We have officially decided that we're not going to tell anyone the name that we pick out. With that said, we're actually throwing around a couple options at this point, which is way better than we were doing with Jade. We're not 100% on anything, but we're actually on the right track.

Feeling: Getting better. The combination of the trip and the heat has completely drained me. The doc thinks that I also had a mild virus on top of this which caused the nausea and such I've been battling. I still don't have as much of an appetite as normal, but I'm feeling better and am praying this is not my pregnancy for the next 20 weeks.

Movement: Still feeling her moving around in there! I haven't been able to feel anything from the outside yet, but the ultrasound tech today said that my placenta is in front so that explains that. We should be able to feel her from the outside in a couple weeks :)

Next Appointment: August 16

Friday, July 1, 2011

Oops :)

So I suppose I have left you guys hanging. I left home a week ago today and have been to Atlanta, Birmingham and now Mississippi.

So far the trip has been wonderful. Jade has been quite the trooper and is doing great here at Jessica's house.

Unfortunately, I have basically NO cell service at Jessica's house. I could use her computer to post but find it rude to sit in the back of the house on the computer. Not to mention the fact that I am here to visit with my friend.

So... When I return you will get some pregnancy posts (18 weeks today!) and a Jade Grows Up post.

Until then, I hope you all have a great holiday weekend.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone