Texas Baby Shower

I flew to Texas the weekend of November 13th for an amazing baby shower hosted by my mom, P-ma (maternal grandmother, for those of you who don't know), and good friend Gwen. Gwen was the decorator and caterer, and everything turned out perfectly! It was so nice to spend time with friends and family, and to receive so many wonderful gifts (especially all of the adorable clothes and accessories that a baby girl can wear)! Thanks everyone!

Ashley, P-ma, Gwen, and Mama

Kitchen Table (with Ginny the Giraffe sitting guard)

Cupcakes (the top tier is actually 4 onesies made to look like cupcakes!)

Punch Bowl

Dining Room Table (too bad the food wasn't set out yet)

Shoe and Bow Tree

Ashley and Cousin Starla

Bathroom Decorations

Diaper Cake

Aunt Sheila, Ashley, and Aunt Ellen

28 and 29 Weeks

Hi, everyone! Sorry for taking a week off from blogging...we've been busy lately! Here are my 28- and 29-week pictures (as always, compared to the previous week).

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

29 Weeks (please excuse the weird hairdo)

Last entry I mentioned having my glucose test, which I failed. Not a big deal; I had to take a more accurate 3-hour test the following week (which was last week). It wasn't much fun, because I had to fast for 12-hours beforehand, then sit in the waiting room of the clinic for nearly four hours, getting my blood drawn each hour. I was pretty hungry by the end. I'm pretty sure I passed this test, because I haven't received a phone call from my doctor (I should have heard from her Monday had I failed again). So thank goodness for no gestational diabetes!

Last weekend I flew to Texas for a wonderful baby shower hosted by my mom, but I'll devote an entire entry to that in the next couple of days. While I was in Texas, Chet and his dad painted the baby's room, and it looks amazing! Pictures to follow!

27 Weeks and Crib

Hi, everyone! Here is my 27-week picture, compared again to my picture from last week. I don't think I grew as much this week as I did last week...which may mean I grow twice as much next week!

26 Weeks

27 Weeks

I had a doctor appointment Thursday, and the baby's heart is still beating at a strong 150 beats per minute. I've gained just about 10 lbs, and the doctor said that my tummy measurement is right where it should be (this is the first time she pulled out the tape measure). The appointment was also a little unnerving, just because the doctor had to explain that at this point in the pregnancy I need to go straight to labor and delivery if anything seems wrong. Hopefully this baby continues to cook for as long as possible! I also received my H1N1 vaccine, and was supposed to do my glucose test Thursday, but I did it Friday morning at the clinic in Mayport (closer to home) instead. I should have those results next week.

In other news, we're starting to put the nursery together! In the last three weeks we've gone through and taken out all of the boxes that were stacked in the nursery from our move, and Chet put together the crib, armoir, and dresser/changing table that we ordered. I also picked out the paint color (pink, of course!), so we'll do a test swatch to see if what I picked is the color we'll actually go with. (By the way...there are WAY too many shades of pink available at Lowe's and Home Depot. It's just not right.) Thankfully, Chet's dad is visiting next weekend while I'm in Texas, and they will do all of the painting while I'm gone. I'll post more pictures of the room after it's painted (right now it's way too white).

Chet (just starting to put the crib together)

Ashley (posing next to the crib as if she put it together by herself)

26 Weeks

Hi, everyone! It seems that I'm getting better at posting my belly picture on a weekly basis (we'll see how I do next week before I get too full of myself). I think there is an obvious weekly progression at this point, which is good because it makes being pregnant seem more real to me! I've also posted my 25-week picture for comparison, since the two posts are so far apart.

25 Weeks

26 Weeks

Also, today I got a pedicure, and all of the ladies in the nail salon kept patting me and asking me how I was feeling. I thought it was pretty funny. My next appointment is a week from today (November 6th). I'll let you know how it goes!

House Pictures

Hi, everyone! I'm finally getting around to posting some house pictures, even though I didn't actually take these pictures myself (Chet's dad took them when they visited last month). They're a little outdated because we've made some changes since then, but I think they do a good job of portraying how the main part of the house is laid out. I'll take some closer shots of the rest of the house and post those soon.

Front of House

Part of Kitchen

Dining Room (I guess you can call this the dining room...it's really just a big open space that leads out to the back porch)

Living Room (the view if you're standing in the kitchen; if you were to pan the camera to the left you would see the "dining room" picture from above)

Back Porch (we love the view!)

Texas Visit

(WARNING: I didn't snap a single picture during this visit!) Two weeks ago (Thursday, October 8th), Chet and I flew to Houston for Columbus Day weekend. My dad picked us up from the airport that night and took us to dinner at Moe's Barbeque (Chet's first taste of REAL Texas barbeque...he loved it!). Friday morning my mom, Dave, Chet, and I drove to New Braunfels, and then to Austin to visit Grant at the University of Texas. Chet and I got to see his dorm room, and we walked around campus and shopped at the Co-Op. Here is a picture of some adorable purchases...

After our UT visit, Mama, Chet, and I visited the LBJ Presidential Library; Chet nor I had ever been to one (Grant couldn't go because he was attending a study group). It was really ineresting, but we didn't get to spend a lot of time there since they were about to close. After leaving the Library we stopped by the San Marcos outlet mall on our way back to New Braunfels and did a little bit of shopping. This is where we bought our baby girl's first pair of boots (they're little crib shoes with soft bottoms)!

We left New Braunfels Sunday to head back to Houston, and Chet and I flew back to Jacksonville Monday. We had such a great weekend, and I can't wait to make another trip to Texas in the middle of November!

23, 24, and 25 Weeks

Sorry again for taking three weeks to post these pictures! We had a doctor appointment October 6th, and everything looked great. We got the results of our long ultrasound (all perfectly normal) and listened to the baby's heartbeat (a strong, steady 150 bpm). Next visit (November 6th) I will have another round of routine bloodwork done, as well as undergo the glucose test to determine whether or not I have gestational diabetes. I'll keep you posted!

23 Weeks (exact same outfit as 20 weeks!)

24 Weeks

25 Weeks (not a very flattering picture - I just woke up from a nap)