JORJA on my mind....

This past weekend Mom, Jennifer and I hosted a baby shower for our lovely sister Jana and her soon-to-arrive baby girl Jorja Leigh!  We had plenty of laughs along the weekend if you can imagine all the Williams girls together.  We decorated Friday night, while Mom cooked chicken salad and other goodies.  The shower was on Saturday.  It was mostly family with a few friends.  The weekend was beautiful.  We couldn't have asked for better weather! 

Jorja received all kind of beautiful little outfits and dresses.  She even received the cutest little bathing suit with a matching hat!  She's also going to have to put her new jewelry on rotation cycles so she gets to wear it all! 

It's been such a wonderful experience being pregnant at the same time with my sister.  She's definitely been a comfort at times when I didn't know if what I was experiencing was a normal pregnancy symptom.  I can't believe that her time is almost up! Jorja Leigh Brewer will be here before we know it!  I can't wait! 

I love you sister and can't wait to meet your little girl!

We used Jorja's bassinet to hold all of her gifts.
Mom made the cover for the bassinet.
It's even more beautiful in person!

I was very excited about the wreath I made!

Preparing For Parenthood Class

Bright and early Saturday morning, Dustin and I headed to St. Vincent's for our Preparing for Parenthood class.  The class was pretty full with about 15 other expecting couples.  We all introduced ourselves by telling the class when we were due and a trait that we wanted out baby to have from our spouse.  I introduced us and stated that I wanted my baby boy to have Dustin's laid back, go with the flow personality.  Dustin followed that up by stating he wanted our baby to have my book smarts because I was lacking in the common sense area...  ha!  The class had a giggle, and it was nice way to break the ice.

During the class we watched several videos.  I was shocked when suddenly we were watching a live birth...TWICE!  Right after we watched the first video, Dustin informed me that he didn't think he would be able to be in the room with me while I delivered our baby.  I quickly informed him that if I had to be in there, he did too! He nodded and said he'd do his best!  :) 

After the videos, the instructor lead us through numerous power points.  The opening slide of one of the power points was titled, "The Burning Ring of Fire".  This was referring to the baby crowning.  I couldn't help but laugh, yet I know that is no laughing matter.  I'm definitely not looking forward to the "burning ring of fire"!

I have to say that Dustin and I did learn a good bit and had a few laughs, but overall we were  pretty disappointed with the class.  In fact, we didn't even go back after lunch!  We decided to come home and enjoy the rest of the beautiful day.  We took a walk and then worked on cleaning out part of the garage.  Later that evening we built a fire and Sara and Ethan came over.  They brought all the necessities for making smores! It was a perfect ending to a pretty great day! 

This is our fire pit!  With this beautiful weather we've had,
I'm ready to start fixing up our backyard for the spring! 

I am 29 weeks today!  Read below to see what's happening in William's world this week!

Your baby is growing rapidly now. This week he weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is getting bigger to accommodate his growing brain – which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. With this rapid growth, it's no surprise that your baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester.

The "Bringing Baby Home" Checklist

I'm not sure why today, but definitely today I've become a ball of nerves.  It may possibly be because last night Dustin and I talked about all the things we had not purchased yet for the arrival of William. Things like a car-seat to bring William home from the hospital in.  Dustin jokingly stated, "Well you can just hold the baby on the way home from the hospital."  We both had a giggle.  Then it hit me, I've totally been focused on all the cutesy, fun baby stuff.  I've got the nursery pretty much together.  I've been through loads of clothes that have been passed down to me by my sisters.  Mom and I found William's coming home outfit.  I even have William's first tailgating outfit already! What I do not have yet are half of the items on the "Bringing Baby Home" checklist!  Let me just share this list:

Bringing Baby Home

Checklist

Wondering which newborn essentials you’ll want to have on

hand when bringing baby home? This checklist covers the

basics and helps you prepare for your little one’s arrival.

For your trip home (and out and about):Car seat: nope

 Baby outerwear (coat, hats, socks/booties, and bundling blankets): CHECK

Stroller and baby carrier: nope

Diaper bag: nope, but I registered for a really cute houndstooth one though ;) 

For your nursery needs

Crib, bassinet, or co-sleeper (and sheets):  check on the crib and bassinet, but only 1 sheet. I read somewhere that you should have like 4 sets of crib sheets.  That's more than we have for our own bed!

Swaddling blankets: a few

Clothes: Big CHECK

Diapers: a few, but this is Dustin's major concern.  I think the couple with $300 worth of diapers at Babies R Us has really sent him into panic mode. 

Wipes/cotton balls: nope

Diaper cream and lotion:nope

Diaper-disposal system: nope

For bath time

Baby bathtub: nope

Baby washcloths: nope

Baby towels: nope

For meal time (breastfeeding or bottle feeding):

Burp cloths: nope

Breast pump and accessories: nope - but I've been told that the hospital has the best breast-pump and new mothers can rent them.  I plan to do that I think. 

Bottles: nope

Nursing pads: nope

Nursing pillow: nope Nipple Cream: nope...but thinks makes me nervous totally different reasons!

For your medicine chest (I need a medicine chest??)

Baby digital rectal thermometer: nope

Infant acetaminophen: nope Fingernail clippers: nope

I guess at this point, the only good news I have for William is that he'll be voted best dressed baby by his buddies at daycare.  :) 

Dustin and I will head out bright and early on Saturday morning to attend our Preparing for Parenthood class.  This class takes place at St. Vincent's hospital and will last from 8:30-4:30 on Saturday.  I'm pretty anxious about it, but looking so forward to spending this time with Dustin as we learn about taking care of our precious baby boy. 

I'd like to wish Mike and Sharon Tucker a Happy Anniversary!!

I'd also like to wish Whitney Watson a Happy Birthday!! 

Love,

Julie

 

 

Baby wash and shampoo: nope

Changing table or pad: check

 

Nursery update...still a work in progress

I've had several people ask me the status of the nursery .  It's definitely come a long way since the last pictures I've posted, but we still have a little bit more to do.  I have this mental picture in my mind of what I want, so I'm slowing trying to make that picture come to life for William!

I also must say that I really wanted a nursery for William, and then in a couple of years create a toddler room for him and so on.  So yes, it was my goal to make it very "baby". 

Take a look around, and I hope you like what you see! 

The crib is cherry wood that will convert into a toddler bed in later years.  The crib and the changer came as a gift that Gmom and Grandad (aka Mom and Dad Tucker) surprised us with.  Putting the crib together was not that hard, but the changer was a major headache!  Fortunately, Dustin and I did not kill each other during this task.  ;) 

I always remember my mom and dad telling me that I would always be their baby.  I wanted some kind of wall art that touched on this saying.  This particular script is from a children's book that demonstrates the love of a mother for her son through all the stages of life.  I thought it was just perfect!  This is one of my favorite things about the nursery (so far). :)

For me, baby bedding was a major stress point!  I found custom bedding that I liked, but nothing I just fell in love with. I would spend hours searching the internet for ideas.  I finally just got sick of looking. I knew that I wanted to accent the room with elephants, so when I saw this bedding on the Pottery Barn Kids website, I was hook, line, and sinker!

William has friends waiting on his arrival!

 (I had a full picture of the rug, but apparently I hit a wrong button and it has now disappeared. This picture has a portion of the rug in it so it will just have to do for this blog.)

Dustin and I wanted a rug for the middle of the nursery.  This rug was perfect and was exactly the look we were going for.  Thank you Gmom for finding it!

This is the piece of furniture that I had repainted.  I've lined the inside of the drawers and added new knobs to it.  It looks great! 

The large brown picture frame displays a cross-stitch that was Dustin's when he was a baby.  The elephant was a great find from Kirklands.  The small frame says, "Love at first sight" and has a sonogram picture of William in it.

The Tiffany football coin bank is a gift from my best friend Lacey.  It was a Christmas present. I actually plan to add some floating shelves or shadow boxes once I have everything in place to display the coin bank and a few other keepsakes. 

 Here's the changer!  You can see the "womb" bear sitting on top of it.  It was also Dustin's when he was a baby.  When you turn it on, it makes the sounds of "the womb" so that the baby is comfortable and sleeps soundly.  It's so sweet! 

 I love the sign above the door! It matches just perfectly!

I've still got to get the glider in the room.  Hopefully we'll have that in about 2 weeks.  My mom is working on making the curtains for the room.  I've picked out an adorable fabric so I can't wait to see those up!  We also want to get a little flat screen tv for the room and several other things.  Remember I told you I have that mental picture of what I want.  All in good time though, and we have a little time left. 

I'm 7 months preggers today!  28 weeks :) 

27 Weeks Update

Today we are 27 weeks, and it's the first week of the third trimester!  I'm excited!  I've only had some minor back pain this past week, but it was manageable.  My gums are starting to bleed more in the mornings when I brush my teeth and my nasal congestion is still pretty severe.  My cravings for sweets is out of control!  Dustin brought home chocolate glazed donuts this past week, and I seriously could've eaten the entire box in one sitting...but I didn't!  It's so strange too how real these cravings are.  Normally, a box of donuts would not be enticing to me, but right now I have a serious sweet tooth!  All in all, everything seems to be normal though, and I'm hoping the future weeks continue to be  pleasant. 

Yesterday Dustin and I took our first trip to Babies-R-Us.  Wow!  That place is overwhelming, but a lot of fun.  We picked out the travel system that we both liked as well as baby monitors and other big items.  There was a changer organizer that we purchased as well.  The couple checking out in front of us spent $300.00 on nothing but a buggy of diapers! We were both shocked!  However, we know that's probably the harsh reality.  Diapers aren't cheap! 

Yesterday afternoon Dustin went to the gun show in Annistion, while mom and I went and registered at Mommy and Me downtown. There were plenty of cute little outfits! There's so many people registered there right now, that a lot of the newborn and 0-3 months outfits were already on other registry tables.  I'll have to go back in a week or so and hopefully add some things.  I did pick out some really cute 12 months outfits though and a houndstooth diaper bag!

Tomorrow is my doctor appointment at 8:45.  I'll complete the glucose test while I'm there.  I'm hoping for good results! 

Read below to see what's happening in William's development this week:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother him, so just relax and enjoy the tickle

Happy Superbowl!
Julie

Prayer Warriors

There's been several situations that week that I've found myself praying diligently over.  Several of the people I've prayed for I don't even know, but their stories were just so heartbreaking.  I ask that you join me in praying for these families.  I know I have unspoken prayer requests as well, but I'm reminding myself that God is good....ALL the time!  I am a child of God, and I trust in him.  He will make a way... ALWAYS! 

I received an email on Tuesday asking for prayer for Rachel in Ohio.  Rachel gave birth and then was immediately rushed into surgery.  I do not know all the details, but from the emails I received Rachel developed HELLP syndrome ( a complication of her blood pressure) which caused her to have a stroke after childbirth.  Rachel did not make it through.  She's left behind a beautiful family.  Please pray for comfort, peace, understanding and guidance for this family. 

I received another email on Wednesday asking for prayer for a friend of a friend.  This lady was 8 months pregnant and went to the doctor for her regularly scheduled appointment to find the baby had no heartbeat.  She then had to deliver the little girl, and then plan a funeral for this Saturday.  Please lift this family up to God, especially on Saturday.  I can't imagine how hard that day will be for them. 

My father found out this week that he has 2 herniated discs in his back.  They are causing severe pain down his side and leg.  He can only get around with a severe limp.  Surgery is really the only option, but with his blood disorder, surgery of any kind can be very dangerous for him.  I know that this concerns my mother (as well as all of us).  With two grandbabies not far from arriving, surgery (if required) and recovery will be tough.  Just keep them in your prayers as well. 

All week long I've thought of a specific line from a song we used to sing back in the good ole Easter Pageant days of Bellevue Baptist Church. 

"God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind.  So when you don't understand,  when you don't see his plan, when you can't trace his hand, trust his heart. "

Julie