I had my 35 week check up today and I measured at 36 weeks so I am more or less where I should be which is great news. Also great is that I didn't gain any weight in the past two weeks and my odd weight gain at the last appointment was chalked up to water retention or a big salty meal. That was very encouraging news to me because I really have tried pretty hard the past few weeks to curb my sweet intake as well as limited myself to drinking only water for the most part. I guess my efforts have paid off:) The baby's heart is strong and sounds wonderful!
I have regular Braxton Hicks contractions and some days they are worse than others but, they can be pretty strong at times. Our little girl is still super active in spite of her crowded quarters. It cracks me up how often she gets hiccups these days. I have had issues with hiccups my entire life so evidently our little one is taking after her mama in that department.
We are still working on our laptop so no pictures at the moment though I do have lots as well as videos to post! Hopefully we will be up and running again soon.
We just had a great service at church on Sunday about keeping our needs versus our wants in perspective. God has blessed Joey and I will all that we could ever need and more. We are so thankful for his provisions!! These things below are what one might call wants I suppose but, I just like to think of them as fun things to dream about and help pass the time while I wait for our baby girl to make her debut. Once she arrives, I will have more than enough to keep me distracted and busy with for a long time...the rest of my life. lol. What are some of your dreams for 2010?
Although I would love to travel Europe with Joey for a month that won't be happening until our retirement but, it's a nice thought:). So, in the meantime a vacation to New York, Cancun (off season), Costa Rica again, The Florida Keys, Asheville etc. any of those will do:). I would love a little get away with the hubs and our baby this year:). We do have our six year anniversary coming up...hmmmm... Joey's passenger boat seat ripped out on the freeway last year and he has been seat-less ever since. Don't worry, no other cars were damaged in the fiasco:). One new boat seat coming right up! Joey has been wanting some running boards for his Ram since he got it. They do add a nice touch don't they! Plus they would have been soooo nice to have throughout this pregnancy. Joey has had to give my butt a nice lift every time I try and hop into his lifted truck because I'm too fat to hoist myself now. The running boards would have eliminated that awkward scene a long time ago! hahaha I have had a weird urge to take a simple cake/pastry decorating class. Nothing too fancy but, I like the idea of being able to create cute desserts! Maybe after the baby is born it will become my new hobby! A 17" MacBook Pro laptop would solve world hunger...I mean, it would be a really cool toy to have and it might even hold a charge! What a concept:) lol The Canon 430 EX flash would be a fantastic addition to our camera. Especially with a newborn on the way:). Great for getting nice indoor pictures on darker days!
I don't have much to share nor do I have pictures because our laptop is again TKO:). The frame that we replaced is working like a champ but, the latest problem is that our laptop has stopped holding a charge. We bought a new battery which it did need but, the more pressing issue is that the laptop is not getting a good enough connection on the battery charger to hold a charge. Blah Blah Blah. Basically the entire thing is in pieces all over the dining room again and Joey is going to attempt to correct the problem, but it may or may not work. Fingers crossed that it does because I will have blogging withdrawals within a day or two without that laptop!! lol. As usual, I have pictures that I am eager to post but, they will just have to wait...or you will that is:).
Joey installed our car seat this weekend and it looks so cute in the back of my car:). Thanks babe! Starting this week I will have a doctor's appointment every week until the baby comes and I will keep you posted if the doc. has anything new to say about my massive belly. lol. Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks and whew, it's almost scary to me how close I am to the end of this pregnancy. I am so over being pregnant, having a horrible night's sleep, peeing every 30 minutes and having an aching back but, it still kind of blows my mind how fast this pregnancy has flown by and how soon I will be holding our little girl in my arms and not in my tummy. EEK!! lol.
My two other pregnant pals are due in the next week or two and I am so excited for them!! It's been a rough road for the three of us but, we are all in the home stretch now!! WooHoo!!
No we are not this warped looking in real life but, this 40 year old mirror had a circus effect on us. lol I like the angle though. Great eye Elissa:) Yes, I really am this big! Can't believe we are down to the home stretch! I stole this picture idea from our friends who just had their baby:) It's my favorite! I loved this cute picture of Elissa and her son Logan so I had to add it to this post:). Plus she was the one kind enough to take these maternity pics for us before they headed back home. I am very happy to have some pictures with both Joey and myself right before our baby is to be born as most of the pics I have are just me by myself. I will always cherish these. Thank you Elissa and great job:)!
Another night of no zzzz's. Starting to feel like a zombie but, at the same time surprised how long the body can go with so little sleep. Quite impressive!
Finished up washing all the baby clothes for 0-3 months this week and have started packing a little hospital bag for me and the baby. Joey is going to put our infant car seat in my car this weekend and then all I have to do is make one final shopping trip for some little things and find a good pediatrician before I pop. It feels absolutely wonderful to have so much of the big stuff out of the way at this point and I have you all to thank for a lot of that!!
Just a little heads up: When we do go to the hospital for the real thing we will hopefully post periodic updates either on facebook or on this blog depending on which is easier and faster at the time. We will be bringing our laptop so we will also post a couple of pictures at some point while we are at the hospital for all of you who won't be able to see our little girl right away. We probably will not be answering many phone calls or text messages but, just know that we will get back to you when we can and we appreciate the love and support:). Baby girl Martinez will be here before we know it!
I was dared to keep taking bare belly pictures to the end of this pregnancy...this one is for you Melissa:). Today we turned the page into our 34th week of this pregnancy. I am bigger than ever and at my appointment last Thursday the doctor strongly urged me to cut back a lot if not completely (sorry, not going to happen), on all fruit juice, fruit and sweets of any kind. I have been told to drink strictly water for the next 5-6 weeks of this pregnancy and this is all to keep my weight under control. Thanks Doc. You might as well just tell me I'm fat and I should go on a diet. lol. To be considered though: Joey was 8 pounds 7 ounces or something like that and I was 8 pounds 12 ounces so our chances of having a tiny baby are pretty slim. I think our little girl is just chunking up regardless of what I eat or do. Or maybe I am just fat. Whatever. lol
Last night I was woken up rather abruptly around 12 with one contraction after another. I tried to lay in bed awake until 1 AM hoping the contractions would calm down so I could go back to sleep but, not only did they not slow down, they picked up in intensity, frequency and our poor little girl was swinging, kicking and rolling furiously with every contraction. At 1:30 I couldn't take it anymore so I got up and walked into the kitchen to drink a lot of water and then I sat on the couch wide awake timing the contractions as best as I could though my stomach just felt tight non-stop and my back was killing me. The contractions weren't completely consistent but they came about every 5 or 10 minutes for 8 hours straight. Yup, that's right. I was kept awake from 1 AM until 9 AM with contraction after contraction and the constant need to pee thanks to the contractions and a splitting headache. I didn't bother calling the doctor until later on only because I knew that unless my contractions were 5 minutes apart consistently for an hour that they would tell me to drink water and ride it out which is what I was already doing to the best of my ability. Needless to say, our poor little girl never stopped moving for those 8 hours either so my main concern was how she was doing. It was rough to say the least and it puts all my other 4-5 hours a night of sleep to shame. I worked a half day today but, was a zombie for my second half. I hope this isn't going to be a pattern for the next 5-6 weeks. Poor baby and me can't take much more of this not sleeping stuff. We shall see.
Little Valentine's name cards. I had the urge to do a craft and this was as far as that got:). lol Logan had a blast playing in the snow and didn't even notice his hands had turned purple Mike rolling a 400 pound snowball and below Joey doing the same... All Joey had was my garden gloves to keep his hands from freezing:). Cute! lol. Logan eating some lunch before we had our birthday cupcakes. Isn't he adorable! Austin enjoyed demolishing his birthday cupcake probably more than eating it:). Happy 1st! Joey with Logan and me with Austin as we opened our gifts from Mike and Elissa. THANK YOU for the baby monitors and other MUCH needed things. You guys rocked our socks off! Elissa, Logan and the birthday boy, Austin opening his birthday books. He liked ripping the paper and chewing on the books:). Can you blame him? lol
Our awesome friends Mike, Elissa and their two precious boys Logan and Austin came down for a visit Saturday and Sunday. We had a wonderful time Saturday of celebrating Austin's first birthday with delicious cupcakes from a bakery that Elissa found, opening presents for Austin and also presents for our baby girl from Mike and Elissa, Joey and Mike rolled a huge and hideous snowman like creature that is still sitting on our front lawn (all other snow has melted! lol) and enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's dinner with Mike and Elissa at the Cheesecake Factory while Joey's mom and Aunt watched the two boys for us. We had a 2 1/2 hour wait on Saturday night! That is hands down the longest wait I have ever had for a dinner but, fortunately we were at a nice mall so there were plenty of shops to browse through while we killed that huge chunk of time. That was the first double date we have had alone with Mike and Elissa since before the birth of their son Logan almost 3 years ago. It was a special treat to be able to go out with just the four of us and enjoy a delicious dinner and celebrate Valentine's Day together. Sunday we all went to church and out to lunch and then all too soon the Morris' were packed up and leaving to go back home. Our visits with them are always so much fun and we just adore their kids. There truly is nothing quite as wonderful as good friends! Thanks for coming Morris family and for blessing us with the baby goodies. You guys are such a blessing to us and we miss you already!
Thursday evening Joey's mom and his sister stopped by and it was like Santa Claus and his elves had come over bearing lots of goodies for our baby girl:) As you can tell by Joey's expression in the picture above, we were VERY happy/surprised to get a Pack N' Play and a swing which were still much needed things before the arrival of our munchkin. It was amazing how challenging the pack n' play was to assemble (horrible directions didn't help) but, eventually Joey and his mom got it up and we set it up in our bedroom. It comes with an infant sleeper so that is where our baby girl will sleep for a little while. Joey also couldn't wait to put the swing together which is now sitting in our living room just waiting for a baby to lull to sleep:). We were also blessed with diapers and clothes and other goodies. Truly it was like Christmas all over again! Thank you mom M. and Jess!! On a side note: We cannot emphasize enough, how grateful, thankful and humbled we are by all the things that everyone has done to help us get ready for our first child. From encouraging words and support, painting our nursery, hosting our baby showers and blessing us with goodies for our baby we have seen God continually meet our needs through your amazing hearts and we just want to say a hearty THANK YOU!!
Friday night Joey and I met his mom and Granddad at a local boat show. Joey was drooling over the beautiful bass boats, I was trying not to covet the AMAZING ski boats and Joey's mom and Granddad were loving the roomy Pontoon boats. Brand new boats are so shiny, smooth and lovely and of course they have price tags to match. Still, it was fun to check them all out and after wards we went back to Joey's mamas house for her famous and let me add, most delicious burritos EVER!! Fun times:).
On our drive home Friday night it started snowing and by morning we had about 3-4 inches of fluffy white powder everywhere. Our second snow of the season and both within two weeks of each other. I love that in North Carolina the snow rarely lasts more than a few days. It's just enough time to enjoy it a little bit but, not be too inconvenienced by it. That's why we moved here and not further up North:).
Stay tuned for lots more pictures and fun updates:)
Our friend's Todd and Lindsey welcomed their baby boy yesterday and we had the honor of visiting them at the hospital last night. Lindsey looked amazing, Todd was on cloud nine and their baby is sooooooo adorable. He really is a super cute newborn baby and it was such a treat to be able to hold him for a few minutes and the whole time I just stared at his tiny features and thought about how wonderful it will be to be holding my little girl in just a handful of weeks. Joey was so impacted by holding baby Sam that he got all teary eyed and choked up. I just love my hubby and his tender heart:). Our other friends Evan and Jennifer who are the next ones due in the countdown of 4, were also in the hospital room with us. It was so special to all be together with a newborn baby amongst us when just last weekend we had taken a picture of all 4 of us pregnant together.
The buttons up top were designed by Todd the daddy of this little guy Sam (picture 4). Todd is super creative and artistic and he wanted to design something that represented all 4 of the babies so that people that know us and our journey can wear the button as a reminder to keep the babies and the families in prayer. The blue star is of course for Sam who is the only boy in our group and the 3 pink stars represent each of the 3 girls still yet to be born. I thought it was the coolest idea and me and Joey try to wear our buttons all the time to remind us to pray for our friends and their babies as well as our own. Plus, they are just cool! :)
The last picture I just had to add because I made some chili this week and I don't usually love the food that I prepare but, I just LOVE this chili!!! I got the recipe from a friend and I only slightly modify it so it isn't quite as spicy and I add hamburger meat but, it calls for beer and chocolate syrup among other things and I think that is why it is so tasty!!! I devoured it!!! And, I have come to find that chili tastes it's best for me personally when covered with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Not healthy but, soooooo good!!
The first of the four pregnant ladies in my group had her baby today around 1 PM EST. We are hoping to go visit him/them briefly this evening so I will try and steal a picture if time permits. I can't believe that I am already to the point that the gals I have been going through my pregnancy with are starting to pop! Wow! This just makes things feel that much more real for both Joey and myself!! Congrats to Todd and Lindsey Davis and welcome to the world baby Samuel!!
Two: Online bill pay has got to be the coolest thing since automatic transmissions!! I'm way behind on this one but, I finally took the time to set up all my bills online and now I get to pay them with one simple click of my mouse. I'm am a huge fan of organization and the online system calculates all the totals for me and keeps all my bills up to speed. I LOVE IT<> LOVE ITTTTTT!!! hahahah
Saturday morning Joey had his first fishing tournament. He got up at 4 AM, left at 5 it started at 6 and due to awful, cold weather (the temp was in the low 30's and snowing while he was on the lake), not a single guy caught a fish. I felt bad for Joey but, he seemed content just to be back in a heated house with blankets piled all around him. I enjoyed a nice lunch with Joey's sister, attended the last of the 4 baby showers (and had a really good time:) and then Joey and I went to a friend's house to watch the UFC fights which started at 10 PM. Can I add that Joey and I brought a bottle of Sprite to the UFC party and we both agree hands down that it was the best Sprite we have ever had in our lives from a bottle or a fountain. The fizz and syrup combo was absolutely perfect. Neither of us are even the biggest Sprite fans but, it was so delicious that we pretty much downed the entire bottle over the course of the weekend. Just had to share that because it really impacted us that much! lol We got home at 2 AM....long Saturday to say the least but, very, rewarding and enjoyable:).
Sunday morning we got up for church way too early but, we did it. I decided that I wanted to wear my Converse shoes even though I can no longer bend over and grunt and tug to put them on anymore. Joey seemed only too willing to help me put on my shoes. I thought that was very sweet of him so I took him up on the offer. I sat on the bed and stuck my foot into the shoe while he held onto the heel of the shoe with one hand and the tongue with the other. Those are very snug shoes to begin with for the record and with Joey's big fingers making them even snugger it was a very, very comical scene. I put my first foot in and nearly took off Joey's thumb when my heel came down on it in the back. He was in pain but, was brave enough to go for the second shoe. The second shoe smashed his thumb so bad he cried out in pain, "lift up your hood, lift up your hood," I was laughing so hard by this point so I asked through fits of laughter, "honey, what is a hood?" He got all frustrated with himself and said, "I mean your heel, lift up your heel you're crushing my thumb." I fell back on the bad crying from laughter and some how even after all that he was still able to get my other shoe on for me. I won't put him through that again though it is tempting just to hear him call my heels, hoods. hahaha.
We enjoyed a great church service on topic of marriage and what the bible has to say about it. It was a great refresher and reminder! After church Joey played basketball with the high school guys he leads bible study with each week and I had lunch with some friends. Joey discovered how out of shape he is and I discovered that I do not care for the Italian subs at Firehouse at all. lol. After, Joey washed his truck thoroughly inside and out, filled the tires on my car, cleaned up dog mess in the backyard and then we walked across the street to our neighbors house to watch the Superbowl. Our friend from church was in one of the Doritos commercials that was featured early on in the Superbowl. It was so awesome to see him on national television and his commercial came in second place which is a huge win!! Congrats to Brian:). The game was super intense and the score was so tight the entire time which made it a good watch! We got home exhausted and whalah, that was our weekend in a big nutshell:). I can't believe I didn't take a single picture of all the fun. I guess I'm not as good at lugging a camera around as I thought. lol.
32 weeks and 3 days.... Tuesday morning bright and early I checked Craigslist as I always do to see if any new white dressers had been posted and sure enough there were a couple cute ones from the same seller. I contacted her and asked about the height and though it wasn't quite as tall as I was hoping, after talking to a friend (thanks Lindsey:) I was encouraged that the height should be okay. I told the lady that I was very interested (de ja vu) in the dresser and told her that we would come check it out right after Joey got off work at 5 later that day. She said okay and just to call her before heading over. I called her at 4:40, it was a 40 minute drive from our house and the husband answered (de ja vu) and said that someone was already on their way to buy the dresser (de ja vu) as soon as she got a van to load it into. My jaw nearly hit the floor. I kept my cool like the nice lady that I am and said, "sir, your wife told me that she would hold the dresser for us until 5:30 or 6 and we are very serious about buying it." He said, "well, you understand that we can't hold things for people because we need to make money. It's a first come first serve kinda deal because we don't want to get jacked over by people who don't show up either." I said, "yes, I totally understand as I have sold many things on Craigslist and people have stood me up countless times but, I also like to give people the same courtesy and word of honor that I would expect in return and I wouldn't sell it out from under them." He said, "well, call when you are on your way and if the lady doesn't buy it we'll save it for you." I said, "I am on my way and that is why I am calling. It takes 40 minutes for me to get to your house and I don't want to waste gas or a drive if you are selling it." I guess something I said finally clicked because he said, "oh, if you are on your way then we will wait for you and the other lady will have to check out our other dressers." Well, needless to say, we did buy the dresser and it is cute and only needs new knobs/ handles but, I am very, very happy with it. I seriously felt like we should have been on a rat race show or something with the high stress levels that Craigslist has brought on us. lol. It is such a RELIEF to have the dresser in our little girl's room finally and boy, I don't think I've ever had to work that hard for anything before! lol Now I just need to wash the 0-3 month clothes and get them put away and I can focus on other things. Phew! Thank you Jesus:)!
Just over 32 weeks now but, feeling and looking like I should be 37 already. Not a good sign I don't think but, I'm sure most preggo women feel pretty large and uncomfortable at 8 months just as I am, right ladies:)?? Monday was an awful day of horrible and intense back cramping, awful nausea and braxton hicks contractions and I was slightly concerned since it lasted from 5 AM until 3 PM but, then it eased up and I only had my usual back pain and aches so my best guess is that the baby has begun her decent into the birth canal and that she might possibly have been putting some extra pressure on my spine as she maneuvered herself into her new position. Seems logical enough.
Joey is hoping to fish a tournament this Saturday for the first time in over a month. Bless his heart, he has been so patient with the cold weather and all the business we have had going on so I really hope it works out for him and the other guys. Hope to post a nice picture of him with a good sized fish next week:). He really deserves a good day of fishing!!
what we woke up to Saturday morning:) Beautiful and very chilly:) Dakota was not very happy but, Joey was having a blast! lol Dakota just wanted to go back inside. What a wus. Our awesome neighbors were kind enough to snap a quick pic of me and Joey 32 weeks, 8 months preggo and still so much more growing to do!! Below: Al and Val awesome neighbors across the street from us:). Friday night at around 8 PM it started snowing and by early Saturday morning it was about 12 degrees and we had a good 4-5 inches of pretty white powder on the ground. The rest of the day was very chilly and we continued to get sleet periodically so we stayed inside all day long. To pass the time we watched a lot of the show Dirty Jobs (Joey's favorite) and though that show can really gross me out at times it can also be quite informative about jobs I would otherwise know nothing about. Kinda neat:) We ate some yummy home style beans and green chili enchiladas (delish!), took a nap and stayed in our jammies pretty much all day. Dakota did not do nearly as well in the snow this year as she did last year. Last year she went plowing through it and had a blast but, this time her legs were shaking like crazy from the moment we pushed her outside to go potty. Normally it takes her a few minutes to go potty...on snow covered ground days it takes her about 15 minutes and we have to yell, "GO POTTY" over and over again to keep her focused while we freeze our booties off. Sheesh. She is so high maintenance!
Sunday it was still too icy to drive anywhere safely and church was even cancelled so we had another cabin day. This time we actually got dressed and went out for a walk. It was gorgeous outside and even though it was in the low 40's it felt very nice out. Even Dakota was in Heaven with all the sunbeams to bask in around the house:).
I found the most adorable early 1900's white dresser on Craigslist that was being sold for $60 with the perfect height and width and in perfect condition! I contacted the seller and was expecting the dresser to be sold already as that is my usual luck with Craigs list finds. She contacted me back promptly and said it was still available and asked when I could pick it up (this was via e-mail). I gave her a call on the phone and left her a message about when I could pick it up and that I would pay full price gladly. I was so excited. Do you see where this story might be going? A couple hours passed and I never got a call back so I called again and again got voicemail. Then the number called me right back and it was the husband informing me that they had just sold the dresser to someone else (jacked up!). I was um....let's see...heartbroken, devastated, angry and basically due to pregnancy hormones and all the effort I have been putting into finding this stupid white dresser...only to be screwed over, started crying. This dresser wouldn't have needed any touch up paint or work done, it was ready to go and SO cute! I decided to make myself a cake to try and get over my disappointment and while I made it I sang, "I'm making myself a cake and you can't take it away from me, can't take it away from me." hahaha I'm still sore over it today but, I'm moving on....the hunt continues:).
We finished out our Sunday by watching LOST to get ready for the new season premiere this Tuesday night and eating lots of my pity party cake! WooHoo! It was really quite wonderful to be cooped up in the house with my adorable husband all weekend long. I would have thought we would have gotten sick of each other but, we both had a great time being in each other's company, laughing (uh, aside from my short moment of tears), watching shows, feeling the baby move and making fun of Dakota. I just love my hubby to pieces and it seems that with each passing day that love only grows stronger and stronger. All glory to God! :-) Joey, you are the best, most understanding, supportive, patient, handsome, hilarious, charming guy I've ever met!! Love you babe!
The Canon 430 EX flash would be a fantastic addition to our camera. Especially with a newborn on the way:). Great for getting nice indoor pictures on darker days! 
