Friday, May 13, 2011

Waiting is Tiresome!

I guess everyone must think we fell off the wagon! I just haven't really been up to writing an update; being THIS pregnant is exhausting.

There isn't really much to say, though. Everything is just the same! I am currently 37 weeks pregnant & had my 36 week ultrasound last week. Everything is wonderful :) He currently weighs around 5 lbs. 14 oz. & has developed perfectly :)

Nikki flew up yesterday, & today we went & took some of my maternity pictures on Peebles Island in Waterford, NY. I'll include a few of those. Tomorrow we are going to downtown Albany to see about some street pictures.

Lucky Jonah is in New York City this weekend visiting some friends! I am SO jealous of him, but he promises he will take me just as soon as I can get around a little better :P

We are SO ready to meet our son! I seriously never thought I could be so anxious about ANYTHING!! My contractions are getting more & more painful as the days go by, & I thought this was something I would dread, but I honestly just can't wait. The worse it hurts, the closer I am to holding my sweet baby...

We will try to keep y'all updated as frequently as possible in the next few weeks, since there is no telling when Levi will decide to grace the world with his presence :P In the meantime, enjoy the pics!

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xoxo,
Tara :)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

NY

Well folks, we have been in New York for over a week now, & I think we are finally settled in. Our apartment is really nice! We thought at first the 1 bedroom 1 bathroom thing would be a problem with how often I have to run to the restroom these days, & with family coming to visit once Levi is born, but we are seeing now that it probably won't be that big of a deal.. Especially since the queen-sized bed in the gigantic bedroom is completely free, along with a full-sized air mattress & a very comfy couch :) Neither of us can handle sleeping in the bed.. It is SO uncomfortable! So we sleep on the daybed in the den instead :P A little cramped, but much nicer on the joints.

So, everyone keeps asking me how our trip went. I'm not sure which angle to approach this from, exactly, haha.. As far as my comfort was concerned, I was perfectly fine! The first day we traveled only about 3 hours, from our apartment in Lumberton to my grandmother's in Louisiana.. We spent 2 days with family & then headed for Tennessee.. We went through Arkansas because we had planned on stopping & visiting with a friend, but that fell through.. We wound up being on the road for nearly 13 hours that day. Such a good night's rest! :P

In Nashville it rained & rained & rained.. We went to eat at a country seafood restaurant near the Opry.. The food was really great! From there we headed to Virginia.. & it rained all the way there.. Made it there by around 8 that night & stayed in a VERY cool old hotel. It was the General Francis Marion Hotel in Marion, Virginia. Our room was at the very end of a long hallway & everything was so insanely creepy! Jonah said he felt like he had walked onto the set of The Shining.

We left there bright & early the next morning, headed to D.C. It shouldn't have taken us nearly as long as it did, but we drove into one of the worse storms that part of the country had seen in years.. The wind was horrible & there was HUGE hail pelting us for miles & miles. We went 30 mph for over an hour, possibly longer. I had been reading Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut to Jonah throughout the entire trip (I started somewhere after Arkansas), but I had to stop so we could both concentrate on the road as a team during those storms. It was horrible because we were so tense the entire time, when we finally stopped for the night we were insanely sore! That storm is the one that has been on the news for spawning all the tornadoes in Virginia.

We finally got to D.C. & stayed the night at Shaun & Jenny's. Shaun was doing a 110 mile bike ride for the wounded warriors & didn't actually get back home until around 6 the next night. The next day when we got up, Jenny & I ran to Target for a few things & Jonah watched Oliver, which I thought was amusing :P Then we all loaded up & Jenny took us on a tour. We went to D.C. & went to all the memorials & monuments we could squeeze into the day. We wanted so badly to go to the museums & galleries, but there was just no time.. They all closed at 4 pm :(

I got lots of pictures before my camera died, but apparently during the packing process back in Texas, the camera charger & USB cable were both stored :( I'm gonna have to get creative to get the pics off the camera, but as soon as I do I'll post them!

Anyway we spent another night in D.C. & got up bright & early the next morning, New York bound. The states are so small up here it took us no time at all to hit the NY state line.. & not too long afterwards, the rain started again. I don't remember exactly what time it was when we made it to our apartment complex, but I know it was sometime between noon & 2. I was so exhausted from being on the road for days & days that I couldn't keep up with details, lol..

We went into the office & finalized the lease agreement & then came straight to our new home! I'll put pics up of our apartment as soon as I can also. It's nice. The couch is EXTREMELY comfortable, which is awesome! Uncomfortable couches are no fun.

Since we've been here, we've already been brought a brand new dryer from maintenance, called the cops on neighbors, called the office on other neighbors.. lol.. seems like we're all settled! :P

I got Levi's bassinet & swing in the mail a few days ago & Jonah put the bassinet together. It's in the bedroom that we don't sleep in, waiting on the bassinet sheets to come in the mail so I can continue nesting. We STILL don't know what middle name we are going to give him yet. I'm sure when the time comes, I'll just know.

As far as the pregnancy is concerned, all is well. I had an appointment the day before yesterday with my new doctor, Elina Burstyn. My first appointment with them was at 1:15 but it was cancelled because Dr. Burstyn had to run to the hospital for a delivery. Then another woman went into labor, but she hadn't even dilated to a 2 yet, so she came back to the office. I saw her around 3:30 I guess it was? (Jonah & I had gone to Babies-R-Us while we were waiting... it is literally about 300 yards from my doc's office). She gave me paperwork to bring downstairs, putting me on physical therapy for the next few weeks, & we scheduled an ultrasound appointment for May 11, so we will have more information regarding position & due dates then.

I can tell you that he feels like he is about to fall out at all times, & my hormonal moments have gotten a thousand times more intense, but there are lots fewer of them. My bladder is still shrinking, & sleeping is really difficult because of joint pain. All in all, I'm SO ready for June!!!!

Will post more when there's more to say, I guess! :)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11


I love the little things in life that make me realize how lucky I truly am :) For instance, Levi waking me up at 5AM by digging one of his sharp little body parts into my bladder & making me nearly have an accident on myself :P Normally one would be mad or at least a little perturbed.. But not this mama! It made me think hard about how blessed Jonah & I are to have a healthy little Jonah-clone growing in my belly. The fact that he is constantly an active little physically painful reminder of how amazing our lives are comforts me so very much.


Moving away from the emotional stuff :)


There isn't much to update on, except that it is looking like we will be heading to New York sometime between the night of the 10th & the morning of the 12th!! Sarah's baby shower is the 10th I believe. We will head home from here on Friday, pack up the apartment over the weekend, & head out as soon as we are able. Moving forward!


Jonah brought me along to Corpus with him yesterday to make sure I can handle car rides still so we didn't go into the trip blindly. I did fine in the car.. I think I'll be ok :)


I guess that's it! Not much new stuff to tell y'all! Have a blessed week :)

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Traffic

I have so much to update everyone on! I honestly have been putting off writing this because I don't know where to start, lol.. It's funny how much can happen in just 6 days!

My last post was the 25th. The day after that was my baby shower, which was fantastic! It was beautiful & so many wonderful family members & friends came & brought us wonderful gifts for Levi. Kelley, Connie, & Aunt Sue did a great job decorating & Kristin did a FANTASTIC job on my cake. I have pictures up [here] of everything, buuuuut...


Isn't it amazing?? She did so good. & yes, that IS Toad sitting on the edge of the bottom layer :P
Kelley ordered such a cool banner for us, too.



& Mama Sue made an adorable diaper cake with a monkey on top of it :P


All in all I was very pleased with how everything looked :) As far as gifts go, holy cow! I was so surprised! People went the more practical route for my shower. I received VERY nice things.. Things I actually registered for & that we actually really needed! Normally you go to a shower & the receiver gets an overabundance of clothing & little knick-knack stuff. I got the monitors I asked for, the exact diaper bag I wanted, an awesome bouncer, lots of bottles (including the Dr. Brown ones I wanted for colicky babies), a BOPPY (yessssssssssss :D) & TONS of other stuff. Oooh & don't forget about all the homemade stuff! I was given beautiful blankets & all kinds of awesome stuff with Levi's name embroidered on them. I'm so excited :) Now all I need is a bassinet, my baby bedding, & a few other small things. Things are pulling together to prepare me for Levi's arrival!! I need to send out thank-you cards & start working on making his baby book (that's right--I'm making it myself!)
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NEXT big thing is that Jonah found us a place to live! Who's excited? I'm excited, for sure. He found us a beautiful corporate apartment just a few miles from his office. Look!!

Aren't they beautiful?? I'm so happy! Doc? Check. Apt? Check. Now we just have to get there!
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Other than that, we have been spending time with people before we leave.. Shaun & Jenny leave tomorrow to go home to D.C. & we decided to definitely squeeze another visit in with them before they left. We went to Galveston on Monday & had a really great time :) Yesterday Jonah & I went to the fair for a little while & then went to Pearland & picked up Tre' & Katy (& were nearly killed by an idiotic truck driver who thought it unnecessary to check his blind spots before switching over 3 lanes of traffic at once while going at least 70 mph). They're here with us til tomorrow visiting, & then we're headed south to visit some family & then very much southeast for Jonah's work! Busy bees, busy bees!! :)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Some Slight Stress Relief??

Over the past few weeks, one of our main stressors has been how to go about finding me a good OBGYN in New York since that's where I'm delivering Levi. We have had so many negative experiences during my pregnancy with doctors, nurse practitioners, etc, & because of this, as soon as we found out we were moving I scoured the internet & made phone calls almost daily, trying to find a doctor that I at least got a good feeling about. I eventually just gave up, though, because everyone I spoke with was booked up for deliveries all the way from May to July!! Why did everyone get pregnant during autumn??!

Anyway, today I decided to bite the bullet & start researching again. Time is escaping me, so I really had no choice at this point. I brought up my browser, went to google, & typed "OBGYN Schenectady area" & the very first thing that popped up was a link to a white middle-aged female with short red hair named Dr. Elina Burstyn (I've never found her before in my searches). I think she is a God-send.

Their office has a website named after her ( http://www.drburstyn.com ), she has 4.5 out of 5 stars & all of her reviews are novels praising her every move, including one woman raving about how Dr. Burstyn (pronounced bur-steen) cancelled her vacation to come deliver the woman's baby! She has a nurse practitioner working with her, & all of her reviews are fantastic as well. I hate Southeast Texas!! If you find a doctor with a decent review, he's booked through 2013 & has crappy nurses or something.

OH & the kicker is, her original office location that she JUST moved out of recently was on McClelland Street. Hellooooo, sign from heaven???

I called & scheduled an appointment for April 25, which is a Monday. I'm going to try to reschedule for an earlier date as soon as I know for sure when we will be in NY. The desk nurse that answered my call was fantastic too & sounded just like a Jersey Shore girl. Looove her.

I'm sure something will go wrong, lol.. But for now, I'm elated! I have a doctor! I know who is going to be delivering my son!! Hallelujah!! Now to get past the shower tomorrow, get the house packed up & in storage while Jonah finds us somewhere to live.. Things are falling into place. Whew. When can I relax???

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Things Are Crazy!!

As I look back on the past year of our lives, I sit amazed at how much has changed. Jonah & I had only known each other for 6 months when we married & had only been dating for 4. Since then we've experienced so much! It's like our life just refuses to slow down, & now that we are expecting our first child I don't see us ever being blessed with a reduction of pace.
As most of you are already aware, we are relocating from Lumberton, TX to upstate New York in less than a month & will be there for right at 5 months. This means in less than a month I need to have everything RE-packed, find a storage facility of some sort for the things we can't bring with us, find somewhere to live while in NY that Jonah's company will approve for compensation, find me a doctor since I'll be giving birth in New York (hooray, right??), etc, etc, etc. The list never ends! We are constantly on the move, staying busy. I don't think I'd trade it for the world, though.
The hardest part is finding the funds & time to see everyone before we go. This week we were blessed with visits from 2 of Jonah's oldest & dearest friends. Johnny Green left today after about a week down from New York (It's nice to know there will be someone familiar semi-near while we're in Schenectady), & Shaun Wesberry & his wife & son have been down also, from D.C. Jonah was thrilled to see them, & it was really wonderful to be able to spend time with Johnny before he left & to meet Shaun & his family. Jenny is hilarious & such great company, & Oliver is precious. He doesn't like me much, though, haha. If you listen to old wives' tales, that's because I'm pregnant with Levi.
Speaking of our son; holy cow, has he been on the move lately!! He is growing so fast (& making mommy grow too.. a little too much!). I swear he is already 6 feet tall! He stays balled up on my right side, mostly in my ribs & back. It is the strangest feeling ever! It's so funny to look back just a year or two ago. I never saw myself weighing this much, sporting this many stretch marks, being this swollen & achy & sloth-like... I certainly never thought I would be head over heels in love with a little boy I've never even met. Sure, he's ruined my amazing leftover-from-teen-years body, caused me to develop sciatica, made me a hormonal nutcase & increased the volatile repurcussions of allowing my to become hungry by about a zillion.. But he is still the most amazing thing that has ever happened to our family.
We still haven't decided on anything about his name other than Levi. We were going to try to encorporate Shelby in there somehow, but I'm not entirely sure what the best way to do that is.
I'd better get back to cleaning!! I'll update just as much as I possibly can! Busy week ahead. We have my baby shower & a crawfish boil at The Wesberrys' both on Saturday, plus Colton's first game of the season. Hope I have enough energy to make it til Sunday, lol!