Back to reality....

We had a wonderful vacation at the beach with my family! Oak Island is my kind of beach.....there is nothing to do! I slept, ate and sat on the beach for an entire week. It was wonderful! All I needed and more. I feel relaxed, rejuvenated and ready to take on the last leg of this journey......the third trimester! I can't believe we are almost to the THIRD/FINAL/LAST trimester! It's really time to start getting prepared, have baby showers, take our baby classes and all the stuff that means the end (or beginning rather) is near! We are SOOO excited!

So "baby girl" (since we STILL do not have a name finalized) is 14 inches long from head to toe this week. I busted out the tape measure at home last night and that is really long! Her "crown to rump" measurement is somewhere around 9 inches and she is weighing in at close to 2lbs.! She is almost fully developed now with only fat to pack on and lungs to more fully develop. Her skin has been almost clear and see through until now when her capillaries are forming under there turning her skin to the normal pink color. She is moving like crazy these days and I find myself just staring at my belly watching her do her dance.

My brother was SO sweet to take some preggers pics of us on the beach while we were there. (with his new camera of which I am extremely jealous) I will post more later because he has only sent me 4 so far but we got some of the best pictures of us to date. I like these way better then the professional ones we had taken for our engagement...And that says a lot being that I am a casual 40lbs. heavier now then I was then! lol! Here are a few.....

Notice my new wedding band in that last picture?! My grandmother Nancy is letting me wear my grandfathers wedding band while I am pregnant and too swollen for my rings. I think that it is really cool and special that she is letting me borrow it. It really means a lot to me. I'll let you all in on a little secret.....the baby's middle name is going to be James after my grandfather Jim and my great uncle, Uncle Bob. Thanks Nancy! I love you!

Daddy blog...

Well I have decided to give the momma a break this week and take over blog duties so we shall see how this goes....never really "blogged" before but apparently it is the new thing to do so ill try it out....

Where to start.....Well, Laine's belly is getting huge! Apparently the baby has finished developing most of everything (except her lungs I think) so the rest of the pregnancy will be her putting on lbs and filling out that little body of hers. Her little face now looks like what she is going to when she is born...Crazy huh. Here is a picture of that belly I was talking about....

"Whaaa"!

Ha just kidding mommy you're beautiful! To her credit this is right after a big dinner with her girlfriends. Everyone needs to give her props for sticking to her new diet, she is doing awesome...We were just talking the other day about when we visited the doctor to hear the heart beat before we went out of town when we were only like 10 weeks along...I can't believe time has gone by so quickly and this little girl is going to be here before we know it! Laine was really pushing to get one of these 3D ultrasounds done but I think I have talked her out of it...If anyone has any experience with these feel free to pass on your recommendations. This blog thing is tough by the way....so this might be the one and only from pops...for this baby at least...

The nursery has now turned into our official dog fighting arena...Ha just kidding but it is Bentley and Lexi's new favorite place to play/wrestle. It has the most carpeted open space in the house so they can go wild on it and not slide all over the place like they do on the hardwoods...I got 5 on Lexi by the way...

I am the referee...

We are going to the beach for an entire week tomorrow and we can not wait! The Trotters are a lot of fun and it is going to be so nice to take a break from things and kick back and enjoy the water and beach. And many thanks to B and E for taking the dogs this week....they love comin to your house where the treats are endless.

I hope you have enjoyed my first blog. Much love to all!

-Drew

My little gymnast!

How about I SAW my belly move last night! The little things that amuse me right now make me laugh! I was sitting on the couch as she started to move a lot so I lifted up my shirt and start staring. Sure enough about 2 seconds later the whole left side of my belly jumped. It was crazy. I watched it a few more times before running to get my camera to video it. As soon as I sat back down with my camera ready she went back to sleep. Oh well, I will catch her one day! I call her my little gymnast among the 1000 other nicknames she already has. She is a wiggle worm for sure!

We went to the Dr on Tuesday for our 22 week check up. (By the way, last weeks post should have said 22weeks / 5 1/2months) Everything was great.....blood pressure, baby's heart rate, my uterus was measuring right on (23 cm), etc. It is now past my belly button so she is taking up most of my belly now. Before people would touch my belly way up high and I would be like, "well, she is actually way down here" but now she really is taking up all that space! Oh, and when my tummy growls....it is so weird to hear it growl way on my side! It just shows me how much my intestines really are pushed out of the way! Anyway, I got in a tiny bit of trouble because I have put on 3 more pounds then I should have....but I don't really care. For one, I am retaining a bunch of fluid. My ankles and legs are so swollen when I push my finger in them it leaves a whole there for about 10 minutes. Dr. "Cous" said to drink double the water I am already drinking and to watch my sodium intake. I am also putting myself on a new diet.....the NO EATING ANYWHERE THAT HAS A DRIVE THRU diet. I started it Tuesday and plan on really sticking to it. Drew has cooked every night this week! He is the best! Tuesday I am starting prenatal yoga and will be doing that twice a week through the rest of my pregnancy as well. So with all that said, the weight thing should not be a problem again. As a matter of fact, I can already wear my wedding rings again! Yay!

My baby shower dates are set!!!! I'm so excited!!! My work shower is on September 10th and the one my friends are throwing me is on September 12th!!! My mom is also throwing me a family shower in early August. Not sure when that date is. She is having shoulder surgery later on in August so she is going ahead and doing that before she will be out of commission for 8 weeks. I cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!

My Daddy is starting a pretty rough chemo and radiation treatment next week. He is having surgery on Monday to insert a port-a-cath where his chemo with be hooked up. Tuesday he starts chemo which will be a 5 1/2 week, 24 hrs a day process. He will wear it in a fanny pack type bag and a nurse will come to his home once a week to flush/change chemo in his fanny pack. He will also be going to radiation several (either 3 or 5, I cant think right now) times a week during the 5 1/2 weeks of chemo. Yeah, sounds rough to me too. He on the other hand, continues to have a great attitude about it and is ready to get it all over with and have himself a granddaughter!!! :) Your continued prayers are greatly appreciated!

Drew is off to the beach for the weekend with a bunch of boys to celebrate one of his best buddy's bachelor party weekend. Man, am the nicest pregnant wife EVER or what!!!??? My Dad (Cooper) and I are going to have a "date-night" tonight and go eat dinner at PFChangs. I think the pooches and I can hold down the fort for the weekend. We shall see. Drew told "his girls" (me and the baby) that he loves us bunches and misses us already this morning. I just hope he has a good time with his buddies because these days are coming to an end here REALLY soon! :)

Much Love,
Laine

22 Weeks/ 5 1/2 months.....

Its a growin! My belly and every other part of me. I am pretty much over being disappointed in my disappearing figure and have moved on to knowing what an amazing miracle Drew, myself and my body are preforming!




I love this little girl so much already! I know she has a ways to go before she is ready to meet us but I sure am ready to meet her. Just after I posted last week about not being able to feel her as much because of the placenta location she started going to town in my belly. She is moving so much now that even Drew can feel her on my belly! It makes things so real! She was "flipping" out on my way into work this morning as I was singing really loud in my car.....I figure that she either loves hearing my voice and the music or she is trying to tell me to shut the hell up with that awful attempt at singing! LOL. :)




Here is the Peter Rabbit painting that Drew's mom, Elene did for the nursery. I LOVE IT! It is my favorite thing she has ever done and I couldn't be happier with it. It was Drew's Fathers-to-be-day gift from her. How sweet, right!!??



Here is what it looks like over the changing table. THANK YOU E!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!




Here is the chandelier that Jess Poole came and hung for us a few weeks ago. I got the little shades to go on it the other day and think it looks fabulous!




Here we have the side table with an old lamp I found in a closet that my mommy painted to match the green in our fabric. Love it! And a cute little picture frame that says "our family" on it that I can't wait to put a picture in!

Now we just need the bedding and to finish the built-ins. Not sure when the bedding will be done but I am coming along with decorating the built-ins. I will take some shots of those for next weeks post.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe July 4th weekend. We are off to Morehead City/Atlantic Beach to hang with Bennette and Andy. Nick and Rachel are heading down from DC for the weekend too and I am SOOOOO excited to see everyone!! I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing that I can't drink right now when it comes to hanging out with this crew.....I'm talking some serious fun!!

Much Love,

Laine