First baby dream :)

Last night I finally had my first baby dream...I can't really remember what all it was about I just remember that James and I were so excited that we'd had a little BOY! I woke up at like 5:00 or so and was sooo excited that I'd finally had a baby dream and I woke James up and said, "James... I had a dream we had a boy!" He simply said, "Ok...You can tell me about it in the morning." haha And of course once I actually got up two hours later I couldn't remember what really happened. Anyways... We'll see if I have any girl dreams!

Thank goodness for more energy!

Finally... My energy is back, and just in time! My recent lack of energy, or stamina I guess you could call it has put a hamper on my ability to go, go, go like I normally do. I had a list a mile long of things that needed to get done this past weekend and luckily I was able to check all items off the list...with a little help from the hubby of course! haha We got our Christmas lights put up and I must say they look great :) I can't wait to turn them on Thursday night! I'll post some pictures after I get my tree up :) I also spent the weekend doing some "cleaning out". For those of you that aren't aware our little townhouse here is just not big enough! We are already busting at the seams, I can't even imagine what it will be like once our little guy/girl gets here! We have a HUGE closet in our spare bedroom that has been storing lots of "stuff" that I didn't want to get rid of... I bet I have cleaned that closet out 5 times since we have lived there... each time taking a car load of stuff to the Goodwill. I just don't understand how there is still TONS of stuff in there! I was hanging on to a lot of my teaching stuff and I just decided that I could keep one tub of stuff and the rest had to go.... After all... baby trumps teaching stuff. haha So, needless to say I had another WHOLE car load of things to donate :) This time I think I threw out everything that I could, and now, baby Harper has his/her own space in the closet :)

We, or I...haha have been preparing for our house guests that will be arriving on Thursday... The Harper's :) Gary and Pam are coming to visit us again this Thanksgiving! I'm super excited about their visit... I haven't gotten to see them since this summer so I cant wait! I am also very excited about all of the cooking :) I love to cook, bake, and entertain... I just feel lucky that I am going to be "well enough" to eat it! Yay!!! This year our Thanksgiving dinner menu will be:

One juicy turkey...prepared by James :)

Dressing

Gravy

Green beans

Mashed potatoes

Rolls

Harvest Apple Salad (my fav.)

and for dessert....

Chocolate Chess pie

Apricot cake... YUM :)

Of course when I am having company I always feel like there should be cookies in the house... So last night I was going to bake a batch of my "Killer Cookies" and James says, "Well if your making cookies why don't you bake some for the guys at work... they love it when you bake for them!" So... last night I baked a batch for the guys at his work. Now, this afternoon I'm going to make ANOTHER batch :) I've still got lots of cleaning and things to do before they get here on Thursday so hopefully this high energy thing will hang around for a few days :)

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to really stop and think about how lucky you really are. I've been thinking about that a lot lately :) We feel sooo lucky to be expecting a little Harper and we just can't wait for all of the exciting moments in our very near future! We are also so thankful for our wonderful families and all of the support and love they give us!! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving...Gobble, Gobble :)

Nausea, Heartburn, INDIGESTION, Upset Stomach, Diarreah....

No, I am not experiencing all of these symptoms but everytime I think of indigestion I think of that dang song. Lately I have been experiencing some killer indigestion and I hope this it's not here to stay... but I do fear that it's only going to get worse. I have read that indigestion is something that pregnant women find themselves battling because as your uterus grows your stomach has less space to expand...meaning that if you eat too much you get the feeling that your full up to the top of your throat and, if you move the wrong way all of the food just might come out. Gross... I know...But really it's the worst feeling ever. Right now I am really only having the problem at dinner time. I don't really understand why unless I'm just eating too much at dinner... Although, I don't really feel like I'm eating any more than I do at lunch. Maybe it's just the things I'm eating for dinner... who knows. I have never been one to have problems with indigestion so I don't really know quite yet what the foods are that really trigger it... Anyone have any ideas? I have found a few things that tend to help it a little... lots of Tums and milk. But, of course Tums taste gross and if you feel like your food is so high up in your throat that it might sneak out milk is the last thing you really feel like drinking.

Sleep... that is another thing I've had problems with the last few nights.... Lots of tossing and turning and waking up roughly every 30 min or so... annoying. And I know this is only going to get worse. Yay. I have also been having really strange dreams, seems like I have heard thats normal too. I am always one to have lots of unusual dreams but they used to at least make a little bit of sense... now they are just strange bits and pieces of all kinds of weird stuff. I have read several blogs about people having the "boy or girl" dreams. I haven't had that... I keep waiting...but nothing... Is it too early? When did you girls all start having these dreams? I wish I was dreaming about the baby instead of people I don't know trying to solve puzzles and stuff and I could care less about (There is nothing more frustrating that feeling like your trying to solve a problem, or a case when your trying to sleep/relax...ughhh).

James did make it home safely this past Sunday and I have definitly enjoyed having him back. He probably wont be leaving for that long again after seeing how much money I spent while he was gone....haha His words were, "Sounds like you spent alot of money while I was gone.....Well, I think our money tree is dried up." I hate it when that happens... We do have a water hose... maybe I should go out and water it....We still have Christmas shopping to do!

I've lost my stamina...

So I used to pride myself on being a really good shopper. I could shop all day long and not be tired at all...Well, things have changed! haha I've lost my stamina. I went to the Mall of America on Wednesday for an afternoon of shopping, granted I had gotten up at 4:30...worked for 6.5 hours and then went shopping, but let me just say that the trip nearly killed me. I was determined to cover the whole mall....which is ridiculously huge if you've never been.... and I did but whew, I was tired for two days after that adventure! Today I went to the outlet mall close to here with a friend from work and I have to say I was quite impressed by my shopping today! I ate a big breakfast, to store up some extra energy, and even cleaned the house before we went. We covered the whole outlet mall and were there literally ALL day. When I got home I even had the energy to do laundry and the grocery shopping for the week. I'm pretty sure I will crash at any moment and will probably have to spend most of tomorrow on the couch "recovering". At least I found lots of cute clothes....I love to shop. Baby Harper is going to be spoiled if I have anything to do with it.

Free Gift for Mommies, or Mommies-to-be

I got an e-mail from my cousin today about a free patterned nursing cover from www.uddercovers.com! They are kinda like an apron that you can wear to "cover your udders" while nursing...the baby fits underneath and everything... they are super cute. They normally cost $32 and right now they have a promotion going on where you can get a free one if you type in the code "backorder" at checkout. All you have to pay is $8.95 for shipping! I ordered one for myself tonight :) They would also make a cute gift for someone who is expecting...and it would only cost ya ten bucks! Happy shopping :)

Week 11 and I'm home alone :)

So, I think I can safely say I've made it through the whole sickness phase of my pregnancy...well for now anyways! haha I have actually felt pretty normal for almost a whole week! Yay :) I have more energy...although I still have my tired spells and I'm feeling as though I can eat normal foods. I guess that means all of the junk food has to stop....Bring on the fruits and veggies!

According to thebump.com Baby Harper is now the size of a lime! It's hard to believe that something that small can already be forming things like nail beds and tooth buds... So crazy. Right now our "little lime" has skin that is so transparent you can see his/her blood vessels right through it! It really is amazing what all is going on inside of me. Baby Harper has been working so hard to become a strong healthy little person and we just can't wait until he/she is ready to meet us!

As most of you know I love to shop.... So of course I've already been scoping out all of the baby goods this big city has to offer. There is just a million cute things out there... how am I ever going to decide what crib, bedding, and colors will be just right? I have already decided that I'm staying away from the traditional blues and pinks... that's just not my thing. If it's a girl I plan on using reds, yellows, browns, and maybe even some blues and greens. If it's a boy I'm thinking green and brown, or maybe just brown and white/cream. I have also been looking at cribs... I don't want anything to fancy or expensive....just don't feel that's necessary. So, I'm drawn to those dark brown wood beds, where one side is a little taller than the other.... I can just see a cute little smiling baby looking over that rail at me! But, because I'm quite the perfectionist I'm concerned with buying a dark brown wood bed and then wanting to put brown bedding on it... It wont match, and I can't have that. Also, if I find a bed I like at one place and then a dresser thing I like at another place what if the woods aren't the same color... will it look like I tried to match them and missed? I hate that. Whew...what is a mommy to do? If I bring up all of these concerns to James I feel sure he'll think I'm nuts... He's more worried about things like how we are going to afford this new lifestyle!! Yikes :) My mom always says she doesn't know how they made it by those first few years but they did.... and look how great I turned out! hahaha

James is out of town Mon-Thurs this week for business meetings and then leaves Thursday afternoon for a weekend trip to Mississippi to visit one of his friends and see his team, the Vols play. I have the house to myself this week and I have LOTS of shopping planned :) How fun! I plan on getting a lot of Christmas shopping done and I might even start looking for some maternity clothes. My grandmother warned me that I will prob. just wake up one day and realize my clothes just don't fit anymore! I'm going to take her advice and be prepared :) Happy Shopping to me!

Could it really be over?

I've had a ton of people tell me that after the 12 week mark I would be amazed at how much better I felt....Well....I think that day might have come early! For the last two days or so I have felt sooooo much better! I have more energy, I feel like I can eat things besides pizza, chicken fingers, and fries, and I don't feel sick! I would really hate to jinks myself but could the whole sickness phase really be over?

Keep your fingers crossed!

Harper...Party of Three :)

Today James and I got to get our first ultrasound!!! Most of the time the doctor's don't do one until week 20 but since there was a chance there were two they wanted to do one! And......there is only ONE baby Harper :) Whew... haha I guess we get to stay a "party of three" for a while! haha Probably a good thing! The doctor said that the baby looked like it was probably sleeping during the ultrasound and it wasn't moving around too much. We got some really good pictures though and we are so excited!!! Little does baby Harper know there will be a MILLION more pictures in it's very near future! I hope he/she likes the camera! haha We also got to hear the heartbeat again which was just as amazing as Monday :) She said that right now the heart rate is 171bpm and that was just right. At our next ultrasound it should be lower, between 120 and 160 :) Our next doctor appointment is December 7th which will be week 15! Baby Harper is amazing already :)

In this picture you can see his/her little arm....looks like it's waving!!!

It really is amazing how developed the baby already is!!!

So there really is a baby in there!!!

Yesterday afternoon, November 2nd James and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time!! It really was the most amazing thing I have ever heard.... I don't think that either of us were convinced there was really a baby growing in there until we heard it. Wow! We were really afraid that it was too early to hear the heartbeat and I had pretty much already talked myself into believing that we wouldn't be able to hear it. The doctor started rubbing the doppler, or dobbler, whatever its called...thing around and all we heard was a wah, wah, wah, wah, wah sound like there was nothing and then all of a sudden there was a little thud, thud, thud and she said, "That's it!" We couldn't believe it... It's amazing that we can't see the little guy/girl yet but we could hear it!! So neat :) It definitely was the best sound I have ever heard! The day before the appointment I was super excited to go and then of course the day of my nerves started to get the best of me... I just wanted to know that everything was ok in there. And....It is :) She said the heartbeat sounded perfect although everyone keeps asking me what the heart rate is and in the excitement of the moment I didn't even think to ask! Luckily, the doctor said that because I was taking Clomid, the fertility drug they wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure there was just ONE baby in there... Oh geez... We have the ultrasound on Thursday and we are pumped! I wasn't expecting to have one until week 20 but she said that she thought I might want to know BEFORE then if we were going to have more than one...Oh my... I honestly can't imagine the craziness in store if there are two! Yikes!

The doctor also told me that I should start feeling better soon... thank goodness. I don't know how much more of this feeling I can take, or James can take for that matter! Haha He's taken over most of my "wifely duties" as he calls them. I have to say, it's been kinda nice doing nothing... But I'm ready to get back into my normal pattern of things. Sunday I felt pretty good and I was able to clean the kitchen, and do a little cooking so that was good :) Next week James will be gone pretty much the WHOLE week so hopefully I'm feeling up to taking care of everything!

On Thursday after our ultrasound I will post the picture right away! It wont be of much because baby Harper is still only the size of a prune according to thebump.com :) I will also be sure to get the heartrate so you can all start guessing if it's going to be a boy or a girl! Yay... I can't wait!