a new season

Just in time to kick off a new year, David has a new job!

He will start on January 16 as the Manager of Capitol Planning at Mohawk Industries. We feel so blessed by the timing of this new opportunity, and we don't hesitate for a second to acknowledge the Lord's hand in this new phase of life. Just as I am quitting my job (Feb. 3 is my last day at UTC), David will start this new one. It definitely will be an interesting transition as we adjust to all kinds of new in 2012, but we are excited to see what the Lord has in store!

it is finished.

Well, sort of. Recovering this chair turned out to be the biggest pain-in-the-rear, but I finished it. It was hard for me mostly because I had no idea what I was doing, and I considered loading the thing back up and taking it with me to Columbus so my mom could help me. If you come to my house please don't inspect it. In fact, please don't even move the pillow out of the way.  Fortunately, the thing is comfortable and the pattern on the fabric is super forgiving.

week 32

I know I'm a little (ok, a lot) behind on this week's post. Sorry... Our evenings have been full, and getting this picture taken took a few days!

This week has been a good one on the baby front. We spent Saturday in breastfeeding/daddy boot camp classes, accordingly. Even though neither one was earth-shattering, we both learned a few new things and had plenty to discuss afterwards. I found myself sitting there thinking about actually meeting my little man, and I'm getting so excited! We also went to a childbirth class Monday night, but it was pretty lame. The lady just read straight from a PowerPoint and we watched a bunch of outdated videos. David said he could have taught the class, and he's pretty much right. Once again, I'm so thankful for the advice/examples/testimonies of so many friends and family members! I feel pretty well-informed because of their willingness to share with me. I say well-informed because I know I can't be prepared at all. I have low expectations of this whole having-a-baby thing because I have no idea what it is going to be like.

Other miscellaneous stuff: I have noticed that my fingernails and toenails are growing SO fast! I wish my hair was doing the same... I want it long again! I've had side effects gas from milk pretty much throughout the whole pregnancy, but it has gotten intense in the last couple of weeks (ask Beth!). I talked to the doctor about it and have since been taking some medicine for the lactose issue. It seems to be working like a charm. My only concern... does this mean the baby will have cows' milk allergies/issues?? Please say no!

We're gearing up for a big Christmas on the road, and we are both so excited to spend time with our families. It is NUTS to think that this time next year we'll have a mobile (presumably) little boy on our hands, and Christmas will be a whole different ball game.

a closet cleanup

I have been feeling an overwhelming urge to nest lately, so I decided to do some good with it. I called Lynn, asked if I could come over and organize their game closet.

A Suburban full of giveaway stuff, five garbage bags and about three hours later, we (me, Hayden, Lynn and a bit of help from the boys) had accomplished this:

Before and after (obviously)

It felt SO good!

Now, on to the next closet I can find...

shoes for Paige

Thanks to Pinterest, I was really motivated to make the babies' Christmas presents this year. I re-made a few things I've done before (the best burp cloths and a taggies blanket for each kid), plus a couple new projects. I made them each a bapron, and they are so cute! I've made several now for baby shower gifts, and I need to make one for Crawford. I just use flannel and store-bought bias tape, so it's actually a really simple project. Flannel is my favorite baby fabric because it's so absorbent. Now I make nursing covers out of it too- it just makes sense! On Black Friday I bought 19 yards from JoAnns (it was $1.49/yard!!), so I'm well stocked for baby projects into infinity. 

Also, using this tutorial (with a few alterations... ribbon for the straps, no faux suede sole, no interfacing... ok, so I took the lazy way out) I made Paige some of the sweetest shoes! The first pair was a pain to make, but as soon as they were finished I had to make a second.

week 31

After spending last week with the Johnson babies, I am even more excited for my own to arrive! I sure hope Crawford was paying attention to how well-behaved his cousins were because it would be super nice if he was the same way. It's a little wild to think that Beth had those babies at the exact point in her pregnancy that I am right now. Crawford weighs approximately what Paige and Bryce did when they were born (3 lbs. 3-13oz.). But hopefully he'll wait until February-ish to make his entrance into the world. It was nuts holding Paige and thinking that I might birth a baby her size (she is 8 lbs. 13 oz... hopefully he isn't that big, but my brother was 8 lbs. 13 oz. so you never know).

At the doctor this week, Crawford measured right on schedule. The visit was pretty uneventful, which is amazingly reassuring! I am so thankful for a pretty boring pregnancy.

I'm feeling really great, overall. I'm going to bed crazy early and loving every second of sleep I get. I've gained one pound in the past two weeks, so I'm getting used to the way my body is right now (just as it's about to change, I'm sure). I'm drinking lots of water and consequently, peeing a ton.

I won't go back to the doctor until after the new year because we'll be traveling for Christmas to see both of our families, but I'm ok with that. David and I are counting down the days until we begin our holiday traveling, and we are so looking forward to this last Christmas as a family of two. Next year will be SO different!

my week with the babies

Last week, I left town on Wednesday to head to Ohio and spend some long-overdue time with Beth and the babies. I flew up there and David and Patrick Bryant drove up Friday night to join me. It was pretty wonderful to not have to make the 6 hour drive twice (especially by myself one way!), and I cannot stress how much I LOVED my time with the Johnsons. I had never spent any time with David's family without David, but it was totally wonderful. Jayme is back at work and Brianna goes to all-day kindergarten, so Beth and I had all day Thursday and Friday to hang out, do craft projects, watch movies (4 Harry Potters in 4 days!) oh, and take care of two totally adorable newborn babies. Who, by-the-way, are about as close to perfect as two babies come. Seriously, they are the most pleasant, easy going kiddos ever!

beautiful Paige! Unfortunately, I hardly took any pictures of Bryce... he likes the swing and Paige likes the vibrating seat. Obviously, it's easier to take pictures of a kid in a stationery chair than one that swings.

Beth had a to-do list for us, and we were able to accomplish every project. We made bed skirts for the cribs (out of burlap, which is a bit heavier than I expected and they need some tweaking... sorry Beth!), a pelmet board for the window (with a crooked ribbon... ugh! I may have left Beth with more work than she had when I arrived), hung the two awesome monograms she got to go above the cribs, changed out some ribbon on a frame and hung it too.

Left side before and after

Right side before and after

Like I mentioned, Patty spent the weekend with us so he could see Ohio and go to his first hockey game. We also took it as a great opportunity to begin training him on baby care. He was a natural! Not to mention, Brianna was obsessed with him. She was so excited for him to come because she thought he looked like Justin Bieber :). haha!

Brianna, as usual, loved seeing her Uncle David. She's big on calling us "Aunt Emily" and "Uncle David" right now, which is adorable. She LOVES her baby brother and sister, and really is such a helpful big sis.

All in all, it was such a sweet time away from home. As we pulled away early Sunday morning, I told the boys that if we didn't have plans to see the Johnsons again in just a couple short weeks, I definitely would have been crying!

week 30

Week 30?! What in the world. I cannot believe that I'm 75% of the way finished cooking this baby boy.

I haven't spent much time thinking about labor and birth, but several reminders lately that our little guy could come next month have made his impending arrival much more realistic! I've been crossing things off the to do list (unfortunately, not the chair yet...) and starting new ones! Our plan is to have all the essentials in place about a month before his arrival, even though I am certain he will make his appearance after February 14. My last day of work is officially going to be Friday, February 3 and I plan on spending the remaining couple of weeks sleeping, reading and doing fun craft projects rather than stressing about stuff I need to get finished.

In my 30th week, I have found the following symptoms to be most evident:

• Forgetfulness. I walked into my boss's office the other day and said "what do I do with my time sheet? I can't remember." I've turned in 40 time sheets since I've worked at UTC... seriously? She cracked up laughing at me because she knew it was the pregnancy brain talking.
• Braxton Hicks contractions. They are pretty constant these days. I have them more often when I'm walking or doing something strenuous (like sitting up in bed, ha!).
• Movement. I've been feeling him more for a while now of course, but he's graduated on to doing stuff that literally takes my breath away. It's amazing how busy he is! I love the constant reminder that he's growing and moving inside of me. I'm definitely going to miss that after he's here.
• Peeing. A TON. It's so weird that I will sometimes feel like I have to go so badly then it's just a tiny trickle that comes out.
• Intolerance. I have zero tolerance for stupid people. We've had workers updating our smoke detectors at work, and they have been all-around inconsiderate. I laid into this guy and I think he got the message. Don't be a jerk to a pregnant lady. Just don't.
• Back/Tailbone pain. I've gotten pretty used to this since I've been dealing with it since the very beginning of my pregnancy, but it's still not fun. Jodi's donut pillow is literally a lifesaver, and coupled with a couch pillow from home my desk chair at work is bearable. I use my heating pad in bed at night, and I ice my tailbone as often as I can.
• Other minor stuff: a little heartburn, my feet get numb when I sit at my desk for long periods of time, leg cramps (mostly in my right leg) in the middle of the night
• Counting kicks. Not a symptom, just a new development...

Overall, I am so good. David is so good to me, and I love listening to him pray for our son every night. He is going to be the best dad, ever. We're just loving this season all the way around. We have so much to be thankful for!

lovely weekend

We really did have a lovely weekend. For the first time in a countless number of weeks, we had very few things on the agenda, and it was good for our hearts. A few highlights:

• Friday night we rented a Red Box movie, ordered a pizza and vegged out. I feel asleep about 1/4th of the way into the movie, and got an awesome night's sleep!
• Saturday we ran a bunch of errands together, pretty much finished all of our Christmas shopping, and crossed a bunch of "to do" items off our list. Definitely my favorite way to start a Saturday.
• That afternoon we went to Ellie Ehinger's first birthday party! I cannot believe she is (almost) one. It was adorable to see her running around with her friends, smashing into her cake and opening the occasional present. We went to church afterwards, and I crashed when we got home (which is becoming our new normal).
• Saturday night church makes Sundays even more awesome. After sleeping in (until 8am! that is late for us!), David painted the porch, I worked on (and finished) a bunch of sewing projects, and we met the Lapinski's for lunch at Ichiban. For the first time ever, I ate my entire meal! Who does that at Ichiban?! I was starvin like Marvin. I reminisced about how the last time we ate there, as soon as I was finished, I ran to the bathroom and threw up my whole meal. I'm so thankful that season has passed.
• Instead of taking a killer nap like I was planning to do, Leigh convinced me to go walk with her. David dopped me off, and us two pregnant ladies walked from the Linhoss house to our house (3.25 miles). It was so great to spend time with Leigh, be outside on a beautiful day, and feel like I was doing good things for my body. My tailbone hated me for the rest of the night (I'm so over that), but it was well worth it.
• Then (I know! More good stuff!), our small group girls went to see Breaking Dawn together. The movie was just fine, but the company was even better. We made fun of it pretty much the entire time, oh, and I ate a ton of candy.

Well... that turned into a play-by-play instead of just a list of highlights, but I guess that's what happens when everything you do in a weekend was good. I am so thankful for weekends that roll on by without any fuss. Low-key, productive and David/friend-filled is my kind of quality time, and it seems that the holiday season brings this kind of time around most regularly. Thank you, Lord!

in the works

Oh, the chair. I know this doesn't look like progress, but it is! Making a "pattern" was my step one in the arduous process of recovering this bad boy. I know I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill on this one, but whatever. I'll just be glad when it is finished.

My first attempt at crocheting. I have a ways to go, but I really had fun learning! I'm flying to Ohio next week, and I'm excited about working on a few projects on the plane.

Because we aren't going to be around for Christmas (we'll be gone the 23-30th), we decided not to put our Christmas tree up. Bah humbug, I know. Our house is still on the market and cleaning is already a hassle, why add more clutter to the mix? We did get out my favorite Christmas decor- the Christmas card holder (with ours at the top! They are in the mail!), Willow Tree nativity and Christmas village. Because we buy Christmas village pieces the day after Christmas (there is a store in Columbus that has them 50% off on the 26th), it was so fun to put them out this year. It was like opening new gifts!

SD- sights

Balboa Park

Automotive Museum - Their special exhibit was all about Volkswagen! Unfortunately, it was extremely lacking in that it didn't include anything about the Chattanooga plant (which is the only US plant and making the only American-made VW). Don't worry, I left lots of comments :)

Air and Space Museum- the helicopter is (pretty much) just like the ones my dad flew in the Marine Corps!

beach at Hotel del Coronado

San Diego Zoo

La Jolla Cove- our favorite location of the whole trip. It was beautiful!

PS- I didn't wear that orange scarf the entire trip, just most of it. It was surprisingly cool in SD, and I was slightly unprepared... Thanks for the scarf, Beth!

SD- family and friends

One of the best parts about our recent trip (second only to massive amounts of sleep) was that we got to see so many special people.

We left Chattanooga and went straight to the McLeod's house. We hadn't met sweet Magnolia yet, so it was even more of a treat. Blair and I talked all things pregnancy and mommy-hood, and the Davids... well, I don't know what they talked about. David and I love these friends so much, and our time together was so sweet.

Blair, David and Magnolia McLeod

We flew to San Diego on Sunday, and as soon as we landed we jumped in our rental car and headed to meet Dale and Becky Burke. We met at The Beach House in Cardiff by the Sea, which was a beautiful spot on the ocean. Unfortunately, the weather was horrible, and we didn't get to enjoy the typical experience you get while eating there. It definitely didn't damper our time together, though! The Burkes are good friends of the Geyer family from way back. Dale was the first pastor of the church David grew up in, and Becky and Cathy are still really close friends. We calculated that David hadn't seen Dale and Becky since he was 12 (and I had never met them, obviously) , so we had lots of catching up to do! We visited for nearly 2.5 hours until the restaurant basically had to kick us out. It was SO special to meet them and hear about the many wonderful things God has done in and through their lives.

Dale and Becky Burke

Finally, Monday night we met up with my cousin Felicity, her fiance Reggie, my cousin James (Felicity's brother) and his girlfriend Carleigh. Felicity and Reggie live in San Diego, but James and Carleigh were just in town visiting from DC! We had actually hoped to see James when we were in Virgina a few months ago, but it didn't work out, so it was an even more special treat to meet up on the west coast! We hadn't seen any of them since our wedding, and David had never really spent time getting to know these cousins. We ate and laughed and hung out all night on Monday, and we met up with James and Carleigh again for lunch on Tuesday (in the Gaslamp District). They were such a fun bunch, and I hope we can meet up with them again soon (maybe on the east coast next time).

James, Carleigh, Reggie and Felicity

weeks 28 & 29

Week 28

I was officially 28 weeks pregnant while we were in California, so the picture is fitting (I'm on the beach at the Hotel del Coronado). Traveling across the country pregnant made me a tiny bit nervous, but everything was great. I broke my own tradition of never peeing on an airplane because, well, it was a long flight. In fact, the day we traveled west I peed 14 times. Yes. We kept track. I mean, it was ridiculous. My back and tailbone did bother me a lot on the plane, and I was really glad I brought a neck pillow- that I used for my back! I tried an icy hot patch, but panicked when it started tingling and feeling weird. I've since checked with the doc and know I'm safe to try again.

I slept like a ROCK on our trip. I don't know if it was just because we were out of town and worry-free or because of the king size bed (we have a queen), but regardless it was glorious. I literally slept for 12+ hours a night and napped each afternoon. Why must we return to real life and work?! We did tons of walking the whole time we were there (when I was actually awake), and I felt great!

Week 29

I went to the doctor for my 19 week appointment and everything is looking great. I passed my glucose test and got to see our little man (who was, of course, sleeping during the ultrasound). The highlight of the appointment was noticing that Crawford has giant chubby cheeks!! Oh, I hope he keeps those for the next 10+ weeks! We're onto the every-two-week schedule for doctor appointments, and that makes me really happy. I know I sound like a broken record, but I am SO thankful that Dr. B does an ultrasound at every appointment. That should have been my one thing to share at Thanksgiving this year. I've told David we're never moving away unless Dr. Brody comes too.

I have gained a significant amount of weight. I'm still below average on the babble pregnancy weight gain calculator (my fav pregnancy/baby/mom site), and even though I'm sure it doesn't matter, that makes me feel better. I'm already pretty sick of the clothes I have to wear to work, and I have 2 months left to go.

My mom made a cute "countdown to Crawford" sign for us, and we love flipping those numbers every day. We're 75 days away from his due date, but I'm totally expecting him to be late. My parents have thrown their guesses in the hat, and I think we'll start writing them down to see who gets his birthday correct. We'll know before too long! We have SO much to look forward to this month that I know it will fly by, but I'm already anticipating that January will inch along slowly.