nursery plans

I've been feeling totally overwhelmed lately. Not with anything in particular, but just with every little thing. Like how my kitchen floors desperately need to be mopped, but I just. can't. do it. Maybe that's because I got home at 7:15, ate dinner and went to bed? Literally. I really thought this second trimester was supposed to be one full of energy? Not so much... I'm hopeful that is still to come. Oh, and I just ate three bagels at work. Amen.

In the mean time, I have the best friends ever. My birthday kinda stunk because we spent it in the car and I was sick allll day. I did come home to the sweetest balloons, brownies, chocolate and cards from Jodi AND Sarah, and we did eat dinner with the Bogs (well, they ate dinner, I nibbled on biscuits), so I can't really complain. However, Monday night topped all. I was meeting Jodi for dinner while our boys played golf, and she had wrangled up so many sweet girls to join us for a surprise birthday celebration. I nearly cried, I was so overwhelmed (notice a theme?). It was so nice just to visit with the girls, and for some of my friends to get to know one another. I love worlds colliding. I'm seriously still freaked out that they did that. I feel so loved.

Since I'm not being productive on, well much of anything, I like to at least plan my future productivity. Since our house is for sale all of this is subject to change, but for the time being, our current nursery plan goes a little something like this...

this paint color on the walls

this rug on the floors

some fun fabric like this and maybe this and this

several DIY projects such as this

oragami mobile-thing made by Uncle GG

linen crib skirt and pelmet boxes and bumpers

a cool (homemade) sign like this

We've got a lot to do!

First things first...

Meet our new niece and nephew!

Bryce Neil (3 lbs. 13 oz.) and Paige Elizabeth (3 lbs. 2 oz.) were born at 6:39 and 6:40pm, respectively, on Wednesday, August 24. We still cannot believe they are here and doing so well. David and I left early Thursday morning to drive to Ohio to be with his family. We were able to spend most of the day Thursday with Beth and Jayme, meet our new family members, then hang out at his grandparents' house for the night. We stopped by the hospital again on our way home Friday, and everyone was doing so well after a good night of sleep. Beth is home now, and they are beginning the adjustment of having babies in the hospital. Keep praying for the Johnsons!

PS- I took a zillion pictures, and I'll share them as soon as I have permission from Beth. These two were from Jayme's cell phone, and they are the best shots of their sweet faces!

Secondly, whew. What a week we've had! Between two birthdays (well, four technically!), a trip to Ohio, a wedding at the lake and a visit from Ash & Chase, we're worn out. Lots to blog about! Plus, Mr. Crawford is a whopping 16 weeks grown today, and he's doing splendidly and still making me puke a bunch. A full update to come...

prayers and birthday

1. Please pray for Beth right now. Her water broke Tuesday night, and she has been in the hospital having contractions ever since. They have been trying to get the contractions to stop, and they have slowed down, but haven't stopped completely. There is a chance they will deliver these sweet babies today (at 32 weeks). Please join us in praying fervently for Beth, Jayme, Brianna and our new niece and nephew, Paige and Bryce.

2. This is so much less significant now, but we celebrated David's birthday at Ichiban last night with the Bryants:

weeks 14 & 15

Week 14

Week 15

Finally, some growth! As of this morning, I have gained 4 pounds, and I've never been so happy to gain weight! My pants are getting a little tight, but the maternity pants I have (thanks, Beth!) are still too big. I think I'll be busting out the tummy sleeve before too long.

Fortunately, my nausea has subsided. Unfortunately, I'm still throwing up pretty regularly. It's totally random and intermittent, but I can feel it coming and usually get to an ok place to take care of business. Hey, it's an improvement.

The newest turn of events is my new bff, the chiropractor. Well, he's not really my bff yet, but I'm banking on it in the future. When I saw Dr. B last week and told him about my tailbone pain (that had already been going on for a month at that point), he was kind of surprised. He said the fact that it had already begun this early in my pregnancy was probably a sign that something else wasn't quite right. He referred me to a chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy, and I'm glad he did. Turns out, my pelvis is totally twisted thereby causing my pain. I'm seeing him 3x a week for a few weeks, and hopefully we'll get it straightened out by then. In the mean time, my tailbone pain has pretty much gotten worse because of all the stretching and adjusting. He assures me that I'll feel some relief after 6-8 visits. I'm holding him to that. For now, I'm spending every evening doing ridiculous stretches and icing my back and tailbone, which is turning into a time consuming regiment. Considering that I'm going to bed by about 9 every night, I'm not very useful these days.

A fun note for this week... today is David's birthday! He's the big 2-6. He's pretty hard to celebrate for special occasions (he prefers that no money be spent), but I tried really hard to utilize his love language. When his alarm went off this morning (which I usually don't even hear), I got up and told him to keep sleeping. I walked the dog, emptied the dishwasher and took out the trash (seriously, a labor of love for this pregnant lady). Nothing much, but I usually sleep through all of these morning activities, so I hope it was nice for the tables to be turned for once. David is the most selfless husband, and I could not be more thankful that he was born 26 years ago today!

gg

My baby brother (whom, my kids will call "Uncle GG"... I just decided) was visiting the great state of Georgia for a brief time over the weekend, and that was just too close not to see each other. He lives in Boston, so our visits are too few and far-between. Greg and the 'rents drove half way (thanks meetways.com!) and we met at Applebees for a 3-hour-lunch-and-visit time. It was wonderful (though we missed Ash!).

Uncle GG

the kids + Molls; our boys-in-blue, as usual

By the way, check Greg out! After a director saw him perform in Oklahoma, she cast him (as "Greg", no less) in A Chorus Line! He's a rock star.

blue, blue, blue!

I wanted to recap our gender reveal party a bit more because we had so much fun. We totally realize that we could have found out the gender at the doctor's office, sent out a big text message and called our families (and there's nothing wrong with that!!), but we're glad we took advantage of an opportunity to celebrate and hang out with our friends. And that we did! It was soo cool that most of our closest Chattanooga friends were all there. There were 24 adults and 6 kids/babies, so we were thankful that the weather was nice enough to allow some overflow onto the porch. Our little house has a hard time with crowds, but I think we made it all work just fine. Jodi's love language is gifts, and she insisted on making all the food for the party. I talked her into letting us order pizzas and I made the cupcakes, but she out did herself on everything else. There was tons of food, and everyone ate and visited for a while.

Around 7:30 we realized it was getting late and it was go time. We called my sister and my parents (they had requested to be on speakerphone. too bad we don't have face time :( ), and opened our present. Back up: when we went to the doctor on Monday we asked him to help us pull off our surprise. I had embroidered a boy and a girl onesie with each of our chosen names, and he selected the correct one and put it loose in this box. He taped it up so we wouldn't peek, and we took it home to wrap it. It worked out perfectly, and we weren't tempted at all to cheat! I was shocked!

So, David pulled out the blue onesie (as you can see in this video that Wendi took! I LOVE it!) and we were so excited. SHOCKED. But so, so excited. I think I would have been super shocked either way. Honestly, I'm having a weird time wrapping my mind around this whole we're-having-a-baby thing. It still doesn't feel real because I don't feel pregnant yet, and for the baby to have an identity now makes it feel very strange! I'm obviously so pumped and excited, I'm just expressing it more slowly (which is surprising). David, on the other hand, is totally comfortable and ready for Crawford to arrive tomorrow. It's adorable. He constantly talks about "our son" and "Crawford", and he has been telling Harley all about his brother on the way. It warms the cockles of my heart to see his excitement for our little family. He is going to be the BEST dad ever. Hands down.

February 14, 2012... hurry up and get here!!

A bunch of pictures HERE.

it's a...

BOY!!

Crawford David Geyer

baby day

Well, we went to the doctor yesterday and he was successfully able to identify the gender of our little peanut. I went in confident that it wasn't going to work out for us to know the gender this early (14 weeks), but Dr. B proved me wrong. It's still very surreal to me since (other than being sick... still) I don't really feel or look pregnant. I've gained a whopping two pounds, but I'm sure that will start picking up now that I'm pretty much only throwing up once a day- and only on week days (I don't get sick if I can sleep in and take it easy in the mornings). I'm surprisingly not anxious to know the gender, but I know it will be really fun to find out tonight.

So yeah, tonight! We're having a big party (like, 30 people... yikes!) to hang out with our friends and reveal the gender of this little one. Dr. Brody helped with our reveal plan, the house is clean and in party-mode, and we're ready to go. Well, except that a realtor just called and wants to show our house to an out-of-town client this morning... Oh well.

So guess away! What do you think baby Geyer is? Boy or Girl? (Oh, and we'll reveal his/her name tonight too! I'm probably most excited about that part :) )

I'll be wearing pink tonight- my guess is girl!

the Lambuth weekend

Whew! What a crazy, fun-filled, emotional and exhausting weekend. My dear Jamie married her long-time beau John, and we all celebrated with days of activities. Thursday was the bachelorette party (a cooking class!) followed by lingerie shower. Friday was the bridesmaids luncheon, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner and Saturday was the big day. It was such a fun time to catch up with so many college friends, many of whom I haven't seen for years. Six of the seven Currie Way girls were together, making that the best we've done since 2007.

Jamie was radiant. Seriously, that was the only word we could think of to describe her all day! She was so graceful and calm- just as you would hope to be on your wedding day.

cuuuute Georgia (sister of the flower girls); prayer time for the bride

the Hamiltons; me and Kris

GranMols and Grandy

me with Mrs. Lambuth!

KRay

dear Melissa! Due with baby Richie #3 exactly one week after me! Love this friend soo much. Wish we lived in the same town!

Jen, Kris, Jme, Kara, Brit and me - 6/7th of Currie Way

love these friends.

One of the (non-wedding related) highlights was spending time with my fam! I stayed with Ashley all weekend, and we got to visit a few times but not for long. She works 7pm-7am (which means she sleeps during the day), so we kind of passed like ships in the night. However, she unexpectedly got off work at 11 on Saturday night, so we were all able to hang out together Sunday morning. It was a short amount of time, but we did a craft project (name cards for a wedding), opened birthday gifts (hence the gardening hat above) and ate a big breakfast at IHOP (my second breakfast of the day). It was so nice to be together, and we missed Greg terribly!

humorous anniversary

So, for our 3rd anniversary, David and I had plans to keep it low-key. He made dinner reservations at Porter's Steakhouse (thanks, Living Social!) and we exchanged gifts.

David's, Mine

We both decided to let these gifts suffice as our anniversary AND birthday presents because they were both much more than what we would usually spend. However, we were BOTH super excited about what we got! I felt such a sense of accomplishment because David is impossible to shop for... the best gift I can usually give him is to not spend money, which is lame. He loves his new boots though, and that was the best gift to me.

 Attempting a "traditional Emily jumping picture" as Andy requested

My parents were on their way back to Columbus after a long weekend with some family in N. Kentucky, so they stopped in to spend the night. They knew we'd be gone for dinner, but it was fine that they just hung out at home (they were here Friday too! and we'll see them in Birmingham this Saturday! love it!). While we were at dinner Andy called David, but he obviously didn't answer. On the way home I was talking to my sister (who had just talked to my dad) and she said something about Andy being at our house...?? It was true. Apparently he had texted a bunch of times, but David never got them. So, we got home from dinner to find my parents hanging with Andy! Ha! It was awesome! They had actually gone to dinner while we were gone. I love that our house is a place where people feel comfortable just dropping in.

So, we all got to visit for a while before the 'rents went to bed. I stayed up with the boys for a while (Andy helped us eat our anniversary dinner), then I retired later than I should have (still only like 10pm). David and Andy stayed up until after midnight, but I'm glad they did. I love those boys.

Though it wasn't what we expected, it was such a fitting way to spend our anniversary- with people who have been with us from the beginning and love and support us no matter what!

1,095 days

That's how long David and I have been married. 3 years today. It feels like forever, yet it kind of feels like we're just getting started.

I've read a few blog-land love stories lately (namely here and here), and though I didn't marry my college professor or a man 39 years my senior (true stories! must read!), I do think David and I have a sweet story that I want to preserve.

Summer 2005.

My sweet friend Kara convinced me to work with her at a camp in Chattanooga. She was the dock mama. I was awkward. I did love it right away, and I made some stellar friends almost immediately. I did not notice the guys. I should back up...

So, I'm 19 years old. Just finished my sophomore year at Samford (yeah, I'm young for my grade). Never had a boyfriend. I went to a teeny tiny school from 4th-12th grade with approx the same dozen guys the entire time. I graduated with 32 others, and dating wasn't really the thing to do. Juvenile crushes? Guy who were like brothers? Absolutely. Dating/marriage material? Not so much. I should back up again...

I'm in 7th grade. My youth pastor (a woman! gasp!) was sharing her testimony with a group of middle school girls, and she told us that her fiance was the only guy she had ever dated/held hands with/kissed. I sat in that little classroom and prayed the same would be true for me. I didn't totally hold God to it, but it was always in the back of my mind as the desire of my heart.

Fast forward back to camp (am I making you dizzy, yet?). I guess we probably met at some point during Staff Training, but I seriously don't remember it. In our all staff photos we are sitting directly in front of each other, but all I remember is that his name was either David or Matt (everyone just called him "Geyer", and our friend Matt "Cash"... I knew one was Matt and one was David but I didn't know who was who). Actually, I do remember being jealous of the group of EKU people who were all buddies because I didn't have that from school (just KRay).

Things were a little crazy for both of us right off the bat. David's sister had a baby (Brianna!) and his car broke down on the drive to Ohio. My Grandpa died, and I spent a week with my family and in Virginia. Back at camp, things were awesome, but still, no interest in the guys (that I recall... someone feel free to correct me!). Until... the last session of first term (the only part of the summer I was scheduled to work) was a two-week camp. The first interaction with David that I recall is super embarrassing for me. I walked out of the Bob as he was walking in and we were wearing the same shorts. Yeah, they were boy's obviously. They were looong Nike basketball shorts, and of course he commented on my outfit. I was embarrassed. From there, I remember the shameless flirting began. It got around to David that I didn't like people touching my ears, so he enlisted his cute little campers to basically torment me by touching my ears when I least expected. I, of course, was immature and dramatic and loved the whole thing.

So, in the middle of the two weeks, we had one "counselors free night" to hang out around camp while the campers watched a movie. A group of us played beach volleyball, but one by one everyone started bailing on us. Soon enough, David and I were the only ones left. We each stayed on our side of the net and kept hitting the ball around (I'm sure he was impressed with my skills... ha), and we had an amazing conversation. About death. Literally. We talked about all the people in our lives who had died and how it had affected us. You know, casual conversation. Come to think of it, I really feel like that is the kind of result you get from the camp environment= intentional, meaningful conversations. Praise the Lord for camp!

While all of this was going on, my girlfriends (Batch, Blair, Kara and Ginny I think) were sitting on a bench nearby planning out our lives together. It didn't take long for word to get out that "Geyer likes BourkE" and vice versa... soon enough, my cute 7th graders were all over it. They would sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" every time we saw him around camp. I was mortified (but I secretly kind of loved it)!

It was obvious that there was mutual interest, but I was still a bit freaked out. For the first (and only) time in my life, I spend a whole night on the top bunk in my cabin awake and in prayer. I really felt like the Lord was keeping my rapt attention all night to give this potential relationship over to Him completely.

So, 2 week camp ended along with my allotted time at camp. Since I was just working first term, I packed up and headed home. David (known still to me as just "Geyer") and I wrote back and forth some and he called on his 24 hours off on the weekends (this was back in the day where counselors couldn't use cell phones or internet and camp actually lasted the better part of a week... as camp should be!). I remember how much he made me laugh, and I loved talking to him. I was really anxious to get back to camp for the end-of-summer get together. Then, Laurie called. They had some sick counselors and needed help in the office for one week! I dropped everything (literally, I was in Savannah at the time) and hurried back to Soddy Daisy.

It turned out to be a horrible week at CVP. Counselors were dropping like flies, and I was moved from the office to a cabin to help fill in for the shortage. I lasted one night and then was out of commission due to a massive staph (staph! everyone has staph! infection!) infection in my leg. I felt horrible to be at camp just to help out, and instead I was requiring more attention to tend to my ailment. I spent the second half of the week on my back in the Du and it was no fun. I saw David a couple of times, but it wasn't much...

So, the last week of camp (Urban Camp) rolled around, and I loved being in the office and spending more time at camp and with my friends. David and I talked as much as possible, and it was evident that a romance was budding. He invited me to come to Ohio to meet his family and hang out for a few days post-camp, pre-school, and I was psyched! Oh, and his parents would PAY for it! Whaaa? I was so excited, and a bit freaked out.

So, I went to Ohio. It was great. I met a whole bunch of his friends and nearly all of his family. Everyone was so nice, even though I'm sure everyone was wondering what the deal was with this girl from Georgia (even though I, disappointingly, didn't have an accent). I, too, was wondering what the deal was, and I kept waiting for the "DTR" to happen. Sooo... it never did. He took me to the airport and that was that. It was still very platonic (no kissing/cuddling/hand holding), but only sort of...

Blair was positive we were dating, so I believed her. Then, I got up the courage to ask David what the deal was. He quickly corrected us, and told me we were not dating. Yet. He wanted to meet my family before we started dating, and I was glad to hear that! I did sort of wish he had volunteered that information a bit earlier in the game, but whatever. I started racking my brain for an opportunity for David (who lived in Ohio and went to school in Kentucky) to meet my family (that lived in Georgia). I couldn't make it work, so I just went on believing that we'd be just friends for a while...

Then, our birthdays (his- 8/23, mine- 8/26) rolled around. I sent him a box full of junk. He told me he mailed his gift too. He even paid extra for tracking so he could keep an eye on it until it got to me. He had me fooled big time, and he surprised me on August 27, 2005 (my sister's birthday) in Birmingham! My friends and family were all in on it, so he got to meet everyone and be a part of the whole celebration. By the end of the weekend, we were "officially" dating, and I was smitten...

Love you, Dave-o. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. Thanks for handling our relationship with care even from the beginning. You put family first six years ago, and nothing has changed one bit. Love you more than I ever thought possible! Happy 3rd Anniversary! Only 80 more to go :)

pictures to come...

week 13

Dreams. I started having craaaazy dream this week. Exhibit A: Ashley was elected the mayor of a tiny town in Alaska. She refused to live in the mayor's mansion, so she (and me and David?) lived in an igloo that was really just an underground ice cave. Inside the cave was a pond with a giant whale. The end. (I did just finish reading Sarah Palin's autobiography a few weeks ago...) Exhibit B: Ashley, again, was the leading lady. She helped Greg pierce his ears... 4 times in each ear! We (me, D, mom & dad) were sooo upset that they didn't just do two holes to "see how he liked it" before they did 4. Ridiculous.

Body. I'm not showing yet, and I haven't gained any weight, but some days I definitely feel like I've grown. I think I've made the connection that on days I don't throw up (3 days this week!), I can tell a difference in my body. Kinda makes sense, right? My pants were a bit tight yesterday for the first time. I'm anxious to start showing so I'll actually feel pregnant not just sick and chubby. Sometimes I even forget there is a tiny human inside of me. We have the ultrasound pictures taped on our bedroom mirror, and I could just look at them all day long.

Symptoms. After having two good days Monday and Tuesday, when I started off really sick Wednesday morning I just about had a break down. Wednesday just about made up for the good days, and I was so emotional. I think waking up early is what contributes to my nausea. Seriously! When I sleep in (until 8), I don't get sick. Throwing up in the shower is a new thing, and noo fun. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, and man am I hormonal. Poor David. I've been waking up every night at about 4:45 to go pee. I get back in bed, but I feel like I've just fallen asleep when David wakes me up. It makes me cry. Another new thing is the hunger. OH, the hunger! My stomach is a bottomless pit, and when I feel hungry I get crazy. Like, get out of my way, I need to eat NOW crazy. It's very strange.

Looking ahead. I'm really looking forward to my next appointment on the 15th. I'll be 14 weeks and we're hoping to find out the gender! Well, we aren't going to find out, but the doctor will. We're planning on finding out with our friends on the 16th. We have our names picked out, and I can't wait to know who this little one is!

week 12

** Now that I'm nearing the end of week 13, I guess it's time I post week 12. No picture this week... I pretty much look the same.

The tale of this week is pretty simple... throwing up. You know you've been throwing up a lot when you decide what to eat based on what is easy to throw up. Just for the record... yogurt, bananas and apple juice= easy, macaroni and cheese= worst possible thing ever. If anything could ruin my lifelong mac & cheese obsession... this week's experience just may have done it. I might shed a tear over the loss.

No new symptoms, just trying to keep as much as possible down. Nothing seems to help, so I'm just dealing with it as it comes and hoping the end of this first trimester brings... at least different symptoms :). I'm ready to pass this one (oh, and the acne. OH the acne.) along.

As the week progressed, the throwing up ebbed into plain ol' nausea, and I got to add in bloating to my repertoire of symptoms. Bloating is weird. You could literally feel the gas in my belly, but it just sat in there to aggravate me.

Saturday, July 30- first day I didn't throw up! We celebrated! I giggled when I overheard David telling other guys at church this news. I was happy to know he was as elated as me :)

Technically, with the conclusion of this week I'm in the second trimester! Woo hoo! However, I don't feel very accomplished... I mean, if 12 weeks= trimester 1, then wouldn't 24 weeks=2 and 36=3 and we're still left with 4 leftover weeks... I think we'll celebrate the end of this trimester at about 13 1/3 weeks. Just so we're realistic, you know.

thoughtful gifts

Since announcing that we have a baby on the way, people (mostly) have been so kind.

Andrea sent a sweet card and Preggie Pops home with David for me! What a thoughtful friend!

Ashley mailed us these adorable gowns (gender neutral colors, though she said she was tempted to go ahead and buy pink :))- and she didn't even know, baby gowns are about my favorite thing ever!

Mom made the sweetest journal for me to keep up with all things baby. I have been wanting to get a baby book, but I just might turn this into a pregnancy-keepsake-baby book all in one. Afterall, it's homemade, so it's already sentimental.

We are the champions!

Well, really they are the champions... The Greginators won the league tournament! This picture is actually both final teams, because the championship game came down to the two VW teams! Our guys played one game in the playoffs (and won it in PKs), had a one-game break (when the wives all went to our house for popsickles, brownies and time in the AC), and finished it off again in penalty kicks to seal-the-rec-league-championship-deal.

I think I was the most excited person there. Everyone else was just hot and tired.