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.

still here

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. We've been on-the-move, and stopping to blog just wasn't a priority.

David and I left town last Saturday (yikes, it's been a long time!) to begin our Thanksgiving week. We decided to take the whole week of Thanksgiving off work to provide for some quality time together and a getaway trip. We spent one night in Nashville, hung out with the McLeods and took off early Sunday morning for sunny San Diego. We knew we wanted to take a "babymoon" trip, but we debated back and forth for a loooong time about where we wanted to go. Our criteria ended up looking like this: warm-ish weather (but not too warm... I don't have warm-weather clothes that fit), somewhere we've never been before, sights to see but not so many that we felt like we had to be on-the-go constantly. Thus, San Diego. It really was the perfect trip for what we had in mind. We got to see some friends and some family, see some sights, do some fun things and rest a lot. Pics and details to come.

We arrived at home at 3am Thanksgiving day. After sleeping for a few hours (D made an airport run around 6:30! yikes!), we roused our sleepy heads to do a little laundry, a little cooking and a little parade watching. We joined the Hudson/Mosier/Bryant families for lunch, and loved our time with them (of course). Jim and Nancy Hudson hosted, and it was such a nice day. Before we prayed, we stood around in a circle, holding hands and sharing what we are thankful for. There were tears shed (mine, of course) and laughs all around (Jay tried to get away with a "pass" and Margaret Anne simply said her traditional "dogs!"). Of course, we have so much to be thankful for this year, as we do every year. Making a life really puts thankfulness into perspective, and we certainly didn't want to overlook that this year.

Even though we got home on Thursday, it felt like our long weekend was a total blur! We did so many fun things (Black Friday shopping, first annual family football game, smores and pizza at the Hudsons, breakfast with Anna, Jessica's baby shower, Alabama/Auburn game party, Calvary kids at church), and by Sunday we were ready to crash. I didn't leave the house all day, and it was glorious. I even learned how to crochet!

Now, we're starting off another week full of activities and fun, and counting down until Christmas!

nursery update

I've been saying that I'd update the ol' blog with pictures of the nursery, but it wasn't until the progress we David made last night that I felt ready to do it.

We really have made lots of progress, and I'm happy with the way things are turning out. I should note... in all these pictures, the green paint looks like puke. I promise, we did not paint our nursery puke-green. It's much better in person.

Ok, now onto a list (because that's how I do things):
1. We got the chair from Columbus.

2. I made a pillow (that Wendi embroidered).
3. My mom recovered the cushion.
4. We sanded and painted the side table.

Obviously, this pink chair isn't quite cutting it. I have every intention of spending lots of time making a slipcover for this bad boy, but I haven't mustered up the energy to do it yet. In the mean time, I keep pinning tutorials I plan to follow. It's my December project! Hold me to it!

 5. The pelmets are finished! Wendi (my monogramming lifesaver) monogrammed the one you see from the hallway and when you walk in the door, and I love the way it looks.

6. Crib "skirt". I say "skirt" because I made it in about 10 minutes with a piece of linen that I cut to the right length and some sticky velcro circles. It is nothing fancy, but it serves the purpose of covering that blank space beneath where the crib mattress goes (currently, the only purpse the crib serves is to corral gifts that don't otherwise have a home. Where IS all of this stuff going to go?!).

7. Full bed. We knew we wanted to keep the bed in the nursery, but we didn't like how it stuck out so far in the middle of the room. So, we bought a cheap-o metal bed frame to switch out with the head board/foot board bed frame and turned the whole thing sideways. Actually, David did all of this. I was at dinner with some girlfriends :). We still need to change out all the blue things on the bed (to brown accessories), but at least it's out of the way! And, the bench works well under that window, so it'll probably live there. Now it's just a place to set stuff that needs to be hung on the wall to add to that lone frame...

8. Miscellaneous. I made this pillow and taggies blanket both out of some satin that had a "G" embroidered on it from our wedding. I love the way they both turned out, but I'm particularly obsessed with the blanket. Nothing new on the other side of the room, but the bottom shelf of the bookshelf is FULL of books now! I need to get different baskets for the top 2 shelves, because this kid already has tons of stuff.

week 27- THIRD Trimester!

Two thirds of the way to meeting this baby?? How is that even possible?

Once again, a weekly post in bullet point format (sorry, I'm getting lazy). At 27 weeks pregnant, I am:

• peeing a ton.
• figuring out work stuff (new insurance, leave time, etc.).
• eating fruits and carbs, but thankfully not much dessert!
• writing thank you notes as quickly as possible (and feeling very, very blessed by all the gifts). 
• overall, feeling like a house (and really hating that every pound I gain shows up in my face. Why can't it go to my butt??).
• noticing that my belly button looks like a cheerio that fell down my shirt.
• dealing with these symptoms= back & hip pain, leg cramps at night and feet falling asleep at my desk.
• trying to finagle a way to sleep at night with the heating pad on my back and about a half a dozen pillows to prop me up. Then, reconfiguring the whole set up each time I get up to pee.
• trying to find a place for David to fit on the bed (what with half a dozen pillows taking up all the room).
• loving feeling Mr. C move all the time. He's getting into a daily rhythm, so I know when to expect him the most.

baby showers

I know I'm super behind on posting about my baby shower last week, so I figured I'd just do both showers in one post.

Shower #1- Columbus shower

My parents next door neighbor Brenda threw us an amazing couples shower before we got married, and she did it again with this baby shower. She is THE ultimate hostess, and she really has a gift for making things beautiful and enjoyable. She arranged the gorgeous flower arrangements, prepared the most amazing lunch and dessert, used her fine china, silver and crystal and did it all with so much grace! I would have been a stress ball, but she is such a natural. 

This shower had so many highlights, so I posted a whole bunch of pictures on facebook. I got to see a whole bunch of sweet friends from Columbus who made time to be there. Additionally, my Aunt Susie, cousin Mary and her daughter Reagan drove up from Jacksonville and my cousin Kim and her daughter Amber drove down from Atlanta! It really meant SO much to have family there since we see each other so rarely. Also, my high school government teacher (who is still friends with my mom through Curves) and my longest-time friend came! I hadn't seen Mrs. Thacker probably since high school, and Niki is currently wrapping up med school and traveling around for residency interviews. It was so fun to see them and catch up with them both!

Buckley fam (sidenote: 5 of the 8 of us have Louise as our middle name!); with Niki and Mrs. Thacker

Shower #2- Birmingham shower

This past weekend my sister threw a book shower in Birmingham! I just went down for the day to hang out with Ash, Courtney, Jonathan and my parents and it was so nice. Ashley and Courtney spent the day preparing everything, and it was all perfect. I got to see so many fun Birmingham friends, and we got SO many awesome books. Ashley figured since I love to read so much, the book theme was appropriate- I couldn't agree more.

my dad painted my fingernails :)

MS, Jamie, Kara; Mom, Raylene ("Gran") and Rita

Awesome set up! Ash even made the onesies herself (so much for not being crafty!)

.

Caitlin, Jenn, Ashley, me, Jamie, Mary Shelton, Kara, Courtney and Jenny; GranMols and Grandy

Not many pictures of me will survive from this weekend because... well... it was definitely an ugly day. I haven't gained too much weight (I'm actually on the low end according to those online calculators), but it ALL shows in my face. Ugh. Oh well. Crawford is worth it!

"This is a time of abundance in your life. Your cup runneth over with blessings... you are now traipsing through lush meadows drenched in warm sunshine. I want you to enjoy to the full this time of ease and refreshment. I delight in providing it for you."

I read this in my devotional a few days ago and it could not be more true after the past two weekends.

check out my dad

He's pretty great!

http://qmyvoice.com/

(Especially listen to the Biographical one- he submitted a video using the same script to become a contestant on Survivor about 5 years ago.)

cushion: check!

One of the things we needed to accomplish with our trip to Columbus this weekend was to retrieve my new (to me) rocking chair that my mom and I found at Goodwill. In discussing how I am going to recover the thing, my mom offered to do the cushion for me (because I knew I'd screw it up). She just texted me a picture of the finished product (yes, already!) and it looks AMAZING. I decided to order fabric from fabric.com, which was a bit of a gamble, but I really love how it looks. Now, I just have to recover the rest of the chair!

Thanks, Mom!!

Now seriously... when do you want to come help me do the rest of the chair??

week 26

• Mr. Crawford has had the hiccups! He usually gets them in the wee hours of the morning, so I only kinda pay attention to them. It's usually during that time when I'm between fully asleep and awake, but it's fun to know he's still going strong.
• I had my first baby shower this weekend! It was so, so wonderful. Full post coming soon.
• Watch out, world. I'm irritable and moody like whoa. Seriously, everyone and everything is annoying to me (sometimes... I guess it's not like that 100% of the time).
• The belly button is officially an outie.
• We took Monday off work and stayed at my parents house for a long weekend, and we loved it. Obviously it was so nice to be with my family, but another huge perk was that we sleep in a king size bed at their house. I had the best 3 nights sleep I've had in 6 months, and I wish I could have brought that bed home with me.
• Cancel what I said last week about only feeling Crawford move below my belly button. He's graduated to moving all around, everywhere, all the time. It was fun that my mom, dad and sister all got to feel him move (at home, at church and at JoAnns!) this weekend.

The Rimers of Eldritch

Last night we went to Baylor to see Grace as Nellie Windrod in The Rimers of Eldritch. The play was... interesting... but Grace was great! She definitely stretched herself for the role, and we loved getting to watch her. Being there made me miss going home to see my brother's high school plays, and I'm sad he's performing so far away now!

week 25

I figured it'd be fun to have my 25 week picture in my Halloween costume since Oct. 31 is my 25th week checkpoint.

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions very regularly (like 3-4 times a day), and Dr. Brody said they are worse when you are tired or dehydrated. Well, I'm always tired... And, I have to decide if I'd rather have the contractions or be up all day/night going pee. I do drink a ton of water, and I can tell a difference when I'm slacking. Fortunately, the Braxton Hicks contractions are pretty cool to watch! It doesn't hurt at all, but because this boy is sooo low, every time one happens I feel like my belly is full of bricks. It's weird. It's especially strange if I'm standing when it happens. If I'm sitting or lying down, I don't notice it as much (unless I'm looking at my belly!). Anyone else have them a bunch?? Melissa??

Crawford is still a little jumping bean in there. Some days he moves constantly all day long, and he seriously is so low. Obviously I don't have anything to compare it to, but I hope it's all good that he's hanging out in my pelvis, not so much my belly. I seriously haven't felt one movement above my belly button!

I've gained 13-14 pounds, and except for pictures from unflattering angles (a picture on the stairs at the baby shower?? what were we thinking?), I'm feeling pretty good about my body.

We head to Columbus on Friday for my first shower on Saturday, and I CAN.NOT.WAIT! Two of my cousins and their daughters and my aunt are all coming (plus my sister from Bham), and it means soo much to me that they would all travel to be there!

trick or treat

The Linhosses

The Bogensbergers

The Rochas

The Geyers

shower for Wuby/Shiloh

This weekend was full! David's grandparents were here until Sunday morning and as soon as they left, baby-shower-prep began! It's always nice to have special occasions at your house so there is some immediate motivation to get stuff done. David made our weekly grocery run (he always does, it saves us money!) and got started on the crib while I mopped and vaccuumed and cleaned the house. We make a good team, and we had all of the essential stuff ready in time for people to arrive.

This baby shower was definitely the most special one I've ever been a apart of. Every baby is a gift, but the sweet girl that Jan and Andrea are adopting from Ethiopia is a particularly special blessing. As I write this, they are on their way to Ethiopia, and they will meet their daughter on Thursday! It has been a long road for the Asches, but their unwavering faith has been such a testimony to so many of us. On top of the fact that Jan & Andrea are bringing home Wuby/Shiloh (Wubnesh Ademitulu is her Ethiopian name that will remain as her middle name, Shiloh is her new name!), they are in the process of moving back to Michigan. So, the shower was especially bittersweet knowing that we won't get to be a part of this little one's life on a daily basis like we would all so love to do. The Asches will be near family and Shiloh will have no shortage of people to love her, and for that we're all thankful.

SO many wonderful people came to celebrate Andrea and Shiloh, and it was such a special day. We laughed and we cried, and hopefully we'll all get to meet our new little friend in no time!

Africa-shaped cookie cake (turned sideways); Wendi and Ellie

Maya in her Halloween costume; Andrea, Emory, Anna and Jodi

Opening such thoughtful gifts!

Mother-in-law from Germany, Andrea with her Ethiopia baby, Mom from America- SOO SPECIAL!

hostesses with our new scarves

love this friend!

We're going to miss you!