27 Is Going To Be A GREAT Year!

Well I think 27 is going to be a good year :) We celebrated my birthday this past Friday and I must say I was spoiled! My wonderful husband sent me my favorite flowers Gerber Daisies to work which made my day! Work had a little birthday party for me in our kitchen here at the office too. We had apple pie and vanilla icecream! It was delicious! And of course my sweet dad stopped by my office to see me because he usually stops by on my birthday to bring me a little treat. He brought me a beautiful red poinsettia for my desk and one to take home as well! Later that night we had dinner at my parents house and opened gifts and had oreo icecream pie from the Pie Kitchen. It was a great day and I felt incredibly blessed!!

To top off my birthday Aaron gave me a prenatal massage so I booked an appointment for the next day and let me say that was the BEST THING EVER!!! I didn't want it to end. My back had been hurting me really bad so sweet Aaron made sure that it got taken care of :). I recommend a prenatal massage to ALL pregnant women!!

Saturday night Aaron and I went to Lexington to celebrate a wedding of one of his close friends from college. It was such a beautiful wedding and was so much fun catching up with people we hadn't seen in a while. When we arrived back home we were surprised to see that my dad had gone in to our house and set up our Christmas tree for us! With Aaron's work schedule and me being 8 months pregnant we really didn't know when or how we were going to be able to put it up in time for Christmas so my sweet dad surprised us and set it up for us! Aaron and I decorated it on Sunday and I am so happy we have a tree up now!! It was a busy and fun filled weekend!!

Tuesday I had my 34 week Dr. appointment and everything is looking good! Noah's heart beat was really strong and he is head down ready to come in to the world :) I am 1.5 cm dilated so my Dr. has advised me to take it easy the next couple weeks as she doesn't want me to progress too soon so I have been doing my best to not be going going going like I usually am. She doesn't want me walking around a lot or lifting anything over 10 pounds. Its been a test of patience and humility for me as I have had to rely on others to do some things for me which if you know me I am usually miss independent and like to take care of things myself. She said once I reach 38 weeks though that those restrictions will be gone because that is when I will be considered full term so he can come whenever he wants to by then :)! I can't believe how close we are getting!! So excited!!!

 Aaron is having surgery tomorrow so this weekend will be watching movies and eating lots of milk shakes and smoothies. He is having a Septoplasty on his nose because his septum collapsed from a previous soccer injury where his nose was shattered and is also having his tonsils and adenoids removed. If you would say a little prayer for him we would appreciate it!!

My beautiful birthday flowers from Aaron!

My beautiful birthday Poinsettia from my dad!

34 Weeks!! Getting ready to go to a wedding!

Noah's first Christmas ornament thanks to my friend Anna!

 Our beautiful Christmas Tree!! My favorite time of the year!



Catching up on November!

So I have been a major blogging slacker this month!! I will catch you up on what has been going on these past two weeks...my mind has become so mushy lately that it may be hard for me to recall all details haha but I will do my best!

My little man is VERY active and just kicking away! I think I actually might have seen his foot the other day poking out my side. As he gets bigger his cute little pokes are becoming more like hard shoves into my rib cage but I don't mind ;). He is already positioned head down and is comfy as can be so the Dr. doesn't foresee him doing any little flips in the future which means he is ready to come out! In 8 weeks that is! His heart rate was 138 at my last visit and he doesn't like to be messed with haha! Every time the doctor would push on my stomach he would give her a nice hard kick in the hand. It was so funny!! I have the typical back pain, not being able to sleep well, and achenes but other than that I am feeling pretty good. I am starting to feel more tired toward the end of the day but I always seem to have enough energy to get things done when I get home from work so that is good! The nursery is still a work in progress but I have lots of time to get that done.

I am SUPER excited I passed my glucose test!! Since then though I haven't been watching my sugar intake very well which may account for the couple of pounds I have gained :(. With the holidays and all those delicious desserts its just so hard to resist sometimes! ;)

My office threw me a work shower last Tuesday before Thanksgiving and it was so much fun! I am so blessed to work with such amazing people who genuinely care about me and were so willing to love on my little guy before he is even here! Aaron and I feel very blessed by all of them. Sadly I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures except the ones on my bosses cell phone but they were to dark to upload :( Oh well the memory is engraved in my mind! It was nice to be able to have such a joyous occasion with my co-workers and their spouses. There was delicious food and everyone seemed to have a great time! Noah was definitely spoiled!

Thanksgiving was quiet and relaxing. Aaron went quail hunting in the morning with his dad and then we spent the rest of the day and night with his family. We switch off each year between families so that we don't have to be two places at once. It makes it more enjoyable that way we don't have to worry about having to run out the door. Donna, my mother-in-law made the most AMAZING Thanksgiving meal! Noah LOVED it! :) It was nice to just relax and enjoy family!

Aaron has been working A LOT lately but this past weekend he didn't have to work at all so we took advantage of that time we could spend together and did lots of fun things! We went to the movies and saw Lincoln which Aaron loved but I had a hard time following. I am not a history buff like he is though! Overall I thought the movie was okay...Then we had dinner at our favorite restaurant Papalino's and after that went to Quills Coffee and got some yummy hot chocolate! Then we drove around and looked at Christmas lights! It was such a fun night for us. Sunday we spent the day with my family because my adorable little nephew Jaxson got dedicated at church. It was so fun to be with everyone this weekend.

I know those were brief and quick updates but lately I having been going a mile a minute to get things done it seems like. I didn't want to get too behind on my blogging :). I have one more shower this weekend which I am REALLY excited about so I will update you on that later!

A Shower of Blessings from Wonderful Friends!

So I have the SWEETEST most THOUGHTFUL friends EVER and I am so blessed to have them in my life! My friends Anna and Danielle who I just LOVE gave me a little intimate shower with just about 8 or 9 girls from our church last Saturday. They went all out and made my favorite foods for dinner and had the CUTEST decorations! Anna made pot roast and garlic mashed potatoes and Franny brought the most yummy rolls. They also had hot apple cider and yummy chocolate bread pudding and pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese icing! To say the least I was blessed by their love, hospitality, and thoughtfulness and Noah was very happy to receive all this yummy food in my belly :). It was a fall theme which is my FAVORITE :).

It was so nice to have a night with my girls to celebrate my little Noah and I truly cherish these friendships I have with these ladies. They showered me with the most wonderful gifts and I feel so blessed that my little Noah is already loved so much by so many people. We are all connected through our church Sojourn and at one point or another I was in Community Group with each of these girls. Some I am still in Community Group with but each of them have remained my dear friends who I love so much! There were a few who left early so I wasn't able to get a picture with them but I am so happy that they were able to be there for part of the celebration! Thank you ladies for making me feel so blessed and loved! Aaron and I are so happy to be sharing this time of our lives with you all and know that you will be a continual encouragement to us as we become parents.

The ADORABLE decorations Danielle made! The Pumpkins say "Its A Boy!" in case you can't see the letters!

One of the wonderful hostesses Danielle! She had such fun games planned and opened her home up to celebrate my little man! I just love her so much!!

My Broster "sisters" Love them! Anna is the best little Momma to Celia and Lucy and I have so much to learn from her! She went above and beyond to cook such yummy food and make the night so special for me :) She is a huge blessing in my life!

Emily and Jackie concentrating hard on the game so they can win the prize! :)

Franny! She has #4 on the way too and we are SO EXCITED!! Franny is such a precious woman of God who I look up to so much and have SO MUCH to learn from! I am going to miss her and her family when they move away :(

My precious friend Jackie who I love so so much! She has always been a consistent encouragement to me and a very loyal friend!

Sweet Emily who has a heart of GOLD!!! Love her sweet spirit and kind disposition. She always makes you feel comforted whenever you talk to her :)

My wonderful friends Kristen and Laura had to leave early so I wasn't able to get a picture with them but I am SO HAPPY that they were able to be there part of the time and love them both so so much!!

The Third Trimester is HERE!! :)

I am so excited to say that today starts my Third Trimester! In 12 weeks our little Noah will be here! I can't believe its only 3 months away but Aaron and I are so excited. The nursery is coming together and sometimes I will just go sit in there and imagine it with Noah in there playing :). We have the walls painted and new carpet down and some pieces of our furniture. My AMAZING sister Katie bought us our crib as a surprise and had it secretly delivered to our house while we were at work! She is absolutely the most generous person EVER and we feel so incredibly blessed by her!!! I don't have anything hanging on the walls yet but slowly we are adding to the room as people continue to bless us with the essential items we need to bring a baby in to this world. Poor Aaron has been evicted from his closet and had to put all his stuff upstairs because our house has limited closet space but he didn't mind ;).

 I am feeling great and have lots of energy right now so I am always go go go with everything because I know in a few weeks it may be a little harder to move around haha. Noah sits on my sciatic nerve sometimes which really hurts but its been tolerable. My legs ache at night when I sleep but I just turn over and it feels better until the other leg starts to ache then I repeat the process. Overall though during the day I feel great. My favorite time of the day is when I come home and eat dinner. I will then lay on the couch and just feel him move around for like an hour. That's usually when Aaron feels him the most too which is always so fun because his face lights up every time! He is VERY active! Definitely a BOY :)

Overall, I am in major nesting mode trying to get our house clean and completely organized. Aaron is so ready to be a daddy! It's so cute!

The beautiful crib my sister Katie bought us and the ADORABLE bedding we received as a gift from the Buckner/Sears family at my shower!

Noah's bedding has cute little transportation on it! So cute!

I had an ultrasound this week! This is Noah at 27 weeks 3 days :) Those little things at the top of the pic are his fists. He kept punching me when she would put the ultrasound wand on my belly. It was hilarious!

28 Weeks!!

Baby Shower!

This past weekend was my first baby shower hosted by Arlene Buckner, Laura Sears & Emma Sears! It was so much fun and I felt incredibly blessed by all the people that came!! Arlene, Laura, and Emma went ABOVE and BEYOND to make the day so special for me and Noah. I am just so humbled by the love they showed me and how much they put in to it! We had lasagna for lunch with salads and bread and of course Laura topped dessert off with her EXCELLENT baking skills! She had two different types of cupcakes, lemon and cream cheese filled, cake pops, and cheese cake! Laura made all my birthday cakes growing up and she even made mine and Aaron's wedding cake so you better believe she is an amazing baker!!

Some sweet history with the Buckner/Sears family is that Laura was my baby sitter ever since I was a baby. She would go on vacations with us, stay with us while our parents were out of town, and pretty much be at any function we were having! Her and her family are basically part of our family and we love them very much!! Another neat thing is that she will be watching Noah on Fridays so I know my precious boy will be in the best hands while I am at work! What a HUGE blessing!!!

It was an EXCELLENT turnout and it was so much fun to see all different people from different walks of my life there. I even had some friends who made LONG drives just to come to my shower which meant so much to me! I wanted to give a shout out to Kristin Stratton (came from Northern KY/Cincinnati area), Kristin Howard (came all the way from Cedarville, Ohio), and Leslie Brooking (came from Nashville, TN)! You girls are the BEST and it meant so much to me that you took that time to come :) Love you all!! I definitely missed my out-of-town girls Alex and Kat who are both also expecting little boys soon but felt you there in spirit! :) And of course I missed everyone else that couldn't make it but am so grateful for the love you have shown to me and my sweet boy!!

Below are a few of the MANY pictures we took of the day! I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family!

Me with the fabulous hostesses!

 

Cutest Diaper Cake I have ever seen!! It has a Noah's Ark at the top!

My wonderful friend from college Kristin Stratton! Love her to death!



My amazing sisters!

My wonderful moms!

My BFF's Tereza and Leslie (Tereza is having TWINS!)

My other BFF Whitney (Noah's future wife Caroline is in Whitney's belly ;) )

Kristin! (She had triplets! Doesn't she look amazing!!)

Our Weekend Away!

This past weekend Aaron and I got away just the two of us! It was SO MUCH FUN and SO RELAXING!! We went to Brown County, IN which is a little small town about an hour and a half away from Louisville. It was so quaint and cute with lots of little shops. It kind of reminds me of Gatlinburg, TN a little bit but on a much much smaller scale.

When we got there I was of course sooo hungry haha so we decided we would go and eat at the Nashville Inn. It had a little general store attached to it where they sold their famous homemade apple butter. I was very tempted to buy some but refrained! I enjoyed quite a bit of it though with our lunch. Being that it's October, Brown County was very crowded because that is their prime month. I could totally see why because it was so beautiful with all the fall colors. With that being said, we had to wait about an hour for our table so Aaron and I sat outside and enjoyed the weather while eating a bag of gummy bears from their little candy shop (yes I gave in to the sweet craving-but just this once!! ). When we got our table they put us back in the corner so it was quiet and cozy. Our food was Delicious! We both got the fried chicken with mashed potatoes, corn, and coleslaw. They also gave us fried biscuits with their homemade apple butter which we both inhaled!!! SO YUMMY!!

After we ate we walked around to all the shops in search of Christmas gifts and something for Noah's room. Unfortunately we didn't find anything but I wasn't too disappointed. After we spent about 4 hours in Brown County we decided to go to the Brown County State Park which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Being that I am 6 1/2 months pregnant I wasn't really up for the true hardcore hiking we normally do but we decided to go on the easy hiking paths along the beautiful lake.

It was a wonderful time just being together and enjoying each others company. It was refreshing to get away even if it was only an hour and a half away. We felt like we were hundreds of miles from Louisville. Can't wait though to go on some more excursions with our little one!! :)

My hot date enjoying his meal at Nashville Inn

I sure do love that Apple Butter!!

Aaron and I relaxing in the rocking chairs

The beautiful lake at Brown County State Park

One of the lookouts at Brown County State Park...Me and Aaron with Noah in tow! :)

Coming back to our beautiful city that we love!





October 12th...

Not to be a Debbie Downer because I "try" to focus on the positive, but tomorrow is THAT day, the day that I have been absolutely dreading for about 7 months now. October 12, 2012, the day that our first little angel was due to be born. I wished that this week would have passed by as quickly as possible because the pain has been unbearable in my heart just thinking about this day, but unfortunately it already feels like the LONGEST week ever. Aaron and I are just so ready for January to come around so we can start anew with life in our precious Noah. I can't change time though so I will try and take each day as it comes with gratitude.

I know they say time heals all wounds which I am hoping is the case but I think Aaron and I are just ready for this year to be over so we won't have any more "milestone" dates with my first pregnancy. That may sound harsh or cold to some like I don't "want" to acknowledge it but it's something I really want to get past for the well being of Noah so that its not on my mind all the time. I know that Noah probably feels my sadness or anxiety so it's not fair to him. I want to be able to enjoy the full joy and excitment of this pregnancy with my little Noah without feeling sad whenever I think about my first one that's gone. It's an emotional roller coaster let me tell ya!! I never ever want to sound like I am down playing my first baby's precious life because it is so important to me but I also don't ever want to take away from Noah because it's not his fault and he is just as precious and I love him so much!

There have been lots of emotional moments for Aaron and I (melt downs on my part) as this month has come around knowing that our sweet one won't get the chance at life with us here on earth but we have to keep reminding ourselves that our baby's new life is far greater in heaven and no one or nothing can take that from them. What a comfort.

I have mixed emotions of course like any mommy would have because I selfishly want that child here with me and Aaron and I want it to be born but then I wouldn't have sweet Noah who I am feeling role around in my belly as I write this :). I praise God every day for our little Noah and pray that He keeps him safe. Noah's life will NEVER replace our first baby's life but his life is just as precious to us and is a testament of God's grace shown apon us. He gave us this sweet blessing in the most perfect moment when we thought there was no hope. Noah was an agent of healing for our wounded hearts but it saddens me to think that he won't know one of his siblings.

Each year I will always remember our first little angel and will never forget the love I have for it as well as the desire to have it in my arms. I will praise God though knowing that I will meet that baby and one day get to hold it and kiss its sweet little face in heaven. My sweet and wonderful husband bought me a ring soon after we lost our baby that I wear on my right ring finger every day. Its the October birthstone which is a reminder of our first precious one and not a days goes by that I don't look at it and thank God for such a loving husband who knows my heart. I appreciate that my husband did something so thoughtful for me and that he gave me a little token to have as a remembrance of that precious life! Although the ring won't ever replace the life, it is a sweet reminder to me of how precious that life was (and is)!

Aaron and I are going to get away for the weekend just the two of us so we are really excited about that! I can't wait to have a whole weekend with him and not have to worry or think about anything else :).

My beautiful October ring my husband got me :) He is the best.