May 2013

Current Weather: 84 and partly cloudy
Current Gas Price: $3.15 per gallon
Total Cockroach Count: 11

Weeks Pregnant: 38.5 (wow!)

Hello Family! How have y'all been since April?  We talked with most of you at some point over the last month but would love to hear more updates soon! I guess we'll be seeing y'all very soon too!

There is honestly not too much to report from the month of May...we honestly just worked and worked and worked.  Wes has been working extra because all of the current third year residents are moving away and getting settled in their new practices, leaving more shifts that have to be covered by the current interns and second years.  This will continue through June until the new intern class begins in July.  Wes also has to work more now so that he can get his time off when Juney arrives...so he's been a busy little bee these days! I was working hard during May to finish up all of my work for the school year so that I could use my 10 sick days and take off the last two weeks of school! Which is what I am currently doing! My last day of work was May 23rd and I have REALLY enjoyed being home this past week (and this current week)!  It has been a blessing to be off my feet and to just mentally shut off the "speech therapist work" thoughts! Now I can just think about snuggling with Juney :)

Other than working hard at our actual jobs in May, we spent all of our free time working hard to prepare everything for June.  We have been talking lately about how good of a provider our God really is.  There seem to be SO MANY things that need to be done and it's been amazing to see how our to-do lists have just disappeared! Haha, not completely but my three page to-do list has 5 items on it now...WOW! God has been so good to us and He has blessed us with so much.  We are truly thankful for Him and are reminded of how little June is His child more than she is ours...He's just entrusted her to us!

We are getting more and more excited each day about finally meeting her and seeing her face to face! I have certainly had some fears and reservations about childbirth and taking care of a newborn but, again, God is providing more and more peace for me as trust Him with my cares each day.  And suddenly I feel much more excited than I thought I would....and far less anxious! I have an appointment tomorrow and am excited to see how she's progressing.  Wes and I are still thinking that she'll come around 40 weeks...possibly even 41, so we'll see! We'll certainly keep you all posted and will send pictures as soon as we can.  For now, here are some pictures from the month of May:

This was me at 36 weeks...we haven't taken one at  38 weeks yet and I don't like the one of me at 37 :)

The mother-to-be on my first "Mother's Day!" I was really excited to receive texts, cards, and even packages from some of you! Thanks so much for thinking of me...I really appreciate it! 

Wesley made it a special day for me too! 

Ok, so really the only other exciting piece of news is that we are completely finished with the nursery! Yay! I guess I didn't think that we'd ever get it done but, again, God is good and BAM! it's finished :) We wanted to give you all a sneak peek so check out this video at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmBqFukzvk0

Lastly, I am thinking that this may be my last post on this blog.  I currently have two blogs, one for family and one for my close girlfriends, but I am realizing that with June being born there will be more people that may want to see her and it's just going to be too much for me to keep up with two blogs plus emails to our "not as close" but still "somewhat close" friends.  Plus, I have been watching the stats on this blog and only about half of you are actually reading it (which I guess I already knew because many of you ask me questions that I specifically answer in these posts...boo!). So all that being said...it just doesn't seem worth it to keep separate blogs going.  I'm not sure exactly what I'll do but I may just make a blog for our family (Wes, Me, & June) that I can keep updating even once we're back in Ohio...so without the "Southern Living" title.  Stayed tuned for further developments!

We love you all and CAN'T WAIT to see you soon and introduce you to our little bundle of joy! We're so excited! Love you!

April 2013

Current Weather:  60 degrees and rainy :(
Current Gas Price:  $3.12 per gallon
Total Cockroach count:  10

Weeks Pregnant: 34

Hello Family! Welp...things are getting exciting! Only 6 weeks to go.  We are in full baby-prep mode whenever we're not in work mode! The nursery is coming along and we just tackled our "nightmare room" yesterday.  We weren't able to get it done unfortunately (it seriously was a nightmare) but it felt really good to make some progress! Things have been pretty crazy for me with IEP season starting in mid-April but I'm doing good and am on target to take my last 10 days off! Yay! Can't wait! Wes just started a two-week block of medicine and he'll switch to Neuro soon! April was a busy month and I can't believe how fast it flew by.  We are getting SO SO excited to meet our sweet baby girl!

34 weeks! Haha, I think I look bigger than I feel  :)

I haven't been able to comfortably reach my feet for a long time now (haha, even back at like 18-20 weeks I think) so Wes has been painting my toenails for me! I must say that his pedicures are even better than those at the salon! He even gives me a foot massage beforehand...haha although I guess he does that pretty frequently anyway, but with the nail polishing too it certainly feels like a salon pedicure! He does a great job and I so appreciate him! 

I took this video yesterday...it's Juney moving around in the morning! I've been trying to get a video of her for a while and this is the only one I've been able to capture! It's about a minute long but you can see her the best around 30 seconds into it so feel free to jump ahead if you just can't wait 30 seconds :)  These honestly aren't the biggest "pokes" and "rolls" that I've seen but it's all I've been able to get on video! I'm lying on my left side.  Click here to view the video:  http://youtu.be/pBhYjOSJoPQ

We took some pregnancy photos with our friends Dave & Tammy.  They have kind of ended up being the "official photographers" of the residency program! They just took them a few weeks ago so we only have two pictures so far...we can't wait to see the rest!

 

The highlight of our month was coming to Ohio to see you all! And our little trip to Atlanta but I'll talk about that later! I know that Wes wasn't able to see all of you but I got to see everyone and it was fabulous to catch up with everyone! Here are some pics from the week:

Catching up with Dad and Lynn at Cracker Barrel!

Libs and I showing off our manicures :) 

Enjoying Skyline with Mom & Libs! Going to Skyline was on my "to-do list" when I visited Ohio! It was very important that Juney get a taste of Skyline before she's born! Haha, I think she liked it :) 

Hanging out in Cincy with John & Kim! 

Now pictures from the baby showers...so much fun to celebrate little June! Everyone was so generous and we felt very blessed to have so much support from our wonderful families!

Opening presents...Libs bought that cute little ladybug outfit for Juney!

Thanks ladies for throwing such a wonderful shower! 

Me with Beth, Melanie, and Johnna...my OSU friends! They bought June two OSU onesie...so cute!

Me with Katie, Brittany, and Jenna...my high school friends! Katie and Brittany are both pregnant right now too so here we are modeling our bellies and sporting our number of weeks! Haha, Jenna has a +2 sign because although she's not currently pregnant she already has two kids! 

Getting ready for the baby shower!  Here we are making fruit kabobs  for our "Hungry Caterpillar" tray! 

Dana and Dixie threw a "storybook themed" baby shower so all the snacks went along with a popular kids book.  It was so cute! 

Opening presents...everyone picked out such adorable things for June! She'll be stylin' in these clothes!

The fam after our bonfire.  We so enjoyed meeting Brent's new girlfriend, Megan.  What a great gal! 

Wes had several interviews while we were in Ohio and we were impressed with them! So...now we're maybe going to have a few more options as to possible practices for him to join.  We have become so used to the "temporary" living situations that its harder to make this decision because we feel like its a little more "permanent."  Please keep us in your prayers as we make decisions about our future!  Needless to say we're putting these decisions off until after June comes...haha, too much to think about!

After our trip to Ohio we headed back to work and life became busy again!  Lots to do when you're so important :)  Haha, but seriously, we did get to go to Atlanta for a long weekend, which was really fun! Wes attended a conference during the day but we enjoyed seeing some of Atlanta in the evenings!  The program put us up in the Ritz Carlton (very nice!) so I was super comfortable all day at the hotel! I wrote some IEPs, read a little bit, and enjoyed watching HGTV! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Our Thursday night dinner ended up being quite a bust.  I felt like  an "upscale" burger joint  kind of place so we went to this place that said they had the best burgers in Atlanta but turns out they only serve them AFTER 10:00.  Haha, we were laughing about how this is the WORST restaurant ever for a pregnant lady! It was SO small and the tables were so squished together that I couldn't fit through the space sometimes so people would have to scoot their chairs in. 

Not only was the restaurant itself small but the portions were really small! Haha, this is Wes' entire dinner.  Again, not awesome for a pregnant lady! 

This was my IEP writing station while Wes was at his conference!  

Wes took me to this fancy restaurant called the Atlanta Grill.  They  put pink rose petals all over our table  when we told them that we were celebrating a "babymoon." It was so sweet and the service and food was excellent! 

There was a mix up in the kitchen and they brought my meal out before Wes' was ready (which happens all the time at other restaurants) but because this place was so classy our waiter was super sorry about it and he gave us free dessert and coffee! Awesome! 

 Welp, that's about it for April I guess.  Haha, sorry sometimes I feel like I don't write very much in here but it takes me a long time to write it out and then I just get tired by the end sometimes :)  Haha, I'm a lot more tired these days! We can't wait to see all of you soon and introduce you to our daughter! Please be praying for a safe and healthy delivery and baby! We'll be sending lots of pictures/videos!

Love you!

March 2013

Current Weather:  80 degrees and sunny (yay!)
Current Gas Price:  $3.26 per gallon
Total Cockroach Count:  9

Weeks Pregnant:  31  (Only 9 weeks to go! Yikes!)

Hello dearest family! How are all of you? Has life changed at all since last week? Haha, probably not that much! We SO enjoyed seeing all of you last weekend and the week before that! It is always good to spend time with you and we're getting so excited for June meet all of you! I confess that I am super tired right now so this may not be the greatest post ever...but whatever! You can't win 'em all, right?

Ok, so March.  March was a pretty crazy month in which Wes just seemed to work WAY TO MUCH!  Not sure what happened there but I feel like March practically came and went without me seeing Wes at all! Of course, I am being super over dramatic but I know we both felt disappointed about the amount of time we had to spend apart last month! Not to mention how tired Wesley felt after working all those shifts! April is turning out to be better although his craziest week is coming up (say a little prayer for him, please)! We have a fun trip to Atlanta planned at the end of April so that's exciting.  Haha, of course Wes has to attend a medical conference all day but we get the evenings together and the hotel paid for :)

So like I said, Wes worked like every other weekend in March so I really only have two "things" that we did that month.  First was the resident retreat.  We went to a lovely little place in Hendersonville, NC for some fun time with the residents.  I confess that I actually just wanted to spend all of the time with Wes since I hadn't seen him very much the week before so we hid away for part of the weekend! Or I should say that we tried to do that...there were residents everywhere so we ended up seeing a lot of people no matter where we went! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

We went for a walk after breakfast and found this cute little lake.  It was great to sit  in the sun and talk for a while! Again, so great to catch up with one another since it had been a while.

This is a BBQ place that Wes and I wanted to try (can't remember the name!) but unfortunately they  only took cash (which bugs me A LOT in this day and age) and it was going to take just a long to go get cash as it would to go downtown and find another restaurant.   So maybe someday we'll get to try this place! 

We ended up going to an old fashioned diner/soda shop place! Not the healthiest of choices but it was certainly delicious! I hate this picture of me but y'all are allowed to see it because you're family and you've all seen me look like that in the mornings anyway :) 

Me with some of the girls! 

Wes and me :)

Playing "Catch Phrase" later that evening in the lodge.  I did not play because I was not feeling well and because I just get so freaking tired of playing Catch Phrase....is anyone else burnt out on this game? Maybe it's just me...

After that it was back to work as usual! The only other exciting thing that we did in March was make some progress toward a nursery! Wes and I painted the walls pink one weekend and then Libby helped Wes move furniture out and set up our new furniture! Check out the pictures:

Us before getting started on our painting job! We primed the walls first and then painted them! 

We're seriously ready to get this room painted!!

Wes did all the trimming this time because I couldn't get up on the ladder! Nice job Wesley! 

Painting the walls pink! Yay! I can always use more pink in my life :) 

Finished product! We were really happy with the color! 

Libby, Me, and Wes getting ready to unpack and put together our nursery furniture! Wes had to borrow a truck from one of our friends and drive to Greenville to pick up the furniture! I was so happy to finally have it in our possession.

First the crib!

It was so wonderful having Libby there to help us! I was pretty useless...in fact I sat a chair, read the directions out loud, and handed them the necessary screws.  So it was great that Libby was able to help Wes with the more "manual labor!"  Thanks again Libs! 

It's coming along! 

Me modeling the new crib! What do y'all think?  We were really happy when we found this crib as it is one that converts into a toddler bed and a full size bed but it's also fairly simple and doesn't have a huge headboard piece...I'm not a big fan of those!  Simple is better...

Wes giving our new stroller a whirl! We had just received it in the mail from Dad & Lynn two days prior! We were so excited! Thanks again Dad & Lynn! 

Getting the dresser out of the box was a bit more complicated! We had to actually cut the box open  to move it out! Again, thank goodness we had Libby here to help us...it was super heavy! Funny moment was when Wes tried to walk around the dresser to leave the room but tripped on the box and fell over...haha, once the box was cut open it did literally take up the whole floor space so it was hard to find a place to walk! 

It felt REALLY GOOD to make some progress on the nursery because it had just been sitting there for months as a guest bedroom and I kept thinking that we need to get a move on it but the month was so busy that we hardly had a chance! Things are definitely coming along now though!

Most of you saw this picture already but in case you didn't this was my costume for our school's reading celebration.  It was a circus theme so I went as a fortune teller and used my belly as my crystal ball! It was a very big hit and I enjoyed all the teacher's and kid's comments about it.  I even had several kids try and pay me to get their fortune told.  Haha, obviously I didn't take their money! Or maybe I did?

Ok, that's about it and Wesley just got home so I'm signing off! Love you and talk to y'all soon!

February 2013

Current Weather:  46 degrees and rainy
Current Gas Price: $3.47 per gallon
Total Cockroach Count: 8

Weeks Pregnant: 25

Hello dear family! How are you doing? What's the news from the great state of Ohio? Are y'all staying warm up there?  We have been shocked by how fast the month of February has gone...maybe it's because it's shorter than the rest of the months in the year or perhaps it's just because it's winter and we've kept ourselves busy to keep warm :)

Wes is currently finishing up his last week on medicine and will begin OB (Block 10) this coming Thursday! It's really hard to believe that he's going to be in Block 10 (of 13) of his second year! Yikes! He'll be graduating before you know it! I have just been working as usual and have been enjoying spending more time with my girlfriends and high school girls group as Wes works a lot more during medicine blocks! It's usually a good time for me to catch up with girlfriends! My friend Clory is due in 5 days so I've been trying to see her as much as possible and I'm just waiting to hear some exciting news from her any day!

Little Juney is doing well! I am 25 weeks now and have enjoyed feeling her little kicks get stronger and stronger! Wes has loved getting to feel her more often too! I keep watching my belly to see if I can see her kicking and although I can see it move up and down it's not quite enough to tell whats going on! Haha, I am looking foward to the day where I can see her little feet when she kicks...haha I think! Not sure what that feels like but I don't think I'll mind too much :)

Juney Ballooney at 24 weeks!

We have enjoyed making some progress toward actually having a baby this month! First, we attended childbirth classes at the hospital! They were really helpful and I learned a lot! Haha, Wes learned a lot about being the "support person" during labor and that sort of thing but he obviously knew all the more "medical" information.  Haha, I on the other hand felt like I just sat there with my mouth gaping open as I learned more and more about what's going to happen...TO ME! Haha, I had prepared myself to watch a video of a birth but was unprepared to do so in the first ten minutes of class and it definitely freaked me out for the remainder of the time! It truly is amazing that God made it all happen like it does but those ladies did not look very happy...until the sweet little baby showed up of course! And that's what it is all about! Overall, it was a valuable experience and I am certainly feeling more confident about it now but at the time I left like a deer in headlights...not having any idea how I felt about any of it! Haha, good times :)

We also went to Greenville and made our registry! While it was a long and tiring process we had a great time together! My girlfriends had warned me ahead of time that it is super overwhelming and its better to just register for whatever you think you'll need and then go back and change it online...so that's what we did! We just recently bought our nursery furniture and that feels great! Haha, we were thinking about the furniture that we had as children and how we never thought about our parents having to research prices/quality, shop around for what they wanted, make a final decision and THEN deal with picking it up, moving it, and putting it together! We just knew that we got a cool new bed/desk/whatever! BIG thanks to both Moms & Dads for going through all that for us (many times)! It was a good feeling to know that June didn't have to worry about any of it...we just took care of it for her :)

After it was all over, Wesley took me out for a nice dinner at P.F. Changs! Yum! Here are some pictures from the day:

We went to Grits N' Groceries for breakfast.  This restaurant is owned by a married couple who used to be chefs in Emeril's kitchen and decided they wanted a smaller life...so they moved to Belton, SC (in the middle of nowhere) and opened this little restaurant.  We had heard that the food is amazing and we were really excited to go! The people were really friendly, and after one awkward "preggers moment" where I made irrational decisions and ordered things I didn't want and Wes had to track the waiter down so I could change my order , we got our food! I confess that I was not as impressed with it as I was expecting to be.  It was really greasy and underwhelming...but perhaps it's because I had allowed my expectations to grow so high or because I am used to eating Wesley's breakfasts on Saturday morning and his are always more healthy with lots of fruit and stuff.  

Me outside of Grits N' Groceries.  As you can see its a very small place! It's one of those places where they'll seat you with total strangers just to fill the chairs! I like places like that because it makes people more friendly! 

Um...I just need a pacifier......please?

Other than that we've just been trying to spend time together whenever we can! We had some really nice weather last Sunday so we went for a walk on our usual route and took in the sunshine! Have you had any sunshine lately? Hopefully you have :)

Enjoying the sunshine, fresh air, and most of all each other's company! 

Juney enjoyed the walk too :)

Well, I honestly can't think of much else to say.  That's about it for February! Happy Birthday to Debs & Dana and Happy Anniversary to John & Kim! We can't wait to see all of you in April! Only one month to go! Love you!

January 2013

Current Weather: 56 degrees and sunny
Current Gas Price:  $3.27 per gallon
Total Cockroach Count:  8 (first sighting of the 2013 year...in our bedroom...gross!)

Greetings dearest family! It feels like such a long time since we have seen y'all but really its just been a few short weeks.  We've had a busy start to the new year and we're so excited for what this year has in store for us.  Not much has changed in our daily routines...Wes is on PEDS (but will switch to TMED this Thursday) and I'm just working as usual.  Not too much to report on that side of things.

We were really excited to have Brent come and stay with us for a few days! We always say that we are so blessed in the siblings that God has given us! We have truly wonderful brothers and sisters! We miss seeing you all more often and think of you very often!

We took a stroll in Sumter National Forest (the only place to go hiking near Greenwood) while Brent was here! The guys were very patient with me as I can't walk as fast anymore (I keep getting slower and slower) and had to pee really bad! 

The most exciting thing happening now is, of course, the baby! As y'all know we did find out that we are having a GIRL!  That was certainly a huge thing to find out and we're now feeling as though we can begin moving forward with "baby preparations."  We feel so blessed to be having a sweet little girl.  We have officially decided to name her June and we've already settled in to calling her that! We have a few ideas for a middle name but have not settled on a favorite yet! Haha, in the craziness of these last several weeks we have honestly not discussed it very much.

We took this picture at 17 weeks.  We were on our way to have Wes do an ultrasound and try and figure out the gender of our baby.  Shortly after, Dr. Amaya did a freebie ultrasound for us and both she and Wes left suspecting that we were having a BOY! So our ultrasound at 19.5 weeks was rather shocking when the suspected "boy parts" were nowhere to be found!  Instead we saw our lovely little girl! 

I am currently at 21 weeks...so we're half way there! I have been feeling great and Juney is kicking up a storm already! I've really enjoyed getting to feel her move and we're anxious for the day when Wes can feel her as well! It certainly makes me feel closer to her and I want to feel her too! I think it won't be too much longer!  I have been going to physical therapy to help strengthen the muscles around my SI joint that were giving so much trouble in early January.  For those of you who haven't heard about it...I had a muscle (literally in my right butt cheek) that was strained and I was having trouble walking after a while because the pain was so bad.  PT has helped tremendously and I am almost completely back to normal though I think I'll need to keep up with the exercises as my belly grows.  But thank God for physical therapists! Haha, this is the second time they've really helped me!

We also spent some time looking into furniture for the nursery and were slightly overwhelmed by all of the options out there! We're going to be taking a trip to Greenville this coming weekend and hope to get a better idea of what we want.  We're also going to start a registry and in general just do something! Haha, slow and steady wins the race, right?

Ok, time for pictures! I'm trying to not be that girl who sends weekly pictures of myself but y'all should tell me if you want to see more pictures! I know its a bummer that we're so far away and we want everyone to feel like they are in the loop! So please let me know if you want to see more pictures!

Me and "Juney Balloony" at 20 weeks.  That's what we've nicknamed my belly...it seems to change shape every week, looking rounder this week and more pointed the next.  I suppose its due to the baby's position and I certainly don't mind :) 

Check out her eye! I really hope that she has Wes' puppy dog eyes because I think they are so cute! I guess we'll find out in a few months! 

IT'S A GIRL! 

Profile shot.  Wes and Dr. Amaya said they saw her sucking her thumb and despite several efforts at seeing it myself I just couldn't tell what they were talking about...haha, oh well! 

Shortly after finding out that we were having a girl, we attended a "Gender Reveal" Party for our friends Lauren and Gavin Pinkston.  Their baby is due two days after ours so its been fun to go through this with them! We were even more delighted to find out they are also having a girl! 

Us with the Pinkston's at their Gender Reveal Party! 

Wow! Looks like we're all four having girls! 

Our month was wrapped up with a visit from Lynn's parents, Gerry and Myrtle! We really appreciated them wanting to stop by and they took us out the Mill House for pizza! They were on their way up from Florida and it was so great to see familiar Ohio faces! Great way to end the month! 

Well...that's about all folks! Overall, we're doing great! God is already teaching us more and more about His character through this journey into parenthood and we're excited (and humbled) to think of what he will teach us once June is born.  We're thankful for this opportunity and the closeness that it will give us to Him as we experience firsthand the unconditional love that parents have for their children and see that reflected in His love for us! 

We miss you like crazy and think of our family often.  We can't wait to introduce little June to you! Haha, but we'll see you before then in April! Until then, we love you!