You are the best thing, that ever happened to me ~ Ray La Montagne

July is well underway and boy has it been a busy month already!

We spent July 4th weekend hanging out at Bob and Debbie’s with the family. All the Burns side came to visit and hours were spent hanging out with family and lounging in the pool.

Dawby also got in on a bit of the pool action.

 Everyone brought something to eat and Bob made hotdogs; thankfully Jeffery was there to supervise and make sure everything came out perfect!

Not everyone can hang with this crazy family though, it’s apparent that Brad is still working on his endurance.

The following weekend we visited with Luther and Carol in Statesville, which was great, because they let us rest when we’re there. Rest was much needed with the upcoming weekend and baby exchange!

Mom and I met Hiedi LeCount, the Director of Residence at Meredith College, for lunch to get the scoop on the Raleigh Kids Exchange. Since Heidi has done this for a couple years now she was able to give us some tips and insider info. She covered the map and floor plan with us and told us what to be on the lookout for. Mom and I got to the Kids Exchange ready to do some shopping and deal finding! Mom was on the hunt for a Pack n’ Play and went through several of them. She took one out of it’s packaging and decided it smelled like a stinky diaper (gross). This was her reaction a few moments after getting a good whiff!

After looking through all the big items we moved on to the clothes, racks and racks of clothes!!! Mom and I came prepared with a dolly and Rubber Maid tub ready to shop. We found some really cute stuff from birth to 12 months. I love the NC State cardigan and lady bug outfit I found. Monogrammed bloomers, here we come!

In preparation for baby I also had the nursery carpet and the dining room carpet cleaned. I know, I know, it sounds random, but I had to pay them $50 for coming out, so I had them clean another room that we wouldn’t use that much in order to get my moneys worth. (They are going to come back out and finish the rest of the house later.) Anyway, my carpets were looking and smelling great when I arrived home after the Kids Exchange. Needless to say, it had been a great day! However, on Thursday I arrived home to less than perfect carpets. Even though Bennett was there to greet me with a smiling face she apparently had an upset tummy while I was away. UUGGGHHH! I can’t wait for a baby. At least she’ll have a diaper and things might be a bit more contained.

In case you'd like a Carmie update she’s 29 weeks, almost three pounds, and is kicking and squirming up a storm! We’ve made it to the third trimester and looking forward to our first shower in Raleigh on July 30. Until the next blog… take care, and know Carmie and I send our love!

Summer Times Calling Me ~ The Catalinas

This morning I woke up to the room spinning and feeling slightly "off."  The feeling was very similar to waking up after a long night out in college. I actually got sick this morning for the first time during my whole pregnancy.  Needless to say, I called mom and dad to see what they thought and although it took some convincing I decided to call the doctor. Turns out she thinks I have some kind of inner ear virus that caused too much fluid to build up, which made me dizzy and caused me to be sick. Her recommendations were to take Dramamine and slow down. Given those directions, today seems like a good day to catch up on my blog.

The past month we had a few things on our agenda: vacation, pick a name, register for upcoming baby showers, visiting with friends, and Fathers day.

First things first, off to the beach for a week’s worth of R&R. Jeffery dubbed this time “Baby Think Tank” so we got to work thinking on baby names.  What helps get the juices flowing for baby names?  The beach, snacks and cold drinks of course!  We did come up with a few ideas: Rebecca Brantly, Lacey Jennings, but finally decided on Carmie Elizabeth. Of course we both love it, but I like that I was named after my father’s grandmother and she is now being named after her father’s grandmother. In between names we also found time to do some additional research on baby items. After a thorough read through my Baby Bargains book I was able to find several items to register for and got some good ideas on ways to save money.

After our beach week I met friends in Winston for a Meredith Girls weekend. We always get together around Christmas for an ornament exchange, but decided that once a year just wasn’t enough. We spent time walking and shopping around Old Salem, and even took some time out for a sugar cake. YUMMY! 

Next on the calendar… Father’s Day. Meredith, Catie and I took some time off to visit Bob and Debbie with all three dogs in tote!

I think the dogs might have had enjoyed the weekend more than Dad and his Sweet 16 Doughnuts.

In addition to doughnuts we also managed to cook up a bit of French toast. Well, I cooked; Meredith mainly watched and did a bit of mixing.

Breakfast was good, Bob was happy, and the puppies had a great weekend, other than their baths that they all have before setting foot inside the house.

Those are the updates for this month. Stay tuned! I’m sure there’ll be more to come.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls (from Gigi), performed by Maurice Chevalier

I think May should be “National Girls Celebration Month.” Meredith, Catie, Mom and I got together at Huske’s Hardware to celebrate Mother’s Day early in the month. Although Mother’s Day is supposed to be for current momma’s, Meredith and Catie were sweet enough to get me some future momma-to-be gifts. It was really sweet to celebrate mom and talk about the excitement of all the things that surround a new baby.

The following weekend I went home to visit with the parents and tackle some LBG errands. Although there wasn’t much going on at the house we did have some very special friends stop by. Kacie, Kyle and Ms. Anna-Redding decided to stop by and allow mom and dad to get some practice in. Bob and Debbie certainly had a great time playing with Anna-Redding, and Dawby and Bennett were able to see a bit of what it’s like to be around a baby.

Just a little over a week later, on May 17, was mom and dad’s 31 year anniversary. We headed to Maggiano’s and made this a double celebration because not only was it their anniversary, but we found out we are having a baby GIRL! Right after the appointment, but prior to dinner, Mom, Caite and I set out for a little baby clothes shopping. I have to say, I’m most excited about being able to monogram bloomers and buy smocked dresses! In addition to purchasing baby clothes Jeffery and I are feverishly searching for the perfect name for our sweet baby girl. Jeffery has dubbed our beach vacation “Baby Think Tank” and we are determined not to leave the beach without a name for Baby Hunter.

All in all I feel that we’ve done a great job this month of celebrating girls. Jeffery even picked out a few baby girl outfits himself! I can’t wait for all the excitement to come leading up to our new addition.

“Baby, now that I found you I can’t let you go, I’ll build my world around you” – Alison Krauss

Everyone always tells you how excited, overjoyed, nervous, etc they are when their having a baby. They tell you how expensive baby’s are, or how your life will never be the same, but no one tells you about the millions of baby items you have to pick out. That’s where Jeffery and I are now (well, more so me). I visited my co-worker Marina and her new baby today and, in addition to her sweet baby Sophia, it amazed me at all the baby items that were in their living room!

Over the past few weeks I have begun looking for child care, furniture, and bedding. Although that doesn’t sound like much when there are thousands of options out there it becomes a daunting task. The good thing is, is there are some great stores in the Raleigh area, and although they are a bit pricey, it’s a great way to get some ideas about baby items and not be overwhelmed.

Strollers seem to be one of the big items in the baby stores. So far I’ve looked at the Uppababy and Peg Perego.  And who knew they come with so many options?!  Bassinets, car seats, stroller seats that face in, wheels made for sidewalks, trails and even sand, and lets not get started on the attachments!

I’ve also looked over some chairs for the baby’s room (a gift that Luther and Carol have offered to get for us). I’ve been pretty set on having an ottoman, but given the lack of space in the baby’s room, and Jeffery’s love of a recliner, I think we may be combining the two with a gliding recliner.  Although this is not the fabric we would get this is the chair I've been eyeing thus far...

Thankfully Mike and Mandy have offered their crib for us to use and I’m now on the search for a dresser that can also be used as a changing table. I read in my Baby Bargains book to look at Ikea. They actually have some options for furniture and other baby items, and wouldn’t you know it, I found something that just might work!

Without knowing the baby's sex it’s hard to look for some things. I’ve been checking out some options for bedding and come up with a couple cute ideas.  I'm sure I'll be tackling this area of baby merchandise more after I know whether it's a boy or a girl.  Thankfully I have a great interior decorator/baby gooroo (Meredith) working on some ideas for me.

Also on the list of things to decide are of course… BABY NAMES! I’m dead set on coming up with a family name and some of the ones we’ve found are: Aurty, Carmie, Harper, Ripley, Dawson, Carter, Stewart, Case, Pearce, Lindsay, and of course Jeffery Jr. is still on the table. The good thing is I’m about 17 weeks currently and we will know the sex the baby on May 17, so in a month from now I’ll have a bit more direction on what I want for the nursery and names.

Until the next sonogram picture looks like you'll just be settling for another picture of my tummy for now:

Baby on Board

Wow! Wow! Wow! Where do I begin? As always, when I take a hiatus from blogging there is always a good reason, but I can’t believe I’ve been MIA for almost 6 months. Of course fall in admissions is a crazy time of year, then came the holidays, then Jeffery’s birthday in Gatlinburg and THEN… we found out in late January we were pregnant! Jeffery told me I was not allowed to do any social networking for a while (until I calmed down), so you may have also noticed me being on facebook a bit less also.

We decided to keep it a secret at least until our first doctor’s appointment, which was at 8 weeks. Then of course we had to tell our parents before telling friends and the rest of the world. At this point I’m 13 weeks along, so by Saturday I’ll be in my 2nd trimester. If you’re doing your math we should have a baby here by late September or early October. My co-workers have already started doing weird tricks with me. One of them showed me the "fetal heartbeat" in the middle of my collarbone, and another one dangled a pencil on a string on my arm. She said because the pencil moved in a circle the baby will be a girl (apparently her voo do has never been wrong)! So at this point I've stopped thinking of boy names and am soley working on girls names. We really want to use a family name and right now my favorite is Carmie Elizabeth, but Jeffery's jury is still out on that one. We'll see though, we've joined Ancestory.com and have a lot of names to look through!

As we’ve been sharing the news I’ve come to realize how lucky I am. I’ve already commissioned Meredith to help me find daycares and decorate the nursery; Mom’s co-workers have been kind enough to let me borrow bags of maternity clothes; Kitch has been giving me lots of advice on saving money; Mike and Mandy have offered us baby clothes, their old crib and dresser, and mothers have already committed to days, nights and weeks of helping with a crying baby.

Of course if the baby is anything like Bennett I might actually be in good shape.  Not only did she bring on the closest thing I've ever had to a nervous breakdown, but she barked constantly for a month when we put her down for the night, ate everything, and clearly she is still getting into mischief!  Mom said if I can handle Bennett, then a baby shouldn't be a problem.  Of course, at the current time my biggest problem is finding clothes that fit.  I feel like I blew up over night and my mom has already asked to touch my belly!  Honestly, I think the fat that's already there is just poking out more, so there really is nothing to touch, or feel.  Plus, if people want to touch everything that gets bigger, I'm going to be very violated over the next six months!

So in conclusion, the last several months have been very, very busy and exciting.  However, it's my goal from now until baby is born to keep up a monthly blog (we'll see how it goes).