36 weeks

Today marks my 36th week of pregnancy. I also had a dr.'s appt. today, and the news was good! I am already dilated to a 1.5, almost a 2, and I'm 50% effaced! I know I could stay this way for a while, but I'm really hoping I keep progressing. I want him to stay in for a couple more weeks, but I just feel good knowing something is going on!

I'm not quite ready to not be pregnant with him. It's really sad for me to think that I only get a few more weeks with him, BUT I know it will be so much better when he gets here.

So, if you're reading this, please say a prayer for more progress, and a healthy, happy baby boy.

"The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him." Lamentations 3:25

Texarkana shower

This past weekend we headed down to Texarkana for a baby shower. We had a fabulous time! It was so good to get to see people we haven't seen in a very long time. Despite the rain, there was a great turnout, and I think it's safe to say that we all had a wonderful time! The weekend started out a little rocky-let me explain...

We started out late on Friday night, around 9pm. We had a Sunday School social so we left after that. Anyway, we got past Malvern and I realized I forgot the dress I was supposed to wear to the shower!!! Instead of turning around and driving back home to pick up the dress, I decided I'd just run to Target early the next morning. So, I got up early Sat. and Meredith and I headed to Target. (Please notice the new green dress I'm wearing at the shower courtesy Target.) Mere and I are shopping around, trying on a bunch of clothes when we look at the time-it was 9:45 and the shower started at 10:30 on the other side of town! We had to rush home, iron the dress, get dressed, but we still managed to make it there by 10:20ish.

It was a close call, but I can honestly say I don't surprise myself anymore. You'd think Phillip would get used to my forgetfulness, but for some reason, he really wasn't that amused that I'd forgotten the dress...
Anyway, the weekend ended up perfectly! We got a ton of wonderful things..I'm including pics of some things below.

Outfit from his Marmee-I mean seriously, how cute is that? The frog has "googly" eyes!!

The sweetest newborn outfit from my cousin, Shelby..can't you just see his sweet little body in that??? Yes, I will be "that mom" who makes her son wear outfits like this...

Phillip came to help us load gifts-we realized we all had on green! This is him, his sister, and mom. Me and my girls-Courtney, Lily, Mom, Abby, Me, and Meredith..Please note the yellow dresses that my mom smocked! She is AMAZING!

We also got the cutest burp cloth from Phillip's Aunt Mary Kay that says, "Itsy, Bitsy Baptist". I'll post pics of it later. He'll definitely be taking that one to the nursery!!!

I was once again completely overwhelmed by the love, generosity, and support of the people who surround us. Phillip, Parker, and I are three very lucky people to have this many people who are praying for us and supporting and encouraging us through all this. Please keep the prayers coming-we definitely need them in these last few weeks.

Nosy Neighbor

This is my my first post ever, so be patient with me. Allyson is too tired to type so she is sitting behind me coaching me on the art of blogging. This picture needed to be shared. Let me give a little background to the picture. My office was recently converted to Parker's room. Therefore, my office is now in the guest bedroom. Tulip and Allyson love the fact that I have a bed in my office. It is their favorite place to be while I work. On Tuesday, there was a lot of action on our street. The kids were out playing, a firetruck passed by, etc. It was killing Tulip not to be out there. At one point, I turned around and this is what I saw. Tulip had rearranged all of the pillows so she could lay comfortably while checking out everything that the neighbors were doing. Just more proof that she is the most rotten dog ever.

32 weeks

Here I am at 32 weeks..I am definitely getting big!!!! I am starting to feel it, too. I can't complain, though because I've had a great pregnancy. I can honestly say I LOVE being pregnant!!!! I know those of you who've had hard pregnancies probably want to strangle me right now, but I have really loved it! I think I could be pregnant for the rest of my life and be completely happy!! Parker is moving all the time now! He gets hiccups almost every day; I'm still amazed by that!

This is Phillip and his dad after the bed was put together. We are soooo thankful for all the help Parker's Poppa provided! He spent 3 days last week up here helping us! We couldn't have done it without him!

The following is a list of the things we've gotten done in his room: crib put together and put in place, changing table finished and installed (it is truly amazing), swing put together, crown molding installed (it looks beautiful!)....I think that's it. The next thing on the list is to get some pictures and his letters hung. I'll post pics when I get it all finished.

The party's over...

As you can tell from the title of the post, the party is over..spring break that is. It was WONDERFUL. I was a little productive (at the beginning of the week), but for the most part I just got alot of much-needed rest.

Our crib was supposed to ship this week, so Phillip called to check on it. They'd moved the shipping date back to April 18th! This is for a crib that was ordered on Feb. 2nd! We decided that was way too close to Parker's arrival, so we went ahead and found a new crib. It should arrive this week! Whew! What a weight that's been lifted off our shoulders.

Phillip's dad has almost finished Parker's changing table unit-I'll post pics of the final product. Let me just say, it is AMAZING. Truly, truly beautiful. Way better than what I ever imagined. I gave him a pic and expected some type of version, but he actually made the exact thing I wanted! It's just like the Madison changing table from Pottery Barn kids.

As I post this, Phillip and David D. are out in the garage being productive-working on crown molding (I think) and other manly chores. He did just walk in and say they were looking for instructions a.k.a. The Home Depot book we have. In his words, "If all else fails, read the instructions." So, once the crown molding is up, bed gets here, and changing table is finished, Parker's room will be a lot closer to being ready. He'll be here in 8 1/2 weeks, so yes, I am getting a little nervous that it's not going to all get finished. It's really hard being almost 8 mos. pregnant and feeling like you have to depend on everyone else to do things for you. I'm usually a take-charge, get things done type of person, so this has been a really hard pill for me to swallow.

I am sitting here posting on the blog, dreading going to the grocery store, cleaning my house, and paying bills. I just want to crawl back in bed, but since I've already had a 2 hour nap today, I guess I'll get on my to-do list.

Below is a pic of two of my beautiful nieces-it was Abby's 2nd birthday on Friday. We celebrated with them on Saturday in Texarkana. I know what you're thinking, "Those are two beautiful girls." Let me tell you, they're as pretty on the inside as they are on the outside (most of the time).

My two sweet nieces...

A bed fit for a prince...

This is the beautiful bassinet my sisters bought for Parker. I did not realize they were planning to do this...they actually kept it a secret, which is a huge accomplishment for Courtney, my oldest sister..she's not exactly known for being a good secret-keeper.

Anyway, the weekend of Parker's shower, Meredith showed up and told me she needed to go ahead and give me the gift from her and Courtney..I insisted she take it to the shower, but she explained that it was too big to carry around. I opened her backseat, and there it was..in the box of course, but there was a gorgeous picture of it. I was completely shocked...I don't get surprised that often. Phillip had it up within about 30 minutes. We've already got it in our bedroom ready to put the sweet little prince in....I can't wait to see him sleeping soundly in it.. (hopefully sleeping, not screaming).
Thanks sisters!!!!!

Tulip's got a friend....

I kept Karoline for a little while last week while Dayle ran an errand....she and Tulip had some great bonding time! They've met before, but we've never let Tulip actually get down around her. They have walked together, stared at each other through the window, etc., but this was their first physical encounter. Tulip LOVED her!!!!!!! She was soooo good with her. She pretty much just followed her around..she even let her step on her tail and rub all over her!

This wasn't Tulip's first playdate with a child (she plays with my nieces and nephews), but it was her first playdate with a baby this young...so we're starting to feel a little better about Parker...or is that just wishful thinking??

Karoline and Tulip in Parker's room (note the new wall color). I'll post more pics when we get the crown molding up and bed in! Check out Karoline's bow!!!!

Karoline.."What is she doing..hm...can I get that bone??"