10 lbs and counting....

If you think that the title of this entry means that I have gained 10 lbs since I became pregnant, you're wrong. If you think it means I've gained 10 lbs above my normal weight, you'd be wrong. If you think its even possible that I've gained 10 lbs in 4 weeks then *ding*DING*ding*, you would be our winner!

I had my 26 week appointment this morning and can say it is official, I have gained 10 lbs since I was there at 22 weeks. This to me is something that I am appalled at, seriously. I began my pregnancy at my normal weight (which since I was 15 has been), 127, and through my first three months lost 7 lbs. I gained back 9 lbs in the first two months of my second trimester and in the last month of it, have gained the most recent 10 lbs to bring me to a grand total of 139. If anyone wants to know my opinion of this it is very simple... UGH! :)

In other news, the Brooke's heartbeat was very strong at 155 bpm and my blood pressure was even better at 98/60. I am going to have to start supplementing my prenatal vitamins with a crazy high dose of calcium, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I have orders to go for my glucose screening in the next couple days but don't know when I will. I could do it tomorrow or Friday, but am scared that doing it before work will cause me to be exhausted all day, ultimately affecting my performance at work, which I don't want to happen. The other option is to wait until next Wednesday which is my next day off without a morning doctors appointment. We'll see.

As some of you saw on facebook/myspace, last night I went and bought a car. It was a very interesting night since it is the first time I've ever personally bought one. Its a 2000 Kia Sportage that has 83000 miles on it and it runs great. It will definitely make putting a car seat in and out much easier on my back which was the main reason we wanted a small SUV. We picked the car up in St Augustine and when we left I stopped at the Maternity outlet to look at some pants. I finally found some jeans that fit me in the legs and still have room for me to grow some. :) Yay!! So I won't look like an old lady at work in my pregnancy pants! (its a small victory yes, but I'll take it!)

Busy Busy Saturday....

Today I attended 2 baby showers, one for Lindsay Lettow and one for Angela Ryan! They were both very sweet gatherings as we celebrated the upcoming arrivals of Chandler and Dallas! When I got home I found my cloth diapers on the front porch waiting for me, which made me especially happy because I have been expecting them for the past 2 days. (Unfortunately my mail carrier only comes on days that he 'feels' like it so he hadn't even driven through our neighborhood on Thursday or Friday, at least he ended the week on a good note!) I have washed and dried them and I am so excited to have them!

I am also in the process of planning the next several weeks so that we can accomplish as much as possible at our house (molding, last of the tiling, deep cleaning, yard work), at my mom's house (finishing the refinishing of the baby furniture, fixing the floors before the shower at my mom's, polishing the rest of the house for the shower) and get ready (in general) for my showers and Brooke! This requires planning because I have to coordinate my schedule with my mom's and Mitchell's (esp for his week of vacation) (Don't tell him, but he's going to be one busy busy bee!) hehe

Did I mention that I was EXCITED about all this?

At a stand still....

Well very little is happening baby-news-wise this past week in the Pearson home. While we are still excited and mentally preparing for Brooke's arrival, we aren't doing much! haha. Partially because there isn't anything that can be done right now and partially because we have to wait for our paycheck this week before we can buy anything else! But there is preparations being made on other fronts! For example, the invitations for my first shower are being sent out this week (which I am SUPER EXCITED about!) and the people at work have begun talking about having a small shower for me there! YAY! :) So I just thought that I would let everyone know that in the next several weeks (4 to 5) we will be getting out all the invites and setting up showers for Brooke! (Did I mention that this is EXTREMELY EXCITING for me?!?!?!?) Yay.... :)

More to trust Him to provide...

As anyone who knows my life story, or really anything about my childhood, knows, I am not a stranger to trusting my Heavenly Father to provide. From providing Christmas presents for us on years when my mom couldn't afford it, to providing new lungs for my mom when the doctors said it was too late. I grew up watching my mom live out this principle day in and day out and by the time I was becoming a woman had discovered for myself that there is nothing that my God can't do and that He can and will always make a way for the things we need.

Welcoming a child into this world is a beautiful thing, but it is also a huge financial expense (one, I might add, that does not go away for decades!). Mitch and I knew this going in and really weren't worried about it. We've had to put off some renovations in the house, and re-allot some money here and there, but were feeling very confident that there would be little that the Lord had to provide because he has already blessed us with the finances to handle this new challenge. And then we hit a speed bump...

Yesterday I left church and had lunch with my parents, Mitch and Josh at Regency. Mitch and I had driven separate to church because I had a baby shower to attend for some friends of ours. After lunch he went home and I headed to the baby shower. It was a lovely shower with beautiful and creative decorations and a wonderful group of ladies. Unfortunately my back started hurting me about halfway through the shower (3 o'clock). I left at 4:15 just praying that I could get home quickly because all I wanted to do was lay down and cry. I sped all the way home, going way over the speed limit and was ecstatic when I saw my exit. I got off the interstate behind a red SUV. We both stopped at the yield sign, and she proceeded to turn onto the road. I pulled forward a couple feet, stopped, looked left to make sure it was clear, and accelerated. While I was looking left, she apparently decided to stop in the middle of the road and I plowed into the back of her. I couldn't believe it. I felt fine and was sure the baby was fine (which after a trip to the doctor's was confirmed)but my car did not look good. Her SUV barely had a scratch, but her hitch had crushed my front bumper into the engine.

The problem with this is that I have been using my dad's old car for almost a year, in an attempt to put off having to buy a car. Now it looks as if we'll have to purchase one, something that was definitely not in our budget. That being said, Mitch has taken it in stride, and with out hesitation (as I was crying at the accident scene) told me that the Lord would work it out and we would just get another car. I am so grateful that I have a husband who loves and trusts the Lord with such certainty! And now we just have more to trust Him for, which will mean more to be thankful for! Starting with me giving thanks that the Lord protected Brooke and has allowed me to look at this not-so-good-situation with hope and promise!

Clothes, Clothes and more Clothes...

That is exactly how I feel about the past two days. In addition to doing all of Mitch's and my laundry for the week (which I try to get done on Fridays) I had to do 8 more loads of laundry. Yes I said 8. Two of those were because I had to do the sheets/comforter in the spare room but the other 6 were baby clothes. And I don't mean the kind of loads that have a reasonable amount of clothes in there so they all get extra clean. The only point in washing them was to get them to all smell good/the same since they had been in storage for a while. Where did I get that many baby clothes you may ask, well I am very grateful to have a very generous sister. Well sister-in-law technically but she prefers to claim me instead of Mitchell, so I let her! :)

Jennifer (my sister in law) has 2 little girls that are 4 and 2 and she pretty much sent me home with all of the under 2 year old clothes that the girls had not messed up or ruined. So we are way ahead of the game, especially when it comes to older clothes (like 12 months and 18 months) because those are the ones that no one buys for you when you're pregnant and you have to invest in yourself. We haven't gotten them completely put away (mainly because the baby's furniture won't be ready for at least a month more) but my mom came over and helped me sort it by size, go through them and pull out the things that I either didn't like or wouldn't work for Brooke (ie the 0-3 month summer clothes that she won't get to wear in Oct-Dec) and I am proud to say that me matched outfits that go together and got everything folded so that when the chest of drawers is done, all I have to do is move the stacks from the closet floor into the drawers! YAY!!

And again, thank you to Jennifer for sharing and to my mother in law, Jeanne, who stores these things for Jennifer so that she can share them with Mitch and me!

Already a Mommy...

So as most of you guys know, Mitch and I have two dogs. Toby we got about a month after we got married and have had for more than two years, and Tama we got in early December, but she is full grown and has burrowed herself into our hearts and lives. We often tell people that our dogs are like our children, and most of the time they think we're making a joke and I can see how they think that seeing as how Toby is 45 lbs and Tama is 65 lbs and they are a little overwhelming for most people.

Tonight we had an experience that reminded me once again how maternal I feel for our dogs. I usually go outside with them when I let them into the back yard, but I was finishing dinner so I just put them on the chain one at a time and let them go to the bathroom. Tama went out, barked for a few minutes and then I brought her in. I then put Toby (the one who hates being outside and always comes back to the door as soon as he's done) on the chain. It had been a few minutes but I didn't really think about it because I always hear him whine to get inside. Mitch stepped outside to call him in, and he was out there trying to poop but Mitch could barely see his skin because he was covered in bugs. Mitch pulled him in and we swatted away everything and he seemed fine. We sat down to dinner and about the time I finished my plate I looked down at Toby and his whole little body was covered in dime size bumps, like 60 of them. I immediately pulled him on the couch and covered him with my body as I kissed his head and tried to assess how bad it was. We then loved on him and held him for like twenty minutes, even though I'm 90% sure he's not even itching! I swear I love these dogs way too much!

Weekend Shopping Trip...

So yesterday morning Mitchell had to go into work for a few hours, so I decided it would be nice to go have breakfast with my grandma and mom. So we met at the Cracker Barrel and had a very nice breakfast. After that we went to the Bealls and Grandma Gwen bought three more things for Baby Brooke. (She's already got several things at her house!) Here's the picture of them!



My mom also picked out several outfits for Brooke because everything was on sale, 50% off! So it looks like Brooke is going to have tons of things from her grandma at the shower! Then we went over to Belk and Grandma Gwen scared me to death because she fell in the isle on that tile. She, thankfully, was okay! She's such a trooper! When I headed home, my Mom ran over to look around at Hobby Lobby and found a bulletin board for Brooke's room that perfectly matches one of the fabrics that is part of her bedding! I'm so excited because we were going to make one but since it was on sale it only cost $7 and we couldn't have made it for that much! :) And for all of you who are curious about it, we have a picture of course!!

Belly Bump Pics!

So I've got this amazing dress that my mom made for me that I've been wanting to get a picture in, but forgot to do so the last time I wore it, so I have some from today! These are the pics we took after lunch in the Beach Road parking lot...note the 22 week baby bump!

This is a picture of us as a family! The Pearsons, Mitch (Daddy), Jennifer (Mama) and Baby Brooke!


This is just me!



And this is me and my little brother Josh. We're not very sure how much time Brooke is going to be allowed to spend with her Uncle Josh since he keeps telling me how much fun he's going to have teaching my children to misbehave!

Fun stuff...

So my diapers came in the mail on Thursday. I was so excited to get the opportunity to really see if I was going to like them and if they really would be as easy as disposable diapers. So here are some pictures so that you all can see them and see what I'm talking about.

These are what they look like in the basic pre-use form.


This is what they look like with them open and one liner in. Each diaper comes with two liners (one that's inside and one that's next to them in the pic) so that you can have extra absorbency for nighttime diapers or heavy wetters.


These diapers that I am considering are for babies from 7lbs to 40lbs, so they obviously have to be sizable. This shows you the difference between two of the sizes. You make them smaller by using the snaps on the front.


So I showed them to Mitch and he really likes them. He prefers the velcro which works for me. I'll probably still buy a few more of the snaps because they'll be better for when the baby learns to take the diapers off! (ie more difficult!) I also showed them to my mom who checked out the workmanship for me and she said they definitely look like they will be easy enough and should last for a good long time. So it looks like we'll go with them! Yay!

Now its just a matter of when Mitch will let me order the rest of the diapers! haha

Doctors Appointment Update

Yesterday I had another doctors appointment! So since I needed to take Tama to the vet, I got up early and left the house around 7 so I could get there and get in line. I wasn't going to take Toby, but when I went to leave him, I felt terrible and started crying because he didn't understand that he wasn't in trouble. I was like sobbing as I let him out of his cage, and put his cage in the car with Tamas. We drove to the vet and stood in line for the 30 minutes until the vet opened. Before we made it inside, both of my dogs had peed on my feet....Tama by accident (the reason we were taking her was because she hasn't been able to control her urine since Friday) and Toby on purpose, I guess cause he smelt Tama's. I had to walk to the back of the building and use the hose to rinse them off! We got inside and the doctor told me that Tama's problem was a side effect of the shot she got last Thursday and should only last 4-5 days which meant that it was ending yesterday. And that Toby's tooth was fine, not to worry that he chipped it.

I left there, went to my mom's and put the dogs in the house in their cages, and Mom and I got on the road. By the time we got to the doctor's office I felt like it was 2 pm, even though it was only 9:45. But thankfully it was quick! I was in and out in less than 15 minutes! Dr Phelan checked the heart rate and it was really strong, gave me some more prenatals and we were off! My weight has officially gone over my normal weight as of yesterday. I weighed 128. I'm hoping to only gain another 8 to 10 lbs, so that I'm not fighting to get it off. Since I lost 7 lbs in my first 2 months, I've technically gained 8 lbs so far. We'll see...

I spent the rest of the day with my family and then visiting with Jennifer Allen, which were both very nice. I got home around 6:30 and started on the last closet that has to be organized and barely put a dent in it! Around 8:15 I started having these shooting pains in my abdomen so I called the doctor's office at 9ish and Dr Phelan told me that it sounded like round ligament pain which is okay and that if it got worse to come it. Knowing what it was made me feel better, but it never did go away completely. And last night I kept having those pains and leg cramps that kept waking me. :( So not fun. When I got out of bed this morning, it wasn't because of an alarm going off or the dogs waking me, it was because I was screaming in pain and had to stretch the charlie-horses I had in my leg!! lol. I hope those don't continue because I could live the rest of my life without feeling that again and it would be too soon!

Now it is back to work!

Start of a new week!

Today is Monday, and for me and Mitch, that does not make us happy! :) It means the beginning of another long week with tons to do and not enough time to do it in! I have to work today, which hopefully will be good, and then have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning. Mitch is acting manager this week since Todd is on vacation which means more 'networking' then Mitch enjoys (for those who don't know, that means he'll be on conference calls and having to suck up to the regional level bosses all week, instead of accomplishing any of the things he's actually paid to do, and Mitch hates sucking up!) All in all things are good though. We had a nice, quiet weekend, and Mom finished another one of my dresses, which I got several compliments on! YAY!

And to kick off the week in baby news, I just ordered some All-in-one Cloth Diapers on ebay to see if I like them, and if we want to use them. I've been considering them since before we got married and am really interested to see if they are as easy as everyone claims. I'm not a huge environmentalist by any means, but if it means keeping 10,000 diapers out of landfills by the time we're done with our 4 or 5 kids then its definitely worth the extra load or two of laundry each week. My biggest concern is that it has to be easy enough for everyone who will babysit Brooke to do it. (ie if we leave her at my mom's for the day I don't want to be getting a call about my mom not being able to work them or them not fitting or some other thing) That is why I have ordered 2, one velcro and the other with snaps, hoping that I can make up my mind! :) We'll see!