37 Weeks & Some Projects

It's official. Today we reach a milestone of James Bradford being full term. Woohoo!! I am officially 37 weeks today! His lungs should be fully developed and be able to live outside of the womb with no problems. At 37 weeks, baby center says that he should weigh approximately 6 1/3 lbs and be a little over 19 inches long.

I apologize for not updating yall on my 37 week appointment last week. It was so disappointing and felt almost like a waste of time. I was on my last Dr. rotation and so he didn't give me an internal exam to see if i had progressed any. They said that my regular Dr. would do one this week at my 38 week appt. So we just have to wait and see. (Going by the poll, we have 5 votes for this week!) The good thing about our appt. last week was that we finished our hospital registration - so are all in the computer, and all we have to do is show up and have a baby! No forms, no papers!

Cory is heading out of town to Atlanta for work this week (I can say that, because this is a private blog, right?!) But he has a conference that he is unable to miss. He is fully accessible by blackberry and can be ready to jump in the car at any time!

People often ask doesn't it bother you that Cory travels out of town so much?! Right now I can say, it doesn't bother me at all (maybe it will change after baby though!) I keep busy while he is gone. Either enjoying time catching up with friends, running errands or working on a project. Here are two recent projects I have done over the past weeks while he has been out of town.

My friend Emily helped me and inspired me for this cornice board window treatment. She is so creative and talented. One evening, when our husbands were out of town together, we had a "craft night" at her house. It was so much fun. I brought over my sewing machine and all my materials and we just played. This was the finished product from that evening. Sweet Cory hung it for me yesterday. I was really pleased with how it turned out. Its kinda hard to see in the picture - but its of the same material as his crib bedding, and has little white pom poms hanging from the bottom. And of course it had to be monogrammed!
Here is a smocked day gown I did for James Bradford another time Cory was out of town. It's the same as the other day gowns I mentioned I had made in a previous post, but this one ties at the bottom to keep him all in!

Projects may be few and far between after James Bradford comes. But I'm glad that I got these 2 done before he arrives!

Another Class & Another Early Morning!

Last night Cory and I attended another class through the hospital. My mom and our friend, Meg also attended. The class was "Child Safety and Infant CPR." Cory was really hoping for a certificate for this one - since he didn't receive one from either of the other classes. Dad joked with mom before we left that she could frame her certificate next to his "professional painter" certificate. Much to their dissapointment - no certificate was rewarded! - Oh Well!


Although there was no certificate - It was a great class and we learned a lot. I highly recommend this class for anyone taking care of a child or just wanting to learn CPR. We learned both CPR and the Heimlich for an infant, child & adult. (I hadn't had CPR since Health class in 10th grade - so it was good to brush up on my skills!) We got to practice on these really cool manikins - Just like these:



They were really neat - their chests even moved up and down while performing CPR. I don't think the manikins were this advanced in my health class 12 years ago!!

We really enjoyed the class and definitely feel more confident that we would be able to help James Bradford or anyone else in an emergency situation.



On another note, I have perfected the art of sleeping. Only problem is that it takes Tylenol pm and I don't like the way it makes me feel the next day and that James Bradford doesn't become active until the following afternoon. So I try not to take it unless I am just completely exhausted and can't go on without it! - So I have been saving it for mostly just weekends when I know I can rest and not have to worry about how I feel at work.

Anyways, this morning came bright and early. I woke up at 3:30am - Of course I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up. (I'm sure Sabrina thinks I'm crazy when I arise at these odd hours! - she usually lays in her bed and rests her head on one of her stuffed animals and stares at me!) So what did I do at 3:30am?! - I had an extremely productive morning. I washed the rest of James Bradford's clothes, sheets and my clothes for the hospital and then I put together these:

The Space Saver High Chair (tilts back for an infant so James Bradford can sit with us at the table when we have dinner - eating dinner at the table is going to be made a priority after he arrives - no longer will we have TV dinners every night!) We had several people recommend this to us, and its going to be so great in our little home.

AND

And the My Little Lamb Infant Swing - Another highly recommended product by friends. - Aren't the lamb ears adorable?! Both of these were gifts that I know that we are going to get so much great use out of them and that James Bradford is going to love them.
So, even though I may be exhausted today - I feel so much better that we now have EVERYTHING put together and ready for James Bradford to use!

36 weeks & Showered Once More!!

Today I am officially 36 weeks pregnant! Woohoo! I have to admit, this pregnancy has flown by. When we found out January 4th that we would be expecting on September 20th - wow! - that felt forever away. And our Dr. even told us it would prob. be a long pregnancy because we found out so early!
BabyCenter's update for the 36 weeks says that he should weigh approximately 6 lbs (size of a crenshaw melon) and is 18.5 inches long! At the end of this week, he will be considered full term. Whoohoo! We go for our 37 week appointment on Thursday. Can't wait to see if there has been an progression since Friday!
I am feeling pretty good. But I still feel like there is so much to do before James Bradford arrives. The nursery is just about ready - just have to hang my window treatment and get a few more decorative things for the walls. Nothing that is an absolute has to be done though. I am continuing to wash all of his little clothes. He has more clothes then I do, and is definitely more fashionable!

This past weekend I had ANOTHER baby shower. YES, another! This was number 4! We have been so blessed and everyone has been so extremely generous.
This shower was in Nashville and hosted by my sister in law, Megan and my mother in law. It was wonderful and we all had a great time.

The decorations were adorable. Megan's sister is studying to be a graphic designer. She designed these precious elephants and sign and also the invitations. She is great at what she does!



And the food was fabulous - check out this awesome strawberry cake Megan made - it was amazing!! And all the special touches - every Bama baby has got to be surrounded by cute elephants!!

I had the cutest helper to assist me with opening gifts. Thanks for all your help Trevor!!


Our sweet friend, Kim and her son (Cory's Godson) came all the way from South Carolina. It was so much fun to see them!

Thanks for making that long trip, Kim & Aiden. It was so special to have you there!

We had so much fun. We played several games. One of the games was a name that baby game. The guests were divided up in teams and everyone was shown a picture of a baby. The teams would pick a name for each baby, and from their answers, I would have to choose the name I would choose for that particular baby. The last baby that was shown Cory had seen it and had been asked what he would name it. Guess what he chose?! "Jamal Lee Hall" Are you kidding me, can you see me with a Jamal?! Nothing wrong with the name, but from James Bradford to Jamal Lee - doesn't really sound like something we would choose! HA! Made for some good laughs!

Thank you so much everyone for everything! It was such a fun day!! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. James Bradford has already been so spoiled by everyones love and generosity.

36 Week Appointment

Just wanted to give an update from my 36 week appointment this morning. (although, I'm not officially 36 weeks until Monday). I was really excited about going and to see how James Bradford has progressed.
I am 50% effaced and almost 1cm dilated. And measuring 38 weeks. She said he is still high. I mentioned that we were heading to Nashville in the morning for a baby shower. Oh - I don't think she was to happy! Opps, but I didn't realize that they preferred you not travel after 34 weeks! But she said it would be ok, if it was a short trip, because I haven't been having any contractions.
She asked me how much I weighed when I was born. I told her 6 lbs something (I couldn't remember my exact weight), but I was born at 36.5 weeks. She said, "Well I think your going to have a big baby, maybe he will be born at 36 weeks!" I said, "I hope not, that's on Monday!" and she said "well hopefully he will stay in a little longer then."
So we'll see what happens. All I know is that he will be here in the next 4.5 weeks! Loving the poll responses - thanks for participating!!! Have a great weekend!!

(Oh - and sorry for the lack of Fabulous Friday Finds - I need to get out there and find some!)

Setting the Bar . . .

So I have to confess, I love watching MTV's Teen Mom. I have heard some people say that it glamorizes teen pregnancy. (Those people must have never seen the show) It does not glamorize it at all. It really shows how difficult it is and the struggles they will face. - Relationship, Financial, School and everything. I actually think it's a decent abstinence tool.
Now, It does come on past my bedtime though, but the DVR records it each week. Yesterday when I woke up at 3:30am - I decided that was one of the things I would watch.
On Tuesday's new episode, Gary set the bar for James Bradford's first Easter!

MTV Shows

(Sorry, I wish I knew how to edit it to make it shorter) Yes! He dressed up like the Easter Bunny!! Now I just need to find a suit like this for Cory! (Oh - and Cory will be much cuter and much more attentive and a way better dancing bunny!)

When will he get here?!

My entire family is anxious about James Bradford's arrival. I am on pins and needles wondering when he will arrive. So I decided to add a poll to the blog for fun. Cast your vote on when you think he will be born.

Here is a little Grinnell women Birth history:

My Mom's Baby Births:

Ellen: 40 Weeks

Anne: 36.5 Weeks

David: 38 Weeks

My Sister's Baby Births:

Davis: 37 Weeks

Isaac: 36 Weeks

Wonder what mine will be?! Would love to hear your guess!

1 more year . . .

Yesterday officially began the last year of my 20's. I turned 29 yesterday! Looking back, so much has happened during my 20s - turning 21, graduating from college, purchasing my first home, meeting my husband and getting married and then finding out we are expecting! (Oh and can't forget going to see the Tide win a National Championship!) Wow! And there is still so much to happen in the upcoming year. So much excitement and love for this new precious life that will enter this world in just a few short weeks!

Yesterday was a great day! Of course I had to work, but I took a long lunch hour (well 2.5 hours to be exact -oops!) and mom took me to lunch and we went shopping. We had such a fun time. We were on the hunt of some cute hospital pajamas. Mission accomplished!

That afternoon I came home to find that my husband had been slaving in the house! - Laundry done, fresh linens on the bed (if you have a dog that sheds and that likes to get in the bed - you know how wonderful that is!), hall closet cleaned out and organized with all of our diapers in it, and he even cleaned out under the bathroom sink - making room for all of James Bradford's bathroom essentials! What a wonderful gift of love!

And he had already given me a gift:

A 50mm lens for my camera. I was totally pumped! By several recommendations from friends, who I admire their photography, I had told Cory that this would be a good investment for when the baby comes. And much to my surprise - he got me one! Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to play with it yet. But I cant wait to have some fun with it and take some pictures. (if anyone has any tips on using this lens, let me know!)

To conclude my special day, Cory & I celebrated by going to dinner. We dined at a newer restaurant here in town called Zea Rotisserie Grill. And even better - we had a buy one get one free coupon! It was fantastic! Cory had the duck and I had the salmon. Cory said that it was his new favorite restaurant. Highly recommend it! Then we headed over to Mtn Brook Creamery for Ice Cream (had another BOGO coupon! - we love our coupons!). It was the perfect ending to the perfect day!

Here's to living it up, the last year of my 20's!! I already know it's going to be a great year!