Friends already!

I laid in bed last night for probably an hour and thought about all the kids that have been/will be born to friends of ours, who will be in the same grade as Allie and it's honestly unbelievable.

October 2009

Aliza Gary

Charlie Anderson

Christian Leros

Nell Moore

Grant Golemi

Olivia Crews

January 2010

Hudson Buchanan
Cameron Thompson

April 2010

Baby Girl Patrick

June 2010

Baby Boy Broussard

20 weeks 4 days

Woke up Thursday and I had a much larger stomach!

We are expecting!

I'm going backwards here, but I meant to post this awhile back. When we found out we were expecting we sent this poem, compliments of Roxy and Toby (of course) to family and close friends.

20 weeks!

My oh my how fast this pregnancy is flying by us! While I am a little sad, Ben says it's exciting to think we are that much closer to meeting Allie for the first time which is so very true.

We had our 20-week appointment Tuesday which incorporates an anatomy sonogram and meeting with the OBGYN to discuss the outcome. I am happy to report that Allie is for sure a girl (yeah!) and she is in the 78th percentile for weight and length which is normal.

Check out the belly she's sporting...looks similar to mine - LOL!

PBK delivery

I ordered a changing table system from Pottery Barn Kids a couple weeks ago and it was delivered and setup this afternoon...pics below!

There is a ledge that connects the two top hutches that is on backorder, but hopefully it will arrive soon.

I am having Allie's bedding made - here is a picture of her crib skirt and the fabric swatches I am using:

Chica needs a new wardrobe

So I'm to the point where my regular jeans are extremely uncomfortable, even with the ghetto ponytail holder securing the button and closure; my regular shirts make me look like an Arkansas redneck with my gut and belly button popping out (all I lack is a cigarette in my mouth and empty Colt 45 bottle) and even my pajama pants are a little "snug" in the rump, hips and stomach.

I'm pretty impressed in the fact that I made it this far (~20 weeks) in my pre-pregnancy clothes.

I start traveling for work again next week so I purchased a couple work items today.

For those who know me, I love clothes and shoes. Today I had a "wake-up call" as to how drab the next 5 months of my life are going to be.

- I would love to walk a day in a maternity clothes designer's shoes to see exactly what makes them think a shirt that says "Princess 2010 on Board" is cool. Perhaps that's why it is on clearance?

- Or my favorite shirts that tie under the armpits that even in an XS make you look like you weigh 300 lbs.

- Or the dresses that offer a nice and tacky rose print on sheer fabric with an underneath slip that then take it a step further and include a rose accent on the collar.

- Or the knit dresses that are so low cut your pregnancy watermelons are at risk of falling out. Come on, I barely want to see that, much less the general public!

I simply cannot believe some of the clothing items there are out there for pregnant women. I could go on...it is slim pickings at maternity stores!

It's here!

Wonferful Jim picked up Allie's crib this morning and it is now ready for Ben to assemble tonight. Given Ben's love for putting things together, this could get quite comical. :)

Check out the size of this box. No wonder it wouldn't fit in the Tahoe!

Belly pics? Gross!

So I'm not one to post pictures of my nice petruding, circular, hard belly on Facebook, but given this is mainly for family and close friends I decided to put a couple on here. Go ahead and laugh...

15 weeks (December 15, 2009).

18 weeks (January 5, 2010).

Who knew there were so many...

So I'm pregnant...there's a life growing inside of me...we know it's a girl...but it just doesn't feel like I've made it this far in such a short amount of time SO...we decided to go crib shopping yesterday.

Ok, so who knew there were so many cribs to choose from out there? Gee whiz! From the color, to the style, to the safety ratings, to the size...my goodness, how overwhelming can this be? I thought I had one picked out then Ben and I introduced ourselves to Cullen's Babyland yesterday...wow, oh wow.

I originally thought I would splurge for a $300-400 crib at Target or Babies 'r Us - one that if Allie gnawed on it, it wasn't a big deal but like I said, we then entered Cullen's yesterday. If you have not been there, you should go because it is eye opening to see how many cribs you can choose from.

Ben, who is my voice of reason half my life, told me I should narrow my choices to 5 or so then go home and think about them and I did just that. By 9 pm last night I had it all figured out so I called Cullen's this AM and placed my order. During lunch Ben and I swapped cars and I went to pick-up the crib only to find out it did not fit in the Tahoe. I was so bummed! Our good friend and neighbor, Jim, is getting it for us tomorrow so I hope Ben is ready to start the construction process tomorrow night!

Our kids

I should have started this Blog way earlier...but time has been crazy with the holidays.

This is my 19th week of pregnancy and so far so good! I've heard people talk about how difficult pregnancy can be, how miserable they are, etc. but so far I have not experienced anything negative. A growing belly can often be a misery for some women, but I absolutely love it. It's amazing what pregnancy does to your body but the final product is so exciting!

You might wonder how our other 2 children - Roxy and Toby - are doing and I am happy to report, they are still as lazy as usual. I'm not quite sure if they understand everything that's going on or not, but just as life is changing rapidly for Ben and me, it is for them as well. Rox and Tob have lived rather calm lives (other than our many moves!)...they get no less than 12 hours of continuous sleep each night...enjoy nightly walks (except when it's below freezing outside) and literally eat up the constant attention we give them. With this being said, man are they going to experience a change in life!

We had a nice futon couch in "Roxy's room" which is now Allie's future home. Trust me when I say, it was NOT intended for two 100 lb. dogs to adopt but as usual, we caved and let them "borrow" it. Well unfortunately the futon went "bye-bye" several weeks ago so the dogs are a little disgruntled. It must be a hard life to have to resort back to the nice dog beds!

Boy or girl?

Ben, Roxy, Toby and I were able to go home (Marshall, TX) for the Christmas holidays for close to a week to spend time with family and friends. The day we left Baton Rouge, I had a scheduled doctor's appointment/check-up so we decided out of the blue to try and find out what the baby was so we could surprise our parents and grandparents with the news. I am not one for surprises (mom and dad - don't chime in!) so I knew if I had the sonogram planned I would spoil it!

I was 99% sure it was a boy so when the sonogram tech stated it was a girl I was completely shocked! We had so much picked out for a boy (after all, I'm always right and it was in fact GOING to be a boy!) - we loved "his" name and I had even started looking into boy bedding...I was ecstatic to hear it was a girl, but again, completely shocked. I just knew my Chinese Calendar was right and it stated there was supposed to be a boy in there, not a girl!

When we got in the car after the doctor's visit Ben stared at the sonogram pictures and started tearing up...he is so excited!

After leaving the doctor we went to the LSU store by Mike's habitat and bought a smocked LSU dress and "Eye of the Tiger" bloomers. Given this is the first grandhchild on both sides our thought was to have each of our parents and grandparents open the gift to unveil baby Ross' gender.

On our drive...the drive that felt like it took DAYS, we were debating on naming our new daughter Allie or Reagan. While I do love the name Reagan, I kept going back to how cute Allie Ross sounded so we ultimately decided on Allie Parker.

The most special person to open the dress was Ben's grandmother, Nanny. God love her, after several bouts of cancer, she is still with us today. She is by far one of the sweetest women you will ever meet and reminds me so much of my dad's mom, Mildred. Nanny's 85th birthday was December 24th and as always, the entire family gets together in Shreveport and does lunch on Christmas Eve. Given Nanny's kids are older, I don't quite think she understood the sonogram pictures...it was way too cute. Once she opened the dress she got it and said "it's a girl?" in her sweet, shaky voice. Nanny has two great-grandchildren already but this will be her first great-granddaughter.

The holidays were fun now that we knew exactly what baby Ross was going to be!