shower lovin

My beautiful work friends threw me a baby shower... I LOVE THEM!

Donna, Jada, Sue's sister, Ann's daughter, LeeAnn, Rachel, Sue, Ann, Rachel's daughter Anna Taylor, and Sue's granddaughter! 

Picking up some last minute items at Buy, Buy Baby!

My wonderful friends from church threw me a baby shower too! It was so much fun and I am a lucky girl to have such good friends!

me and sweet Katlin Wyatt

Ciara, Sister Andrus, Aubrey, and Cheyenne

Raime drove down from Birmingham! It was SO fun to see her!!

Jen Youngberg, Kim, and Kelly Batteen... These sweet girls threw the shower for me. :) Kelly drove down from Birmingham, too! gotta love the straight on belly shots!! So flattering. 

37 weeks

This has been a good week. I was put on call twice in my pattern so I had lots of time to relax and get things done around the house! (aka- nest) I am feeling great. No swelling. No contractions. Just a little awkward at times. My friends from work threw me a baby shower... so sweet! It was so fun. They are so good to me. Dan finished up all his medical school applications this week, so now it is just time to... wait. So fun. Thanksgiving was nice. We spent it with some friends... eating and playing wiffleball and Bamaopoly. We soaked up every minute of our long weekend together. On Saturday we went to the temple in Birmingham and then did some baby shopping! We picked out our car seat and ordered it online from Babies R Us. Yay! We also went on a fishing trip at the Big Sandy.... goood times!

tender moments

We were at the temple a couple days ago and this man came up to Dan after and said

"It's been a long time since I've seen a wife look at her husband the way your wife looks at you."

Melted my heart. :)

thankful

so blessed.
and thankful for...

this day that helps us remember

getting called off work last night so i can be a fully functioning, happy part of Thanksgiving

my sweet coworkers who teach me and care about me

my pretty plum nail polish that makes me feel beautiful

my Book of Mormon and how it truly changes the little & big parts of my life when i'm smart enough to read it

our cozy little apartment that feels like home

my absolutely precious husband who i truly adore and fall more in love with every day

the beautiful fall leaves that contribute to my favorite time of year

the cool, crisp fall weather

our parking spaces are so close to our front door, which is on the first floor

the health of my husband and i

the health of my perfect little baby

my OB doctor and his supportive, laid-back personality

delicious food

our bread machine and my sweet husband who loves to use it
my always less than 120/80 blood pressure
our vacuum
our incredibly comfortable down comforter

my calling as a visiting teacher

my adorable parents that i couldn't be more in love with

my long, red hair that makes me feel pretty on days when i don't otherwise

my ever-evolving, long worked on style that makes me feel unique &expressive

my loving brother and his beautiful wife and that we get to be together forever

every experience i have had so far with my little boy whether it be seeing him wave to us on the ultrasound, giving me peristaltic waves of acid reflux, make me dizzy &weak in the knees, giving me little love taps, or changing my life completely, already, in ways i don't even understand

my job that gives me the opportunity to meet so many people from different walks of life and try to help them

the path our lives have taken us, i love where we are and where we are going, and know it is right

general conference and the powerful words of the prophets and apostles

my sweet adorable ashley and scott and how they always understand and support

cold stone, sometimes it's just what i need and makes the whole world brighter (cookie doughnut you want some?)

my brain, don't understand how it works but somehow it does and i'm thankful

thrift store and antique stores and the rush they give me when i walk in & know i could find a treasure at any moment

spending thanksgiving with friends because we are here together in this foreign land and all each other has

christmas decorations sneaking their way our of the boxes in the closet

healthy post-tornado recovery and being able to learn from it and know i'm better from it

my H&M maternity jeans...staple

cell phones so i can talk to my family whenever i want or need to

skype so i can see their precious faces from thousands of miles away
my education
my knowledge of why i'm here and where i'm going after i die

i think what i'm thankful for the very most this year
is my absolutely precious husband who i completely and utterly adore,
this sweet little boy who i know is going to change my life in every way,
and the overwhelming love i feel from my Heavenly Father every single day.

thirty-six weeks

nine months pregnant and still workin it. it is an instant conversation starter with all my patients. people are sweet about it. they are so impressed that i'm still working. i am so thankful we are both healthy and i have been able to keep working! if all continues to go well, i will work until december 7, then i will be off for eleven weeks! after that i am going back part-time (ten shifts a month) until we move. yay!

we are getting so excited. it is all feel so real. his pack n play crib is neatly set up in his room (our closet) and we are starting to get some things we need (although much more is needed). i'm down to my weekly visits. and the baby is head down and ready for descent! you go baby!

shower baby [&mommy too]

I came down to Las Vegas for a long weekend and have had the most wonderful time! Don't I always?! They always take such good care of me and make me feel soo loved. There is nothing better than spending time with my dear family [except, of course, if my Danny would have come]. On Saturday Chonie, Bonnie, and Sabrina threw me a lovely baby shower! It was so special to see so many people I love and be blessed with so much support! Thank you so much to everyone who came to the shower, sent me something, and just supported me with your love and excitement! Also, the food was to die for. :)

My dear, sweet friends Megan and Shanna drove all the way down from Salt Lake City... 7 hours, one way, to see me for a few short hours! They are so wonderful. There is hardly anything more wonderful than rekindling with old friends. Except having that rekindling be the biggest surprise ever!! It was so nice to just be in their presence and share smiles and sit around and talk with my adorable fam. Unforgettable. :)

best. surprise. ever.

They looked amazing. So classy, beautiful, and glowy.

Funniest, best table decor

We loved our little babies!! My mom especially. :)

My beauty queen cousins Emily and Chelsea and their sweet girls Lexie & Ayva (missed YOU forever ashley)

Isn't this just the BEST?!!?! It's so priceless and far too perfect. My mom's face says it all. I love the onesies entirely!

Sister love! Jared & Kris got us this ever-so-clever cookbook for baby & toddler  instructing how to make all my own baby food! Ohhh.... I love it. :) They know me all too well! 

How will I make my baby food, you ask?! In this super fancy German food crusher! Yay.

Megan outdid herself again and constructed me this beautiful nursing cover that is oh-so-chic. How excited I am to be the most fashionable nursing mother around? Very. It is so cute it could just be worn normally as a poncho too. :)

My sweet Aunt Judy, Kelsie, and Dalyn came down from St. George to  be there! It was soo, soo good to see them!

Sister Davis and Bryn :) It was so good to see my old friends.

Emily made me this adorable baby blanket with the cutest pirate pattern on one side and the softest minky fabric on the next. I know our babe will love cuddling in it almost as much as I do. :)

Aunt Christine and Joanna came down from St. George. I love my family!

The girls in action with their fancy Gigi's donuts

Grandma and Grandpa Hickman stopped by the next day and visited. It was so nice to see them! She made us the most beautiful quilt that is so soft and, oh, we just love it.

Thank you everyone!!!!! <3

thirty-five weeks

Dan took me on a date to Swen, our favorite little Chinese restaurant, the day before I left for Vegas. Our days together, just he and I, are coming to a brisk end! Mama and baby are both doing great, currently being pampered in Las Vegas by their sweet family. :) More updates to come on the baby shower!

thirty-four weeks

this baby is getting soo close! he doesn't like work anymore. he wishes his mom could just stay at home and nest and relax all day.

we went to our comprehensive childbirth class. favorite part was definitely the tour of the hospital rooms and nursery. it made it so real. he is definitely getting excited for his big day!

sweet

I was all caught up on my work yesterday morning so I had time to just sit and talk with my patient for about twenty minutes. She is sweet little old 83 year old lady who I'd been taking care of for four nights. She's a precious little thing. She was telling me her whole life story, which I always find so fascinating. Older people have so much more wisdom than all of us prideful young people.

She was telling me how she has been married for SIXTY-SEVEN years! She got married when she was 16 to her husband on his 17th birthday. They had two children in the next couple years and she said "I had my kids young and we grew up together." She talked about she grew up in the Depression and they had to trade what they had with what their neighbors had to get what they needed and use stamps to get their shoes. She talked about how they didn't have anything but they were happy. She said that people nowadays have so many cars and clothes and they're still not happy. She said they worked hard for what they had and how life was less complicated and they were just happy. I hope I can always remember wisdom like this and keep my life simple and just be happy.

he he he whooo...

The Mister and I went to a Breathing/Relaxation/Lamaze class last night.

It

Was

The

Best.

Just like the movies, but probably better. There was the classy, conservative, fashionable couple (that's us... ahem), the foreign Middle Eastern-ish couple (I'm so politically correct), the liberal, opinionated couple ("I will go natural. No if's, ands, or buts." ... Sure hope you don't need an emergency C-section or you're in biggg trouble lady!), the quiet, woodsy Alabama couple, the young girl and her mother both with long hippie-like hair (loved it), and the woman who's husband was out of town.

Not to mention the leader of the pack.... NURSE NANCY. (She literally introduced herself that way. I was so thrilled.)

Now just picture this group, all with clothespins on their ears (simulating contraction pain) breathing together and massaging each other. Breathing our way through the contractions, massaging our partners back, rubbing their stomach, deep cleansing breaths, playing with their hair, words of encouragement, etc...

We feel enlightened and ready to keep practicing so we can be so prepared and know exactly how to relax and breathe as this baby works his way down the birth canal.

FIVE WEEKS.....

babymoon

babymoon: 

"More recently the term has come to be used to describe a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby. Babymoons usually take place at a resort that offers appropriate services like prenatal massage." [source]

My hubby and I went on a babymoon over Halloween weekend. Only we went camping! Who wants a resort and prenatal massage?! Not us. We made it a two-year tradition and went back to Fort Pickens National Park campsite back in Pensacola Beach, Florida. [post on previous trip] We love it down there! We are beach babies [so is little #3 in the family, undoubtedly]. 

We waited until the Thursday morning we left on the trip to get all packed & ready due to being busy grown-ups these days (ugh), I had just finished up my work week and was completely tired, emotional, and irrational when I got home from work and had to clean and get all packed up & ready. Dan had sustained some blunt trauma to his quad muscle the night before playing basketball, so he was a little gimpy, but he powered through and was almost fully functional by morning thanks to wrapping it, icing it, heating it, etc... So, before we knew it we were out the door, and before we made it out of Tuscaloosa county limits, I was fast asleep. Dan took good care of me and drove safety. Even ensuring that the extremely loud and obnoxious noise the surfboard makes atop the car was fixed. Once we fixed the iPod, Dan was accompanied by Harper Lee on the drive as he listened to To Kill a Mockingbird. My back was seriously pained and uncomfortable as I slept, thank goodness I had three pillows. :) We stopped at KFC at the littlest Southern town to keep the tradition alive. We again passed over bridge one (arrived at Gulf Breeze), passed over bridge two (arrived at Pensacola Beach), and drove miles and miles out to the very tip of the peninsula. We set up our campsite at the one right next door to our site last year (which was supposedly "reserved"). We were a little stingy and put our tent so far over so it was basically on their plot. I was embarrassed for when the other campers got there and had to awkwardly find a new spot for their tent. Luckily, no one came that night! 

Friday: