My friend Rach

My friend Rach..............is an amazing woman! She had the best sense of humor, a fabulous smile, and EVERYONE wanted to be her friend. She had the certain something that just made you want to be around her. I wouldnt say she was the Life of a Party, but she could make a party out of anything! That was just her way, she made everyone feel special!



Some of my most favorite moments were just me and Rach...driving of course...us talking, singing, and lovin life! It was our special time, those drives. Catching up in a way we didnt usually get to. Dont get me wrong, I loved all the times we were ALL together, but those car trips, that was our time! Passing out cards, crazy detours, it was a blast. Telling people half the stuff that was funny to us....most of the time it didn't even make sense to others!



Ive known Rachel since the sixth grade. Like most of my friends, I have known them since elementary or Jr High school. Pretty cool. We experienced almost everything together! Strack Speech & Drama, first day of high school, first crush, drivers license, parties, going to college, first love, first heartbreak, true love....When Rach left us, we had known each other for almost 20 years!



And now tomorrow, it will be a year since she left. Truly, not a day goes by that I don't think about her in some way at least once. Some days it feels like just yesterday that I got that call for Al. We went up to her apartment to get some of her things. I kept waiting for her to walk through the front door and yell at us for messing with her stuff! But she wasn't coming back. This week has been hard. I have been moody and emotional. Even a year later, I am still angry. I am mad for what she missed in life, and in turn her parents too! I wonder what would have been going on as she would be approaching her 1 year wedding anniversary...would we be pregnant together? Would she and Rodney have bought a house together and had a goat in the yard for Kari? Could we ever convince her to move back to Houston to raise our kids together?? And then I get sad selfishly for what my life misses without her here...our phone talks, our weekends together-reliving memories, her being here for the birth of my first child...I feel cheated.

Bu life goes on. That's the hard part. I was in a tough place last year at this time, still struggling to get pregnant, frustrated. And now, a year later, I have my miracle growing inside me (which I truly think she helped me out on, our gaurdian angel). We have had 2 babies born, another due any day now, a wedding., and a couple more babies on the way and hopefully a few more soon...There are so many things to be thankful for!! My only wish is that she was here to experience these things with us. I know she is in spirit though, which I guess has to be enough for now...

Rach, I miss you. Know we are always thinking of you...I know you are gone, but you are never forgotten. Come visit me sometime in dreamland, we need to catch up! I love you sister!!

Bedding...take 2!!

So I bought some spare pieces to mix and match the bedding...which do you like best?

Here was the original all gingham!


Gingham skirt/white sheet




Blue skirt/white sheet




Blue skirt/gingham sheet


So.......what do you think? Obviously no matter what, the bedskirts need ironing, but you get the point! Which do you like best or is there another option out there I should try? (solid green skirt, blue gingham skirt, white skirt, etc)

BTW, had doc appointment today. Zach's HB still 140 (as usual), only gained 2lbs, and blood pressure looks good! I also took my glucose test. If I don't hear back from them tomorrow or Thursday, looks like we are okay. I hope I pass!

The nursery has begun!!

Another busy weekend preparing for little Zach's arrival. A couple of shout outs to mom and dad and Becky for their help this weekend! Dad helped up clear out the nursery of the old bedroom furniture and load up the storage room, pick up the crib, return a bunch of lumber from the door installation (we got $125 back!!), and today hang blinds with Matt! Mom was my partner for the crib set-up, we work well together and got it done without any major hiccups! And Becky met me today to register. Wow, what a great help! There is so much to chose from, it's overwhelming so it was wonderful to have an experienced mommy with me guiding me on the way!

So, what I KNOW you all have been waiting for...pics of the room! I'll do a before too. Things are moving along now. Walking up the stairs and seeing the crib in that room, it makes my heart swell with joy! I just cannot wait until our little man is in there waiting for us to hold him!

BEFORE






That's my Grammy in the background, she was supervising and doesn't remember cribs being this elaborate in her day! ;-)


All together, we did it!! (Pardon my appearence, long day!)


With bedding!






So there it is! What do you think? Overrall I love it! Mom and I are unsure of the gingham sheet and dust ruffle. Is it too ginghamy?? Perhaps a solid sheet or a different color or pattern would break it up some.



One side note, in the before pic you will see Max cat walking out of the room. He is totally unsure of all this as that was basically his room before (best hiding spots, littler box, and food in there). Now his stuff will be in the other room. Poor guy, I think he feels very displaced right now!!

The Fetus Whisper's reign continues!

Yes folks, that's correct, she is 7 for 7! :-)



Congrats to Mike, Roxy, and Alex on adding a LITTLE GIRL to the clan!

How does she do it, no one knows? I think we need to try her out on strangers and get her on Oprah or something! Who needs the genetic blood test when we have Rox! Next test case will be the Ginster. A few more weeks and we will know. The fetus whisper says another girl. I have to agree on this one too. Then we will be 4 boys and 4 girls! One for each! I can't wait for the next big reveal!!

It's IN!

The crib is in! OK, so I know I should wait until it all comes in to have it delivered now to save on delivery and set up costs, but in Veruca Salt fashion, "I WANT IT NOW!" Now to convince the husband of this.........

1) It will get the furniture cleared out of the nursery and moving now wont be too unpleasant as it is not hot or cold.
2) The crib will make the room appear to be larger (good selling point)
3) I am pregnant and I want it. If momma ain't happy, ain't NO body happy!

So I called Linda at Baby's 1st. We shall find out how much this costs. I am off 1/2 day Monday for plumber to come anyway...........so I think they should come then too! :-)

Ridiculous.........

I wish I was technically savvy enough to figure out how to put a calendar on here. I about cried last night realizing we could BARELY fit a childbirth class into our schedules! That is insane....and I am not quite sure how it happened either? I am going to attempt to write it all down just to see what it looks like!

First off...standing plans. Mondays nights for I think 4 more weeks....we have Bible Study. Every 3rd Thursday, Book Club. Every 3rd Sunday-Greeters at church Then here we go, starting on Sunday!
10/28-Avenue Q
10/30- Dr Apt (big glucose test)
11/1- Rachel's anniversary (spending time with PS & Claude and friends) :-(
11/2-11/4- Fredricksberg with Mom
11/6-Dinner with Duke gals
11/7- Going to Lake Charles for work
11/8- Nutcracker Market
11/9-11/11- Abilene *that Sun is PEO Auction but I don't think I will be back...
11/13-11/15- Birmingham for work
11/15-Book Club
11/17- 9am-Hair; 2:30-RENT, 7pm-Tgiving
11/18- Greeting at church
11/20- Children's ART Project
11/22-11/24- Thanksgiving *In Austin Thurs-Fri, maybe Dallas end of w/e?
12/1- MY SHOWER! :-)
12/7- Wedding in Corpus
12/8- BG Christmas Party
12/15- childbirth class (the only one we can make!!) :-( Followed by a wedding the same night!
12/16- Greeting
12/20- Book Club
12/25- Christmas
12/31- NYE
By the end of the year, I will be 35 weeks. And ready for Zach to make his BIG ARRIVAL! But between all this other stuff, I sure hope I have time to prepare!!! Not to mention hopefully having the house on the market in the next week too. My oh my, this is going to be a busy end of the year!!!

24 weeks and a busy weekend!

Whew, I think we just finally sat down about 30 minutes ago. We have been go, go, go!! We are trying our best to get this house in shape to put on the market!!

So Saturday morning the repair guy flaked. We were supposed to meet him Friday night for a quote, he cancelled only after Matt called him to confirm the time. Then he was supposed to come Saturday morning. Matt went to go meet him, he never showed, so he called and the guy cancelled again. ARGH. Sooo...Matthew and I decided to give things a go on our own.

I know it may not be a big deal to most of you, but we replaced a faucet. Now, as you all know, Matt and I are NOT handy. We hire painters, plumbers, etc. But, with the dude flaking on us, we decided to try! Well, the main thing we learned is, we can do it! Takes awhile but it can be done. The other thing we learned is, this house is old! Replacing a faucet in a newer house would be easier because the parts are all the same. But with this house, all the parts are old and its like a puzzle making old and new meet! But I am proud of Matt, he did it! He had issues along the way but figured it out and we now have one new bathroom faucet! One down, two to go! Now that he has done one though, we think the next two will be easier!

Here is a pic of the old one (this is Matt's bathroom but looked the same)


And here is the NEW one! How shiny and pretty!


While all this was going, I went on a cleaning RAMPAGE! Zach's room is now cleared out and ready for nursery furniture! We will leave the regular furniture in there until his stuff comes in but closet and dresser are now all cleared out! WOOHOO! I have also gotten rid of mounds of clothes. It is ridiculous. I had so much stuff, some of which hasn't been worn in years, all in varying sizes of course. Insane. Needs to be bagged up. Also got rid of shoes. And you know how I love my shoes. But it was time. My feet probably won't fit into some of them anyway so it was time to let go of those I wasn't totally in love with.

I also shredded about 3 bags worth of old bills, pay stubs, etc. It was liberating!

But one question for you faithful readers out there. CD jewel cases! In the world of MP3 players, what do you do with the dang jewel cases? Do you keep them? Throw them away? Put them in storage? We seriously probably have like 1000 empty CD cases. I say throw, Matt says store. Any input from you readers out there??

Oh, and we ordered faux blinds. Any tips for hanging? We didn't quite get to that yet....Is this something that we can do on our own??

And last but not least, what does a 24 week pregnant lady look like you ask? Well, took a couple shots before church this morning and here is the answer!

Scrapbooking

So I decided I needed to scrapbook this pregnancy. Jenny's was so cute that I decided I wanted one too! I bought a book, bought some stickers and such, and printed some pictures. But did I start anything tonight? NO! I need to order more pics and scan all our ultrasound pictures so they don't ruin. I have gotten some good ideas online though. I just want all my materials first! The goal is to have it up to date for my shower, so I have about 6 weeks to get it done! Ill keep you posted on my progress. Any pages ideas? Send them this way!

I found this poem online today.......had to share.

Breath of My Breath

Breath of my breath and heart of my heart

Here, inside me you grow;

For each little movement and every one kick

I love you much more than you know.

How could a mother explain it

Or even herself understand,

That God has given a treasure of life

To hold in her very own hand.

More lovely than the sunset,

This is the thought of you;

More peaceful than the lonely brook

Beneath a sky so blue.

The mountains haven't your greatness

And the stars hold not your shine,

The greatest miracle God ever created

Will soon enough be mine....

Mommy and Daddy love you Zach and we can't wait to meet you! Only 16 more weeks till we see your sweet face!

Tap Dancin Fool!

I have been meaning to post this for about 2-3 weeks now but kept forgetting! We officially have left the "butterflies" stage to the "quick kick to the gut" stage! Our little man is a mover and a shaker! Usually in the mornings and evenings, but throughout the day too...he is in there kicking around! Haven't gotten the timing down yet for Matt to get a good feel, but we are working on it. He thinks he felt one the other night but I giggled too so we aren't sure which he felt. I have to say, it is the most amazing feeling ever.

After a long year + to get here (which I still feel insensitive saying since most people try for a year before they even go to the RE, but since we started right off the bat doing fertility treatments, to me it seems much longer!!) , I still feel blessed and thank God every morning for this baby growing in me. I am one of "those women" that LOVES being pregnant! I feel GREAT. I feel like I look great! Hair, nails, and skin are great...and people at work say I am "glowing". Ill take it! Not to mention the belly. I could stare at it all day long. It fascinates me. The shape, the way it grows, the way it feels, it's just wonderful. I rub my belly and talk to my little boy, sing to him, pray for him, and dream about him... I wonder what he will look like, more like mommy or daddy? Will he have my boisterous laugh (which I get from my dad) or Matt's silly girlie laugh (which I think he gets from his mom!) Will he get Matt's round eyes and my round nose? Who knows or cares, I just cant wait to meet him and hold him and love him!! What will he grow up to be like? Will he play sports? Will his future wife like me? All things I think about every day...Have I said I love being pregnant? ;-)

Anyway, I just got another kick in the belly, must be time to make dinner! Little man is hungry, and big man will be too when he gets home!

nursery pics!

UPDATE: THE CHAIR COMES IN TWO PIECES! So, we can assemble upstairs in the nursery and then unassemble when we move! WOOHOO! Nursery is done, AGAIN!

Here are pics of the pieces we have bought for the nursery and also of the bedding. The furniture will be all white and the chair (whatever chair it ends up being) will be this green fabric. That's my sham in it to see what it looks like. Doesn't it look COMFY??? It reclines, swivels, glides, and rocks. We are curious as its over sized if perhaps it comes in two pieces?? Otherwise, how would it even fit through the door? But I digress...here are the pics!!

The bedding...a close up view


Nursery view- So far I have the quilt, bumpers, sham, valance, mobile (thanks Kari!), and rug (thanks mom!)


Crib- It is the Pali "Mia"


Dresser/Hutch- We ended up with this as Matt and I loved the shelves to decorate and store things on. Mom has my old chest of drawers so if we need more storage, we will get that!


Chair..........doesn't it look comfy? Matt was practicing laying in it while holding the imaginary baby. We also got the gliding ottoman. Fabulous.


So that's it for now. Once we have the chair sorted out, just need to register and that will be it for a bit. Oh and the childbirth classes. And getting the house on the market. And all the other activities we have like every weekend through the end of the year. Not being sarcastic either. We have something every weekend through the end of the year. Oh my!

Hope you all like the pics! I can't wait to have everything here and in person and put together!

Stupid Stairway Strikes Again!!!!!!!!!!

So, we come home all excited about purchasing our new furniture for the nursery and pull out the measurements to confirm everything would fit. Crib-check! (its comes unassembled) Dresser-check! Hutch-check! Big comfy swivel rocker glider chair mommy was in love with---NOT CHECK! All 3 dimensions are bigger than the width of the staircase. So I cried. Stupid house. This is not the first time this has happened (aka- The master bedroom headboard fiasco which one day we will get to put to use once we move). I called Linda, our wonderful sale person and friend of the family, to put a halt on the cool big comfy swivel rocker glider chair mommy was in love with. Looking on the Best Chair website at other upholstered recliners, I don't think any would fit? Matt measured the door frames upstairs and now we aren't sure even if we got it up, that it would fit through anyway?!?!? So, back to the drawing board. I guess I shall return to Baby's 1st and find another chair. Just out of curiosity, if any of you are bored, measure your door frame. Ours is 31" and the smallest dimension of the chair is 36". Would it even fit if in another house????

And the Aggies lost. No surprise, but that makes for a grumpy daddy. And a grumpy daddy with a sad pregnant mommy isn't always fun ;-) But on a happy note, I love our crib (Thanks Mom and Dad!!) and our hutch combo and am excited for when those come in. I took pics so I will post when I get them off the camera. I thought the nursery was in part done, but looks like we aren't quite done yet!

Goin to the Chapel!

Congrats to Katie and Aaron who tied the knot this Saturday. We were excited to share in the wedding and we had a great time! Unfortunately I managed to get no pics of them together, I will have to steal some from the official photographer when they are in!

The Race on Saturday was also great! The highlight for me, BY FAR, was seeing Sherrie cross the Survivor's Finish line!! I am so proud of her and it was a great moment! Looking forward to seeing her pics since I forgot my camera! We had fun walking...only bad thing was AFTER the race. We had parked in a parking garage downtown and it took us an HOUR to get out!!! RIDICULOUS! And the worst part was that cut into our brunch time since Allison and I both were on a time crunch already. But we enjoyed brunch while we could and it was great to see everyone and all the babies! Thanks for hosting again, Jen!

And today, had breakfast with the in-laws and then mom and I went SHOPPING! She bought Zach some cute outfits and then some cute maternity outfits for me! :) Thanks Mom!!!

All in all a great weekend, although very busy. Looking forward to some down time in October until the madness begins in November!!

Here are a few pics from the wedding!

Race for the Cure!

Tomorrow morning is the Houston Komen Race for the Cure! I am excited to report that my team, The Spring Chickens has raised $3540 so far! The donation deadline is October 31st, so just in case you are reading this and are interested in contributing, please visit my site to donate! Last year was our first year to walk together and it was such a great experience we are doing it again. It is amazing to see so many women walking together for one cause and brings so much hope for the future. We will find a cure for breast cancer! I willupdate you tomorrow on how we all do!!

Zachary.........

Zachary= "Remembered by God". I think that's pretty cool. I have had such a hard time making a name final but I think I am getting close. I was reviewing my choices tonight, and I just love that meaning. Especially because I felt so "forgotten" there for a bit! Lots of heartache was going on at one time. I remember after the second cycle of shots was cancelled, thinking, "UGH, WHAT NOW? WHY?" And then I pulled out the good book......and read 3 of my fav passages that I turned to during this time: Hannah's Prayer, Psalm 139:13-16, and Jeremiah 1:5. And that's when I realized with my whole heart, there is timing in this craziness. And now, here I sit, 21 weeks and 6 days into this pregnancy, and feeling my little man tap dancing away in my belly! Truly amazing!!

So anyway....got a little off track there. I seem to do that these days! So....what do you think, Zachary Matthew Wittliff?!?! Should that be the winner?

Psalm 139: 13-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Jer 1:5 I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.

Pictures!!

I had my OB appointment and was sad to learn....no more ultrasounds. WAH! I am now "normal" so no medical need for them at this point. So yay, I am normal and boo, no more pics of our little man until we meet him face to face!!!!! My belly is measuring a week ahead (23 weeks) which I guess makes sense since Zach is measuring in the 75-80th percentile. Dr. said if he continued at this rate, he would be about an 8-9lb baby. Our big boy! I gained another 4lbs but still only 8lbs total now. Need to chill out and aim for a 1/2lb a week instead of 1lb!!

Next appointment is October 30th where I will have my glucose test. Gotta watch my sugars for the next month so I pass the test! I am at a slightly higher risk since I have PCOS, making me somewhat insulin resistant to begin with. Plus dad has diabetes too. Unfortunately, I love sweets right now. Going to try to find some sugar free alternatives!

So to share...here are some pics from our appointment last Friday, the 28th! Isn't he cute??



Long Legs!!


And profile with his hand by nose!