Into the teens.....and some pics!

18 days it says.....that's not too far away! We will have a son by the next holiday! Our little Valentine! :-)

Let's see...my office had a shower for me on Friday. Everyone was so very generous and I am very thankful! Got several gifts as well as a group gift certificate that I was able to use for my pump, monitors, and some other goodies. Here are a couple of pics! Matthew came up too which was sweet!

Sunday was our last time to greet for awhile. We have fulfilled our one year obligation and in just the right time. I love greeting though so hopefully after we get the little guy's schedule figured out, we will be back! I have told Matt how often people talk to me now about being pregnant now that I am so far along. He got to witness it first hand while greeting. Pretty funny. Lots of belly touching and advice and comments, etc. Here is a pic or two from Sunday! Yes, I am getting BIG!

What else.....what else.....got to see the Ginster Saturday night at Rob & Lisa's house. Matt played guitar hero for the first time. We may have to invest in one in order to be competitive. ITS HARD!

Today we went house hunting. It was fun! We found one we loved, but alas, want this guy sold first. So we shall see...

Not much else going on. Just a few pics now for the fun of it!

Christmas!

And last but not least....here are Zach's letters for his room!

Guess that's it for now. Next appointment is Wednesday @ 10:45am. Ill let you know how it goes! :-)

Homestretch.......3 weeks and counting???

Well folks, we are in the home stretch, the final countdown, the end is near!!! I will be 37 weeks on Friday and had my first weekly appointment today. Did a quick ultrasound to check my amniotic fluid levels and all is well there. I will continue to drink my water though just to be safe. But the good news is, I am actually progressing! I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. It doesn't necessarily mean anything as some women stay this way for weeks...but it does mean that SOMETHING is happening! Zach is head down and in position too, so we shall see what the next couple of weeks may bring. I am so pumped to meet this little guy!

With that said....I would like the rest of my furniture here and to see Jersey Boys on the 27th! After that, I am READY to GO! :) I will go to appointments weekly now, so hoping that next week brings even more progress. I will keep you posted!

Other than that, we are doing good. I have a hair appointment tomorrow (THANK GOD, we cannot bring a child into this world with roots like these! heehee!) and hope to get some new pics up soon too! Things are coming along, we are just anxiously waiting now!

Growth Scan...no giant baby here!

Ultrasound went fine today. Zach is measuring right at 36 weeks and about 5.5lbs....so even worse case scenario that he gained a lb a week , he would be just over 9lbs. Ultrasound tech thinks 7-8.5 more likely. My amniotic fluid was a little on the low side so she said i need to be drinking more water. Anyone had that before?

I have my weekly check up on Wednesday with the actual doctor so we will go over everything then. I'm curious to see if I have progressed at all! My mom came with Matt and I today which was neat. She enjoyed seeing everything and going by the hospital so she and my dad know where to go! During the ultrasound we got a nice view of Zach's face too and I think he is awfully handsome! I am ready to meet him face to face for real!

Progress!

Well, we are getting somewhere! With closing in on 30 days to go and lots of strangers stories about going into labor at 36 weeks...we decided it was time to get ready! So from the list from a week or so ago, lets see how things look!

1. Buy Car- check! See post on saying goodbye to Blue Bessie and hello to the silver streak!
2. Pack hospital bag- check! Got the basics in...jammies, undies, nursing bras, baby book, etc...anything else i need to take?
3. Furniture- UGH, still waiting. should be in around the 20th :-(
4. Wash clothes- Doing that tonight! Washing all the 0-3 months in Dreft, smells so good!
5. Finalize daycare- NEED TO DO THIS!
6. Drive alternate routes to hospital- Amy sent me a cool website, so we can look there. I think we will be okay though if not.
7. Find pet care for Esther and Max while we are in the hospital-need to do this!
8. Pediatrician- Yep, still waiting on this one too!

Well, 4 out of 8 aint too bad, right????

35 weeks....35 Days to Go!

Dear Zachary,
This is your mommy here...I cannot believe it is almost time to meet you! Your birthday could be any time over the next 5 weeks and it still seems so unbelievable to me. Even with my ever growing belly and your continuous movements, I still wonder how and why your Daddy and I became so blessed to have you come into our lives? YOU ARE OUR MIRACLE. Every morning on my walks with your fur-sister Esther, I say thank you to Him for allowing me to wake up another day with you growing in my belly. Funny to think I have been praying that same prayer for about 8 months now....especially after praying for 12+ months for your creation! I pray for your continuous health over these next few weeks and a safe delivery into this world. I give THANKS for your creation! It wasn't due to my own doing or even your daddy's or even a doctor. The credit is due only to Him! Don't ever forget that, Zach. All the months your dad and I prayed for you....God already knew when it would be your time and you are wonderfully and mercifully made through Him. He has great things in store for you and I cannot wait to see what all that may be!! I pray that you come to know and love Him as your Dad and I do too and we will do our best to raise you to remember that He ALWAYS loves you!

We LOVE you so much Zach! We cannot wait to meet you and see what you look like and pinch your cheeks and tickle your toes! We will stare in awe and wonder at you on the day you are born...and probably for many years to come after that.

We will promise to rock you and soothe you and feed you and care for you, no matter how tired or cranky we may be. Even if we are those things, it doesn't mean we don't love you. We will always love you and our love for you will grow every day as you grow!!

We will watch you grow and take note of ALL you do and how you change and grow....marking down every milestone along the way so not to forget a thing. We will wonder where the time has gone as you grow and change so fast. Everyone says how you will change before our eyes and we will do our best to remember it all!

We hope to give you a brother or a sister or two so that you can have a bond with a sibling that we both enjoyed. We will go on family vacations to Disney World and the Grand Canyon and Boston and California and where else we can think of, as long as we are all together!

We will read to you and hope you learn to love it as dad and I do. He will teach you math and I will help with English. And of course, Dad will teach you ALL you EVER WANTED to know and MORE about SPORTS!!! You and he will have a great time together watching football and basketball and baseball, etc!!

We promise to support you and defend you as you grow and figure out who YOU want to be...and to love you NO MATTER what. Like I said, we will ALWAYS love you.

We pray for the man that you will grow into, for the husband we hope you will be, and for the father we know you will become. One lucky girl will get to know all of those pieces of you!

We promise you all of this Zachary. And all we ask is that you come safely into this world and let us spoil you rotten and love you forever. Thank you for filling a place in our hearts that we never truly knew was empty. Thank you for making us a family. Thank you for making me a mommy. Thank you for making our dreams come true!

So hang in there for a little bit longer, Zachary...I will be holding you in my arms soon enough.

I love you always and forever little one. See you soon!
Love Always,
Mommy

Farewell to Bessie.......

After 9good years of friendship....last night we said good-bye to my dear friend.....Blue Bessie. Bessie is my 1999 Ford Explorer Sport. After the flash flood in Dallas in 1998 that totalled my green Sunfire, Blue Bessie became my girl. Mom and Dad helped finance her since I was still in college at the time. One of favorite stories is about picking her out. I opted for the tape player over the CD player back in the day because I thought CDs were a passing craze and I preferred the company of my mixed tapes! HAHAHA! Bessie has been a part of many memories, often involving road trips.....Dallas, Austin, Nacogdoches, San Antonio, New Orleans just to name a few. Having had her since I was 20 years old, she has definitely played a major role in this phase of my life. She has been a good car to me with relatively few major issues and I think any and all cosmetic issues were due to my own devices in some way or another. I made sure to take her to the car wash yesterday before I dropped her off so she would be feeling spiffy. And I wont lie, as we drove off last night leaving her in the lot...I cried. Its silly, I do know this, but it was kinda like driving away from a part of my life! Actually 10 years is a 3rd of my life! So see...it IS a big deal! ;-)

The first pic is of me and Bessie leaving the house to head to the dealership. The second one is of our last moment before leaving her.

But...with the saying Good-bye to Blue Bessie....we said Hello to THE SILVER STREAK! The new Wittliff mobile, baby friendly and all with 4 doors (bessie only had 2 doors) and a third row of seats! She is a 2008 GMC Acadia and we are glad to welcome her home. I picked her up today after work, it was weird driving home, like I was in someone else's car! I don't have a pic yet, but will get one soon. Its a sweet car, and Matt and I are both excited about all the new memories we will make in SS with Zach in tow as well! Welcome to the family Silver Streak and we look forward to having you!

Jammin in the new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! I am so excited to be starting 2008...why you may ask?? Because this is the year that I get to hold my baby boy! We have waited a long time for this moment! 2007 was a definitely a blessing with his conception and carrying him these last 8 months, but now, we are ready to meet him! :)

We had a great time "jammin" in the new year at the Labbe's house last night. Everyone wore their jammies, parents and kids alike! It was great to be comfy for once, especially this year for me! We did make your own pizzas and had lots of other yummy snacks and treats. Mike and Jason even bought some fancy fireworks to dazzle us with. It was a nice display. Oh yes, and we played Dance, Dance Revolution...those are me in action in the last 2 pics. And....we all actually made it to midnight! When the clock struck midnight, and I shared a kiss with my hubby...I think I caught a twinkle in his eye as he said "this was our last NYE together alone...and I couldn't be more excited for what's to come". Me too, Matthew! It was a great way to ring in the new year surrounded by the friends I love and who love us. We were missing some this year but they were definitely with us in spirit!

2007 was still a year of ups and downs as I think life just is at this age...but ultimately, it was a wonderful year personally for Matt and I. We are blessed with great friends and family, successful jobs, some fun trips, blessed events of weddings and babies to share in with our friends, and of course, our little miracle Zachary. We are so thankful for the prayers of those who love us and know that we are grateful to have you in our lives.

So thank you for helping make our 2007 a good year...and to 2008....we are so excited to see what else you have in store for us all!

Here are some pics of the night too!

Into the Homestretch.....

WOW, the ticker says 42 days! HOLY MOLY, our little man will be here soon! This post isn't as much for my faithful readers out there (LOL), but more as a reminder for this pregnant brain of the things we need to do!!

1. Buy car...I think we will do this at the very latest by Dec 31st! Then I can get the car seat in there and out of the house! :)
2. Pack hospital bag..ok, weird to even be THINKING about...
3. Furniture- need to check on when it will be in. Soon I hope, I am ready to nest and organize!
4. Wash clothes...little man doesn't want any irritants on his skin!
5. Finalize daycare
6. Drive alternate routes to hospital
7. Find pet care for Esther and Max while we are in the hospital!
8. Pediatrician...

I think those are the big ones. Can anyone else think of things I need to be doing or should have already done? AI YI YI!!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

And all through the house....well, that's about as far as we get into that story! My house has sounds of animal claws clickickty clackety across the wood floors and Christmas music playing! Getting ready to head out to the grocery store for some last minute food for tonight and tomorrow. This evening it will just be Matt and I and my parents, tomorrow we think Matt's dad and step mom should be coming too so that will be super nice! All the shopping is done....all the presents are wrapped......all we need is Santa's to fill the stockings tonight!

I must admit we have done a lot of day dreaming these last few days...
(looking at the stockings hung)
Matt: next year we will need a new one to hang for Zach!
Me: I cant wait...we are getting all new ones with our names on them!
(shopping with mom and seeing Santa)
Mom: Next year we will be standing in line for Zach to meet Santa!
Me: But not on Dec 23rd! :)
(discussing Christmas plans)
Me: next year we will be in a new home with our newest addition! I can't wait to have our first FAMILY Christmas at home!
(looking at the presents under the tree)
Matt: that's a lot of stuff
Me: Just wait until NEXT year!!!!

There is so much to look forward to with the thoughts of having a child around for Christmas next year. Children see Christmas through a different set of eyes and I cannot wait to share in that magic and wonderment!

So from our house to yours...We send you much love to all and wish you a very merry Christmas as we anxiously prepare for the blessing of our own child and the celebrate the birth of baby Jesus tomorrow. What a wonderful time of year! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I need a detachable arm, counting sheep and the power of TUMS!

OK...I have avoided the pregnancy complaining as long as I could....but I AM officially TIRED! This sleeping thing just ain't working these days. For starters....I have developed INSOMNIA!!!!!!!! It's weird. Before, I would be ready for bed sometime between 10-11pm. Now, I am lucky if I sleepy by 1am. Well I take that back. I am lucky if I can fall ASLEEP by 1am! UGH. And counting sheep will not cut it. Doctor said I can take Tylenol PM but I have not tried it yet. I think I am getting to the point where I may have to bite the bullet and give it a go.

The other issue is this whole "side sleeping" thing. Sleeping on your left side is the preferred position for pregnant women as you have the most blood flow, etc. Well, I sleep on my tummy which OBVIOUSLY is not possible now. And the back is a NO-NO too. So..side it is. My issue is, WHAT DO you do with your arm that's on the bottom? Under the pillow, over the pillow, along your side? I try under the pillow but now my wrist has carpal tunnel I think from this! WAH! It hurts! I am just so not comfy that I am waking up every couple hours either do to ...INSOMNIA, SIDE SLEEPING issues...or....

REFLUX!!!!!!!!! That's the topper. So on top of can't sleep and can't get comfortable, I have acid creeping up my throat at night. Sometimes SO bad it actually wakes me up with the burning. TUMS are my new best friend.

So anyway, that's it in a nutshell. Its extremely frustrating because I do feel so good during the daytime...and it all goes down the tubes at night. Oh tummy sleeping...how I miss you!!

I have my 32 week appointment tomorrow. I will check in and let you know how it goes! Maybe she will have some new remedy for me that doesn't involve a pill!