My New "Normal" !

This being a slow day at work and the first real opportunity I've had since Gus' birth, I thought I would update you guys on J, Gus, and I. This is also the first time I have blogged since becoming a mother (wow, it still is hard to grasp that I am a mother). No one can prepare you or explain to you what being a mother really means or feels like. All I can offer is that it is amazing and totally a gift from God. Children are a miracle from the moment of concepcion but His awesomeness is still visible now 10 weeks later. Can you believe that Gus is 10 weeks old already? He is such a great baby, who rarely fusses unless he is really tired and is finally starting to sleep for, what I call, all night. He weighs an impressive 12 pounds and is 23 inches long, which puts him in the 50th percentiles for his age! One smile is all it takes to melt our hearts and one frown, complete with a pooched out bottom lip, is all it takes to break it!! But those smiles, the ones that totally light up his whole face and makes his eyes shine, are something else. He even tries to snicker sometimes, not a full blown laugh yet, but we're getting closer! He has rolled over, from his back to his tummy, a total of 5 times now, but for some reason he only does it on my dad's chair at my mom and dad's house. Go figure! Speaking of my dad, you should see him with Gus! He is totally in love with my sweet baby. For those of you who don't know my dad, he can come across as being a hard man to those on the outside but he adores kids and always has and is going to be the best Papa. He has already stricken John and I from his will, as Gus will now get everything (can we say spoiled?). Daddy is just itching for him to grow big enough to ride alongside him in the tractor or to go fishing on the airboat and he is so ready for hunting season so Gus can ride with him in the hunting truck! My momma, who would like to be called Mae Mae, is in heaven any time I mention that I need a babysitter for a few hours. She seems upset when I make it back from my errand and she has to surrender her charge! On the other side of the family, Gus has Ma'am and Pap. We are so blessed that Ma'am has offered to keep Gus while I am back at work. From the first day I dropped him off, which was heart-wrenching but a lot easier to deal with knowing that he would be loved and cared for all day by Ma'am. Gus will have great memories of his time with J's parents just like J has with his grandparents. Gus even gets to see his Cousin Allie on Tuesdays and Fridays! It won't be long before those two are cooking up schemes and doing some big playing in the back yard. J., Gus and I had pictures taken a few weeks ago. They are the most recent ones I have with me so here you go:

Isn't he adorable? I hope to be able to keep you guys updated periodically, but no one told me that complete absentmindedness and inability to finish things is a result of motherhood! Therefore I make no promises about quanity or quality!!

Lastly, thank you for your prayers and thoughts during my labor and the weeks that followed. It was rough at times but totally worth every minute!!

Temporary Vacation

Obviously it has been a while since my last post! I have been busy getting ready for Gus' arrival and boy is time flying by so quick. I have less than 6 weeks left to go and that is hard to believe.

Our doctor's appointment yesterday went well and Gus is measuring exactly what he should be. We go back in two weeks for our next appointment and our childbirth classess are this weekend! It should be very entertaining for J. We also had our first baby shower last weekend at my church and Gus' room looks like a tornado went through it! I am trying to sort through all of his clothes and there is no way he is going to be able to wear them all!!!

I am actually going to take a break from blogging for a while. (It seems that I am not very good at keeping it up anyways!!) I will let Aunt Carrie keep you all updated as things progress and post pictures. Please keep us in your prayers as the day approaches. I surely will need it!!!

Mourning???

If fashion was my passion I would definitely make my fortune in maternity clothes. Those of you who have been pregnant before know that finding appropriate clothing is not only difficult it is almost impossible. I have had spring fever recently and long to wear colorful, cool clothes. Most of the hand-me-downs that I have been given were fall and winter fabrics and just make me feel blah. Therefore I set out Wednesday morning to find casual, work and church apparel, especially an Easter dress. Hah! I must be crazy. Motherhood, having the largest selection, had approximately three dresses that were not black! I guess we are supposed to be in mourning over the loss of our figure that we cannot wear anything but black. JCPenney's has three racks for maternity, none of which have any dresses.....three racks?! So today I plan to surf the web with the hope that I can find some thing. If you happen to see me and I look like I'm on my way to a funeral just know that I am trying!

On the upside, I was able to register this week! I couldn't believe how fast time is flying and I really needed to get it done because my church shower is coming up next month! Thankfully I was able to call on Carrie to be my expert shopper and she, Allie and I met at Target on Wednesday. Let me just start off by saying WOW! I can't believe how much stuff there is out there for babies. Without Carrie, and of course Allie, I would have been lost for sure. It was a lot of fun though and I am so excited! I can't wait to see what Gus' receives from our family and friends. Carrie and I decided that after all of our hard work we needed some reinforcement and MaCalister's was just down the street. On a side note we both learned that you cannont leave broccoli in your car over night and half of the next day!! I'm not sure how Carrie and Allie made it back home unless the windows were down the whole way. Anyways we split a delicious slice of cheesecake, right in front of Allie, bless her heart. I can't wait until she can nibble on goodies.

If any of you have suggestions for maternity clothing, by all means, please share! And if you have a favorite item you received as a gift that you think I should have I would love to here about it. Hope you all have a great weekend.

At Last!

Finally the nursery is begining to take shape, at least in my mind, but that is better than the complete mental block that I have had. I have found, ordered and received the baby bedding which I just love and can't wait to see in the crib. The crib and changing table have been ordered and are hopefully going to arrive within 4-6 weeks.


This is the set!!

We have big ideas for decorations and I am going to have to get with Ms. Cindy Jo and have her help with a valance for the windows. I am also picking up things as I find them, like a small canoe paddle from Wal-mart this week!

I have a doctors appointment today so keep me in your prayers, that my blood pressure will cooperate and be low.

Spoiled Already

This weekend, a group from our church went to Orlando to attend a concert and on our way we just had to stop in at the Bass Pro Shop! Knowing I didn't need anything for myself, some friends and I headed straight for the kids section. I fell in love with the little camo clothes so of course Gus had to have some. I am pretty excited that he will be around 6 months old during hunting season this year, he will be so cute dressed up to match his daddy!! I started picking out all of the things he will need and the girls that were with me all pitched right in too. So Gus, from his Grammy, received a camo hat, a camo jacket and a christmas outfit complete with corduroy pants and a sweater with moose; from his soon-to-be aunt Lynsey he received a camo onsie, (in which will look cute under the overalls J and I bought him!); from Kalyn Jerrels he received a camo pacifier, bottle and shoes; and from J. and I he received the overalls previously mentioned, a camo sock hat, and a cute outfit he could wear at Halloween!

Aren't they cute. I love the little deer outfit that we bought him. It is complete with antlers, a white tail and hooves, as you can see. It is super soft and I can't wait to take his picture in it.

I can tell that from here on out it won't matter about J. and I, Gus is definitely center stage and spoiled already.

On a side note, home ownership has turned out to be a barrell of fun thus far! And yes I am being sarcastic. From no phone service, no satellite, a leak in the foundation, hot water in a toilet, a burner on the stove and the light over the stove, and frozen pipes, we have had issue upon issue. Currently the satellite has been fixed and J has drilled into the blocks of our house (and my bathroom cabinet has a hole in it under the sink) and fixed the leak in the pipes. We discovered the a nail had been driven thru the pipe and it has had a steady leak since we moved in. So on his birthday, J had to fix that one. I have purchased him a huge steak and am preparing a no-bake cheesecake (his favorite, I made the mistake the last two years of making a real cheesecake only to find out he prefers the fake stuff! Go figure!) for supper tonight since it was too late last night and he was too frustrated. Thank goodness J. is a true handy man, because we would have paid a fortune by now to have things fixed!

On another side note, I have been looking at possible cribs and this one is my current favorite. It is shown in coffee but I want it in Cherry, since the floor in our house is Cherry. Let me know what you think!

Best Friends

Amy and I have often referred to our relationship as an arranged friendship. Our parents practically set us up from birth to be friends and lucky for me it stuck. Through thick and thin, we have been together and I consider her the sister I never had. (And John always thought of her as his second sister too!) How she has put up with me through the years I'll never know but I am so thankful that she did. When Amy and I found out that we were both trying to get pregnant it really wasn't a surprise to us. We have been around each other so much we are practically twins. I am so happy that I have been able to experience this stage of my life with Amy right along beside me. Today, I found out the best news of all; Gus is going to be able to have a friend like me, Amy and Brent are having a boy! Noah Brent Owens, as I believe they are planning to call him, had his picture taken this morning and much to his Mom and Dad's joy he is a healthy baby. I know that Ms. Kathy and Mr. Bill are super excited, Amy and I have already said that Mr. Bill will probably buy him his first set of craftsman tools any day now! Like Annie and Carrie and Allie and Belle, I am excited about our two boys growing up together and having each other to pal around with. God has truly blessed us and I am so ready to meet both of them!

Pictures from Appraisal

Deen Lancaster just forwarded me our appraisal and it had some pictures attached. This is last Thursday before we moved in but it gives you an idea. This is the front and back.

Here is a picture of our bathroom and the guest/Gus' bathroom.

I'll post more later of the furnished rooms!