We Have Registered

Aaron and I (with A TON of help from my sister and my mom) have completed our baby registries. Check them out at babiesrus.com and buybuybaby.com.

Energizer Bunny...She keeps on going and going...

That's what I have felt like the past two weeks. I can't stop....not even at 12:00 at night on a school night. I have had so much energy, that I don't know what to do with myself. Before pregnancy, I didn't last after 9:30 at night, at the latest. During the first four months of pregnancy, I didn't last past 6:30, at the latest. Now I don't get tired or get in the bed until 11:30, at the earliest. It all catches up with me on Fridays though, when I can hardly get through the day at school. But then the energy starts up again on Saturday. I have had a very hard time staying asleep at night as well. I have always been a stomach sleeper, which is no longer an option. I'm having a very hard time adjusting to being a side or back sleeper. Just not really happening...I am hoping I can find a strategy that works. Wish me (and Aaron) luck!

As energetic as mommy has been, so has baby! He's a mover and a shaker... Any time I choose to sit down, Lil Chapps is rolling, punching, and kicking. His most energetic period is at night when I am flat on my back before bed. Aaron gets to feel him move every night before bed and every morning when I wake up. I'm glad our little man is having fun in there. I am glad he is already playful :)


Today Aaron and I went to pick up the nursery furniture. We are hoping to set it up in mid-March. My brother in law, Alan, is coming at the beginning of March to add chair railing in the nursery to divide the room up (we are painting the top green and the bottom white). Then my dad is coming the next weekend to paint the nursery for us. It is very special to me that my dad is going to get to do this for his grandson. At some point in March as well, we are going to add some new shelving to the nursery closet to provide some more storage options for the room. See the picture below to get an idea of what we are going for in the nursery. By the way, if you haven't seen our furniture yet, that is our furniture in the picture. We are not getting the chest, just the crib and dresser.


So to sum up the past two weeks...they have been wonderful! Productive, energetic, fun, exciting, and fast! I am excited about what's in store over the next few weeks as the nursery starts to come together...


I will leave you with a picture of me and Lil Chapps at 20 weeks. You can compare it to the picture at 15 weeks and see the growth. He's a growing man.


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A Daddy Posting...

Last night I felt my baby boy move for the first time. Now...Lauren normally does all the writing for this blog, but I felt compelled to post this morning. Lauren's been feeling Lil' Chapps move for the past few days, and I've been putting my hand on her belly trying to feel him move too. And last night...I finally felt something. We laid there for probably 30 minutes feeling our little guy kick and punch and roll around in her belly. It was absolutely amazing. It was quite honestly one of the most "real" moments that I've ever experienced in life. I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of duty, responsibility and purpose. With thoughts and emotions running wild, I kept coming back to the notion that everything I've experienced so far in life has all pointed to this one new purpose...to care for, and mold our son into a man that will be a blessing to others.

I know that's kind of deep...and I'm sure I'll write about lighter topics like changing poopy diapers, etc., but that was just my overall mood last night. It was really a powerful and life-changing moment for me.

...love you Lil' Chapps. Can't wait to meet you buddy!

-Aaron

Valentine's Day

Aaron and I decided to get away for Valentine's Day this past weekend. We are vowing to ourselves that even after Lil Chapps is born, we are determined to still "get away" and take some time for ourselves. We know just how important it will be for our family...a time to refresh and relax. This past week was absolutely WONDERFUL! We had no set plans, no agenda, no pressure to get anything done. This was the complete opposite of our daily grind, where we have lists of things we have to do every day/night of the week. Friday night we drove down to Myrtle Beach in the snow. We watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and made a late dinner at the condo. Saturday we slept in until 10:00 (unheard of for us!!) We went to the outlet malls and did some shopping for Lil Chapps. We got awesome deals at The Children's Place. All of their winter clothing was $2.99 or less. We were able to pick up 21 items (pants, shirts, hats, PJs, coats, etc.) for $42. (For those of you who are reading this and might possibly pick up baby clothes...we are good to go on 6-9 month clothing after this shopping spree!! :) ) Aaron and I had the best time outfitting our little man. It warmed my heart to see Aaron get so excited over the things we were picking out. He even talked about when and where our son would wear the different outfits. Aaron's favorite was a red, black, and gray sweater vest that he is going to put Lil Chapps in at his first NC State basketball game! We spent the afternoon watching the State/Carolina basketball game and relaxing at home. We celebrated with our Valentine's Day Dinner (a night early) at Ruth's Chris. We both had the most amazing steak we've ever had! Sunday brought another day of sleeping in. We lounged around Sunday morning and then headed out to see a movie. We did a little shopping, ate a little dinner, and saw our second movie of the day, Dear John, on Sunday night. We were able to stay until today (since Aaron had off and I was able to take the day off). We had a wonderful ride home together, filled with lots of conversation and laughs.

I thought a lot this weekend about our relationship as a couple and how far we have come in three and a half years of marriage. I am so thankful for the man I married and the way he lifts me up every day and encourages me to be the best person that I can be. He goes out of his way to take care of me and to let me know that I never have anything to worry about. This past weekend, we had more laughs than I can begin to count. I will never take for granted his ability to keep me laughing and keep me on my toes. I am so thankful for our ability to keep life light and happy. We had a lot of time to talk about our life together, our hopes and dreams for our family, our excitement and fears that come along with being parents, and the things that we are most thankful for. I feel so blessed to have such an open line of communication in our marriage, something I was not always good at but Aaron has encouraged me since day one of our relationship. This past weekend put a lot of things into perspective for me and allowed me to step back and thank God for all of the blessings in my life. I can't wait to have these same conversations with Aaron in 60 years as we are sitting in rocking chairs on our front porch drinking sweet tea and thinking about our lives together. :)

I love you baby and thank you for the man you are and the woman you allow and encourage me to be...I thank God every day for you and our marriage.

17, 18, 19 weeks....take your pick!

Well...today was a good day! Snow is finally melting, we have had three "snow" days in the county and I haven't had to work, it's my sister's birthday, and we got to see our SON for the last time before he is born. Yes, that's right, today we confirmed that we have external piping, a hot dog, turtle in a shell, male genitalia, whatever you want to call it. Here is a break down of what we found out from the ultrasound:

- His bladder was full, good sign that swallowing reflexes are working (although it's gross to think that right now he's actually drinking his own urine.)

- He was turned upside down and facing my spine. Halfway through, he turned sideways toward my right hip but still faced the back of me (we never got to see his face during this ultrasound. He was being shy. That's my little man. I was hoping to see those plump Chappell/Ames lips of his.)

- 4 clear chambers to his heart, all sized correctly

- 2 clear hemispheres to his head, clear bone structure in the middle, and hemispheres are evenly distributed

- Weight is 11 oz. currently (read between the lines.....big baby on the way!)

- has a large swimming pool to do the backstroke, sidestroke, go diving in... (aka amniotic sac and fluid are looking good!)

- placenta is attached to the back of the wall of my uterus (good positioning) and not covering my cervix or in the front of my uterus

- good blood flow in the cord

- wonderful, strong heartbeat

- He makes himself at home and chills.....Aaron will love this if it continues :) See "beach bum" picture below.

We are still a little unclear on the due date and exactly how far along we are. Let's break it down:

Ovulation Calculations: July 11 (making me 17 weeks and some change)

First Ultrasound: July 4 (18 weeks and 2 days)

Second Ultrasound: July 6 (18 weeks)

Today's Ultrasound: didn't give a due date but said by baby's calculations I was 19 weeks

So after talking with the doctor, she said that we can't go by size of the baby at the ultrasound because we might just have a larger baby. A nice way of saying, you have a hefty on your hands! She told us to stick with the original due date of....well we are still trying to figure that one out. So here goes people...I am predicting my due date to be July 4th (just because it's easy to remember and we can't get a clear date any other way).

I am going to register this weekend with my mommy and my sister. I am so excited to share this with them and to get the ball rolling on some baby things. Type A personality kicks in: I will be bringing along my legal pad of pages of notes on baby items that I have so rigorously slaved over for a month. Gotta be prepared for my little man...( I am really liking the way that is beginning to roll off of my tongue...)

Here are a few new pictures of Lil Chapps/My Little Man for you to enjoy:

View from his back. You can see his knee and leg curled up to his chest.

Still being shy and looking away. You can see his leg out in front of him.

He decided to peek at us in this picture, but only for a second. Notice his head turned and his right eye peeking. At this point, he was curled up with his knees bent to his chest.

My Favorite two pictures from today: Beach Bum Pictures. The pictures are from his toes to his neck. His legs are spread out, his arms go straight down the side of him and end at his knees, with his fists in a ball. Top picture shows his arms better (his fists are curled up) and the bottom picture shows his legs better. I have long legs like my mommy does. "I'm just chilling mommy and daddy...I'm growing like crazy and it makes me tired!"

Hip, leg, and toe bones on the left....Spine on the right.

First look at our son's outdoor plumbing...

WE CAN'T WAIT TO MEET YOU SON!!!

(WE THINK WE KNOW YOUR NAME ALREADY, BUT WE DON'T WANT TO CONFUSE YOU, SO GIVE YOUR MOMMY AND DADDY SOME TIME...)

Snowed In

Aaron and I have been snowed in for the past three days. We got about 5 inches of snow and 2-3 inches of ice. Saturday we decided to be lazy bums and lay around watching movies, making chili, drinking hot cocoa, napping, etc. We did venture out in the snow and ice with our pup for an afternoon snow stroll because cabin fever was setting in.

We decided to make Sunday a little bit more productive. We thought we should "make room for baby" and clear some things off of our "Baby Bucket List." We attacked our closets, literally! We cleaned out our coat closet and master closet. 4 hours and 8 garbage bags later, we finished! It was completely worth it and now we have organized closets, with room to spare. Today I was supposed to have my last ultrasound, but because of the snow, it was cancelled. I am hoping to go in on Wednesday for my ultrasound to determine if Lil Chapps is really a "HE." School was closed for me today, and tomorrow is looking like a delay (hopefully not closed again!!) I have been a busy lady today at home getting a feel of what "stay-at-home-momism" is like. I have cleaned the entire house, vacuumed, mopped, made phone calls, uploaded pictures to the computer, organized our new computer, sold things on Craigslist/Half.com, did laundry, etc. Not sure how exciting life is going to be at home in about 5 months haha. Not looking forward to that being my daily routine. But I am looking forward to having a little munchkin to snuggle with and love on all day....

Here's to motherhood and stay-at-home-momism...Cheers! (wish I could raise a big, tall, icy cold glass of beer right now....)