Hurry Up Baby Brooks!

Well, I am four days away from my due date which makes me 39 weeks and 2 days! I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to see if we have made any progress. As of last week I wasn't dilated but of course that could change any minute - let's hope so. I am ready for him to hurry up and get here. Everything is ready, including Alex and me.

I haven't really started to feel nervous or anxious, but I will say, that as a Type A personality, it is VERY hard to have no control over when I will head to the hospital and deliver. Yes, those who know me well know that I am a control freak and this has been the hardest part the last week or so. I guess I just have to suck it up and deal with it!

Hopefully my next entry will be after Brooks Alexander has entered the world!
XOXOXOXOXO
Love to all!

We Finished the Nursery!

Well, we finally finished the nursery! Everything is hung up and put away - now all we need is a baby. I just love the way it turned out. It is nice and cozy in there. Alex, me and the dogs spend time up there quite a bit just hanging out on the glider and laying on the shag rug. Nash has really taken to his new sleeping spot on the rug! I have a feeling he will be up there quite a bit!!!

I will be 38 weeks this week. I still feel really good. Brooks is still a busy boy. I really enjoy laying down and watching my belly do crazy rolls. It is an amazing feeling, and weird at the same time, to know that there is a living being inside of me getting ready to enter the world. It is truly amazing and I can't wait.

I definitely have more aches and pains now but I just tell myself that it is nothing like the aches and pains I felt after running a marathon (and what I am going to experience giving birth!!!)! I am, however, at the point where I am just ready to have the baby. I can't wait to be able to tie my shoes again normally (or to even FIT INTO my shoes)! I also forgot what thin ankles look like :o)

Life is good and I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks to see what kind of progress we make. Love to all!

35 Weeks!

I am 35 weeks along and still feeling great! I am popping out there but still fairly small for being so far along (but I am not complaining!). I definitely have cankles in the morning and later in the afternoon / night. It is very attractive. I also wake up with massive joint pain as my fingers look arthritic and curled under. It hurts but goes away within 30 minutes. No other complaints though! My mom and I still get up and walk about 5 1/2 miles 3 - 4 times a week. I will be visiting the doctor every week starting with my next appointment on September 10th. Wow, time is really flying by! Brooks is going to be here before we know it. I can't wait to meet him.

Baby Showers Completed

Well, we had our last baby shower this past weekend. Alex and I have amazing friends! Our friends threw us a total of four showers and definitely showered us with lots of fun times and needed baby gifts. I even had my entire family come in town for one of the showers and then some of them came back in town for another shower!!! It has been a fun journey and now we get to finish up Brooks' new room and prepare for his arrival.

I am 34 weeks and 3 days along today. We have another, and probably our last, sonogram coming up this Wednesday to look at Brooks' fetal growth. I look forward to seeing him again. He is still very busy in my belly which is a good sign. I am still feeling great with very little symptoms of pregnancy (besides a growing belly). My mom and I are still walking 5 1/2 miles three times a week and I get in an extra one to two walks with the dogs on the other days. Hopefully this will help my endurance during labor and delivery!

Alex is taking a guys trip to the cabin over Labor Day weekend. He is really looking forward to a fun getaway with his buddies and I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the pups by my parents pool! We need to enjoy our relaxing times and getaways now because we will be wishing for them when the baby comes :o)

That's it for now! Signing off...

Maternity Photo Session

I am 32 weeks! Not much longer to go! A friend of mine referred us to an amazing photographer here in Dallas, Hal Samples, to get maternity shots taken. He actually has little to no experience with maternity photography. He specializes in community awareness type photography and also dabbles in other things. He just did a photoshoot with the Polysphonic Spree for their new CD cover and a video! He is extremely creative, and takes more of an artistic approach to photography, which is why we decided to go with him.

Alex and I spent three hours at his studio in Downtown / Deep Ellum. He took over two hundred amazing photographs! We had so much fun and can't wait to go back with Brooks for his newborn pictures. Hal will be shooting Brooks' newborn, 3, 6, 9 and 12 month pictures as well. Check out his Web site at www.halsamples.com. You can see more of our pictures if you click on the store button and the maternity section.

Our Last Hoorah

I am just over 31 weeks now and feeling great! However, I am almost to the point where I cannot travel anymore so Alex and I took our 2nd (and last) babymoon vacation last week - this time was to Colorado (the first was Mexico). We spent a couple of days with his aunt and uncle at their place in Brush, about an hour east of Denver, his parents and our niece. We relaxed quite a bit, Alex played some golf, and we enjoyed spending quality time with family. We left Brush and headed for heaven - FINALLY, the mountains I have been craving for so long! A friend of mine was generous enough to let us stay in his condo for the week which sat at the bottom of the ski slopes in the quaint ski village of Keystone. The weather was amazing, especially coming from 100 degrees here in Dallas!!! The days were in the low 70's and nights in the upper 40's. We spent three days enjoying the sites and getting in plenty of hiking - 21 miles in 3 days - and the hiking trails were fantastic! The views were breathtaking, especially at 11,000+ ft! I was in my element and loving every minute of it. After our stay in Keystone, we drove to Boulder for our last day and night in Colorado. I haven't been back in 5 years and it has changed quite a bit. We met up with friends for lunch at my favorite pizza place, The Sink, and spent the day walking Pearl Street and playing at the creek. We attended the Marc Broussard & Toby Lightman concert at the Fox Theater on The Hill that night - it was incredible! Sadly, we had to get up and leave the next morning. It was hard as always to say goodbye. I look forward to another trip to the mountains, but next time we will have a baby boy to bring with us!

Preparing the Nursery

My dad, Alex and I spent the day putting up the chair rail and painting the nursery. The furniture is going to be delivered this week so it was time to quit procrastinating and get busy. The pups were so cute and cheered us on from the stairs. We painted the bottom of the room a slate blue to match the blue in the bedding. Thank goodness for the medical masks because I don't think Brooks would like the smell of paint. It was hard work but will look great when the nursery is complete!

Babymoon to Mexico

We just got back from our first of two babymoon trips before Brooks arrives. We took a vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and had a great time relaxing in the sun. The terrain in Puerta Vallarta is beautiful. Our hotel was awesome and sat right at the bottom of the mountains in a cove of the bay. The water isn't so clear - not like the Caribbean - but I don't spend much time in the ocean anyway. We spent most of our time lounging by the pool. Alex did find some time to get certified and spent a couple of days scuba diving. We took the bus into town one day and spent the day walking around downtown and shopping in the flea market. It was pretty darn hot and humid and of course no place has air conditioning! Not good for a prego woman!

I am 26 weeks and 2 days and feel really good. I pulled a muscle in my back, which gave me some major problems in Mexico, but other than that, things are great. Seeing me in a bathing suit was quite the sight I must say! Pregnancy has been good for me - just moving along! I have my first baby shower this weekend and my entire family is coming in town. It should be a blast!!!

24 Weeks Prego

I am 24 weeks pregnant and starting to show a bit. Everything is great and I am feeling AWESOME! No complaints. I just got back from a tradeshow in Chicago which required LOTS of walking. The tradeshow was good but being on my feet all day long was REALLY tough. I guess I should wear more comfortable shoes next time!

Alex and I leave for Mexico next week for our first babymoon trip. Gotta get some vacation and R&R before Brooks arrives!

IT'S A....

At 19 weeks along, we just found out that we are having a BOY! We had an ultrasound yesterday and had the doctor write down the sex on a piece of paper so we could open it on our anniversary. It was hard for me to wait an entire 24 hours but I made it! We went to dinner at Cafe Portabello, one of our favorite Italian restaurants, and opened the envelope afterwards. We were in shock and very excited! It made it that much more real knowing that we are having a baby boy...YIKES! We surprised our parents on Mother's Day with the sex of the baby. We gave the mom's picture frames that said, "Thank Heaven for Little Boys" and we put a note saying, "Picture of your grandson here" where the picture goes. The looks on their faces was priceless!!! Now for a name...