Christmas!

We had an amazing Christmas! We cherish the time we were able to spend with family and the memories that were made this holiday season. We appreciate all of the gifts we received, from family and friends near and far. We wish we could have celebrated Christmas with everyone, but we just don't have the time available to do so. 

Joey was extremely blessed with gifts this year from family and friends! He has been nonstop playing with his new toys since he opened his Santa gifts on Christmas morning. He has especially enjoyed all of the time with family and attention he has received from everyone! He is such a little ham, he loves for all eyes (and cameras!) to be on him. 

Enjoy all the pictures! 

Our kitchen island was overloaded with Christmas cards, so I decided to make this card holder after seeing one on Pinterest. Super easy, just use wired ribbon and clothes pins! 

Joe helping me make the reindeer beer we gave to some of the men in our family! It was such a fun craft to do together, and the guys really loved receiving this gift. I'll try to find the tutorial I found on Pinterest and put the link on here.

He looks so grown up in this picture! My baby is becoming a very active little boy. 

 Empty boxes are always the most fun! 

Laying on his new sleeping bag with his Aunt Jordan  

 Say "Cheese"!

 Christmas morning

 Getting the first glimpse of what Santa brought him!

 One of my favorite pictures I took this Christmas.

 Taking a break for some milk.

 Lexi making sure it's safe enough for Joey to play with.

Funny Story... Joe had this jewelry box wrapped in heavy duty tape in a really good hiding spot so I wouldn't be able to peek. 

What was inside the ridiculously wrapped box :-) A couple of charms each of our babies, and one Eternal love charm for us! 

 Joe looking at the picture desk calendar I made for him on Shutterfly. Each month has pictures of things that happened in that month in our previous years of being together. I wish I made 2! He's taking his to work. 

Lexi checking out Joey's toys

Opening presents from MomMom and PawPaw!

Joey with Uncle Tommy

Aunt CiCi putting on Joey's adorable new boots they gave him! 

Looking at Papa Yates' Christmas tree

Yummy hashbrown casserole for Christmas morning breakfast. It was delicious and tasted just like Cracker Barrel's! 

Joe went above and beyond this Christmas. He gave me a beautiful bracelet and charms from Pandora (pictured above). Each individual charm carries so much meaning, I love wearing it and looking at it in admiration that he put so much thought into each charm he selected. He is truly an amazing husband and a wonderful father to his children. I couldn't ask for a better person to share the rest of my life with! 

Due to money being tight this year, we made a lot of the gifts that we gave out since we have so many people that we want to give presents to. I did feel guilty receiving so much from others and not being able to give back the same amount of gifts. I wish we were able to spend tons of money, but it's just not possible, especially with the arrival of baby Hayley in about 2 1/2 months! I hope everyone enjoys their gifts from us, and know that they were made with love. 

Now, time to get ready for the New Year! Not sure that we'll be able to stay up late enough to watch the ball drop on TV, but we'll certainly try! 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 
-Laura

29 Weeks

Busy with the holidays, I missed writing and posting for the 28th week. I'm lucky I remembered today to jump on here and blog! We'll have a busy weekend, we have family staying with us tonight through Sunday. I can hardly wait for them to get here! I baked pumpkin banana bread and muffins this morning. Yum! It is taking every ounce of self control in my body not to eat every bit of it!
We had a wonderful Christmas. We got to spend lots of time with family, and Joey of course was spoiled rotten with tons of gifts! We appreciate everything we received. Joey has been nonstop playing since Christmas morning when he opened Santa's gifts. I'll post more about it (with pictures) in a seperate post. 
Hayley has been a little mess. She definitely never lets me forget about her, she is constantly kicking and reminding me that she's there. Other than the back pain and pain down below (definitely not fun, might I add)  I really have not had any other "major" symptoms. Joe and I both think she'll come before her due date, but knowing my luck, I'll probably be 2 weeks overdue before she decides to make her appearance!

What's Going On With Hayley Grace:

• Now weighs 2 1/2 pounds and measures about 15 inches from head to heel. 
• Lungs and muscles are maturing, getting ready for life on the outside! Her head is also growing to accommodate her growing brain. 

What's Going On With Momma:

• Lots of lower back pain. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who gives me massages every night to help ease the pain. 
• I've had heartburn a couple of times in the past week, but nothing Zantac75 couldn't fix!

I posted a few weeks ago about seeing a doctor with the Perinatal Mood Disorder clinic. That didn't work out so well. My midwife informed me that they are increasingly busy during the holidays, so taking in new patients took more time than usual. How do you tell a hormonal pregnant woman with heightened anxiety that she has to WAIT even longer to have her issues addressed?! I told her the wait was adding to my anxiety, so we both decided that a low dose of Zoloft would be worth a shot. I haven't felt this good and "normal" since before I had Joey! Normally I would be completely against taking any medications, especially while pregnant. After doing some research and talking to other moms that I know that also take Zoloft, I decided to try it out. I am so glad that I did. I have been happy, more patient with Joey, thinking more positively, and it has even improved my relationship with Joe. I was always so miserable and my fuse was so short before Zoloft. 

We have been blessed with such amazing friends who have given us clothes and necessities for Hayley! We have received boxes and bags FULL of their girls outgrown clothes, mostly sizes newborn-6 months. I am so relieved that we don't have to worry about buying clothes for her first few months here. We are so thankful for everyone who has helped us out! 

Now that the holidays are behind us, we should be able to start working on the nursery more. We still have A LOT we have to do. Hopefully it will help the time pass quickly until she gets here. 

We got a minivan! Woohoo! I never thought in a million years that I would be a minivan mom. Growing up, my sister and I would always talk about how we would drive SUV's so we wouldn't have to drive a van. Well, I am in love with it. We bought an '06 Honda Odyssey that is in excellent condition and rides like a dream! Space is no longer an issue like it was with our little Kia Sportage. I will miss the backup camera and the heated leather seats, but not THAT much. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! 

-Laura

27 Weeks

So, I started on my 26 Weeks post last week, and forgot to finish. Oops!

Today is super special though, because I am officially in the third trimester! Woohoo!! 2/3 of the way to the finish line. I can't wait to meet her. I **think** I have settled on the name Haley Grace. I need to start calling her Haley, that will probably help me come around to actually call her by that name. 

What's up with Baby Pitt Haley:

• Brain wave activity measured in a developing fetus at this stage shows different sleep cycles, including dreaming! What could she possibly dream about? 
• Baby now measures 16 inches from head to heels.
• Weighs about 2 1/2 pounds. 
• She can now blink her eyes, cough, more intense sucking, and better breathing. 
• I can't tell if she is mad at me for something I ate and is beating me for it, or if she is happily dancing away, especially on my bladder! I'll take the latter :-) She has been one active little babe. 

How I've been feeling:

• I haven't had much heartburn in the past couple of weeks. I am glad I have had a break in that department. There were times I felt like I could breathe fire! 
• My body is very sore. Anytime I move, even while sitting, my back cracks and seems very stiff. I've tried stretching more and even a little bit of yoga, but it doesn't seem to help all that much. 
• I have been feeling extremely fatigued and like I'm in a "fog". I can't think clearly, and my attention span is pretty much non-existent. 

What We Have Left to Buy:

• Clothes size 3-6 months and up
• Diapers size 3 and up
• Wipes
• Accessories for her room (baskets to store diaper changing essentials on her dresser, closet organizer, dirty clothes hamper, and decorations)
• A minivan. No, seriously. Our little Kia Sportage is not going to cut it with 2 babes in car seats. I could barely get the double stroller in it, let alone anything else that would need to go in the trunk. 

Our wonderful friend Elizabeth gave us a HUGE box full of clothes! We are now all stocked up on newborn-0-3 months!! 

These are all the clothes we got from Elizabeth!

I scored a great deal last week on a double stroller off of Craigslist for $80, orginally $275. It is pretty used, but it is still in good condition. I'll take a few scuff marks on it to save that much money! 

Joey loves the new stroller!

Joe picked up a dresser/changing table off of Craigslist today for $30! I am so excited to be able to cross that off the list of things to have buy before she gets here. I can't wait to put all the little clothes in there that we have so far for her (mostly thanks to Elizabeth!). Now we just have to pick out a paint color for the crib we're sanding that matches the dresser since it's already white. Oh and a paint color for the walls... 

Not a great picture, sorry! 

Despite Joe and I having a head cold this weekend, we've managed to get a lot done! I made 4 Christmas gifts that turned out great. I don't want to post pictures yet, but I will after Christmas. Don't want to ruin the surprise! 

I hope everyone has had a great weekend! 
-Laura