Our time is near..

Well, I am officially 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant! I went to the doctor on Thursday...still only 1 cm dilated..ugh. However, the week before that we found out that I had too much amniotic fluid. I was actually measuring more than I should have, so after an ultrasound..and finding out that we are going to have a chubby little girl on our hands, with lots of hair (hopefully red!), they realized that I had too much amniotic fluid. They hooked me up to the fetal monitoring machines for about 45 minutes to monitor her heart rate and movement..which was scary, only because I haven't had any problems up until now. Her movement and heart rate were both good and strong. When I went back this past Thursday, they measured the fluid again, and it had actually gone down some, praise the Lord! I still have too much, but not as much. I go back to the doctor on Tuesday, my due date..if she doesn't decide to make her appearance before then! We are trying to be so patient, but at the same time are so ready..the bags are packed, in the car, the car seat is installed, the crib and cradle are ready..all we need now is a baby! If you know me, you know that I'm a "planner"..and the "not knowing" part of when I'm going to deliver, is the hardest part of all. We are going Christmas shopping today, so maybe I will "walk her out" :)

December brings lots of exciting things for us..of course Addison and Christmas, and Jaden & Leah are coming to visit from CA! They will be here for almost 5 whole days!! :) Seeing as though we used to see each other at least once a month (if not more), and now its been more like 8 months, we are VERY excited to see them!

I woke up yesterday morning feeling abundantly blessed...I feel blessed everyday and thank the Lord for all of his many amazing blessings, but yesterday morning my heart just felt overly full. The past year has been amazing, of course its had its ups and downs, but overall its been a great year. We've moved into our dream home, we're getting ready to welcome the birth of our baby girl, and I just cant imagine life any better, and I know that all the glory goes to above..for without him we know we would be nothing.

That's about it for now..maybe the next time I blog, we will have a baby to write about :)

Thankful

I have finally found time to sit down and download some pictures, as well as catch up on my blogging. The last month has been NUTS..with a baby shower every weekend and then my mom's retirement party last weekend..we've been BUSY. All of my baby showers were awesome, and my mom's retirement party was amazing too..she cried, just as I knew she would. I am so proud of her, and cannot wait for her retirement to begin! :)

I am officially "full term" in my pregnancy..I went to the doctor today and I'm 1 cm dilated and 60-70% effaced. Which means that I could be on my way to having a baby very soon, or I could stay this way for the next 3 weeks..only God knows. We are as ready as we will ever be...her room is finished, the stroller is put together, and the car seat is being installed (after black friday!), her bag is packed, and I'm working on mine. I am definately ready to get her out..my body is becoming cramped, and more and more uncomfortable..and I cant wait to see her precious face. We opted to not get the 4D ultrasound..JW said he didnt want to ruin the surprise, and I agreed. With all this heartburn I'm having, I'm going to be one disappointed lady if she comes out with no hair :( (I'm hoping its red) :)

Here I am at 37 weeks and 2 days.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow..we are going to my Mama's :) We had originally wanted to have it here..but Mom thought that with me being 8 1/2 months pregnant, that it may be a little much...and boy am I glad that she did! However, we are still getting up Friday to go shopping :) It's a tradition and something that I look forward to EVERY year. There is one thing that is missing this Thanksgiving..and thats Leah and Jaden. For the past year or so they have been here to celebrate with us :( We miss them terribly..but in ONE MONTH, they will be here to visit and celebrate Christmas :) AND, Addie Grace should be here by then as well!

Now..with the holidays here, we are all reminded of how lucky and how thankful we should be...although here lately I have felt overcome with thankfulness. I am so thankful for my family..my mom, my dad, brother, my husband, this baby that the lord has so graciously blessed us with..my grandparents..my heart becomes so full and heavy at the same time thinking about all of the people in my life whom I love so much. I am thankful to be a saved Christian, for I know that without the Lord above, I would be absolutely NOTHING. So, with all of that said, I hope that as everyone gathers around their tables tomorrow, they will take a minute to thank the Lord for all of the blessings in their lives, and to express their love to their loved ones.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

P.S.-Maybe the next time I blog, we will have a baby in our arms ;) You never know!

Time is flying..

It's been almost 3 months since my last blog and boy have we been busy!! We have moved into our new house, everything is pretty much like we want it, we got our dining room table this week and the fouton as well thats going into the spare bedroom. It has been a J-O-B getting things in order and getting the nursery set up like we want it.

We made another trip to Bladenboro to get MORE baby stuff :) We are SO lucky to have all of this baby stuff given to us, Addie Grace already has over 32 bibs! more than 20 recieving blankets! and TONS of cute clothes, socks, bloomers, etc...and I haven't even had a shower yet!! As I said, we are very very blessed. We painted her room, and have her crib, changing table, and dresser set up, everything isnt exactly how we want it yet but its getting there :)

Hubby worked so hard painting, and getting everything perfect for his baby girl. It's SO hard to believe that almost 8 months of pregnancy have gone by..it has FLOWN..before we know it Addie Grace will be here and our lives will never be the same. We are SO excited, nervous, scared, anxious, and all of the above...I am scared to death of childbirth..the "not knowing" part of it scares me..if you know me at all, you know that I'm a control freak..and this is something that I have absolutely no control over..I dont have control over when it happens, where it happens, how it will happen..any of that, and that is deffinately overwhelming at times. But I know that I will get through it. JW has been AMAZING in all of this, and I know that he's going to be an AWESOME Daddy. All of my doctor visits have been great, good reports at all of them..good blood pressure, weight gain (ugh) and all of the other exciting yet scary things that come along with pregnancy...we went to our Expectant Parent class a couple weekends ago..that was interesting, and very helpful! We learned alot :) It's amazing to lay in the bed at night and watch her move around in my stomach, it truly is a miracle, and something that only God can do.

On another note, we are SSSOOOOO excited because not only will Addie Grace be here in December, but so will Leah and Jaden!! WWWOOOO HHOOOOO!!!! :) :) I CAN'T WAIT to see them..it has been ENTIRELY too long!!

Tomorrow is Friday, Thank goodness it'll be the weekend!! I need some time to be off my feet and relax, although I usually find something to keep me busy!!

Anywho, I will try my best to keep this thing updated and not let it be another 3 months before I post another one..but I'm not promising anything ;)

Life @ the moment..

Where does the time go?? It's so hard to believe that I'm already 22 weeks pregnant! I went yesterday for a checkup, everything is great..I'm measuring right at 22 weeks, her little heartbeat was in the 150's, and my weight gain is right on track..bleh. The doctor said that I was doing good as far as my weight goes...but I guess there's just always such a negative attitude toward gaining weight, so its hard for me to get past that when I go to the doctor every 4 weeks and I've gained weight. :/ JW says I need to get over that and that I look great..as he says "Honey, you have a human being growing inside of you.." and I know he's right, the "woman" in me just makes it hard. Everybody tells me that I dont even look that pregnant yet, I dont know whether to take that as a compliment or not? Hhmm. Other news..we are in the middle of buying a house :) Its been exciting, scary, frustrating, and all of the above..we are set to close on it August 27th, I will have pictures up soon. We are THRILLED to be moving into a bigger house, we've already sold the trailer, to exactly who we wanted to have it..and everything is running so smoothly, we can deffinately tell that God has his hands all over this. :) I prayed to him when we started this process that if it wasnt meant to be, for him to shut the door loud enough for us to hear it..well, the door is still wide open :) This brings us more comfort than anything. I start back to work next week, I'm looking forward to seeing everybody, and especially seeing my precious children! I cant wait to walk in and hear "bicky bicky bicky!" :) They light up my world.


On another note, one year ago today, I lost probably the "oldest friend" that I have. Meaning that we had been friends for as long as I can remember, since we were infants. It's still so hard to believe that he's gone. Corey meant so much to me and I have so many memories growing up with him...being at Ms.Pats, playing hide and got seek there, inside, and breaking the sink! (oops)..him and his dear daddy picking me up in that Ford Fairlane and going for rides, going with my grandma to the nursing home to see my great grandma EVERY Sunday without fail when we were little..as we got older, crazy memories in grade school, and high school..and then the sweetest memories were right before Corey passed, listening to him preach, and I remember being SO proud to be there, and being there to witness what a turn-around his life had done. Christmas eve of 2008, I went to his first service, it is one that I will ALWAYS remember, before he started his sermon, he pointed me out in front of the whole entire congregation...at that point I was balling, and really could have killed him..but looking back now, its one of the memories that I will never forget. It's funny the way that God works..never in a million years would I have thought all those years ago when we were sneaking around the house in the middle of the night putting shaving cream in Melissa's sink, that all of these years later I would be moving in next door to his mom, and that Corey and his dad would both be in heaven. I will never forget that day when my mom and dad came over to tell me the news..I could tell by the expression on their faces that something was wrong, when daddy finally got the words out, I dropped to my knees crying, there was no consoling me..I know it's not for me to question, but not a day goes by that I don't wonder why the Lord chose to take him at such an exciting time in his life, when he was going to college to be a preacher and following in his footsteps. I miss him, and I dont know that there will ever be a day when I dont.
<3 you Corey Scott Mitchell.

It's a Girl!!

We went to the doctor yesterday for our anatomy ultrasound! Despite what everyone in my family, including me thought..It's A GIRL!!! We are so excited that the Lord is blessing us with a healthy baby girl! The doctor said that everything looked great and is measuring right on track. So, I guess now its time to start planning the nursery and buying pink, pink, pink!

-Her side profile-

-Hi!-

-Butt cheeks! It's a Girl!-

Please continue to pray for us as we continue on this journey together! :)

Our Trip to Maryland

I'm writing two blogs today, I've been meaning to write this one since we got home, but just havent had the chance. We went to Maryland last weekend to visit JW's grandparents and had an AWESOME time..its so beautiful there in the mountains and it was so good to see them. We relaxed, went sight-seeing a little, ate, and ate, oh and ate some more..everytime we go there I feel like I've gained 10 pounds before we leave. We got there late on Thursday, so when we got there we just went to bed. We took Gus with us, it was his first trip to Maryland and I have to say, he did a great job and LOVED it there :)


Friday we got to sleep late :) always a plus, and then me and grandma went and got pedicures! I was in DESPERATE need of one! We went out to eat that night and then just played cards, I got my butt kicked, as usual. Saturday we went to Shanksville,PA to the Flight 93 memorial...it was awesome to see all of the memorabilia that people have left behind, the memorial was awesome, but so sad at the same time, that those people had to die because of others.

-These are just a couple of pictures of some of the memorials there-


-We also climbed Dan's Rock that day, the view from there was BEAUTIFUL-


On Sunday we relaxed a little and then got everything packed up to come home...no fireworks for us, but we had a GREAT 4th of July! :)

Long time, no blog?

It feels like forever since I've written anything, it has actually been almost a month! Things have been crazy busy..I started working with Christina this summer, she is so amazing, but can be such a handful ;) We actually just got back from the beach yesterday from a little overnight trip to see Mama whos been at the beach all week..lucky duck. I went for my early glucola test on Monday, I got the results on Tuesday and everything looks good!! No diabetes for me! (Not yet anyway, I have to go back at 28 weeks to get another one) But I am hopeful for that one to be negative too :) Everything else with the baby has been going good..we go on July 12th for our ananatomy ultrasound :) JW is SSOOOO anxious and excited to find out what it is, as am I. I just have a feelin its goin to be a boy..I have thought that ever since I found out I was pregnant. :) Of course we will be happy either way, as long as its healthy...you hear so many horror stories about women going in at 40 weeks and there being no heart beat..or other terrible things happening along the way, as a pregnant woman, stories like that can scare you to death :/ I just put my faith in God that this baby will be healthy and happy :)

On another note, JW got a new job :) He starts back to work on July 6th, doing what he does best..but I'm NOT letting him quit school! He's going to do both :) I am so proud of him, and I know that he's going to be a great Dad. We are leaving this afternoon to go visit his grandparents in Maryland for a mini-vacay, just to get away for a couple of days. :) Hopefully at the end of July I will be taking a vacationt to San Diego to see Leah! I am SOOO excited about getting to see her, its been WWWAAAAYYYYY too long since I've seen my best friend. I will be traveling alone, which scares me, but I know that I will make it in one piece :)

Well, I guess thats all for now!

Where does the time go?

I know that everyone asks that question at some point in their life, but as I sit and look at my baby brother, I can only ask..where has the time gone? It is SO hard for me to believe that next weekend he will be graduating high-school. I still remember the day he was born..Daddy picked me up from daycare and said, "Well Pookie, guess whos here?" and I guessed everybody, from aunts to cousins, anybody that I could think of that we hadn't seen in a while (I was only 7!) and he said "No! Andrew's here!" I wasnt as excited..lol. But looking back, maybe I was a little excited ;) Now that he's 18 years old and a "young man"...I feel so incredibly blessed to have him as MY brother, he's always there for me, and I know that if I need him for anything he'd be there. I can always always count on him to make me laugh...his sarcastic, carefree, laid back attitude can be annoying at times, but I wouldnt have it any other way. As I look back on his last 4 years at Ayden-Grifton, I could not be prouder of him.

Playin baseball..probably his favorite thing in the world.

Him and his girlfriend Morgan, his other favorite thing :)

I am SO unbelieveably proud of you Andrew, and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!! Class of 2010!

Giving In?

Well, I guess I'm finally giving in and starting a blog. I read other peoples and have been wanting to start one, so here I am! Where to start?

JW and I were High-School sweethearts and got married at the age of 19. He was in the Navy, and after his 4 years were up, he got out and we came back home.

I have my associates degree in Early Childhood Education and I am currently a teachers assistant in a special needs classroom at E.B. Aycock Middle School. Go Jags! This was my first time ever working in a classroom with special needs children, however I was raised around them because my mom worked with them when I was younger and was always bringing different kids home. I have found that I LOVE working with these kids..they are so funny, and so loving, and just plain AMAZING. School gets out in about a week and I will then be working with my Christina..she is the sweetest, most amazing little 10 year old that you will ever meet. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, ADHD and other disabilities, but is overcoming them through God's amazing love.

When JW got out of the Navy, he worked at DSM Pharmacuticals, but after a big layoff, he has decided to go back to school and get his degree in Occupational Therapy assistant, and later his OT degree. He is making straight A's and B's and I could not be happier for him, and I am SO proud!

We found out last month that we are expecting our first baby! We had been contemplating when to start trying and when "the time was right" and decided to just throw the pills away and leave it in God's hands...when we did that, I was pregnant a month and a half later! We couldnt be happier, and are SO excited for all of the fun, but stressful, but loving events that are in our future!




We have amazing families that we love very much, and who mean the world to us. Afterall, where would we be without family?