Maternity Pictures and Contractions!

I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions ever since I was about 25 weeks pregnant.  Yesterday evening they suddenly started changing and becoming more frequent and quite strong.  My parents and I went out for Rancho Grande so I could eat some spicy food.  While we were at the restaurant, after having these stronger contractions for about 2 hours, my mom decided to start timing them and they stopped.  Completely.  Go figure.  They did start up again when I laid down in bed to go to sleep, but I was able to sleep through the night just fine.

This morning when I woke up they started up again and have continued irregularly all day long.  Since they haven't been painful at all, it took my mom a while to convince me that these were signs of false/early labor.  She is convinced that I won't make it to my next doctor's appointment, which is on Tuesday.  I, on the other hand, think it's possible she will come this next week, but also think that I will see my doctor one more time before then.  My guess is by the end of the week.  My mom thinks I am crazy and I think she is crazy.

...okay...that last contraction did make me go "OWW!"...but I'm still not entirely convinced.

The only thing I have been focused on the past couple days has been walking and getting a few loose ends tied.  I packed my hospital bag yesterday and did all of my laundry today.  I paid off my credit card, worked out my budget for the next couple months, and put a good chunk of money in savings.  I also emailed my professors to give them a heads up and finished my school work through next week.  I can have this baby confidently now!

I have been keeping Austin up to date on these newly developed symptoms and he has his bag packed and is ready to come the minute I know I'm officially in labor.  I have been really proud of how he has been handling this.  Anything I have suggested he do as far as preparation goes, he has either already done or at least thought about anyway.  He's such a good daddy already!  He is really excited to meet his daughter for the first time and so am I!

Enough of that though.  Molly still isn't officially due for another 9 days and I really don't want to get my hopes up if she's just tricking everyone (she could still be an April Fool's baby after all).  The way I see it, even if she is late, I will be be able to hold my baby girl for the first time in about two weeks and that is the most exciting thing in the world!

So besides all of these contractions today another thing made me very happy.  I got my maternity pictures back!  I wasn't expecting them for another couple weeks so I am thrilled that they got back to me so soon and before Molly is even born!  I picked out my favorites but I had a lot!  So here they are...

I liked the look of the pictures larger but a couple of them had bad resolution when I made them big and I'm not sure why.  So I left those smaller because I just liked them so much I couldn't leave them out!

As things start to progress this next week or so I'll try to keep everyone updated via Facebook as much as possible.  And of course, I will post pictures of Molly as soon as I possibly can too!  My camera is already packed in my bag and ready to go.

Her birthday is getting really close now!

Nursery Sneak Peak

Molly's due date is getting so close!  I am 37 weeks and officially considered "full term" even though her due date isn't for another three weeks.  This week is spring break and we are kicking in high gear.  Anything and everything we have been putting off around here that needs to be done before Molly's due date is getting done this week.  There's a pretty lengthy list!  My main priority is to put the final touches on her room.  I could never have imagined that her nursery would have come together so perfectly!  That being said I want to give you some before pictures and a small sneak peak of what's to come!  We started on the nursery about a week before Christmas.  These pictures aren't the best quality since they were taken on my phone before my camera was unpacked from the move.

This was my room in high school and yes, I painted those flowers on the wall.

The gun case was not mine for the record...my room was being used for temporary storage.

Paint samples.  We went with the one on the far right.

Goodbye flowers, hello Molly!

I wasn't allowed to do any of the actual painting.  But my parents were more than happy to do it all!

Thank you!!

On Christmas, my parents surprised me with all of her furniture.  It was the best Christmas gift ever!

The bedding, my mom and I found at a consignment store a few months before.  The green curtains I have had since high school and have always loved them.  I always said that I would put them in my daughters room one day so I was happy that they actually match her bedding!

I made these little pictures and I just love them.  No, they're not perfect but that's okay with me.

These were some of the shower decorations Lauren made that I mentioned earlier.

And that is all of the nursery pictures I can share right now but I promise that I will post the final pictures once the room is finished this week!  Again, I apologize for the quality of these pictures.  They were taken on my phone.  The new pictures will be taken on my nice camera with proper lighting so you will hopefully be able to really see what the room looks like!

On a side note, I had maternity pictures taken this weekend!  I was lucky that my friend Brandy had a friend who is working on her portfolio in hopes of growing her business and she was willing to do them for free!  We had a lot of fun at the park and she had some very creative ideas.  I can't wait to see how they came out.  I will post those as soon as I get them, however, it could be a couple weeks and Molly could very well be born by then!  

Now, how about a few random pictures from this weekend that made me happy?  

Yes, I was happy to do laundry.  This has to be the cutest pile of laundry ever and I might as well enjoy it while I can.

Molly's Aunt Taylor loves her so much!

My good friend from high school, Randi, came to visit for her baby shower.  Her little boy is due just after Molly.  They are giving high fives from the womb.

These are the burp cloths my mom and I made for Randi's shower.  Mom did most of the work because we were running out of time but I just love how they turned out!

Theo cuddled up in my bed

This is a video of Molly kicking and moving around.  I was holding my breath so all of he movement is her!

For some reason, after I push play, I also have to click on the progress bar before it starts playing.  It does play I promise!

Signs of Spring

Today is March 1st and I couldn't be happier.  Although spring doesn't officially make it's debut for another couple weeks, here in Texas, spring seems to be in full swing.  This morning it was a beautiful 63 degrees outside which made it so nice for sitting in the backyard and throwing the ball with my puppy.

As I sat there, throwing the ball over and over again, I looked around me and saw so many signs of spring all over our little yard and garden!

The Bradford Pear has little buds all over!

The strawberries survived the frosts and are starting to bloom

Even the rosemary has little purple buds

The broccoli is left over from the winter garden but is still very abundant

The holly tree is already blooming too which means it's time to start the spring garden so we don't miss the bees

Speaking of bees, they are already busy pollinating the broccoli!

All of these signs make me feel so happy!  Spring is a perfect season in my opinion.  New life, fresh foods, windows open, ideal temperatures, sunny days and light breezes!  Although it doesn't last very long here and it will be summer before I know it, I think that makes it so much easier to take time to appreciate the season and not take it for granted.  I am so happy that my baby girl will be born in the spring time!  I never would have been able to plan it more perfectly.  I am looking forward to sitting on a quilt in the grass with my baby girl and enjoying the rest of this beautiful season with her!

Of course, we will never be able to sit in the backyard without Theo wanting to play fetch!  But that is what I love about him.  He is so full of energy and life!  I am really glad I got him a Chuckit and I recommend anyone with a fetch loving dog to get one of these.  Theo loves it because it lets me launch the ball farther than I could ever dream of doing.  I have actually been wanting to get one of these for a long time because he seeks out the people at the dog park who have these and plays with them.  I finally broke down and bought one because I realized that I could use it to pick up the ball without bending down and without touching "yucky ball" which will both be invaluable aspects once Molly is hanging out with us.  It all became worth it the first time he saw me with the Chuckit and he started running circles around me!  He was a very happy puppy today!  After about an hour of running after the ball he finally took a rest in the grass but I know that he will be ready to play soon again!