Twenty Five!

I turned 25 last week.  I still can't decide how I feel about being that age but I can say I have loved celebrating it! 

On Tuesday, Sherry, Naomi, Grace and I went out to Yummilicous for frozen yogurt!  It was so fun to be able to chat and laugh with these girls!  They had the best music in there and Grace and I even got a little dancing in. :)

Someone was nice to enough to take a group shot of us!  Don't be fooled by Grace's face, she was having a great time.

 It really was yummy!  I had cheesecake yogurt with oreo crumbles and strawberries.  

 Sherry and Grace looking so cute!

 Grace was smiling and dancing until we got out the camera.  At least Naomi can make me laugh, right? 

 That is as close to a smile as she would give us!  

Thanks again Naomi and Sherry for a super fun night!

On Wednesday night we had a youth temple trip to do baptisms.  What better way to celebrate my birthday week than with a trip to the temple?!  All I do on these nights is hand out towels and remind the youth how they should behave in the temple, but I still really enjoy it.  Of course there are some really sweet moments too.  Most of our young men are 14 and under and I was sitting with them while they were waiting to be confirmed to keep the peace.  They had some special temple magazines on the benches and the boys were looking through them deciding which temple they wanted to be married in.  They are crazy so much of the time it was nice to see a different side to them and know that they see that in their future.  Overall, they baptized 200 people! That is like an entire ward.  Such a wonderful feeling! 

The bishop always takes them out somewhere for a little treat afterwards and this time we went to Krispy Kreme.  It was super yummy and it is fun to let them relax together after being reverent for so long, or close to it anyway. :)

 My super handsome hubby!

Our temple group!  Love them all!

On Thursday, my actual birthday, Cory, my dad and I went to Outback for dinner which was delicious. Over the weekend we celebrated Halloween, but that's a different post.  Sunday was super relaxing, just how I like.    There were some great talks and lessons at church and then my parents and littlest brother stopped by for a visit after church. Sunday night Cory and I made some delicious white chicken chili and watched The Lion King, one of my presents.  It was the perfect send off to a wonderful week!

28 Weeks: Plans? What plans?

I have officially reached the "I probably should have done more by this point" part of pregnancy. Everyone keeps asking me if I have done certain things with the tone of voice that makes me sure they assume I have.  They have assumed incorrectly.  We still haven't picked out a crib, let alone registered!  I need to pick out a pediatrician?  Really?  My birth plan consists of:  I will be in the hospital and have a baby.  Lydia Jane's nursery is not even an empty room yet. I can't even say we have a blank slate because really what we have is a slate full of things that need to be erased.  The big kicker:  none of this bothers me in the least.  I am totally calm about it.  I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not.  My goal for the month of November is to do all of those things.  And not to worry, I've made a bit of a start on them already. I'm pretty sure we have a pediatrician now, I just need to actually call them.  While I don't know which crib we are getting, I do know who will be purchasing it.  My grandparents told us last weekend that is what they want to get Lydia Jane, which is super generous and exciting! My mom is coming for 2 days in a couple of weeks to help me get the nursery together.  So while it still seems like I have a lot to do, I also think I'm making some progress or at least plans for progress.
In how the Watts girls are feeling news:
I'm still pretty much the same.  I have good days and I have bad days.  As I have said before, it is hard to get used to but I'm handling it.  In new developments, my feet were swollen for the first time last week.  It was only at the end of one day and I guess I should really be thankful it didn't happen sooner.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it last week or not but I've also started to have some Braxton Hicks contractions.  Not too many and not every day but they sure aren't comfortable!  I've tried to get up and move around more at work and that seems to be helping.
Lydia Jane is still kicking up a storm and Cory still hasn't felt it.  He did see her kicking me the other day though, which he thought was really cool.  I can definitely tell she is starting to get stronger!
She also got her first present in the mail the other day!  Aren't these the cutest?!  Thanks Joanie, Ryan and Jaxson!

 Joanie has the cutest etsy shop!  You should definitely check out her stuff!

I had planned to take some cute pregnancy photos at the river last Saturday but that didn't work out.  My youngest brother was in a wreck on his way home and we had to rush to meet them at the emergency room.  He is fine, but it was definitely a crazy time!  So instead of pretty river pictures, you get another in our den picture.  From a different angle this time though, exciting! :)

27 weeks

27 Weeks Appointment: I Passed!

I had my 27 weeks appointment today with my full time doctor, Dr. Holladay, and it was great!  I had to take the sugar test today so ever since lunch yesterday, I avoided anything with sugar like the plague.  It paid off because I passed and won't have to take the three hour one!
Lydia Jane's heartbeat is 153, which is great and I'm measuring right at 27 weeks.  The only bad thing is that my iron is really low (9.3) and so I have to start taking iron pills.  I'm not really looking forward to adding another pill to my already ridiculous list, but you do what you have to do. 
I talked with Dr. Holladay about my recent bouts of yuckiness and basically found out that there isn't that much to be done about it.  He gave me some more medicine ideas (yay.:/) and told me to drink as many fluids as I can.  Hopefully that will help some but I get the feeling that it is one of those "It's going to get worse before it gets better" scenarios.  Unfortunately the "it gets better' part won't happen until Lydia Jane makes her appearance.  Oh well.
He also told me to google some pregnancy yoga poses and start doing those every night.  I didn't admit to him that I have a complete prenatal yoga video I have yet to actually try.  I have been walking at least a few times a week but I really need to get with the yoga program!  The 1st councilor in the YW when I was first called suggested it to me because she said it made her labor so much better.  The fact that I have yet to try it has nothing to do with how much faith I have in her advice, it is more a testament to my laziness.  After I get home from work, I am seriously zapped of energy.  I usually take at least 2 naps before I make it to bed every night.  I try and pack as much into Saturday as I can which totally wears me out so I do nothing but go to church and rest on Sunday. But it works and we are still making slow but steady progress on project organization!
Tomorrow we are taking a break though and heading down to Georgetown to see my family.  I haven't seen them since July 4th when I wasn't showing at all so I'm interested to see what they think of my new belly! :)

A Birthday and a Belly!

Saturday night we went out with Mike and Jenn and some friends to celebrate Jenn's birthday.  It was so much fun!  We split the table into guys and girls and just chatted and laughed the entire time.   It was really nice to actually get dressed up and go out as well.  I've gotten so slack about that kind of stuff lately.  I got my hair cut three weeks ago and people are just now noticing because I think I've only worn it down once since then.  Because of this, I never really feel like having my picture taken and documenting my hastily done make up, air dried pony tail, ect... Saturday though, I made a point to have Cory take a couple belly pictures before we left. 

26 weeks.

Me and my silly husband.  He loves giving himself crazy facial hair.  It usually only survives for a night though.

After we ate dinner we had planned to go back to Mike and Jenn's for cake and icecream but I just wasn't up to it.  Since it was a special occasion I went all out and ordered the strawberry peach lemonade.  It was really yummy but also a mistake.  I was feeling terrible by the time we got the check.  Sugary drinks just do not sit well with me at night I have discovered.  Luckily there wasn't another fiasco.  We just went home and chilled on the couch watching Clemson's ridiculous comeback victory.  I still can't stand Clemson, but it was pretty impressive.  Well, the parts I wasn't asleep for were. 

Sunday was wonderful.  Everyone at church was telling me how good I looked and it just made me feel so much better after all those terrible elevator conversations this week.  I really love my ward!  It is full of so many fabulous people who do their best to lift each other up every Sunday.  I've realized over and over that even though this wasn't where Cory and I planned to be, this is the place the Lord knew we needed to be all along.  I'm so grateful for His guiding hand in my life and the countless blessing that have come into my life because of it.

26 Weeks: What's in a Name?

This past week has not been a great one.  I'm pretty sure everyone in my building is running a contest to see who can say the most insensitive/annoying thing to me in the elevator.  Things I have gotten recently:
*"How many months are you?"  "About 6."  In a super shocked sounding voice "Well, you're pretty!"  Umm...I don't even understand.  Was this supposed to be a compliment?  Should have turned into a hag by this point in my pregnancy?  How I managed to hold that off while getting every other pregnancy side effect, I will never know...
*"You're STILL pregnant???" "Yes, I'm only 6 months" "Oh." I know I'm terrible about posting pregnant pictures of myself on here, but I've only gained 20 pounds.  I just checked and I haven't gained anything in the past two weeks.  It feels like baby girl has taken up an exercise routine so that is not really surprising. :) Granted, my belly has gotten bigger but I still haven't gained any weight.  So why people think I look 9 months pregnant already, I don't know.
*"Have you decided on a name yet?"  'Yes, it's _____." "Oh, well I guess those old fashioned names are coming back in style."  with a voice and face that make it obvious she doesn't like it.  Excuse me, but I did not pick out her name hoping anyone else other than myself and Cory would like it.  I especially do not care if you do not like it, woman with a bimbo name. 
This whole idea that when you are pregnant everything about you, your baby, and your pregnancy becomes public domain kind of bothers me. (I type on my blog. Yes, I realize the irony.) Why do people you don't know feel like it is okay to give you all kinds of opinions on what you should do ect. just because you are pregnant?  It makes me want to go up to them in the grocery store, start looking through their cart, and give them a critique about their choices. 
Sorry for the soapbox, but I really needed to get that off my chest.  I try really hard not to explode at these people, but it needs an outlet somewhere.  I've been physically sick this past week, which I know makes me really emotional and prone to irritation as a result.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
We actually missed church on Sunday because I was sick.  I was downstairs talking to my dad. Seriously, I don't know how people survive without their own personal doctor/dad.  I know I couldn't! Anyway, I was really upset and when I got off the phone with him and went upstairs to tell Cory I needed to stay home, he was just getting up from saying a prayer.  For me.  He heard me crying talking to my dad and his first response is to ask Heavenly Father to help me.  I don't think I have ever felt so blessed and loved. 
During all that drama, we have actually been able to make some progress.  We picked a name!  Cory still likes to tease my by periodically suggesting something ridiculous.  I doubt this will stop even when her name is on the birth certificate.  Poor girl isn't going to have a clue what her real name is because her daddy is going to call her so many different things!  The name we chose is:
Lydia Jane
I've loved the name Lydia since I was walking through Hyde Park in London and heard a mother call her daughter that.  I just thought it sounded so pretty.  I didn't know if I would like it as much without the British accent, but it turns out I do. :) Also, Lydia is the name of the first convert to Christianity, which is pretty cool. 
Jane has been on my "middle name list" for a while.  For a long time, I loved the name Isabelle but it is just too popular now (Thanks, Twilight.).  I never could decide on a middle name to go with it until I was doing baptisms at the temple one night and was baptised for a woman with the middle name Jane.  It would have been perfect!  Turns out, I think it goes really well with Lydia also.  So much so that we are going to call her by her first and middle names. 
So after looking through hundreds of names on the Internet, in baby books, and in family history we finally decided on one of our very first choices!  Go figure.  I really wanted a family name but when your choices are things like "Cora Elvira" and "Ethel May," (not making either of those up) giving her her own name to make a legacy for seems much more appealing.  :)
We have also made significant progress on what I like to call "Project Organization."  If this is what I'm like now, I really hate to see what I turn into when the nesting really starts.  I'm hoping to have some picture worthy projects done over the next month or so.  Right now it is all pretty boring stuff.  I have gotten rid of so much useless junk, it is crazy.  Moving so much during college created several "black hole" boxes of things that I hadn't looked at in years.  It feels really good to finally go through and get rid of things!  My goal for this week is just to keep it up!

25 Weeks: Is it January yet???/AHHHHHH! It's October!

So now we know she is a girl, I'm starting to be impatient.  Some days I just want her to be here so badly I can hardly stand it.  Waiting until January to hold our sweet girl seems like an impossible task.  It's just SO far way!  Then I think about all the things I have to accomplish before she arrives, begin to panic, and become okay with idea of her being a week overdue.  Since she is measuring about 4 days behind her due date, this is a real possibility. 
Since last week, I haven't done much at all.  I did buy a baby name book because we still can not decide on a name.  We have a middle name pretty much picked out but keep changing our minds about her first name.  We may just have to wait until we see her to decide. 
My mom, on the other hand, is going crazy.  Baby girl already has outfits for every major holiday next year and she doesn't even have a name yet!  I definitely don't dislike my mom buying things for her, it is just overwhelming to me how much she is getting her already!
This weekend my plan is to finish the consolidation of our two guest rooms into one.  We started that a few weeks ago but going to football games has prevented us from finishing.  We are skipping this week so I'm hopeful of getting a lot done so we can start on the nursery soon. 
Baby girl continues to kick around in there.  She doesn't move as much early in the day but from about 3pm onwards the girl is a dancing machine.  Cory still can't feel the kicks, but that doesn't stop him from shaking my belly and saying "Hey in there!" periodically.
I just loved General Conference this past weekend, especially the talk from Sister Dalton.  It was so special to listen to that talk so soon after we found out we'll be raising a little girl. :)
I guess I would say my two major feelings right now are impatience and panic.  Not a great combination, but I suspect I should get used to it.  Even though those two extremes are present, most of the time I feel very content to just chill out and let her grow, even though I definitely wish I had an ultrasound machine so I could check on her every once in a while, or day.  You know, whenever. :)