Abigail's 3D/4D pictures!

Today we figured that what better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to go see our beautiful baby girl's face! I met Bryan after school today for our 3D/4D sonogram appointment and everything went great! Abigail wasn't cooperating much in the beginning, but let us take a few good pictures. Most of the time she had her hand covering her face or her umbilical cord in the way! She sure was moving though! The best part though was that we ordered a DVD of it and you get to see a lot more of her moving around! She yawned really big a couple of times and then was really funny in the end. She kept putting her hand up like she was saying, "Ok, no more pictures Mom and Dad!" We are so in love with our princess and couldn't have imagined a better Valentine's Day!

Ouch!

Friday night I had my first "pain" experience in my pregnancy and let me tell you, it was NOT fun!

Thankfully, even though I have entered the uncomfortable stage at times in my pregnancy, I haven't had anything super painful happen that I read about that "could/should" happen by this time.

Friday night, Bryan and I went to eat dinner and my back started to hurt a little. I got home but was still pretty uncomfortable. We were sitting on the couch, watching t.v when all of a sudden I had this sharp, shooting pain, radiating on the right side of my back. I got up and started to walk around, hoping that would help. I bent over, stretched everything, and nothing was helping. It was almost like a bad cramp. I finally had to beg Bryan to massage my back and I was literally in so much pain that I was crying! I have never felt anything like that! I worried Bryan so much that he was asking if we needed to go to the hospital or call my OBGYN, but I said no. I knew Abigail was fine.

Bryan made me go lay down in bed and massaged my back. We tried to pinpoint a specific spot that was hurting, but it literally hurt everywhere. It got a little better, so we tried a bath with epsom salts, then I tried heating pads. After the shooting pain stopped, it was more just really sore. I took some Tylenol and then went to bed. Thankfully, the next morning I felt much better!

From what I can gather, Abigail must have been on some nerve. It wasn't sciatica pain, because it never raidiated down my butt or legs. I also never had any numbness anywhere. All I know is that I sure hope that doesn't happen again!

Thank you Pintrest and Hobby Lobby!

So I (like I'm sure many others of you) have become somewhat obsessed with Pinterest! I can pin like nobody's business, but I hadn't taken the next step and tried out anything that I'd actually pinned..UNTIL recently! I am proud to say that I've finally tried my very first craft on Pinterest and it was to make a wreath for Abigail's room. I looked at the instructions, and it looked super easy so I decided to try it out! I headed over to Hobby Lobby to get my supplies and when I walked in I noticed the hot pink and black baby girl section. I of course hurried over to investigate and boy am I so glad I did!

A couple of weeks earlier, I'd been over at my friend Alisha's house and was looking at her nursery for her soon to be baby boy! I was investigating the closet and saw that she had the cutest baby boy closet dividers to organize all of his clothes by month! I loved them and asked where she got them. She told me they had been a gift so I began the search for some for Abigail's closet. I found some at BabiesRUs but they were NOT very cute. I looked online and still couldn't find anything. I looked on Pinterest and found where a mom made her own using wooden rings, scrapbook paper, and stickers, so I figured I'd just make my own.

Enter Hobby Lobby and the baby girl section! What do you suppose that I found while looking on this shelf?! Why only the perfect closet dividers ever! Literally, I squealed because they were so perfect and so cheap! I could not have made them more perfect for her room if I had tried! I love, love, love them!

After I found my dividers, I moved on to get my supplies for the wreath. I got everything and then headed out to make it! I am happy to report that making it was as easy as it looked and I absolutely loved how it turned out! I was SO proud of myself! It's now hanging on the door to her nursery! Here's the final product! :)

 If you want to try making one, here's where I found it! I also love that the one she made matched Abigail's nursery perfectly! I decided to add a little more to the wreath, so I bought a wooden A that fit the wreath, painted it black, and then hot glued it on.

All I can say is yay for easy crafts and Hobby Lobby! :)

Abigail's gift!

My sweet blog friend Ashley e-mailed me and said that she wanted to send a gift for Abigail! How precious is that! We received her package this week and couldn't wait to open it! :)

 super cute bag with a super sweet card! :)

Look at how precious those outfits are! I LOVE them and absolutely can't wait for Abigail to wear them!

Ashley, thank you again so much! Abigail and I are so blessed to have such a sweet blog friend like you! We can't wait until Miss Amelia gets here and then Amelia and Abigail can be blog baby friends! You ROCK! :)

Counting my blessings..

Today I found out that a co-worker lost her baby yesterday. She was 18 weeks pregnant. Over Christmas she found out that it was a little boy and she and her other 2 sons were so excited! When she went to the Dr. they discovered that the baby was not growing appropriately and probably had Downs syndrome or something along those lines. When she returned to the Dr. yesterday, they didn't find a heartbeat. Tonight she went to the hospital and they induced labor. I cannot begin to imagine how she must feel. My heart breaks for her and her family.

Tonight I am reminded that each day is a precious gift and we are not promised tomorrow. I am counting my blessings tonight and thanking God that my pregnancy is going wonderful and myself and my daughter are healthy. I am thankful that today at my Dr.'s appointment the Dr. just gushed about how perfectly my pregnancy was going and how Abigail is growing right on track and everything is just as it should be. I am thankful that I heard my daughter's heart beating today at 152 bmp! I am thankful that she has continuously kicked me all day today!  Thank you God for everything!

Please be in prayer tonight for my co-worker and her family. I know this road will not be an easy one.

It's a ......

GIRL!!

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Abigail Morgan Moss! She's waving hello to you!

The day of my sonogram, it was pure torture having to wait all day for my appointment that afternoon! As soon as that bell rang, I raced out of school and headed over to meet Bryan (who had already beat me there..ha!)

Throughout my pregnancy, I had always thought, "I think it's a girl." However, in Bryan's family his sister is the only girl out of tons of boys and the 2 grandchildren are also boys, so I knew the chance of us getting a girl was slim.

I arrived at the sonogram place and we checked in. We were taken back to our room and it was amazing! There were comfy couches and chairs everywhere so you could have had tons of people in there if you wanted to. The best part was that we got to see everything on a 42 in. plasma tv! It was so awesome!

The sonogram began and we tried to figure out what our sweet baby was! Well, I soon began to get very nervous because baby girl had her legs crossed AND had her umbilical cord in between her legs. Poor Katy kept looking and looking and could not get her to uncross her legs. I just KNEW that she was going to send us home and we were going to have to come back and try again.

Katy kept trying to get her to start moving around and was jiggling my belly and shaking her around. It must have worked because Katy then said, "Ok, now I can see! I'm about 98% that it's a GIRL!" Once I heard her say those words, I immediately started bawling! Katy was like, "Is that a good thing?" and we both said yes!

I think that I was just in shock because I never ever thought that I would actually get a girl! I don't think that until I heard her say it was a girl, that I realized how much I had really been wanting one. Katy got the "98%" shot but said she was going back to get her 100% shot! She was able to get one and then said she was 100% sure that it was a girl!

Bryan and I were so excited to find out it was a girl, not only because we had wanted one, but also because we would finally get to use our name! See, we've had our girl name picked out for about 2-3 years, but had no boy names at all that we agreed on! We've always loved the name Abigail, which is Hebrew for "Joy of the Father" and we decided on Morgan as her middle name after our best friend Morgan Smith. Morgan and Bryan have been best friends since 1st grade and Morgan was the one who introduced Bryan and I!

We were both elated and got to take our picture beside the "It's a girl!" wall! :) After we left, we met Jacque, Jason, and Jillian at Texas Roadhouse for our dinner celebration. After dinner, we began making our rounds and calling all of our friends and families to tell them our news! Everyone was ecstatic and so happy for us. It was the best day of our life!

We both went to school the next day wearing our pink shirts and everyone was so excited for us!

I kept telling Bryan that Nov. 16th was a day that I would love to relive over and over again. I will never forget the day my world changed-the day I found out I was going to have a precious baby girl!

Tomorrow's the big day!

Tomorrow we have our appointment to find out if Baby Moss is a BOY or a GIRL! I actually have my appointment with my OBGYN for Dec. 1st; however, that was the earliest they would schedule me and I frankly didn't want to wait that long! So, I made a separate appointment at La Bella Belly Spa! I found out that they will do a gender sonogram once you're 16 weeks and so I was sold!

I know this is the ONLY time that I will ever say this, but I pray that my baby decides to spread its legs tomorrow for everyone to see! :) Hopefully, if he/she is anything like his/her father, he/she will be anything but shy! ;)

People keep asking me if I have a feeling of what the baby is but I don't really know. I kinda think that it's a girl, but I'm sure it will probably be a boy! I don't really care though..just as long as he/she is healthy! :) I just can't wait to actually see my precious baby! It has been SO hard to wait so long to see a picture of my baby. Last time was at 8 weeks, so I know at almost 17 weeks it's going to look so much differently!

I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!

Telling Bryan the big news..

That afternoon, Bryan and I both needed to go work up at school. The timing was perfect because I actually needed to go get a digital pregnancy test (because you know it's not official until you see the "pregnant" on the digital test). We left and I went to Walmart, bought my test, and went to school. I took it at school and sure enough, pregnant popped right up! This was the first picture I took! :)

I had an official smile on my face after reading that! I went home and thank goodness Bryan was still at work. I had just enough time to get my things together and plan out exactly how I was going to tell Bryan!

A few months before, I bought a Texas Ranger's baby onesie, a baseball mit, and a baseball. I wrote on the baseball, "Surprise! You're going to be a Daddy!" 8-20-11 (the date I found out I was pregnant). I placed the pregnancy test inside everything. I even got the camera out and practiced placing it and videoing exactly where I needed it.

We had already planned to have a date night, so everything worked out perfectly! Bryan got home and we both got ready to go out to dinner at our favorite, Texas Roadhouse. Before we left, I told Bryan that because he had been so wonderful to me and helping me lately, I got him a surprise! I made him sit on the couch and close his eyes. While he did that, I ran and got my present, and turned the camera on to record. Later, he tells me that he thought I had bought him an iPad! HA!

Once he opened the present and once he figured out what it was, he was so excited! There might have been a few tears shed (and not by me..ha!). He kept saying, "I'm going to be a Daddy!" After that, several pictures were taken!

You can see all of the pictures here

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.610173306182.2087431.54100176&type=1&l=8f29329c06

After all of the pictures were through, we got in the car and headed to dinner. Bryan asked me about 50 million questions about when I found out, how I planned everything, etc. We had a wonderful dinner that night and then celebrated by making our first trip to Babies R Us! We bought baby a super cute teddy bear that's now in his/her nursery!

It was the best night ever and we were so excited to start this new journey as parents! God is so good!

I'm glad it's not just me!

The other night, we went to dinner at Gloria's and before we left Bryan took a shower and got all nice and dressed up. Well, it wasn't until we were in the car and already on our way, before I realized that he had put on his cologne. Now, in most cases, I LOVE his cologne! I was actually the one who picked it out and up until this day, I've always swooned over him when he wore it. However, that was BEFORE I got pregnant.

I had to lovingly ask him to not wear his cologne anymore until further notice. He didn't understand and said, "I thought you loved my colgne!" I had to explain that yes, I did, but now I couldn't stand the smell. I literally had to ride the whole trip in the car with the air on full blast, both the windows rolled down, and a napkin over my nose. It was that bad people!

I felt bad until I read this article about Beyonce experiencing the same thing. After I read it, I showed it to Bryan and said, "See! It's not just me! Beyonce feels the same way I do!"

Somehow though, I don't think it made him feel any better! ;)

The day I found out I was pregnant...

That week was stressful like normal because it was the week before school started. I'm actually glad it was, because it kept my mind off of obsessively thinking about whether I might be pregnant or not! Open house was that Friday night and Friday was the day that I was supposed to have my period. After the day was over, I still hadn't had my period so I thought things were looking pretty good!

I woke up Saturday morning, 8-20-11, at 7:00. Bryan was still asleep, so I knew it was the perfect time to take a pregnancy test. I snuck off to the bathroom, grabbed 2 Walmart tests from my secret stash, peed in a cup, and started the timer for my 2 minutes. I checked Facebook until my 2 minutes were up, and then it was time to check. I looked at the tests and the first thing I saw was 2 pink lines! I was like, "Wait! What do 2 lines mean again?!" So I looked on the box and saw that it meant PREGNANT! I was so in shock. I immediately took the 2nd test, and right off the bat, I saw 2 lines pop up! I didn't react like I thought I would. I didn't cry, I didn't panic. I was just excited and calm!

After I was done, I hid all my evidence and went back to bed. However, I layed there for like 5 minutes, before realizing there was NO way I was going to be able to go back to sleep. Therefore, I snuck out into the living room and got on my computer to research all the information I could find. Yes, I'd googled things about pregnancy online before, but this time it was different. This time I was actually pregnant! I researched information about my pregnancy, when my due date was, etc. From several websites I visited, they said my due date ranged from April 27-May 2nd. So basically, I knew the baby would arrive either during the last week of April or the first week of May.

After I finished all my researching, I decided to clean the house until Bryan woke up. When he did wake up, I did a great job staying cool and collected and acted like nothing life changing had happened to me that morning! ;) I then began to hash out my plan of how I was going to tell Bryan that we were pregnant. See, what Bryan didn't know was that I had planned out exactly how I wanted to tell him, and I had bought everything and had it ready since, oh back in May! I'd just been waiting on my perfect timing!

Little did Bryan know that his whole life was going to change later that evening! ;)

Guess what?!?!?!

I'm going to be a MOMMY!!!!!!! :):):)

Sweet Baby James

The first time I heard about Baby James was through a post that my blog friend Jen had written. The Sikes were friends with Jen and they found out that their 7 month old little boy had a brain tumor. When Jen first posted about James she was asking for prayer because he was scheduled to have surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible.

I can remember the day that I read about him. I was with Bryan celebrating our 2nd year anniversary, and in Jen's post she showed some adorable pictures of James. I had to show my husband b/c Baby James had the MOST awesome head full of hair that I'd ever seen! He was so cute. I showed Bryan and he couldn't believe it either. It struck me though when Bryan said, "It's so sad." I said, "What?" and Bryan said, "You know that he's going to loose all of his hair right?". It hurt when he said that. I hadn't even thought about it. I just prayed that everything would be alright with James and that his surgery would be successful.

Later that week, I shared the prayer request in my Sunday school class and in my growth group that week. I saw that Jen had posted a link and James' parents had started a blog to keep everyone up to date on James' progress. I began reading everyday and am still reading their updates. You can go there to read his whole story and everything that happened. If you do, you'll find out that his surgery was successful and they removed I think 95% of his tumor which was awesome. You'll also read that a week later after he kept having seizures, they did another MRI and found out that the tumor had agressively returned. You'll read that eventually the Dr.'s gave the Sikes two choices, to start James on chemo, or to take him home and make him comfortable. They decided to take him home and James went to be with Jesus on July 16, 2011. He was 8 months old.

I was devestated. I can only imagine how his parents feel. If me, a complete stranger feels devestated, I have no idea how the actual parents are feeling. It literally broke my heart every time that I read an update. I couldn't read them without crying. I was sitting in Texas Roadhouse telling my husband that they had decided to take James home and I was crying. I don't know why his story had such an impact on me, but it did.

From the Sikes family, I have learned that I must cherish every moment, because it could all be gone in an instant. I've learned the most important thing about being a parent isn't if the nursery is perfect, or I have all the latest gadgets and baby toys, all my child really needs is love. I've learned that instead of getting frustrated with my child when they throw a fit, or don't listen, or disobey, I should hug them and love them because they could be gone tomorrow. I don't even have children right now, but those are the things that I've learned from them about being good parents.

I praise Jesus for the impact that baby James had on me and everyone else during his short life on this earth. I praise Jesus that James is in Heaven right now, tumor free. I praise God for the impact that James' story will continue to have on people even after he's gone.

Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning...

Thankful!

So, about 2 weeks ago, I got a phone call from my teammate Kara saying that she had gotten a new speech job at another school, so she wouldn't be teaching with me anymore. I'll admit, I was pretty bummed that she was leaving. I'm going to miss her like crazy, but I'm happy that she's going to be getting to do something she really loves! I know God will bring the perfect person for me, just like He brought me Kara!

With Kara leaving, that meant that if I wanted to, I could move into her classroom. Her MUCH bigger, and spacious classroom! Even though we all know I hate moving rooms with a passion, I just couldn't pass up all of that space. The decision was made. I was moving rooms.

If you're an elementary teacher, you know exactly what I'm talking about, and why this task is SO extremely daunting. Elementary teachers are...shall I say, prepared...for a tsunami, flood, hurricane, tornado and anything else you can think of (as my husband put it). While we were moving things, he kept complaining that I had so much crap (which is true). However, I told him, I just chose to think of it as being prepared for anything! :)

Anyways, I began moving rooms before we left for Vegas and then picked it up when we got back. I have pretty much been up there nonstop, every day, working. By this past Saturday, I'd probably put in about 20 hrs working on my room. To say that I was exhausted is an understatement. Sunday afternoon, I went up there and worked for a couple of hours and then my friend Amanda said that she would come up and help me with my room, so of course I took her up on it!

I kid you not people, we worked from 7:00-12 Sunday night, only stopped for about 30 min. when our husband's brought us dinner, and we basically finished my entire room! I know, I'm still in shock. I know that if I was working alone, that would have probably taken me the whole rest of this week to finish. However, in one short evening with Amanda, it was all done! You have no idea how relieved I am! People, I'm actually ahead of the game instead of behind, like I thought I was! Whoo hoo!

I titled this post thankful, because I am. I am so thankful for Kara's friendship over the last few years, and having the chance to teach with her. I am sad to see her leave, but know our friendship will remain. I am SO thankful that I have a friend like Amanda who came up and helped me work in my room until midnight and helped me when I really needed it. She just wouldn't give up until it was finished! Thank you God for giving me the people that I need, in your perfect timing!

Guess where?!

Who wants to guess where I'm going in 2 days??!!!

Well, if you guess VEGAS, then you're right! About a month ago, we found this awesome deal online and couldn't pass it up! We're going with our friends Wes & Amanda and we can't wait! It's going to be fast and furious, but I know we'll have a blast. I just hope I survive leaving to make our flight at 5:00 in the morning and returning at midnight! Bryan and I have never been to Vegas, so you can expect lots of pictures when we get back! VIVA LAS VEGAS BABY!

Manure

My growth group at church just finished reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. If you haven't read this book, you need to go to the closest bookstore and buy it! It's amazing and smacks you in the face with a good dose of honest truth.  It reminds us of what God's Word says, what it really means, and what your life should look like when you are truly obsessed with God.

At the end of the book, Chan says:

"A friend of mine once said that Christians are like manure; spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly. Which are you? The kind that reeks, around which people walk a wide swath? Or the kind that trusts God enough to let Him spread you out-whether that means going outside your normal group of Christian friends, increasing your material giving, or using your time to serve others?"


Wow! What a great description. In answering Chan's question honestly, I will have to admit that I'm probably not in a huge pile; however, I'm not as evenly spread out as I could be. I do know where I WANT to be though! I want to trust God and allow Him to spread me out, in whatever way He wants to.

I never thought I'd say this about myself, but I desire to be a pile of extremely spread out manure! :) What about you?