3 Weeks to Go!

The above picture is of Samantha Harry, who is an October (2008) baby....she's the daughter of a friend of mine from work.

I shouldn't have to explain who these four characters are (Mom, Grandma, Dawn, and Laurie)

Mom and Me

I love gift cards (in spite of the funny face I made in this picture)!

(L to R) Katherine Harry, Jennifer Miller, Barbara Sanders, and Jennifer Audifre...all friends from work

The gift table

Darlene and 6-year old A'sharea Peele

Carol Sandidge and Judy Smith (more friends from work)

This is the last bare-belly picture I'm going to post....hopefully it won't get too much bigger than this!

37 Weeks Pregnant and about to Pop!

Chase and I have made it to the final stretch (no pun intended, ha, ha!) of this pregnancy. It's been another exciting week beginning with last Wednesday's OB appointment. Blood pressure, weight, belly measurement, and fetal heartbeat were all great; AND, Dr. Yonker said I was 1 cm dilated.

On Saturday, my lady friends from work hosted a surprise baby shower for me at the Briar Patch Tea Room in Poquoson (all of the above pics except the bare belly shots are from the shower). Barbara Sanders handled the invitations and decorations, and she did a fabulous job! Another beautiful nautical/"fishy" themed shower! It's neat because all of the showers have been so unique even though the themes have been similar. This one was especially fun because I had no idea where it was going to be held and who all would be there. My sisters gave me a ride to the Tea Room Saturday morning and I was pleasantly surprised to find a few close friends from work there as well as my mom and grandma. The food was good and Chase was spoiled with even more gifts! It was a great way to conclude all of the baby showers. Now, Tim and I are officially ready to nest. We spent this past Sunday after church buying some of the last few items off of our registry that we hadn't already received. Between gift cards and a few exchanges, we didn't have to spend any money! Praise God!!! All of these showers have been a huge financial break for us in preparing for Chase's arrival. We are beyond blessed.

Today, Tim and I went for my 37 week check-up. My belly measurement is at 38 weeks now (it was only at 36 weeks last week so I've grown 2 cm in just a week!). I'm still 1 cm dilated. I tested negative for the Group Strep test (yay!). Now, it's just a waiting game to see when Chase will arrive. Will he be early, on time, or late? I hope not the latter....I'm so anxious that I don't think I could stand it if he was a week or two late! On the flip side, I know every additional day in the womb is beneficial for Chase so I'm trying not to be selfish. I haven't had any contractions up to this point....just a few really minor Braxton and Hicks, but even those are hard for me to pin-point because when Chase moves he makes my whole belly tighten which almost feels like a contraction. He is running out of room in there!

For now, I'm on no restrictions. I'm still working, walking, and living life as I normally do. I'm going to take it one day at a time and see how things go as far as work is concerned. Since I have an office job, I really have no excuse not to work at this point since things are going so well health-wise. I should be at work through next week and probably the following week if things don't progress between now and then.

I'll be sending out an update if anything eventful happens at next week's appointment; otherwise, you can assume that everything is going well. When the "big day" does finally come, Tim and I will try to keep you in the loop as much as possible. Tim's not much of a blogger and we're not into lap-tops or blackberries, so please don't be offended if you don't hear the news right away. We'll try to inform immediate family first and let the news trickle down the chain from there.

Showered with Love

Playing with one of Chase's toys....hope he'll enjoy it as much as I do!

Sporting my "Mother to Be" Crown and Corsage

Holding up one of the many adorable outfits that Chase will be wearing....my neighbors Brooke and Macy are in the background.


Everyone listening to Dawn for instructions on how to play one of the games at the shower


My first baby shower cake...it's long gone now! I think I ate at least 25% of it all by myself!

My mother-in-law actually made these milk chocolate and white chocolate sea critters for the shower in Hopewell!

Are these decorations cute or what?

The Dessert Table.....SWEEET! You can see a glimpse of the cake that Patti Allen made for me....her cakes are always a work of art and they taste as good as they look!

More Beautiful Table Decorations

Here I am in my last month of pregnancy! My dear friend Kristina Cotten is standing next to me sporting her 6-month baby bump! We're both having boys!

This is the awesome "cupcake cake" that was devoured at my shower today....yum!

Here are the sweet girls from my Sunday School class who master-minded today's shower (Left to Right: Katie Byers holding her son Gavin, Debi Warren, Me, Heather Brady)

Wow....just one more month to go (unless Chase arrives early)! Over the past few weeks, I've been showered with love and lots of wonderful gifts for Chase. I've enjoyed every moment of the pre-Chase stage, but I'm looking forward to his arrival within the next few weeks. The above pictures are just a glimpse of how beautiful and fun all of the baby showers have been. I have TONS more pictures, but decided to just post a few here on the blog. I explained the first shower pretty well in the last blog posting, so I guess I should elaborate on the last two showers a little.....

Amber threw me a shower in Hopewell last Saturday and it was wonderful! As you can see in some of the pictures, the decorations were nautical and "fishy".....so cute! Several of Tim's neighbors, friends, and family members made it to the shower to help us celebrate! Dawn and Laurie tagged along with me too, and I was so thankful to have their help and support. The food was great at the shower....Amber and Pam went all out! We received a lot of great gifts, including a personalized wishing well with all kinds of practical items.

My Sunday School class threw me a baby shower/brunch today at Debi Warren's house in Newport News. Once again, the decorations were adorable (mostly "Finding Nemo" stuff) and the food was out of this world! I guess I get a little too excited over food these days, ha, ha! Anyhow, it was great getting to celebrate this time with the girls from my Sunday School class. My friend Kristina Cotten even drove all the way from Maryland for the shower! I'm so blessed to have such great friends!

One final shower to go next Saturday from my girlfriends at work....I don't know hardly any details of this shower, so it will be a surprise! Can't wait!

Chase is already one spoiled little man! Thanks to all of you for sharing these special moments with us whether it's been through showers or other occasions! We love you!

My First Baby Shower

My sisters threw me my first baby shower on February 28th, and it was absolutely wonderful! The decorations, food, cake, guests, and games were all fabulous! I was in awe at all that my sisters had done for me. The theme of the shower consisted of little yellow duckies and the motto "Anxiously Awaiting Chase." I'm so blessed to have such wonderful sisters. When we were younger, we often fought like cats and dogs; but, now that we're older, we're the best of friends. I had so many loving guests at the shower, and they all gave me such nice gifts! Since the shower was held at my house, I didn't have to worry about lugging gifts around. I'm already well-stocked on baby clothes. I spent the two days after the shower washing baby clothes and putting them away in the dresser/changing table in the nursery. Fortunately, one of those days was a snow day where Tim and I got to stay home from work and organize baby things.

In contrast to the snow day that occurred just a week ago, I spent last weekend sitting outside at the patio table in 75-degree weather putting together my baby scrapbook. I had over 100 pictures from the shower and several other "growing belly" pictures that I've been keeping track of month to month. Hard to believe I'm already at 34 weeks now! It's funny to look back at the pictures to see how much I've grown. I remember thinking I was big over Christmas, but looking at my profile now dwarfs what I looked like over the holidays!

Chase continues to be quite the wiggle worm. He does his daily gymnastics on my bladder and makes me have to pee every half and hour or so, but it's totally worth the joy of knowing that I have a healthy, active little miracle growing inside of me! We went for my 34 week check-up this past Monday and everything is still going smoothly. My next appointment is on March 25th. Following that appointment, I'll start going for check-ups every week. We're on the final stretch!

There's still lots of fellowship to look forward to that revolves around Chase. My sister-in-law is throwing a shower for me on behalf of Tim's side of the family this Saturday. The ladies in my Sunday School class are throwing a shower for me the Saturday after this one. Finally, I get to spend the last Saturday in March enjoying my last shower that a close friend from work has organized. That's a total of four baby showers!!! A part of me feels guilty for having so many showers. On the other hand, it makes me so thankful to have such a loving family and group of friends to support me during this time. God has definitely blessed me so much during this pregnancy. I'm oftentimes brought to tears just thinking of how blessed I am to carry Chase and to be surrounded by so many loved ones during this time.