Pics of Rachel's completed room

pink, pink, and more pink!!!
The child had more clothes than either of us. I'm a little afraid she'll skip her newborn size and go straight to 0-3 months. She doesn't have very many newborn outfits and I left the tags on most of them so they can be exchanged for a bigger size if necessary. I have washed all the 0-3 months size. Now, I need to buy another pack of hangers!!!!!

32 weeks 3 days

It's hard to identify anything in the first picture but you can see Rachel's face in the second one. You can see one of her eyes, her nose, mouth, and a chubby cheek. Yes, she is chubby. She weighs 4lbs 14 oz at 32 weeks 2 days. She is in the 64%. My child is above average already!!!!!! Her head is facing down now. I swear I felt her flip all the way around last Friday. It was the strangest feeling and sight.
I really think the picture of her face is amazing. Greg and I both think it is the best ultrasound pic we have. They wanted to do another ultrasound to be sure she is growing b/c of my blood pressure. Let's just say she IS growing. After an excellent doctor's appt, Greg and I grabbed lunch and went to a Durham Bulls baseball game. With temps in the 80's and low humidity, it was a perfect night for a baseball game. I have been lucky that every time I have done something outside lately it has been much cooler than expected. This has not been a typical NC summer!!!!!
I spend most of my days, visiting friends, going out to lunch, organizing something in the house, or trying to think of what else to do to get ready for the princess. Life is wonderful! At first, I dreaded being pregnant in the summer, but now I wouldn't want it any other way. I am so thankful that I do not have to get up and go to work and I can prop my feet up when I need to. My friend that is due 3 days before me totally agrees. Most teachers want to have their baby in April or May so they have the entire summer to spend with the baby. That would be ideal but I now have a newfound respect for people that come to work in their 8th and 9th month of pregnancy.
I go back to the doctor on July 23rd. The appts are not very exciting......blood pressure check, weight check, heartbeat.......in and out in 15 minutes. I am so glad I had an ultrasound on Wednesday so I could see her again. I know she'll be here for me to hold before I know it!

Other Rachel Happenings

My friends at work threw an awesome shower for Rachel.  There was so much delicious food that I couldn't come close to trying it all but everything I had was great. 
My co-workers are the best!  Rachel got lots of cute stuff.  I opened her first newborn size outfit in this picture.  It looks so small!  I can't believe she'll wear clothes that tiny.  I washed her first load of clothes on Friday.  I know I won't be excited about that after it happens on a regular basis but it was fun to try to fold all the tiny clothes.
Caroline and I worked hard to arrange Rachel's closet.  I had been cramming everything in there because I really wasn't sure what to do with it all.  With Caroline's help, I got it all organized and put away blankets and 0-3 month clothes in her dresser.
She even has her own luggage tags.  A friend from work got two of these for Rachel.  The other one just says Rachel and it is on the same background.  Too cute!!!!!!

My New Baby!

No, Rachel's not here yet but I do have  a new baby.  A group of my wonderful friends all went in together and got me a Kate Spade diaper bag.  It's amazing b/c I would NEVER buy it for myself but I have drooled over it since I found out I was pregnant.  They gave it to me at my work shower.    I am so lucky to work with such thoughtful and generous people.  My friend, Sally laughs and says Rachel won't need anything until she is 16.  I'm almost ready to agree with her.  

Welcome to the Third Trimester!

The days continue to fly by! I went to the doctor on Thursday for my glucose test. The stuff you have to drink, tastes just like flat Sunkist (thanks for the warning Stacy!). It wasn't horrible but I don't want to drink it again. I'll get the results in a week or so. I met with the nurse practitioner while waiting for my blood to be drawn. She was happy with everything so far. She did warn me about pre-eclampsiya. My blood pressure hasn't gone up but I guess it is consistently higher than they would like. She wants me to walk everyday and cut back on sodium. Since I don't add salt to anything, I guess I just have to eat out less. That should get better since I only have 8 more days of school left so I'll feel more like cooking.
We made up Rachel's bed. We hope to hang the letters this week. It's really starting to come together.
We'll be busy with yardwork and house projects for the next few weekends. There's always something to do!

Rachel's Room

We got a call from Babies R Us on Monday that the crib and dresser were in. We decided to skip the gym that night and go pick it up. After getting everything home, we realized that we would need help to get the furniture in the house so it sat in the back of the truck until our friends came over on Friday night. Rich and Greg had their work cut out for them because that furniture was heavy . They unpacked the dresser and Tracy & I cleaned up all the mess. I wanted them to put the crib together but I didn't want to press my luck!
Greg ended up putting the crib together today. The room is starting to come together. We hope to get the mattress in the next couple of weeks so I can go ahead and make up the bed. I really want to see the complete picture! We're trying to decide if there is room for a rocking chair or not. I always knew the bedroom was small but didn't realize how small until we put her furniture in.
I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow. I'll be busy at work this week with End-of-Grade testing. The countdown is on....17 more days with students.
I went back to work from jury duty on Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, I was ready to go back to jury duty!!!! I told several of my friends that it was a shame I had to wait 2 years to serve again b/c it was quite nice being away from all the kids for a few days. We got finished on Wednesday b/c the guy took a plea bargin. Guilty on 2 counts of armed robbery. Each sentence carried 38-54 months. I guess once, he figured out that you could tell it was him on the second video, he really had no choice. Glad he is off the streets for awhile.

The Rachel Report

These are the letters that Greg painted for Rachel's room.

Tomorrow, I will be 23 weeks pregnant. Time really flies. I had my 22 week appt on Wednesday. Rachel weighs 1lb 3 oz. She measures on the 22 week mark. I got a couple pictures but her arm was covering her face (wonder who she gets that from???) so no really good ones. I've gained 2 lbs but please note that Rachel is 1lb 3 oz of that!!!!!!!!!!!
We went to Babies R Us on Wednesday night to order her crib and dresser. We went on Wed to use the 20% off coupon that a friend of mine gave me. The rest of the world was there trying to use their coupons too. They didn't have the furniture in stock so we ordered it. We should be getting a call in the next couple of weeks to pick it up. Greg is really looking forward to putting it all together.......yeah right! We were out of our minds and also decided to register that night. Who knew there were so many choices? After 3 hours in the store, we were finally ready to go. We've officially sworn off that store for awhile!
I go back to the doctor again on May 28 for my glucose testing. I have to drink a sugary drink and sit for an hour then have my blood drawn to see how my body processes sugar. If I fail, I'll go back for a 3 hour test later. Let's really hope I don't fail! I have the option of getting a 3-D ultrasound that day too. Greg has told me I shouldn't get it b/c insurance doesn't cover it and it will be a couple hundred dollars out of pocket. He also says that we will see her in person soon enough. I agreed at the time, but I may try to convince him otherwise in the next couple of weeks!!!!
I have 29 more days of work. I'm looking forward to a summer of doing nothing. I was called for jury duty on May 11th so I may even miss a few days of work b/c of that. I know that I was only called b/c I opened my mouth a couple weeks ago when my friends were getting called and mentioned how I've never been called in Wake Co. I should learn to keep my mouth shut!
Greg is staying busy at work. He was off yesterday which was nice to have the whole weekend to hang out with him.
We hope everyone has a great week!

Valentine's cards

I went to my friend, Shawntel's, house to make Valentine's cards. I love the way they turned out. I also made three cute pouches that I put chocolate in for the teachers I work with. Everyone at school that saw them, loved them. I stuffed them with Ghirardelli Chocolates so it made them even better. We are going to make birthday cards this week, so look out for those pictures soon!

Snow in NC

It really does snow in NC. It doesn't happen very often but I get so excited when it does. It snowed on January 20th. This made a great excuse to watch the inauguration all day! Since it was a teacher workday anyway, I was even more excited b/c the students wouldn't have to make up a snow day. Unfortunately, school was also closed the following day b/c of all the ice on the roads. So, we'll be at work on President's Day! If it is going to snow here, it always seems to happen around Greg's birthday. By the end of the week, temperatures were back in the 50's and all the snow was gone. It was beautiful while it lasted. I'm still holding out for one more snow day this winter.

Happy 2009!

I can't believed I haven't blogged in over a month. Where does the time go? Here's an update on the last month of our life.
Sometime around the 15th of December I got a cold that I couldn't shake. Nothing is worse than to be sick in December. There is too much to do. Well the upper respiratory infection I had, led to pink eye. Bet you didn't know that upper respiratory infections and pink eye were related b/c I sure didn't until it happened to me! After several different prescriptions, it finally went away. I did have to wear my glasses for two full weeks. I learned that it is important to have an updated glasses prescription because it sucks not being able to see very well. I'll be purchasing new glasses as soon as I have an eye doc appt.
Everyone came to our house for Christmas Eve. We enjoyed a wonderful day with the family and a delicious meal.....even though I cooked the turkey upside down for several hours......I never claimed to be Martha Stewart.
We left early Christmas morning for the drive to Syracuse. We stopped for breakfast at the Waffle House like last year because that is the only thing open on Christmas day. We had a great time in Syracuse and I got to see snow. Not as much as I wanted, but some was better than none. The drive back was HORRIBLE. I swear I will only drive on major holidays from now on. My sanity can't take 12.5 hours in the car.
We enjoyed a week at home before going back to work. We had our house appraised because we've jumped on the refinancing bandwagon. Our new interest rate, saves us several hundred dollars a month. Yeah! We had some friends over for New Years Eve to play games.
Going back to work was hard, but we are pretty much back in the swing of things again. We even made it to the gym twice last week. We're aiming for three times this week but we'll see!
I hope to post more often in the coming weeks. Maybe if I'd stay off facebook, I would have more time to update my blog.