25 Weeks!

I am 25 weeks and three days! I can't believe how quickly being pregnant has gone. I mean some days are slow, but for the most part it is flying by. Greg and I had a nice time while he was off. Greg got lots of stuff done. And for the most part we are ready for Burke to arrive. His nursery is adorable! I will post pictures when it is completely finished. We took a quick trip to San Antonio and that was fun! My sister helped me get registered at Babies R Us. Wow! That store is amazing! I think I went a little crazy with the scanner, but it sure was fun to dream and wish! Actually, if I get nothing but Burke all my dreams will come true.

So this week I am experiencing back pain big time! And let me tell you it isn't so fun. Last night I woke up on my back (which is a no no, I know, but I didn't purposely lay in that position) and it was killing me! OMGosh it was hurting. It was miserable. I tossed and turned all night. This morning I feel fine, but sleeping was not enjoyable. Other than the back pain I still feel great! I have started to gain weight, which I knew was inevitable, but I was sure hoping to not gain any until the last month. I have officially gained seven pounds. I have a never ending craving for sweets. Maybe it is the Halloween candy, but it is a sweet tooth like I have never had. This concerns me as Burke's daddy has a major sweet tooth! Whenever I put a piece of chocolate in my mouth I simply say, "Burke wanted it". It seems to work quite well! Greg doesn't give me any grief!

We received the awesome Cd's that I told you all about. Love, love, love, them. In fact, I told myself to stop listening to them as I don't want to be sick of them by the time Burke arrives!

I think of Burke pretty much all the time. I have my concerns about being a good enough Mom. About making sure his childhood is as full as mine was. About giving him everything Greg didn't have. About being positive enough, patient enough, confident enough, calm enough, etc. Greg and I have been married almost 15 years. Our life is going to change and it will never be the same. It is a wonderful feeling, but at times it makes me scared. God gave me this incredible gift and I just want to be the Mom that I know I was meant to be. All I want is to be Super Mom! I hope my expectations aren't too high!

Happy Halloween!

Alicia

24 Weeks!

Everything is going great! I saw my OB yesterday and he was very happy with how Burke is progressing. I am doing a 24 hour urine collection to get a base line of protein in my urine. My OB does this for anyone who has had high blood pressure in the past. Which I have. I do not currently have high blood pressure, but he wants to have a base line test in case my blood pressure were to increase. So I am having fun today collecting my urine! Sorry if that was too much info!

Greg is on vacation this week! Yahoo! Since we can't travel we are just relaxing around the house. There were still a few "to do" things left, but we are wrapping them all up. I am going to get the curtains hung today in Burke's room. His room is looking very cute...I must say!

I found the neatest lullaby songs! I just have to share them. I love music and I am a die hard lover of The Smashing Pumpkins. Greg loves Metalica and we both like U2. I found lullaby's made by our favorite rock bands to the songs we grew up singing, or should I say rocking out too! If you take the link from this page, scroll down a bit and you will see where you can listen to samples. I just placed my order today! I just loved them and I'm sure Burke will too! Let me know what you think!

My lovely nieces were here this past weekend. It was so great to see them! I have really missed them. The girls were pretty excited to see the crib in Auntie's house! I love those girls so much! Here are a few pictures!



I hope this finds you all doing well. Thanks for stopping by! Take care and check out those lullaby songs! They ROCK!

Love,

Alicia

23 Weeks!!

Our nursery furniture arrived last Thursday! Can you say excited! When Greg got home there were five large boxes on our patio. I thought Greg would probably wait and set all the furniture up on the weekend. Nope! He got right to work. He had the crib assembled in about an hour. Our only hang up was the side that slides up and down. I have asked around and it seems most parents have problems with that side! He set up the bookshelf on Friday and we are waiting for the dresser to be delivered. We were super busy!

Greg had three days off and I can't say we did anything other than nest! We worked on the back yard, decorated for fall, hung three ceiling fans (which is mandatory in Houston), and we went to Target to register. Our Target had been damaged in the hurricane so I went to the new Target. It was so picked over. It was terrible. We went ahead and scanned a few things, but today I am headed to Babies R Us to register. The most exciting thing is, that I found the stroller of my dreams! I absolutely love it and it is a must for someone with RA. I am so excited to stroll Burke around in it!

My sister and nieces weren't able to come last weekend so they will be here tomorrow. My niece Addy, who is just five months old had to have surgery. It was nothing too major, but poor Addy had a rough go. Hopefully she will be back to her old self when she gets here.

Greg starts vacation on Sunday! Yahoo!!! His last vacation was Thanksgiving of last year. It was our choice to wait this long. But I must say his vacation is much needed. I just hope we don't kill each other spending nine days together! Haha!

Burke is moving more and more each day! It is such a wonderful feeling! I just love it. I know I type that every week, sorry...it's just an amazing feeling! People have asked how my RA is doing. It is actually doing very well. I have had a couple days where I don't feel so great, but usually if I just rest I feel better. I can honestly say that I have never felt this free of symptoms since I was diagnosed eight years ago. All the powerful drugs don't compare to the antibodies that baby Burke is putting into my system. Truly a God thing.

Until week 24!

Alicia

Our baby boy has a name!

The name was decided on many years ago. It was decided when we were going to college and had no idea how long it would be before getting the chance to give a cute little baby boy his name. The thing was we forgot about that name. We had selected three names we liked. For some reason I couldn't commit. Then, Greg said, "what happened to Burke?" I said, "that's his name!" I knew that moment that was my baby's name. Burke William. Where did Burke come from you ask? We had a friend in college. Ryan Burke. Everyone called him Burke. And I loved that name. William is Greg's middle name. When I found out we were having a boy I just had to give him Greg's middle name. Doesn't it sound perfect?! He is my little Burkie. He has a cute name, but a strong name. His name is not popular..which if you know me, you knew I wouldn't pick a popular name. His name is different, but not too different, it's perfect!

I am 22 weeks today! I can't believe it. I had Greg take my picture this weekend and I do look a little pregnant! I gained two pounds in one week. Wow! How in the world did that happen? I feel great though. I sleep like a baby, except when I wake up to go to the bathroom. Then Burke gives me a little squirm and I can't fall back asleep. I am too excited to sleep. I just love how it feels to feel him. I am still walking two miles a day and enjoy it thoroughly again. There was a time it was just too much work, but it isn't now. Life is very good!

I wanted to tell you about my friend Marcy. She follows my blog and I follow her blog. We both are in line to adopt from China, we both are Jayhawks, we both love Kansas. Both of our lives have taken a different turn, as Marcy, is now adopting from Kazygstan, and as you all know, I am pregnant. Marcy sent me the cutest gift this last week. I wanted to show you all!


Cute isn't it! And Burke will love it! Thanks again Marcy! I really hope we can meet up in KC sometime!

This past week we ordered Burke's furniture! I finally got all the sorting done, the closets are cleaned, and the drawers are semiorganized! Thursday night we sat down and made our big purchase. I love what we got Burke. I am a very light furniture girl. Our master bedroom is white wood. Our living room is white and honey. Our dinning room is a darker honey. I knew if I had a boy I wanted his room to be a dark Espresso! I LOVE it! I just can't wait to have it in his room!

Ok, this is getting a little long. My sister and nieces will be here Friday. I can't wait to see them! I plan on doing some scrapbooking this week...I need to get caught up!

Burke and I thank you for checking in on us. If you click on the pictures you can see the ultrasound and the china set better. Of course, you can also see that my skin is very blotchy during this pregnancy. I hear that is normal?!

Love,

Alicia

21 Weeks!

Our little baby boy is making his mama smile all the time. I am finally able to feel the little guy moving, wiggling, maybe even punting! Last Friday, I had been busy all day. I finally laid down as I was exhausted. Suddenly, I felt him. I felt my baby boy! Five days later, it seems that I feel him more and more often. I was stressing that I hadn't felt him. My OB kept saying, "you'll feel him". He was right and what a feeling it is!! So, you want to know our baby boy's name? OK...I'll tell you next week!


This past weekend we did some serious shopping. We bought the baby's nursery bedding. PBK had the set I liked on sale. I knew once it went on sale it would sell out. So, Saturday night we went down and bought it! I love it! I also, had to break down and buy some maternity shirts. Suddenly all my shirts became belly shirts. Not cool! My sister, and friend, Carrie, will be proud of me!

Of course, once I had the bedding all bought I knew I needed to buy the actual furniture. Well, I've been dragging my feet on this one as the baby room had become the "catch all" room. Monday, Greg started moving stuff. And before I knew it we had already gotten a lot done. I am almost finished. I've had to do a lot of sorting and debating if I really like some of the decor that I have that hasn't been out since our last move two years ago. I decided I didn't. I have the donation center coming tomorrow and I have three boxes full of stuff. Plus, I am a scrapbooker. And I think all srapbookers will agree...we simply get too much stuff. We like everything, but we always find something else we like better and end up having a TON of stuff that is never used. I confess I think I am a pack rat.

I read in my nursing book that anything that annoyed you before the baby will totally annoy you once you have the baby, i.e. my disaster of a closet! So, as soon as I type this I am going to go tackle the closet. More stuff to donate, I'm sure of that!

I have to tell you real quick what a good wife I am. After our big appointment at Dr.K's last Thursday. I told Greg I wanted Ben and Jerry's Ice cream...the best ice cream in the world. Well, as we were driving there Greg said "well the Gingerman is right down the road, I could sure go for a celebration beer". I smiled and said, "sure honey, I'd love to go sit and watch you drink a beer and then drive home in Houston rush hour"! Greg was happy, and it was a nice day to sit outside and drink water!!

I hope you all are having a great week! It is starting to feel fall like here. I love it! Certainly, not like fall in Lawrence, KS, but it is cooling off.

Until next week!

Alicia