Our Thanksgiving

Every year we have done Thanksgiving at Todd's mom's house with her sisters, mother, their kids and their kids....Its one of my favorite times of the year. This year-we are all still raw from her passing and getting together at her house just wasn't going to work for anyone. So we all split up to do our own thing. Hopefully next year we can recoop but it wasn't in the cards this year.

Todd and I had tons of offers for the holidays-a trip to Atlanta to be with his siblings and stepmom, a trip to mobile to be with his dad, a family reunion with my dad's side of the family...

But we needed to just do something...for us. So we planned a simple Thanksgiving menu (fried Turkey, ham, mac&cheese, Broccoli casserole, dressing, cranberry sauce and pecan pie) and had Todd's stepdad over to our house for dinner. I invited my parents to join us since they haven't really gotten to spend alot of time with him since Kathy's passing. He brought over Max, his pomadoodle and we had a simple and relaxing dinner, on Wednesday evening. We followed it up with a viewing of Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

Thursday morning we woke up and made a breakfast of eggs, bacon, strawberry muffins and hot coco. We stayed in our jammies and we watch the Thanksgiving parade.

Around 12 we went to pick out our first real Christmas tree. Every year we have had an artificial tree and this year Todd really wanted a real one. So-he won. Even though I sneeze everyday-all day because of it. I adore our tree.

After the tree was in place-we snuggled in with Thanksgiving leftovers and watched Aurthur's Christmas...followed by a nap.

Once we were awake, Todd climbed in the attic and brought down all 15 boxes of Xmas decor!

We decided to change up how we decorate this year. The den is more Earthy and minimal and my "frufru" is in the dining room. (pics to come soon!)

Usually, after Thanksgiving, the girls spend the night with Todd's parents and we go Black Friday Shopping all night. Well, this year we didn't do that (for the obvious reason) my mom did go with me to Belk for 1 hour to let me get some boots and the kids some clothes. 

Todd went hunting Friday & Saturday and the girls and I worked on decorations, watched movies (hello 25 days to Christmas on ABCfamily!) and napped. It was very relaxing.

Sunday-our sneaky little Elf,  "Fluffy Ice", arrived for the 2nd Christmas Season. He brought with him his famous Elf Snacks and fixing for Hot Cocoa and a few happies for the girls. Also...a note from Santa-explaining his "why" of sending "Fluffy Ice".

Coming up we have a trip to Louisiana planned for my great aunt/uncles 60th wedding anniversary! I am getting to travel pass my restricted amount because I begged (and ill be in the specialist Tuesday so if I have any change...they will catch it fast :) and then 3 weeks of school/work until Christmas Break! During those 3 weeks I have 2 specialist appointments and 2 reg. dr. appointments. :) and hopefully 3 new girly bedrooms to show you!

Growing Baby! 21 weeks!

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain: 14 lbs.
 

Maternity clothes? Live in Maternity pants. Old Navy Skinnies mainly. Dresses are normal-some maternity tops-some regular ones :)

Stretch marks? Not any new ones. I believe Madyson gave them all to me first go around.

Best moment this week:  Watching Amelia yawn on the sonogram. She is just so sweet.

Miss Anything? Nope :)

Food cravings:Pickles, Apple Juice, Soup, Onion Rings

Anything making you queasy or sick: Smells. 

Gender: Girl. Amelia Margaret

Labor Signs: nope

Pregnancy Issues: Diagnosed with Parvovirus B19, sent to specialist to monitor babies Cerebral Blood Flow, Thyroid levels have gone wack, Anterior Placenta, Breech Baby, Tachycardia returned :) All are under control and being monitored.

Wedding rings on or off? wedding band on-engagement ring off

Happy or Moody most of the time:Happy...well unless the house is a mess :) 

Amelia's Nursery! We are busy getting ready for the holidays as well as creating all three girls new rooms! Amelia's room is very eclectic. It has a vintage modern feel-but cozy in that!

 Her bedding is made from fun ivory/coral/aqua fabric. Its going to be a surprise until reveal day :)

Her crib is from Ikea

Her changing table I purchased from Craigslist this is the "Before" picture

Her wall art is a mix of "The Best of Pinterst" plus some vintage prints (and a Disney pic!")

...and there is more but you'll have to wait to see :)

On Tuesday of this week we had our 2 meeting with Dr. P. He is very "happy, happy, happy" with Amelia although she is very stubborn and doesn't like sonogram days. I spoke before about how she yawns and doesn't participate well with profile pictures. Well this time, after a few shakes of the belly to get her to rotate, she threw up her pointer finger and turned directly to the Doppler like she was saying, "LOOK, I am not doing this today. LEAVE ME ALONE" 

Oh boy! Another strong-willed girl. Good thing their momma can go toe-to-toe with them :)
    

tonights blog...

Normal blogging will resume tomorrow. Tonights blog has been interrupted with Chick-fil-a and Disney's Brave :)

*Family Time*

Dr. Appointment-Date Night-and more :)

This past weekend Todd and I had a fun little date night to celebrate his birthday. With all the changes in our lives recently-we haven't had a time to sit down-the two of us-and talk, relax, and laugh. We are truly best friends and when this time isn't present...we both get a bit crazy.

So Friday, Madyson was going to a slumber party and Aubrie was going to have some cousin time with my nieces and my mom. So Todd and I went to Bass Pro Shop to purchase him some new camoflauge for hunting season :) (Romantic...I know)
Then we stopped in at O'Charleys and had some PepperJack Cheese Wedges...salads, etc. Our server was a cool chick whose birthday was the next day (we get to know our servers)
So we left her a fun birthday tip :)

Then we went over to Target to start our Christmas Shopping...then to Steinmart....then home :)

We enjoyed no phones, no distractions, no talking about what has happened in the past few days...just us and the things we love (traveling, desserts...:)

Saturday-we had to come back to reality to help Todd's aunts clean out his mother's closets. Then we had a birthday party to attend for our sweet 2 year old God-daughter :)

Sunday-we went to church and then came home and cleaned house.

This is the last week of school before Thanksgiving Break-and I am so excited to get 9 days (5 weekdays and 4 weekend days) with my kiddos!

Today, I had an appointment with Dr. M. My regular OB-we ofcourse got to see Miss Amelia :)She is so adorable. Yawning throughout her sonogram-she isn't near as excited to see us as we are to see her!

She is chilling in a breech position-legs thrown up over her head-and the placenta is anterior. Not a big deal since she will be a c-section baby anyway-but still...more to watch.

The sono tech also did a cervical measurement and that looks good! (yah!) so all my contractions aren't bothering her little home inside me.

I have 3 more doctor appointments over the next 4 weeks. Each a sonogram-each a few hours long. As inconvenient as they are-I can not begin to express how thankful I am to be sitting here. If we remember back to November 2011-I was in agony waiting to see if our other baby would get its heartbeat and would develop properly-only to spend Thanksgiving break mourning the loss of our wee one. 

God has brought our family so far over the past year-and as hard as the miscarriage was-I am grateful, thankful, and fully in awe of our Lord for allowing us to struggle with that to see how minor all these "precautions" with Amelia are. 

My biggest concern for this visit was being put on bed rest (like I was with Madyson) mainly because I love my 25 kiddos I get to spend my days with and really wanted to continue through the holidays. Dr. M, gave me the "Limit your extracurricular activities" but said to just take it easy when I can...at least for 4 more weeks.
 

Here is Amelia's latest sonogram picture :) Tomorrow Ill be back with the 20 week belly shot and nursery update :)

Visit 1 with prenatal specialist

Today we had our 1st visit with the prenatal specialist Dr. P.

First let me say, I am thankful that I have great doctors and Todd has amazing insurance. Amelia def. would be our most expensive baby to date....and she isnt even here yet!

Second, the appointment went well. All of her measurements, blood flow, etc. are normal. Praise the Lord. Meaning that as of now, he believes she falls in the 85% of babies that do not contract the disease. However, for him to be 100% sure we will be visiting him 3 more times over the next 6 weeks. That means a sonogram every 2 weeks. Amelia will also be our most photographed baby :)

She is 100% girl :), very stubborn in the fact they had to poke the mess out of my abdomen to get her to do what the needed. She is active-a thumb sucker-and has long legs :)

Prayers for her to continue to be well and for momma to grow! Shes a little squished :)

Next week is my Regular OB appointment with Dr. M. And I will also have a nursery update :)

..........the old man is snoring.

God will not give us  more than we can handle. That is a promise. But sometimes-it sure hurts to go through His plan for life.

When Todd and I first got married we got this little mutt dog. We drove 3 hours to this crazy puppy mill in the middle of the woods to pay $100 for this little tiny ball of fur-we were told was a girl. Bella Broadus :) We drove to Petsmart to purchase Bella a bed, and food and toys...only to find out Bella was a boy. We named him Reece and he became our first baby.

Reece was a great puppy. The night before Madyson was born he was snuggled to me all night. He was whiny and clingy. Turns out I was having issues inside that I was unaware and after a trip to the doctor and 4 days in the hospital-we came home with his little sister Madyson. If he had not of been so persistent, I probably would have gone on without heading to the doctor. And who knows what would have happened.

As Reece aged he still loved and adored Todd and I, but he became aggressive to the girls and he had to become an outside dog. Over the last year he began to turn grey, loose his hair and become more temperamental.

Tonight, we found Reece lying in a lawn chair coughing up blood and having a hard time breathing. Todd and I wrapped him in a towel and held him until he passed away. Then at 10:45 we buried him near our garden.

Rest in Peace-little man. You are always the king of the house.

Its Raining...Its Pouring...

In the midst of sharing with you all the journey of my Mother-in-law, I have forgotten to include you on the latest update on Miss Amelia.

About a month and a half ago I was with our sweet friends having dinner. A few days later, Momma B, called and told me that baby B was diagnosed with Fifths Disease and that I needed to be tested. I called my OB and went in for blood work. The first round of results came back negative with an alert to retest in 3 weeks. I did the 3 week test at my last visit and this time the results came back as positive.

My OB has referred me to a prenatal specialist. I will be meeting with him on Tuesday. From what I gather about parvovirus B19 (the medical term) is that the specialist will do an intense ultrasound and examine all of Amelia's organs, growth, etc. He will determine if she has it (It causes swelling/severe anemia in babies) and what the plan of action is. I can not take any medicine for it. It is one of those things. In worse case senerio-it can also lead to miscarriage and stillbirths...but we aren't going there.

My OB says in clinical practice she has never seen it turn into everything. So I am doing my best to stay focused and positive and not to WebMD it to death.