Shower Part Deux - UAB Style

Have I mentioned that I work with some of the nicest, greatest people in Birmingham? My wonderful colleagues at UAB have been so excited about Trey's pending arrival ever since we announced our pregnancy. They even threw me the sweetest baby shower on May 20, and boy did I ever feel loved!

A big thank you goes out to my co-worker Melanie (who made the precious wreath above - now hanging on Trey's closet door, and also took these awesome pics), my co-worker Cappy, and my boss Daphne who together hosted the shower. I am truly blessed to also call these ladies, and so many of my other co-workers, close friends and am grateful for the office friendships I have developed over the last four years at UAB.

Had to also post the cute evite below since it was precious.

The ladies truly outdid themselves decorating our penthouse conference room with vintage books and toys and lovely hydrangeas. I don't believe that I've ever seen that room look so cute!

The shower was potluck (sweets and salads) over the lunch break, so everyone came with goodies to share, and boy did we have the yummiest spread! It doesn't take much to get our crew together to eat, socialize, and celebrate good times.

Everyone was so generous! We got so many wonderful baby items. I am enjoying writing my thank you notes and reminding myself of how blessed I am to have such great colleagues and of just how much support we have!

A donor relations colleague I know through our professional association who works at Hamilton College made this precious blanket for Trey and shipped in from New York for the shower! Such a special surprise.

Baby Showers Galore!

Our sweet church family threw us a baby shower on May 21st. I am so thankful to my precious hostesses who completely outdid themselves with the food and decorations. Doesn't everything look just beautiful! And it was all so delicious too. A huge thank you to Hallie, Ruth, Brenda, Sara, Laura Lee, and Monica for all the effort they put into making me feel so special and showing Christ's love to our growing family!

I had to also include a pic of the invitation because it was just so precious.

I was especially thankful to have so many members of our family attend this shower. Robert's mom and sisters all made long trips from South Carolina and Kentucky with their families to be with us to celebrate. It was wonderful to not only have them there for this special time but to have their immeasurable help with setting up the nursery, sorting through gifts, and making sure everything was all set for Trey's arrival. We made so much progress in one weekend it was unbelievable. Between this shower and another my sweet colleagues at work threw the day before, we had so many great gifts for Trey to put out and set up.

I was also so glad to have my mom, Big Mama (grandmother), and David's sweet girlfriend Emily (who made the trip from Tuscaloosa) there. I love these family shots Monica took for us.

While posting all these shower pics I've discovered it's really hard to have pictures made of you while opening gifts and not end up looking like your mouth is wide open the whole time! Let's just say I was giving lots of "ohhs" and "ahhs" over all the precious things Trey received!

Trey's Aunt Rebecca got him his first little backpack with his name monogrammed and with little airplanes to match his daddy, and Trey's MiMi gave him this precious stuffed elephant with his named monogrammed on the ear, which is currently hanging out in his crib waiting on him.

We got so many cute burp clothes and great books and lots of wonderful other items. I am so grateful to our sweet church family for truly showering us with blessings - not just physical but with the prayers, encouragement, love, advice, and support they have shown the past eight months and will no doubt continue to show as we embark on parenthood.

Oh, and I just love the wipe case and custom shoes Trey's Aunt Liz made for him. Perfect for gameday!

Thank you sweet church family (and your adorable kiddos) for coming out to the shower!

 

T minus 20 days (aka, 36 week update)

Had our 36 week doctor's appointment today and my OB officially set our induction date for June 29th!

Holy moly.

We're going to have a real, live, hungry, needy, cute, little, baby - outside of the womb - in 20 days! Let the official countdown begin.

We are very thankful for another good report. Trey again passed his BPP ultrasound test, moving enough to make them happy with his viability even though he was mostly asleep the whole time. He was doing the cutest thing swallowing in his sleep though. It was so neat to see it on the ultrasound. He's head down and basically crammed in there from head to toe. Not much room to move around these days.

My amniotic fluid levels were again good. So was my blood pressure. This was also the first time I've had a vaginal exam during pregnancy - to check for dilation. Let's just say there was none. I think the word "closed" was used one more than one occasion. I gained two more pounds this week to total 152. Which is actually right at 30 over pre-pregnancy weight. (I did the match wrong on the l35 week post and was only 28 pounds above pre-pregnancy last week.)

And here's the 36 week pic of the ginormous belly...scratch that...baby. Next week they'll take his measurements during the ultrasound so we'll get an idea of just how much he's weighing in at two weeks before birth.



On the home front I made major progress this week in getting ready for his arrival. Mostly because I started freaking out after feeling different pains and pressures down there. (Not sure they were contractions but maybe just pains from him dropping; can't really tell if he has but regardless things are feeling a little different these days.) Of course, it could be related to the four miles I walked Tuesday night, after which I was pretty sure I was going to die. There was definitely some prayer that I would make it to the end of the trail and back to my car without my legs falling off. I think it's just getting harder to carry the extra weight for that long, so I'm probably going to have to adjust my exercise routine to less activity more regularly.

Regardless, as of Tuesday night our bags are now packed and ready to go.

Detailed the car this weekend. (Only to have it randomly egged while parked on our street in front of our house! Seriously, who does that? Needless to say, the outside also got a good cleaning this week.) And installed the carseat!

We also had our list childbirth class this week. Monday night we took an Infant CPR course at UAB, actually a seperate course offered independently of the childbirth class series. It was Robert's idea and was probably the best $10 we've ever spent. I hope we never have to use it but I'm so glad to now at least be prepared. It only lasted about an hour and a half, and we even brought home the blow-up doll so we can practice if we need too. Or if any of you parents to be out there want to borrow it you just let me know. I'm sure you can find the American Heart Association practice videos online.

We've ordered a new camera since we're actually going to have someone cute to take pics of, which should be arriving from Amazon tomorrow.

Robert is picking up our long-awaited rocker and ottoman tomorrow, so the last piece of the nursery will be complete, and then I promise I will post nursery pics this weekend! (Just had to wait until it was "finished"!)

T minus 20 days!

Robert S. Adams, Jr., PE

It's official! My smart and dedicated husband is now a Professional Engineer licensed by the State of Alabama. His PE card came in the mail today. We actually found out a couple of weeks ago when he received his letter notifying him that he has passed the PE exam he took back in early April. He told me by texting me the pic below several fridays ago when I was at work. Once I realized what the letter was, I was freaking out trying to scan for the word "passed" in the pic on my iphone and then was so excited to see that he did, indeed, pass.



We're not only so grateful that he passed but also thankful to just know the results. We weren't sure if we'd find out before the baby came since these things can take months to report back. This is a major professional accomplishment for Robert, and it's nice to have it complete before we roll into the stage of parenthood. You have to work under a licensed PE for four years before you are even eligible to take the test. Plus you have to have successfully passed the FE test. Luckily Robert passed the FE right before receiving his undergraduate degree at UA. Just this spring he became eligible to take the PE, and he studied so long and hard and faithfully for months on end to prepare. I'm so grateful the Lord blessed his efforts. Proud of you, Rob!