27th Birthday

Despite a rainy day, I had such a wonderful birthday last week - made special by the kindness of so many friends and family who went out of their way to make me feel loved. It's always such a treat to get all the sweet text messages , voicemails, facebook walls posts, tweets, calls, and, yes, even birthday songs. Thank you all!

(And, no, I didn't wear that hideous "27th birthday" t-shirt, but apparently people do because I found it available for purchase online. Thought I would throw it in for laughs since I failed to take any pics of birthday events.)

I actually was out of the office for a conference all day on my birthday, so it was nice to get a change of routine. The Alabama Association of Nonprofits held its annual Nonprofit Summit conference on March 9 at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center. The keynotes and sessions I attended were very well done, and my supervisor also presented on taking your stewardship/donor relations program to the next level.

After work, Trey and I got in a quick workout at the gym before cleaning up so Robert could take us out for a birthday dinner. We dinned at Fire, a new restaurant in Mountain Brook. I had purchased a Posh Birmingham (like Groupon) certificate a few weeks earlier, so we definitely put that to good use. The shrimp and grits I had were amazing. Robert had the fillet with hollandaise sauce. Both were excellent. (For more details see the Dining Local section of my blog.)

After a nice, leisurely dinner (I love taking the time to talk with my husband over dinner. It seems we rarely do that at home.), we headed to Bottega Cafe for coffee and dessert. Actually, I got the chai tea and we split the chocolate terrine. Perfect on a rainy night.

The next evening my parents had us out to their house for my birthday dinner with my grandmother and brothers. Ryan made his delicious chicken alfredo and mom made her broccoli salad which I love. Big Mama even made some soup for Robert and I, as well as Kyle, to take home for food for the week. So thoughtful. I commented on these cute potted yellow violas and dwarf irises mom had potted and displayed on her porch by the door. They ended up being my birthday gift and look great on my sunporch, officially welcoming spring. Dad also gave me a pack of diapers! So cute. We definitely needed to grow our collection.

Everyone at work was so kind on my birthday also, surprising me with balloons for my office and a birthday lunch out. My sister-in-law mailed me a super cute watch and ring, and Julia mailed a precious maternity top from Gap. (Maternity shirts are kind of our running joke since Julia mailed me a top from Target several years ago for my birthday that happened to be maternity - when I wasn't pregnant. It was super cute, but at least now she technically got it right!)

Thanks for all the birthday love, friends and family! Makes turning 27 not bad at all! Except if someone makes me wear that hideous shirt.

23 week appointment update

Last Thursday I had my 23 week doctor's appointment. We were so thankful that Trey was doing well and growing on schedule. He weighed in at 1.1 lbs. He was hiding his face (positioned face down, facing my back) but we were able to get the few ultrasound pics above. The first two are close ups of his face. The third confirms he is definitely a boy, which Robert asked that I have double checked!

I weighed in at 135 pounds -13 pounds over pre-pregnancy weight (122) and seven pounds over the total six pounds I had gained four weeks ago when I weighed 128 at 18 weeks. It's crazy to me I only gained 6 pounds in the first 18 weeks and then more than doubled that in the last four weeks from weeks 18 to 23. I guess we're both getting bigger, but they said it was all on schedule. So if they're happy, I'm happy.

My next appointment is scheduled for April 7, when they will do my glucose test and Rh blood test at 27 weeks. We will have another ultrasound then, and they said it would be the perfect time to do the 4D ultrasound since babies apparently look best on 4D between 28 and 30 weeks, when they're getting fat on the face and "chubbing up" (my words, not the doctor's) but aren't so big they can't be coaxed to move around the womb in order to get nice diverse photos from all angles.

27 and 23 weeks pregnant

Today is my 27th birthday, and it marks 23 weeks of pregnancy. Not sure I ever thought I'd be 27 and 23 weeks pregnant with my first baby. Don't know that I necessarily had a time line, and not sure if this fits it or not, but it certainly is exciting.

My sweet dad took me out today for an early birthday lunch. We were talking about getting excited about Trey coming, and about my youngest brother going to college next fall, and about both getting older. (Dad recently turned 57 and now I'm turning 27 - true to our 30 years apart nature which always helps us remember each other's age.) Dad made a comment that he would be 61 when Ryan graduates college in four years. I told him I would have a four-year-old! I think I won.

In pregnancy news, Trey has definitely made his presence known. I swear I've grown several inches and lots of roundness in the last two weeks alone. It's as if one day he just popped, and since then my tummy has been getting bigger and bigger. Here's the belly at 23 weeks. (Not the best picture after a long day at work, but you get the point - he's growing!)

Case in point, I had no less than 10 ladies come up to me at a Junior League meeting last Monday and say, "I didn't know you were pregnant. Congrats!" Another 10 who did know I was expecting said something like, "Wow, that baby is getting big." Same comments followed at church the next week. Yes, I think Trey has now made his presence known visibly for the world to see.

I have my next OB appointment Thursday, so we'll have to see just how big the little man is getting and how many pounds I've gained since last time. I think it's on the up and up, but apparently that's par for the course at this stage. Hopefully I'll have a new ultrasounds pic to post along with some updates on his size and development. Stay tuned for details.

In other news, my belly button is shrinking. Literally. This is so strange. I came to the realization last week when I looked down and noticed it was smaller, or narrower. I can barely fit my pinky finger in there. So weird!

Nursery plans are coming along. I'm making progress on fabrics for bedding and curtains, have ordered some swatches, and am hoping to make final selections soon. We have a good idea of what we want to do to the room as far as paint color and molding, but need to make some final selections and pick a weekend to get to work on some actual construction and fixing up. Have a great armoire I need to paint antique white. Have made absolutely no progress on a crib purchase after searching everywhere and looking at a gazillion options. I only a general idea of what I want. I'm going to hope that I just know it when I see it, and that that retail epiphany happens sometimes soon. We own two (2) newborn diapers.

But Trey's collection of cute bibs, burp clothes, and clothes is growing steadily thanks to my inability to refrain from buying him a cute outfit when I see it. Case in point, this precious Kissy Kissy polka dot sleeveless romber I got off Zulilly. Love it.

And the burp clothes and bibs. So cute!

Pregnancy diary

A sweet friend gave me this pregnancy diary/journal. It's been great and something I probably would have never purchased for myself. I'm so glad she was thoughtful enough to anticipate what a expecting mom might need. I highly recommend if you are looking for an easy to use maternity record book that's cute, basic, and not at all complicated or overwhelming.

I love the way there are small spaces for photos and for journaling - mainly to fill in the key details. It's not overwhelming (like trying to fill in your life story) but a nice, easy-to-follow way to keep track of the special details. I've actually been able to keep up to date pretty well with each stage, big event, etc. I doubt Trey will every look back at this, but it will be nice to remember and reference, especially for any future pregnancies. It's been great for this journalism major mom who never ever journals. Thanks, Caroline!

Birthdays

Both my dad and youngest brother have birthdays in February. We were able to get together for both and actually managed to snap a few pics. Here's the gang at Johnny Rocket's (because yours truly was craving a hamburger) for Ryan's 18th birthday before we went to the Comedy Club (yes, I'm not joking, the Comedy Club in Hoover) to see our favorite comedian, John Pinette. He's hilarious. Just pull up one of his stand up routines on YouTube. Anything about a buffett will have you rolling in five minutes. If not, maybe it's just a Summerville thing. But this guys can make us laugh like no other. It's clean comedy, mostly cracking fat jokes. This was actually our second time to see him live. We're slightly addicted. And we don't normally do comedy or stand up. We just happened upon this comedian and have made him somewhat of an honorary member of the family.

A couple weeks back we had a small party at our house to celebrate dad's birthday. Mom made a delicious chocolate dessert.

We opted for two candles instead of 57. Dad was a good sport about it.

All in a Name

Baby Boy Adams has a name! We can't wait for the arrival of our son,

Robert Stephen "Trey" Adams III

It is very special, even a great privilege, to be able to pass along a family name. Trey will be named for his father, paternal grandfather, and even his paternal great-grandfather (who is a Robert though not a Stephen).

With the help and patience of my parents, in-laws, grandmother, and cousin, I was able to go back five generations on each side to create a family tree for Trey to hang in his nursery. There's any a little extra space at the top should we be blessed with other children in the future, so hopefully our tree will grow over time.

God has been teaching Robert and I more about what it truly means to be in the family of God as sons and daughters of the King. Our church this past weekend held our annual outreach conference, this year focused on adoption - primarily our adoption in Christ and the church's call to care for orphans, widows, and others who are the "least of these."

Though slightly different than our normal focus on global missions, it was a refreshing time of gospel reminders. Foundational to our call to care for orphans and widows, whether through adoption or other means, is the truth that we are all orphans adopted into the family of God, made sons and daughters of the King, heirs with all rights and privileges thereunto appertaining. How? By Christ becoming an orphan on our behalf, forsaken by his father, cast aside.

What better motivation to serve the least of these? What better picture of salvation, the gospel in our lives, than the physical adoption of those in need? The bringing in of someone who has no family, no place, no known heritage into a family unit built on Christ and a community of believers through the local church. This is done not by those who have means serving those without - but by fellow orphans, once enemies of God, undesirable yet chosen for holiness, made righteous in Christ.

The doctrine of our adoption in Christ is just as fundamental in scripture as our justification and sanctification. What a great reminder of that truth - to be God's sons and daughters. It was also a special reminder of God's covenant nature. We serve a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God who promises to be the father of us and our children.

Robert and I look forward to Trey's baptism into the church, the visible sign and seal of God's covenant to him, as we - in humility and faith - acting in obedience take God at his word to be both our father and Trey's, look to God for Trey's salvation as we do for our own.

In these truths, as sinners saved by God's great grace, we have the motivation to seek justice, the welfare of orphans and widows, and act in obedience to care for those less fortunate whom God as put in our lives - for our good and his great glory. What a privilege.

20 Weeks

I can't believe we are Half Way There to meeting Baby Boy Adams!!! Only 140 days to go.


New developments with baby this week:

• Baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana or cantaloupe.
• Permanent teeth are starting to form behind his baby teeth.
• He seems able to differentiate between morning, afternoon and evening and starts to become more active at certain times than at others.
• He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system.

New developments with mom this week:

• Your uterus is now about in line with your belly button. From now on, the top of your uterus will grow toward your rib cage at a rate of one centimeter a week.
• You've likely gained around 10 pounds. Expect to gain another pound or so each week from now on.
• Make sure you're getting enough iron. During pregnancy, your body needs more iron to keep up with your expanding blood volume, as well as for your growing baby and the placenta. Red meat is one of the best sources of iron for pregnant women. (Good thing I ate that rib plate at Full Moon BBQ.)

(Technically I'm 21 weeks in two days....so this post is a little behind. Also closer to 21 weeks in the pics above.)