Bradymoon in Gatlinburg

Hays and I decided to take one more vacation as a family of two before little Brady man arrives in a few weeks. I had heard several people talk about how fun taking a babymoon (a vacation before you have a baby) could be, and how important it is to spend that time together before the baby comes. We decided that ours wouldn't be a babymoon, though, it would be a BRADYmoon! We decided to head to the Smokey Mountains! I had been to Gatlinburg several times, but Hays had NEVER been, so I knew it would be the perfect place. We ended up staying in an AMAZING cabin that one of Hays' football players' family owns! They gave us a PHENOMENAL deal, and we had THE BEST time! Here's the bear that welcomed us when we arrived.

The cabin was called Beary Special- how cute is that?!?!

Outside of the cabin!

We got to the cabin on Friday evening, unloaded our things and then headed out for dinner. We were hungry, but it was SUPER early, so when we arrived at Bennett's BBQ we were almost the ONLY ones there. At first we thought it might be a bad sign that no one else was eating there, but then it occurred to us that normal people don't eat dinner at 5:15! ;) Our BBQ was yummy! I had a pulled pork sandwich and Hays had a full rack of ribs! :)

After dinner we drove through Gatlinburg (Which Hays said was EXACTLY what he expected- as opposed to Pigeon Forge/Sevierville which he said was the MOST RANDOM place ever and could best be described as "Hillbilly Vegas". I agree, but I still LOVE it!) and then headed back to the cabin- we were tired from working that morning and making the drive down (about 3.5 hours from Lexington). We called it an early night and then woke up early the next morning to have a BIG pancake breakfast. There are TONS of pancake places in the Smokies, but we had heard that the Log Cabin Pancake House was the best....and we heard RIGHT! :)

It was SUCH a random place! There were stuffed animals everywhere, the waitresses were named things like Gaynell, and the food was FANTASTIC! I mean seriously! Best blueberry pancakes I've ever had, and Hays' white chocolate pancakes were UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

Please notice the random stuffed animals below.

Are those some good looking pancakes, or what?!?! I am pretty happy about them! ;)

After we FILLED UP on pancakes we headed to Tanger Outlet and somehow managed to tackle the ENTIRE mall in 3 hours. I was pretty impressed. Hays is the master navigator! We didn't end up buying too much, I was surprised and proud of myself! I could have gone CRAZY in the baby and kid stores, but I tried to hold off! Hays didn't even hate the shopping too much because they had an Under Armor and Nike outlet. We even found UK apparel in the Nike store and I was AMAZED (everything was either UT or Duke everywhere else-YUCK)!

After we finished at the outlets we headed into Gatlinburg and ate at No Way Jose's. It was YUMMY! I love Mexican food in general, but any place that brings you a gravy platter FULL of cheese dip is a winner in my book! I was a BIG fan! Then we were tired so we decided we would pick up some groceries (the necessities: frozen pizza and ice cream) and a movie and then head back to the cabin for the night. We took a nap, woke up and watched the UK/South Carolina game (which we WON) and then watched our movie (The Killers- which was fabulous!). Then we headed to bed, but not before I took a bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub! Yes, there was a jacuzzi tub and YES I took a bubble bath every night while we were there! Here's a tour of the whole cabin. I was in LOOOOVE!

The cute litle kitchen:

The breakfast nook- you can see there were LOTS of windows- the views were ahhh-mazing!

The living room (where we cheered the CATS to victory on Saturday)!

The bedroom downstairs- we didn't sleep here, but I did borrow their pillows to use upstairs! :)

Upstairs was one big room, once you walked up the spiral stairs the first thing you see if the air hockey table! WOO HOO! I love air hockey, but unfortunately we didn't play once all weekend. :(

There was also a pool table! Hays played....himself (because I am terrible at pool)!

They also had an old school video console with Pac Man, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, and Gallaga! Hours of entertainment!

This was our bedroom on the other side of the room!

And, ahhhhhhhh, the tub! Love this! Need one!

The upstairs balcony.

The other side of the balcony- too bad I couldn't get in. :( Next time!

This was our view from our bed. How beautiful are the Smokey Mountains?!?!

I could have taken 100 pictures, the mountains are SO beautiful!

That's my beautiful "baby Daddy" and the mountains! I sort of LOVE him! ;) That's his "lumberHays" shirt!

Me with the mountains!

We left our cabin about 10AM on Sunday- we woke up really early the whole time we were there because there were no blinds/curtains in half of our bedroom so the sun woke us up pretty early. Not to mention we went to bed early both nights- vacations are for rest, afterall! There was a Christmas store in Pigeon Forge that I wanted to visit and it was FANTASTIC! It's Christmastime year round there! LOVE IT!

Look! We found Santa!

It's our family of three, Daddy, Mommy, and Baby Brady!

After we left the Christmas store we headed to Calhoun's for lunch. Hays' friend, Hyatt, had recommended this place and when we pulled into the parking lot we noticed that it was voted "The Best Ribs in America", so that's NEVER a bad sign! I ended up having a random assortment of side items: green beans, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes and it was YUM! Hays, again, had a FULL RACK of ribs! He said they were pretty YUM too! My favorite thing about this place was that they brought out a basket of bread with LOTS of options, there were rolls, biscuits, and cornbread muffins! I, being the carb-o-holic that I am, was in HEAVEN! :)

After lunch we filled up with gas and headed out of town so we could get back home at a decent hour. We had SUCH a wonderful time on our Bradymoon! I just love spending time with my husband! I know every vacation from here on our will be VERY different, but VERY fun with our little Brady man!

32 Weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 32 Weeks (8 months....whoa!!!!)

Size of Baby: Brady is the size of a honeydew melon (19 inches and 4.5 pounds)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 16 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Basically ALL maternity clothes...except my pjs (and they make me look like Gus-Gus from Cinderella which is AWESOME)! ;)

Movement: Brady moves ALL THE TIME! And I love every second of it! He's such a cool little dude! I hope with ALL this moving he learns how to flip himself over and out of the breech position! We'll find out in 2 weeks!

Sleep: Sleeping good again! YAY! Usually getting up once (maybe twice) to pee, but other than that I'm sleeping well!

What I Miss: Bending over without losing my breath! ;) Seriously, I had to sit on the ottoman the other night when I was loading clothes in the washer, could not breathe when I bent over otherwise! LOL- what a sight!

Cravings: ICE CREAM- not sure this is a pregnancy thing, though (I've ALWAYS loved me some ice cream). Watch out Chocolate Almond at Baskin Robbins and Moose Tracks at Kroger! YUMMMMMM!

Symptoms: Shortness of breath and heartburn are the big ones, but it's nothing too terrible. TUMS Smoothies are my BFF! Also, I've started being MUCH more emotional than usual- like I can cry at anything! I bought a birthday card this week, and let me just say that the greeting card aisle is NOWHERE for a pregnant lady!

Best Moment This Week: It's a tie- either "finishing" Brady's room (pictures to come) or successfully completing childbirth class on Saturday! Both were pretty fantastic! I will do a separate blog post on each of these later this week, I promise! Sorry I am so behind with the blogging!

Alltech Baby Shower!

On Wednesday, January 19th, we scheduled our monthly Alltech Girls' Night. This month it was going to be "Wine Down Wednesday" at Elizabeth's house. Well.....turns out it wasn't "Wine Down Wednesday" at all, it was a surprise shower for me and Baby Brady! :) I am SO lucky to work with such sweet, sweet girls! It was SO much fun!

Here are the girls that threw the shower: Paige, Julie and Elizabeth

Here's Paige posing with the BLUE punch, of course!

Surprise! When I walked in the door everyone was already there and they yelled "Happy Baby Shower"! It was precious!

Paige was the door greeter! She worked it! ;)

The girls went WAY overboard on presents- it was overwhelming but SO SWEET! Here's a picture of a football outfit that Laci bought for Brady. A-DORABLE!

Laci holding Baby Sanders (Nicole's son who is 3 months old and pretty awesome!). He and Brady will be buds, I'm sure!

Sanders is ROCKING the mohawk in Tara's lap!

We played a game where the girls all had to guess how much string it took to fit around my baby bump. Well....Jana's was a LITTLE bit too long! ;)

Laura's was a little bit long too.....actually it was as tall as me! Ouch, Charlie! ;)

We had SO MUCH fun at the shower! I am SO blessed to work with such amazing women everyday!

31 Weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 31 Weeks (Only 9 more to go- WHOA!)

Size of Baby: Brady is the size of a head of lettuce (18 inches and 3.2 pounds)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: As of my appointment on Tuesday, I have GAINED 16 pounds so far! Whoa Baby! ;)

Maternity Clothes: I love them! I am almost solely wearing maternity clothes now, the non-maternity shirts just seem to make me look like Gus-Gus (from Cinderella)! Not exactly a flattering look! My PJs are still non-maternity if that counts? ;)

Movement: Brady is still a little mover! He likes to push his head (and I still think it's his head, but I'm HOPING soon his head will move DOWN!) against by belly right above my belly button. I think he's trying to get OUT! ;)

Sleep: Getting up at least once a night to potty! Have had 3 charlie horses in the last week! Ouch, Charlie!!!!! But those are usually first thing in the morning when I stretch before I get up! I guess I need more potassium!

What I Miss: Being comfortable when I sleep, the bigger I get the more I can see this being an issue. My hips will either start hurting, or I'll get hot, or I'll have to pee, when it's not one thing it's another! Again, I can't really complain because I know he's ALL worth it! :)

Cravings: Ice Cream- of course, this is a normal craving for me even without the pregnancy! ;) BTW, Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge is fantastic!

Symptoms: Still having heartburn almost daily, but the TUMS are still magically working! :)

Best Moment This Week: The "Bradymoon" in Gatlinburg! Hays and I had a great time getting away for our last time as a family of two! Even though we talked about him so much it was like he was there! We shopped, ate, and relaxed in a cabin in the Smokey Mountains! It was perfect!

The Hunt is ON- for Brady's Daycare

Yesterday, after our doctor's appointment Hays and I had 3 appointments set up at local daycares (La Petit Academy, Immanuel Baptist Child Care, and Creation Kingdom) to come in and see their facilities and ask them some questions. I was a little nervous about it and worried that I wouldn't think any of them were "good enough" for our little dude! But, I was pleasantly surprised after we visited the first daycare and I told Hays that I would be comfortable leaving him there. We liked the second daycare even more, but my favorite was the last we visited. It was the closest to our house AND my work, and it was the newest facility! Not to mention they have cameras so you can watch what your child is doing all day! Fantastic!

I had asked some other mommies and mommies-to-be about what to look for in a potential daycare and what questions I should be asking, so I had QUITE a list put together (20 questions to be exact). I'm sure some of the daycares thought I was crazy, but I want to know all this stuff since my precious little son will be spending MOST of his waking hours at this place! Overall, I felt great about the way all the daycares handled security and cleanliness (two of the BIGGEST things on my list), so that made me very happy! Every daycare we are visiting I have researched online and we know at least one child who attends/had attended their daycare. The references from them make me feel better about considering these places for Brady.

Next on the agenda is to visit two other daycares (Central Baptist Child Care, and Bethel Harvest Child Care)- I have heard good things about both and then make our decision on where we want to register Brady to get him on a waiting list! My hope is to visit the remaining 2 daycares next week and make our decision soon after.

One thing I am SO grateful for is that Brady will not have to go to daycare until he's 5 months old. Because his birthday will be in March, I will be off from work on maternity leave until June. Then, Hays will be out of school until August so he will be able to keep him. I have told all the daycares that August 1st is our tentative start date, and I really hope we're able to stick to that.

Overall, I am not totally destroyed about having to send Brady to daycare. Sure, I would love the opportunity to be a stay at home mom (like my mom was), but we just don't feel that is something we can do right now. I honestly feel like daycare will be a good fit for Brady, he will be exposed to so many other children and learn social skills and independence (not to mention he will develop lots of immunity to the germies of other kiddos)! I think we can do this! :)

30 Week Doctor's Appointment

It doesn't even seem real that I just had my 30 week doctor's appointment! WOW! I am already to the point in my pregnancy that I have to start going to the doctor every 2 weeks! How exciting!!!

As I mentioned before, Hays, my mom and Hays' mom were all coming to the appointment with me. Hays and I both worked in the morning before the appointment and then headed over to Lexington OB-GYN for the appointment at 1PM. Mama and Karen, however, spent their morning working their tails off cleaning our house. It is now spotless!!! They did it all, cleaned bathrooms, wiped down walls, swept the floors- EVERYTHING! I was blown away! They are SO GOOD to us! What did we do to deserve such sweet, thoughtful parents?!?!

We all met at the doctor's office for the appointment- I had just finished my Big Red! I wanted to make sure Brady performed during the ultrasound! :) I checked in at the front desk, and turned in some paperwork that I needed to have filled out for my maternity leave at my job. I will get to pick up that paperwork at my next appointment. I was called back for my ultrasound soon after that, so we all headed back into the tiny ultrasound room. The reason for the ultrasound was to check to see if my placenta was still low-lying, but while I was in there she got some measurements and tried to get some pictures of Brady too! Great news- my placenta has moved up and is NOT covering my cervix! Yay! Not-so-great news- Brady is in the breech position! Apparently, this is still pretty common (1 in 5 babies at 30 weeks are still breech), and most of the time the babies figure out how to turn themselves closer to delivery time (usually by 32-36 weeks). But, my doctor wants to check this out again in 4 weeks, so on February 17th we are scheduled for yet another ultrasound. I am already excited to see little Brady man again! :) I guess the sugar in my Big Red hadn't kicked in yet during the ultrasound because Brady slept most of the time. The ultrasound tech was jiggling around on my belly trying to wake him up (and move his butt off my cervix), but he was having NONE of it)! It figures!

After the ultrasound, I headed back into the waiting room and the nurse called my name pretty soon after. Hays and I headed back into toward the exam room and I stopped and weighed on the way. I had gained another 7 pounds....yes, SEVEN pounds! Whoa Nelly! Thank you Christmas candy and ZERO will power! Oopsie! I am now up a total of 16 pounds for this pregnancy, which doesn't sound like that much, but 7 pounds in 4 weeks- eek, that's a little scary! :) Anyway, Dr. Schell said not to worry that there are always periods of heavier weight gain during pregnancy. The goal for the rest of my pregnancy is to gain 1 pound a week, so with 10 weeks remaining, I should have gained about 26 pounds total. We will see how I do with that! Wish me luck!

After the pit stop at the scale we headed into the exam room and the nurse took my blood pressure (118/78), asked me the usual list of questions (any cramping, any changes since your last appointment, any concerns or questions), and then I started in on my list of questions! I always have several! In a nutshell: my glucose/iron test came back normal, nosebleeds/dry nose is normal, Hays doesn't have to get a flu shot if he doesn't want to- because cold and flu season is likely over by March, and I am free to travel until I'm 36 weeks (which is actually perfect because when I'm 35 weeks pregnant Hays is in a wedding in Western Kentucky, so I am glad to be able to make it to that!).

Then Dr. Schell came in and went over the results of my ultrasound, she said Brady was doing great. He was measuring at 3 pounds 2 ounces which puts him in the 37th percentile (a little lower than I would like, but I guess smaller babies are easier to birth!). His heartbeat was 124bpm which is lower than last time, but she said this is normal too. Overall, it was a positive appointment! She wants to see me back in 2 weeks for an appointment and 2 weeks after that for the ultrasound to check Brady's position and for a regular appointment too. So, that office is going to be seeing me LOTS from now until Brady's birthday! :) YAY!!!

I went ahead and scheduled my next 2 appointments (2/1 at 3:50 and 2/17 at 4:00), so Hays will be able to come to both without having to take time off from work. Which is great! The ultrasound appointment on 2/17 adds another baby thing for us to do that week (we already have 3 classes scheduled- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights that week), but it will be a fun week of baby information! What a way to spend Valentine's week, right?

God has blessed our little family of three so much already, and I am so thankful. I tend to panic about the small things, like the 37th percentile and the breech position, but honestly I know God will take care of us (through the big and small things) and everything will be just fine. I need to remind myself of this when I get worried- I am NOT in control (and thank Goodness for that)!

Busy Week!

On Saturday, I officially rolled over to the 30 week point! I can't believe Brady will be here in 10 weeks! Honestly, I know everyone says this, but this pregnancy really has flown by! Where did the last 30 weeks go?!?! Until now, I have felt like I have had PLENTY of time to get everything done, but now I'm starting to reach panic time! I am sure it will all come together and be perfectly fine, but I will feel MUCH better once the nursery and a few other things fall into place!

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day so both Hays and my mom (Mama Lu) are off from work, and since Karen (Grammie) is retired the future grandmothers decided to make their way to Lexington to work on the nursery! I am so lucky to have the best family in the world! Their goal for was to get the room repainted (we're painting it the same color that it already is and the only reason we have to repaint is because we are finally taking down the fabric corkboard that has lived in this house since we got it). We have delayed taking down this corkboard because the previous owners tried to use double sided tape (the thick rubbery kind) to stick this thing to the wall, which CLEARLY didn't work, and they had to use screws instead. This left behind a LOT of nasty glue mess! They ended up using an electric sander on the drywall to get the residue off and then repainted the entire room. When I got home from work last night at 5:30 the room was perfect! Brady and I are SO THANKFUL for their help! I was blown away!


The next item on the agenda is my 30 Week appointment today! We are getting another ultrasound to check on my placenta (which is hopefully NOT low-lying anymore) and I am just excited because it means we get to see Brady again! Hays and the grandmothers to be are going to join me for the appointment, so that will be fun! Of course, I have a list of questions for Dr. Schell as always and I will blog a full report of the appointment later this week! :) I can't wait to see and hear our little Brady man!

After my doctor's appointment today I have 3 appointments scheduled at local daycares to meet some of the staff and tour the facilities. There is a possible 4th daycare that we could also visit should time allow. I have prepared a list of questions and hope to get on some waiting lists so we are ready when Hays has to go back to work in August. The great thing about when Brady comes is that (if he comes on time), I will be off work with him until June 20th, then Hays will be off with him until school starts back mid-August. So Brady will be almost 5 months old by the time he gets to daycare, which makes me feel a little bit better about it. I will be sure to blog about how the daycare visits go. I am kind of anxious about it!

Now, for the carpet! We are having the carpet in the nursery cleaned tomorrow and I am hopeful that a couple of the stubborn spots on the carpet come up once and for all! If not, we may be looking into having the carpet replaced in that room. Eek!

After the carpet situation is worked out we should be receiving our furniture. We ordered it last week and it should be in anytime from January 19-25. I am SO excited to see the furniture set up in the room, it makes everything SO REAL! I was already giddy just seeing the cubicals that we got from Target the other night in the room! I am going to FLIP when I see the crib and dresser! :)

Next is the "BABYMOON"! Hays and I will be heading to Gatlinburg this weekend!!! Hays has never been to Gatlinburg, and I haven't been in several years. I am really looking forward to it and really hoping the weather cooperates! Fingers crossed for no snow! Right now the forecast is looking good, I just hope it stays that way! I am so excited for some outlet mall shopping, good eating, and time away with my Hubby! :)

After our trip it's back to reality with our childbirth class on Saturday, January 29th! Then, with February comes lots of fun showers! Whew! It's going to be a FUN and BUSY next few weeks, but I am SO EXCITED!

I am just so thankful to be where I am right now! When I was cleaning out some boxes that used to be in the office this week I found a book that Hays and I wrote in in 2006. It's called All About Us and it has all these questions that you answer about your relationship and where it's headed. It was so funny to see what we thought about ourselves, our relationship, and where we were going 5 years ago! The really funny thing is that we were pretty right on! One of the questions was: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" And we both said, married-to each other, happy in our careers (marketing/coaching), and maybe even a baby. ;) Isn't that funny? I am so thankful that God blessed me with such an amazing husband (and boyfriend all those years ago)- I know he will make an amazing daddy too! And that He is letting me experience being a Mommy! I don't think I have ever wanted anything this much in my life and I am just SO HAPPY!

Tis the Season...

The reason for my slight blog hiatus was, of course, for Christmas! Hays, Brady and I traveled home to Greenville to see our families for the holiday! We are SO LUCKY to be from the same place, so we are able to visit with ALL of our families at the different Christmas festivities. It usually means we spend 3-4 days running around like crazy people in order to get to all the Christmas parties, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We love our families! I think Brady had a great "first" Christmas! I can't believe this was our last Christmas as a family of 2- next year will be SO different, but SO much fun! I am already so excited!


We headed to Greenville after I got off work on 12/23 (Hays of course had been off the entire week because teachers have THE BEST schedules in the world). I really can't complain much about my work schedule because this year I got to be off from work (and at home with my family for Christmas) for a full 10 days! It was glorious, and the longest I have been home since I was in college. Our Christmas festivities started on Christmas Eve with breakfast with my mom's side of the family. The last several years we have had Christmas at my cousin, Jenny's, house. She has the perfect house for entertaining! It's big and open and just perfect! :)


We all ate a big breakfast (Plus dessert, because who doesn't eat dessert after breakfast, right? Certainly not a pregnant woman!), Nana and Poppy and the kiddos unwrapped their presents and then the other adults played a game. The last several years we have stopped doing presents with this side of the family, and instead we go DO SOMETHING together. This year it was the Rockette's in Nashville! We like giving the gift of TIME with each other much more than presents. I love it!


After the game (which actually did involve small presents this year, it was the Twas the Night Before Christmas game where you pass your present around in a circle- it was FUN!), we of course had to have a mini photo session- that's what we do! :)


Here's Nana and Poppy with our family! Brady's almost kicking Poppy in the shoulder here! ;) I love my family!

Me, Hays, and Brady. I think Hays MIGHT just love this little guy, don't you?
This is NOT Brady! ;) This is my baby cousin Sawyer, he's 7 months old and absolutely precious! He was such a sweet, easy-going baby all morning long! I looooooved holding him while he slept!

Mama and Poppy playing another one of our games, where you have to guess the Christmas song. Aren't they cute? I ended up winning this game (Where the prize was a bag of yummy candy! NOTE: If Nana plans the game, the prizes are awesome, so you should definitely try hard!)! Poppy loved holding baby Sawyer too! He was such a good sleeper even though we were all definitely NOT quiet!

After we left Jenny's on Christmas Eve we headed to the Browning's to fix dinner (okay, Hays and Whitney fixed dinner- Brady and I took a nap) and eat with his parents, sister, and NanNell before heading to Christmas Candlelight at his church. We had yummy steaks and potatoes and chocolate eclair (my contribution to the dinner)! The food was good, but the family time was better! :) And, as always, the Christmas Candlelight was great at First Baptist! It was great to see many of our friends from high school at church too! Everyone comes in for Christmas! :)

On Christmas morning we woke up to LOTS of snow (5-6 inches)! I think we were supposed to get 1-3 inches, but SURPRISE- there was more! It was beautiful!!!

It didn't stop Santa from visiting us, though! :) We even found one of Santa's reindeer....no wait, that's Hays' dog Jack! He's such a good sport!

Hays of course had to give Brady some Christmas morning love! :) Awwwwww!

One of our gifts to Hays' family was matching PJs to wear on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning and of course we had to take a pic of the girls!

We had a fabulous time getting our gifts from Santa and from each other. Brady even got some presents (like his crib bedding from Grammie and Poppa)! It was a super fun morning!

Later that afternoon, Hays' mom's side of the family came over to celebrate Christmas (I hate that I didn't get any pictures, I think I was too busy playing with the kiddos and their dolls)! We ate lots of yummy food and opened gifts. We play a combined version of "dirty santa" where everyone brings a unisex gift! Always a fun time to watch people "steal" gifts and see what everyone ends up with. There are always some great gifts, so we have fun with it! :)

Later that night we headed to my house to see my family for Christmas. This year we tried something different and drew names (Rae's idea). It was a fun change! Of course, Brady also got some presents including a SUPER CUTE outfit for him to wear next Christmas! I can't wait to dress this little guy up!

The day after Christmas was Sunday, and Hays' uncle Bob (who married us in 2007!) was preaching at his parents church. He is a very gifted speaker, so it was a wonderful service and LOTS of our family was there! SO MUCH FUN! Then, after church everyone came over to Hays' parents to celebrate Christmas. I think there were 35 people at their Christmas this year- Hays' basement was FULL! It was so great though! We ate.....A LOT, played divided male/female dirty Santa, and then the games began! Hays' family's tradition is that the men always play Rook and the women play Shanghai. I had never played (or heard of) Rook before we started dating, but it is an institution in their family so I had to learn it! I ended up playing one game with Hays (we lost, I'm not very good!) and then played Wii with the kids! It was a fun, and exhausting, day! :)

Here's a pic of Hays' dad and his brothers (Bob, John, Joe, and Eddie)! LOVE these guys!

After Christmas Hays and I relaxed for a few days and enjoyed being on vacation! I had so much fun sleeping in (even though that's usually only 9AM, it's still better than 6:30!) and relaxing in my PJs and seeing our families! Daddy and I played a LOT of Monopoly...we are a bit obsessed. I think I won the first game and he won the next two! The last game was the blow out of all blow outs. It was sad, really! Daddy owned the green properties (Pacific, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania Avenues) with hotels and I only had the cheapy purple ones (Mediterranean and Baltic Avenues). I fought a good fight, but just couldn't last! He ended up getting all my properties and nearly all the $500 bills from the bank. It was sad....for me! He seems pretty happy, don't you think?

On New Year's Eve, Hays and I headed to Madisonville to meet two of our favorites: Jon and Carly! We met at Oasis for dinner and had a blast talking about babies (Carly is due 6 weeks before me- 2/11!) and of course sports (Jon is a basketball coach at Webster County)! We have so much in common with them and LOVE THEM to pieces! Aren't the hubbies cute?

And how about those "baby mamas"?!?! Jameson and Brady were high-fiving each other in this one! (BTW, we did not plan to match, but we SO do! Carly and I are twins in SO MANY ways!)

After dinner the Newtons and the Brownings went our separate ways (we were tired- it doesn't take much to get me tired anymore)! We watched the ball drop at my house with my mom (Daddy went to sleep and Rachel had to work), but it was fun! We celebrated new years on Eastern time in honor of Lexington and Central time in honor of Greenville and then hit the sack. We headed back to Lexington on Sunday the 2nd because I had to be back at work on Monday the 3rd. Booo! Hays actually had a professional day on the 3rd and didn't have to be back until the 4th (Have I mentioned I am jealous of the teacher schedule?!?). Anyway, we had a wonderful time at home with our families, but were excited to get back to Lexington and get things settled.

Happy New Year Everyone! :)

30 Weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 30 Weeks (How is it possible that I am already 3/4 of the way there- it has been SO FAST?!?!)

Size of Baby: Brady is the size of a butternut squash (17 inches and 3.1 pounds)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still at + 9 pounds (because I don't own a scale), but I'm sure at my appointment on Tuesday she's going to tell me I've gained at least 5 pounds since my last appointment (maybe more)- we shall see! Again, it's ALL for a good cause! ;)

Maternity Clothes: Have I mentioned that I LOVE maternity pants and I'm not sure I will EVER stop wearing them?!? I mean seriously! They are like like pajamas (or the Pajama Jeans, have y'all seen these?!?! Hilarious!)

Movement: Brady is a mover! His favorite times to move are right around lunch and about an hour after dinner until we go to bed (he's probably still active after I'm asleep, but I am usually so tired I sleep right through it). He's a bit bashful sometimes, and when others try to touch my belly to feel him kick he tends to refuse! Such a funny boy, already getting that personality! :) I am still mostly feeling his body move (vs. kicks/punches), but sometimes he will contort his body in a way that he is literally in my ribcage- how this is possible I will never know! ;) You can sometimes see a little bump in the middle of my stomach between my ribs- it is the craziest thing!!!

Sleep: It's getting hard for me to even remember how great of a sleeper I used to be! Seriously, I always slept through the night, very rarely got up to pee, never had trouble falling asleep or getting comfortable. HA! All this changes when you get pregnant...even for great sleepers like me! I usually don't have trouble falling asleep, but the staying asleep part gets tricky. My hips usually start hurting in the middle of the night so I roll over onto my back (NOT ALLOWED) and Hays wakes me up to roll over onto my side, then I try the other side, then I end up on my back again so I wake up and roll back on my side. It's a lovely cycle, really! ;) On the bright side, I am still getting enough sleep because I'm not tired during the day! AND, there were 2 nights this week that I didn't get up at ALL to pee in the middle of the night. I was amazed when my alarm went off and I hadn't had to get up yet! We'll see how long that lasts.

What I Miss: Not much, really, I guess sleeping on my back and sleeping through the night.

Cravings: Chocolate or anything sweet! Hays has been trying to get me to eat more protein, so this week when we were at Sam's Club I bought some Detour bars (these are protein bars that I used to eat when we did "Body for Life" before we got married). Anyway, they have 15g of protein and taste like a candy bar- so no complaints here! :)

Symptoms: Still having the random heartburn (and still obsessed with TUMS)! And I've developed serious overactive bladder (on Thursday I almost had to RUN to the bathroom at work)!

Best Moment This Week: Wednesday night with Hays was absolutely fantastic. We had date night at Mi Pequena Hacienda (our favorite Mexican place), headed to Wal-Mart to register (and finished!), came home and ordered our crib and dresser online, and researched babymoon locations (we're going to Gatlinburg soon)! It was such a fabulous evening with my baby daddy! :) Brady's actually going to have somewhere to sleep when he comes......well....eventually he'll be able to sleep there! ;)

29 Weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 29 Weeks!

Size of Baby: Brady is the size of a butternut squash!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still up 9 pounds (will get an updated weight on 1/18)

Maternity Clothes: ALL maternity pants (Hallelujah!!!) and mostly maternity shirts (I prefer not to feel like Gus-Gus with my shorter non-maternity shirts)

Movement: Brady is a moving machine, I'm still mostly feeling movement (like him turning around or changing positions) and not as many kicks and punches. It is so cool, even though sometimes he feels like he's coming THROUGH my stomach!!!

Sleep: Sleeping has been random lately, I am back in the habit of rolling over on my back so Hays is usually waking me up a couple of times a night to roll over, but usually I can fall back asleep pretty quickly.

What I Miss: Sleeping on my back, I guess (even though pre-pregnancy I don't think I ever did this!)

Cravings: All things sweet! It is dangerous that they are selling Girl Scout Cookies right now!!! Seriously!

Symptoms: Still having some heartburn, but TUMS SMOOTHIES are truly amazing! I am completely fine 5 minutes after I chew 1-2 Tums. I could be a commercial for these things- I LOVE THEM!

Best Moment This Week: Getting Brady's room (no longer our home office) a little more emptied out so Hays can start patching the walls to prep for painting! We are so excited to get started on the nursery- Hays' parents have already bought Brady his bedding!!! And it's even cuter than I remember! :)

28 Weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 28 Weeks

Size of Baby: Brady is the size of a small cabbage (17 inches, 2.9 pounds)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 9 lbs. (will probably find out it's A LOT more at my next doctor's appointment)

Maternity Clothes: I love maternity clothes! I can literally come home from work and sit all evening in my work clothes. I don't need to change into pjs until RIGHT before bed. They are SO comfy! I have NO IDEA how I will ever be able to wear real clothes again! :)

Movement: Brady is SO STRONG! I have been feeling him move around a lot lately (like not just kicks and punches but actually movement). I can tell he's starting to get a little cramped in there already, so he adjusts positions a lot!

Sleep: Sleeping pretty good. We slept in our own bed last night for the first time in 10 days and it was glorious!!! We loved being home for Christmas, but it's good to be back in Lexington. :) The new tshirt sheets from Mama Lu definitely helped us sleep good last night!

What I Miss: Sleeping on my back. Hays has been waking me up a lot lately and telling me to roll over because he'll notice I'm sleeping on my back. I'm glad he's looking out for Brady, but I really miss being able to sleep how I want to. Oh well- Brady's worth it!

Cravings: I have been letting myself have a Coke every now and then, today it was a Cherry Coke from Subway. YUM! I won't drink more than 1-2 a week, but I must say they are AMAZING when I do drink them! Ahhhhh- I love the burn!

Symptoms: Speaking of the burn....my heartburn is in full force again! Do I go back and forth on this every week? I finally broke down and bought some Tums Smoothies (thanks for the heads up Carly), and they're pretty amazing. They have the consistency of chalk (ewww) but they definitely help the heartburn!!!

Best Moment This Week: I am feeling Brady so much lately! The other morning I was laying in bed and I felt him on my left side, my right side, and my ribs all at the SAME TIME! I told Hays that must mean his head was on my left side, his butt at my right side and his legs in my ribs. It was pretty cool! I can't wait to keep figuring out where he is in there! He must be having a good time, maybe even a dance party in there! ;)